The Maryland Department of Agriculture has received confirmation of a positive case of locally acquired malaria in a Maryland resident who lives in the National Capital Region. According to the Maryland Department of Health, the individual was hospitalized and is now recovering. They did not travel recently outside of the United States or to other U.S. states with recent locally acquired malaria cases (note: the location of the confirmed case and spraying specifically for this reason has not been disclosed.).

“This positive malaria case underscores the importance of being vigilant during mosquito season about personal protection against mosquitoes as well as the importance of continuous monitoring and spraying by the Maryland Department of Agriculture Mosquito Spray Program,” said Maryland Department of Agriculture Secretary Kevin Atticks. “The quick action of health professionals to identify the case allows MDA to respond rapidly in treating the region to protect against future cases.”

Per the Maryland Attorney General’s Office: Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown co-led a coalition of 15 Attorneys General supporting EPA’s proposed rules for “advanced recycling” facilities, but also urging the agency to go further in its proposed Significant New Use Rules (SNURs) for producing 18 substances used to make transportation fuels and refinery feedstocks – raw material for processing or manufacturing another product – from plastic waste. Under the new rules, the “advanced recycling” – a misleading term that primarily refers to two processes, pyrolysis and gasification, that break plastics down into their constituent molecules – of plastic waste containing certain chemicals and impurities known to be hazardous to human health and the environment would require EPA’s pre-approval.

Pyrolysis and gasification are processes that use significant energy, extreme heat, and a low-orno oxygen environment to break down plastic products. Those molecules can then, in theory, be used to build new plastic products, but the great majority of substances produced through these processes is, instead, burned or added to transportation fuels. The plastic waste used in these processes often contains chemical additives and impurities that are known to be harmful to human health and the environment. Studies indicate that those additives and impurities may wind up in consumer goods or otherwise become part of a facility’s air, water, or solid waste emissions, posing significant environmental justice concerns as petrochemical facilities are disproportionately located in minority and low-income areas across the country.