Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
A collaborative new report has detailed the wide-ranging health impacts of plastics, right from their production all the way to their use and eventual disposal.
An analysis released Tuesday by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Cape Code, Mass., found that along with contributing to climate change, "plastics cause disease, impairment and premature mortality at every stage of their life cycle."
This includes the health and occupational hazards of plastic production, the ingestion and inhalation of microplastic and nanoplastic particles, and their ability to transmit pathogenic microorganisms.
Toxic chemicals added to plastics are also known to increase the risk of miscarriage, obesity, cardiovascular disease and cancer, the researchers say.
But while the potential harms from plastics to human health may be news to some, the researchers say scientists have been aware of the negative environmental impacts for decades.
"It's only been a little over 50 years since we've been aware of the presence of plastics throughout the ocean," said John Stegeman, a senior scientist in the Department of Biology at WHOI and one of the lead authors on a section in the report about the impact of plastics on oceans.
Scientists at the Minderoo Foundation, Centre Scientifique de Monaco and Boston College led the report, called The Minderoo-Monaco Commission on Plastics and Human Health.
The researchers say current plastic production, use and disposal are both unsustainable and responsible for "significant harm to human health, the economy and the environment — especially the ocean — as well as deep societal injustices."
Plastics make up approximately four to five per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions across their life cycle, the report says, about the same as all emissions from Russia.
As part of the study, the researchers estimated the cost of plastic production on health to be approximately US$250 billion over a 12-month period, based on data from 2015. The researchers say this is greater than the GDPs of either New Zealand or Finland for that year.
The issue of plastics disproportionately affects vulnerable, low-income minority communities, particularly children, the researchers say.
Along with hundreds of billions dollars more in health-care costs caused by the chemicals in plastics, they say poorer communities, where fast food and discount stores are more common, are exposed to more plastic packaging, products and associated chemicals.
The scientists recommend better monitoring of the effects of plastics and their associated chemicals on marine species, as well as more information on the concentrations of the smallest plastic particles in marine environments.
With a global plastics treaty in the works at the United Nations, the researchers say its focus should extend beyond marine litter to include the entire life cycle of plastics.
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.
B.C. conservation officers recently seized a nine-foot-long Burmese python from a home in Chilliwack.
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
The Ontario government is introducing changes to auto-insurance, but some experts say the move is ill-advised.
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
Newfoundland’s unique version of the Pine Marten has grown out of its threatened designation.
A Toronto man is out $12,000 after falling victim to a deepfake cryptocurrency scam that appeared to involve Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
It started small with a little pop tab collection to simply raise some money for charity and help someone — but it didn’t take long for word to get out that 10-year-old Jace Weber from Mildmay, Ont. was quickly building up a large supply of aluminum pop tabs.
There’s a group of people in Saskatoon that proudly call themselves dumpster divers, and they’re turning the city’s trash into treasure.
Ontario is facing a larger than anticipated deficit but the Doug Ford government still plans to balance its books before the next provincial election.