Researchers at U-M’s Rogel Cancer Center want to build a movement to understand how exposures to toxic metals, industrial pollution and “forever chemicals” called PFAS, are impacting the health and cancer risk of residents across Michigan.
Our climate is our planet’s life support system, and the University of Michigan is spearheading innovative research and curriculum around evolving environmental threats to human health. As extreme weather events increase, air quality fluctuates, and illnesses transmitted by food, water, and disease-carriers such as mosquitoes and ticks broaden their impact, U-M experts are partnering with local communities to stage productive public health interventions.
From responding to climate change and extreme weather events to assessing the role of legacy infrastructure and institutions in public health, U-M researchers are on the forefront of sustainable and equitable public health interventions. Some of our key initiatives at the intersection of human health and the environment include: the Lifestage Environmental Exposures and Disease Center, the Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Center, the Healthy Environments Partnership, the Center for Local, State and Urban Policy, the Center for Sustainable Systems , the Michigan Center on Lifestage Environmental Exposures and Disease (M-LEEAD) and Poverty Solutions. Find U-M experts in sustainability and environmental science, across fields and academic units.
Researchers at U-M’s Rogel Cancer Center want to build a movement to understand how exposures to toxic metals, industrial pollution and “forever chemicals” called PFAS, are impacting the health and cancer risk of residents across Michigan.
Pollen allergies affect nearly one third of the global population, and climate change is set to make it worse. Rackham student Yingxiao Zhang is developing a better way to forecast allergy season to help people better navigate its headaches.
U-M is marking late March and all of April with a series of events focused on sustainability and climate action, continuing a tradition that began with the first “Teach-In on the Environment” in 1970—which grew into what is now known as Earth Day.
The Green Anesthesia Initiative, or GAIA — an homage to the personification of Earth in Greek mythology — was established in 2022 by the Department of Anesthesiology. Its initial goal, now surpassed, was to reduce emissions from inhaled anesthesia by 80% within three years from a 2021 baseline, while ensuring patient safety.
Rice exported to Haiti—mostly from the United States—contains unhealthy levels of arsenic and cadmium, which can increase the risk of various cancers, heart disease, diabetes and other illnesses, new research shows.
Middle-aged women with elevated levels of heavy metals are more likely to have depleted ovarian function and egg reserves, which may lead to earlier arrival of menopause and its negative health effects, a new U-M study shows.