When garments made from synthetic materials wear, due to use and washing, microplastic fibres are released. Wastewater treatment plants remove 50 to 90 per cent of these microplastic fibres.

Today, 10 October 2018, is national Sustainability Day in the Netherlands.

During World Water Week (August 26 – 31, 2018), the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, RIVM, is facilitating a session on Health and Well-being through effective Blue-G

Microplastics are plastic particles that are smaller than 5 millimetres; through the use of plastic or rubber products these microplastics can end up in the environment (surface water, soil, and ai

According to a survey by RIVM , 27,000 people were infected with Lyme disease in 2017. In 2014, the last time RIVM reported on the incidence of tick-borne disease, this number was 25,000.

The societal costs of Lyme disease have been determined for the Netherlands for the first time. The disease appears to cost nearly EUR 20 million each year.

One in 5 tick bites occurs in an urban area. Although most tick bites occur in the countryside, many people are bitten in urban areas as well.

For the first time, a person in the Netherlands has fallen ill after a bite from a tick carrying the tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBE virus).

The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, RIVM has described building blocks for a definition of microplastics.

At the start of the “Tick Awareness Week”, the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) and Wageningen UR are commencing a large-scale study on the long-term effects of