Copyright 2008 Medical News Today Latest Water - Air Quality / Agriculture News From Medical News Today. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/water_quality/ admin@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Admin) editors@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Editors) en-us Mon, 07 Jul 2008 02:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/114111.php Recent provisional statistics released by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reveal that 39 workers were killed in the agriculture sector in 2007/08. With an average of one death a week over the last ten years, the agriculture industry has one of the worst incident records of the major employment sectors. The industry's lack oftraining, skills and competencies has been recognised by HSE as a key area for improvement. Sat, 05 Jul 2008 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/113923.php A farm irrigation canal would seem a healthier place for toads than a ditch by a supermarket parking lot. But University of Florida scientists have found the opposite is true. In a study with wide implications for a longstanding debate over whether agricultural chemicals pose a threat to amphibians, UF zoologists have found that toads in suburban areas are less likely to suffer from reproductive system abnormalities than toads near farms - where some had both testes and ovaries. Sat, 05 Jul 2008 02:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/114027.php NFU President Peter Kendall has warned a negative decision from the Secretary of State on culling badgers as part of a TB control strategy would be completely devastating to farming families and their businesses. "Current speculation on a negative decision on badger culling remains just that, speculation, based on a leaked report", said Mr Kendall. Fri, 04 Jul 2008 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/113999.php Dangerous air pollution resulting from wildfires poses lethal health hazards to people living and working in the surrounding areas. Residents with respiratory problems such as asthma, emphysema, and bronchitis and also those with chronic heart disease should take extra precautions during this time and call their physician immediately if problems develop. Fri, 04 Jul 2008 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/113989.php American farmers have adopted genetically engineered (GE) crops widely since their introduction in 1996, especially corn, cotton and soybean varieties, according to a new USDA report. USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS) report, Adoption of Genetically Engineered Crops in the U.S. was released July 2, 2008. Key findings include: - Adoption of GE soybeans with HT (herbicide-tolerant) traits reached 92 percent in 2008. Fri, 04 Jul 2008 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/113977.php One hundred years of the NFU is about to come alive in the form of a new book. 'From Campbell to Kendall: A history of the NFU' is being launched to celebrate the organisation's centenary. The lavishly illustrated 208-page hardback charts one hundred years of history by focussing on the 33 men who have occupied the presidency of the NFU. Fri, 04 Jul 2008 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/113877.php Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) called on G8 leaders who will gather next week in Japan to take bold decisions to adequately finance food aid and nutrition programmes directed at young children. With the crisis of malnutrition contributing to between three and five million child deaths annually, the summit must commit to providing funds to implement new and effective strategies to address malnutrition. Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/113766.php Numerous studies over the past four decades have established that pesticides, which are typically applied at the land surface, can move downward through the unsaturated zone to reach the water table at detectable concentrations. The downward movement of pesticide degradation products, formed in situ, can also contribute to the contamination of ground water. Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/113695.php With most of Sudan experiencing the onset of the annual rainy season, UNICEF is urging households to prioritize personal and household hygiene in an effort to reduce the risks from water-borne diseases. In 2007, a combination of water treatment programmes and improved hygiene education prevented a serious incidence of acute water diarrhoea and cholera in the country. Wed, 02 Jul 2008 07:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/113674.php Fungi can cause a number of life-threatening diseases but they also are becoming increasingly useful to science and manufacturing every year. However, many people, scientists among them, are largely unaware of the roles fungi play in the world around us. Tue, 01 Jul 2008 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/113453.php Milk goes green: Cows that receive recombinant Bovine Somatotropin (rbST) make more milk, all the while easing natural resource pressure and substantially reducing environmental impact, according to a Cornell University study to be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (June 30, 2008. Tue, 01 Jul 2008 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/113444.php Scientists have determined how to fortify the cassava plant, a staple root crop in many developing countries, with enough vitamins, minerals and protein to provide the poor and malnourished with a day's worth of nutrition in a single meal. Tue, 01 Jul 2008 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/113421.php In a move that promises to change the economics of biodiesel refining, chemical engineers at Rice University have unveiled a set of techniques for cleanly converting problematic biofuels waste into chemicals that fetch a profit. The latest research is available online in the journal Metabolic Engineering. The new paper and others published earlier this year describe a new fermentation process that allows E. Tue, 01 Jul 2008 02:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/113382.php Imagine the day when fierce weather phenomena are predicated so precisely and accurately that families are given more protection from severe flooding like those that took numerous lives and displaced more than 36,000 Iowans earlier this month. The day when heartbreaking stories, like those in early 2008 where more than 55 people were killed by tornadoes in Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas, are nonexistent. Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/113200.php Dozens of instruments to be deployed on the Oak Ridge Reservation and other sites around the nation will provide valuable information related to climate change, biodiversity and invasive species, infectious diseases and other areas of interest. Walker Branch Watershed and other portions of the Department of Energy reservation will be part of the National Ecological Observatory Network, a multi-decade continental-scale research platform supported by the National Science Foundation. Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/113199.php Research by two Kansas State University scientists could help with the large-scale cultivation and manufacturing of oil-rich algae in oceans for biofuel. K-State's Zhijian "Z.J. Sun, 29 Jun 2008 02:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/113254.php The 102nd Annual International Meeting of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers will convene June 29 - July 2, at the Rhode Island Convention Center and the Westin Hotel in Providence, RI. More than 1100 technical presentations are scheduled on subjects that include soil and water quality, pesticide application technologies, agricultural waste, wetlands management, renewable energy, food safety, and more. Sun, 29 Jun 2008 01:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/113076.php Earlier this year the government announced a new strategy for a more efficient and sustainable use of water. This would involve a reduction in per capita consumption from 150 litres per day to 130 litres per day. A new Economic and Social Research Council publication, 'Behavioural Change and Water Efficiency', which accompanied a seminar organised jointly with UK Water Industry Research Ltd, looks at future water management from a social science perspective. Sat, 28 Jun 2008 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/113007.php Whoever penned the old adage "a watched pot never boils" surely never tried to heat up water in a pot lined with copper nanorods. A new study from researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute shows that by adding an invisible layer of the nanomaterials to the bottom of a metal vessel, an order of magnitude less energy is required to bring water to boil. Sat, 28 Jun 2008 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/112999.php In the late 19th century Gregor Mendel used peas to show that one copy of a gene (allele) is inherited from the mother and one from the father. In the progeny, the inherited genes are expressed at the right time and in the right place, but until recently, it was thought that although gene products could be modified during the life of the organism, the genes themselves were unchanged, except for random mutation. Sat, 28 Jun 2008 01:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/113163.php An authority on the quality of drinking water today describes new challenges for consumers and municipal water supply systems, including unexpected consequences of efforts to conserve water in the first of a special series of podcasts from the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society. Marc Edwards, Ph.D. Sat, 28 Jun 2008 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/112879.php A major review by University of Adelaide researchers shows that the world is losing the battle over tropical habitat loss with potentially disastrous implications for biodiversity and human well-being. Published online in the Ecological Society of America's journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, the review concludes we are "on a trajectory towards disaster" and calls for an immediate global, multi-pronged conservation approach to avert the worst outcomes. Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/113078.php The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has confirmed the presence of the emerald ash borer (EAB) in the Montérégie region of Quebec. EAB does not spread quickly on its own. In fact, it is most commonly spread when people move materials which it has infested. Moving these materials even just a few kilometres away can spread the emerald ash borer to new areas. Fri, 27 Jun 2008 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/113064.php The American Red Cross response to massive flooding across the Central United States, combined with ongoing relief operations for tornadoes and other disasters since April 1, will cost the organization at least $30 million, according to latest estimates. The Red Cross is mounting its largest relief effort since the response to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma in 2005, surpassing the Southern California wildfires of 2007. Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/112922.php An authority on the quality of drinking water today describes new challenges for consumers and municipal water supply systems, including unexpected consequences of efforts to conserve water in the first of a special series of podcasts from the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society. Marc Edwards, Ph.D.