EPA tightens air quality standard for soot emissions A new rule passed by the US Environmental Protection Agency this month will prevent thousands of premature deaths each year. The rule strengthens the national air quality standard for industrial emissions of fine particles, often called soot, as part of the Clean Air Act. The new standard will prevent up to 4,500 premature deaths and 290,000 lost workdays, with an impact of $46 billion in net health benefits in 2032, according to the EPA.  Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions threaten heart and lung health, and can lead to heart a ..read more

Breathing highway air increases blood pressure Read the full UW news release DEOHS Professor Joel Kaufman Breathing unfiltered air from rush-hour traffic significantly increased passengers’ blood pressure, both while in the car and up to 24 hours later, according to new research from the University of Washington. The study was published Nov. 28 in the Annals of Internal Medicine and led by authors from the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS). “The body has a complex set of systems to try to keep blood pressure to your brain the same all the time. It ..read more

Climate change causing ‘indisputable’ harm to our health Dr. Jeremy Hess Experts from the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) are among the authors of the newly released Fifth National Climate Assessment, an overview of climate trends, impacts and efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change across the nation. The assessment is led by the US Global Change Research Program and mandated by Congress. The fifth edition, released Nov. 14, assesses current and future risks posed by climate change in 10 regions. Dr. Jeremy Hess, DEOHS professor, was an author ..read more

Wildfire smoke tied to increased risk of ER visits Breathing wildfire smoke poses a health risk to people of all ages, not just young children and older adults, according to new research from the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) and colleagues at Seattle Children’s. Teaching Professor Tania Busch Isaksen Two new research papers published recently in Environmental Research: Health found an increased risk of hospital service encounters in the Pacific Northwest in the days following wildfire smoke events. The researchers found that the risk of respiratory ..read more

Wildfire smoke tied to increased ER visits Breathing wildfire smoke poses a health risk to people of all ages, not just young children and older adults, according to new research from the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) and colleagues at Seattle Children’s. Teaching Professor Tania Busch Isaksen Two new research papers published recently in Environmental Research: Health found an increased risk of hospital service encounters in the Pacific Northwest in the days following wildfire smoke events. The researchers found that the risk of respiratory-related ..read more

Children’s health and the air they breathe Learn more in our interactive feature: "At every age, cleaner air means better health." It’s not just textbooks and homework woes that unite schoolkids of the sunny Yakima Valley with their counterparts in rainy Seattle’s urban neighborhoods. They have air pollution in common too. Both areas of Washington state struggle with air contaminants that can negatively affect children’s health. That’s why scientists in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) are collaborating with community partners to measure air pollut ..read more

Protecting children’s brains from toxic chemicals Thomas Burbacher Professor, UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences Proudest achievements: Making discoveries in toxicology and seeing how research is used for public health protection, engaging with communities and teaching undergraduates Joined DEOHS faculty: 1991 “I’ve had the perfect job for the last 10 years, with teaching undergraduates and working on my research program. I just love coming to work every day.” - Thomas Burbacher Tom Burbacher remembers the moment that set him on the course to become an environm ..read more

Ultrafine air pollution reflects Seattle’s redlining history Despite their invisibly small size, ultrafine particles have become a massive concern for air pollution experts. These tiny pollutants—typically spread through wildfire smoke, vehicle exhaust, industrial emissions and airplane fumes—can bypass some of the body’s built-in defenses, carrying toxins to every organ or burrowing deep in the lungs. UW alumna and SURE-EH scholar Kaya Bramble. New research from the UW found that those effects aren’t felt equitably in Seattle. The most comprehensive study yet of long-term ultrafine particle ..read more

DEOHS collaborations explore child health and socioecological conflict Two teams of researchers from the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciencs (DEOHS) and their partners recently received grants from the UW Population Health Initiative for projects focusing on supporting healthy home environments in Washington’s Yakima Valley and understanding the connections between community-based land management and disease outbreaks in Brazil. “We continue to receive a range of innovative, interdisciplinary project ideas to address pressing population health challenges through o ..read more

Illuminating our microbial support system   On April 6, 2023, join the UW community for Husky Giving Day to raise funds that support UW students and programs. Your donation supports students like Kyle through the DEOHS Environmental Health Student Support Fund, which helps graduate students pay for research-related expenses, including travel and conference presentations to share their research.    How did you first get inspired to study environmental health? In my freshman year at UW, I was planning to major in biochemistry, but I also wanted to do something else w ..read more