Topic description and stories

Packaging incorporating Xampla's plant-based plastic

‘Vegan spider silk’ provides sustainable alternative to single-use plastics

10 Jun 2021

Researchers have created a plant-based, sustainable, scalable material that could replace single-use plastics in many consumer products.

Read more

Tree rings show scale of Arctic pollution is worse than previously thought

25 Sep 2020

The largest-ever study of tree rings from Norilsk in the Russian Arctic has shown that the direct and indirect effects of industrial pollution in the...

Read more
Oncoming Traffic

COVID-19 severity associated with increased levels of air pollution in England, preliminary study finds

21 Apr 2020

Scientists at the University of Cambridge have found an association between living in an area of England with high levels of air pollution and the...

Read more

Smog-eating graphene composite reduces atmospheric pollution

05 Dec 2019

An international group of scientists, including from the University of Cambridge, have developed a graphene composite that can ‘eat’ common...

Read more
Winding through London

Cambridge researchers supporting world's largest air quality monitoring network in London

17 Jan 2019

Cambridge researchers are using their expertise in air quality sensors to support the new Breathe London project launched by Mayor Sadiq Khan earlier...

Read more
University of Cambridge researchers

Black researchers shaping the future

10 Oct 2018

As the UK marks Black History Month, researchers from across the University talk about their route to Cambridge, their inspiration and their...

Read more

Filter bed beside Afon Rheidol Water draining from an adjacent disused silver-lead mine is passed through these filter beds so as to allow the toxic heavy metals to settle out, thereby reducing pollution of the river.

Experts warn of cardiovascular risk from heavy metal pollution

29 Aug 2018

Even low doses of toxic chemicals in the environment pose a significant risk to cardiovascular health, according to a report in today’s edition of...

Read more

Cambridge researchers join new initiative on urban air pollution

25 Jun 2018

Cambridge researchers are part of a cutting-edge project unveiled by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan last week to better understand Londoners’ exposure to...

Read more
Close-up of wax worm next to biodegraded holes in a polyethylene plastic shopping bag from a UK supermarket as used in the experiment.

Caterpillar found to eat shopping bags, suggesting biodegradable solution to plastic pollution

24 Apr 2017

A common insect larva that eats beeswax has been found to break down chemical bonds in the plastic used for packaging and shopping bags at uniquely...

Read more

Carbon dioxide can be stored underground for ten times the length needed to avoid climatic impact

28 Jul 2016

Study of natural-occurring 100,000 year-old CO2 reservoirs shows no significant corroding of ‘cap rock’, suggesting the greenhouse gas hasn’t leaked...

Read more
Jogging on a bright November morning (cropped)

Walking and cycling good for health even in cities with higher levels of air pollution

05 May 2016

The health benefits of walking and cycling outweigh the negative effects on health of air pollution, even in cities with high levels of air pollution...

Read more
Rotherhithe tunnel 6

Bad air day? Low-cost pollution detectors to tackle air quality

02 Jun 2015

Pollution causes 30,000 people a year in the UK to die early yet most of us are unaware of the degree to which we are exposed to it. Low-cost...

Read more

Pages