These bulletins are archived and searchable on our website: http://www.iceh.org/LDDIbulletins.html If you would like to join the Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE) and the LDDI Working Group, please complete the application on the CHE website: http://www.healthandenvironment.org/application Joining CHE means receiving up to four email messages a month from the CHE National listserv. CHE costs nothing to join and the benefit is shared information and opportunities for further engagement, if you choose. Be sure to mark that you want to join the Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative Working Group at the bottom of the application.
Companion bulletins are available for different audiences:
While there is overlap with this bulletin, there are some events and announcements unique to those bulletins.
1) Indoor Air Quality and Health, Part II
Tuesday March 10th, 2009
2:00 - 3:00 p.m. Eastern time
Sponsor: Environmental Health Initiative of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
The quality of our indoor environments affects our well being and productivity. In addition, the risk of disease is increased by factors such as indoor air pollutants, toxins and microbes on surfaces, and human contact. The seminar starts with a brief summary of our current understanding of ambient air-pollution health concerns. Contrasting outdoor air to indoor air as a public good, it is seen that the policy debate about regulating indoor environments is still quite confused. A pollutant-specific framework rather than a comprehensive framework has characterized public and private responses to indoor air quality to date. Examples include formaldehyde, asbestos, radon and now molds. Contemporary topics of molds and synthetic organic compounds illustrate the continuing concerns about the health of indoor environments. Howard Brightman, ScD, PE, CIH, executive director of Children's Hospital Boston, will present.
Price: free
Website: http://www.ehinitiative.org/Projects/tele_con.htm
Contact: Laura Abulafia, Laura@aaidd.org
2) Society of Toxicology 48th Annual Meeting
Sunday through Thursday, March 15 - 19, 2009
Baltimore, Maryland
at the Baltimore Convention Center, One West Pratt Street
Sponsor: Society of Toxicology (SOT)
This meeting will include the latest scientific advances of the past 12 months, with five scientific themes: Biomarkers, Epigenetics, Inflammation and Disease, Nanotechnology, and Neurodegenerative Diseases.
Price: see http://www.toxicology.org/AI/MEET/AM2009/registration.asp
Website: http://www.toxicology.org/AI/MEET/AM2009/am.asp
Contact: SOT, 703-438-3115 or sothq@toxicology.org
3) 237th ACS National Meeting & Exposition
Sunday through Thursday, March 22 - 26 2009
Salt Lake City, Utah
Sponsor: American Chemical Society
This conference will include scientific papers on a variety of multidisciplinary topics, including thematic programming around nanoscience. This meeting will provide two sessions: Nanoecotoxicity and Exposure of Engineered Nanomaterials.
Price: unknown -- registration opens in January
4) Introduction to Managing Environmental Data with Microsoft Access
Wednesday and Thursday, March 25 - 26, 2009
8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Bellingham, Washington
at Western Washington University Computer Lab - AW (Academic Instructional Center) 306
Sponsor: Northwest Environmental Education Council
This course is designed for participants who wish to gain beginning to intermediate skills in using Microsoft Access to build relational databases for managing and mining their environmental data. This comprehensive class uses Access 2003 to cover in-depth the use of tables, queries, forms, reports and macros objects through extensive hands-on exercises. These Access database subjects are taught using real-world environmental examples with actual field data. This class is recommended for anyone desiring a concentrated exposure to Access training in a powerful two- to three-day class. This is the first of two classes in a series.
Price: $495, $395 for Native American Tribes; nonprofits; government agencies; students; and NAEP, NEBC, NWAEP members
Website: http://nwetc.org/comp-401_03-09_bellingham.htm
Contact: 206-762-1976
Online Calendar. All upcoming events are listed in a searchable calendar: http://www.iceh.org/cgi-bin/searchevents.cgi
Most of the articles below come from Environmental Health News, http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/
Job openings: Bangor, Maine. The Environmental Health Strategy Center has openings for a development director and an operations manager. The development director will have lead responsibility for all fundraising activities including major donor development, implementation of an organizational membership strategy, special events and related database management. The operations manager will directly supervise contractors and service providers and will support the Executive Director in all aspects of operations, financial and administrative management. Responsibilities include budgeting, financial review and reporting, cultivation and maintenance of organizational systems, work planning, tracking and program evaluation and contact management. For complete job descriptions or to apply, send a letter of interest and resume to Carrol Lange, Executive Assistant, Environmental Health Strategy Center, Post Office Box 2217, Bangor, ME 04402 or email Carrol: clange@preventharm.org
Job opening: El Cerrito, California. Global Community Monitor (GCM) is seeking a program coordinator that will be primarily responsible for interfacing with community members, industrial polluters, public agencies, environmental health experts and the media. Travel is required. Applications are due no later than March 1, 2009.
http://www.gcmonitor.org/article.php?id=849
Documentary movie: Black Mold Exposure. This movie follows the lives of several mold victims following their exposures and interviews experts all over the country. The film will be available in select theaters in the US soon.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1336984/
EPA announces 3rd annual Rachel Carson Contest. The US Environmental Protection Agency invites the public to submit creative projects to the 3rd annual Rachel Carson intergenerational "Sense of Wonder" contest. There are four categories: photography, essay, poetry and dance.
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/E95EE75A256D7E7E8525755A005DC6C6
Call for Proposals: Translating Research to Protect Health through Health Promotion, Prevention, and Preparedness. The purpose of this FOA is to accelerate the translation of proven effective interventions into public health practice through implementation, dissemination, and diffusion research. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
http://www.cdc.gov/od/pgo/funding/CD09-001.htm
Call for Proposals: Understanding the Role of Nonchemical Stressors and Developing Analytic Methods for Cumulative Risk Assessments. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as part of its Science to Achieve Results (STAR) grants program, is seeking applications from interdisciplinary teams. This RFA is focusing on two of the challenges: (a) STAR-E1, the development of statistical and other analytical techniques that will enable the analysis of disparate types of data, and (b) STAR-E2, the evaluation of the combined effects of nonchemical and chemical stressors. National Center For Environmental Research.
http://es.epa.gov/ncer/rfa/2009/2009_star_cumulative_risk.html
Canadians open door to learning-disorder drug. An eight-year effort by Canadian scientists has connected a crucial brain protein with the power to learn, raising the possibility that learning disabilities could be corrected with a drug. Toronto Globe and Mail. Tuesday, February 24, 2009.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com:80/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090224.wdrug24/BNStory/National/
Fillings debate rages on. The largest source of mercury exposure for most people in developed countries is inhalation of mercury vapour from dental amalgams. Dublin Irish Times, Ireland.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/health/2009/0224/1224241701441.html
Testing for toxins likely to poison business. A new federal law requiring all U.S. businesses to test their children's products for lead and other toxic chemicals could have some wide-ranging consequences. Daytona Beach News-Journal, Florida.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009.
http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Local/newEAST01022409.htm
Health risks of long-term exposure of cell towers near schools debated. Every decade or so, some product sparks debate, stirs health concerns and raises scientific quandaries. Now cell phone towers are stoking controversies in school districts across the country. St. Petersburg Times, Florida.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/k12/article978572.ece
BPA may pose greater threat to newborns. Bisphenol A, the controversial chemical used to make plastic, lingers far longer in the bodies of babies who ingest it than in adults because they lack a crucial liver enzyme needed to break it down, according to researchers at the University of Guelph. Toronto Globe and Mail.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090224.LBPA24/TPStory/
Coal ash: the hidden story. What happened in Kingston, Tennessee, when the dam holding back coal slurry broke represents just a small slice of the potential threat from coal ash. How industry and the EPA failed to stop a growing environmental disaster. Center for Public Integrity.
Sunday, February 22, 2009.
http://www.publicintegrity.org/articles/entry/1144/
Children under 6 years old top concern. The EPA suggests that all children under the age of 6 have their blood tested regularly for lead. Because many homes, especially those built before 1978, contain lead-based paint, children can be exposed to the toxic metal even if their yards are clean. Pittsburg Morning Sun, Kansas.
Sunday, February 22, 2009.
http://www.morningsun.net/news/x1658752481/Children-under-6-years-old-top-concern
Museum, school partner on home health project . The new Center for Environmental Health and Human Ecology will work to raise awareness about the dangers of lead paint, poor water quality in residential and other buildings and other related issues. Associated Press.
Sunday, February 22, 2009.
http://www.newarkadvocate.com/article/20090222/NEWS01/902220310/1002
Nations to write treaty cutting mercury emissions. More than 140 countries have agreed to negotiate a legally binding treaty aimed at slashing the use of the metal mercury, with the goal of reducing people's exposure to a toxin that hampers brain development among infants and young children worldwide. Washington Post.
Saturday, February 21, 2009.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/20/AR2009022003378.html
[Editor's note: See a related article about Idaho Board of Environmental Quality backing off its efforts to strengthen rules to regulate industries that emit mercury into the air: http://www.idahostatesman.com/localnews/story/669485.html ]
Pregnant women should lower their 'sushi' intake due to mercury. According to joint guidelines issued from both the FDA and the EPA, women of child-bearing years trying to conceive or already pregnant should limit their fish intake to no more than (2) 6 oz. servings a week of a lower level mercury contaminated fish like salmon, shrimp or flounder and avoid fish like swordfish, ahi tuna and shark in order to protect the unborn child from potentially severe nerve and brain damage, sight and hearing loss and even birth defects. Examiner.com.
Friday, February 20, 2009.
http://www.examiner.com/x-2491-Pregnancy-Examiner~y2009m2d19-Pregnant-women-should-lower-their-sushi-intake-due-to-mercury-toxins
[Editor's note: See a related article about rising concentrations of mercury in walleye and northern pike throughout Minnesota: http://www.startribune.com/local/39748472.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUsT and another about mercury warnings in Louisiana: http://www.dailycomet.com/article/20090216/ARTICLES/902160246/1212?Title=Are_the_fish_safe_to_eat_ ]
Autism conference explores alternatives. The biomedical concept is based on the theory that autism is not primarily a psychiatric or behavioral disorder. Rather it's a medical disease with a biological basis to its cause and to ongoing problems, such as pain, gastrointestinal problems and immune dysfunction. Detroit News, Michigan.
Thursday, February 19, 2009.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090219/LIFESTYLE03/902190382/1040
Environmentalists to sue for disclosure of chemicals in cleaning products. The makers of Tide, Ajax and other common household cleansers are being asked to come clean about their ingredients. Environmental and health activists announced plans for a lawsuit to make Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive and two other major firms reveal the chemical ingredients of their cleaning products and their research on their effects. Los Angeles Times.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2009/02/the-makers-of-t.html
[Editor's note: See a related article about health risks of cleansers: http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=9e7f9e15e12f3ce46496f80bfc4e84d4 ]
The greening and cleaning of America's schools. It's a pristine, cavernous warehouse tucked into a South Florida neighborhood. This is also the unlikely epicenter of a green movement branching out to protect our most precious and vulnerable resource, children. Miami WFOR TV, Florida.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009.
http://cbs4.com/local/ecozone.school.green.2.937308.html
CDC licenses technology to remove lead from skin. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has licensed its own technology to a cleaning-products manufacturer to make wipes that can protect children, factory workers and the military from lead exposure. Wall Street Journal.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123491637222104303.html
New NYC law cracks down on idling cars. A new law seeks to cut that pollution by giving vehicles just 60 seconds to idle in a school zone. Associated Press.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009.
http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20090217/NATIONWORLD/902170341
[Editor's note: See a related article about retrofitting older school buses to significantly reduce diesel emissions and limit children's exposure to potentially harmful pollution in Pennsylvania: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_612208.html ]
How a tagged television set uncovered a deadly trade. Dozens of "scavenger children" scour dumps looking for fragments of microchips, motherboards and cathode ray tube hubs they can melt down. In scratching a living removing tiny quantities of raw material, they expose themselves to a cocktail of neurotoxins and carcinogens. London Independent, England.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/how-a-tagged-television-set-uncovered-a-deadly-trade-1624873.html
[Editor's note: See a related article about lead in the developing world: http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.htm?programID=09-P13-00008&segmentID=8 ]
Debate continues over GMOs. Some residents are becoming increasingly concerned about genetically modified organisms whose DNA have been manipulated in order to change their characteristics, as such crops become more abundant on Kaua‘i. Kaua'i Garden Times, Hawaii.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009.
http://www.kauaiworld.com/articles/2009/02/16/news/kauai_news/doc4999129982dea741999325.txt
Get smart about science. Every day, we sip a steady stream of health news about something we could eat or drink and how it will help save us from Health Nightmare X -- or help cause it. Chicago Tribune, Illinois.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/health/chi-coffee-health-benefits-090216,0,3002199.story
Health complaints rising as use of wood-burning devices grows. An increasing number of people are firing up wood stoves, furnaces and fireplaces as a hedge against rising heating bills, but this alternative fuel, steeped in history and romance, has become a health hazard for many. Hartford Courant, Connecticut.
Monday, February 16, 2009.
http://www.courant.com/news/health/hc-woodsmoke0216.artfeb16,0,7866824.story
Scientist: Environmental health is public health. Biologist Tyrone Hayes, of the University of California at Berkeley, sees a close connection between the health of frogs and the health of humans. Earth & Sky.
Monday, February 16, 2009.
http://www.earthsky.org/radioshows/53076/scientist-environmental-health-is-public-health
Greening the farm. Ad hoc efforts by an impressive array of federal and state agencies, farmer alliances, chemical companies, and nonprofit advocacy groups are dramatically shifting the way pesticides are made and used. As a result, pesticide use in the U.S. has dropped. Chemical & Engineering News.
Monday, February 16, 2009.
http://pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/87/8707cover.html
Living near trees 'makes people live longer and feel happier.' The research shows that people have happier relationships and perform better in tests when they live in tree-filled neighbourhoods. Other studies showed that health levels could be "predicted by the amount of green space within a one-mile radius". London Daily Telegraph, England.
Sunday, February 15, 2009.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/4612176/AAAS-Living-near-trees-makes-people-live-longer-and-feel-happier.html
New fight to stop mass fluoridation of water supplies. Opponents of the mass fluoridation of water will next week try to stop a government drive to add the chemical to supplies used by millions of people in England and Wales. London Observer, England
Sunday, February 15, 2009.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/feb/15/flouridation-water-opposition
Assessing environmental health impacts in a complex world. A recent study suggests that a more inclusive and integrated approach to assessing environmental health risks and policies is needed to deal with the increased complexity and systemic nature of the risks. Environmental Expert.com.
Friday, February 13, 2009.
http://www.environmental-expert.com/resultEachPressRelease.aspx?cid=8819&codi=45287&idproducttype=8&level=0
Secondhand smoke linked to dementia. People exposed to secondhand smoke may face as much as a 44 percent increased risk of developing dementia. HealthDay News.
Friday, February 13, 2009.
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/hscout/2009/02/12/hscout624060.html
Strategy unveiled on how tobacco tax will help kids. More children with access to health care. Quality ratings for child-care centers. Those and other programs for Arizona children are being unveiled by an organization created to funnel tobacco taxes into programs to improve children's health and education. Phoenix Arizona Republic, Arizona.
Friday, February 13, 2009.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2009/02/12/20090212first0212.html
Why health at conception must be immaculate. The environment in which a foetus is conceived can be critical to the later physical and mental development of the child, affecting its IQ, risk of obesity and of a range of diseases throughout life. London Independent, England.
Friday, February 13, 2009.
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/health-news/why-health-at-conception-must-be-immaculate-1608230.html
No evidence of autism-vaccine link, court rules. In a major setback for the fight to link autism to vaccines, a special federal court ruled that the MMR vaccine and vaccines that contained a mercury-based preservative were not connected to the autism that developed in three children. Los Angeles Times, California.
Friday, February 13, 2009.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-vaccine13-2009feb13,0,3844915.story
A guide to eco and natural paints. The constituents of conventional paints may include formaldehyde, heavy metals and nasties known as volatile organic compounds, or VOCs for short. But how good are the alternatives? London Guardian, England.
Thursday, February 12, 2009.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/feb/09/eco-natural-paints-guide-best
More smokers quit if paid, study shows. Smokers who are paid to quit succeed far more often than those who get no cash reward, according to a new study that provides some of the strongest evidence yet that financial incentives can help change such behavior. Wall Street Journal.
Thursday, February 12, 2009.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123438843231174457.html
Women would quit nursing if pollutants found in breast milk. A majority of breastfeeding women said if they knew the milk was tainted with pollutants they would wean their babies early out of fear of exposing them to environmental chemicals, even though nursing enhances infant body and brain development and doctors and researchers encourage it. Environmental Health News.
Thursday, February 12, 2009.
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/newscience/women-wean-if-phthalates-in-milk/
Mapping out lead's legacy. From 2001 to 2004 -- when lead contaminated the drinking water in Washington, D.C. -- high levels of this notorious environmental poison were found in the blood of hundreds of babies and toddlers. Environmental Science & Technology.
Thursday, February 12, 2009.
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/es8037017
New safety law doesn't mean all's well in toyland. A new federal law took effect this week banning chemicals called phthalates in children's toys and other kids' products. But it's no guarantee that the products are safe. Companies aren't required to publicly disclose the chemicals they use in place of phthalates. Morning Edition, NPR.
Thursday, February 12, 2009.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100038395
DuPont gets more time to test PFOA. DuPont Co. has been given a last-minute pass on a federal deadline to complete testing on products thought to be a source of a controversial chemical in the environment. Wilmington News Journal, Delaware.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009.
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20090210/NEWS/902100331
Cigarettes' effects reach far beyond cloud of smoke. Parental smoking is a serious health problem for millions of children, regardless of where it's done. Corpus Christi Caller-Times, Texas.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009.
http://www.caller.com/news/2009/feb/10/cigarette-smoke-is-harmful-to-many/
TCE-related toxic waste in Irvine much worse than previously revealed. A plume of the highly toxic chemical trichloroethylene that originated from the El Toro Marine base, has migrated beneath most of Irvine, California. Salem News, Oregon.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009.
http://www.salem-news.com/articles/february102009/el_toro_update_2-8-09.php
[Editor's note: See a related article about TCE contamination from a military base in Ontario:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090211.NATS11-1/TPStory/National ]
Safety of makeup called into question. The safety of makeup worn by millions of teenage girls is being questioned. Some scientists say it contains potentially dangerous chemicals [including phthalates, parabens and fragrances]. CBS News.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009.
http://cbs5.com/consumer/health.make.up.2.931448.html