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Coordinated nationally by the Institute for Children's Environmental Health |
To join the Partnership for Children's Health and the Environment (PCHE) and receive this bulletin, please complete the form at http://www.partnersforchildren.org/members.html#member.
For information about additional events, please visit our searchable calendar of events at http://www.partnersforchildren.org/conferences.html.
January 22 - 23, 2007
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
at the NIEHS Campus
The goal of this workshop is to develop new strategies for research, exposure and effects monitoring, intervention and prevention in children's environmental health. Specific objectives are to maximize the effectiveness of scientific research -- basic science, exposure monitoring/biomonitoring, epidemiology, toxicology, clinical medicine and multidisciplinary studies -- and to enhance the translation of research to the bedside, to the community and to public policy. A discussion will follow each case study presentation to consider the opportunities, the barriers and the design challenges that confront future clinical, toxicological, epidemiological, exposure monitoring, and basic research in children's environmental health. This meeting is open to the public with time set aside for public discussion.
Website: http://www-apps.niehs.nih.gov/conferences/od/cehr/
Contact: Dr. Kristina Thayer, 919-541-5021 or thayer@niehs.nih.gov
January 26, 2007
8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Silver Spring, Maryland
at Holy Cross Hospital, 1500 Forest Glenn Road
The course will focus on diabetes (types 1 and 2), growth disorders, pubertal disorders, and thyroid problems and test interpretation. Speakers will focus on identifying which patients are most likely to benefit from an endocrine consultation and which pre-visit lab tests are the most helpful.
Website: guest.cvent.com/EVENTS/Info/Summary.aspx?i=ae9db9fa-6379-4a9c-abf2-b59a888b342e
Contact: Joel Ranck, jranck@cnmc.org
January 28 - 30, 2007
early registration has been extended through January 9th
San Francisco, California
at UCSF Mission Bay Conference Center
This groundbreaking conference will further the efforts of researchers, clinicians, policymakers and community health leaders to understand and mitigate the reproductive and developmental health impacts of exposures to environmental contaminants -- including the periconceptional and fetal origins of adult disorders. The Summit will provide overviews by leading researchers of the science on these topics and will also explore translation of this research to clinical care, medical training, and public health policy; to federal regulatory agency and research institute priorities; and to patient advocate and community health concerns, including health disparity issues. Collaborative working groups and partnerships will form to further explore and take action on these environmental health issues.
Website: http://www.ucsf.edu/coe/prhesummit.html
Contact: Mary Wade, Summit Manager, 415-476-2563 or wadem@obgyn.ucsf.edu
The Partnership for Children's Health and the Environment welcomes these new members:
For a searchable database with a wealth of information about PCHE members, please visit http://www.partnersforchildren.org/members.html.
by Denise Grady, New York Times
January 2, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/02/health/nutrition/02seco.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
People in the United States have gotten used to the repulsive fact that raw chicken, meat and eggs are often contaminated with dangerous bacteria. Scrub the cutting board, we are warned, don't nibble the cookie dough, don't eat burgers rare. In other words, handle meat like a biohazard -- and then eat it. But until recently, getting sick from salad was something that most Americans didn't even think about unless they were traveling to a poor country. At home, fruits and vegetables have been regarded as clean and safe for as long as most people can remember.
Article Summary: Produce has caused a disturbing number of disease outbreaks; just since September, bacteria-tainted tomatoes, spinach and lettuce have made hundreds of people sick, and killed three. There have been 20 serious outbreaks in the past decade or so, and many have come from crops grown in California, not from imports. Fruit juices, alfalfa sprouts and almonds have also been involved. The known outbreaks are just the tip of the iceberg, health officials say; far more illness is never reported. Most people don't call the health department about a few days of gut trouble. The government estimates that over all, food-borne microbes -- not just the ones on produce -- make 76 million people a year sick, put 325,000 in the hospital and kill 5,000. While contaminants like E. coli 0157:H7 have gotten more attention this fall, outbreaks due to lettuce and other leafy greens have been happening for a long time. Over the past 30 years, diseases linked to produce have increased. Part of the increase may be due to changes in farming methods. Huge processors and distributors produce tens of thousands of pounds of a particular produce in a particular day. If something goes wrong with that produce you've got a big problem, whereas with small farmers, if there is a problem it's much more limited. Another factor may be that bagged and prewashed produce didn't exist 25 years ago, and people today eat more raw vegetables than in the past, plus we have an aging population and more people with chronic medical conditions that might make them more susceptible.
There are several ways that bacteria can contaminate lettuce, including water, whether from unsanitary irrigation/spraying or from flooding. Animals can carry bacteria onto farmland, as can sick workers who handle produce. Even dust blowing off pastures can contaminate crops. After harvest, one bad batch can spoil others when they are mixed for chopping and bagging. While scientists think most contamination lies on the surface of crops, studies have shown that it is possible for bacteria to be taken up through root systems and actually wind up inside the plants, where no amount of washing could get rid of it. Last August, the Food and Drug Administration is trying to find ways to prevent outbreaks. It announced a "lettuce safety initiative" last August in response to recurring E. coli outbreaks. It began with last fall's lettuce harvest and included visits by inspectors to farms and cooling and packing facilities. Still, two large outbreaks happened. One question the drug agency is trying to figure out is how close is too close when it comes to cattle and produce. Cow feces, naturally contaminated by E. coli 0157:H7, need to be kept from fresh produce. Answers are not known. Another approach, instead of trying to prevent contamination, is to get rid of it after the fact. Nuts can be heat-treated and juices can be pasteurized. Some experts have recommended irradiating lettuce.
by Alex Breitler, Stockton [California] Record
January 2, 2007
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070102/A_NEWS/701020311
STOCKTON - Parents have the right to know when pesticides are sprayed at many private day-care centers under a state law that took effect Monday.
Article Summary: Pesticides are chemicals used to control weeds, insects, rodents, and other problems such as mold and mildew. They are potentially dangerous to anyone who lives, works or plays where they are applied. But children might be most vulnerable as their bodies grow. Nearly two-thirds of children up to age 5 receive care from someone other than their parents, and a federal study showed levels of pesticides found in dust were higher at day-care centers than in private homes. The new California law requires that notices must be posted in advance of spraying, and day-care centers must keep records of pesticide use for four years. The law affects about 600 day-care centers statewide but excludes small, in-home family day-care centers. The state must promote alternative ways of treating pests.
by Angela Spivey, Environmental Health Perspectives
January 1, 2007
http://www.ehponline.org/members/2007/115-1/focus.html
Lead toxicity is not a problem of the past, nor is it the exclusive domain of children. In fact, lead continues today to pose a serious threat to the health of many U.S. adults.
Article Summary: Since was removed from gasoline, food cans, and other products in the 1970s and early 1980s, environmental lead levels have dropped, and The National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys have shown that average adult blood lead levels have declined from about 15 µg/dL in the 1970s to today's 1-2 µg/dL. But there are still pockets of high exposures, such as among workers in certain industries, including lead mining, refining, and smelting; construction work involving paint removal, demolition, and maintenance of outdoor metal structures such as bridges and water towers; auto repair; and battery manufacturing and recycling. As far back as 1990, studies have suggested that significant health effects happen at levels below those allowed by OSHA. Now scientists say the evidence is overwhelming that action needs to be taken to further reduce lead exposures in both the workplace and the general environment. The most recent evidence from epidemiological and toxicological studies suggests that low levels of exposure can, over time, damage the heart, kidneys, and brain. Improvements have been made in measurements of both lead exposure and lead's health effects. Increases in both bone lead and blood lead appear to be associated with possibly dangerous increases in blood pressure, and lead is also associated with increased mortality from diseases of the heart. Kidney function may be altered at the lowest levels of blood lead studied to date in relation to renal effects, and lead's effects on the kidneys are thought to play a major role in its effect on blood pressure. Some studies of lead workers have shown associations between blood lead concentrations of 20 to 40 µg/dL and subclinical cognitive decline, including changes in memory or mental processing speed that are measurable but don't put an individual outside the normal range of function. Declines in cognitive function are more likely to be associated with lower-level environmental exposures over time, rather than recent acute exposures. A link between lead exposure and brain cancers is less clear.
Current research hasn't been able to determine a threshold for many of lead's effects, a level below which no effect occurs. Subgroups especially vulnerable to the effects of low-level lead exposure are pregnant women -- whose exposure may affect their offspring's cognitive function -- and people with metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions including obesity, high blood sugar, and high blood pressure. People with certain genetic susceptibilities might constitute another vulnerable group. Work is needed to find effective and safe interventions for lowering lead exposure at a population level for people whose blood lead levels are already below 10 µg/dL.
by Sara Shipley Hiles, Boston Globe
January 1, 2007
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/health_science/articles/2007/01/01/study_questions_smoke_breast_cancer_link/
Article Summary: In 2005, the well-respected state Environmental Protection Agency in California reviewed the scientific literature and decided that women were more likely to get breast cancer at a young age if they regularly inhaled someone else's cigarette smoke. But now, preliminary findings from the British Million Women Study, described as the largest study of its kind in the world, suggest there is no link. The British work looked at 1.3 million women ages 50 to 64. The preliminary results, presented at a conference in September, showed absolutely no link between secondhand smoke and breast cancer. The California study agreed that there is no association between older secondhand smokers and breast cancer. But it did find that premenopausal women exposed to secondhand smoke were at a 70 percent higher risk for developing breast cancer than those who weren't exposed. It is unknown why the finding applies only to younger women. One theory is that breast cancer in older women is caused by different factors than in younger women. Another explanation is that a woman's breast tissue is most susceptible to carcinogens from puberty until her first child is born, making younger women more vulnerable to tobacco smoke. The risk of getting breast cancer from secondhand smoke is even higher than the risk of getting lung cancer, the California report said. Toxicology studies also support the California conclusion. Scientists identified 20 chemicals in tobacco smoke that cause tumors in the breast tissue of rodents, giving the connection "biological plausibility."
by Bob Downing, Akron Beacon Journal
January 1, 2007
http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_4927697
Article Summary: Northeast Ohio's soot problems might be more difficult to solve than dealing with ozone. New federal limits apply to soot, the tiny particulate that is a threat to public health. Particulate is an ever-changing mixture of sulfate, nitrate, ammonia and hydrogen ions, along with carbon (soot), metals, organic materials and soil dust. Such particles are especially dangerous because people breathe them deep into their lungs. Soot also contributes to smog and acid rain. The major sources of soot, a year-round problem, are emissions from Ohio's coal-burning power plants, smokestack industries and vehicles, both diesel- and gasoline-powered. The federal EPA last September kept the annual limit the same but set a lower limit for daily averages. The annual average cannot exceed 15 micrograms per cubic liter of air, and the maximum daily limit is 35 micrograms per cubic liter of air. Previously, the daily limit had been 65 micrograms. The EPA had considered lowering the annual levels to 13 or 14 micrograms, based on a suggestion from its scientific panel. That option was rejected, triggering a Dec. 18 lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., by 12 states arguing in favor of the lower standards. Failure to comply with the soot rules could result in tighter emission limits on new and expanding industries, changes in transportation planning and cuts in federal highway money.
by Jason Pesick, Ontario [California] Daily Bulletin
December 31, 2006
http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_4927697
How much of a dangerous chemical is safe to drink? The answer to that question is something two states -- California and Massachusetts -- don't agree upon. A new study by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientists has put California on the defense for its reliance on an older, smaller-scale study. The dangerous chemical in question is perchlorate, which has been found in drinking water wells throughout the Inland Empire.
Article Summary: Used in the production of products such as rocket fuel, explosives and fireworks, perchlorate can harm humans by interfering with the functioning of the thyroid gland. In July, Massachusetts capped the amount of perchlorate allowed in drinking water at two parts per billion. California, on the other hand, is heading toward adopting a standard of six parts per billion. California officials based their proposal on a study authored by the late Dr. Monte Greer, who reported that healthy adults could safely be exposed to perchlorate at concentrations of about 200 parts per billion. The Greer study, however, was limited in scope. It exposed a relatively small number of healthy adults -- 37 -- to perchlorate for just 14 days. Renee Sharp, an analyst at the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit environmental research organization, said California should have considered how perchlorate can affect sensitive populations, such as children and people with thyroid conditions. In addition, while California officials assumed that 60 percent of the perchlorate a person ingests comes from drinking water, Massachusetts officials put that number at 20 percent, saying people consume more perchlorate from food. The nationwide CDC study found that even low levels of perchlorate can affect thyroid hormone levels. The study found that women with low urinary iodine levels or low levels of iodine in their diet are particularly vulnerable. California's state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) is now analyzing the CDC's data. The California Department of Health Services is not legally permitted to set a lower standard than OEHHA recommends. If the California standard were set at two parts per billion, the costs of treating water would be "astronomical," said Eric Fraser, Colton's director of water and wastewater.
by Brad Crocker, Pascagoula Mississippi Press
December 30, 2006
http://www.gulflive.com/news/mississippipress/index.ssf?/base/news/116747732349690.xml
PASCAGOULA -- No chemical ignited more controversy in Pascagoula in 2006 than perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA.
Article Summary: DuPont announced in March the project to truck in PFOA from a New Jersey plant to DuPont's First Chemical plant in Pascagoula. DuPont officials said a newly developed manufacturing process would chemically destroy the PFOA, a byproduct of the process. The remainder is then dumped in the city's wastewater treatment facility. From there it is released into the Pascagoula River. The company asserts that the process is safe to workers and citizens and that no medical or scientific data has proven that PFOA is a possible carcinogen, as opponents fear, or causes any human health effects or harms the environment. DuPont voluntarily agreed to regularly submit findings to show emissions for both water and air will not reach dangerous levels, adding that PFOA has been used by other companies for 50 years and can be found in everyday household products. But opponents maintained that a $16 million settlement DuPont paid the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for not releasing effects and other findings of PFOA to the public and other environmental fines at the Pascagoula plant pointed to a lack of monitoring and responsibility on the company's behalf.
by Tony Bartelme, Charleston Post and Courier
December 30, 2006
http://www.charleston.net/assets/webPages/departmental/news/default_pf.aspx?NEWSID=124449
Article Summary: In a controversial trading plan, South Carolina and other states plan to dish out special mercury emissions credits to power companies. Each credit will have its own serial number, just like a dollar bill, and each credit will represent an ounce of mercury pumped into the air. In South Carolina, these credits could be worth $40 million a year, maybe more. Supporters, including the state's power companies, say these trading programs harness free-market forces to reduce pollution. A successful plan for sulfur dioxide helped lower emissions that cause acid rain, and trading programs are being developed to curb carbon dioxide, a gas that many believe causes global warming. But critics say mercury is different -- the potent neurotoxin that can cause birth defects and learning disabilities tends to fall near emitting plants rather than drift hundreds of miles away. The result: Power companies can get away with polluting a community simply by buying their way out of it. Some states aren't allowing their utilities to trade credits.
from the Fresno Bee
December 29, 2006
http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/21345.html
Environmental and community groups are suing the federal government, claiming it ignored data showing high levels of airborne dust, smoke and soot in the San Joaquin Valley when it ruled in October that the region met clean air standards.
Article Summary: Plaintiffs are asking the court to review the Environmental Protection Agency's finding that the Valley's air was no longer polluted by PM-10 -- tiny pollution particles just 10 microns wide -- because it hadn't violated the PM-10 standard in three years. Environmental groups previously had accused the EPA of ignoring data from certain air pollution monitors in making its decision because the monitors were not officially part of the federally sanctioned network. The new accusation involves three other monitors, which the EPA does recognize. The Earthjustice petition to the EPA said high levels of small particles were detected at the three monitors on September 22nd, about a month before the agency ruled that the Valley had met the standard for the prior three years. The agency and local regulators dismiss the September 22nd readings as resulting from high winds and nearby wildfires. Local cleanup efforts for PM-10, which is linked to asthma and heart problems, have included spraying water and slowing traffic on unpaved country roads, as well as implementing fireplace restrictions. The plaintiffs said they also planned to file a separate petition today with the EPA asking the federal agency to reconsider its own finding.
by Sharon Coolidge, Cincinnati Enquirer
December 29, 2006
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061229/NEWS01/612290341/1077/COL02
Paint manufacturers should pay to clean up the thousands of Cincinnati properties with peeling paint filled with toxic lead particles, city officials say. The city filed a lawsuit this week against nine paint manufacturers -- including Cleveland-based Sherwin Williams -- asking that the companies be required to clean up all lead hazards in properties in the city, pay for a public awareness campaign about lead's dangers and repay the city for years of testing and investigating lead hazards. Lead can cause brain damage and stunt growth when ingested. Children younger than 6 are most susceptible because they're still growing and are likely to touch flakes of lead paint and then put their hands in their mouths.
Article Summary: The lawsuit makes four claims: public nuisance, alleging the paint manufacturers created an unreasonable risk to the health and safety of the public; concert of action, alleging the companies conspired to sell paint they knew was hazardous; unjust enrichment, alleging the companies profited to the detriment of the public; and indemnity, alleging the city has paid to clean up their hazardous product. The lawsuit says the industry knew lead was toxic as early as 1900 but continued to add the metal to paint and even promoted the product as having health benefits. Since 2002, more than 570 young Cincinnati children have been poisoned by lead.
Canton filed a similar suit in Stark County Common Pleas Court on Thursday, following Columbus, East Cleveland, Lancaster and Toledo. Earlier this year, a Rhode Island jury found Sherwin-Williams, NL Industries and Millennium Holdings liable for creating a public nuisance by manufacturing and selling a toxic product. Sherwin-Williams filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Columbus last fall against several cities, including Cincinnati, claiming the plaintiffs conspired with lawyers who want to fleece the company. The company argues that property owners, not the manufacturer, should be held liable for lead hazards. The suit comes a week after the legislature moved to curb product liability lawsuits, capping non-economic damages for lawsuits brought under the Consumer Sales Practices Act at $5,000 and extending protection to manufacturers of lead-based paint.
by Mark Clayton, Christian Science Monitor
December 28, 2006
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1228/p03s03-uspo.html
Although 1 in 4 Americans lives within four miles of a designated toxic-waste site, the federal program to clean up the sites has slowed. Now, key Democrats in Congress are looking to push the program, known as Superfund, back into the spotlight. They're looking not only at its funding levels but also its funding sources. A central issue: whether to restore "polluter pay" taxes on industry to help fund cleanups.
Article Summary: Sen. Barbara Boxer, incoming chairwoman of the environment and public works committee, says she's making Superfund, along with global warming, focal points of her environmental agenda. She has tapped Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D) of New York to chair the Superfund subcommittee. Started in the 1970s, Superfund has seen a decline in funding and completed projects in recent years -- between 1993 and 2005, funding fell 32 percent, from $1.8 billion to $1.2 billion in inflation-adjusted dollars. During the same period, the number of cleanup sites earning "construction complete" status fell by more than half -- from 88 to 40 -- the lowest level in more than a decade. Officials at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which administers the program, deny funding is an issue. Susan Bodine, assistant administrator of the EPA's office of solid waste and emergency response said early completions were the easier sites to clean up. Sites being addressed now are complex, but the EPA is still making progress. Outside observers disagree. Velma Smith, a policy analyst at the National Environmental Trust in Washington, said: "People in the agency are telling me they're giving up on assessing new sites. They may know a problem exists, but they can't get the money to even go out and assess it." The EPA once had a "trust fund" from taxes on the production of toxic chemicals by chemical and oil companies, but authorization for the tax lapsed in 1995. The fund shrank steadily from nearly $4 billion to zero by 2002, despite President Clinton's attempts to get Congress to restore it. President Bush has not asked to renew it. Funding of Superfund programs has shifted to taxpayers. Some Democrats, including Senator Boxer, want to reinstate "polluter pays" taxes. Critics of this approach argue that the tax isn't fair -- companies who don't pollute are taxed, while some polluters don't pay because they're no longer around. Current and former EPA officials don't agree as to whether there's enough money for projects, and some sites declared "clean" still cause controversy.
by Warren Cornwall, Seattle Times
December 27, 2006
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003496452_mercury27m.html
Article Summary: Even as some states go on a building binge of coal-fired power plants, Washington is considering hefty restrictions that would do the opposite, essentially allowing just one new coal plant to be built. It's part of an emerging schism over coal as a future source of energy, pitting those who see it as reliable and cheap against those who consider it the dirtiest way to make electricity. Washington voters in November endorsed a shift toward cleaner energy. They approved an initiative requiring major utilities to get 15 percent of electricity from renewable sources like wind by 2020. The latest attempts to limit mercury, a potent poison that can hurt development of children's brains, began with a federal rule issued in 2005 that set a 2018 deadline for cutting emissions. Washington is one of at least 15 states that is drafting an even tougher standard. The state also would block coal plants in Washington from participating in a federal "cap-and-trade" program that lets some plants keep puffing out more mercury. This has pitted the state Department of Ecology against the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council, which oversees permits for new power plants. Ecology is concerned about mercury, while the Energy Facility council sees unacceptable limits to options in the search for new electricity. Projections of electricity needs for the Northwest leave many wondering where it will come from. If the state pursues the tighter limits on mercury, only one more coal-fired plant could be built.
by Gina Kolata, New York Times
December 26, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/26/health/26horm.html?_r=1&ref=science&oref=slogin
When researchers reported recently that a precipitous drop in breast cancer rates might be explained by a corresponding decrease in the use of hormones for menopause, women reacted with shock, anger and, in some cases, profound relief that they had never taken the drugs.
Article Summary: In 2003, after climbing for almost seven decades, the breast cancer rate fell for the first time in the United States, and it fell sharply. Over all, the incidence of newly diagnosed breast cancer dropped 7 percent, and it dropped 15 percent among women with cancers whose growth is fueled by estrogen. Just before that, in July 2002, the Women's Health Initiative concluded that a popular hormone therapy for menopause, Prempro, slightly increased the risk of breast cancer. Within the next six months, prescriptions for Prempro dropped by half. The article includes answers to questions about the roles of estrogen and progesterone on tumors, whether breast cancer could be declining because so many women stopped taking Prempro and other menopausal hormones, whether birth control pills have the same impact as menopausal hormones, whether estrogen-mimicking chemicals like DDT or some plastics could be having an effect on breast cancer, and whether women should ever take menopausal hormones.
by John Lantigua And Christine Stapleton, Palm Beach Post
December 25, 2006
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2006/12/25/m1a_pesticides_1225.html
A study by Columbia University scientists has established a link between learning disorders in children and a pesticide that has been used extensively on sweet corn, one of Palm Beach County's major crops. But local and state agricultural officials say the insecticide, chlorpyrifos, does not pose a threat to consumers because it does not leave dangerous levels of residue on the corn. The principal danger may be to families living and working around where the corn is grown who could be affected when the insecticide is applied or the corn picked.
Article Summary: The chemical, marketed as Lorsban, can be sprayed from the air or the ground or applied in granular form. A recent study in Washington state near apple orchards where chlorpyrifos was used found unsafe levels of the chemical in the air in yards near the orchards, according to the Pesticide Action Network, a nonprofit group that collaborated in the study. Sale of chlorpyrifos for residential pesticide use was banned by the federal Environmental Protection Agency as of Dec. 31, 2001, except for childproof containers such as roach traps. The ban followed tests that showed adverse effects on lab animals and other tests that found traces of the chemical in children's blood samples. The insecticide also has been outlawed for use on certain fruits and vegetables, including tomatoes. In fields of sweet corn, it is used to kill worms that attack the crop. The study, published this month in Pediatrics, says that unsafe levels of the chemical cause delays in learning rates and obstruct physical coordination in some children up to age 3. The scientists said children exposed to the pesticide, prenatally or in their first years, also are more likely to incur behavioral problems, specifically attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
by Judith Graham, Chicago Tribune
December 25, 2006
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/health/chi-0612250095dec25,1,4828842.story?page=2
In private conversations across the country this holiday break, pediatricians are buttonholing their congressmen and making a heartfelt plea: Save the National Children's Study. This is the latest attempt to rescue the most important study of children's health and the environment in the United States.
Article Summary: The project, planned since 2000, has enormous scope: Researchers are set to track 100,000 children from birth to age 21, collecting genetic material and blood samples and recording kids' exposure to everything from pesticides to chemicals and air pollution. Enrollment activities were scheduled to begin in 2007, but President Bush's proposed budget called for terminating the $2.7 billion study instead of allocating the $69 million requested for fiscal 2007. The House and Senate appropriations committees responded by affirming strong support, but neither committee set aside new funding for the study. Now a push is on to convince the new, Democrat-controlled Congress that the study needs to go forward and that new funding should be allocated. With chronic conditions such as asthma, autism, diabetes and obesity on the rise in youngsters and definitive scientific explanations lacking, this study could yield enormous financial benefits -- as much as $6 billion in health-care cost savings a year, according to some estimates.
by Susan Palmer, Eugene [Oregon] Register-Guard
December 23, 2006
http://www.registerguard.com/news/2006/12/23/d1.cr.pesticides.1223.p1.php?section=cityregion
Are pesticides pollutants? That's the question at the heart of a flurry of lawsuits filed against the Environmental Protection Agency this month. The EPA is being sued both by the pesticide industry and environmental activists over a new rule it will adopt in January governing pesticide use in or near water. As of Monday, lawsuits had been filed in 11 of the nation's 13 circuit courts, including the 9th Circuit, which serves Oregon.
Article Summary: This dispute first erupted in Oregon in 2001 when activists filed suit against an irrigation district because of dead fish in a nearby creek that had been poisoned by an herbicide put in the water to control weeds in the irrigation ditches. Environmentalists have argued that pesticides applied directly to water should be subject to Clean Water Act regulations. The 9th Circuit Court concluded that even though the irrigation district followed the label directions of the pesticide, it was discharging a pollutant into a waterway, and therefore needed a special permit. The decision sent tremors through the pesticide realm, from manufacturers to users. Obtaining the Clean Water permits would be an expensive bureaucratic burden on organizations that already comply with EPA pesticide regulations, said Chris West, spokesman for the American Forest Resource Council. More lawsuits followed and the EPA began crafting a rule that would more clearly spell out their requirements for pesticide use. Published in the Federal Register in November and due to take effect in January, it ignores the 9th Circuit Court decision. It says that as long as pesticides are used according to manufacturer instructions they may be applied directly to water, over water or near water by aerial spraying. A decade-long survey of the nation's rivers by the U.S. Geological Survey found pesticides or their components in 90 percent of the 4,380 samples taken from 186 streams and rivers. While the levels rarely exceeded those known to harm people, the concentrations frequently surpassed amounts known to harm fish or fish-eating wildlife. In Washington, requiring users who put the chemical directly into water to have permits already has had an impact: Those who have a permit must monitor the water to make sure their discharges don't exceed concentration levels set by the permit.
by Chris Bowman, Sacramento Bee
December 23, 2006
http://www.sacbee.com/378/story/97424.html
California won two major victories Friday in an ongoing battle with the Bush administration to preserve the state's strongest-in-the-nation smog controls. A federal appeals court struck down an attempt by the Environmental Protection Agency to loosen national rules limiting smog-forming emissions from vehicles and industry. The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia affirms California's authority to enforce certain pollution controls on businesses.
Article Summary: South Coast regulators argued in the suit that the EPA violated the "anti-backsliding" provisions of the Clean Air Act. Writing for the circuit panel, Judge Judith Rogers states: "EPA is required by statute to keep in place measures intended to constrain ozone levels -- even the ones that apply to outdated standards -- in order to prevent backsliding." Ground-level ozone, a chronic summertime pollutant in the Sacramento, Fresno and Los Angeles metropolitan areas, can cause and aggravate asthma, worsen other respiratory diseases and may permanently reduce lung function in children raised in smoggy areas.
The decision also prevents businesses in states with weaker and less costly local pollution controls from gaining a competitive business advantage over California businesses. In a separate decision Friday, the EPA approved California regulatory changes designed to vastly increase the number of gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles and super-low-polluting gasoline models offered for sale in the state.
by Martin Mittelstaedt, Toronto Globe and Mail
December 22, 2006
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20061222.TOXIC22/TPStory/Environment
Statistics Canada will test the blood and urine of 5,000 Canadians, ages 6 to 79, so the government can for the first time chart the chemicals that pollute our bodies. The federal government's first large-scale survey mirrors similar efforts in the United States that have found that virtually the entire population carries a complex burden of pollutants in their tissues. The blood and urine will be subjected to a battery of expensive tests that will check for 70 metals and chemicals, including DDT, the once widely used insecticide that has been banned for decades. DDT is still found throughout the environment because it degrades so slowly.
Article Summary: Many of the substances to be monitored have only recently emerged as potential health threats and are a worry because the chemicals appear to be leaking out of common consumer products and getting into people. These chemicals include bisphenol A, phthalates, brominated flame retardants, weed killers and cotinine, which indicates exposure to cigarette smoke. It is unknown whether current exposures to these substances or their interactions in people's bodies is harmful, although animal experimentation has found that during early life and fetal development even trace exposures to some of the substances can skew development in ways that increase the chances of cancers and other health problems later in life. Federal officials say the survey will close a huge gap in Canadian public-health measurements, the lack of comprehensive information on the amount of pollutants that people are carrying in their bodies. The U.S. has been issuing results of large-scale testing for contaminants, a process known as biomonitoring, since 2001. When the sampling is completed some time in 2009, researchers will have a national chemical snapshot for how contaminated Canadians were at this point, which will become the baseline for subsequent tests. This information will enable monitoring results of any regulatory efforts to ban these substances or limit exposure.
by Rosslyn Beeby, Canberra Times
December 21, 2006
http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?story_id=542116
Article Summary: There's a battle being waged over the environmental and health impacts of synthetic chemicals used in beauty products and toiletries. Scientists, health lobbyists and environmental campaigners argue that the cosmetics industry is among the world's least regulated, using thousands of chemicals that have not been subject to adequate assessment. In the United States, studies by the Environment Protection Authority have linked endocrine disrupters used in toiletries and household cleaners to hormone disruption in wildlife, possibly caused by water pollution from urban wastewater. Phthalates are synthetic chemicals linked to decreased fertility and reproductive defects and now one of the most abundant industrial pollutants in the environment. A recent report by global lobby group Health Care Without Harm and the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation tested 34 leading-brand cosmetics and found phthalates in 80 per cent of products, with more than 50 per cent containing more than one type of phthalate. According to the report, "none of the products listed phthalates as an ingredient on the label." The United States Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep personal product care safety guide reports on the safety of cosmetics. On its website Skin Deep offers comprehensive assessments of almost 15,000 skin and hair care products, cosmetics, sunscreens and toothpastes, providing safety ratings based on toxicity tests and regulatory databases. The organization claims more than one-third of all personal care products contain at least one ingredient linked to cancer; 57 per cent of all products contain "penetration enhancer" chemicals that can drive other ingredients faster and deeper into the skin to the blood vessels below; and 79 per cent of all products contain ingredients that may contain harmful impurities. The United States Geological Survey recently released a study revealing triclosan, a chemical that mimics the thyroid hormone and is commonly added to soaps, toothpaste, deodorant and dog shampoos, is present in 60 percent of the nation's rivers and lakes. It's bioaccumulative, building up in fatty tissue and has been found in human breast milk and fish. Hundreds of ethical cosmetics companies throughout the world have signed the compact for safe health and beauty products from the global Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, pledging not to use chemicals known or strongly suspected of causing cancer, mutation or birth defects in their products and to develop substitution plans replacing environmentally hazardous materials with safer alternatives.
from BBC News
December 21, 2006
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6197587.stm
Article Summary: Bristol University researchers have found evidence that heavy exposure to organophosphate pesticides routinely sprayed on tents and other equipment is not likely the cause of Gulf War Syndrome. Previous work has found that people who carry a version of a gene called PON1 appear less able to break down and dispose of organophosphates in their bodies, offering a potential clue as to why these chemicals might affect some people but not others. The study investigated a group of older women who were unlikely to have had any contact with organophosphates during their working lives. Those who carried the variant PON1 gene were just as vulnerable to the same symptoms as the veterans, without the involvement of organophosphates. The study was published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
by Jenny Hope, London Daily Mail
December 20, 2006
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/healthmain.html?in_article_id=424017&in_page_id=1774
Women who take high doses of fish oils during pregnancy could dramatically boost their children's coordination, say researchers. A new study reveals the benefits of using so-called "clever capsules" to help develop the full potential of babies while still in the womb. It found a significant advance in hand-eye coordination among toddlers whose mothers took fish oil supplements during the second half of pregnancy compared with those who did not. There was also improvement in brainpower and vocabulary among children exposed to fish oil supplements in the womb, says the study published on Thursday online in the medical journal Archives of Disease in Childhood.
Article Summary: Fish oil is high in Omega 3 fatty acids, which play an important part in the development of the central nervous system. The last three months of pregnancy are thought to be a key time for intake of fish oil because there is a growth spurt in the human brain during this time, which carries on into the first few months of a baby's life. The study looked at 98 pregnant women, who were either given 4g of fish oil supplements or 4g of olive oil supplements daily from 20 weeks of pregnancy to the birth of their babies. When the children reached the age of two and a half, they were given various tests measuring growth and development. Children whose mothers had taken fish oil supplements scored significantly higher in hand-eye coordination than those whose mothers had taken olive oil supplements. Fish oil children also scored more highly on comprehension, phrase length and vocabulary. Concern over the mercury content in certain types of fish has made high quality fish oil supplements increasingly popular.
Fish oils can also help pregnant women in a number of ways, including reducing high blood pressure and easing postnatal depression. There is international evidence of the benefits of omega 3 for people with heart conditions, and evidence is mounting in studies on children's learning and behavior.
[Editor's note: Two related articles from the journal Pediatrics can be found as follows (submitted by Larry Rosen, MD).]
by Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Los Angeles Times
December 20, 2006
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-pain20dec20,1,4258994.story?track=rss
WASHINGTON -- The government Tuesday proposed stronger safety warnings for nonprescription painkillers found in most family medicine cabinets -- as well as many an office drawer and gym bag -- including aspirin, Tylenol, Advil, Motrin and Aleve. The Food and Drug Administration said it was concerned that consumers were poorly informed about serious and potentially fatal complications from misusing the medications, although the risks are well-known to healthcare professionals.
Article Summary: Overdoses of acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol and its generic equivalents, as well as many other painkillers and cold remedies, has been linked to more than 56,000 emergency room visits a year and 26,000 hospitalizations, including some requiring liver transplants. The FDA estimates that 200 people a year die from acetaminophen overdoses, although others have put the figure at more than 450. The other painkillers covered by the warning -- NSAIDs, or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs -- can cause bleeding in the stomach. NSAIDs include ibuprofen, which is sold as a generic and under the brand names Advil and Motrin; naproxen, the active ingredient in Aleve; and aspirin. Use of both acetaminophen and NSAIDs is widespread. The FDA's proposal -- under consideration for more than four years and to be published in Tuesday's Federal Register -- is to make the current warning information clearer and more forceful. A key element would require standard language for all medications containing the drugs. Johnson & Johnson, the maker of Tylenol and Motrin, said Tuesday it would work with the FDA to improve safety information for consumers, but stopped short of saying it would quickly adopt the proposal. The FDA also said it was considering whether to limit the number of acetaminophen pills in a single package. After British regulators imposed such a restriction, the number of suicides dropped.
by Mark Clayton, Christian Science Monitor
December 20, 2006
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1220/p02s01-usgn.html
In a bid to trim the regulatory burden on small businesses, the Environmental Protection Agency is set to relax the rules on what toxic chemicals they have to report. But in a twist, the EPA's newly revised Toxics Release Inventory rule will also make it possible for hundreds of large corporations to avoid reporting specific amounts of toxic chemicals they release into the air, land, or water, environmentalists warn. The rule change has cheered small-business groups, generated widespread public opposition, and caught the eye of some Democratic congressmen, who will take control of Congress next month. It takes effect immediately.
Article Summary: Companies that release into the environment relatively small amounts of toxic materials -- no more than 2,000 pounds of a given chemical, such as toluene -- can complete a simpler form that omits reporting the amount of toxic chemicals. Another class of even more dangerous toxins can qualify for similar streamlined reporting if the waste was less than 500 pounds, entirely recycled, and not released at all. The rules apply only if the company created less than 5,000 pounds of a chemical in a year. Of 24,000 facilities currently reporting TRI data, about one-third could be eligible to fill out a short form that simply lists the chemical.
This change will make it more difficult for neighborhoods, researchers or others to find out how much of a toxic chemical a nearby factory is emitting. Federal officials contend that such limits spur business to reduce their toxic waste and will save $6 million annually in unnecessary paperwork. Business groups applaud the change, but critics say the move seems to be an effort to weaken a reporting law that has empowered community activists with details about some 650 industrial chemicals that the TRI tracks. Critics also argue that, although this is being touted as a boon to small business, big companies will be among the largest beneficiaries. It also leaves room for emissions to rise without data being made public.
by Ribas-Fito N, Torrent M, Carrizo D, Munoz-Ortiz L, Julvez J, Grimalt JO, Sunyer J., American Journal of Epidemiology
November 15, 2006
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?CMD=search&DB=PubMed
Article Summary: DDT is a persistent organochlorine compound that has been used worldwide as an insecticide. The authors evaluated the association of cord serum levels of DDT and its metabolite, 2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)-1,1-dichloroethylene (DDE), with neurodevelopment at age 4 years. Two birth cohorts in Ribera d'Ebre and Menorca (Spain) were recruited between 1997 and 1999 (n = 475). Infants were assessed at age 4 years by using the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities. Organochlorine compounds were measured in cord serum. Children's diet and parental sociodemographic information was obtained through questionnaire. Results showed that DDT cord serum concentration at birth was inversely associated with verbal, memory, quantitative, and perceptual-performance skills at age 4 years. Children whose DDT concentrations in cord serum were >0.20 ng/ml had mean decreases of 7.86 (standard error, 3.21) points in the verbal scale and 10.86 (standard error, 4.33) points in the memory scale when compared with children whose concentrations were <0.05 ng/ml. These associations were stronger among girls. Prenatal exposure to background, low-level concentrations of DDT was associated with a decrease in preschoolers' cognitive skills. These results should be considered when evaluating the risk and benefits of spraying DDT during antimalaria and other disease-vector campaigns.
