"They are called forever chemicals for good reason. They don’t break down, lingering in our blood, water and soil. They’ve been linked to cancer, infertility, thyroid disease, developmental delays and immune dysfunction."

The momentum for clean indoor air continues to build. I attended the inaugural High-Level Side Event on indoor air quality at the UN General Assembly yesterday. Short remarks by Lidia Morawska @joeallenjoe.bsky.social @isiaq.bsky.social Pres. Kerry Kinney, ASHRAE, WHO, UNEP, many others.

Now with update 🙌

GIFTED, UNLOCKED ARTICLE: www.wsj.com/business/air... with expert input from @joeallenjoe.bsky.social This is disturbing. I'm considering adding a respirator with activated carbon to my travel kit.

Best part of the day was running into folks like Linsey and so many others in the indoor air/healthy buildings space.

My 3 imperatives from the UN event on indoor air. We must... 1. Recognize indoor health is fundamental to human health 2. Recommit to ventilation / filtration not just as a technical standard for minimally acceptable conditions, but as a cornerstone of public health 3. Require indoor air monitoring

--> did NOT lead to increased costs --> did NOT delay project timelines --> did NOT result in worse product performance or aesthetics --> DID lead to retrofitted spaces having nearly 80% lower levels of forever chemicals in dust The playbook: healthybuildings.hsph.harvard.edu/research/mat...

Coming up in an hour...

"Why on earth would we abandon institutions that have genuinely made America great? Why would we put at risk laboratories that are working to cure cancers or perfecting artificial limbs or exploring deep space or testing the limits of AI?" www.nytimes.com/2025/09/08/o...

Good air quality in schools is about to become even more important in Florida where they're pulling back on vaccinations 1⃣ Results highlight the primary importance of vaccination for reducing the risk of measles transmission 2⃣ Addt'l and significant benefits thru enhancing ventilation + filtration

The narrative out there is polarized as either “we need more AC” or “more AC is bad for the planet.” Both are true. We need more, but better, air conditioners, paired with other energy-efficient cooling mechanisms and strategies in, on, and around our buildings. 👇 www.bostonglobe.com/2024/06/19/o...

I don't have the energy to re-post this here...

over on twitter...

The fires in L.A. caught researchers attention very early b/c of the spike in lead, arsenic, and other metals in the smoke www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Right as we're making so much progress on Alzheimer's, cancer, and other diseases, the Trump Admin decides to slash scientific research across the country

Funding for this research was stopped by Trump --> "A study published last week...found that mice given a lithium-deficient diet had more amyloid, damaged neurons and impaired learning and memory. A low dose of lithium orotate reversed cognitive problems and restored memory."

What is Known? Air quality monitoring during the active fires showed elevated levels of lead in the air. Testing of firefighters found higher blood lead levels than their counterparts. [1/n]

Are current lead limits in soil strict enough to keep children safe? EPA uses 400ppm. California uses 80ppm. We don't think either are correct, and recommend 55ppm. hsph.harvard.edu/environmenta...

New study: researchers looked at hospital visits after a coal plant was closed near Pittsburgh --> immediate 20.5% decrease in weekly respiratory emergency dept visits --> immediate 41.2% decrease in pediatric asthma ED visits pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40691837/

Seed oils as "one of the driving problems of obesity"?? Promoting sugar cereals b/c they removed dye?? Claiming a win for soda b/c it has sugar v. corn syrup which the body doesn't differentiate?? American would benefit from a real MAHA movement. This ain't it. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/08/o...

NEW: Our Commentary highlighting wildfires as a national security threat. Policies to avoid urban fires becoming human disasters: 1. Forest and land management 2. Assessment of critical infrastructure and building codes 3. Predesigned fire evacuation plans 4. Reducing exposures to air pollutants

This man is a menace. The mRNA covid vaccine was developed in record time and saved millions of lives. When - not if - we get hit with another pandemic, this will also be the tech that could get us out of it quickly. Not only is this a threat to health, also a national security and economic threat

7M Americans are living with Alzheimer's. Expected to be 13M by 20250.

Funding for this groundbreaking research on Alzheimer's was terminated by the Trump Administration www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/06/m...

--> 7M in US with Alzheimers --> New Harvard study finds treatment to slow brain aging --> Funding...STOPPED This is maddening www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/06/m...

NYT runs a piece that is a smoking ad for kids ACTUAL QUOTES IN THIS ARTICLE "the deliberate draw and release of breath and the heady nicotine buzz all engage the senses in a way that can’t be replicated on a screen." "it’s a celebration of being alive" [1/n]

Must-read by @dwallacewells.bsky.social In my book I open a chapter w this from Rachel Carson: --> "If we are going to live so intimately with these chemicals eating and drinking them, taking them into the very marrow of our bones - we had better know something about their nature and their power."

Cooling tower-linked infections can happen up to 2 miles from the source. And legionella are ubiquitous. That combo makes ID'ing the specific source of this outbreak difficult. Best approach is to reinforce water treatment for all cooling towers in the area (as should normally be happening, anyway…)

Risks from forever chemicals are accumulating: --> 200M in U.S. have them in their water --> 99% have them in our blood --> Less well-known: They are widely found in the air and dust in our buildings In HBR, we show how companies can tackle that last point

Relying on temp for heat risk misleads. Texas, which hits 100, isn't going to be the problem today... LEFT: temp RIGHT: wet bulb globe temp What's that?? --> www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Coverage of our latest research analyzing the health and climate co-benefits of energy conservation measures in buildings --> air quality-related health burdens can be up to 10x the climate burden --> new (free!) digital tool called CoBE-EU www.bu.edu/sph/news/art...

New article our paper! www.bu.edu/sph/news/art... @busph.bsky.social @joeallenjoe.bsky.social and many others not on here. tl;dr, if you want to improve health and the climate, build renewables in places with coal!

“You can’t violate the constitution to terminate a contract. There are limits to what you can terminate and why and how.” -U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs They're breaking the law. And it's not just the Harvard case. Now the big question comes for the country - do people care?

Could America gamble away its scientific supremacy in the service of ideology? It has happened before. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

The healthier materials landscape can be unnecessarily confusing. Here's a simple 2-part playbook we're using at Harvard. Harvard's Healthier Materials Playbook healthybuildings.hsph.harvard.edu/research/mat... HBR: Creating Workplaces Free of Forever Chemicals hbr.org/2025/04/crea...

The L.A. fires released a plume of lead from homes and cars that showed up in air quality monitors, and then in blood of firefighters, and in soil and dust Learn more about our work: www.latimes.com/environment/... lafirehealth.org abcnews.go.com/GMA/News/vid...

"based on their physical appearance"

Good article by @nohaggerty.bsky.social covering our L.A. Fire Health research consortium, and the on-going issue of lead (and arsenic) in soil after the fires. 🧵

4/ Now for the breakdown: At this week’s ACIP meeting, CDC scientists showed deep expertise. But many new committee members lacked basic knowledge, confused core science, and echoed conspiracy theories. That’s pretty alarming for a group tasked with shaping vaccine policy for 330 million Americans.

Really great interview of @carlzimmer.com about his book, AIR-BORNE, by my colleague Yonatan Gard, with some nice @hsph.harvard.edu history (and cautionary tale about the importance of basic research w utility and importance that isn't always recognized in the moment...). Link in 🧵

What a lede: "The meeting began with an airing of pandemic-era grievances and closed with a move to cement a decades-old, long-dismissed anti-vaccine talking point into U.S. national policy." @jasonmast.bsky.social www.statnews.com/2025/06/26/c...

The denigrating and characterization of Harvard by outsiders is really so off-base. Want to know the Harvard I know? I'm on a zoom with a Harvard professor who is calling into a meeting *from a bomb shelter* in Israel, to support the people of L.A. impacted by the fires.

Sunken Superyacht Bayesian Is Raised Off Sicily Prior --> Posterior

DID YOU KNOW: --> the heat index assumes you’re **in the shade** and **resting** --> but being in direct sunlight can add 15 degrees to the heat index #WBGT #WetBulbGlobeTemp

It's hot today - and even more deadly tomorrow. Reminder: WBGT (wet bulb globe temp) shows true daytime heat risk outdoors. Left: air temp (looks hot but manageable) Right: WBGT (shows how truly deadly it will be across wide swath of U.S.) What's WBGT? www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

New study: Heat stress and wildfire exposure in trimester-specific time periods were associated with adverse birth outcomes 🧵

BTW, that's the *2024* revenue, before the new facility was launched, before they scale up to 100 facilities... --> MANY-BILLION DOLLAR PROBLEM

"This proposal sends a troubling message: that nursing science is expendable." --> Editorial by @adarcymahoney.bsky.social on the proposed elimination of NINR. Nurse-led research shapes policy & improves care. "Don’t fold nursing science—fund it!" journals.healio.com/doi/10.3928/...

Want to get a sense of the size of the Forever Chemicals problem? --> Veolia launched massive new facility to treat contaminated water --> They *already* have 34 smaller facilities like it around the country --> They want to get to 100 (!) --> Forever Chemical cleanup revenue? €205M

Indoor Air - Lung Health - Gut Microbiome (!)