Health

Rental cars and taxi cabs aren't great, either.

If you live close to a traffic-heavy highway, you have a greater risk of being diagnosed with dementia.

A study from the University of Toronto examined the emissions of 100,000 vehicles in real-world conditions and found that 25 percent of them were responsible for over 90 percent of some pollutants.

A newly released study finds that the emissions from post-2007, EPA-compliant diesel engines do not show risks of causing lung cancer in lab rats. The animals were exposed to the exhaust for 80 hours a week for up to 30 months. Previous studies have shown much more adverse effects from older diesels.

That dirty look parents (OK, some parents) give a cigarette smoker blowing smoke towards their kids? Maybe those should extend to drivers of cars using conventional internal-combustion engines. Which would make for a whole lot of stink-eye.

Some of the world's most notoriously smoggy cities are hoping for relief in a new plan taking aim at what's coming out of their tailpipes. In response to serious air pollution problems and an attempt to meet emissions standards, China plans to decommission more than 5 million aging vehicles by the end of 201

Airborne particulate matter can really do a number on us humans, particularly with regard to our cardiovascular systems. It seems reasonable for air pollution, then, to be a major concern when calculating the environmental and health costs of the way we do business. Diesel-powered transport has come under particularly

If there were ever a reason for automakers like Audi and Volkswagen to get their "clean diesel" technology – or something even cleaner, i.e., zero-emission vehicles – on the road, this is it. Researchers at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands say up to six percent of lung-cancer deaths in

This... doesn't seem right, but just bear with this report from Wired. It seems as though driving over speed bumps can reveal those who are enduring acute appendicitis. This was a rumored thing among medical circles based purely on anecdotal data, but now there is an empirical study by the University of Oxford and Stoke Mandeville Hospital in the UK to back it up.

Moderately obese people, who have a body mass index greater than 30, typically shave three years off of their lives, just by being overweight. (Morbidly obese people lose 10 years, according to one study.) And then there's that long list of potential health problems obese people face in America ranging from asthma and diabetes to heart disease and cancer – as well as s

Tiny chemical particles emitted by diesel fumes could raise the risk of heart attacks, research has shown. Scientists have found that ultrafine particles produced when diesel burns are harmful to blood vessels and can increase the chances of blood clots forming in arteries, leading to a heart attack or stroke.

Toyota has just released its annual sustainability report – a tome that delves into everything from the company's air-conditioning habits and the environmental impact of its individual models to the health of its employees. Needless to say, there are plenty of revelations stacked into the report, but one of the most surprising is that Toyota employees are now less likely to smoke and be obese than they were four years ago. According to

This is a particularly busy time for studies trying to understand the impact of green vehicles. Here's a quick round-up:

Facing a looming June 1 deadline to reach agreements with the bondholders and union, General Motors may have failed to come to terms with the former, but it has reportedly arrived at a tentative concessions agreement with latter. The deal puts the United Auto Workers' trust fund in charge of future health care costs in exchange for a 17.5% stake in the reorganized General Motors. Th

According to the Associated Press, certain gravel roads in western North Dakota use erionite, a mineral that is mined in the Killdeer mountains. Erionite forms wool-like fribrous masses among rock formations and has properties similar to asbestos. Scientists suspect that, like asbestos, erionite collects in the lungs in those fibrous masses, a factor that could lead to lung cancer in people who have long-term exposure to it.

When discussing the expense of buying an electric or hybrid car, it seems too often the costs taken into consideration are merely short-term monetary ones. However, a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine last week makes it clear that there are some savings to be realized that go far beyond filthy lucre. Its findings reveal that cleaner air directly correlates to a longer life. For instance, of the three year increase in the average American lifespan between 1978 and 2001, t

"Yikes! What are you even talking about? I only wanted a hybrid, not cancer!", you might be thinking to yourself after reading the headline. Well relax, it's probably nothing. But apparently in addition to being a danger to blind pedestrians, the hybrid car is now being looked at askance by some people because of the electromagnetic field (Domenick Yoney