Latest news with #essentialworkers
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Researchers make concerning discovery in blood of firefighters and health care workers: 'Potential sources of exposure remain unclear'
There are heroes who put their lives and health on the line to protect others every day. We want those brave and selfless people to be celebrated and protected as much as possible, so it's a huge problem to discover that they're more at risk than we previously knew. Unfortunately, it turns out that firefighters and health care workers have above-average levels of toxic PFAS in their bodies, and we're not sure why, reported the University of Arizona. A recent study published in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology looked at the levels of multiple perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances in the blood of various essential workers. It found that firefighters and health care workers had elevated levels of certain PFAS compared with other groups. The study had 1,960 participants, including 280 firefighters, 787 health care workers, and 734 other essential workers. It took place over three years. During that time, the overall level of PFAS in the blood samples studied declined but was still significant. "Our study reinforces previous research showing elevated PFAS levels among firefighters and suggests that health care workers may have unique sources of PFAS exposure as well," said senior author Kate Ellingson, a professor at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, per the University of Arizona. "Our findings underscore the need to understand occupational exposure pathways for PFAS among different types of workers." PFAS are toxic substances also known as "forever chemicals" because they essentially never break down in the environment or the body. Instead, they build up. PFAS are used in a wide range of products, especially ones that are water- or stain-resistant. They pollute our water and soil and cause a wide range of serious health effects. "Almost all adults in the U.S. have detectable levels of certain PFAS, and people in occupations with more frequent exposure to PFAS-containing materials have been shown to exhibit higher serum concentrations of some PFAS," said co-author Jeff Burgess, a professor and the director of the Center for Firefighter Health Collaborative Research at the Zuckerman College of Public Health, per the University of Arizona. "Research into occupational exposure to PFAS is vital to reduce the health risks associated with PFAS, including but not limited to increases in rates of certain cancers, increases in cholesterol levels, lower antibody response to certain immunizations, and increased rates of certain adverse reproductive outcomes." Identifying the issue is the first step in addressing it. "To date, PFAS exposure in health care settings has not been widely studied, and the potential sources of exposure remain unclear," said Ellingson. "Therefore, it's important to further examine specific exposure routes and health consequences for firefighters and health care workers." Scientists are also working on ways to destroy PFAS. Do you worry about having toxic forever chemicals in your home? Majorly Sometimes Not really I don't know enough about them Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
CTV News
3 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
‘Invisible poor': Middle-income households making up to $125K annually getting squeezed out of the GTHA: report
An office worker talks on the phone in the financial district of Toronto, on Thursday, June 2, 2016. The working middle class in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area – a group that includes teachers, nurses and other essential workers – have become 'the invisible poor' and could soon be squeezed out of the region due to the ongoing housing crisis, a new report suggests. On Tuesday, CivicAction published the first instalment of a four-part research series delving into the challenges middle-income workers in the GTHA face. The authors of the report defined middle class workers as those making anywhere between $40,000 and $125,000 annually. 'Despite steady employment, they are increasingly becoming our region's 'invisible poor—often overlooked because they have jobs and are assumed to be managing, even as rising costs push them towards financial precarity,' the report reads. Since those who belong to the working middle class make more than what would qualify them for traditional housing supports, CivicAction says that the group ends up spending 45 to 63 per cent of their income towards housing—far surpassing the 30 per cent chunk typically recommended by financial experts. 'I'll give you the example (of) a nurse earning $80,000 a year today, (they) will need to earn over $200,000 to qualify for a mortgage for an average Toronto home,' Leslie Woo, CivicAction's CEO tells CTV News Toronto. 'That's our current situation.' The report notes that while the annual median household income in Toronto is $100,400, salaries have not kept up with rising housing costs. As a result, Toronto's price-to-income ratio has now reached 11.8 times the median household income, meaning homebuyers in the city with an average income would need to dedicate 76.9 per cent of their salary toward mortgage payments on an average priced home. The report warns of a 'downstream crisis,' which is when working people and families are past their financial breaking point and have to make hard decisions, up to and including leaving the region entirely. In the last decade, more than 500,000 people from the GTHA moved elsewhere in the province, like to the Simcoe or Niagara regions, while roughly 31,000 people moved to other provinces in Canada, like B.C., Alberta, Nova Scotia or New Brunswick. Workers dissatisfied with housing and commute CivicAction and the Boston Consulting Group are actively conducting an online survey, analyzing responses from middle class workers who commute at least 30 minutes each way, either by car or public transit. The survey's preliminary results, compiled in early May after four weeks of polling, found nearly two-thirds of middle-income workers—62 per cent—are unsatisfied with either or both their housing or commuting situation. The majority of respondents—67.7 per cent—indicated wanting to do something to address their current dissatisfaction, with around 39 per cent considering changing jobs to so they are closer to home or just shy of 29 per cent looking to find a place to live closer to work 'We recognize that the folks who power this region, nurses, firefighters, personal care workers, teachers, they are—I think—a critical part of what makes this region livable, and their voice and an understanding of their needs, needs to be part of when policies are being made or initiatives that are underway, or money that is being spent, that we're truly benefiting them, and the best way to ensure that is to understand more deeply how they're affected and what it is that they need in order to meet their needs and their families needs,' Woo said. How this impacts the GTHA The high levels of stress mounting for middle-income workers in the GTHA can spill into other aspects of life, the report suggests, acting as sort of a 'canary in the coalmine' that can create an untenable situation for the region in the long run. The report notes a growing number of middle-income workers are less than 'one pay cheque away' from falling into serious financial distress, with the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada's well-being survey determining 56 per cent of Canadian households are struggling to keep up with their financial commitments—up from 38 per cent in 2019—while 35 per cent borrow money to cover the costs of daily expenses, which is up by eight per cent since 2019. More people are using the food bank, with Toronto Daily Bread Food Bank's 2024 report indicating a record-breaking 3.49 million visitors, amounting to one in 10 residents having used their food banks last year. But the affordability issue goes far beyond how it is impacting individual households. From the business standpoint, the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis in 2024 determined 29 per cent of local businesses reported difficulty attracting employees while 20 per cent struggle to retain skilled employees. 'Perhaps most concerning for regional economic development and competitiveness, the Toronto Region Board of Trade (2022) found that 42 per cent of businesses are considering relocation specifically due to workforce housing challenges,' the report notes. The workforce housing crisis can also impact the quality of service, as the report estimates $575 million is lost annually in the health-care system due to staffing challenges or overtime requirements, $320 million in losses in the education sector due to turnover rates and substitute staffing and $230 million is lost in the emergency services sector due to increased response times and staffing challenges. The GTHA's traffic infrastructure is also burdening the economy, with the report pointing to the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis' estimations in 2024 has cost $10.1 billion annually over the last decade with 88,000 fewer jobs. 'If congestion had been reduced, real GDP in the GTHA could be $27.9 billion higher today—representing a 4.9 per cent increase over GTHA's 2024 economic performance, corresponding to an additional $3,400 in economic activity per person,' the report states. What can be done? The report provided preliminary actions to address the housing affordability challenge for middle-income workers, suggesting employers could look into housing assistance programs or workforce housing initiatives, It also said that municipalities can measure and track data around shelter usage to understand the magnitude of the housing problem and provide adequate housing supports. However, CivicAction will be publishing three more reports, which Woo says will address, in part, why the math doesn't add up. 'I think we can anticipate that, at its crux, part of what we will see in the next paper is that no one source of funding is going to be adequate. No one sector is going to be enough, and that, then, really will lead to paper three and four, which will speak about specific solutions that we want to see some action on,' Woo said.. Are you a middle-income worker in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area choosing between moving away to somewhere more affordable or making it work in the region? Share your story by emailing us at torontonews@ with your name, general location, and phone number in case we want to follow up. Your comments may be used in a CTV News Toronto story.
ABC News
3 days ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Are Western Australia's immigration settings right? An expert panel sorts fact from fiction
The population of Western Australia is set to officially tip over 3 million people this week. Whenever ABC Radio Perth reports on the pressure points in WA — the housing crisis, stretched public hospitals and traffic congestion — listeners are quick to blame one thing: immigration. They say too many people are coming into WA and the state simply can't cope. Others argue without sustained immigration, the state would be critically short of essential workers, including staff in hospitals, aged care and the building industry. Today we're aiming to get a better understanding of the issue in an expert panel discussion hosted by Nadia Mitsopoulos on ABC Radio Perth.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Expert reveals what a bad night's sleep really does to your brain
You stayed up too late scrolling through your phone, answering emails or watching just one more episode. The next morning, you feel groggy and irritable. That sugary pastry or greasy breakfast sandwich suddenly looks more appealing than your usual yoghurt and berries. By the afternoon, chips or candy from the break room call your name. This isn't just about willpower. Your brain, short on rest, is nudging you toward quick, high-calorie fixes. There is a reason why this cycle repeats itself so predictably. Research shows that insufficient sleep disrupts hunger signals, weakens self-control, impairs glucose metabolism and increases your risk of weight gain. These changes can occur rapidly, even after a single night of poor sleep, and can become more harmful over time if left unaddressed. I am a neurologist specialising in sleep science and its impact on health. Sleep deprivation affects millions. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than one-third of U.S. adults regularly get less than seven hours of sleep per night. Nearly three-quarters of adolescents fall short of the recommended 8-10 hours sleep during the school week. While anyone can suffer from sleep loss, essential workers and first responders, including nurses, firefighters and emergency personnel, are especially vulnerable due to night shifts and rotating schedules. These patterns disrupt the body's internal clock and are linked to increased cravings, poor eating habits and elevated risks for obesity and metabolic disease. Fortunately, even a few nights of consistent, high-quality sleep can help rebalance key systems and start to reverse some of these effects. Your body regulates hunger through a hormonal feedback loop involving two key hormones. Ghrelin, produced primarily in the stomach, signals that you are hungry, while leptin, which is produced in the fat cells, tells your brain that you are full. Even one night of restricted sleep increases the release of ghrelin and decreases leptin, which leads to greater hunger and reduced satisfaction after eating. This shift is driven by changes in how the body regulates hunger and stress. Your brain becomes less responsive to fullness signals, while at the same time ramping up stress hormones that can increase cravings and appetite. These changes are not subtle. In controlled lab studies, healthy adults reported increased hunger and stronger cravings for calorie-dense foods after sleeping only four to five hours. The effect worsens with ongoing sleep deficits, which can lead to a chronically elevated appetite. Sleep loss changes how your brain evaluates food. Imaging studies show that after just one night of sleep deprivation, the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for decision-making and impulse control, has reduced activity. At the same time, reward-related areas such as the amygdala and the nucleus accumbens, a part of the brain that drives motivation and reward-seeking, become more reactive to tempting food cues. In simple terms, your brain becomes more tempted by junk food and less capable of resisting it. Participants in sleep deprivation studies not only rated high-calorie foods as more desirable but were also more likely to choose them, regardless of how hungry they actually felt. Sleep is also critical for blood sugar control. When you're well rested, your body efficiently uses insulin to move sugar out of your bloodstream and into your cells for energy. But even one night of partial sleep can reduce insulin sensitivity by up to 25 per cent, leaving more sugar circulating in your blood. If your body can't process sugar effectively, it's more likely to convert it into fat. This contributes to weight gain, especially around the abdomen. Over time, poor sleep is associated with higher risk for Type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome, a group of health issues such as high blood pressure, belly fat and high blood sugar that raise the risk for heart disease and diabetes. On top of this, sleep loss raises cortisol, your body's main stress hormone. Elevated cortisol encourages fat storage, especially in the abdominal region, and can further disrupt appetite regulation. In a culture that glorifies hustle and late nights, sleep is often treated as optional. But your body doesn't see it that way. Sleep is not downtime. It is active, essential repair. It is when your brain recalibrates hunger and reward signals, your hormones reset and your metabolism stabilises. Just one or two nights of quality sleep can begin to undo the damage from prior sleep loss and restore your body's natural balance. So the next time you find yourself reaching for junk food after a short night, recognise that your biology is not failing you. It is reacting to stress and fatigue. The most effective way to restore balance isn't a crash diet or caffeine. It's sleep. Sleep is not a luxury. It is your most powerful tool for appetite control, energy regulation and long-term health. Joanna Fong-Isariyawongse is an Associate Professor of Neurology at the University of Pittsburgh This article was originally published by The Conversation and is republished under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Sleep loss rewires the brain for cravings and weight gain – a neurologist explains the science behind the cycle
You stayed up too late scrolling through your phone, answering emails or watching just one more episode. The next morning, you feel groggy and irritable. That sugary pastry or greasy breakfast sandwich suddenly looks more appealing than your usual yogurt and berries. By the afternoon, chips or candy from the break room call your name. This isn't just about willpower. Your brain, short on rest, is nudging you toward quick, high-calorie fixes. There is a reason why this cycle repeats itself so predictably. Research shows that insufficient sleep disrupts hunger signals, weakens self-control, impairs glucose metabolism and increases your risk of weight gain. These changes can occur rapidly, even after a single night of poor sleep, and can become more harmful over time if left unaddressed. I am a neurologist specializing in sleep science and its impact on health. Sleep deprivation affects millions. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than one-third of U.S. adults regularly get less than seven hours of sleep per night. Nearly three-quarters of adolescents fall short of the recommended 8-10 hours sleep during the school week. While anyone can suffer from sleep loss, essential workers and first responders, including nurses, firefighters and emergency personnel, are especially vulnerable due to night shifts and rotating schedules. These patterns disrupt the body's internal clock and are linked to increased cravings, poor eating habits and elevated risks for obesity and metabolic disease. Fortunately, even a few nights of consistent, high-quality sleep can help rebalance key systems and start to reverse some of these effects. Your body regulates hunger through a hormonal feedback loop involving two key hormones. Ghrelin, produced primarily in the stomach, signals that you are hungry, while leptin, which is produced in the fat cells, tells your brain that you are full. Even one night of restricted sleep increases the release of ghrelin and decreases leptin, which leads to greater hunger and reduced satisfaction after eating. This shift is driven by changes in how the body regulates hunger and stress. Your brain becomes less responsive to fullness signals, while at the same time ramping up stress hormones that can increase cravings and appetite. These changes are not subtle. In controlled lab studies, healthy adults reported increased hunger and stronger cravings for calorie-dense foods after sleeping only four to five hours. The effect worsens with ongoing sleep deficits, which can lead to a chronically elevated appetite. Sleep loss changes how your brain evaluates food. Imaging studies show that after just one night of sleep deprivation, the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for decision-making and impulse control, has reduced activity. At the same time, reward-related areas such as the amygdala and the nucleus accumbens, a part of the brain that drives motivation and reward-seeking, become more reactive to tempting food cues. In simple terms, your brain becomes more tempted by junk food and less capable of resisting it. Participants in sleep deprivation studies not only rated high-calorie foods as more desirable but were also more likely to choose them, regardless of how hungry they actually felt. Sleep is also critical for blood sugar control. When you're well rested, your body efficiently uses insulin to move sugar out of your bloodstream and into your cells for energy. But even one night of partial sleep can reduce insulin sensitivity by up to 25%, leaving more sugar circulating in your blood. If your body can't process sugar effectively, it's more likely to convert it into fat. This contributes to weight gain, especially around the abdomen. Over time, poor sleep is associated with higher risk for Type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome, a group of health issues such as high blood pressure, belly fat and high blood sugar that raise the risk for heart disease and diabetes. On top of this, sleep loss raises cortisol, your body's main stress hormone. Elevated cortisol encourages fat storage, especially in the abdominal region, and can further disrupt appetite regulation. In a culture that glorifies hustle and late nights, sleep is often treated as optional. But your body doesn't see it that way. Sleep is not downtime. It is active, essential repair. It is when your brain recalibrates hunger and reward signals, your hormones reset and your metabolism stabilizes. Just one or two nights of quality sleep can begin to undo the damage from prior sleep loss and restore your body's natural balance. So the next time you find yourself reaching for junk food after a short night, recognize that your biology is not failing you. It is reacting to stress and fatigue. The most effective way to restore balance isn't a crash diet or caffeine. It's sleep. Sleep is not a luxury. It is your most powerful tool for appetite control, energy regulation and long-term health. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Joanna Fong-Isariyawongse, University of Pittsburgh Read more: Late bedtimes and not enough sleep can harm developing brains – and poorer kids are more at risk Screen time is contributing to chronic sleep deprivation in tweens and teens – a pediatric sleep expert explains how critical sleep is to kids' mental health Daylight saving time and early school start times cost billions in lost productivity and health care expenses Joanna Fong-Isariyawongse does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
