This report is part of the Lancet Countdown in Europe, which is an on-going effort to assess the health impacts of climate change in Europe to reinvigorate social and political will for urgent climate mitigation and adaptation actions. The initial report, in 2022, tracked 33 indicators across five domains. This report tracks 42 indicators related to the impacts of climate change to human health, the response of European countries and the opportunities to better health and climate action attuned to health issues. It finds that whilst scientific and the corporate sector are increasingly engaging with these issues, the media, the political sector and individuals have low levels of engagement with the interplay between health and climate change in Europe. The report notes that significant political and public support is needed to stimulate further action

Leaked internal documents from Syngenta reveal how the company has repeatedly buried evidence that links its best selling herbicide Paraquat with Parkinson’s disease. The documents reveal a history of tactics to confound scientific research including; funding scientists and researchers to publish papers on Paraquat without disclosing conflicts of interest, enlisting lawyers to push scientists away from using “problematic language” and preventing a prominent scientist studying Parkinson’s from sitting on the US Environmental Protection Agency advisory panel, which regulates US pesticide usage.

This study assesses the associations between the consumption of ultra-processed foods (as defined by the NOVA classification system) and the incidence of and mortality from 34 specific types of cancer, as well as overall cancer risk, in a sample of nearly 200,000 British adults. After correcting for a wide range of confounding factors such as smoking status and physical activity levels, greater UPF intake was found to have a statistically significant association with overall cancer incidence and mortality, as well as with some (but not most) of the specific cancers assessed.

Increasing demand for animal-sourced foods is creating a “trap” where both options for meeting that demand - intensive versus extensive farming methods - each bring their own risks for the emergence and spread of infectious zoonotic diseases, according to this paper. The author sets out recommendations for managing zoonotic disease risks from livestock.

A free trade agreement currently being negotiated between the UK and India could weaken pesticide standards in the UK and could also place UK farmers under pressure from cheaper imports, according to this report from Pesticide Action Network UK, Sustain Alliance and trade expert Dr Emily Lydgate.

This randomised controlled trial of 47 patients experiencing depression found that taking a multi-strain probiotic supplement for a month experienced reduced depressive symptoms compared to patients taking a placebo. All participants continued to receive their usual treatment as well. The authors say the study shows the importance of the connections between the microbiome, gut and brain.

This paper summarises what we know about the links between soil pollution and human health, with a focus on cardiovascular disease. The main issues it considers are macroplastics, microplastics, deforestation, pesticides, overfertilisation and heavy metal toxins.

Content warning: eating disorders. From April 2022, large food service businesses (including restaurants, cafes and takeaways) in England are required to display calorie information for food intended for immediate consumption. The legislation is part of the government’s strategy to tackle obesity. Critics say the move may make it difficult for people who experience eating disorders to visit restaurants.

This report from World Animal Protection and Tasting the Future argues that industrial livestock farming negatively affects human health through five main pathways: malnutrition and obesity; antibiotic resistant microbes; foodborne illnesses worsened by animals being reared in stressful conditions; illnesses from environmental contamination, such as zinc in animal excretions; and the physical and mental impacts of poor working conditions in slaughter, processing and packaging facilities. It also sets out proposed systemic shifts and recommendations for policymakers.