EurekAlert! News by Subject: Policy & Ethics - News by Subject: Policy & Ethics

Policy & Ethics

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 31-Mar-2026 14:15 ET (31-Mar-2026 18:15 GMT/UTC)

31-Mar-2026

Placing fruit and veg near store entrances can improve sales and diet quality

City St George’s, University of London
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Placing fruit and vegetable sections near supermarket entrances increases the amount purchased and may improve the quality of women’s diets, according to a new study funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

Journal: PLOS Medicine
Funder: National Institute for Health Research

31-Mar-2026

Plastic additives tied to millions of preterm births worldwide

NYU Langone Health / NYU Grossman School of Medicine
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Exposure to a chemical commonly used to make plastic more flexible may have contributed to about 1.97 million preterm births in 2018 alone, or more than 8 percent of the world’s total, a new analysis of population surveys shows. The chemical was also linked to the deaths of 74,000 newborns, the researchers further estimate.

Journal: EBioMedicine
Funder: Beyond Petrochemicals

31-Mar-2026

We have just 20 years to stop spiraling decline in British biodiversity

UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

There is a closing 20-year window in which decisions on climate and land use will determine the fate of dozens of native birds, butterflies and plants across Great Britain, which is already one of the most nature-depleted countries globally.

That is the warning in a new study led by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH), which, for the first time, predicts how different combined environmental changes would affect the survival of species within 1km square areas across the country.

Journal: Nature Communications
Funder: Natural Environment Research Council

31-Mar-2026

How Europe can use emissions trading to also manage carbon removals

Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The emissions trading system launched by the European Union in 2005 could one day also be used to capture CO₂ on a large scale. A new model study quantifies the potential, and outlines that phased integration of removals into the trading system can avoid misguided incentives, while providing industry with planning security for residual emissions that are hard-to-abate. The study, led by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and published in Joule, ties in with current discussions in Brussels on future regulation.

Journal: Joule

31-Mar-2026

Climate change could make unhealthy air a routine reality by 2100

University of Waterloo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

New modelling shows almost one in three Americans will routinely breathe air considered unhealthy for sensitive people by the year 2100 due to climate change, a sevenfold increase compared to the turn of the century.

Journal: Environmental Science & Technology

30-Mar-2026

Money worries and job dissatisfaction drove Europe’s populist boom, research suggests

University of Cambridge
Book Announcement

Everyday financial anxieties and frustration with low-quality work – rather than immigration alone – helped populist politics explode across Europe from the mid-2010s, according to a new book that analyses data from over 75,000 voters.

30-Mar-2026

Study: An Oregon policy required hospitals to offer more financial assistance. Medical debt plummeted

Tulane University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

An analysis of an Oregon financial assistance policy found that it led to a significant drop in medical debt statewide. The program's successes and pitfalls may offer a roadmap for other states looking to alleviate the burden of medical debt on local communities.

Journal: JAMA Network Open
Funder: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality