News
Heavy metal: Some airborne particles pose more dangers than others
Around the world, whenever airborne particles increase, so do deaths from heart and lung diseases. Now new evidence is emerging that some particles may be more dangerous than others. A growing body of research – much of it in New York City – suggests that breathing nickel and other metals may put acute stress on the lungs and heart, resulting in illnesses and deaths at particulate levels below national standards.
Selenium from power plants poses ecological risks, spurs EPA review
Selenium is an essential nutrient, but excess amounts can be dangerous to wildlife and people. Now the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is preparing a new regulation that would require more than 600 coal-fired power plants to clean up — perhaps even eliminate — wastewater discharged into lakes, rivers and other waterways. The national standards would replace a patchwork of state regulations that EPA officials say are too lax to protect fish and wildlife from toxic metals and other elements, particularly selenium, in the plants’ wastewater. Some states allow the plants to emit selenium at levels hundreds of times higher than EPA’s water-quality standards, while others don’t even require monitoring for it.
New frontiers – and limitations – in testing people's bodies for chemicals
New horizons in biomonitoring are identifying environmental exposures that may play a role in health problems, including cancer, neurological disorders and diabetes. At their fingertips, researchers already have precise measurements of nearly 150 chemicals in several thousand American adults and children. Now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is preparing to release even more extensive data, and expand its reach by testing 500 umbilical cords, which will allow scientists to determine which chemicals babies are exposed to in the womb. Biomonitoring “is a game changer in environmental health,” said Thomas Burke of Johns Hopkins University. Nevertheless, actual use of the information hasn’t yet fulfilled its potential.
Inhaling Human Pathogens With Cigarette Smoke
Cigarettes contain hundreds of different strains of bacteria, including many human pathogens. That means smokers are inhaling live bacteria into their lungs, which could be one reason why they contract so many infections and chronic diseases, scientists say.
NIEHS Director Birnbaum: "We kind of jump from the proverbial fry pan into the fire" when replacing chemicals
Nanosilver in consumer products: No silver lining for fish
Smaller than a virus and used in more than 200 consumer products, silver nanoparticles can kill and mutate fish embryos, new research shows. Tiny particles of silver – potent anti-microbial agents that can kill bacteria on contact – are becoming increasingly popular in consumer goods, including washing machines, refrigerators, clothing and toys. Many nanoparticles, including nanosilver, wash down drains and are discharged into lakes and rivers, where fish and other aquatic life are exposed.
Special Report: Some vinegars -- often expensive, aged balsamics -- contain a big dose of lead
In a tradition dating back to medieval times, growers in Modena, Italy, are deep into the grape harvest, the first step in making their famed balsamic vinegar. Cooking the grapes releases rich juice that is then stored in vintage barrels. At least a dozen years of fermentation and evaporation reduces the wine to a sweet, fragrant elixir. Thousands of miles away, in California, signs in grocery stores warn shoppers about exposure to a dangerous metal in many balsamic and red wine vinegars. Although the amount of lead in vinegar is small, experts say regularly consuming it may pose a risk, particularly to children. Eating one tablespoon a day of some vinegars can raise a young child’s lead level by more than 30 percent. For this report, Environmental Health News had an expert calculate children's doses and also hired an independent lab to test two bottles. Consumers want to know if vinegars are safe, but there are no easy answers.
Research shows pesticide-free homes can be bug-free, too; 'Good housekeeping' is more effective than insecticides
When a building supervisor notified tenants in Brooklyn that one of the apartments had a bedbug infestation, Eddie Rosenthal feared that it was only a matter of time until they spread to his home. But it wasn't just the bugs that gave Rosenthal the creeps. So did the prospect of using pesticides. So Rosenthal decided to try a few tricks that might keep his home bug-free without spraying chemicals. He raised his bed off the ground, filled some cracks and applied some nontoxic powder to spaces between walls. Now new research shows that such good housekeeping techniques not only minimize chemical use, but they are even more effective at controlling pests than hiring an exterminator to spray powerful, toxic pesticides. A single use of such techniques in 13 New York City apartment buildings eliminated substantially more cockroaches and mice than repeated professional applications of pesticides, according to a new study.
Soy Foods: Eating too much of a good thing might be bad, scientists say
Americans consume over $4 billion of soy foods each year because of their many health benefits. But new studies suggest that eating large amounts of soy's estrogen-mimicking compounds might reduce fertility in women, trigger early puberty and disrupt development of fetuses and children. 'We know that too much genistein is not a good thing for a developing mouse; it may not be a good thing for a developing child,' said Retha Newbold of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
Idling school buses spew black carbon, fine particles
Idling school buses spew tons of exhaust into the air, putting children at risk when they leave school at the end of each day. In New York City alone, idling vehicles emit as much pollution as nine million diesel trucks driving from the Bronx to Staten Island. But the city's laws requiring them to shut down their engines in school zones are poorly enforced.
EPA unveils plan to review 6 controversial chemicals, reform US toxics policy
President Obama’s top environmental official announced a new push to transform the way the nation regulates toxic chemicals that may endanger people and the environment. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson called the workings of a 1976 law 'inordinately cumbersome and time-consuming' and said the administration will promote a new chemical law in Congress.In the meantime, the EPA will analyze and regulate six high-profile, widely used chemicals that have raised health concerns, including BPA and phthalates.
Eating venison, other game raises lead exposure
New research raises questions about the safety of eating wild game, and triggers a renewed debate about banning lead ammunition. Tests by the CDC show that eating venison and other game can raise the amounts of lead in human bodies by 50 percent. The National Park Service has announced a controversial plan to ban lead bullets and fishing tackle, which Acting Director Dan Wenk said “will benefit humans, wildlife, and ecosystems inside and outside park boundaries.”
Hispanics face high cancer risk from breathing household chemical
Hispanics have a cancer risk from air pollutants as much as five times the rate of others living in the same cities. But it isn’t outdoor air posing the greatest danger; it is something much closer to home: Toilet deodorizers and moth repellents in their bathrooms and closets. Researchers call for a ban on the carcinogenic chemical used in the consumer products.
Threat down below: Polluted caves endanger water supplies, wildlife
Caves are home to some of the planet's most unusual creatures and important drinking water supplies. Now these underground resources are being polluted by surface activities, ranging from sewage spills to old factories. Experts call the problem "extensive and serious." Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky, Crevice Cave in Missouri and Whispering Canyon Cave in Alaska are examples. "People need to be aware that there’s a subterranean ecosystem and that what happens on the surface impacts these unique ecosystems in a very real way," said David Culver, a biologist at American University.
Cancer in wildlife, normally rare, can signal toxic dangers
Wild animals normally are killed by cancer only in rare cases. But scientists have found that some deadly cancers in animals--including Quebec's belugas, California sea lions and North Sea flounder--seem to be triggered or accelerated by environmental contaminants. The tumors highlight the dangers that industrial activities pose – not just to animals, but to people in the same areas, exposed to the same chemicals. But lack of research and environmental obstacles mean most cancers in wildlife remain undetected.
California unveils new goal for controversial carcinogen in water
In a long-awaited move designed to protect people from cancer, California officials on Thursday proposed a new health goal for chromium 6 in drinking water that is thousands of times lower than the amount contaminating some water supplies. The recommendation culminates a decade of debate among scientists trying to decide what concentration is safe to drink. The contaminant was made famous by Erin Brockovich and a small Mojave Desert town that won the largest tort injury settlement in U.S. history. Water supplies there contained 10,000 times more chromium 6 than the California scientists now recommend as their new goal for protecting the public from cancer.
Germ-killing chemical from soaps, toothpaste building up in dolphins
Triclosan is the germ-killing chemical of choice in hundreds of products, including liquid hand soaps, toothpaste and deodorants. Now some scientists are calling for its removal from consumer products because it is building up in the ocean's food web. A new study found that one-third of the bottlenose dolphins tested off South Carolina and almost one-quarter of those tested off Florida carried traces of triclosan in their blood. The concentrations found in the dolphins are known to disrupt the hormones and growth and development of other animals.
Rural well water linked to Parkinson’s; California study implicates farm pesticides
Rural residents who drink water from private wells are much more likely to have Parkinson’s disease, a finding that bolsters theories that farm pesticides may be partially to blame, according to a new study. The risk to people in California's Central Valley was 90 percent higher for those who had private wells near fields sprayed with certain insecticides. People with the incurable neurological disease “were more likely to have consumed private well water, and had consumed it on average 4.3 years longer,” UCLA scientists reported. Unlike municipal water supplies, private wells are largely unregulated and are not monitored for contaminants.
Chemicals can turn genes on and off; new tests needed, scientists say.
A National Academies workshop examined the evidence of epigenetic effects and considered whether the thousands of chemicals in use today should be tested for them. Some pollutants and chemicals don't kill cells or mutate DNA. Instead, they may be more subtle, muting genes or turning them on at the wrong time, which can lead to diseases that are passed on for generations. Asthma in New York City children exposed to traffic exhaust is an example, experts say.
Do contaminants play a role in diabetes? Evidence is growing.
A Great Lakes study linking a pesticide in fish to diabetes adds to the growing chorus of studies suggesting that environmental contaminants may play a role in the widespread disease. "The science has been growing very, very rapidly, and to my mind, it’s one of the most exciting developments in the study of diabetes," said David O. Carpenter, director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University of Albany.
