As the fifth anniversary of the passage of major amendments to the Toxic Substances Control Act approaches this June, a U-M researcher will address the impact the law has had on the regulation of industrial and commercial chemicals.
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.
As the fifth anniversary of the passage of major amendments to the Toxic Substances Control Act approaches this June, a U-M researcher will address the impact the law has had on the regulation of industrial and commercial chemicals.
A study published by U-M researchers quantifies the air pollution that impacts Latinx communities in California due to beef production. The study focuses on Costco's beef supply chain in California and explores the environmental impacts of air pollution resulting from beef production in the San Joaquin Valley, a region that has some of the worst air quality in the United States.
Black COVID-19 survivors experience worse outcomes related to care access, recovery, and social and economic factors when compared to their white counterparts, according to research on the impact of COVID-19 on Michiganders.
The COVID-19 pandemic, in particular, has demonstrated that a previously unknown pathogen can emerge from wildlife species and threaten public health on a global scale within months. During spillover events, vouchered specimens in museum collections and biorepositories can help disease sleuths quickly track a pathogen to its source in the wild.
Diverting urine away from municipal wastewater treatment plants and recycling the nutrient-rich liquid to make crop fertilizer would result in multiple environmental benefits when used at city scale, according to a new UM-led study. Researchers found that urine diversion and recycling led to significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, freshwater consumption and the potential to fuel algal blooms in lakes and other water bodies.
High levels of cadmium, a chemical found in cigarettes and in contaminated vegetables, are associated with higher death rates in patients with influenza or pneumonia—and may increase the severity of COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses.