A weekly roundup of public health news
Extreme weather hurting U.S. housing
Climate change is making housing more costly and less stable for many people in the U.S., new research shows.
As climate change makes extreme weather more frequent, property damage is becoming greater, and costs are increasing. People who live in areas that are prone to wildfires are particularly feeling the financial crunch, a recent study in the Journal of Risk and Insurance says.
Communities at elevated risk for wildfires pay higher interest rates on their municipal bonds, the costs of which are passed on to taxpayers. In the most vulnerable cities in the study, residents paid an additional $4 billion in property taxes to cover interest rate premiums between 2000 and 2022.
Coastal communities that are at high risk for sea level rise, another worsening climate change threat, pay even more interest, researchers said.
As extreme weather increases, more people are being forced from their homes. Displacement from disasters such as fires, floods and storms has accelerated homelessness in the U.S., according to a study published April 6 in JAMA Network Open.
Researchers examined five years of recent housing data, finding each home loss per 10,000 residents was linked to a 1 percentage-point increase in homelessness. They recommended building and retrofitting housing for greater climate resilience and improving support for housing recovery after disasters.
Those measures could help protect the mental health of people who experience disasters, which is worsening with climate change. Previous research has linked the growing severity and frequency of disasters such as floods, hurricanes and wildfires with depression, PTSD and anxiety, even among people who were not directly affected. A new study in the American Journal of Public Health finds people who struggle to afford rent or housing costs are more likely to experience climate-related mental health issues. LGBTQ+ residents, who may already face housing challenges because of discrimination, were particularly vulnerable.
PFAS contamination weakens immune response
Exposure to “forever chemicals” can make it harder for the human body to fight off infections, a new study in Environmental Research shows.
Published April 8, the research examined data on people in southwestern Michigan who had been exposed to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — also known as forever chemicals because of their inability to break down in the human body or the environment — through their drinking water supply. Residents who had higher levels of the chemicals in their blood produced fewer protective antibodies when their immune systems encountered a new virus, potentially making them more vulnerable to serious infections, researchers found.
Older adults, men and people who were overweight — populations that often have higher PFAS levels in their bodies — were more likely to have lower immune response. Nearly 40% of study participants showed high levels of PFAS from their exposure to the contaminated drinking water.
PFAS are a class of more than 12,000 manufactured chemicals used in products such as nonstick cookware and stain-resistant fabrics as well as firefighting foams. Exposure to the chemicals has been linked to cancer and liver disease. Previous research has found that people with high PFAS exposure may have lower immune response to vaccinations, particularly among children.
While some types of PFAS have been phased out, the chemicals remain common in consumer products, water and the environment.
Although the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized protective drinking water standards for PFAS chemicals in 2024 under the Biden administration, that work has since been pulled back. Under the Trump administration, EPA rescinded new limits for four PFAS chemicals and delayed lowering limits for two of the most common chemicals for at least another five years.
Travel times for childbirth care rise as hospitals cut services
As U.S. hospitals increasingly eliminate their obstetric services, pregnant women are being forced to travel farther for health care.
A new study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine finds access to hospital-based obstetric care declined nationwide from 2010 to 2021 as more facilities closed their labor and delivery units.
The steepest declines occurred in counties that lost all obstetric services. In those areas, the share of reproductive-age women living within a 30-minute drive to care dropped from more than 90% in 2010 to about 60% in 2021. Travel times remained largely unchanged in counties that kept services.
Rural communities were hit hardest. In some of them, access to care fell by more than half. People in rural areas already face longer travel distances and fewer health care options, and additional travel time can delay prenatal visits, complicate emergency care and increase risks during childbirth and recovery. Previous research has linked obstetric unit closures to worse outcomes for both pregnant women and newborns.
Hospitals have been closing obstetric units for years, often citing financial challenges. Low birth volumes, high staffing costs and low reimbursement rates, particularly from Medicaid, have made it difficult for some facilities to sustain services. Workforce shortages and rising malpractice insurance costs have added pressure, especially in rural areas.
More than 500 hospitals stopped offering obstetric care from 2010 to 2022, contributing to growing “maternity care deserts” across the country, a study published last year in Health Affairs found. By 2022, more than two-thirds of rural hospitals in eight states — Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Mississippi, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma and West Virginia — no longer provided obstetric services.
Other recent public health news of note:
• Heat from local traffic can increase city temperatures, a new study in the Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems finds. Researchers used real-world traffic data to model how heat from engines, exhaust and braking affects urban environments, finding they raised temperatures in both summer and winter. Street-level heat also moved into buildings, increasing indoor temperatures and demand for air conditioning in summer.
• Working double shifts may significantly increase physiological stress in nurses, according to new research in Nursing Open. Researchers found nurses working shifts of 16 hours or longer had about twice the level of cortisol at midnight compared with those on single shifts, suggesting their natural body rhythm was disrupted. Such disruptions are linked to sleep problems, fatigue and reduced cognitive performance, which can increase the risk of medical errors and long-term health issues.
Double shifts and extended 12-hour shifts are common in U.S. hospital nursing, often driven by staffing shortages. While some nurses prefer the compressed workweek schedule offered by the longer shifts, they have been linked to higher stress and errors in care.
• Plants grown for food are absorbing pharmaceuticals, microplastics and “forever chemicals,” which can alter their growth, harm soil health and pose environmental and human health risks, a new review of science in Plants People Planet concludes. Researchers analyzed hundreds of studies, finding the contaminants enter crops through wastewater, fertilizers and agricultural plastics. Some contaminants, particularly per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, can build up in edible plant tissues, the review said.
The Watch is written by Michele Late, who has more than two decades of experience as a public health journalist.
