Potential effects of the reuse of building material on soil quality In a circular economy, building materials have a longer life cycle and are reused in innovative ways. Reusing building materials is sustainable, but can also be risky as building materials may contain contaminants such as heavy metals.
Vaccine manufacturer employee contracts poliovirus An employee of vaccine manufacturer Bilthoven Biologicals (BBio) has been infected with a poliovirus. The virus was found in a stool sample provided by the employee. The employee concerned is now in isolation.
Limited impact of incorrect data used for list of top 100 ammonia emitters On 1 November 2022, RIVM announced that its list of top-100 ammonia emitters was compiled using incorrect emission factors for some types of livestock housing. RIVM has investigated whether the erroneous data had also been used in other RIVM products.
Annual report ‘Tuberculosis in the Netherlands’ for 2021: slight increase in number of TB patients In 2021, the number of tuberculosis (TB) patients in the Netherlands rose slightly compared to the preceding year: up to 680 TB patients from 622 in 2020. However, the 2021 number was lower than the number for 2019 (754 patients).
Rapid developments in modern biotechnology are a challenge for risk assessment Due to developments in modern biotechnology, such as genome editing, synthetic biology and regulation of gene expression, many new applications are expected in the next ten years.
Bacteriophages: insufficient understanding of phage treatment of human infections Bacteriophages are viruses that can kill bacteria. The question is whether bacteriophages can be used to treat infections in humans.
National Action Plan for sexual health The Dutch National Action Plan for STI, HIV and sexual health describes the most important goals for the next five years.
Greenhouse gas emissions slightly down in 2017 Despite the growth of the economy, greenhouse gas emissions in the Netherlands in 2017 were1 percent lower than in the previous year.
Addictive nicotine and harmful substances also present in heated tobacco Heated tobacco products are newly available on the market. An example of such a product is the heatstick which is heated with an iQOS, a device that looks like an e-cigarette.
Continued high effectiveness of vaccines against Hib disease A recent study by RIVM and AMC shows that the effectiveness of vaccination against Hib is still high.