A new report published in The Lancet issues a fresh clarion call: plastic pollution is a grave and growing danger to human and planetary health. As Ministers and diplomats arrive in Geneva for the final round of talks to conclude a global plastics treaty, the report provides the most up-to-date assessment of the links between health and plastic pollution across the full life cycle of plastic. 

Ahead of the expected finalisation of an UN global plastics treaty [1], a group of international experts call for a greater focus on health impacts when considering plastic pollution. The Health Policy published in The Lancet reviews the current evidence on how plastics – including microplastics and plastic chemicals - impact health and announces the launch of a new project tracking these impacts: the Lancet Countdown on Health and Plastics.

Boston College researchers co-lead the launch of The Lancet Countdown on Health and Plastics, an online dashboard that will track the health and environmental impacts of plastic pollution and monitor UN-guided efforts to curb plastics’ use and mitigate their harms.

A new editorial published in Comprehensive Physiology underscores the critical importance of understanding heart-lung interactions in pulmonary vascular disease (PVD). Tim Lahm, MD, a pulmonologist and researcher at National Jewish Health, along with a team of esteemed colleagues from institutions across the country, urges the scientific community to confront the major knowledge gaps that hinder progress in improving patient outcomes. The editorial, titled "Towards a Better Understanding of Heart-Lung Interactions in Pulmonary Vascular Disease,"(Opens in a new window) serves as a call for papers for an upcoming special issue of Comprehensive Physiology dedicated to this topic.

Cannabis use is gaining popularity in the United States, driven by growing legalization, public acceptance and diverse methods of consumption.

More people than ever before support its legal medicinal and recreational use, and more adults — mainly men — are turning to cannabis for relief from physical and mental health symptoms.

Now, health behavior experts from the Texas A&M University School of Public Health, along with collaborators from three other universities, have taken a closer look at this dual use among Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black men living with chronic health conditions.