Storing chemicals in a garage at home may associate with an increased risk of ALS, a study finds. This comes as research has found that exposure to environmental toxins, such as pesticides and volatile organic compounds, are also linked to ALS development. Researchers call the buildup of exposures of the lifetime the ALS exposome.
Tag: volatile organic compounds
$200,000 award for proof dogs can sniff Alzheimer’s disease, says Dr. Leslie Norins of Alzheimer’s Germ Quest
Parkinson’s disease, another neurodegenerative process, produces in patients a unique smell, which trained dogs can detect. Alzheimer’s disease, the leading dementia, needs to be similarly studied. This $200,000 challenge award is posted to help stimulate this necessary research.
‘E-nose’ sniffs out mixtures of volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
Some household products release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that negatively impact health, including xylene, which exists as isomers that are hard to monitor separately. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Sensors have developed an electric nose that can accurately distinguish xylene isomer mixtures.
$600,000 grant funds new UAH study probing influence of trees’ organic compounds on rain
In order for it to get cloudy or rain, first moisture has to condense around particulate matter in the air called aerosols, and volatile organic compounds made by trees can be precursors to the kinds of tiny particles that eventually make clouds and rain.
Detecting an unprecedented range of potentially harmful airborne compounds (video)
Many products release molecules that drift through the air. Some can potentially cause health problems. Researchers now report a personal air-sampling system that can detect an unprecedented range of these compounds from a special badge or pen. They will present their results at ACS Fall 2021.
Something in the Air: Embedded Gas Sensing Device Promises Simple, Accurate Volatile Organic Compounds Detection
Emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids, volatile organic compounds include a variety of chemicals, and many are associated with adverse health effects so detecting VOCs simply, quickly, and reliably is valuable for several practical applications. In Review of Scientific Instruments, researchers describe a device designed to analyze air samples containing various VOCs. The device inhales a sample, enabling the sensors within its aluminum gas chamber to analyze and respond in real situations.
Rutgers Professor Joan Bennett Elected to American Academy of Arts & Sciences
Joan W. Bennett, a Distinguished Professor of plant biology and pathology at Rutgers University–New Brunswick, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. She joins neurosurgeon and CNN medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center atmospheric scientist Ann Thompson and media entrepreneur and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey.
Research News Tip Sheet: Story Ideas from Johns Hopkins Medicine
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Johns Hopkins Medicine Media Relations is focused on disseminating current, accurate and useful information to the public via the media. As part of that effort, we are distributing our “COVID-19 Tip Sheet: Story Ideas from Johns Hopkins” every other Wednesday.
Those funky cheese smells allow microbes to “talk” to and feed each other
Researchers found that bacteria essential to ripening cheese can sense and respond to compounds produced by fungi in the rind and released into the air, enhancing the growth of some species of bacteria over others. The make-up of the cheese microbiome is critical to flavor and quality of the cheese.