Rubber granulate on synthetic turf fields causes environmental impact Use of rubber granulate sourced from car tyres, on synthetic turf fields can be harmful to the environment in the close vicinity of these fields.
Chance of ESBL contamination via livestock farming is small ESBL is an enzyme, produced by certain bacteria, which makes these bacteria resistant to antibiotics.
Risk of measles outbreaks increases with decreasing vaccination coverage Vaccination coverage for vaccinations in the Dutch National Vaccination Program (NIP) decreased slightly by about half a percent for the third consecutive year.
Scientific background information on rubber granulate now available in English In December 2016, RIVM published in Dutch the results of its research into the health risks of playing sports on synthetic turf pitches with rubber granulate.
Playing sports on synthetic turf fields with rubber granulate is safe New research by the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) shows it is safe for people to play sports on synthetic turf fields with an infill of rubber granulate.
RIVM starts field research into rubber granulate RIVM has started to take samples of rubber granulate from 100 synthetic turf fields in the Netherlands.
Bacteria slightly more often resistant to last resort antibiotics Antimicrobial resistance is a global problem. In the Netherlands, some bacteria that can cause infections in people are more frequently resistant to antibiotics used as a last resort.
Need for circular use of materials in construction Construction and demolition waste are being recycled on a large scale to use as a foundation for e.g. roads, but recycled building materials are hardly ever used in the construction of buildings.
Nanotechnology increasingly used in medical devices The application of nanotechnology to design and produce medical devices is increasing. RIVM provides an overview of nanotechnology enabled medical devices.
Measles epidemic and Salmonella outbreak cost nearly six million euros The most recent measles epidemic and outbreak of Salmonella Thomson due to smoked salmon have cost 3.9 and 1.7 million euros, respectively.