PlosOne December 10, 2014 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0111913 
Plastic pollution is ubiquitous throughout the marine environment, yet estimates of the global abundance and weight of floating plas
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                                        tics have lacked data, particularly from the Southern Hemisphere and remote regions. Here we report an estimate of the total number of plastic particles and their weight floating in the world's oceans from 24 expeditions (2007–2013) across all five sub-tropical gyres, costal Australia, Bay of Bengal and the Mediterranean Sea conducting surface net tows (N = 680) and visual survey transects of large plastic debris (N = 891). Using an oceanographic model of floating debris dispersal calibrated by our data, and correcting for wind-driven vertical mixing, we estimate a minimum of 5.25 trillion particles weighing 268,940 tons. When comparing between four size classes, two microplastic <4.75 mm and meso- and macroplastic >4.75 mm, a tremendous loss of microplastics is observed from the sea surface compared to expected rates of fragmentation, suggesting there are mechanisms at play that remove <4.75 mm plastic particles from the ocean surface.
                                    
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                                Environmental Research Letters
 Microplastic debris floating at the ocean surface can harm marine life. Understanding the severity of this harm requires knowledge of plastic abundance and distributions. Dozens of expeditions measuring microplastics
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                                         have been carried out since the 1970s, but they have primarily focused on the North Atlantic and North Pacific accumulation zones, with much sparser coverage elsewhere. Here, we use the largest dataset of microplastic measurements assembled to date to assess the confidence we can have in global estimates of microplastic abundance and mass. We use a rigorous statistical framework to standardize a global dataset of plastic marine debris measured using surface-trawling plankton nets and coupled this with three different ocean circulation models to spatially interpolate the observations. Our estimates show that the accumulated number of microplastic particles in 2014 ranges from 15 to 51 trillion particles, weighing between 93 and 236 thousand metric tons, which is only approximately 1% of global plastic waste estimated to enter the ocean in the year 2010. These estimates are larger than previous global estimates, but vary widely because the scarcity of data in most of the world ocean, differences in model formulations, and fundamental knowledge gaps in the sources, transformations and fates of microplastics in the ocean.
                                    
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                                The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene    Volume 106: Issue 1  p.12-14.he piece highlights a body of research that suggests tiny plastic particles could disrupt immune and endocrine systems, damage organs, and cause other health probl
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                                        ems. “Without a fundamental reimagining of global industrial practices, we will continue to see dire impacts on the climate, the planet and our health
                                    
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                                Ocean plastic pollution has reached crisis level: every minute, more than an entire garbage truck of plastic makes its way into the world’s oceans—roughly 11 million metric tons annually. While 
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                                        plastic waste presents an immediate threat to marine wildlife and ecosystems, this global challenge also has implications for major industries such as fishing and tourism, impacting the livelihoods of millions of people. The drivers and impacts of ocean plastic pollution also contribute to global challenges in food security, human health, and climate change.
                                    
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                                PNAS  119 (8) e2113947119 | https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2113947119
Environmental exposure to active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) can have negative effects on the health of ecosystems and humans. While numerous studies have monitored APIs in rivers, these employ different analytical methods, m
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                                        easure different APIs, and have ignored many of the countries of the world. This makes it difficult to quantify the scale of the problem from a global perspective. Furthermore, comparison of the existing data, generated for different studies/regions/continents, is challenging due to the vast differences between the analytical methodologies employed. Here, we present a global-scale study of API pollution in 258 of the world’s rivers, representing the environmental influence of 471.4 million people across 137 geographic regions. Samples were obtained from 1,052 locations in 104 countries (representing all continents and 36 countries not previously studied for API contamination) and analyzed for 61 APIs. Highest cumulative API concentrations were observed in sub-Saharan Africa, south Asia, and South America. The most contaminated sites were in low- to middle-income countries and were associated with areas with poor wastewater and waste management infrastructure and pharmaceutical manufacturing. The most frequently detected APIs were carbamazepine, metformin, and caffeine (a compound also arising from lifestyle use), which were detected at over half of the sites monitored. Concentrations of at least one API at 25.7% of the sampling sites were greater than concentrations considered safe for aquatic organisms, or which are of concern in terms of selection for antimicrobial resistance. Therefore, pharmaceutical pollution poses a global threat to environmental and human health, as well as to delivery of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
                                    
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                                Data Explorer Interactive Dashboard
                                                            
                         
                     
                                                        
                        
                        
                            
                            
                                
                                Regional Meeting – Kampala,
Uganda
24-25 February 2020
                                                            
                         
                     
                                                        
                        
                        
                            
                            
                                
                                A Community Guide to Environmental Health > Chapter 19: Health Care Waste. Please download this chapter from the website of Hesperian
                                                            
                         
                     
                                                        
                        
                        
                            
                            
                                
                                Accessed 3rd of October 2015
                                                            
                         
                     
                                                        
                        
                        
                            
                            
                                
                                SODIS manual - updated version
The SODIS manual contains detailed information about technical and promotional aspects of the SODIS method.
Former version also available in French, Portuguese, Spanish, Uzbek, Russian
                                                            
                         
                     
                                                        
                        
                        
                            
                            
                                
                                In this edition, the Antimicrobial Resistance chapter discusses the growing, dangerous trend of antimicrobial resistance and the potential catastrophic consequences on global health.
 The Nanomaterials chapter talks about this relatively new technology and its potential impacts on the environment a
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                                        nd health.
 The Marine Protected Areas chapter draws attention to the plight of our oceans and the need for more and better managed protected areas.
 The Sand and Dust Storms chapter discusses the human and environmental causes of such phenomena, their health impacts which include respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and lung cancer, and the need to manage the storms through sustainable land and water management.
 The Solar Solutions chapter highlights how this renewable energy could help tackle climate change and bring much needed energy to off grid settlements.
 The Environmental Displacement chapter shows how the impacts of climate change are displacing people, causing them to leave their homes.
                                    
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                                This guide to local production of WHO-recommended handrub formulations is separated into two discrete but interrelated sections:
Part A provides a practical guide for use at the pharmacy bench during the actual preparation of the formulation. Users may want to display the material on the wall of 
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                                        the production unit.
Part B summarizes some essential background technical information and is taken from WHO Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Health Care (2009). Within Part B the user has access to important safety and cost information and supplementary material relating to dispensers and distribution.
                                    
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                                Disinfect Reusable Supplies and Equipment