Volunteers gathering mussels to gauge health of shoreline waters. The tiny black bivalves dislodged on a frigid afternoon were too puny for any self-respecting chef to serve up on a steaming plate. No, these mussels were headed for an eventual trip to a Texas lab where scientists plan to sample their tissues for more than 100 contaminants. Everett Herald 2012-02-04T09:00-05:00
High levels of mercury found in Minnesota's North Shore babies. One in 10 babies along Minnesota's North Shore are born with unhealthy levels of mercury in their bodies, according to a new report on contamination around Lake Superior, the first to look for the pollutant in the blood of U.S. infants. Minneapolis Star Tribune 2012-02-03T09:00-05:00
Concern over town's risky blood lead levels. Despite public education programs, state licensing provisions and initiatives to reduce emissions from the world's largest smelter, nearly a quarter of Port Pirie's children have worryingly high levels of lead in their blood. Sydney Australian 2012-01-28T09:00-05:00
Children near DuPont plant exposed to more PFOA than moms. Children living near DuPont’s plant in West Virginia are exposed to much higher concentrations of an industrial chemical than their mothers, according to a newly published study. Children under 5, who are exposed from drinking water as well as their mothers’ breast milk, had 44 percent more of the chemical in their blood than their mothers. The study was undertaken by scientists who have spent seven years trying to determine whether the DuPont chemical is making people sick in the Mid-Ohio Valley. The discovery about moms and their children comes as scientists elsewhere linked the chemical, known as PFOA, and related chemicals to reduced effectiveness of childhood vaccinations. The compounds are used to manufacture Teflon cookware, food packaging and other products. Environmental Health News 2012-01-25T09:00-05:00
Your slick new office could be making you sick. A new study suggests that your indoor office air -- particularly in newly renovated offices - could be making you sick by exposing you to harmful PFCs, or polyfluorinated compounds. Agence France-Presse 2012-01-25T09:00-05:00
Eating mercury-tainted fish affects essential stress hormones in children. A new study raises concern about children's exposure to mercury through fish eating, tying it for the first time to hormone changes that increase chronic stress and associated immune system dysfunction. The highest mercury levels detected in the study had about 20-25 percent lower cortisol in saliva samples compared with lowest mercury levels. Environmental Health News 2012-01-19T09:00-05:00
Eagles fall prey to lead. Christmas Eve anglers on the Mississippi River were stunned as Bill Doms paddled past them with a bald eagle perched on his kayak. But the bird's odd placement wasn't a stunt. It was sign that something was very wrong. In the end, the majestic bird had to be killed, yet another victim of lead poisoning. Minneapolis Star Tribune 2012-01-15T09:00-05:00
Fukushima to test milk from 10,000 mothers. The breast milk of about 10,000 mothers residing in Fukushima Prefecture, home to the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, will be tested for radioactive contamination, prefectural officials said Thursday. Kyodo News 2012-01-12T09:00-05:00
No safe lead level for children. Because many of the effects of lead on young children are irreversible, they have troubling implications for the potential children will reach as adults. While current lead guidelines are based on the premise of a safe threshold, a committee of the Centers for Disease Control says new data has challenged the premise. The Atlantic 2012-01-12T09:00-05:00
Are we programmed to be fat? A baby in the womb is exposed to man-made chemicals that may set the child up for obesity later in life. That's the message in "Programmed to Be Fat?" a documentary airing on CBC's The Nature of Things Thursday that looks at the controversial new science linking environmental chemicals to the obesity epidemic. Toronto Star 2012-01-11T09:00-05:00
High mercury levels in Antarctic waters. Think Antarctica, think pristine but a new study has again found that's not exactly so. A team of oceanographers have discovered the sea birds in the Southern Ocean have four times the mercury levels of aquatic birds elsewhere. Australia ABC News 2012-01-09T09:00-05:00
New recommendations for lead levels in children. An advisory panel to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a new standard for blood lead levels in children. Kim Dietrich, who was on the advisory committee, feels that the acceptable lead levels should be about half what current standards allow. Living On Earth 2012-01-07T09:00-05:00
Beyond BPA: We need to get tough on toxics. Did you breathe a sigh of relief when Canada became the first jurisdiction in the world to declare bisphenol A toxic in 2010? Or when it banned the chemical in baby bottles, prompting many manufacturers to remove it from their products? If only that were the full story. Globe and Mail 2012-01-04T09:00-05:00
Ubiquitous bisphenol A linked to adult obesity, insulin resistance. Researchers in China have found that adults over the age of 40 with higher levels of bisphenol A (BPA) in their urine tend to be obese, have more abdominal fat and be insulin resistant. These metabolic disorders can lead to further and more harmful health problems, such as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease. Environmental Health News 2012-01-04T09:00-05:00
Mother told to accept her child's urine has pesticides. In promoting the economic interests of timber corporations, policymakers and health officials are acting without consideration for a child with the poisonous pesticide 2,4-D in his bloodstream. To them, that child is merely a data point, a victim of legalized poisoning. Ashland Daily Tidings 2011-12-24T09:00-05:00
Selenium reduces toxic mercury levels in freshwater fish. New evidence from a laboratory study shows that selenium helps freshwater fish get rid of stored methylmercury. The results help researchers further understand the complex relationship between selenium and methylmercury observed in wild fish populations. Environmental Health News 2011-12-22T09:00-05:00
Moms' pesticide exposure tied to infection in kids. A new report links remnants of a once-common pesticide to lung infections and wheezing in kids exposed to the chemical before birth. Known as DDE, the compound is a broken-down form of the harmful pesticide DDT and is found in many places around the world. Reuters 2011-12-21T09:00-05:00
Disease levels in upper Ringwood are normal. Health studies of residents near the upper Ringwood Superfund site have found that children’s blood samples do not show high levels of lead exposure, and overall cancer rates are similar to those statewide, the state Health Department said Friday. Bergen County Record 2011-12-17T09:00-05:00
Opinion: News stories miss important points of breast cancer report. Some media reported that a new analysis of environmental links to breast cancer tells women to stop worrying about consumer products. But these stories ignore the report’s explanation that definitive evidence is not attainable and lack of human evidence of harm doesn’t mean something is safe.The real news is that for the first time, an authoritative medical group stated that scientific evidence plausibly links pollutants and industrial chemicals with biological activity that suggests breast cancer risk. Environmental Health News 2011-12-13T09:00-05:00
Brominated battle: Soda chemical has cloudy health history. Patented as a flame retardant for plastics, and banned in food throughout Europe and Japan, a brominated chemical called BVO has been added to sodas for decades in North America. Now some scientists have a renewed interest in this little-known ingredient, found in 10 percent of sodas in the United States. After a few extreme soda binges – not too far from what many video gamers regularly consume – a few patients have needed medical attention for skin lesions, memory loss and nerve disorders, all symptoms of overexposure to bromine. Environmental Health News 2011-12-12T09:00-05:00
PFC levels decline in residents' blood samples. A bio-monitoring pilot project in Minnesota has found declines since 2008 in perfluorochemicals (PFCs) in the blood of St. Corix Valley, MN residents. Health department researchers concluded that efforts to reduce drinking water exposure to PFCs have been effective. Stillwater Gazette 2011-12-09T09:00-05:00
Coal plant body burden study enters second phase in Delaware. The first phase of a second study investigating environmental factors for elevated cancer rates in Millsboro, Delaware is complete. An earlier study showed that people living near the Indian River Power Plant had a cancer rate 17 percent higher than the national average. Salisbury Daily Times 2011-12-07T09:00-05:00
New study focuses on arsenic in rice. A new federally-funded study of more than 200 pregnant women receiving prenatal care in the New Hampshire area reports a link between rice consumption and elevated levels of arsenic in urine, suggesting that many people in the United States may be exposed to potentially harmful levels of arsenic through rice consumption. Consumer Reports 2011-12-06T09:00-05:00