News

The Irrational but Predictable Consumer: Decision Making Based on Feelings Rather Than Facts

Nov. 16, 2018 Risk and benefit perceptions are crucial to people’s acceptance of a particular technology and therefore their willingness to become a consumer. It has been suggested that, due to resource restraints, consumers’ perceptions are frequently formed based on heuristics and biases, or other factors such as trust or affect. While some consumer behaviors […]

Being Employed Puts Your Health at Risk

Nov. 16, 2018 The modern workplace has undergone a transformation as workers move away from traditional industrial sectors, such as agriculture and manufacturing, into the service sector. This has resulted in the incorporation of new occupational risk factors. Regardless of the environment, work provides a unique opportunity for exposure to hazards and risk that the […]

Municipal Wastewater Holds the Key to Tracking Opioid Intervention Initiatives

Nov. 16, 2018 In 2016, opioids were the primary cause of more than 42,000 deaths in the U.S. Controlled substances (opioids and other drugs, such as marijuana) pose a threat to both human and environmental health. With the crisis showing no signs of slowing down, officials across the country are scrambling to implement effective intervention […]

Science Proves Vaccines are Helpful, Not Harmful, to Society

Nov. 16, 2018 As more and more parents buy into the belief that vaccines cause autism and refuse to vaccinate their children, previously eradicated diseases are making their way back into society. These beliefs are part of “post-truth” politics in which authority figures are making public assertions without any proof or factual basis and are […]

How does the Precision Medicine Initiative Affect Me?

Nov. 13, 2018 As the All of Us initiative (previously known as the Precision Medicine Initiative) and the collection of DNA sequences of one million Americans begins this year, with at least 65,000 people already enrolled in the program, health care is transitioning from population-based approaches to individualized health care that focuses on the genetic […]

Human Exposures and Health Effects Associated with Unconventional Oil and Gas Development

Preliminary Findings from the Health Effects Institute’s Energy Research Committee Nov. 13, 2018 Development of oil and natural gas from shale and other unconventional geologic formations across the U.S. has expanded rapidly since the early 2000s and its development is projected to continue. The Health Effects Institute (HEI) convened an Energy Research Committee to help […]

The Health Risks of Being Employed Are Changing in the U.S. and Globally

Nov. 12, 2018 While most large corporations take responsibility for occupational risks, many partake in transferring these risks to smaller companies and the informal sector, where health risks are unrecognized and under-reported. More than half of the workers in many developing economies work in the informal sector where there are few, or no, workplace health […]

Coping With Threats from Hurricanes, Wildfires and Rising Sea Levels

Several studies utilize risk assessment and risk mitigation practices to prepare for future severe weather events. Past practices are no longer adequate. Nov. 12, 2018 As sea levels continue to rise and more severe storms, like Hurricanes Maria and Michael, threaten coastline communities, local leaders need to assess the hazards and vulnerabilities of their locale. […]

Developing Tools to Combat ‘Fake News’

Nov. 12, 2018 With news coverage being a constant cycle and information being amplified across social media channels, it can be difficult to discern between sound news and ‘fake news.’ As a result people’s trust in scientific information has begun to break down. This is especially harmful to society when the mass dissemination of misinformation, […]

The Health Risks of Being Employed Are Changing in the U.S. and Globally

Nov. 12, 2018 While most large corporations take responsibility for occupational risks, many partake in transferring these risks to smaller companies and the informal sector, where health risks are unrecognized and under-reported. More than half of the workers in many developing economies work in the informal sector where there are few, or no, workplace health […]