Latest news with #Browne
Newsweek
4 hours ago
- Science
- Newsweek
'Unintended Consequences' Put Forever Chemical in US Air for First Time
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Scientists have made the first documented airborne detection of a toxic chemical pollutant known as Medium Chain Chlorinated Paraffins (MCCPs) in the Western Hemisphere. The findings, published in ACS Environmental Au, came during a month-long field campaign in Oklahoma by researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder, who used a high-resolution chemical ionization mass spectrometer designed to study how aerosol particles form in the atmosphere. While the team expected to observe known compounds, the instruments instead registered isotopic patterns that led to the identification of MCCPs—pollutants previously detected in Asia and Antarctica, but never before in North American air. File image: PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, used in a range of applications. File image: PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, used in a range of applications. Photo by Tunatura / Getty Images "When we first realized that we had measured MCCPs, we were intrigued and cautious," Ellie Browne, CU Boulder chemistry professor, CIRES Fellow, and co-author of the study, told Newsweek in an email. "Since we had not planned on measuring these compounds, we first had to learn about them and also make sure that our measurements were of high-quality," Browne said. "Once we determined that we indeed were detecting these compounds in the atmosphere, we recognized the importance of these measurements and were excited to contribute to the understanding of how these compounds move through the environment and ultimately impact peoples' lives." Why It Matters MCCPs are used in metalworking, PVC plastics and textiles. "MCCP emissions occur across the entire lifecycle of those products including manufacture, use and disposal," Browne said. Like their chemical cousins—short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs), which are already regulated—they resist degradation and can travel long distances in the environment. Because SCCPs have been phased out under U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Stockholm Convention regulations, MCCPs have become more common. Browne said MCCPs have previously been difficult to find in tests, even though researchers expected them to be present in North America. "We always have these unintended consequences of regulation, where you regulate something and then there's still a need for the products that those were in," Browne said in a university release, "So they get replaced by something." What To Know Researchers suspect the MCCPs they found originated from biosolid fertilizers—waste byproducts from sewage treatment—applied to nearby farmland. "While one exposure might not be harmful, because these chemicals can travel long distances and last a long-time in the environment and in living organisms, repeated and continued exposure becomes worrisome," Browne told Newsweek. "Measurements such as ours are critical for evaluating and predicting how these chemicals move through and build-up in the environment. They also inform when and how people are exposed to them. This knowledge is then used to protect people and the environment." While their presence was unexpected, MCCPs share structural traits with PFAS, or "forever chemicals", now banned in Oklahoma's biosolid fertilizers due to persistence and health risks. What's Next The team wants to continue studying how MCCPs end up in the atmosphere and where they are most prevalent, although future studies depend on funding, according to Browne. "Understanding how our health is impacted by the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat requires measuring what compounds are present in air, water and food," she told Newsweek. "Our measurements enhance the understanding of how MCCPs move through the environment and how we may be exposed to these compounds, however, more measurements and investigations are required to understand the problem. "We are excited to see how our measurements contribute to awareness of and investigation into MCCPs. It is important to remember that keeping our communities healthy requires investment in science funding so that studies such as this one can continue."
Dublin Live
5 hours ago
- Business
- Dublin Live
Housing Minister admits rents may go up due to new RPZ plans
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info Housing Minister James Browne has conceded that rents 'may go up in certain cases' due to his new Rent Pressure Zone plans. The Fianna Fail TD also admitted that the housing target of 41,000 in 2025 is 'no longer realistic'. The RPZs restrict the amount a landlord can increase rents by 2% or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower. Nationwide RPZs came into effect from midnight. The President confirmed last night that he had signed the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Bill 2025 into law following its passage through the Dail and the Seanad this week. More sweeping measures will be introduced next March that will see tenants enter into six-year contracts. However, landlords will be able to increase the rent to market rates either at the end of the six-year period or whenever a tenant leaves voluntarily. Minister Browne conceded that some rents may increase under the plans. He said: 'The only way we can get rents down is to increase supply. That's having a certain system in place for tenants, for landlords and investors. 'The current system is clearly not working. The Housing Agency report made that very clear, we have one of the toughest rent control systems in the world, and it is clearly impacting on supply. Rents may go up in certain cases. I certainly hope they don't.' Join our Dublin Live breaking news service on WhatsApp. Click this link to receive your daily dose of Dublin Live content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice . For all the latest news from Dublin and surrounding areas visit our homepage .
Irish Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Business
- Irish Daily Mirror
Minister says some rents may increase as he admits 41,000 homes 'not realistic'
Housing Minister James Browne has conceded that rents "may go up in certain cases" due to his new Rent Pressure Zone plans. The Fianna Fáil TD also admitted that the housing target of 41,000 in 2025 is "no longer realistic". Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) are expected to be extended across the country by the end of the week after the Government's decision to rush the legislation through the Dáil. The RPZs restrict the amount that a landlord can increase rents by two per cent or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower. More sweeping measures will be introduced next March that will see tenants enter into six-year contracts. However, landlords will be able to increase the rent to market rates either at the end of the six-year period or whenever a tenant leaves voluntarily. This has led to concern that short-term renters, such as students, will be negatively affected by rent rises. It has also angered the opposition, who argue that landlords will be able to increase rents regularly. Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Minister Browne conceded that some rents may increase under the plans. He said: "The only way we can get rents down is to increase supply. That's having a certain system in place for tenants, for landlords and investors. "The current system is clearly not working. The Housing Agency report made that very clear, we have one of the toughest rent control systems in the world, and it is clearly impacting on supply. "Rents may go up in certain cases. I certainly hope they don't. "Our aim is to get rents down by increasing the level of supply. That's what we need to see happen." Speaking separately on Newstalk, Minister Browne also conceded that the Government will miss its housing target of 41,000. He said: "I think the challenge we have this year is we're coming off a much lower base from last year than was expected. We had hoped for much higher figures last year. "I think, looking at all of the different predictions, which are fairly consistent, I think 41,000 is not realistic for this year. "We will wait to see how the year works out. I don't particularly like getting into predictions. "My position as minister is to maximise supply, maximise the delivery of new homes and, irrespective of what the housing numbers will be this year, I'm making a step change so we can get that housing supply up, because we need to get from 30,000 onto 50,000, on to 60,000 houses. "40,000 houses is nowhere near enough." Social Democrats housing spokesman Rory Hearne criticised Minister Browne's comments. He said: "This morning, the Minister for Housing said that, in the wake of recent government policies, 'rents may go up… I certainly hope they don't.' "This interaction illustrates the government's uninformed, spray and pray approach to tackling the housing crisis – the Minister either knows his policies will cause an increase in rent cost, which he hollowly apologises for, or he doesn't understand how his policies will affect the market. "It's incompetence like this that has caused the Central Bank to downgrade its forecast for how many homes will be built this year and over the following two years – just when it looks like we can't fall any further, the government finds a way to worsen housing outlook."
Irish Independent
a day ago
- Business
- Irish Independent
Housing target of 41,000 ‘not realistic', says Housing Minister James Browne
Mr Browne has admitted previously that meeting the 2025 target would be "extremely challenging" and all predictions are trending around 34,000. Speaking on Newstalk on Thursday, he said he is committed to enacting a "step change" in the housing department and will clear "the dead wood out of the way so that homes can get delivered". "I think the challenge we have this year is we're coming off a much lower base from last year than was expected," he said of the housing targets. "We had hoped for much higher figures last year. "I think, looking at all of the different predictions, which are fairly consistent, I think 41,000 is not realistic for this year. "We will wait to see how the year works out. I don't particularly like getting into predictions. "My position as minister is to maximise supply, maximise the delivery of new homes and, irrespective of what the housing numbers will be this year, I'm making a step change so we can get that housing supply up, because we need to get from 30,000 onto 50,000, on to 60,000 houses. "40,000 houses is nowhere near enough." The last Fianna Fail-Fine Gael coalition built more than 130,000 homes between 2020 and 2024, while the current coalition has set a target of in excess of 300,000 new homes between 2025 and 2030. The target for this year is 41,000 new builds, despite the fact the Government missed its target of 33,450 last year and also missed its newbuild social housing target by 1,429 last year. The Central Bank has also projected the Government will miss its own housing targets by a wide margin for the next three years - and on Thursday revised its prediction down further, predicting 32,500 newbuilds by the end of 2025. ADVERTISEMENT The Government is being pressured again over the housing crisis after announcing a swathe of new rent and housing measures. This includes the introduction of rent caps nationwide of 2pc or to inflation, whichever is lower. This will apply to around a fifth of tenancies not already covered, but has been criticised for allowing rents to "reset" to the market rate when renters voluntarily leave a tenancy. New six-year minimum tenancies on offer from March next year have been criticised for allowing landlords to "reset" rents every six years. The Fianna Fail-Fine Gael Government, supported by several independents, has insisted boosting supply is the best way to encourage affordability while opposition parties argue more state-owned homes and regulation is needed. Meanwhile, speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland this morning as well, the minister said he expects that rent pressure zones could be extended to the entirety of the country by tomorrow night. He said: 'I have had to make choices, I have brought in a permanent rent control for the country. "It will begin on 1 March 2026 but we are taking emergency measures in the meantime. It will bring in important protections for rents. The important thing is for existing tenancies, about 200,000 people, nothing will change if you stay in your current tenancy. The current rule - that rent can only go up by inflation or only 2pc, whichever the lower - will remain. His comments come as he announced earlier in the week that it would be 'unworkable and unenforceable' to ask landlords to reduce rents for students. 'The second thing is what we expect from tomorrow night or certainly by the end of the week that we will have rent pressure zones extended to the entirety of the country. 'A further protection measure we are bringing in for renters is what's known as security of tenure. That will mean people will have certainty as to their rental position. However, to be able to bring that in under the advice of the constitution, because landlords have strong property rights, they need to be able to have some measure where they can reset their rent. The minister has previously discussed six-year minimum tenancies from March next year, which has been criticised by the opposition for allowing landlords to reset rents every six years or when tenants leave of their own volition. Minister Browne added: 'So the only way they would be able to reset their rent is if a tenant voluntarily leaves the property and a new tenant comes in. For example, if the landlord serves notice to quit, to sell a property, they won't be able to reset the rent, so there is no economic incentive to move them out. But if a tenant voluntarily moves out that landlord will be able to reset the rent.'
Extra.ie
2 days ago
- Business
- Extra.ie
Thousands of Airbnb lettings set to become illegal from tomorrow
Housing Minister James Browne will not exempt short-term lets from emergency laws, which means thousands of Airbnb-type lettings will not be able to operate legally this weekend. The Dáil voted last night to approve emergency legislation to extend Rent Pressure Zones to the entire country. Under RPZ rules, short-term lets such as Airbnb are required to have planning permission in order to operate. Thousands of these properties will be subsumed into RPZs as early as tomorrow, when it is expected the legislation will be signed into law. Under RPZ rules, someone can let their entire home for a maximum of 90 days without planning permission, but only if it is their principal private residence. Housing Minister James Browne will not exempt short-term lets from emergency laws, which means thousands of Airbnb-type lettings will not be able to operate legally this weekend. Pic: Daniel Krason/Shutterstock A spokeswoman for the Housing Minister has confirmed to that there will be no exemptions made, despite the change effectively rendering thousands of Airbnb rentals illegal within days. 'RPZ rules will apply as they do currently when new areas are zoned as an RPZ,' she said. It comes despite lobbying from within the coalition against such an approach. Michael Healy Rae told the Irish Times on Wednesday that he was concerned about the impact the measures would have. Meanwhile, several senior sources told they expected the new laws to be flouted. Pic: Gareth Chaney/Collins They said that, as there is so little compliance and enforcement of the existing rules, they did not expect it to be an issue. 'We don't really expect there to be people hauled up before the courts as a result of this because they aren't being brought up in counties already in RPZs where they are clearly operating,' one source said. 'It's a matter for planning ultimately, but the current regime isn't being implemented,' a separate Government source said. The extension of the RPZs is part of a suite of changes to the rental market that were announced by Minister Browne last week. Pic: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin It is understood that Mr Browne will insist that any further changes to short-term lets will only be permitted in the Short Term Letting and Tourism Bill, which is in the early stages of making its way through the Oireachtas. The extension of the RPZs is part of a suite of changes to the rental market that were announced by Minister Browne last week. Opposition TDs were scathing in their criticism of the Government's changes to the rental market last night. Sinn Féin housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin described the emergency legislation as an 'utter shambles'. 'In my entire time in Dáil Éireann, I have never witnessed a more haphazard, back-of-the-envelope process for putting in place widespread reforms that are going to impact tens of thousands of people,' he said. Labour TD Conor Sheehan said the announcement of the rent reform plans was 'nothing short of shambolic'.
