107 of 360
Number of fluorinated drugs that may be subject to future restrictions.
This summer the anti-HIV medication lenacapavir showed a 100% success rate in Phase 3 clinical trials. But under the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's broadened definition of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), the drug could be classified as a member of the PFAS family and subject to restrictions. Lenacapavir is one of the 107 of 360 fluorine-containing small-molecule drugs that fit the new definition.
$91 billion
Value of metals in electronic waste.
Credit: Shutterstock
There's no question that the world has a trash problem. E-waste is no exception. The 2024 Global E-waste Monitor, published by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, found that the monetary value of the metals contained in global e-waste amounted to $91 billion.
12,000
Number of wind turbines decommissioned annually.
Discarded wind turbine blades lie in a field next to the town cemetery in Sweetwater, Texas.
Credit: Brandon Bell/Getty Images
In September, the US Department of Energy announced the final six winners of the Wind Turbine Materials Recycling Prize. While the turbines provide green energy, they are not entirely recyclable. About 12,000 of the enormous structures are decommissioned annually in the US and Europe, and nearly all the blades end up in landfills.
> 30 years
Period over which US law continued to allow one form of asbestos to be used.
Chrysotile asbestos easily splinters into mineral fibers. When inhaled, these fibers can cause lung cancer.
Credit: Shutterstock
The US Environmental Protection Agency enacted the first full ban of asbestos in 1989, but the ruling was struck down 2 years later. So, for more than 30 years, companies have continued to import and use chrysotile asbestos. But in March, the EPA issued a new rule banning this last form of asbestos in the US.
1,500 h
Time spent collecting astronomy data.
A section of the Taurus molecular cloud captured by ESA's Herschel Space Observatory in the far-infrared and submillimeter wavelengths.
Credit: ESA/Herschel/NASA/JPL-Caltech
Understanding the interstellar carbon cycle may hold clues for how life arose on Earth. This year, researchers used 1,500 h of data collected with the Green Bank Telescope and found 1-cyanopyrene—a large, carbon-based molecule—in the Taurus molecular cloud. Their discovery lends insight into the study of possible interstellar carbon reservoirs (Science 2024, DOI: 10.1126/science.adq6391).
2.8 million
Number of people who may be exposed to unsafe air in the US.
Researchers say the US air pollution monitoring network inadequately captures 44% of urban areas that exceed a new fine particulate standard.
Credit: Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images
In February, the US Environmental Protection Agency set a new standard for the safe concentration of particulate matter smaller than 2.5 µm. But scientists estimate that about 2.8 million people live in areas that are not adequately monitored and that most likely exceed this level (Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett. 2024, DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.4c00605).
1860s
Decade when global warming may have begun.
Researchers analyzed the skeletons of sclerosponges, bright orange sea sponges, to re-establish the onset of human-caused global warming.
Credit: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Researchers analyzing the mineralized skeletons of long-lived sponges concluded that human-caused global warming probably started in the 1860s—decades earlier than previously estimated. This new determination led the scientists to estimate that the global temperature has risen by about 1.7 °C since then. (Nat. Clim. Change 2024, DOI: 10.1038/s41558-023-01919-7).
52 million metric tons
Mass of plastic entering the environment.
Credit: Shutterstock
Researchers estimate that 52 million metric tons of plastic escapes into the global environment every year. Using a machine learning model, the scientists mapped the primary ways plastic escapes in countries across the world and pinpointed areas where government action could have the largest impact (Nature 2024, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07758-6).
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