From 1 June 2022, the heel prick test for Dutch newborns will also screen for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). SMA is a serious hereditary muscle condition. Detecting this disease at an early stage enables early treatment.

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) may spread Legionella via the air and cause pneumonia if people inhale them.

At the beginning of 2019, the RIVM measured the air quality around the landfill at Philipsburg, Sint Maarten for two weeks. No or hardly any harmful substances were measured.

In 2018, 22.4 per cent of the Dutch adult population indicated they were occasional smokers.

From 21 January 2019,  a team from RIVM will travel to Sint Maarten to make measurements and take samples at various locations around the landfill in Philipsburg.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published a provisional health-based guidance value for perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA).

The report ‘State of Infectious Diseases in the Netherlands in 2017’ published by RIVM today, provides an overview of the most important developments in infectious diseases in the Netherlands and a

The Municipal Public Health Services (GGD) received 561 reports of legionellosis over the past year. Never before has RIVM registered as many reports of this disease as in the past year.

As of 1 January 2017, the disorders alpha and beta thalassaemia will be added to the neonatal blood spot (‘heel prick’) screening programme.

On 26 October 2015, heel prick screening started for all newborns on St Eustatius and Saba.