This week sees the return of National Gardening Week just as temperatures finally start to rise! The Royal Horticultural Society’s theme this year is Knowledge is Flower’ designed to help demystify some of the myths and truths about gardening, and how to avoid common pitfalls for gardening novices and experts alike. It includes guidance about the … Continued
Period products are a necessity for women and girls. But they’ve come under scrutiny recently as researchers investigate what’s in them, and whether there might be any effects on female health from the chemical substances used in them. Are there any health risks? Period products come into direct into skin contact, so any chemical … Continued
When you read the ingredients list of thousands of everyday products, you’re likely to see surfactants (pronounced sur-fact-ants). The word derives from a combination of surface, acting, and agent – and it describes what they do. Surfactants are chemical substances that are added to products to help break the surface, or surface tension of liquids … Continued
Microplastics are everywhere – in our water and food, everyday household items, beauty products like shampoo, children’s toys, our home furnishings, and our rivers. Microplastics can also pollute our indoor air. So what is known about the effects of microplastics on human cells? A study led by researchers at Hull York Medical School was … Continued
Spring is a perfect time to think about updates to your home – your furniture and carpets, and a splash of paint to add colour to your walls. But before choosing, it’s worth thinking how products are manufactured, and the chemicals used to achieve features such as stain and water resistance, and affordability. In this … Continued
Thousands of chemicals are manufactured from fossil fuels including oil, gas, and coal. It’s estimated that there are 350,000 petrochemicals are in use across the world as production levels have grown dramatically since the 1950’s. Petrochemicals are used in the manufacture of thousands of everyday products, from cars to carpets, plastics, cosmetics, toiletries and fragrances, … Continued
Keeping children dry on rainy spring days often means reaching for raincoats and waterproof clothing to keep them warm and dry. But with very little information on product labels to explain what chemical substances may have been used to achieve water resistance, it’s difficult to navigate children’s waterproof clothing. The most widely used group … Continued
So many people will have sympathy for King Charles’ cancer diagnosis as we would sympathise for any of our own family, friends, and colleagues who contract this awful condition. In 1950, fewer than 4 males per 100,000 would die from cancer but in 2005 it exceeded 15 per 100,000 a fourfold increase despite vast … Continued
Glyphosate has been at the centre hundreds of legal cases in the US brought against manufacturers by employees experiencing ill health because of occupational exposure. Last week a settlement of $2.25bn was made to John McKivision in a domestic case. He successfully claimed against Bayer for causing his non-Hodgkins lymphoma, stating it was the result … Continued
Microplastic levels water in plastic bottles are up to 100 times higher than previously thought. That’s the startling conclusion reached by scientists at Columbia and Rutgers universities. One quarter of a million tiny microplastic particles known as nanoparticles were detected in an average 1L bottle of water. Previous studies have detected microplastics in bottled water, but … Continued
