#Pollution

In a significant leap for environmental health research, scientists at the University of California, Riverside (UCR) have developed a new computer language called Mass Query Language, or MassQL, which enables researchers to effortlessly sift through vast chemical datasets to detect previously hidden pollutants. This innovative tool, detailed in a recent Nature Methods journal article, has already led to the discovery of toxic compounds in public water sources that had previously gone unnoticed by traditional detection methods (UCR News).

Researchers are raising alarms after uncovering a disturbing trend: athletes may be at higher risk from microplastic exposure than previously thought, with early science suggesting profound implications for public health far beyond the sports world. As scientists only recently succeeded in detecting microplastics in human blood, the full scale of the threat is still unfolding—but early indications point to links between microplastic accumulation and a variety of chronic diseases, sparking urgent calls for action and further study.