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Coordinated nationally by the Institute for Children's Environmental Health |
Due to staff scheduling, there will be no bulletin published next week. The April 18th bulletin will have articles and announcements from the next two weeks.
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.
April 14, 2007
in hundreds of locations across the United States
This April 14th, tens of thousands of Americans will gather all across the country at meaningful, iconic places to call for action on climate change. Visit the website below for information about activities in your area or how to organize an event.
Website: http://www.stepitup07.org/
April 14 - 15, 2007
Palo Alto, California
at Stanford University School of Medicine
The conference theme is "Innovation, Advancement, and Best Practices to Achieve Global Goals." More than 300 experts in international health and development, public health, eye care, medicine, entrepreneurship, nonprofits, philanthropy and microfinance will present.
Website: http://www.uniteforsight.org/conference/2007/
April 17, 2007
7:00 p.m.
Portland, Oregon
at Portland State University, Smith Memorial Center on SW Broadway, Room 338
Many common products, such as toys, cosmetics and drugs, contain artificial chemicals called phthalates. These "endocrine disruptors" can interfere with hormones that control gender. Animal and human research links phthalates to breast and prostate cancer and abnormal genital development. Shanna Swan, PhD, an obstetrics and gynecology professor at the University of Rochester New York School of Medicine and Dentistry, was the first researcher to find an association between higher phthalate levels in pregnant women and abnormal genital development in their newborn sons. Dr. Swan will discuss implications of her research and ways to limit exposure. A $10 donation is suggested.
Website: http://www.rachelsfriends.org/events.html
April 18, 2007
3:00 p.m.
Berkeley, California
at the Dean's Conference Room, 401 University Hall in the 417 Suite, corner of University and Oxford
Stefan Scheuer is the former Policy Director of the European Environment Bureau, the umbrella association of the EU's environmental nongovernmental organizations. He has been a leader in the EU in environmental policy for the past decade. He played a key role in the development and implementation of the landmark Water Framework Directive (adopted by EU legislators in 2000) and the reform of Europe's chemicals policy, the REACH regulation (adopted in 2006). Please RSVP to the address below.
Contact: John Minardi, scheuer_event@berkeley.edu
May 10 - 11, 2007
Atlanta, Georgia
at the Morehouse School of Medicine
The theme of this second national conference of the Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative is "Priming for Prevention: An Ecological Approach to Research, Education and Policy." Dr. David Satcher, former Surgeon General is our invited keynote speaker, and many other leading researchers, health professionals and advocates will be presenting their cutting-edge work on environmental factors and neurological development. Visit the website below for an updated agenda, a full list of presenters and registration information. Reserved rooms at a discount rate are being held only until April 10th.
Website: http://www.iceh.org/LDDImeetings.html
Contact: Elise Miller, emiller@iceh.org
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.
press release from Environmental Defense
April 4, 2007
http://www.environnmentaldefense.org/go/chempolicyreport
Environmental Defense, in cooperation with Pollution Probe in Canada, released today the first-ever study comparing the European Union's new REACH regulation with industrial chemicals policies in the U.S. and Canada. The report, titled Not That Innocent: A Comparative Analysis of Canadian, European Union and United States Policies on Industrial Chemicals, offers a blueprint for addressing both long-standing deficiencies and newly emerging concerns over how government manages the potential risks of industrial chemicals.
Article Summary: The 140-page report identifies "best practices" from among the policies in the three jurisdictions that most effectively ensure protection of human health and the environment. "Existing policies have allowed chemicals to accumulate in the environment and in the bodies of virtually all people on earth -- while failing to deliver the information needed to determine what risks they pose," according to Senior Health Program Scientist Richard A. Denison, PhD, the report author. The study released today describes a paradigm shift beginning to take place in all three jurisdictions toward policies that are knowledge-driven and place more of the burden of providing and acting on that information on those who stand to profit financially from the production and use of chemicals.
press release from the Washington Toxics Coalition
April 3, 2007
http://www.watoxics.org/pressroom/press-releases/pbde-victory
The Washington State Legislature has passed the nation's first ban on all forms of the toxic flame retardants known as PBDEs.
Article Summary: The Washington State Departments of Ecology and Health requested the legislation, which is supported by Governor Gregoire, three state fire associations, the Washington State Nurses Association, the Washington Medical Association, and many others. Three hundred health care professionals signed a letter supporting the ban on PBDEs, citing harmful health impacts from PBDEs including learning and behavioral disorders, memory impairments, disruption of thyroid function, reproductive effects, and cancer. The letter's authors note that substantial evidence shows the buildup of PBDEs in people, orca whales, and the environment, and new studies find that the deca form breaks down into other forms of PBDEs that have already been phased out.
While other states have passed bans on the penta and octa forms of PBDEs, which have been phased out of manufacture, Washington is the first to act on the deca form. Deca has by far the highest production volume of the PBDE forms. Major manufacturers, including HP, Dell, Sony, Panasonic and Phillips, have already stopped using PBDEs in their products. The legislation bans the use of the penta and octa forms of PBDEs, with limited exceptions, by 2008; bans the use of the deca form in mattresses by 2008 and bans the use of the deca form in televisions, computers, and residential upholstered furniture by 2011 as long as a safer, reasonable, and effective alternative has been identified by the state departments of Ecology and Health and approved by fire safety officials.
from CNN
April 3 2007
http://money.cnn.com/2007/04/03/news/companies/bracelet_recall/
NEW YORK -- A&A Global Industries and the Consumer Product Safety Commission on Tuesday announced a recall of 4 million children's "Groovy Grabber" bracelets sold in vending machines because the paint on the products poses a lead poisoning risk. The CPSC said the paint on the metallic band beneath the decorative cover contains high levels of lead. Lead is toxic if ingested by young children and can cause adverse health effects.
Article Summary: The recalled 'Groovy Grabber' bracelets, manufactured in China were sold in vending machines nationwide from Nov. 2005 through March 2007. The agency said no injuries had been reported. The CPSC said parents should immediately take the bracelets away from children and discard them. Separately, Dollar General (Charts) announced Tuesday that it was recalling 396,000 metal key chains for high levels of lead, which could potentially be toxic if ingested by young children.
by Erik N. Nelson, Oakland Tribune
April 3, 2007
http://www.insidebayarea.com/trivalleyherald/ci_5581919
More than 25 million Americans are living in harm's way because many sewage treatment and water purification plants continue to use large rail tank cars to ship deadly chlorine gas that kills bacteria, according to a study released Monday by a progressive think tank. Prompted by a wide consensus that hazardous chemicals shipped in the quantity carried by rail cars could be used as chemical warheads in a terror attack, the study by the Center for American Progress finds that the threat could be inexpensively neutralized.
Article Summary: The center's researchers obtained the damage estimates from the chlorine-using utilities, which are required to determine casualties in a worst-case release of chlorine. Many utilities have already turned away from chlorine, and the report lists 25 water utilities across the nation that have, since 1999, switched to safer treatment methods, such as using bleach or ultraviolet light to kill microbes. "This basically eliminates the danger of a catastrophic rail release," said Paul Orum, author of the report.
by Cornelia Dean, New York Times
April 3, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/03/science/earth/03water.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Residues of birth control pills, antidepressants, painkillers, shampoos and a host of other compounds are finding their way into the nation's waterways, and they have public health and environmental officials in a regulatory quandary. On the one hand, there is no evidence the traces of the chemicals found so far are harmful to human beings. On the other hand, it would seem cavalier to ignore them. The pharmaceutical and personal care products, or PPCP's, are being flushed into the nation's rivers from sewage treatment plants or leaching into groundwater from septic systems. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, researchers have found these substances, called "emerging contaminants," almost everywhere they have looked for them.
Article Summary: The extent and consequences of human exposure to these compounds, especially in combination, are "unknown," the Food and Drug Administration said in a review issued in 2005. And aging and increasingly medicated Americans are using more of these products than ever. Scientists in several government and private agencies are devising new ways to measure and analyze the compounds, determine their prevalence in the environment, figure out where they come from, how they move, where they end up and if they have any effects. In many cases, the compounds enter the water when people excrete them or wash them away in the shower. But some are flushed or washed down the drain when people discard outdated or unused drugs. Pharmaceutical residues pass unmeasured through wastewater treatment facilities that have not been designed to deal with them. A number of states and localities around the country have started discouraging pharmacies, hospitals, nursing homes and residents from disposing of drugs by flushing. Some are setting up "pharmaceutical take-back locations" in drugstores or even police stations. Others are adding pharmaceuticals to the list of hazardous household waste, like leftover paint or insecticides, periodically collected for safe disposal, often by incineration.
by Ian Sample, London Guardian
April 3, 2007
http://environment.guardian.co.uk/waste/story/0,,2048662,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=1
Air pollution in major cities may be more damaging to health than the radiation exposure suffered by survivors of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, according to a report published today. The study suggests high levels of urban air pollution cut short life expectancy more than the radiation exposure of emergency workers who were sent into the 19-mile exclusion zone around the site straight after the accident.
Article Summary: The latest study follows a report last month from the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution which said air pollution was responsible for 24,000 premature deaths in Britain every year. Other findings this year showed that women living in areas of high air pollution were at greater risk of heart disease and death, while children living within 500m of motorways suffered more permanent lung damage and lower life expectancy, probably because of their greater exposure to pollutants in vehicle fumes. Jim Smith, a scientist at the government's Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Dorchester, assessed the health risks faced by emergency workers at Chernobyl directly after the explosion and those who unofficially set up house in the exclusion zone afterwards. He compared them with the more familiar risks of air pollution, obesity, and passive and active smoking. He concluded that the Chernobyl group received doses of radiation equivalent to more than 12,000 chest x-rays and likely to cause one extra death in a hundred by increasing the risk of cancer. The health risks associated with air pollution and passive smoking appear more severe. Pollution in central London increases mortality due to heart and lung disease by 2.8% compared with Inverness, Britain's least polluted city, while living with a smoker increases mortality by 1.7%, the study found. A similar comparison between survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings and obesity and active smoking found that radiation exposures experienced by the most exposed group of survivors (excluding those who died immediately as a result of the blasts) led to an average loss of life expectancy significantly lower than that caused by severe obesity or active smoking.
by Elizabeth Eddy, Gloucester [Massachusetts] Daily Times
April 2, 2007
http://www.gloucestertimes.com/pulife/local_story_092093920
A new recycling program in Gloucester aims to reduce the amount of mercury entering the waste stream, decreasing one source of this heavy metal and safeguarding public health.
Article Summary: The goal is to divert products that contain mercury from potential delivery to the waste treatment facility by educating municipal officials, schools, health-care professionals, businesses and the general public regarding this need. "Mercury is an element that can be harmful to human health and the environment if not properly managed," says Kathy Middleton, recycling coordinator for Gloucester. "We need to remove it from the waste stream whenever possible." Although liquid mercury, found in thermometers, is "relatively inert, and would pass right through you if you swallowed it, it becomes a problem when you put it in the ground and it interacts with water and acids," explained Dr. Jeff Stockman of Cape Ann Pediatrics. "In landfills, mercury undergoes a chemical reaction and becomes a salt, which is soluble and can enter your body," he said. "That's when it becomes dangerous." Middleton said one step to halt the mercury threat will bring together the Gloucester Health Department and Department of Public Works to work in the community to collect thermostats from contractors and individuals. Thermostats contain four grams of mercury, and nearly 44,000 of them enter Massachusetts landfills each year. Recycling efforts in 2006 were successful in removing 4,220 thermostats from the commonwealth's waste stream. Gloucester will also host a thermometer exchange program where residents can bring their outmoded, mercury-containing thermometers and receive a new mercury-free digital thermometer in return. Another effort will target fluorescent light bulbs, which also contain mercury and should not be disposed of with ordinary trash. Another little known source of mercury is button-cell batteries, typically found in watches, hearing aids, cameras and digital organizers.
by Eric Berger, Houston Chronicle
April 2, 2007
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4679770.html
Article Summary: In epigenetics, it is factors such as diet and smoking, rather than inheritance, that influence how genes behave. Like a gene mutation, epigenetics also may cause a gene to break down, or begin doing bad things, such as turning a healthy cell into a cancerous one. In epigenetics, however, the DNA letters of genes are not changed or mutated. Instead, some other external force, typically a tiny hydrocarbon molecule, bonds with a healthy gene and stops it from functioning. Among the most common of these epigenetic "silencers" is a methyl hydrocarbon chemical in the body, which attaches itself to the DNA inside cells. It still isn't entirely clear why this methylation occurs. Scientists have determined, however, that the process can be triggered by any number of environmental factors, such as a consistently poor diet, smoking, even aging. It is, perhaps, no coincidence that those are among the leading risk factors for cancer.
A deepening understanding of this process has led to the development of drugs to rehabilitate cancer cells. Drugs are already available that will strip epigenetic tags -- such as methyl groups -- away from DNA. Jean Pierre Issa, a professor at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, described epigenetics as a departure from the normal war on cancer, an all-out assault on malignant cells with radiation and toxic drugs. Instead of killing the cancerous cells, what if the pattern of their epigenetic tags could be reset to that of the time of their birth? A trial of decitabine was a proof of principle, a clear indicator that the epigenetic approach could work. With its recent approval by the FDA, three epigenetic drugs now are on the market for various types of cancer. Hurdles remain. It's easier to treat liquid tumors -- those in which blood cells turn cancerous as in Stanley's ailment -- with epigenetic therapies because it is easier to deliver the drug directly to the troublesome cells. But solid tumor diseases, such as cancers of the colon, head and neck, also have been shown to be affected by DNA methylation, so the potential is there.
from the London Daily Mail
April 2, 2007
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/dietfitness.html?in_article_id=445252&in_page_id=1798
Article Summary: Evidence that organic crops contain higher levels of important nutrients has been published by scientists. They said analysis of organic tomatoes, apples and peaches revealed greater concentrations of vitamin C, polyphenols, betacarotene and flavonoids. The nutrients are said to protect the body against heart attacks and cancer-causing chemicals. The latest studies were part of an EU research program led by the University of Newcastle and involving academics from across Europe.
by Beverley Lumpkin, Forbes.com
April 1, 2007
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/04/01/ap3571600.html
New federal rules giving the Bush administration authority for the first time to regulate and even shut down chemical plants will not overrule stricter state rules already in place, according to a letter sent Sunday to lawmakers by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.
Article Summary: The rules allow Homeland Security to set performance standards for the nation's 15,000 chemical facilities but give plant operators flexibility in their choice of measures to reach those standards. Draft regulations issued last December had provoked concern among activists and lawmakers -- Republicans as well as Democrats -- because they would have allowed the federal rules to override state rules even when the latter were more stringent. Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke on Sunday made clear the department had been listening to the complaints about the proposed rules and would be making adjustments. "If a state measure to regulate security at high-risk facilities does not conflict with, interfere with, hinder, or frustrate the purpose of DHS's regulations, it would not be pre-empted," Chertoff wrote. The performance standards include securing the perimeter of the plant and any potential targets within, controlling access to the facility, deterring theft and preventing sabotage. Under the rules, chemical plants meeting certain criteria are required to complete a secure online risk assessment. Those determined to be high-risk facilities then must complete a vulnerability assessment, along with a security plan to address those vulnerabilities.
by Alex Nussbaum, Bergen County [New Jersey] Record
April 1, 2007
http://www.northjersey.com:80/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkzJmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk3MTA0MjQ3JnlyaXJ5N2Y3MTdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5Mg==
Article Summary: Caps -- in which pollution is buried under pavement or dirt rather than removed -- have long been used to entomb trash in landfills. But they've become common features below housing developments and schools in recent years, a product of loosened regulations and a push to redevelop industrial properties. Developers love caps because they save millions when they don't have to dig up contamination and haul it away. But caps also raise sticky questions: Is life atop a toxic tomb safe? Could chemical vapors seep out of the ground? Who'll make sure no one sticks a shovel in the wrong spot, unleashing poisons through the simple act of planting a tree? State officials said they knew of no caps that had failed in New Jersey. But environmentalists worry the practice is so new that nobody knows how long caps will last or if they'll break and endanger the public. Irene Kropp, an assistant environmental commissioner, acknowledges the risks: If not maintained, soil erodes; parking lots crack. And it's not just the buildings atop a cap that could be affected. Critics warn that underground pollution can vaporize and spread to buildings on neighboring properties. And they point out that lax oversight compounds the problem: Property owners are supposed to inspect and certify the integrity of their caps every other year. But last year, just one-fifth filed reports, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection. A better way of tracking caps is also needed, so they aren't forgotten as years pass and land changes hands. Someone, some time in the future, could sink a backhoe or extend a sewer pipe in the wrong spot and open a toxic Pandora's box.
Builders and consultants say caps are safe -- and often the only economical way of getting polluted property back on the tax rolls. With New Jersey's history of heavy industry, it's unrealistic to expect every site to be restored to pristine conditions, said Berkowitz, who headed a DEP cleanup program in the 1980s. Builders and consultants say caps are safe -- and often the only economical way of getting polluted property back on the tax rolls. With New Jersey's history of heavy industry, it's unrealistic to expect every site to be restored to pristine conditions, said Berkowitz, who headed a DEP cleanup program in the 1980s. Even critics say caps have their place -- just not on sites where the public, especially children, will be spending a lot of time. The DEP commissioner said caps will remain a part of the state's cleanup options.
by Rick Weiss, Washington Post
March 31, 2007
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/30/AR2007033000310.html
Federal investigators are reviewing the activities of 103 scientists who may have had improper links to pharmaceutical companies while they were employed at the National Institutes of Health, apparently resurrecting a conflict-of-interest inquiry that many in the agency thought was closed. In a letter sent to several members of Congress on March 23 and made public yesterday, Daniel R. Levinson, inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Services, said his office is looking into the cases "to determine whether investigation is warranted."
Article Summary: Levinson's office is reviewing whether NIH is adequately monitoring potential conflicts of interest among its thousands of grant recipients -- typically university researchers. Members of Congress and watchdog groups have long called for such a review, noting that conflict-of-interest policies at universities are generally more lenient than those at NIH. The concern, critics say, is that federal grant money not go to scientists who may be predisposed to get results that favor their drug company sponsors. Scientific and academic organizations counter that adequate safeguards are already in place and fear that many of the nation's best scientists would leave the federally funded research enterprise if options for outside income were lost.
NIH officials had already looked into the 103 cases of possible conflict of interest in 2004, after a congressional inquiry suggested that scores of researchers may have taken drug industry money without approval. Agency investigators concluded that about half of those who were suspected of wrongdoing and who were still employed at NIH (and thus available for questioning) had indeed violated policies, including 10 who the agency concluded may have violated federal law.
by Judy Fahys, Salt Lake Tribune
March 31, 2007
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_5563235
Utah's pollution problem has reached crisis levels, according to a group of local physicians. On Monday, they plan to present a list of steps the state can follow to keep the air breathable and to protect the health of all Utahns.
Article Summary: The newly formed Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment met privately Friday with Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. to discuss its concerns. After telling the governor that air pollution damages health, much the same way as smoking does, the group recommended specific policies to address the problem. The doctors group is raising the alarm after a winter pollution season when the northern Utah communities from Provo to Logan had severe episodes of fine-particle pollution. For a few days this month, pollution levels were worse in Salt Lake City and Logan than in any other U.S. cities. "Every child is affected, whether they have asthma or not," said Salt Lake City pediatrician Shellie Ring, past president of the American Lung Association in Utah. She explained that, compared with children who are not exposed to air pollution, those who are never attain their full lung function. Kathy Van Dame, director of the Wasatch Clean Air Coalition and member of the state Air Quality Board, welcomed the doctors' efforts. She said much of Utah's past regulatory focus has been on meeting federal air-pollution limits, not the health effects.
by Andrew Miner, Beaverton [Oregon] Valley Times
March 29, 2007
http://www.beavertonvalleytimes.com/news/story.php?story_id=117519313239459500
Article Summary: Most water treatment plants across the country are meant to handle only organic waste. Old pills that dissolve into harmful chemicals often can't be treated. Flushing old prescription drugs down the toilet could cause serious problems for the region's water treatment plants. It also could harm fish and wildlife that depend on local rivers and streams. That's why Washington County's Clean Water Services and other agencies are working with local governments to create a new expired drug take-back program. The plan, which is in the very early stages, would provide an alternative to flushing pills down the drain by allowing people to turn their drugs in at take-back centers. Law enforcement will pick up the controlled substances and garbage collectors will pick up the over-the-counter medications, taking them to hazardous waste handling facilities to be burned. Among the challenges leaders face in the program are environment regulations and tangling with federal Drug Enforcement Agency policies on controlled substances. Washington County's take-back program is just one piece of a plan that could spread across Oregon. An effort led by the Oregon Association of Clean Water Agencies could promote the program in other cities and counties.
by Chris Baltimore, Reuters
March 29, 2007
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN2921695020070329
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday finalized rules directing 20 U.S. states to slash levels of tiny particles spewed by power plants, cars and other sources by 2010.
Article Summary: The offending particles -- 30 times smaller than the width of a human hair -- are linked to premature death from heart and lung disease, as well as chronic bronchitis and asthma. About 88 million people in more than 200 U.S. counties -- mostly clustered around big cities like Los Angeles and New York -- live where particulate levels exceed legal limits set by the agency. Governors of affected states must give EPA their cleanup plans by February 2008, and designated areas must lower particulate pollution to what the agency considers to be a safe level by 2010, the rules said. Counties with the most severe problems -- like those around Los Angeles -- could get a five-year extension, delaying attainment until 2015, the EPA said. Plants could comply with requirements by purchasing emission credits established by a nationwide "cap-and-trade" program proposed by the White House. Clean air advocates called the rules "a dirty power industry protection plan," and said they may actually hamper states' ability to clean up air pollution.
by Martin Mittelstaedt, Toronto Globe and Mail
March 29, 2007
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070329.MERCURY29/TPStory/National
For the first time, Health Canada is setting a standard for the maximum amount of mercury allowed in six species of ocean fish, including shark and swordfish, a reflection of the mounting concern over contamination of seafood by the dangerous heavy metal. Under the new standard, which was announced yesterday, the six fish varieties won't be allowed on store shelves if they contain more than one part per million of mercury. The other fish covered by the limit are fresh and frozen tuna, escolar, marlin and orange roughy. These species include many specialty seafood varieties prized by upscale restaurants and sports anglers, but Health Canada said the fish can accumulate elevated levels of mercury because they're large, long-lived and predatory, causing them to absorb more of the contaminant from their environment. The fish had previously been exempted from a limit.
Article Summary: Yesterday's action did not deal with canned tuna. Health Canada issued an advisory this year urging consumers to be careful about eating too much albacore canned tuna because it can contain elevated mercury levels. Random testing by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has indicated that some fish sold in recent years have occasionally exceeded the new limit. Mercury is a potent neurotoxin. By interfering with brain development, it can cut intelligence levels in children, particularly through exposure during fetal development. The benefits of eating seafood -- an excellent source of protein, and one of the few dietary sources of health promoting omega-3 fatty acids -- need to be balanced with advisories against toxicants. Health Canada urges Canadians to continue eating fish species low in mercury, such as salmon, herring, sardines, and rainbow trout. Canada's Food Guide recommends two servings a week.
by Lisa Von Ahn, Reuters, Scientific American
March 29, 2007
http://sciam.com/article.cfm?alias=mercury-in-energy-saving&chanId=sa003
Article Summary: Mercury is poisonous, but it's also a necessary part of most compact fluorescent bulbs, the kind that environmentalists and some governments are pushing as a way to cut energy use. With an estimated 150 million CFLs sold in the United States in 2006 and with Wal-Mart alone hoping to sell 100 million this year, some scientists and environmentalists are worried that most are ending up in garbage dumps. Mercury is probably best-known for its effects on the nervous system. The Mad Hatter in the classic children's book "Alice in Wonderland" was based on 19th-century hat makers who were continually exposed to the toxin. Mercury can also damage the kidneys and liver, and in sufficient quantities can cause death. U.S. regulators, manufacturers and environmentalists note that, because CFLs require less electricity than traditional incandescent bulbs, they reduce overall mercury in the atmosphere by cutting emissions from coal-fired power plants. To prevent mercury from getting into landfills, the EPA, CFL makers and various organizations advocate recycling. Besides commercial recyclers and some municipal waste collection services, some retailers accept used CFLs. Factors to be considered in establishing recycling programs include cost, breakage and contamination and state laws.
by Rebecca Renner, Environmental Science & Technology
March 28, 2007
http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2007/mar/science/rr_PFOA.html
Article Summary: 3M Corporation's voluntary phaseout of products based on perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) chemistry has led to a rapid decline in PFOS levels in Arctic snow, according to new research published today. The new research could help put an end to the controversy within the scientific community over the source of PFOS and other perfluorochemicals in the Arctic. The Arctic has no direct sources for nonvolatile perfluorochemicals, so their presence there has long been an environmental mystery. University of Toronto chemist Cora Young and colleagues collected ice samples from the high Arctic in the spring of 2005 and 2006 and a series of samples from a 6.8-meter-deep pit in the Canadian province of Nunavut. A pit this deep dates back to 1996. "The drop in PFOS is dramatic -- about 500% from the high in 1998 to the recent lower levels," said Young. Such a quick environmental response to the phaseout which 3M announced in 2000, combined with new data on the relative concentrations of other perfluorochemicals in Arctic snow and ice, supports an atmospheric source, say the authors. Solving the mystery has important ramifications, says toxicologist Kurunthachalam Kannan of the New York State Department of Health's Wadsworth Center. "If we can identify the major sources, effective regulatory decisions can be made to reduce future emissions," he said.
from the Victoria [Australia] Herald Sun
March 28, 2007
http://www.news.com.au/sundayheraldsun/story/0,,21461125-662,00.html
OVERWEIGHT girls have triple the risk of developing asthma as adults, and Australian specialists believe female sex hormones might be at fault. In a world first, University of Melbourne researchers have found a link between childhood obesity and adult-onset asthma in women. The study of 1500 people analysed the body mass index (BMI) of girls when they were seven years old and measured it against their lung function 25 years later. The results showed that non-asthmatic girls in the top 25 per cent for BMI were over three times more likely to develop the respiratory condition later when compared to similar girls in the lowest 25 BMI range.
Article Summary: The study adds to a growing body of evidence detailing the harmful long-term effects of excess weight in childhood. The same disease link was not found in boys, making the researchers suspicious that female-specific hormones could be to blame for the connection. Estrogen is essential for normal female sexual development, but the hormone is also known to affect the immune system and the lungs. Previous research has linked genetics, weight, exposure to allergies and other environmental factors to asthma risk.
by Lisa Stiffler, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
March 28, 2007
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/309169_pbde28.html
Article Summary: Washington lawmakers are considering passing the strongest ban on human-made chemical flame retardants known as PBDEs ever approved in the United States. When PBDEs are added to hairdryers, microwaves and carpet padding, they can slow the spread of a fire. They raise the temperature at which items melt or burst into flames. The chemicals are everywhere: in your TV, your computer, your toaster and your sofa. They've been in use since the 1970s. The global demand for PBDEs was 200,000 tons in 2003 alone. But PBDEs don't stay put. Sit down on a foam cushion and you're releasing countless, invisible PBDE particles. When the TV gets hot, still more escape. Scientists find PBDEs in house and office dust. They rinses off our clothes in the laundry and run down the shower drain, winding up in sewage that's applied to farm fields as fertilizer. The flame retardants bioaccumulate, or build up, in fish and cats and orcas and foxes. They also build up in people. We eat PBDEs when they contaminate our food, particularly meat and dairy products. They latch on to dust and other particles, so we breathe them in, or ingest them when dust settles on food or when children stuff their fingers into their mouths. Scientists look for PBDEs in breast milk because the chemicals stick to fat. Over the past three decades, PBDE levels in people have doubled about every three to five years, and some experts don't think we've reached a peak.
Scientists are still sorting out the specific health effects of PBDEs -- and not all flame retardants are alike. But research is building, and it shows that the most commonly used form -- deca-BDE -- can cause developmental and neurological defects in lab animals. Representatives of PBDE manufacturers caution against abandoning chemicals that have helped save hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of lives thanks to their ability to prevent or slow the spread of fires. Deca is cost-effective for fireproofing and has a long track record of success. However, because firefighters are at risk from the potentially toxic chemicals -- including a form of the deadly carcinogen dioxin -- that are created when products containing PBDEs burn, two prominent state firefighting organizations -- the Washington State Council of Fire Fighters and the Washington Fire Chiefs -- to support the ban. Lobbyists for two national fire-safety groups testified in opposition to the legislation, but both are employed by PBDE manufacturers. Some manufacturers -- concerned about deca's environmental and human harm and fearing the specter of a ban in the U.S. and Europe -- already are using alternative products. Other states are considering bans and restrictions on the use of deca. They include California, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Montana. A law restricting the use of deca went into effect in Sweden in January.
by Thomas H. Maugh II, Los Angeles Times
March 28, 2007
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http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-sperm28mar28,1,6123909.story?ctrack=2&cset=true
Men whose mothers ate a lot of beef during their pregnancy have a sperm count about 25% below normal and three times the normal risk of fertility problems, researchers reported Tuesday. The problem may be due to anabolic steroids used in the United States to fatten the cattle, Dr. Shanna H. Swan of the University of Rochester Medical Center reported in the journal Human Reproduction. It could also be due to pesticides and other environmental contaminants, she added.
Article Summary: Mothers of grown men -- partners of pregnant women -- were asked how often they ate beef and other meats. On average, they ate beef about 4– times per week, and other meats much less frequently. They found that, in general, the more beef a woman ate, the lower her son's sperm count. For women who ate beef at least seven times a week, the son's sperm averaged 24.3% below normal. And even though those sons produced a pregnancy, they were three times as likely to have consulted a fertility doctor. The researchers found no link to the mother's smoking, employment outside the home or the number of children she had. There was not enough data on other meats to reveal a potential association. In daughters of the beef-eaters, those same hormones could alter the incidence of polycystic ovarian syndrome, the age of puberty and the postnatal growth rate, wrote biologist Frederick vom Saal of the University of Missouri-Columbia in an editorial accompanying the paper. Six growth-promoting hormones are routinely used in cattle production in the United States and Canada: the natural steroids estradiol, testosterone and progesterone, and the synthetic hormones zeranol, trenbolone acetate and melengestrol acetate. At slaughter, not all of these hormones have been metabolized. The Food and Drug Administration limits how much hormone residue is permissible in beef. Those limits may need to be reexamined if Swan's findings can be confirmed, Vom Saal said. Dr. Ted Schettler noted that there was room for a lot of inaccuracies in the mother's recall of her diet, "but what that tends to do is bias the study toward not finding anything. So the fact that she found [a relationship] was kind of a surprise to me." Swan emphasized that the study needs to be confirmed, adding that it is too soon to recommend that pregnant women not eat beef. But if a pregnant woman wants to be cautious, she said, she could switch to organic beef or other high-protein food.
by Christine Dell'Amore, United Press International
March 22, 2007
http://www.upi.com/ConsumerHealthDaily/view.php?StoryID=20070320-050832-6558r
WASHINGTON -- Twenty years after a landmark study proved a link between hazardous-waste sites and minority neighborhoods, the phenomenon has only settled deeper into U.S. towns and cities, a new report says. What's more, the racial differences are much greater than previously thought, according to "Toxic Wastes and Race at Twenty," a preliminary anniversary report released today.
Article Summary: The original 1987 report, sponsored by the United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice, is widely considered by experts as the smoking gun that shows people of color do indeed bear the brunt of living in areas of hazardous waste. The updated report found more than 9 million Americans live in neighborhoods within about 2 miles of the 413 commercial hazardous-waste facilities in the United States. Such communities are plagued by putrid smells, trucks rumbling noisily down streets all day, plummeting property values and the health impacts from living near hazardous waste, which could range from respiratory ailments to cancer. Paul Mohai, a study author and professor in the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, has just completed research -- still unpublished -- on what environmental-justice experts call "the chicken or the egg question": whether minorities move into neighborhoods with hazardous-waste sites, or vice versa. He found minorities are already present when hazardous waste sites are put in. Although the numbers of people of color and poor increase, these changes had already been set in motion before the facilities were sited. With this knowledge, better policies can be crafted to avoid these environmental disparities.
Broadly defined, environmental justice means the fair treatment of all races, cultures and incomes in environmental legislation. In 1994 President Clinton issued an executive order asking all federal agencies to consider environmental justice in their decisions. Some states, such as California, have taken the lead and put in place their own environmental-justice legislation.
by Jill Neimark, Discover
March 22, 2007
http://discovermagazine.com/2007/apr/autism-it2019s-not-just-in-the-head
Article Summary: Autism, traditionally seen as genetic and originating in the brain, is starting to be viewed in a broader and very different light, as a possible immune and neuroinflammatory disorder. As a result, autism is beginning to look like a condition that can, in some and perhaps many cases, be successfully treated. A disparate group -- immunologists, naturopaths, neuroscientists, and toxicologists -- is turning up clues that are yielding novel strategies to help autistic patients. New studies are examining contributing factors ranging from vaccine reactions to atypical growth in the placenta, abnormal tissue in the gut, inflamed tissue in the brain, food allergies and disturbed brain wave synchrony. Some clinicians are using genetic test results to recommend unconventional nutritional therapies, and others employ drugs to fight viruses and quell inflammation. Above all, there is a new emphasis on the interaction between vulnerable genes and environmental triggers, along with a growing sense that low-dose, multiple toxic and infectious exposures may be a major contributing factor to autism and its related disorders. One can distill a few revolutionary insights from among the many potential avenues of research. First, autism may not be rigidly determined but instead may be related to common gene variants, called polymorphisms, that may be derailed by environmental triggers. Second, affected genes may disturb fundamental pathways in the body and lead to chronic inflammation across the brain, immune system, and digestive system. Third, inflammation is treatable.
Harvard pediatric neurologist Martha Herbert has authored a 14,000-word paper in the journal Clinical Neuropsychiatry that reconceptualizes the universe of autism, pulling the brain down from its privileged perch as an organ isolated from the rest of the body. "What I believe is happening is that genes and environment interact, either in a fetus or young child, changing cellular function all over the body, which then affects tissue and metabolism in many vulnerable organs. And it's the interaction of this collection of troubles that leads to altered sensory processing and impaired coordination in the brain. A brain with these kinds of problems produces the abnormal behaviors that we call autism." Each child's path to autism may be distinct, she says, but they may share common inflammatory abnormalities. She has shown through morphometric brain imaging that white matter -- which carries impulses between neurons -- is larger in children with autism. If white matter is chronically inflamed, then one potential treatment approach is to downregulate the brain's immune response. Jill James, director of the Autism Metabolic Genomics Laboratory at the Arkansas Children's Hospital Research Institute (and professor of pediatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences) has found that many children with autism do not make as much of a compound called glutathione as neurotypical children do. Glutathione is the cell's most abundant antioxidant, and it is crucial for removing toxins. If cells lack sufficient antioxidants, they experience oxidative stress, which is often found with chronic inflammation. Oxidative stress in some autistic children may be treatable with targeted nutritional intervention.
Genetic vulnerability -- related to immune system, brain, and gut -- must also be considered. Pat Levitt, director of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development, and his colleagues recently discovered that a common variant of a gene called MET doubles the risk of autism. The finding was widely regarded as a breakthrough because MET modulates the nervous system, gut, and immune system -- just the kind of finding that matches up with the emerging new view of autism. The gene variant occurs in 47 percent of the population -- in other words, it is just one contributing factor, and it probably works in concert with other vulnerability genes. The activity of the gene is affected by what is known as oxidative stress -- the kind of damage one sees with excessive exposure to toxins. Several large-scale, federally funded epidemiological studies are under way to pinpoint possible environmental triggers, as well as early biomarkers of autism. The trick is to build a large enough study to be able to look at both genes and environment together. An ambitious study, called the Autism Birth Cohort, by Columbia University and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health will follow 100,000 pregnant women for 72 months, studying their health and genetics and testing everything from blood to urine samples. The hope is to discover environmental factors that contribute to autism risk, from diet or infection to toxins like heavy metals, pesticides, and the countless synthetic molecules in products today. Other large NIH- and EPA-funded studies are teasing out immune abnormalities that may contribute to autism.
by Mary Ann Albright, Corvallis [Oregon] Gazette-Times
March 17, 2007
http://www.gazettetimes.com/articles/2007/03/17/news/focus/cfocus02_benninghoff.txt
Article Summary: Abby Benninghoff, a National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences postdoctoral fellow working in the environmental and molecular toxicology department at OSU, was recently named one of 10 science communication fellows by the nonprofit organization Environmental Health Sciences. She will review scientific articles for news agencies, helping journalists understand hot-button scientific issues so they can inform readers. Benninghoff primarily studies PFOA, an endocrine disruptor derived from the manufacture and use of nonstick products such as Teflon, Scotch Guard and the inside of microwave popcorn bags. These chemicals may be linked to estrogen-like compounds that in high concentrations may alter reproductive functions and could increase cancer risk.
by Sophie J. Balk, MD; Joel A. Forman, MD; Christine L. Johnson, MD; James R. Roberts, MD, MPH; Contemporary Pediatrics
March 1, 2007
http://www.contemporarypediatrics.com/contpeds/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=412517
Article Summary: Rising rates of asthma and obesity, more reports of developmental disabilities and early puberty, concerns about increasing incidence of childhood cancer ... parents, scientists, and pediatricians alike worry about how these health conditions relate to the environment our children live in. Children are often more vulnerable than adults to the effects of environmental hazards. There is also increasing attention to the man-made or "built" environment comprising the network of roads, public transportation, and physical structures where children live, play, and work. In the past decade, research has shed light on the relationship of children's health and developmental conditions to toxicants in the air they breathe, the water they drink, and the food they eat. Science is increasingly recognizing that gene-environment interactions can shift the balance between health and disease. These gene-environment interactions are influenced by behavior, gender, age and developmental stage.
This article summarizes for pediatricians and other health-care providers involved in children's health what is known and not known about environmental exposures and health. Beginning with taking an environmental history, this article discusses recommended interventions in these topic areas:
by Lee Thirer, Orion Magazine
March/April 2007
http://www.orionmagazine.org/pages/om/07-2om/Health.html
Article Summary: Hippocrates taught that nature was the doctor, the doctor its aide. Studying the interchange of the internal and the external, a Hippocratic healer paid careful attention to food, exercise, and the ways the waters and the climates acted on the four humors -- blood, phlegm, and yellow and black biles, each associated with a particular temperament. Hippocrates' students were taught to trust and help nature to maintain health. For the first time in millennia, however, nature itself is so unwell that doctors cannot fulfill their ancient duties. Twenty-six centuries of medical innovations cannot now protect the patient from the wider world, with its modern stresses and toxicity. Recognizing these shortcomings, a network of doctors, nurses, and other health practitioners, loosely affiliated in an "ecological medicine" movement, have begun not only to re-emphasize prevention but also to adopt a broader definition of preventive care. Berkeley-based Teleosis Institute, one of a half-dozen U.S. nonprofits devoted to ecological medicine, has two main goals: preventing the environmental causes of harm and stopping health care itself from contributing to them. If it is to meet its ethical obligations, says nurse Anna Gilmore Hall, executive director of the nonprofit Health Care Without Harm, the medical sector must be "a driver of change, not only modifying our practices and activities but helping other sectors in society to identify how they can change." New York City integrative oncologist and environmental activist Mitch Gaynor says that the ancient mandate "first, do no harm" should require health-care practitioners to educate industry and demand that all chemical manufacturers prove product safety. The larger goal should be "changing consciousness in individuals and institutions."
Casual disposal of medication is a major target for proponents of ecological medicine. When a hospice patient dies, weeks' worth of medicines are often flushed down the toilet and into the watershed, joining various other toxic health-care byproducts and excreted pharmaceuticals. A 2006 study in the journal Environmental Science and Technology found that a mixture of thirteen such substances inhibits the growth of human embryonic cells at environmental-exposure levels. Studies have also linked estrogen-related pharmaceutical waste to endocrine disruption in animals, including feminization of male fish. In 2001, the U.S. Geological Survey reported finding medicines in every one of eighty waterways tested nationwide.
