These bulletins are now 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 at http://www.healthandenvironment.org/roles/register?&phase=registerform. 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.
1) LDDI's fall 2007 teleconference series: To fulfill the educational goals of the cancelled LDDI national conference in Atlanta last May, we will launch this seven-part teleconference series on Wednesday September 12th at 2:00 p.m. Eastern with each call including a panel of speakers who were to present in Atlanta.
2) LDDI's consensus statement: This statement is currently being drafted by Steve Gilbert, PhD, founder and director of the Institute for Neurotoxicology and Neurological Disorders, with support of almost a dozen key researchers from across the country. This will be further reviewed, refined, finalized and signed by as wide a circle of researchers as possible by October 2007 and presented at the International Neurotoxicology Conference to be held in Austin, Texas November 11-15th, 2007.
3) American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities held their regularly scheduled environmental health research teleconference call yesterday, July 10th. Their guest presenter was Cynthia Bearer, MD, PhD, who spoke on "Detecting the Impact of Ethanol on the Fetus and Understanding its Underlying Mechanism." For more information and notes from Dr. Bearer's presentation as well as those from previous calls, please see http://www.ehinitiative.org/index.htm.
4) The Autism Society of America opened their annual national conference today (July 11th) in Scottsdale, Arizona. The theme of the conference is "Together a Brighter Tomorrow", and several sessions throughout the four-day meeting will highlight environmental health concerns in relation to autism. For more information, see http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer.
5) LDDI partners the National Association for the Dually Diagnosed and the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, with others, are sponsoring the NADD 24th Annual Conference & Exhibit Show. Scheduled for October 24 - 26, 2007, at the at the Renaissance Atlanta Hotel Downtown in Atlanta, Georgia, the conference will include presentations related to promotion of wellness, prevention of illness, common symptomology in physical and psychiatric disorders, environmental health, interdisciplinary collaboration, cross systems collaboration, Autism Spectrum Disorders and family issues, and skill building. The conference theme is "Physical & Mental Wellness: Promising Practices (ID/MH)." For more information, please visit http://www.thenadd.org/pages/conferences/24th/index.shtml or contact Conference Assistant Brenda Reuss, 800-331-5362 or breuss@thenadd.org.
For more information about these events or to access additional events, please visit our searchable calendar of events at http://www.iceh.org/cgi-bin/searchevents.cgi.
July 12, 2007
9:00 a.m. PDT / noon EDT
This teleconference will focus on the evidence linking federal farm and food policies with chronic disease, especially including childhood obesity and other diet-related disease, but also environmentally related disease to which agricultural practices contribute. The 2007 reauthorization of the omnibus Farm Bill has made these links salient. Other factors, however, also contribute: ongoing budget cuts in federal food safety inspection and other programs; recent Institute of Medicine reports on school lunch programs, and media reports on the use of melamine and arsenic in the food supply. Speakers will highlight the scientific evidence on these links as well as the relevance of the precautionary principle in issues involving the food system and children's diets. This teleconference will last one hour and will be recorded for documentation purposes. Featured presenters are Dr. David Wallinga, director of the Antibiotic Resistance Project at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy; Dr. Robert S. Lawrence, director of the Center for a Livable Future at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health; and Dr. Kelly Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for Child Obesity Research at Yale University. We will also hear a science update from Ted Schettler, MD, MPH, science director of the Science and Environmental Health Network.
Website: http://www.healthandenvironment.org/articles/partnership_calls/1669
July 19 - 20, 2007
Portland, Oregon
at the Oregon Convention Center's Portland Ballroom 251
The conference will provide a dynamic forum for exploring issues related to community-based research partnerships, methods, funding and project planning, and the dissemination of findings. Effective models of CBPR from the northwest and throughout the country will be showcased. The conference will provide a forum for examining the role of CBPR in improving health and eliminating health disparities -- highlighting the voices of community members, researchers, funders and others working with underserved and underrepresented populations; build upon the knowledge and skills of participants interested in the application of CBPR for social change and improved health; explore the multi-faceted process of CBPR -- including partnerships, methods and ethics -- and to learn from partnerships that have addressed these challenges and opportunities; and explore local, state and national funding sources, including opportunities to hear directly from grant seekers and funders.
Website: http://www.nwhfevents.org/
July 19 - 21, 2007
Charleston, South Carolina
at the Charleston Marriott
Recent events have shed light upon the tragic consequences that a disaster can have on an already inequitable health system. But the truth is that for many Americans, it doesn't take a Hurricane Katrina for disparities in healthcare to impact their day-to-day life. There is a growing chasm between the quality of health for the working poor and those with ready access to America's doctors and hospitals. The National Conference on Health Disparities in Charleston will bring together health care providers, funding agencies, political leaders and public policy makers to tackle this problem's history, then forge new strategies and visionary thinking to help facilitate the reduction and ultimately the elimination of health disparities in the United States. With a focus on the 13 most affected states, the conference will endeavor to understand where we've been and what we've learned from those experiences with an eye on where health disparities can be improved and how to facilitate such change.
Website: http://guest.cvent.com/EVENTS/Info/Summary.aspx?e=203591eb-574d-48dc-a0bf-cf58e7c99167
The Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative welcomes these new members:
For a full list of LDDI members, please visit http://www.iceh.org/LDDImembers.html.
The Lowell Center seeks an individual with technical, outreach and public policy skills to work with businesses looking to integrate clean production products and processes into their manufacturing systems and assist advocacy groups seeking to advance safer chemicals and products. This will include developing contracts for these services, managing day-to-day activities on contracts, conducting safer chemicals assessments and undertaking other analyses working with other Lowell Center for Sustainable Production programs or outside consultants. The candidate will also provide ongoing technical and research support to advocacy groups at global, national and state levels on international chemical and alternatives issues. The candidate will work closely with experts from the Lowell Center's sister organization and pioneering leader in safer production processes and products, the Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Institute. The candidate will also build and coordinate a network of chemistry and engineering specialists to support projects with businesses and advocates in chemicals and alternatives assessment and implementing safer products and materials.
Minimum qualifications include a masters degree in engineering, toxicology or environmental sciences with a strong understanding of chemical hazards, assessment and management; three to five years experience in this field, with some experience within industry strongly preferred; and the ability to promote the program and solicit new working relationships as well as work in and expand existing networks of relevant specialists. The candidate must be comfortable working individually and in a team setting and possess creative problem-solving skills.
Contact Information: Joel A. Tickner, ScD, Assistant Professor, Department of Community Health and Sustainability
Project Director, Lowell Center for Sustainable Production, University of Massachusetts Lowell
One University Avenue
Lowell, MA 01854
Tel 978-934-2981
Fax 1-978-934-2025
from the Hartford [Connecticut] Courant
July 10, 2007
http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/editorials/hc-diesel.artjul10,0,3409419.story
Schoolchildren around the state will be able to breathe a little easier thanks to a decision by state leaders to fund a $10 million program to reduce diesel exhaust inside and around school buses. Diesel fumes from the tailpipes and engines of school buses expose children to a toxic mix of airborne particles -- including carcinogens. Even inside a bus, measurements show that pollutants can reach levels 10 times higher than in the air outside.
Article Summary: Federal officials have identified reducing diesel pollution as the single most cost-effective way to protect public health (after cleaning up dirty power plants). Diesel vehicles built in the current model year and in the future are required by federal law to be equipped with filters that will significantly reduce their emissions. Diesel engines can withstand decades of use, however, which makes the retrofitting of vehicles already on the road an essential piece of any clean-air strategy. The $10 million approved by the General Assembly will allow the installation of emissions controls on as many as 3,400 school buses around the state.
by Robert Miller, Danbury [Connecticut] News Times
July 8, 2007
http://www.newstimeslive.com/news/story.php?id=1058679&source=big_barker
Article Summary: Rather than spend money to maintain school playing fields -- the watering, the fertilizing, the turf replacement -- towns are now installing synthetic grass fields at their schools and parks. It may cost a few hundred thousand dollars, but once it's down, it's carefree. It doesn't need watering or fertilizer or pesticides. And it's safer when it comes to preventing accidents, said Phil Ross, director of buildings and grounds for the New Fairfield Board of Education. But what if the sun-baked rubber that makes those fields so safe and bouncy gives off fumes that kids -- especially young kids -- shouldn't be breathing? Environment and Human Health Inc., a North Haven-based advocacy group, is taking up this argument after advocating against pesticides and fertilizers, which synthetic fields don't need. The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, the New Haven-based institution that often serves as a research facility for the state, conducted some tests recently and found that when soaked with water, the rubber in the fields leach out some metals. They then subjected the rubber to low heat -- the kind a field might get on a summer day -- and found that the synthetic materials "out-gas" volatile organic compounds. The higher the temperature, the more out-gassing occurs. If synthetic turf fields do out-gas, the issue comes down to whether those gases are released at an exposure level that might be harmful to children. As with pesticides, he said, it's best to remember that smaller doses can still harm small children.
by Shankar Vedantam, Washington Post
July 8, 2007
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/07/AR2007070701073.html?hpid=topnews
Article Summary: A recently released study concludes that there is a strong association between preschoolers' blood lead levels and crime rates 19 years later, when the preschoolers grow up. Declines in lead levels in several industrialized countries corresponded with later drops in crime rates, the study says. Other evidence has accumulated in recent years that lead is a neurotoxin that causes impulsivity and aggression, but these studies have also drawn little attention. In 2001, sociologist Paul B. Stretesky and criminologist Michael Lynch showed that U.S. counties with high lead levels had four times the murder rate of counties with low lead levels, after controlling for multiple environmental and socioeconomic factors. The theory offered by the economist, Rick Nevin, is that lead poisoning accounts for much of the variation in violent crime in the United States. It offers a unifying new neurochemical theory for fluctuations in the crime rate, and it is based on studies linking children's exposure to lead with violent behavior later in their lives. What makes Nevin's work persuasive is that he has shown an identical, decades-long association between lead poisoning and crime rates in nine countries. Nevin does not say that lead is the only factor behind crime, but he says it is the biggest factor. Most of the theories have been long on intuition and short on evidence. Nevin says his data not only explain the decline in crime in the 1990s, but the rise in crime in the 1980s and other fluctuations going back a century. His data from multiple countries, which have different abortion rates, police strategies, demographics and economic conditions, indicate that lead is the only explanation that can account for international trends. Because the countries phased out lead at different points, they provide a rigorous test: In each instance, the violent crime rate tracks lead poisoning levels two decades earlier. Nevin's finding may even account for phenomena he did not set out to address. His theory addresses why rates of violent crime among black adolescents from inner-city neighborhoods have declined faster than the overall crime rate -- lead amelioration programs had the biggest impact on the urban poor. Children in inner-city neighborhoods were the ones most likely to be poisoned by lead, because they were more likely to live in substandard housing that had lead paint and because public housing projects were often situated near highways.
by John Dodge, Olympian
July 7, 2007
http://www.theolympian.com/news/story/156624.html
Every day, industry and municipal sewage treatment plants dump 1 billion gallons of wastewater tainted with toxic chemicals and oxygen-robbing nutrients into Puget Sound and its tributaries. And it's all perfectly legal. The steady stream of wastewater from nearly 1,000 sources -- ranging from giant oil refineries to boatyards -- is allowed under a federal permitting system created with the passage of the 1972 Clean Water Act. These National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permits, as they are called, are described by many as licenses to pollute.
Article Summary: While the wastewater generated by industry and people receives far better treatment today than it did even 20 years ago, it continues as a major contributor to the pollution problems that plague Puget Sound. Gov. Chris Gregoire pointed to improvements at wastewater treatment plants and tighter controls over industrial waste discharges to Puget Sound as the top achievements in the past 25 years. But at the same time, millions more people live in the Puget Sound basin than before the plant improvements were made. And 1.4 million more people are headed this way by 2020. The failure to remove toxic chemicals from the wastewater entering Puget Sound has created a lasting legacy, including warnings to limit the amount of Puget Sound chinook salmon consumed because of contamination from mercury and PCBs and 23 marine areas and 19 freshwater areas in the Puget Sound region that violate water quality standards for toxic chemicals. Long-term pollution trends identified by Ecology's sediment monitoring team reinforce a growing conclusion: With lawn pesticides and fertilizers; exhaust-belching, oil-leaking vehicles; animal wastes and other contaminants carried to the Sound in storm water runoff, Puget Sound pollution is everybody's problem.
[Editor's note: See a related article about the contribution of drugs and personal care products to Puget Sound's pollution: http://www.theolympian.com/news/story/156645.html.]
by Anne Harding, Reuters
July 6, 2007
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2007/07/06/eline/links/20070706elin004.html
Pregnant women exposed to secondhand smoke are more likely than their unexposed counterparts to have children with psychological problems such as conduct disorder, attention deficits, and behavior problems, a study suggests. While such problems are known to be more common among children whose mothers smoked while pregnant, this study is the first to find that passive smoking poses a risk as well.
Article Summary: To separate the effects of cigarette smoke exposure from other factors, including genetics, the researchers looked at three groups of 7- to 15-year-old children, all of whom had serious psychiatric problems. Mothers of children in one group had smoked while pregnant, while mothers of kids in the second group didn't smoke but had been exposed to significant amounts of other people's cigarette smoke at home or on the job. Mothers in the third group didn't smoke and had no exposure to secondhand smoke. Children of smokers, as well as of women exposed to secondhand smoke, were much more likely than the offspring of non-exposed women to have externalizing behaviors, which include "acting out, getting in trouble, being aggressive, breaking rules," Gatzke-Kopp noted. Scientists believe such behaviors are controlled by the brain's dopamine system, which has been shown in animal studies to be damaged by fetal smoke exposure. The findings should not "panic people who may have been exposed eating in a restaurant or doing things on a limited basis where there might be smoke," Dr. Lisa M. Gatzke-Kopp, one of the study authors, told Reuters Health. Nevertheless, she added, the findings underscore the risks of chronic fetal exposure to other people's cigarette smoke, which may affect psychological as well as physical health.
from the Associated Press, International Herald Tribune
July 6, 2007
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/06/asia/AS-GEN-Thailand-Tobacco-Agreement.php
BANGKOK, Thailand: Officials from 146 countries agreed Friday to push for legislation to ban smoking in public places, to enforce the laws once passed and to negotiate a global treaty ending tobacco smuggling, World Health Organization officials said. All 146 countries, which ended a weeklong meeting Friday in the Thai capital, are parties to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, or FCTC, first agreed on in 2005. Public health officials agreed to establish guidelines directing their governments to pass anti-smoking laws for public spaces. But the guidelines themselves are not legally binding on the countries, and no deadline was set for anti-smoking laws to be passed.
Article Summary: Concerns were raised Friday that the tobacco industry will interfere with the global enforcement of the treaty. The developing world is now the tobacco industry's main marketing target, accounting for half of the world's 1 billion male smokers and 9 percent of its 250 million female smokers, according to WHO. Worldwide there were about 5.4 million tobacco-related deaths in 2006, and the number will rise to 10 million a year by 2020, according to WHO. Ireland was the first country to go smoke-free, banning smoking in indoor public places nationwide in 2004. Uruguay followed suit in 2006. England became smoke-free beginning July 1.
from BBC News
July 5, 2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6272634.stm
Organic fruit and vegetables may be better for you than conventionally grown crops, US research suggests. A ten-year study comparing organic tomatoes with standard produce found almost double the level of flavonoids -- a type of antioxidant. Flavonoids have been shown to reduce high blood pressure, lowering the risk of heart disease and stroke. Writing in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, the team said nitrogen in the soil may be the key.
Article Summary: Flavonoids are produced as a defense mechanism that can be triggered by nutrient deficiency, such as a lack of nitrogen in the soil. The inorganic nitrogen in conventional fertilizer is easily available to plants and so, the researchers suggests, the lower levels of flavonoids are probably caused by overfertilization. Flavonoids have also been linked with reduced rates of some types of cancer and dementia. The Food Standards Agency says there is some evidence that flavonoids can help to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and they are currently carrying out a study to look at the health benefits in more detail. However, a spokesperson said there was no evidence that organic food was healthier. "Our long-standing advice on organic food is there can be some nutrient differences but it doesn't mean it's necessarily better for you."
by Tom Watson, Seattle Times
July 5, 2007
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/living/2003765103_ecoconsumer01.html
When your personal-care products could cause cancer, that's a little too personal. Most of us use 15 or more cosmetic and toiletry products each day, such as shampoo, skin cream, deodorant, sunscreen, nail polish and perfume.
Article Summary: Only 11 percent of chemicals in cosmetics have been assessed for health and safety by any U.S. government agency, says the Toxic-Free Legacy Coalition, and one third of all personal-care products contain at least one chemical linked to cancer. Links to birth defects and other health problems have been made for some chemicals in these products, including formaldehyde, coal tar, phthalates, lead and mercury. The nonprofit Environmental Working Group (EWG) recently completed a major makeover of its online Skin Deep cosmetics-safety database for consumers, listing ingredients in 25,000 products. The recent implementation in the European Union of the Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH) legislation has caused some cosmetics companies to market different versions of products, with the U.S. versions containing chemicals not allowed in the EU. But as this becomes more difficult for manufacturers, both logistically and from a public-relations standpoint, more companies will likely remove targeted chemicals from their American products.
by Anita Manning, USA TODAY
July 3, 2007
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2007-07-02-autism-behaviors_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip
Children with autism can be identified as early as 14 months old, the youngest age at which the disorder has been diagnosed, a study by researchers at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore suggests. But about half the time, symptoms may not show up until months later. That suggests at least two distinct paths leading to autism: one that starts early in life and one in which a child seems to develop normally and then regresses, losing language and social skills. Results of the study, the first to follow toddlers from 14 months until they turn 3, could allow earlier treatment to reduce the effects of autism, says Rebecca Landa, lead author of the report.
Article Summary The range of developmental impairments known as autism spectrum disorders, or ASD, is marked by an inability to communicate and interact with others. Its cause is not known, but most researchers believe genetic factors play a role. Most studies have relied on interviews with parents and examinations of family videos to look for early signals, such as a child's lack of response to his name or failure to engage with others. The study involved 107 children who were considered at high risk for autism because they had a sibling with the disorder and 18 low-risk children who had no family history of autism. Behavior differences in those with and without ASD at 14 months can be seen in videos that show toddlers interacting with a researcher.
by Lisa Stiffler, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
July 2, 2007
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/322131_seafood03.html
Confused about which kinds of fish are safe to eat, Americans are skipping seafood all together -- and missing out on health benefits, said federal scientists in Seattle. To unmuddy the water, they're calling for a nationwide program to investigate seafood contamination and educate the public.
Article Summary: The national program would analyze seafood for dangerous chemicals and disease and track their changes over time. It would evaluate the food's health benefits -- which can include protecting against heart and Alzheimer's disease, and helping fetal brain development -- and weigh that against risks posed by contamination. The column came as state and federal agencies are raising numerous red flags over fish safety. Last week the U.S. government banned the import of some Chinese farm-raised seafood. Regulators testing the imported fish found antibiotics and potentially carcinogenic antifungal drugs that are banned here for use in farm-raised seafood. Local fish don't get a clean bill of health, either, as seen by recent warnings about Lake Washington fish and Puget Sound salmon due to contaminants including mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. Rob Duff, manager of the Washington state Department of Ecology's Environmental Assessment Program, promotes regular testing of fish to watch for new risks -- including chemical flame retardants and pharmaceuticals. And because these and other chemicals can damage the brain during development and disrupt hormone function, Duff urges people to focus on those at greatest risk: women who are pregnant or of child-bearing age and young children.
[Editor's note: See a related article regarding contamination in Great Lakes sports fish at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070706.FISH06/TPStory/National.]
by Cheryl Hogue, Chemical & Engineering News
July 2, 2007
http://pubs.acs.org/cen/government/85/8527gov1.html
Article Summary: With the U.S. facing international pressure to ban exports of mercury, Congress and the Environmental Protection Agency are independently exploring options for permanent storage of the neurotoxic metal. The origin of the problem is basic: Domestic supply outpaces demand. Thousands of tons of mercury are now used at eight U.S. chemical plants that eventually will shut down, and the mercury at these sites will be recovered. Hazardous waste handlers keep mercury from polluting the environment by reclaiming the liquid metal from scrap electrical switches, thermometers, and fluorescent light bulbs. Meanwhile, the gold-mining industry continues to extract mercury from the earth as a by-product. Currently, excess U.S. supplies of mercury from these sources are sold internationally. Legislation before the House and Senate would outlaw these overseas sales. The proposed export ban is aimed at decreasing the supply of quicksilver on the world market because the mercury increasingly finds its way to small-scale gold miners in developing countries. Millions of these miners around the world are suffering from poisoning from mercury, which is relatively inexpensive and easy to obtain. Between 650 and 1,000 metric tons of mercury are released by small-scale gold mining every year, according to estimates by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). A House bill (H.R. 1534), introduced by Rep. Thomas H. Allen (D-Maine), and a virtually identical Senate measure (S. 906), introduced by Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), are designed to help protect small-scale gold miners and the environment by putting a dent in the world's supply of mercury. A smaller supply, in turn, is expected to encourage these miners to move to mercury-free technologies, which are already available, for winnowing gold.
The Bush Administration opposes a ban on mercury exports, believing that the first priority should be given to pursuing demand management strategies. Under the aegis of UNEP, the U.S. government is involved in several projects worldwide to help stem the demand for mercury. For instance, EPA is helping to cut demand in Russia's chlor-alkali sector by reducing the amount of mercury that escapes from these plants and by encouraging these factories to convert to technologies that do not use mercury. The agency is also working with hospitals in China to eliminate the use of thermometers and blood pressure measuring devices that use mercury. REDUCTIONS in both supply and demand are necessary worldwide to encourage developing countries to shift away from technologies using mercury, said Linda Greer, senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council. If demand goes down without decreasing availability of the metal, supplies will go up, and the price will fall, making the use of mercury more attractive, she told the subcommittee. A U.S. export ban, argued Bruce Lawrence, president and owner of Bethlehem Apparatus, would encourage mining of mercury elsewhere in the world, especially in small-scale efforts using crude equipment that loses a large percentage of mercury to the air when ore is processed. U.S. chlor-alkali manufacturers say the government needs to settle issues about mercury storage before it halts international sales of the metal. Unlike nuclear waste, mercury can easily and safely be stored in a warehouse.
by Rebecca Blanton, Danville [Virginia] Register & Bee
July 1, 2007
http://www.registerbee.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=DRB%2FMGArticle%2FDRB_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173351852227&path=!news
Article Summary: Pittsylvania County supervisors recently approved a request to allow the City of Danville's wastewater treatment plant to dump some of its sludge in the county landfill, sparking concern once again over whether or not "sludge is safe." The nasty stuff called municipal sludge is part human excrement, part kitchen leftovers, part cat litter, part soap, plus assorted toxic household chemicals, hospital waste and several millions of gallons of water from industries ranging from Goodyear to furniture strippers. sludge is typically treated by drying and adding lime before it is spread on land for fertilizing. Larger contents, such as rags, rocks and other solids, are screened out before the sludge is sent to a landfill. But sludge spread on land may still contain objectionable things such as chemicals, toxic metals, viruses, prescription drugs that were flushed down the drain and a variety of things that just aren't good for people. Once spread on land, animals, birds and the wind can blow and track toxins around. Sludge is not tested for all chemicals, and some may cause health problems such as Hepatitis B, allergic reactions, headaches, nausea and diarrhea, according to Harwood, a retiree living in the Chesapeake Bay area. "Treatment has little if any effect on the concentrations of pharmaceuticals, viruses, industrial chemicals and heavy metals present in the sludge," he added. "These substances can build up in the soil over time and go into the groundwater, shallow water wells and waterways where we get our drinking water."
by Jan Barry, Bergen County [New Jersey] Record
July 1, 2007
http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkzJmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk3MTYyMDE2JnlyaXJ5N2Y3MTdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5NQ==
Some of North Jersey's worst polluted sites are among the subjects of 120 natural-resources damage claims filed by the state against major gasoline makers and other companies. The legal actions, announced just before a June 30 deadline set by the Legislature, target some of the companies for MTBE contamination of groundwater, and other companies for pollution that affects nearby waterways. The lawsuits were announced Friday by the Attorney General's Office on behalf of the Department of Environmental Protection. MTBE -- methyl tertiary butyl ether -- is a gasoline additive and a suspected carcinogen. As a result of spills and leaks at gas stations, it has become a major pollutant of well water in the state.
Article Summary: Attorney General Anne Milgram stated: "We are working with DEP to ensure that contaminated properties are cleaned up and restored, and that, where appropriate, polluters compensate the residents of New Jersey for the loss of precious natural resources." Named in the lawsuits are manufacturers of MTBE as well as refiners and marketers of gasoline. Many of the lawsuits also focus on other sources of pollution that damaged waterways, including the Hudson and Delaware rivers. "These companies have left a legacy of pollutants in sediments ranging from PCBs and pesticides to volatile chemicals and hydrocarbons," said DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson. The lawsuits seek compensation beyond cleanup costs and fines. The DEP uses funds from natural resource damage settlements for ecological restoration projects.
by Mark Wilson, Evansville [Indiana] Courier & Press
Sunday, July 1, 2007
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2007/jul/01/coal/
With numerous studies documenting the negative effects coal-fired power plants can have on individual health and the environment, coal has become a four-letter word to most environmentalists. However, while two proposed Tri-State power plants would use coal for fuel, they would not directly burn coal. Instead, these plants would use a method called IGCC -- integrated gasification combined cycle -- that turns coal into a synthetic gas first.
Article Summary: Supporters of IGCC argue it is far cleaner than conventional coal-burning power plants. Operating 100 percent of the time, a 630-megawatt IGCC plant at Edwardsport would put out about 2,900 tons per year of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and particulate matter, Protogere said. By contrast, the existing Edwardsport plant pumps out about 11,000 tons of the same air pollution while operating only about 30 percent of the time. Opponents contend it is still unproven on a large scale and offers no solution for global warming -- unless it is linked to an also largely unproven process of capturing carbon emissions and storing them underground. Most environmental groups believe the better way to reduce pollution is by promoting more energy-efficient lifestyles and products.
by Tom Meersman, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune
June 30, 2007
http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1278413.html
Article Summary: Nearly 50 years after farmers first began spraying atrazine on their fields, the widely used herbicide is doing more than killing weeds. It's also stirring conflicts over how to balance the benefits of an effective farm chemical with emerging science about its potential effects on water, wildlife and human health. Even talking about atrazine can be contentious. Last week, for the second time in three years, a scientist said he was blocked from delivering a public speech about potential dangers of atrazine. Three proposals that would have tightened atrazine regulations and required more review of the herbicide's potential effects by the Minnesota Department of Health failed in the Legislature this year. While Syngenta Crop Protection Inc., a major manufacturer of atrazine, claims the state's monitoring shows no cause for public concern, Paul Wotzka, who worked for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture from 1990 to 2006 and has filed a whistleblower lawsuit regarding his firing, said in an interview last week that atrazine levels in the middle branch of the Whitewater River in southeastern Minnesota have reached 30 parts per billion -- 10 times higher than the state standard -- after spring rains wash the chemical from farm fields. The concentrations are dangerous not only for frogs and other aquatic organisms, Wotzka said, but are also likely to be contaminating groundwater and private wells in the area's fractured geology. High spikes of atrazine aren't considered violations of water quality standards because the standard is based upon average concentrations. Samuel Yamin, toxicologist for the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, has raised numerous concerns about whether the state's water-quality standards for atrazine are too lenient. "We are concerned with high spikes in atrazine whereas the Minnesota Department of Agriculture is not," he said. The herbicide is persistent in the environment, Yamin said, and shows up commonly in wells and rivers that have been tested. In the early 1990s Wisconsin banned use of the chemical in about 1.2 million acres of farmland after groundwater in those areas showed atrazine contamination, according to a spokeswoman for the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. Questions about atrazine in the environment take on added importance this year because Minnesota farmers have planted corn on 8 percent more acreage than last season, largely because of higher demand from ethanol manufacturers.
by Michael Jamison, Missoulian
June 29, 2007
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2007/06/29/news/mtregional/znews08.txt
For five miles downstream of the Boulder, Colo., sewage treatment plant there are no male fish. In Pacific currents off the Los Angeles coastline, fish are too lazy to hunt, too laid back to bother with breeding. In south-central Asia, vultures are dying of drug overdoses.
Article Summary: The pharmaceuticals -- both over-the-counter and prescription drugs -- make their way into water systems because they are flushed (think leftover or out-of-date prescriptions) or because they pass through us and then are flushed. The endocrine disrupters -- mostly hormones and birth-control drugs -- pass the same way, and are known to disrupt endocrine systems in fish and birds, just as they do in humans. The personal care products -- musks and perfumes and sunblock -- enter the system through shower drains, then continue on through septic systems or municipal treatment plants. "All domestic sewage, regardless of your location on the globe, will contain pharmaceuticals," said Kate Miller. "If you can find a human being, you'll probably find pharmaceuticals in the environment." Miller works for the Montana Department of Environmental Quality as an engineer and a hydrologist. Recently, Miller was asked to go on a hunt for fecal contamination -- sewage, basically -- in Helena Valley groundwater. She was to use certain microbial markers, such as E. coli and coliphage, to sniff out the presence or absence of fecal taint. But the more she read about sewage-borne contaminants, the more she became convinced that more modern markers would make for a more interesting study. And so Miller added 28 man-made chemicals to her search target, including pharmaceuticals, endocrine disrupters and personal care products. In her investigation, 32 of 35 drinking water wells tested positive for the chemicals, and 22 of the 28 compounds she chose to look for were found. The chemicals are persistent and tend to stick around for a while. While she acknowledges that she found very, very low doses that probably don't pose much of a health risk, in fact, no one knows. Neither does anyone know how low-dose drugs might affect fish and wildlife, or how a cocktail of drugs, even at low doses, might combine to cause some surprising cumulative effects. What she does know is that the combined action of several compounds can exceed the sum of the individual parts. And the longer an organism is exposed, the more sensitive it can become to the contaminant. And some compounds -- think antibiotics -- definitely overlap between species. And most drugs have multiple side effects, both known and unknown. Her immediate prescription is to stop flushing unused drugs, and to stop overusing drugs in general.
[Editor's note: Read a related article about this problem in Ontario at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070702.wontawater0702/BNStory/National/home.]
by Susan Page, USA TODAY
June 28, 2007
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20070628/a_global28.art.htm
Pollution and other environmental problems increasingly are seen as the leading threat the world faces, according to a massive survey of global public opinion released Wednesday. The United States is given much of the blame for those problems and the responsibility to respond to them. The Pew Research Center poll, taken in 46 countries and the Palestinian territories, found that people in countries as diverse as Canada, Peru, Ukraine, China and India identified environmental degradation as the greatest world danger, outranking concerns about nuclear weapons, ethnic hatred and AIDS.
Article Summary: More than 45,000 people were interviewed by phone or face-to-face for the survey, which used nearly 60 languages or dialects. The poll found sharply rising concern about environmental problems as the world's biggest threat. Majorities or pluralities in 34 of 37 countries where the question was asked identified the United States as the chief culprit. In the USA, pollution was ranked lower as a concern than in any other industrialized nation. Thirty-seven percent in the USA identified environmental issues as the top global threat, compared with 70% in China, and 52% in France. Americans were more likely to call nuclear proliferation or religious and ethnic hatred as leading dangers. Global concerns varied by region. The spread of nuclear weapons was an increasing concern in the Middle East while AIDS and other diseases continued to be seen as the dominant threat in Africa.
by Dan Shapley, Daily Green
June 28, 2007
http://www.thedailygreen.com/2007/06/27/pesticide-body-burden-don%E2%80%99t-look-and-don%E2%80%99t-find/3046/
When the government tests for chemicals people carry around in their bodies, it doesn't check for the pesticides most commonly found on fruits and vegetables sold in grocery stores. Trace amounts of agricultural chemicals -- so-called "pesticide residue" -- show up on many fruits and vegetables grown with conventional farming techniques. Some of the most contaminated produce includes seasonal favorites like peaches, apples, nectarines and strawberries. Several fungicides, insecticides and herbicides used to grow those crops show up repeatedly on tests. Those pesticides are being consumed in small doses by a wide swath of the U.S. population. Whether they accumulate in the body -- and whether they cause any harm -- are questions that aren't being asked. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has conducted several "body burden" studies and found that dozens of industrial chemicals can be found in the average American's tissues, blood or urine. But the CDC looks for relatively few pesticides, and fewer of the pesticides most commonly found on fruits and vegetables.
Article Summary: The Environmental Working Group published its latest list of fruits and vegetables most and least likely to have pesticide residues in November. Most of the pesticides it shows most commonly appearing as residue are not on the CDC's list of chemicals it looks for in the bodies of Americans. But Carl Winter, director of the Food Safe Program at the University of California-Davis, said the level of exposure to pesticides on food is less than 10,000 times the level needed to make animals show a noticeable response in laboratory tests. Further, he said, most of the more modern pesticides found as residue break down quickly so would be unlikely to show up in body burden studies. Experts -- including Richard Wiles, executive director of the Environmental Working Group -- caution that fear of pesticide residue should not deter people from eating fruits and vegetables. And there are still good reasons for consumers to choose organic produce, even if Winter doesn't see pesticide residue as a health concern. He credited the public concern over pesticide residue with bolstering the organic movement, which in turn has paid dividends for the environment and farm workers. The Environmental Working Group's Wiles agreed, to a point. He sees pesticide residue as enough of an unknown that avoiding exposure is a wise choice. Testing for pesticides in people would help settle that debate, Wiles said. Because while some industrial chemicals found in biomonitoring studies turn out to be toxic, Wiles said, pesticides are designed to be toxic.
by Jeff Donn, Associated Press, Detroit News
June 28, 2007
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070628/LIFESTYLE03/706280359/1040
BOSTON -- Newborns face little risk of birth defects from antidepressants taken by many women early in pregnancy, say the reassuring findings of the two biggest studies of this controversial link. The research focuses on the class of drugs chosen most often for depression and anxiety, including the brands Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft. Paxil carries a warning of possible heart defects in newborns, and experts don't expect the new research to change that. However, they find the new studies comforting for women struggling with depression.
Article Summary: The two studies -- one from the federal Centers for Disease Control and the other from Boston University -- use more cases of birth defects than previous research to consider links between the abnormalities and SSRIs. Together, the two studies looked at 19,471 newborns with birth defects and 9,952 without them. Neither study was able to tie SSRIs as a group to either heart defects or most other defects.
[Editor's note: See an article presenting an opposing view at http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-sci-ssri28jun28,1,2363102.story?coll=la-news-a_section&ctrack=4&cset=true.]
by Philip Elliott, Associated Press, Boston Globe
June 27, 2007
http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2007/06/27/legislature_passes_proposal_to_lower_lead_limits/
Lawmakers voted Wednesday to cut in half the level of lead in a child's blood that triggers a state investigation. The bill -- sponsored by Sen. Betsi DeVries, D-Manchester, -- would reduce the lead limits that both trigger a doctor's report to the state and an investigation into the possible source from 20 micrograms to 10 micrograms. The bill also would expand where investigators could look.
Article Summary: Supporters said New Hampshire can't afford to leave the threshold at the current level because that most likely will lead to permanent brain damage. But the bill wasn't without its opponents, who said the bill doesn't do enough to test all children. Critics argued better education and closer attention to housing for immigrants would take care of many of the problems without imposing broad changes that could hurt the rental market. Property owners opposed the bill. They asked for a study of alternatives. They said costs escalate rapidly once the state orders landlords to abate the problem.
by Kellyn S. Betts, Environmental Science & Technology
June 27, 2007
http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2007/june/science/kb_birthdefects.html
Article Summary: A new study by Katharina Maria Main of Rigshospitalet, part of the Copenhagen University Hospital, is the first to link elevated PBDE levels with a human birth defect. The study associates cryptorchidism, a condition in which one or both testicles fail to descend into the scrotum, with higher concentrations of PBDEs in breast milk. The incidence of cryptorchidism is increasing rapidly in some countries, which suggests that environmental factors may be involved, according to the paper. Main and her colleagues found that PBDE concentrations in the breast milk of Danish and Finnish mothers of sons born with undescended testicles were significantly higher than those in the breast milk of mothers of sons with normal testicles. Testicular cancer is the most severe symptom of testicular dysgenesis syndrome, which also includes cryptorchidism. In 2006, Swedish researchers linked early-onset testicular cancer with higher levels of maternal PBDEs. The new findings aren't clear-cut, because researchers saw no correlation between PBDE levels in the cord blood of infants in the study and the incidence of cryptorchidism.
by Naomi Lubick, Environmental Science & Technology
June 27, 2007
http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2007/june/science/nl_pesticide.html
The sequence in which organisms are exposed to chemicals could matter just as much as dose and length of exposure, according to new research.
Article Summary: Most risk assessments consider only one chemical at a time when looking at toxicity or other deleterious effects. But mixtures are important, especially in agriculture, where farmers may apply different pesticides throughout the growing season that run off into streams in pulses. Roman Ashauer and colleagues at the Central Science Laboratory and the University of York (U.K.) studied exposure to the pesticides carbaryl and chlorpyrifos. Both act on the nervous system by targeting the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (better known as AChE). The experiment found significantly different mortality rates depending on the order in which freshwater shrimp were exposed to the pesticides. This experiment was "exactly what we want to see" in ecotoxicity and mixtures modeling, says Andreas Kortenkamp, head of the Centre for Toxicology at the University of London's School of Pharmacy. The paper's strength lies not only in pointing out that "order does matter if there are differences in recovery," Kortenkamp says, but also in indicating that modeling approaches can work in forecasting such sensitivities. Jim Lazorchak, an ecotoxicologist at the U.S. EPA in Cincinnati, said the team is "trying to explore modeling to predict realistic exposures, particularly for exposures to nonpoint sources of pesticides. Typical assessment methods don't incorporate timing and order, which are critical in assessing real-world situations, where even more stressors occur.
by James Bruggers, Louisville Courier-Journal
June 27, 2007
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070627/NEWS01/706271330
Industrial plants have begun to submit their worst-case scenarios for potential health risks to their neighbors as part of a new program in Louisville to curb toxic air emissions. The Strategic Toxic Air Reduction program was adopted two years ago despite objections from many in the business community after unsafe levels of 18 chemicals were found in Jefferson County's air. And among the first companies to report estimated cancer risks from the maximum emissions allowed under their permits is one Rubbertown chemical plant that says its emissions could cause 357,000 cases for every million people. That's 357,000 times higher than the main goal of STAR, which is 1 case in 1 million for individual chemicals at a plant.
Article Summary: Five other companies so far have reported much more modest risk estimates that exceed STAR goals for residential areas. And they all say it is unfair to focus on maximum allowable emissions because their plants rarely or never generate that much. Companies such as DuPont that are part of the first wave of scrutiny under STAR have until the end of this month to submit a compliance plan or request a variance. The chemical that tripped up the dry-cleaning facility is perchloroethylene, which is being phased out from dry cleaners in California.
by Lisa Stiffler, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
June 26, 2007
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/321350_nailsalon27.html
Article Summary: The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday is awarding two local nonprofit groups $100,000 to help nail salons go green -- or at least greener. Salons use polishes, solvents and chemicals to make acrylic nails, some of which contain ingredients that can cause a range of health ailments including cancer, mental confusion and birth defects. The fumes and skin contact can pose a risk to salon workers and customers alike. The issue is a matter of environmental justice, an area of environmental protection that targets low-income and minority populations, who often bear the brunt of pollution and related threats. The three-year project will be a partnership between Cunniff's organization and the Seattle-based Community Coalition for Environmental Justice. His group will focus on the shop owners and workers, while the latter will address the customer side. The nonprofit groups will be researching chemicals that would be safer to use in the salons. They'll be figuring out if the alternative products are effective and readily available through distributors. Focuses of the project include lobby nail-polish makers to provide a safer product and installing equipment to reduce exposure to the chemicals, including simple fixes such as providing salons with stainless steel containers with tight-sealing lids for disposing cotton balls soaked in solvent.
by Sasha Aslanian, Marketplace
June 26, 2007
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2007/06/26/PM200706267.html
The flame retardant at the center of the environmental debate right now is called deca. It's a good flame retardant.
Article Summary: Deca effectively prevents plastics from burning once the fire source is removed. But the rap on deca is that it's spreading in the environment, and it's toxic. Deca is showing up in pretty much everyone's body. Flame retardant chemicals accumulate in human body fat, such as in breast milk. When industrial chemicals show up in breast milk, it gets people's attention. In 1998, American scientists started checking for flame retardants. They found levels 10 to 100 times higher than in Europe. Worse, the chemicals resemble some well-known environmental bad guys -- PCBs banned in the 1970s. Tom McDonald, a former toxicologist with California's Environmental Protection Agency, has studied the chemicals. He says it became very clear early on, looking at the structure and behavior similar to PCBs, causing harm to the developing brain in terms of behavior and memory in offspring, as well as alterations to the reproductive organs. Mark Rossi of Clean Production Action, a nonprofit that promotes safer chemicals, says the health care sector in particular has been demanding alternatives to deca. States will have to put emotions aside in order to measure the danger they see -- fires -- against a danger they can't see -- how flame retardants affect the developing brain. This year, nine states considered bans on deca and two -- Maine and Washington -- passed restrictions. The EPA lists it as a possible carcinogen, and in animal studies, it's been shown to harm brain development in rats and mice.
from Reuters
June 26, 2007
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN2635718820070626
The number of U.S. children with chronic health problems such as obesity has soared in the past four decades, foreshadowing increases in adult disability and public health-care spending, researchers said on Tuesday. More time in front of the television and use of other electronic media, decreased physical activity, increased time spent indoors, increased consumption of fast foods and sugar-sweetened beverages, and changes in parenting are all likely to blame, the researchers said. Writing in an issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association devoted to childhood chronic disease, researchers tracked rising rates of obesity, asthma and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, among U.S. children.
Article Summary: They based their estimates on government data and previously published research in scientific journals. "The expanding epidemics of child and adolescent chronic health conditions will likely lead to major increases in disability among young and then older adults in the next several decades, with major increases in public expenditures for health care and income support," the researchers wrote. In many children, chronic health conditions continue into adulthood and can be expected to raise health care costs while driving down quality of life, the researchers said. They added that while genetic bases have been described for obesity, asthma and ADHD, gene pool changes cannot explain the recent dramatic growth of these conditions. The researchers pointed instead to a host of behavioral and environmental changes.
by Liza Gross, PLoS Biology
June 26, 2007
http://biology.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0050193
Researchers say endocrine-disrupting chemicals can permanently harm the developing organism and may even promote obesity.
Article Summary: For most of his 30-year career, Fred vom Saal, a developmental biologist at the University of Missouri, studied the harmful consequences of tiny changes in natural hormone levels at critical periods during the development of the brain and reproductive tract. He began to include synthetic chemicals in his investigations when he learned that pesticides and other environmental contaminants caused reproductive defects in wildlife much like those seen in lab animals exposed to abnormal estrogen levels. During embryonic development, steroid hormones like estrogen control gene-expression programs to coordinate cell differentiation, growth, organogenesis, and metabolism. Adding extra estrogen -- whether foreign (exogenous) or natural (endogenous) -- can irreversibly alter these developmental processes by mimicking, blocking, or otherwise disrupting pathways that have been fine-tuned over millions of years to respond to minuscule changes in hormone levels. Exogenous estrogens interfere with developmental pathways; giving the mother these estrogens when prostate development is occurring raises fetal estrogen levels ever so slightly, with profound consequences in male offsprings' prostates. Vom Saal reported similar effects from a synthetic chemical still in mass production that his research focus, bisphenol A -- the building block of polycarbonate plastics. Bisphenol A molecules, which are joined by unstable bonds to form polycarbonates and resins, leach from containers exposed to heat or highly acidic or basic compounds.
Vom Saal's work has gone even further to show that bisphenol A activates androgen and estrogen receptor genes in the embryonic cells that give rise to prostate tissue. This gene activity permanently increases the number of androgen receptors so that cells become hyperresponsive to hormones for the rest of the life of the individual, according to vom Saal. In a 2005 commentary, vom Saal and Claude Hughes, a reproductive endocrinologist, identified 115 published studies on low doses of bisphenol A. They also found a troubling trend. Ninety percent of government studies found significant effects of bisphenol A at doses below the EPA's lowest adverse effect level, but not a single industry study found any effect. Many of the industry studies, they pointed out, either used a rat strain with very low sensitivity to estrogen or misinterpreted failure to find effects with positive controls. Vom Saal and Hughes urged the EPA to conduct a new risk assessment on bisphenol A. The EPA estimates safe human exposures to a chemical based on animal studies that find the lowest harmful dose and the highest benign dose, then dividing one of the doses by a safety factor to account for variable human sensitivities and uncertainties in extrapolating to humans. Endocrinologists know that hormones normally stimulate their receptors at low concentrations, while high concentrations can inhibit these pathways by saturating receptors. But the notion that a substance can produce effects at low levels that disappear at higher levels fundamentally challenges traditional toxicological approaches.