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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.
With this bulletin, we have decided to provide summaries of articles along with a link to the full article for our readers' convenience. The articles will still be searchable with key words on our website at http://www.partnersforchildren.org/bulletins.html.
For information about additional events, please visit our searchable calendar of events at http://www.partnersforchildren.org/conferences.html.
December 4 - 6, 2006
Atlanta, Georgia
at the Hilton Atlanta Hotel
Presented by Centers for Disease Control's National Center for Environmental Health, The 2006 Environmental Public Health Conference has a theme of "Advancing Environmental Public Health: Science, Practice, New Frontiers." The conference will address the need to revitalize environmental public health, and it will chart the nation's vision for the future. There will be six plenary sessions, up to 75 workshops, and up to 40 exhibits and poster displays that will address a wide range of topics from emerging threats to a myriad of everyday environmental public health issues. Topics will include bio-monitoring; climate change; environmental justice; environmental public health tracking; food and water protection; health disparities; healthy places and healthy homes; indoor air quality; injury prevention; laboratory science and service; preparedness & response; public health policy and law; toxicants, exposures, and contaminants; vector management; and workforce development.
Website: http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/conference/
Contact: smargolis@cdc.gov
December 6, 2006
Washington, DC
This meeting will include panels on mold remediation, green cleaning and roundtable discussions of planning for National Healthy Schools Day April 30, 2007, plus promoting federal initiatives.
Contact: Claire Barnett, cbarnett@healthyschools.org
December 13, 2006
9:30 a.m. - 12:00 noon
Seattle, Washington
at the Bertha Knight Landes Room, Seattle City Hall (5th and James)
We've all become aware that the world built around us affects our health beyond the reach of personal lifestyle choices. With land use policies, designs and plans influencing individual and community health, it is more important than ever to better integrate planning processes and public health. But how can we determine what is healthiest for the community and the people in it? Health Impact Assessments (HIA) are used around the world to promote health and prevent illness. Come and learn about the Health Impact Assessment process and how it can promote and improve healthy places for all people. Our guest speakers are co-founders of Healthy Development, Inc., which focuses on the relationship between development and human health. The speakers provide science-based planning and decision-making tools related to the health, social and economic impacts of energy, land and water development. They will address the audience on their 25 years of experience in public health research, environmental land use and community development policy work and their use of Health Impact Assessments.
Contact: Julie West at 206-205-4396 or Julie.West@metrokc.gov
December 13 - 14, 2006
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
at the Sheraton Hotel in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
The National Center for Environmental Assessment, within EPA's Office of Research and Development, is holding this workshop to inform the Agency's evaluation of the science in the review of the NAAQS for all criteria pollutants. The workshop will address various issues involved in the interpretation of epidemiologic study results that are based on ambient air monitoring data. These include issues related to exposure assessment, multipollutant confounding and effect modification, statistical modeling and biological plausibility. Cross-cutting issues pertaining to evaluation of all of the criteria air pollutants will be examined, with emphasis to be placed on studies involving evaluation of multipollutant health risks. This workshop is planned to advance interpretation and understanding of criteria air pollutant health effects analyses in population-level epidemiologic studies, with a focus on multi-pollutant exposures. The principal goals of this workshop are to: (1) Assess issues related to the interpretation of the epidemiologic literature, particularly related to the use of centrally located air quality monitors; (2) discuss new methodology and approaches to advance future epidemiologic research in the areas of exposure error, confounding and effect modification by copollutants, and statistical modeling; and (3) evaluate the extent to which evidence from human clinical and animal toxicologic studies aids in interpretation of findings observed in the epidemiologic literature.
Contact: Kristin Wheeler, 703-318-4535 or wheelerkr@saic.com
by Roni Rabin, New York Times
November 28, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/28/health/28natal.html
For years, women have had it drummed into them that prenatal care is the key to having a healthy baby, and that they should see a doctor as soon as they know they are pregnant. But by then, it may already be too late. Public health officials are now encouraging women to make sure they are in optimal health well in advance of a pregnancy to reduce the risk of preventable birth defects and complications. They have recast the message to emphasize not only prenatal care, as they did in the past, but also what they are calling "preconception care."
Article Summary: By the first prenatal visit, a woman is usually 10 to 12 weeks pregnant, after the developmental window for many birth defects. The new guidelines, issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last spring, include 10 specific health care recommendations and advise prepregnancy checkups that include screening for diabetes, H.I.V. and obesity; managing chronic medical conditions; reviewing medications that may harm a fetus; and making sure vaccinations are up to date. Much of the advice directed to women is fairly standard: they should abstain from smoking, alcohol and drugs, and should take prenatal vitamins, including folic acid. Pre-existing diabetes significantly increases the risk of birth defects, but the risk is virtually eliminated if the disease is controlled before conception. The guidelines suggest that women follow these guidelines throughout their reproductive lives, even when they are not planning pregnancies (half of pregnancies in the U.S. are not planned). Men should also be wary of exposures to toxins that cause birth defects and should avoid sexually transmitted diseases. The guidelines encourage young people to develop a "reproductive life plan."
While infant mortality rates were on the decline from 1980 to 2000, the proportion of small and preterm babies increased significantly. Low birth weight is a leading cause of death and disability for infants. In 2002, the infant mortality rate in the United States increased for the first time in more than 40 years. The rate dropped back some in 2003. Blacks are at the highest risk for preterm birth and low birth weights, and their infant mortality rates are more than double that of whites. Unfortunately, only a small minority of health care providers said they provide preconception care to patients, and insurance and Medicaid programs often do not cover it. Planning pregnancies and using reliable contraception are part and parcel of preconception care, and doctors are encouraging all health providers to counsel women of childbearing age about the possibility of pregnancy.
by Denise Grady, New York Times
November 28, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/28/health/28seco.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Article Summary: The incidence of asthma and other life-threatening allergies has risen both in the U.S. and worldwide. From 1980 to 2003, the prevalence of asthma in children rose to 5.8 percent from 3.6 percent, an increase of about 60 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Other estimates from the disease centers show an even bigger increase in the asthmas rates for younger children: a 160 percent jump in those younger than 5 from 1980 to 1994. Children in the inner cities seem to be especially hard hit, with exposure to cockroaches and diesel fumes suspected as the culprits. But the cause is not known for sure. In "The Asthma Epidemic," an article published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine, doctors tried to sort out various theories about the causes of asthma and explain why rates have risen. Like other chronic diseases, asthma is probably caused by multiple genes and environmental exposures, and it can have quite different causes in different people. About half the cases are thought to stem from allergies and the rest from other problems that can irritate and inflame the airways, causing them to close. One clear risk factor for asthma is secondhand tobacco smoke, while the role of air pollution is less understood. The connection to dust mites, long blamed for causing asthma to develop, is under question, although the mites and their droppings may aggravate symptoms. The role of cat dander is also unclear, with some studies finding that exposure early in life leads to asthma, and others saying it protects against asthma. Obesity and asthma have also been linked in some studies, but the link, if it exists, is not understood, and nutrition is another mystery. There is some evidence to support the "hygiene hypothesis" that children today are raised in homes that are too clean and that asthma is somehow caused by the lack of exposure to infections and bits of microbes early in life. A related idea is that the increased use of antibiotics in recent decades contributes to asthma by changing the type of the bacteria that live in the gut, although there is no proof. Children who have even one parent with allergies and asthma have an increased risk of developing the same problems.
from CBC News
November 27, 2006
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2006/11/27/nb-sharksale.html
A Canadian barge that was contaminated with PCBs and sold to a U.S. broker by New Brunswick-based J.D. Irving Ltd., has made its way into the Caribbean, a CBC investigation has revealed. The sale, which did not violate Canadian law, nevertheless raised alarm bells among provincial and federal environment officials who seemed surprised they could not stop it.
Article Summary: PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, are industrial chemicals that were used in the manufacturing of electrical equipment, heat exchangers, hydraulic systems, and several other specialized applications up to the late 1970s. Because of concern for the environmental and health effects of PCBs, the Canadian government outlawed the import, manufacture, and sale of them 1977 and releasing PCBs into the environment was made illegal in 1985. They were never manufactured in Canada but were widely used here. Environmental officials were helpless to stop the contaminated New Brunswick barge from leaving Halifax Harbour three years ago for the international marketplace because Canadian legislation has allowed owners of PCB equipment to continue using PCB equipment until the end of its service life. Environment Canada attempted to contact the destination country that the barge was polluted, but the barge owners refused to reveal who was buying the barge, where it was headed or how the PCBs would be dealt with. A CBC investigation tracked down the barge in Trinidad, where the new owners claim they were told nothing about the barge's toxic history. The seller issued a statement noting the transaction was legal and that an intermediate broker it dealt with was fully informed of the Shark's environmental problems.
by Angela Delli Santi, Associated Press, Newsday
November 27, 2006
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newjersey/ny-bc-nj--daycare-toxins1127nov27,0,5195916.story?coll=ny-region-apnewjersey
TRENTON, N.J. -- Two months after a South Jersey day care center was found to be operating in a former mercury thermometer factory -- and a third of the preschoolers enrolled there were found to have elevated levels of mercury -- lawmakers on Monday advanced legislation that would monitor air quality inside such sites. The measure would require the state departments of Health and Environmental Protection to establish guidelines for day care centers built on or near contaminated sites, and to ensure that the operators meet the standards before the facilities are licensed to open.
Article Summary: Three other day care centers have been found to be on or near contaminated sites, with one showing extremely high mercury levels in the air and one third of the enrolled children testing positive for mercury. The state continues to inspect other day cares identified as on or near contaminated sites. Environmental groups have criticized members of the Senate Environmental Committee for weakening the proposal before advancing it. State Sen. Fred Madden, whose legislative district includes the stricken sites and who is co-sponsoring the legislation, said it was financially unrealistic to include all sites in the legislation. Madden said the proposal has been fast-tracked to get through the legislature and to the governor by the end of the year.
by Michael Doyle, San Jose Mercury News
November 27, 2006
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/16109917.htm
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration pleased farmers and frustrated environmentalists Monday by declaring that pesticides can be sprayed into and over waters without first obtaining special permits. The heavily lobbied decision is supposed to settle a dispute that's roiled federal courts and divided state regulators. It's popular among those who spray pesticides for a living, but it worries those who fear poisoned waters will result.
Article Summary: Those requesting the ability to spray argue that mosquito control demands it -- permitting would disrupt and delay the effectiveness of pest control. The wording of the decision also indicates that a deliberately applied pesticide is not a "pollutant" under the terms of the 1972 Clean Water Act. Pesticides are not specifically included in the wording of the Clean Water Act. The EPA regards "any resulting damage is unfortunate but strictly collateral." Environmentalists countered that mosquito-killing chemicals can also poison shrimp, frogs and other aquatic innocents. Only a small percentage of total pesticide applications are directly to water. Prior confusion regarding permitting stemmed in part from conflicting court decisions.
by James Bruggers, Louisville Courier-Journal
November 27, 2006
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061127/NEWS01/611270353/1008
Twenty-two states -- but not Kentucky -- have enacted more stringent measures to control mercury emissions from power plants or are considering doing so, a national survey shows. The results suggest that many states are concerned that the Bush administration's mercury rules, which were adopted last year, do not go far enough to protect the public and the environment from a potent neurotoxin, said Bill Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies, which conducted the survey.
Article Summary: Perceived problems with the current rules include that coal-fired plants are given too many years to comply with mercury limits, that the limits themselves are too lenient or that they will perpetuate polluted "hot spots" by letting some plants comply by paying others to cut back through a cap-and-trade program. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials have said the rules would "significantly reduce emissions from the nation's largest remaining source" of mercury in air pollution. Kentucky is struggling with hot-spot concerns and how to reduce residents' exposure in considering whether to exceed federal standards.
by Michael Hawthorne, Chicago Tribune
November 27, 2006
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0611270205nov27,1,802493.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true
While the Bush administration promotes efforts to scrub mercury from the environment, one federal agency is considering selling a huge stockpile of the toxic metal on the world market. The Department of Energy acknowledged last week that it is mulling whether to unload more than 1,300 tons of mercury it collected over the years for processing materials used to make hydrogen bombs.
Article Summary: The need for mercury in military and industrial processes has evaporated with the development of less harmful alternatives. But the federal government still holds reserves that account for three-quarters of the national supply. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) introduced legislation last summer that would prohibit American exports of the silvery metal. That bill has a better chance of passing now that Democrats control Congress. If the mercury is sold overseas, scientists and environmental groups are concerned that it will drift back to the U.S. through air pollution. Mercury is considered one of the world's most toxic substances. Mercury pollution that falls into lakes and rivers is converted into a dangerous organic form that moves up the food chain from fish to people. The federal government estimated last year that 410,000 babies are born each year at risk for mercury poisoning in the U.S. because of high levels in their mother's bodies. Bush administration officials have been promoting rules that would curb emissions from power plants and reducing the leaching of mercury in waste dumps by recycling switches and other devices. According to the UN, most of the mercury sold on the world market ends up in small-scale mining operations with little or no equipment to prevent the metal from being released into the air. Mercury has also been used in making chlorine, although two American chlorine producers are shutting down. The European Union is considering a ban on mercury exports, in part to drive up the price of chlorine and thereby make safer alternatives more attractive to users.
by Beth Tribolet, ABC News
November 27, 2006
http://www.abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=2674213&page=1
Article Summary: Propelled by food scares over mad cow disease and E.coli infection, organics have boomed nationwide, growing by as much as 20 percent annually. Americans spent $14 billion on organic food last year, according to the Organic Trade Association. The main motivators are health and nutrition. The major selling point in organic is the lack of pesticides, fertilizers, growth hormones, radiation or bioengineered products. Federal organic standards also require that animals have access to outdoor pasture. A major complaint about these items is high prices, as much as 50 percent more than conventional grocery products. Many parents feel that the peace of mind from not giving pesticides to their children is worth the extra expense. Last spring Wal-Mart began offering mainstream brand organic foods with the idea to bring the cost down for those on tighter budgets. Some organic growers worry that quality and the environment suffer when organic foods become mainstream and are transported thousands of miles from where they are grown. Part of the benefit of locally distributed organic food is that it saves on fossil fuels both in costs and pollutants released into the atmosphere.
by Jill Hilbrenner, Columbia Missourian
November 26, 2006
http://columbiamissourian.com/news/story.php?ID=23027
Article Summary: Fred vom Saal has one goal: to see the day when some plastics corporations are seen in the same light as companies that make asbestos or sell tobacco. Since 1995, vom Saal has studied the effects of bisphenol A, or BPA, a chemical found in many plastics and in the linings of steel food cans that prevent food from acquiring a metallic taste. BPA mimics the effects of powerful sex hormones, vom Saal says, and can cause brain damage, abnormal organ development and hyperactivity even when present in small doses. With over 6 billion pounds of this made and used a year, it's one of the biggest chemicals in production in the world. BPA is found in polycarbonate plastics, which are used in many types of baby bottles, toddlers' spill-proof cups, Lexan items, Nalgene bottles, plastic wrap, microwave-safe plastic dishware and food containers. Many plastic items that carry the number 7 inside of the recycling triangle contain BPA, although not all items with that number have the chemical.
Vom Saal and fellow MU professor Susan C. Nagel have found that the body utilizes a barrier system in the blood to ward off potentially negative effects from sex hormones such as estrogen. BPA bypasses the protective barriers. Their research also showed harmful effects at a dose 2,500 times lower than the chemical industry said could cause harm. Vom Saal has indicated that a representative from Dow Chemical Company approached his to suppress the research findings. A Dow public relations representative has denied that the company tried to buy off vom Saal. Both the chemical industry and toxicologists have dissented with vom Saal's findings, finding no immediate harm from BPA. As an endocrinologist, vom Saal researches longer-term effects, including uncontrolled cell growth. Vom Saal stated that BPS is particularly dangerous to infants because the effects are permanent. Dozens of studies have been conducted, with those not funded by the chemical industry replicating vom Saal's work in some way. Vom Saal and his wife have minimized their use of BPA plastics in their homes.
by Fred Ortega, Pasadena Star-News
November 25, 2006
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_4723353
It has been two years since the state set a goal to limit the amount of perchlorate in Californians' drinking water, but officials have yet to establish a mandatory threshold for the potentially dangerous chemical. And some environmental groups and scientists claim that the limit being considered does not go far enough to protect the state's most vulnerable residents. Perchlorate is naturally occurring but is also used as an additive in rocket fuel. Over the years, the substance has leaked into the groundwater of countless American communities, and is now so prevalent in drinking water that a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found at least trace amounts of the chemical in every person it tested.
Article Summary: In southern California, perchlorate contamination has been linked to Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is engaged in a multimillion-dollar cleanup of water wells in Altadena and Pasadena, and the former aerospace plants that dotted the San Gabriel Valley during the Cold War. The federal limit for what is considered a safe level of exposure to perchlorate is 24.5 parts per billion (ppb). But local agencies have been following the voluntary state public health goal of 6 ppb in treating their water. California is working to make the limit legally binding. However, even a 6 ppb threshold could negatively affect pregnant women with abnormally low iodine levels. That translates to about 36 percent of American women, said Dr. Anila Jacobs, a senior scientist for the Environmental Working Group (EWG). Such women could be pushed into subclinical hypothyroidism, which can lead to IQ deficits and developmental delays among children born to these women. EWG has recommended an even stricter standard of 2 parts per billion, a limit adopted recently in Massachusetts. A change in state-mandated perchlorate levels to 2 ppb would push the cost of cleaning up San Gabriel Valley water to over $1 billion.
by Adam Sichko, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
November 25, 2006
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/nation/story/3B8D5E182654E4378625723100227AB3?OpenDocument
Deadly chemical runoff and suffocating loads of sediment plague the Mississippi River, and the governors of Missouri, Illinois and three other states in the river basin want an accounting of the problem. A bill in Congress would do just that, and now that Democrats have taken control, it could speed to passage.
Article Summary: The Mississippi River basin bill aims to protect the river all the way to the Gulf of Mexico where a New Jersey-sized "dead zone" of oxygen-impaired ocean is caused by chemical waste that originates in the river's upper basin. The proposed bill seeks to pinpoint the primary sources of such runoff. Possible solutions to the problem would require cooperation and coordination between all levels of government, as well as agriculture, industry and other private businesses in multiple states. It could also involve fundamental changes in how farms and businesses operate. Therefore, buy-in depends on sound science.
Other actions under consideration include repealing tax subsidies for big oil companies and investing those dollars in renewable energy technology; curbing greenhouse gases and other emissions that contribute to global warming; and speeding the cleanup of toxic waste dumps. Even though passing such legislation will not be easy, the focus has shifted to protecting natural resources than exploiting them. Some advise the Democrats to start a dialogue about overarching issues, such as global warming, while passing smaller, "less-sexy" initiatives that begin to address those broader problems.
by Jeremy Roberts, Sydney Australian
November 25, 2006
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20811607-23289,00.html
Federal Finance Minister Nick Minchin has warned of spiraling health costs if the link between toxins in the environment and cancer and chronic illness is ignored. Minchin said a link between toxins and cancer and chronic illnesses was "common sense" and its impact on the health budget "keeps you awake at night".
Article Summary: Minchin stated that experts are postulating that chemicals in our environment, chemicals in our soils, the extent to which we have used fertilisers to grow food is associated with the increasing incidences of cancer and other disease. Health spending in Australia has doubled since 1960, now at 10 per cent of the gross domestic product, and is projected to grow to 15 per cent of GDP by 2040. About $2.9 billion is spent on cancer and its consequences each year. The incidence of cancer has risen to make it the leading cause of death among Australians aged from 45 to 64. Minchin further stated that with "things like toxic contamination ... a feature of increasing incidences of disease and cancer," then a preventive approach includes toxic contamination research.
by Mike Lee, San Diego Union-Tribune
November 25, 2006
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20061125-9999-1n25ewaste.html
Article Summary: With a crushing load of outdated TVs, computers and other electronics to dispose of, more people are turning to recycle them through e-waste companies which advertise themselves as environmental stewards that divert toxin-laden electronics from landfills. Each year, 100 million computers, monitors and TVs become obsolete in the United States, making e-waste the fastest-growing portion of the waste stream. These products typically are loaded with toxic metals such as barium, cadmium, mercury and lead, accounting for more than 40 percent of the lead and 70 percent of the metals in U.S. landfills, creating a high potential for toxins escaping into the air or leaching into the ground and water supplies.
Instead of recycling the waste in environmentally responsible ways, many companies export their collections to Mexico or countries in Asia and Africa. There, the products are dumped or dismantled by low-wage workers who work under health and environmental regulations typically far less stringent than in the United States. Even in California, which is widely regarded as a national leader in e-waste recycling, the state's regulatory oversight hasn't caught up with the exploding number of companies interested in capturing some of the tens of millions of dollars in consumer-funded rebates that began in 2005. Besides trying to combat overbilling and fraud, California officials are helpless to prevent e-waste recyclers from shipping their commodities abroad. States can't regulate international shipments because the federal government oversees such commerce. Congress has talked about establishing e-waste programs for years, but fighting among interest groups has stymied those efforts. States such as California struggle with enforcement issues, such as finding and training enough inspectors, ensuring complete documentation regarding recycled components and preventing overbilling. In addition, state agents have penalized several e-waste companies for not showing that they have the money to clean up their collection and processing sites should they go out of business. California inspectors also look at improper handling of recycled electronics. Environmental and human-rights groups have documented cases of workers in foreign countries burning heaps of e-waste or children combing through piles of discarded electronic products. In California, e-waste companies are supposed to submit notices to state regulators concerning their shipments. Some third-party groups are striving to assure the public that certain companies are following best-management practices.
See a related article at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6187358.stm.
from the Portland Oregonian
November 24, 2006
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1164009323157330.xml&coll=7
Article Summary: Trace amounts of mercury from chimneys in China can take less than a week to reach Oregon, where research suggests that about one-fifth of the mercury entering the Willamette River comes from abroad -- increasingly from China. Mercury and other airborne contaminants collect over China during the winter and spring until Siberian winds arrive bearing dust from expanding Chinese and Mongolian deserts. Every five or six days, the winds flush out eastern China, sending dust and pollutants such as ozone precursors high over the Pacific. The incoming pollution bucks a U.S. trend toward cleaner skies and water. Mercury is especially suited for long-distance travel because at the smokestack in elemental form, it's insoluble. By the time it reaches the West Coast, however, some of the mercury has transformed into a reactive gaseous material that dissolves in the West Coast's wet climate. It washes into the rivers, where microbes convert it into a form that further concentrates in fish. While most of the mercury entering the Willamette comes from Oregon's volcanic soil and from sediment churned up on the river bottom, estimates are that global sources beyond the state's control contribute 18 percent -- more than four times the share from local air deposition. Research has calculated that Asia emits 1,460 metric tons of mercury a year, twice as much as previously thought. If China's output increases, Oregon can do little to reduce contamination of the river even by cracking down on emissions, eliminating mercury from products and segregating waste. Pressure on local emitters will increase under the DEQ's cleanup plan, causing concern that businesses will spend a great deal on measures that "won't matter" because of the increasing foreign pollution. Similar patterns of mercury pollution have been found in sediment samples beneath lakes near Bellingham, Washington, where most of the industrial mercury came from global sources. At least one-third of California's fine particulate pollution -- known as aerosol -- has floated across from Asia. A recent court decision raises the possibility that foreign firms could be held liable for polluting the United States.
by Gardiner Harris, New York Times
November 23, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/23/health/23kids.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Article Summary: About 1.6 million children and teenagers in the United States took more than one psychiatric drug in 2005. From the antidepressants Zoloft and Desyrel for depression, the anticonvulsants Lamictal and Depakoteto moderate moods and the stimulant Focalin XR to improve concentration. Parents express concern over the large numbers of medications even while they concede that those medications make a huge difference. However, a growing number of children and teenagers in the United States are taking not just a single drug for discrete psychiatric difficulties but combinations of powerful and even life-threatening medications to treat a dizzying array of problems. There is virtually no scientific evidence to justify this multiplication of pills, say researchers such as Dr. Thomas R. Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health. Some psychiatric drugs can cause serious physical effects and lack clear evidence about how they interact or influence mental and physical development, and parents say that they must on occasion make a terrifying choice between their child's physical health and his mental health. Parents also struggle with being stigmatized. The Food and Drug Administration recently began requiring drug makers to warn on their labels of side effects such as suicidal thoughts and behavior, liver and pancreas damage, fatal skin rashes, weight gain, diabetes, irreversible tics and, in elderly patients with dementia, sudden death. When drugs are combined, these risks compound. The FDA requires drug makers to prove that their drugs work safely before the agency will approve them for sale in the United States, but doctors can prescribe and combine approved medicines as they see fit. Such mixing is common in medicine but rarely studied by drug makers. Psychiatrists generally mix medications to better control symptoms. While some studies show benefits of mixing drugs for adults, hardly any studies have examined the safety or the effectiveness of medicine combinations in children. If the evidence for two-drug combinations is minimal, for three-drug combinations it is nonexistent, several top experts said. Still, most experts agree that some children are so violent or suicidal that a combination of psychiatric drugs is worth trying. But many question cases in which drugs are being prescribed for children who do not need them, or for problems that fall within the spectrum of normal behavior. The doubters are especially concerned with the growing use of drug combinations for preschoolers.
Dr. Gary Sachs, director of the Bipolar Clinic and Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, estimated that half the children referred to his clinic for research in recent years had the wrong diagnosis and often did well on fewer drugs. However, Dr. Judith Rapoport, a senior investigator in child psychiatry at the National Institute of Mental Health, said that in her experience, few children were overmedicated. While some parents report that behavior normalized after several months off medications, most of the parents interviewed for this article said their children's behavior deteriorated rapidly without medication.
by Rick Weiss, Washington Post
November 23, 2006
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/22/AR2006112201979.html
The Environmental Protection Agency has decided to regulate a large class of consumer items made with microscopic "nanoparticles" of silver, part of a new but increasingly widespread technology that may pose unanticipated environmental risks, a government official said yesterday. The decision -- which will affect the marketing of high-tech odor-destroying shoe liners, food-storage containers, air fresheners, washing machines and a wide range of other products that contain tiny bacteria-killing particles of silver -- marks a significant reversal in federal policy. It also creates an unexpected regulatory hurdle for the burgeoning field of nanotechnology, which involves the creation of materials just a few ten-thousandths the diameter of a human hair.
Article Summary: Unregulated until now, the tiny germ-fighting particles of silver have concerned environmentalists because the growing amount of nanosilver washed down drains may be killing beneficial bacteria and aquatic organisms and may also pose risks to human health. Under the EPA determination, any company wishing to sell a product that it claims will kill germs by the release of nanotech silver or related technology will first have to provide scientific evidence that the product does not pose an environmental risk. Most nanomaterials will remain unaffected by the new EPA decision, but Andrew Maynard, chief scientific adviser for the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies at the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars see this as a test case. At least one company is skirting the determination by dropping all references to germ killing from its marketing materials. The Natural Resources Defense Council, is concerned about this loophole. Another potential loophole exists regarding the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, or FIFRA. FIFRA requires that pesticidal chemicals be proved safe before they are marketed but exempts pesticidal "devices." Samsung has created a new washing machine that it claims sanitizes clothes in cold water by releasing tiny charged particles of silver into the wash water. Because the machine is "more of a mouse trap than a mouse poison", it may not be subject to regulatory review. Also, because some nanoparticles are applied to the body, they would be regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, which is currently considering whether it needs new rules for nanoproducts.
See a related article at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/11/24/MNGP9MJ4KI1.DTL.
by Lidia Wasowicz, UPI
November 22, 2006
http://www.upi.com/ConsumerHealthDaily/view.php?StoryID=20061121-020244-9498r
SAN FRANCISCO -- Going against the mainstream grain, some parents and physicians tie neurodevelopmental and certain other chronic health problems increasingly diagnosed in America's children to the mercury-based preservative thimerosal, once widely used in vaccines and still present in some booster and flu shots. Others are convinced potential harm also may lurk in other components of the ever-expanding childhood immunization schedule.
Article Summary: Barbara Loe Fisher, co-founder and president of the advocacy group National Vaccine Information Center, posits that the whole environment of newborns and infants has been altered by vaccines -- by age 6, a child will have received 48 doses of 14 vaccines. She speculates that the cumulative effects of over-vaccinating children, including the effects of simultaneous injection (of) many vaccines at once, is a plausible explanation for why so many children today are chronically ill, suffering with a variety of brain and immune system problems, including autism. Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, replied that we don't have answers to the cause of this disorder or the disorders that fall into the autism spectrum. Others point out that we don't even have firm dividing points for the disorder. Autism has arrived at the stage where polio stood in the mid-1950s, addressing the immediate needs of affected families. However, research to the causes of the disorder are also needed, including the biological basis of autism, an understanding of what is happening at a molecular and cellular level, early identification models and better ways to find the resources.
by Janet Wilson, Los Angeles Times
November 22, 2006
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-coal22nov22,1,2276434.story?track=rss
In an abrupt about-face, Burbank and several other Southern California cities are joining with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power in abandoning plans to renew long-term contracts for coal-fired electricity from a Utah power plant.
Article Summary: The cities are gambling on the availability of adequate alternative energy from cleaner sources, including wind and solar power. All of these technologies are still in their infancy. Decisions were made in response to pressure from local constituents, environmentalists and politicians, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein and state Sen. Don Perata (D-Oakland), author of greenhouse-gas legislation which includes a ban on power from sources that generate more such gases than in-state natural gas plants. Coal-fired plants are the cheapest, most reliable source of power but emit tons of carbon dioxide along with other harmful air pollutants. The next challenge will be to consider all available alternatives, from wind farms in the Tehachapi Mountains north of Los Angeles to desert solar power. Officials have to decide in the next five years where they're going to get power and start constructing it. Utah's Intermountain Power Agency said the agency worked for three years on the renewals and now was looking at ways to modernize its plants to bring them into compliance with California's greenhouse-gas legislation, including burning biomass instead of coal, or possible burial of carbon dioxide. Such measures "will be costly" to consumers.
by Vicki Smith, Associated Press, Houston Chronicle
November 22, 2006
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/science/4355082.html
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Not a single West Virginia grocery store is warning consumers of the possible dangers of mercury in fish, an environmental group says, even though the state and federal governments have been issuing advisories to anglers for at least two years. Oceana, a Washington, D.C.-based activist group, issued a report this week that concludes fewer than 20 percent of the nation's grocery stores are posting in-store warnings about mercury. West Virginia is one of four states with zero in-store warnings, the report says. The others are Mississippi, Alabama and North Dakota.
Article Summary: Mercury is a toxic metal that can cause nerve damage in humans and is particularly dangerous to children, developing fetuses and women of childbearing age. Some states post warnings with businesses that sell fishing licenses or publish publications including recommendations for women, especially pregnant women, on grocery store fish that contain higher levels of mercury, but do not require the information to be posted in grocery stores. Jackie Savitz, director of Oceana's Campaign to Stop Seafood Contamination, said that while some of the nation's largest grocers are posting Food and Drug Administration recommendations in stores, "many consumers, especially in the Eastern U.S., still are not getting the message." Hawaii, the District of Columbia and Alaska are doing the best job of educating consumers, and 15 companies are on Oceana's "green list," including Safeway, Trader Joe's and Albertson's. Jeff Lowrance, spokesman for North Carolina-based Food Lion LLC, countered that there is no state or federal law requiring supermarkets to post such information. Meghan Glynn, a spokeswoman for Kroger Co., said Kroger requires all stores to make information about mercury available near the area where seafood is sold. In September, 45 states issued consumption advisories about locally caught fish.
See a related article at http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2006/11/23/activists_get_stores_eateries_to_post_mercury_alerts/.
by Jeff Montgomery, Wilmington [New Jersey] News Journal
November 22, 2006
http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061122/BUSINESS/611220340/1003
The DuPont Co. and federal regulators have agreed on a drastically lower contamination limit for some West Virginia and Ohio drinking-water supplies tainted with a chemical used in making stick- and stain-resistant products. Environmental Protection Agency officials said the agreement would drop the "action" trigger level to 0.5 parts per billion of perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, for any public or private drinking-water system around DuPont's Washington Works site in Parkersburg, W.Va. -- down from 150 parts per billion set in an EPA order in 2002.
Article summary: Environmental groups in New Jersey called for similar action near other DuPont plants that handle PFOA. Action was taken in response to higher-than-normal levels of PFOA in the blood of Parkersburg-area residents. EPA mid-Atlantic regional administrator Donald S. Welsh said the West Virginia action was site-specific to the West Virginia and Ohio areas under study. PFOA is a "probable" cancer-causing agent. Tracy Carluccio of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network conservation group stated that the EPA would take action elsewhere where PFOA has been found in drinking water. New Jersey is considering its own standards for PFOA in drinking water.
by Randy Lee Loftis, Dallas Morning News
November 21, 2006
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/112206dntexsmogplan.32b4ead.html
A proposed smog-fighting plan for urban North Texas released Tuesday falls short of the requirement for cleaning up the air by the federal Clean Air Act deadline of March 2009. The plan, which calls for mandatory pollution cuts from local industries and improvements in traffic flows, relies heavily on new federal limits on emissions from vehicles and fuels.
Article Summary: Texas environmental officials predicted that the plan would work, although environmentalists branded the plan a failure, saying it does not achieve a victory over lung-scarring ozone pollution. Ozone is the most troublesome ingredient of urban smog. It causes breathing problems and can trigger asthma attacks, which can be fatal. Children, the elderly and the infirm are at the greatest risk, but ozone can also affect healthy people when levels are highest. The state predicts that ozone monitors in Frisco and Denton will still register levels over the federal limit in 2009. Texas is using a federal provision that allows states to argue that their plans are close enough to the goal to deserve approval by the Environmental Protection Agency. Science advisers to the EPA have stated that the current federal limit on ozone may still be too high to protect public health. The new state proposal covering Dallas, Collin, Rockwall, Denton, Tarrant, Ellis, Kaufman, Johnson and Parker counties, goes before the state environmental agency's three commissioners on Dec. 16. After the commissioners endorse the plan, the agency will accept written public comments from Dec. 29 to Feb. 12. The plan includes no restrictions on driving or drive-through lanes, no changes in state emissions inspections and no California-type vehicle engine standards. It does include a variety of local voluntary measures, such as more HOV lanes and better traffic coordination. Those with the highest predictions of success in cutting emissions include intersection improvements and voluntary vanpooling efforts. Heavy-duty commercial vehicles face continued restrictions on extended idling, and the Texas Emissions Reduction Program offers companies grants to help them replace older, dirtier diesel engines with new ones. The plan puts new restrictions on industries in the nine-county area, including power plants and cement kilns. and it limits emissions from pipeline compressor engines across East Texas. But it does not require power companies to cut emissions from plants outside the nine-county area, despite a state study last year that said such reductions might be needed in order to help clean up Dallas-Fort Worth's air. Controversy persists over the level of cuts appropriate for cement kilns.
by Randy Lee Loftis, Dallas Morning News
November 21, 2006
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/112206dntexcoaldeaths.3414149.html
Emissions from new coal-burning power plants proposed across East Texas would lead to 240 premature deaths per year, environmental groups asserted in an analysis released Tuesday. The state's environmental agency and TXU, the Dallas-based company with the state's biggest coal plans, disputed the assertion, saying TXU has pledged to reduce emissions by 20 percent even after adding 11 new coal-burning units. TXU said it would make reductions by retrofitting old plants and taking other steps.
Article Summary: Both environmentalists and legislators are trying to marshal arguments against the permits. A group of 25 legislators, including two Republicans and five Democrats from North Texas, signed a letter to the state environmental commission this week asking for a delay in the permits until the state strengthens its permit rules. The Texas office of Public Citizen and the Sustainable Energy and Economic Development Coalition contracted for an analysis of total annual emissions that would result if every coal- or coal-related plant proposed in Texas were built. Emissions studied included sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Public Citizen's Texas office has called on the public to oppose the coal plans to protect public health and slow global warming. Dr. Lisa Doggett, an Austin family-practice physician and a board member of the national group Physicians for Social Responsibility, predicted health problems from the new plants, including severe asthma attacks, more strokes and worsening of heart and lung problems. The chief toxicologist for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality dismissed the prediction of more premature deaths, citing a 20 percent reduction in sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides emissions in the area and no increase in levels of tiny particulate matter if these power plants are permitted. TXU spokeswoman Kim Morgan also said the company's plans would reduce emissions overall, citing "no link" between power plant emissions and public health.
See a similar article regarding a North Carolina case against the Tennessee Valley Authority at http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061123/NEWS01/61122136&SearchID=73263865151160&GID=MxhtP+7TDFS5Dx9rJ2dvqOa0dKx0vK3TSOIQ1uXxlUw%3D.
by Virginia A. Rauh, ScDa, Robin Garfinkel, PhDa, Frederica P. Perera, DrPHa, Howard F. Andrews, PhDa, Lori Hoepner, MPHa, Dana B. Barr, PhD, DLSb, Ralph Whitehead, MPHb, Deliang Tang, DrPHa and Robin W. Whyatt, DrPHa, Pediatrics
November 20, 2006
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?CMD=search&DB=PubMed
Article Abstract:
OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of prenatal exposure to chlorpyrifos on 3-year neurodevelopment and behavior in a sample of inner-city minority children.
METHODS. As part of an ongoing prospective cohort study in an inner-city minority population, neurotoxicant effects of prenatal exposure to chlorpyrifos were evaluated in 254 children through the first 3 years of life. This report examined cognitive and motor development at 12, 24, and 36 months (measured with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development II) and child behavior at 36 months (measured with the Child Behavior Checklist) as a function of chlorpyrifos levels in umbilical cord plasma.
RESULTS. Highly exposed children (chlorpyrifos levels of >6.17 pg/g plasma) scored, on average, 6.5 points lower on the Bayley Psychomotor Development Index and 3.3 points lower on the Bayley Mental Development Index at 3 years of age compared with those with lower levels of exposure. Children exposed to higher, compared with lower, chlorpyrifos levels were also significantly more likely to experience Psychomotor Development Index and Mental Development Index delays, attention problems, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder problems, and pervasive developmental disorder problems at 3 years of age.
CONCLUSIONS. The adjusted mean 36-month Psychomotor Development Index and Mental Development Index scores of the highly and lower exposed groups differed by only 7.1 and 3.0 points, respectively, but the proportion of delayed children in the high-exposure group, compared with the low-exposure group, was 5 times greater for the Psychomotor Development Index and 2.4 times greater for the Mental Development Index, increasing the number of children possibly needing early intervention services.
by Christine Gorman, Time Magazine
November 19, 2006
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1561137,00.html
Article Summary: The massive reorganization that Julie Gerberding ordered at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) -- combined with painful budget cuts in key divisions -- seems to be tearing the agency apart. Problems include the loss of six directors of the CDC's eight primary scientific centers, sniping in public and on the Internet and chaos and mismanagement at the very top, as reported by an outside consultant who studied the agency's response to Hurricane Katrina. The CDC is responsible for researching, tracking and counteracting newly emerging infectious diseases, plus it develops unbiased recommendations on a wide range of medical issues from when to vaccinate children to how best to battle obesity and directs funds to individual state and local public agencies to shore up their own community health efforts. Increased CDC funding mandated by Congress for high-profile threats like bioterrorism and flu pandemics has drained money from areas of public health that may be more pressing. Among the hardest-hit programs: AIDS prevention (down 19%), tuberculosis control (down 16%) and preventive-health block grants for outbreaks of West Nile disease and other unexpected events (down 17%). Critics complain that the CDC's devotion to pure science has been sabotaged. Gerberding's reorganization centered on her decision to replace the agency's 11 often insular centers with four coordinating bodies that would respond to emergencies with more agility. Closer contact between infectious-disease and environmental experts has resulted in faster tests for detecting botulism. But some within the agency complain that the main difference they have seen is that their work is more subject to bureaucratic filtering. Some of the dissatisfaction is due to general government-wide belt tightening rather than to Gerberding's reorganization. Experts believe that the agency needs at least $15 billion a year to do all the jobs it has been assigned -- nearly twice the current budget of $8.5 billion. Another problem is the age of the CDC workforce -- 40% of the CDC's 9,000 employees will be eligible to retire in 2008.
by Jane Kay, San Francisco Chronicle
November 19, 2006
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/11/19/MNG5AMDGVE1.DTL
There has been no shortage in Europe of children's merchandise despite a ban on products containing certain chemicals, but companies are still adjusting to producing goods without the plastic softeners. Since the ban went into effect earlier this year, toys and other children's products found on retail shelves must be made without some types of phthalates. Chemical-makers sell phthalates to soften polyvinyl chloride, or PVC.
Article Summary: Businesses such as McDonald's listened to the legislation and found ways to find alternatives to the materials. Some manufacturers of phthalate and PVC plastic assert that their reputation has been damaged and it's up to the plastic industry to build up confidence. Other toy industry representatives are open to discussion yet still don't believe the ban is necessary. Due to concerns over liability at any stage of the supply chain, toy manufacturers and distributors as well as retailers must be certain the products meet standards. In this way, he said, the system becomes self-regulating. European chemical-makers had furiously opposed the ban, although some had been preparing and are courting toymakers with a non-phthalate plastic softener, DINCH, which has been undergoing tests.
by Julie Deardorff, Chicago Tribune
November 19, 2006
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/health/chi-0611190297nov19,1,7985070.column?coll=chi-health-hed
Article Summary: In addition to anti-bacterial hand soaps and shampoos, the microbe-averse can buy bacteria-fighting clothes, toys, towels, sheets, sponges, mops and even pens. Never mind that trillions of bacteria happily reside on our skins and noses and in our mouths and intestines. Or that some exposure to germs helps develop a healthy immune system. In 2004, Americans spent more than $540 million on anti-bacterial soaps, hand cleaners and detergents that contain chemicals such as triclosan to kill germs, though a Food and Drug Administration panel found that they are no better than soap and water. People in health-care settings may see benefits, but not in the general population. Problems with antibacterial products go beyond wasting money, however. They could promote the growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, something the Soap and Detergent Association maintains happens in the lab but not in the real world, but more disturbing is that the germ-fighting chemicals found in anti-bacterials, namely triclosan and triclocarban, are turning up in fish, breast milk and wastewater. From wastewater, they are released into the environment through municipal sludge, which is recycled and spread on agricultural fields. The spread of these chemicals into the environment is widespread -- the United States Geological Survey has shown that triclosan, which mimics the thyroid hormone and is commonly added to soaps, toothpaste, deodorant, dog shampoo, cutting boards, clothing, toys and other anti-bacterial products, is present in 60 percent of U.S. waterways investigated. Even the tiny amounts found are enough to disrupt thyroid function in frogs. Equivalent data on humans isn't yet available. A member of the FDA panel that looked at the benefits and hazards of antiseptic hand soaps commented that "these chemicals are remarkably persistent and possibly bioaccumulating, not only through products [applied to the skin] but environmentally through drinking water and potentially contaminated crops." Scientists are questioning the added value of these chemicals to soap. The American Medical Association has opposed routine use of anti-bacterial soaps since 2002.
