Eleven billion metric tons of plastic are projected to accumulate in the environment by 2025. Because plastics are persistent, they fragment into pieces that are susceptible to wind entrainment [Brahney et al. 2020]. The presence of plastic in the environment can no longer be denied. It has become a very frightening and global problem. Plastics
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In March 2019, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published a note entitled EFSA adopts a specific methodology for assessing chemical mixtures. The new methodological framework will provide EFSA scientists with the tools that will enable them to adopt, where appropriate, a specific approach to address mixtures of chemical contaminants. This approach will complement the
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COVID-19, we are talking about nothing else! As the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 surges past 2.2 million globally and deaths surpass 150000, clinicians and pathologists are struggling to understand the damage wrought by the coronavirus as it tears through the body. They are realizing that although the lungs are ground zero, its reach
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Food contact and packaging articles are made up of a very large number of different food contact materials (FCM), each of them consisting of numerous food contact chemicals (FCC). Inevitably, FCC migrate from any type of material into the food and consequently, they are absorbed along with the food. Muncke et al. [2020] emphasise their
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Something weird is going on The fear and revulsion you may feel towards insects was probably instilled in you when you were very young, but the feeling is now beginning to dissipate. The thought of holding a grasshopper, a praying mantis, or a caterpillar no longer puts you off. More so even, if you are researching entomophagy,
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In 2018, total greenhouse gas emissions in Belgium amounted to 118.3 megatons of CO2 equivalents, a slight increase of 0.28 per cent compared to 2017 I can only assume that you did not read this alarming message that was published in several Belgian newspapers. And yet, a substantial decrease in greenhouse gas emissions is needed
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2019 was another tough year for the environment [Castelvecchi et al. 2019] Up to one million plant and animal species now face extinction owing to habitat destruction and/or climate change, warns a recently published report of the Intergovernmental Science–Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). The overwhelming evidence of the IPBES Global Assessment, from
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Last month a group of “prominent” scientists sent a registered letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres. The letter, headed “There is no climate emergency”, urges Guterres to follow a climate policy based on sound science, realistic economics and genuine concern for those harmed by costly but unnecessary attempts at mitigation “. Climate Intelligence
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In October 2015, 22 scientists from 10 countries met at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) to evaluate the carcinogenicity of red meat and processed meat consumption. Their alarming conclusions were published in volume 114 of the IARC Monographs: consumption of processed meat is classified as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1) on the
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Philosopher and Emeritus Professor of the University of Wageningen, Michiel Korthals, claims in his book Goed eten – Filosofie van voeding en landbouw [2018] that our food has lost its innocence; and in August, the New York Times published “Our food is killing too many of us”. This creates serious concerns about the safety of
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