Environmental health Archive

Influencers, news headlines, and well-meaning friends and family offer conflicting advice on wellness. Quick fixes and fads may do little for our health, and some even prove harmful. Try to work these five simple habits that can boost health and wellness into your everyday life.

According to a 2025 study, people living near coastlines with high levels of marine microplastics had higher rates of heart disease than those living close to coastlines with less plastic pollution.

A hydration pack is a backpack designed for almost any kind of outdoor activity that carries large amounts of water and allows easy, hands-free access, which provides a convenient way to stay hydrated without needing to stop for frequent water refills.

In the summertime, one of the chief contributors to symptom flares of lung problems is hot air, especially if it’s also humid, stagnant, or very dry. Such weather might narrow the airways, making it much harder to breathe normally. This might occur because hot air irritates the nerves, widens blood vessels near the lungs, or causes people to breathe faster. To avoid breathing difficulty, doctors advise people with lung disease to follow strategies such as keeping their inhalers handy and staying in air-conditioned spaces.

Wildfire smoke contributes greatly to poor air quality, and as wildfires become more frequent due to climate change and drier conditions, more of us and more of our communities are at risk for health harms. Here are ways to cope.

Typical insect bites produce redness, itching, swelling, and pain. Signs of a more severe bug bite include hives, nausea, vomiting, fever, chills, drainage, rashes, blisters, numbness, or skin discoloration. People with any of these bug bite symptoms should see a doctor.

Certain medications can leave people more vulnerable to heat-related effects or the sun's rays. The medications can raise the risk of dehydration, make people sweat too much or too little, impair the body's ability to regulate temperature, or raise the risk of getting a bad sunburn. In addition, higher temperatures may damage some medicines, including diuretics, blood pressure drugs, some antidepressants, thyroid replacement hormones, and some over-the-counter antihistamines.

Mosquito repellents that rely on certain natural substances may not be as effective when temperatures reach 90° or higher. For very hot weather, people may get better protection by using the synthetic repellent DEET.