http://e.hormone.tulane.edu Your gate to the Environment and Hormones http://e.hormone.tulane.edu/images_ehormone/eh-rss-logo.jpg http://e.hormone.tulane.edu The coffee-brown waters make the San Jacinto River appear unappealing from the Interstate 10 bridge. And it's worse than it looks. Below the rusty barges, sooty tugboats and floating trash is a poisonous bisque of long-lived chemicals that poses a health risk to people who regularly eat fish from these waters. The area is one of the most polluted in Texas, says the federal Environmental Protection Agency, which is pushing for the prompt cleanup of the cancer-causing dioxins dumped in pits along the river near Channelview four decades ago... http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6722425.html Males exposed to high doses in the womb went on to be less likely to play with boys' toys like cars or to join in rough and tumble games, they found. The University of Rochester team's latest work adds to concerns about the safety of phthalates, found in vinyl flooring and PVC shower curtains. The findings are reported in the International Journal of Andrology... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8361863.stm Exposure to high levels of a controversial chemical found in thousands of everyday plastic products appears to cause erectile dysfunction and other sexual problems in men, according to a new study published Wednesday. The study, funded by the federal government and published in the journal Human Reproduction, is the first to examine the impact of bisphenol A, or BPA, on the reproductive systems of human males. Previous studies have involved mice or rats. The research comes as government agencies debate the safety of BPA, a compound that is found in thousands of consumer products ranging from dental sealants to canned food linings and that is so ubiquitous it has been detected in the urine of 93 percent of the U.S. population... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/10/AR2009111017411.html?hpid=topnews Since 1950, plastics have quickly and quietly entered the lives and bodies of most people and ecosystems on the planet. In the United States alone, more than 100 billion pounds of resins are formed each year into food and beverage packaging, electronics, building products, furnishings, vehicles, toys, and medical devices. In 2007, the average American purchased more than 220 pounds of plastic, creating nearly $400 billion in sales. It is now impossible to avoid exposure to plastics. They surround and pervade our homes, bodies, foods, and water supplies, from the plastic diapers and polyester pajamas worn by our children to the cars we drive and the frying pans in which we cook our food... http://e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2209 Reporting from Washington - A consumer advocacy group's analysis of canned goods has found measurable levels of the chemical additive bisphenol A, or BPA, across a range of foods, including some that were labeled "BPA free." Children eating multiple servings of some of the tested food could get doses of BPA "near levels that have caused adverse effects in several animal studies," according to the survey released Monday by Consumers Union, a nonprofit organization that publishes Consumer Reports... http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bpa3-2009nov03,0,6197377.story Retired Marine officer Rick Dove boarded the four-seat Cessna armed with cameras, binoculars and global positioning devices for his latest mission: chicken farmers. Or, more precisely, aerial reconnaissance of poultry droppings. "Oh, man, that looks like a hot site," Mr. Dove said as the plane soared 1,000 feet over farms near the Chesapeake Bay. Peering through binoculars, he said, "That pile is at least two stories high." He whipped out his camera and started snapping pictures... http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125721391914624061.html What is more, people who ate plenty of vegetables, fruit and fish actually had a lower risk of depression, the University College London team found. Data on diet among 3,500 middle-aged civil servants was compared with depression five years later, the British Journal of Psychiatry reported. The team said the study was the first to look at the UK diet and depression... http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/07/business/energy-environment/07water.html?_r=2 For years, the city of Clinton dumped excessive amounts of damaging ammonia, copper and other pollutants into a backwater channel of a national treasure - the Mississippi River. This year, the state got serious about making the city stop. After issuing 28 sanctions for sewage permit violations and a couple of small fines, the state of Iowa filed a lawsuit in March against the city, alleging excess discharges dating back to at least 1991. As part of a court agreement with Iowa's attorney general, the city paid a $100,000 fine - one of the state's largest involving sewage offenses... http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20091102/NEWS10/911020321/-1/SPORTS09 Researchers have just linked prenatal exposure to bisphenol-A – a near-ubiquitous industrial chemical – with subtle, gender-specific alterations in behavior among two year olds. Girls whose mothers had encountered the most BPA early in pregnancy tended to become somewhat more aggressive than normal, boys became more anxious and withdrawn. This is the first study to link human behavioral impacts with BPA, a common ingredient in hard polycarbonate plastics and the resins used in food-can linings. Emerging data from an unrelated research group points to another especially rich newfound source of BPA to which people unwittingly may be exposed: thermally printed cash-register receipts... http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/48065/title/Science_%2B_the_Public__BPA_in_the_womb_shows_link_to_kids%E2%80%99_behavior For 30 years, EPA has been forced to rely on industry to police itself to protect the public from hazardous chemicals. Now, the agency aims to re-invent the Toxic Substances Control Act, or TOSCA, to give EPA greater regulating authority. Host Jeff Young talks with Dr. Megan Schwarzman from UC Berkley about what effect the suggested reforms might have on international commerce, public health, and green chemistry innovation... http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.htm?programID=09-P13-00041&segmentID=3 It's been found in baby bottles, water bottles, and cans, but here's a new item to avoid that contains the estrogen-mimicking chemical Bisphenol A paper receipts. Science News reports that John C. Warner of the Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry has found that both carbonless copy papers and the thermal imaging papers that form most receipts today are coated in a powdery layer of the chemical. He believes that our exposure to BPA through receipts is many times greater than through bottles or cans. So why should you be concerned about BPA? Recent studies of the chemical have found that, when ingested, it is linked to diabetes, heart disease, liver toxicity, and birth defects. Warner told Science News that BPA found on receipts is dusted off on the fingers, where it either makes its way to food, or is absorbed through the skin. The Environmental Protection Agency plans to conduct a new study about the potential health risks of atrazine, a widely used weedkiller that recent research suggests may be more dangerous to humans than previously thought. Atrazine — a herbicide often used on corn fields, golf courses and even lawns — has become one of the most common contaminants in American drinking water. For years, the E.P.A. has decided against acting on calls to ban the chemical from environmental activists and some scientists who argued that runoff was polluting ecosystems and harming animals... http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/07/business/energy-environment/07water.html?_r=1 Socks and other garments that stay odor-free thanks to antimicrobial nanoscale silver particles are increasingly showing up on store shelves. But what happens to the silver when such products are washed remains an open question. The study “gives us a much better idea of how silver might be released into the environment from the new wave of silver-nanoparticle-containing fabrics,” says Andrew D. Maynard, chief science adviser at the nonprofit Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies... http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/87/i40/8740notw6.html In the 1950’s scientists began to realize that fallout from nuclear testing was moving through the environment and up the food chain. Since that point, it seems that each year another chemical substance is found to be toxic and then pulled off the market only to be replaced by a slew of other chemicals. John Wargo is a professor of environmental policy and risk analysis at Yale University. He talks with host Steve Curwood about his new book, Green Intelligence: Creating Environments that Protect Human Health, and explains which chemicals threaten us and how the government can better protect us from these risks... http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.htm?programID=09-P13-00039&segmentID=5 A newly released study of toxic chemicals on the bottom of Seattle's Elliott Bay shows signs of improvement in the environmental quality of the sediment, though researchers found some contaminants have increased, the state Department of Ecology said Friday. The department released the results based on samples taken in the urban bay in 2007. While toxic pollutants are still widespread, researchers said a comparison with a similar 1998 study gives encouraging signs. "It's kind of a mixed story, but I think there is good news in there," said Margaret Dutch, an Ecology sediment expert who participated in the study... http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009943850_websound25.html High exposure to certain now-banned industrial chemicals may lead to fewer female births, a new study suggests. The findings, reported in the journal Environmental Health, add to evidence that the two groups of related chemicals -- polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) -- may affect human reproduction. PBBs were once widely used as flame retardants in plastics, electronic and textiles, while PCBs were used in everything from appliances and fluorescent lighting to insulation and insecticides... http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory?id=8592170 The term "endocrine disruptor" had not been coined when Rachel Carson was alive, but she was onto them. Carson's groundbreaking 1962 book on the dangers of synthetic pesticides, Silent Spring, was prescient in many ways. She wrote about what she termed "insecticide storage:" "There are indications that these chemicals lodge in tissues concerned with the manufacture of germ cells as well as in the cells themselves. Accumulations of insecticides have been discovered in the sex organs of a variety of birds and mammals. ... Probably as an effect of such storage in the sex organs, atrophy of the testes has been observed in experimental mammals. Young rats exposed to methoxychlor had extraordinarily small testes"... http://www.miller-mccune.com/science_environment/seeking-chemical-culprits-for-those-deformities-1483 As we munch into the fragrant core of peach season, shoppers face an array of choices for the same fuzzy fruit but little guidance on which type to pick. Expensive organic? Pricey farmers market? Cheap peaches from the grocery store? Cost is certainly important. But there are essential numbers that go beyond the price tag of a peach, or any other item from the produce aisle. Which contain the highest levels of pesticides? Preliminary 2008 U.S. Department of Agriculture tests obtained by the Chicago Tribune show that more than 50 pesticide compounds showed up on domestic and imported peaches headed for U.S. stores. Five of the compounds exceeded the limits set by the Environmental Protection Agency, and six of the pesticide compounds present are not approved for use on peaches in the United States... http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/chi-0812-peaches-pesticides_mainaug12,0,2494206.story If you want to live longer -- avoid heart disease, Alzheimer's disease and cancer -- then pick and choose your foods with care to quiet down parts of your immune system. That's the principle promoted by the founders and followers of anti-inflammatory diets, designed to reduce chronic inflammation in the body. Dozens of books filled with diets and recipes have flooded the market in the last few years, including popular ones by dermatologist Dr. Nicholas Perricone and Zone Diet creator Barry Sears. Those who frequent message boards that discuss arthritis or acne trade tips on which pro- or anti-inflammatory foods may help or trigger their symptoms -- urging co-sufferers to try cherries for their rheumatoid arthritis or avoid gluten for their psoriasis... http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-anti-inflammation17-2009aug17,0,3196484.story Nancy and Bryan Lara, ages 10 and 8, knew something was wrong when they saw a tractor surrounded by white clouds near their school bus stop in Caruthers. "I know that clouds are not on the ground, they're in the sky," Bryan said. The children hid behind a row of grapevines, but they could taste the noxious blend of liquid sulfur, gibberellic acid, insecticide and fertilizer as the rig rolled past them, billowing out its chemical cargo. Moments earlier, the mist had enveloped 17-year-old Carina at another stop about two blocks away. "I felt it. It was wet. I was wet," said Carina, who asked that her last name not be used... http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-pesticides17-2009aug17,0,711758.story Scientists have known for a long time that a lot of wild-caught fish have dangerous contaminants. People who eat fish have to weigh the health benefits against the risks of consuming those pollutants. Now some new research could make that balancing act even trickier. It links diabetes to an old chemical many assumed was long gone. In the early morning hours, anglers gather on Chicago’s Navy Pier. Ray Penn is practically within casting distance of the downtown skyscrapers. He dips his line in the waters of Lake Michigan, hoping to pull out something tasty... http://www.wbez.org/Content.aspx?audioID=36121 Perchlorate-contaminated groundwater could be a widespread legacy of the U.S.’s agricultural past, according to researchers who have pioneered perchlorate forensics. The researchers, led by John Karl Bhlke of the U.S. Geological Survey, used isotopes and other geochemical tracers to identify perchlorate sources. The impact of the historic use of Chilean nitrate fertilizer from the Atacama Desert, which contains naturally occurring perchlorate, is emerging from studies such as one published recently in ES&T (DOI 10.1021/es9006433)... http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/dangers-of-plastic 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... http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/epigenetics-workshop In 1999, wildlife disease specialist Thierry Work looked over the bow of his small whaler as it cut through a lagoon on the south side of Molokai, an island in Hawaii. On an emergent rock he saw a listless sea turtle, waiting to die. "This guy was so weak that he just let us pick him up," says Work, who runs the National Wildlife Health Center’sHonolulu field station. "He was so emaciated that his ventral was completely disked in. You could fill him up with water and use him as a bowl." Like more than quarter of the green turtles Work has plucked from the water or found stranded on Hawaii's beaches, this one was covered with tumors on its eyes and mouth, dying from a poorly understood form of cancer... http://www.newsweek.com/id/208917 Stressed parents may play a role in childhood asthma, researchers believe. They found the children of tense parents who lived in polluted areas were far more likely to have asthma than friends in the same neighbourhood. The University of Southern California team believe parental anxieties combine with other known risk factors to increase a child's asthma risk. They told Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences there might be an underlying biological explanation. Experts have already shown that women who are stressed in pregnancy may raise the risk of their child developing asthma or other allergies... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8158680.stm From cell phones and computers to bicycle helmets and hospital IV bags, plastic has molded society in many ways that make life both easier and safer. But the synthetic material also has left harmful imprints on the environment and perhaps human health, according to a new compilation of articles authored by scientists from around the world. More than 60 scientists contributed to the new report, which aims to present the first comprehensive review of the impact of plastics on the environment and human health, and offer possible solutions... http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/dangers-of-plastic Salamanders have the ability to regrow amputated limbs – but what stops a tail growing from the stump, instead of a leg? A team of scientists are now a step closer to the answer. They studied tissue regeneration in axolotls (Ambystoma mexicanum), salamanders endemic to Mexico... http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090701/full/news.2009.614.html Women may want to reconsider that popular style accessory, certain hard plastic water bottles available in fashion-coordinating colors. New animal studies link the chemical bisphenol A, which leaches from such polycarbonate plastics and food can linings, with heart arrhythmias in females and permanent damage to a gene important for reproduction. Other recent research suggests that human exposure to BPA is much higher than previously thought... http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/45214/title/Concerns_over_bisphenol_A_continue_to_grow Though adults still need to eat right and exercise, a growing number of studies now suggest the best time to fight the diseases of aging may be before babies are even born, says Peter Gluckman of the University of Auckland in New Zealand... http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-06-30-prenatalcover_N.htm Some of the first eerie signs of a potential health catastrophe came as bizarre deformities in water animals, often in their sexual organs. In heavily polluted Lake Apopka, one of the largest lakes in Florida, male alligators developed stunted genitals. In the Potomac watershed near Washington, male smallmouth bass have rapidly transformed into “intersex fish” that display female characteristics. This was discovered only in 2003, but the latest survey found that more than 80 percent of the male smallmouth bass in the Potomac are producing eggs... http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/28/opinion/28kristof.html?em State officials have updated their advice for anglers and lovers of locally caught fish: It's no longer as simple as just avoiding contaminated white croaker caught off the Palos Verdes Peninsula. In the first advisory since 1991, the state's safe-eating guidelines expand the number of local fish species that consumers should avoid. Fish-eaters should stay away from topsmelt and barred sea bass in addition to white croaker, which has long been considered the most contaminated local variety. Sensitive groups - women of child-bearing age and children age 17 and under - should also avoid barracuda and black croaker, according to the report... http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/ci_12703835 A controversial chemical used in many plastic products may remain in the body longer than previously thought, and people may be ingesting it from sources other than food, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in December said it planned more research into the safety of bisphenol A, or BPA, but the agency indicated no immediate plans to curb the chemical, found in baby bottles and other products. Dr. Richard Stahlhut of the University of Rochester and colleagues looked at levels of the chemical in the urine of 1,469 U.S. adults who took part in a government health survey. While the belief had been BPA was quickly and completely eliminated from the body through urine, this study found people who had fasted for even a whole day still had significant levels of the chemical... http://www.vancouversun.com/Health/Plastic%20chemical%20stay%20body%20longer/1227101/story.html Older adults with higher amounts of lead in their bones exhibit greater memory impairment than adults with low lead levels. In a study of men and women 55 to 67 years old, higher lead levels were associated with poorer performance on tasks used to assess memory deficits. Poor performance on these same tasks is frequently observed among adults with Alzheimer’s Disease. Although other studies have found associations between lead exposure and cognitive deficits in older adults, this is the first study to link lead exposure with specific measures of memory impairment that are characteristic of Alzheimer’s Disease... http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/newscience/higher-bone-lead-associated-with-dementia/ A series of reports from the National Research Council (NRC), advances in high-throughput screening, and a deluge of data anticipated from the European Union's program for Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemical substances (REACH) have spurred the Environmental Protection Agency to strongly consider revamping how it performs chemical risk assessments. With more than 80,000 chemicals currently on the market, and about 700 new ones added each year, a lot is at stake, observers say. The challenge is getting policymakers, Congress, and the courts to accept a new approach—one that would involve shifting from expensive and time-consuming whole-animal studies to in vitro tests with human cell lines... http://pubs.acs.org/cen/government/87/8725gov1.html For the first time, the popular antibacterial agent triclosan is found in the blood of a marine mammal. A bacteria-killing chemical widely used in an array of consumer products has made its way down kitchen and bathroom sinks and into dolphins living in US coastal waters. Researchers report for the first time that a marine mammal – the bottlenose dolphin – is accumulating triclosan from water bodies where treated sewage is released. The study examined animals from rivers, an estuary, a harbor and a lagoon in South Carolina and Florida. Triclosan is a common additive in soaps, deodorants, toothpastes and other personal care products that is included to help control bacteria and their related illnesses. It is also put into consumer products like socks, cutting boards and garbage bags to curb the growth of bacteria... http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/newscience/antibacterial-agent-found-in-dolphins/ A study released this week by researchers at the University of Cincinnati says that exposure to bisphenol A may increase heart disease in women. Bisphenol A (BPA) is the chemical building block of polycarbonate plastics and is used in countless consumer products including food and beverage containers, kitchen appliances, electronics, and packaging and is used to make resins that line food and drink cans... http://www.alternet.org/environment/140665/a_chemical_found_in_most_consumer_products_may_cause_heart_disease_in_women/ A new study shows how chemical tags on DNA may lead to higher rates of prostate cancer in black men. And estrogen may play a role, researchers reported June 12 at a meeting of the Endocrine Society in Washington, D.C. “It may be that estrogen can reprogram the genome,” says study coauthor Wan-yee Tang of the University of Cincinnati in Ohio. In black men, Tang and her colleagues found fewer of the chemical tags, called methyl groups, near the portion of DNA that encodes a gene active in the prostate than the team found in white men. The lack of these epigenetic tags may alter the gene’s activity and upset the balance of other proteins in the cell, making the cell more vulnerable to becoming cancerous, the researchers propose... http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/44703/title/Estrogen_may_reprogram_prostate_cancer_gene_in_black_men Critically ill newborns may help researchers figure out whether children are at risk from plastic additives called phthalates. Scientists say the nation's sickest newborns are exposed to unusually high levels of phthalates — chemicals in plastics that can mimic hormones — because they often spend days or weeks connected to feeding tubes, breathing tubes and intravenous lines made of plastic. And the exposure comes at a critical time in human development. One doctor conducted a follow-up study by testing patients years after they were exposed to phthalates as infants in the neonatal intensive care unit. "If anybody is going to have problems, this would be the population to look at," says Dr. Billie Short, medical director of the neonatal intensive care unit at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C... http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/newscience/another-estrogenic-compound-found-in-soy-food/ Critically ill newborns may help researchers figure out whether children are at risk from plastic additives called phthalates. Scientists say the nation's sickest newborns are exposed to unusually high levels of phthalates — chemicals in plastics that can mimic hormones — because they often spend days or weeks connected to feeding tubes, breathing tubes and intravenous lines made of plastic. And the exposure comes at a critical time in human development. One doctor conducted a follow-up study by testing patients years after they were exposed to phthalates as infants in the neonatal intensive care unit. "If anybody is going to have problems, this would be the population to look at," says Dr. Billie Short, medical director of the neonatal intensive care unit at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C... http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/mohawks-and-pcbs Critically ill newborns may help researchers figure out whether children are at risk from plastic additives called phthalates. Scientists say the nation's sickest newborns are exposed to unusually high levels of phthalates — chemicals in plastics that can mimic hormones — because they often spend days or weeks connected to feeding tubes, breathing tubes and intravenous lines made of plastic. And the exposure comes at a critical time in human development. One doctor conducted a follow-up study by testing patients years after they were exposed to phthalates as infants in the neonatal intensive care unit. "If anybody is going to have problems, this would be the population to look at," says Dr. Billie Short, medical director of the neonatal intensive care unit at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C... http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/44577/title/More_troubling_news_about_BPA Academic and government scientists are scrambling to get a handle on the levels of perfluorochemicals in treated municipal sewage sludge as further details emerge about the unexpected discovery of these compounds in fields near Decatur, Ala. In October 2008, U.S. EPA scientists found near Decatur some of the highest concentrations of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), other carboxylic acids, and fluorotelomer alcohols in U.S. soils and traced the source back to treated municipal sewage sludge, or biosolids. In April 2009, EPA tested wells and ponds in the areas where the biosolids were spread. Out of 51 samples, 25% exceeded the agency’s recently developed short-term provisional health advisory limit of 0.4 micrograms per liter for PFOA. All concentrations of PFOS were below the 0.2 micrograms-per-liter public-health advisory limit. Five other carboxylic acids were measured in more than half of the water samples... http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/es901417h Critically ill newborns may help researchers figure out whether children are at risk from plastic additives called phthalates. Scientists say the nation's sickest newborns are exposed to unusually high levels of phthalates — chemicals in plastics that can mimic hormones — because they often spend days or weeks connected to feeding tubes, breathing tubes and intravenous lines made of plastic. And the exposure comes at a critical time in human development. One doctor conducted a follow-up study by testing patients years after they were exposed to phthalates as infants in the neonatal intensive care unit. "If anybody is going to have problems, this would be the population to look at," says Dr. Billie Short, medical director of the neonatal intensive care unit at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C... http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104191628 More than three decades after the ban of the pesticide DDT, the contaminant has been found in some Pinto Lake fish at levels high enough for city officials to warn anglers not to eat their catch. The chemical, widely used on crops and in backyards in the 1940s, '50s and '60s, was discovered in Pinto Lake carp during a landmark study of California's lakes. The two-year study, which will eventually look at 250 of the California's more than 9,000 lakes and reservoirs, is the largest survey ever conducted in the state of sport fish contamination and is designed to provide a baseline for future evaluations. .. http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_12400253 In the Potomac River, male smallmouth bass are growing eggs. This phenomenon now poses one of the most important water quality problems of our time. Five years of research has failed to uncover the chemical contaminants responsible for the abnormal sexual development of these fish. Nevertheless, we should not view this lack of a smoking gun as disempowering. Rather, it is a testimonial to the difficulty of the environmental problems we face today. These problems are solvable, but it will take substantial scientific innovation and a reinvigorated dose of political will. Since 2004, scientists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Geological Survey have been trying to solve the mystery of why the Potomac’s fish exhibit biological characteristics of both males and females. Since it has been well documented in laboratory studies that exposure to water pollutants can create intersex animals, the attempt to link a chemical contaminant to it is certainly prudent. However, an update published in the Washington Post on April 22 highlights the fact that relationships between organic pollutants and intersex creatures can be very difficult to establish... http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/editorial/feminized-fish Changes to body weight and lipid levels in mice exposed to cigarette smoke before birth lead to increased risk for cardiovascular disease as they age. Cigarette smoke can change prebirth development in ways that contribute to cardiovascular disease later in life, according to results of this study using mice. Smoking exposure altered body weight and cholesterol levels in the offspring... http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/newscience/prenatal-cigarette-smoke-linked-to-heart-disease-in-mice/ Manel Esteller's phone did not stop ringing for weeks. It was summer 2005, and he and his team at the Spanish National Cancer Centre in Madrid had just published a study comparing the activity of DNA in identical twins. The anxious callers were invariably twins whose sibling had developed a serious disease such as cancer or diabetes. Could the study help predict whether they too would succumb, they asked. Did the identical DNA sequence they shared with their afflicted twin mean they had the same genetic predisposition to illness? Surprisingly, the answer to the second question is 'not necessarily'. Researchers have known for years that, despite their common genes, identical twins can have very different physical constitutions and develop different diseases. The traditional explanation for this is that our environment somehow interacts with our genes to produce our physical attributes, or phenotype, but no one knew exactly how... http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v441/n7090/full/441143a.html A 15-year study of young girls in Denmark found that the average age of breast development has fallen by a full year compared to girls studied in the early 1990s. The findings, published this month in the journal Pediatrics, add to a growing body of evidence that the timing of puberty is changing, possibly related to environmental exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals that mimic estrogen in the body... http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/04/earlier-puberty-in-european-girls/ We hear every day about dangerous chemicals in household products that are linked to cancer, infertility, autism and other diseases - yet many Americans may not realize just how many of these harmful substances they’ve actually ingested in the course of everyday living. The answer? About 48. That’s according a study by the Environmental Working Group and Rachel’s Network, in which five leading minority women environmentalists from different parts of the country volunteered to have their blood tested for toxic substances. The results, say EWG experts, show that regulation of chemicals in the U.S. is weak and “antiquated” and needs a major overhaul... http://www.greenrightnow.com/kabc/2009/05/01/tests-of-five-women-environmental-leaders-show-how-toxic-chemicals-turn-up-in-americans-blood/ The hormones that humans excrete and flush down the toilet can harm fish reproduction more than previously thought. A British study shows that wastewater released from sewage treatment plants has a bigger impact than prior research suggests on egg production – and the long-term reproductive health – of fish living in the treated water. This study was unique in that it looked at real effluents with their mixtures of different types and amounts of hormones. The authors showed that common methods used to assess the level of hormonal disruption may underestimate true reproductive impairment caused by estrogenic compounds... http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/newscience/wastewater-reduces-fish-egg-production-more-than-thought/ A chemical compound that's banned in some countries has turned up in surprising levels in oysters in a nearly untouched St. Johns County waterway. The discovery of the fire-retardant chemical in the Matanzas River near Crescent Beach is puzzling, but whether it's really meaningful remains to be seen, said a scientist who works in the area... http://www.jacksonville.com/news/metro/2009-04-20/story/area_oysters_contain_fire_retardant U.S. manufacturers, including major drugmakers, have legally released at least 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals into waterways that often provide drinking water - contamination the federal government has consistently overlooked, according to an Associated Press investigation. Federal and industry officials say they don't know the extent to which pharmaceuticals are released by U.S. manufacturers because no one tracks them - as drugs. But a close analysis of 20 years of federal records found that, in fact, the government unintentionally keeps data on a few, allowing a glimpse of the pharmaceuticals coming from factories in Ohio and other states... http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/04/19/ap6308336.html The Environmental Protection Agency will soon order the manufacturers of 67 pesticides to conduct tests to determine if chemical ingredients in their products can affect the hormonal systems of humans and animals. These upcoming orders mark the beginning of a massive chemical screening program first envisioned in 1996, when Congress passed the Food Quality Protection Act. The law called for testing potential endocrine disrupters, chemicals that interfere with body systems regulated by hormones, which travel through the blood... http://www.northjersey.com/environment/New_testing_rules_coming.html Exposure to chemicals used in plastics may be linked with childhood obesity, according to results from a long-term health study on girls who live in East Harlem and surrounding communities that were presented to community leaders on Thursday by researchers at Mount Sinai Medical Center. The chemicals in question are called phthalates, which are used to to make plastics pliable and in personal care products. Phthalates, which are absorbed into the body, are a type of endocrine disruptor — chemicals that affect glands and hormones that regulate many bodily functions. They have raised concerns as possible carcinogens for more than a decade, but attention over their role in obesity is relatively recent... http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/17/child-obesity-is-linked-to-chemicals-in-plastics/ Canada on Saturday will become the first country to formally declare bisphenol A hazardous to human health and officially inform the baby-product industry it will no longer be able to use the chemical in baby bottles. Canada's announcement comes six months after Health Minister Tony Clement surprised the chemical industry by announcing the government's plan to place bisphenol A on its list of toxic substances and ban its use in baby bottles... http://www.canada.com/Health/Health%20Canada%20makes%20official%20health%20hazard/932205/story.html Weedkillers widely used on crops and forest plantations have been found to linger in the environment twice as long as previously thought, forcing a regulatory rethink and heightened health fears. Research commissioned by the Tasmanian Government has found triazine herbicides persist far longer in cool climates and certain soil types than current guidelines suggest... http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25318889-30417,00.html Scientists from industry, academia and government met in Germany last month to reassess concerns about bisphenol A, also known as BPA. They agreed on several key and controversial aspects about how people are exposed to the chemical, how they metabolize it, how to test for it, and kinds of data regulators should be reviewing... http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/42858862.html WHEN fisheries veterinarian Matthew Landos got his first look at the double-headed fish embryos in a Queensland hatchery, he had no idea he would soon team up with a Tasmanian doctor worried that the widespread use of agricultural and forestry chemicals was making her patients sick."In hindsight it makes perfect sense. If exposure to agricultural chemicals could cause deformed and dying fish, as the evidence suggests, of course the chemicals had the potential to trigger serious health problems with other animals, including people," says Landos, who runs a consulting practice called Future Fisheries Veterinary Services and is a research associate and honorary lecturer with the University of Sydney... http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25314432-23289,00.html A discovery that two commonly used food additives are estrogenic has led scientists to suspect that many ingredients added to the food supply may be capable of altering hormones. More than 3,000 preservatives, flavorings, colors and other ingredients are added to food in the United States, and none of them are required to undergo testing for estrogenic activity, according to the Food and Drug Administration... http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/estrogenic-food-additives Fish caught near wastewater treatment plants serving five major U.S. cities had residues of pharmaceuticals in them, including medicines used to treat high cholesterol, allergies, high blood pressure, bipolar disorder and depression, researchers reported Wednesday. Findings from this first nationwide study of human drugs in fish tissue have prompted the Environmental Protection Agency to significantly expand similar ongoing research to more than 150 different locations... http://www.newsweek.com/id/190944 Exploiting a little-known punch/counterpunch strategy in the ongoing battle between disease-causing fungi and crop plants, scientists in Canada are reporting development of a new class of "green" fungicides that could provide a safer, more environmentally-friendly alternative to conventional fungicides... http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090323110447.htm Fish oil supplements are increasingly popular with people who don’t like seafood but are attracted by claims of cardiac benefits. But could they also expose you to the harmful pollutants found in some species of fish? The concern is a common one, but studies have found that most of the widely available supplements contain little or no mercury, dioxins or PCBs. For one thing, most companies use species of fish that are lower on the food chain, like cod and sardines, which accumulate less mercury. And many companies distill their oils to help remove contaminants... http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/24/health/24real.html PCBs. VOCs. Pthalates. Bisphenol A (BPA). The list of industrial chemicals on the minds of consumers is crowded with confusing new acronyms as growing scientific data show a link between chemical exposure and a range of behavioral, reproductive and immunological problems. Lawmakers in Washington have taken notice, albeit long after the European Union, which banned pthalates in 2000... http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/15/DDKM16ESPH.DTL Consumer products maker SC Johnson & Son Inc. said it plans to phase out phthalates, or chemicals used to soften plastics, from its fragrance products over the next two years. Last summer, Racine, Wisconsin-based SC Johnson started working with its suppliers to phase out DEP, a common phthalate, from fragrances in its products. SC Johnson makes brands including Windex, Glade, Raid and Ziploc... http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/03/12/ap6158569.html Researchers in Frankfurt, Germany, have just reported evidence suggesting that estrogen-mimicking chemicals can leach out of certain plastic bottles. Disturbing as that is, their data indicate that the mineral water dispensed in some glass bottles may also contain such hormonelike pollution — and not because it leached out of the glass. This would mean the water was polluted prior to bottling. Several scientists now suspect one source might be the plumbing used to move water from natural reservoirs to — and/or through — processing equipment in a bottling plant... http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/41706/title/Bottled_water_may_contain_%E2%80%98hormones%E2%80%99_Glass By some estimates, more than half of the population in industrialized societies may have circadian rhythms that are out of phase with the daily schedule they keep. Such people are said to have 'social jet lag' — a term coined by Till Roenneberg of Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich, Germany. Some of these are larks, some owls, and some have pretty standard human rhythms that are disrupted by shift work or travel. In modern societies, circadian-rhythm disruptions can arise from simply spending too much time indoors, something that can make such workers decidedly "owlish", Roenneberg says. Even the one-hour time change made by many countries at this time of year can take some adjusting to... http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090311/full/458142a.html Headaches, big and small, are among the most common health complaints. Almost 90 percent of women and about 70 percent of men get tension headaches, the Mayo Clinic says. Yet doctors still don't know much about what causes them. Researchers compared environmental factors such as temperature, air pollution and barometric pressure on the day of the patient's visit with a day the week before and a day the week after. They found that the risk of severe headache increases about 7.5 percent for each temperature increment of 5 degrees Celsius (about 9 degrees Fahrenheit)... http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/03/10/headaches.weather/?iref=hpmostpop Father knows best, but his kids might fall a bit short if he conceives them after age 50. Children of older fathers lag somewhat behind children fathered by younger men on a battery of intellectual tests, at least until age 7, according to a reanalysis of data from a large U.S. study. This cognitive disadvantage occurred regardless of mothers’ ages, says a team led by psychiatrist John McGrath of the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. Still, children of older fathers generally scored well within the normal range on the intelligence tests... http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/41529/title/Early_intellectual_gap_found_for_kids_of_older_fathers The estrogen-mimicking chemical BPA, already banished from baby bottles and frowned upon in water jugs, has now shown up in significant levels in soft drinks. Tests by Health Canada scientists revealed the highest levels were in energy drinks, the often caffeine-loaded beverages that have become popular with teenagers seeking a buzz and athletes chasing a quick pick-me-up. But the study also found the controversial compound in a wide variety of ginger ales, diet colas, root beers and citrus-flavoured sodas. Bisphenol A was detected in 96 per cent of soft drinks tested, in quantities below regulatory limits. But a growing body of science suggests the chemical may have harmful effects at levels far below those limits... http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090305.BPA05/EmailTPStory/ Broadly speaking, the nano papers in ES&T fall into one of four categories: nanomaterials for environmental “good”, including remediation/degradation of pollutants, energy production/storage, and sensor platforms; nanoscale study of natural and environmentally relevant processes and mechanisms; the economic/societal impact of nano, including regulation and risk assessment; and nanotoxicology... http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/es9002313 Oregon's first wide-ranging survey of sediment contamination in the Willamette River's downtown Portland stretch found seven potential toxic hot spots for PCBs and average levels of the toxic seven times higher than normal. The preliminary findings underscore the stubborn nature of PCBs, a 1940s-era insulator which has hung around despite being largely banned in the 1970s... http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2009/02/pcb_hot_spots_pop_up_along_wil.html Almost 40 years ago, American scientists took their first steps in a quest to break the world’s dependence on plastics. But in those four decades, plastic products have become so cheap and durable that not even the forces of nature seem able to stop them. A soupy expanse of plastic waste – too tough for bacteria to break down – now covers an estimated 1 million square miles of the Pacific Ocean... http://features.csmonitor.com/innovation/2009/02/11/could-%E2%80%98liquid-wood%E2%80%99-replace-plastic/ 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, according to a new ES&T study (DOI 10.1021/es802789w) that challenges previous assessments. In the study, Marc Edwards, an environmental engineer at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Dana Best, a pediatrician at Children’s National Medical Center (CNMC) in Washington, D.C.; and Simoni Triantafyllidou, also at Virginia Tech, reveal that during 2001-2004 the contaminated water caused a major jump in the incidence of high blood levels of lead in the youngest children they studied, babies under 16 months of age. For several years, almost 1 in 20 babies tested by CNMC had blood lead levels that exceeded the “level of concern” set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the researchers report... http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/es8037017 A drug of a class commonly used to combat bone loss may reduce by a third the chance that some breast cancers will spread or recur, a large study has found. While it may sound odd to treat cancer with a drug that acts on bone, evidence is accumulating that such drugs may do more than just prevent the loss of bone. Other studies are testing the drugs in patients with prostate or lung cancer... http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/health/research/12bone.html?em A new electronic database displays scientific information about some of the most controversial chemicals in use today, offering a handy look into potential health effects when babies are exposed while developing in the womb. To be made public on Tuesday, the interactive website, called “Critical Windows of Development,” has compiled an array of data from hundreds of scientists studying endocrine-disrupting chemicals... http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/critical-windows One of the largest studies to explore whether fertility drugs increase a woman’s risk of ovarian cancer found “no convincing association” with the cancer, though researchers said they would continue to follow tens of thousands of Danish women to see if their risk increased with age... http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/06/health/research/06cancer.html Six years after a landmark federal study established that hormone-replacement therapy (HRT) increases the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women, researchers are still trying to tease out exactly how the hormones interfere with women's health. The assumption has always been that stopping hormone therapy would lead to a corresponding drop in breast-cancer risk, but now newly published data from the original trial — the multiyear Women's Health Initiative involving tens of thousands of women — suggest that the benefit occurs much more immediately than previously thought... http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1877119,00.html?xid=rss-health Could a decades-long drop in the concentration of lead in children's blood help explain rising SAT scores? A Virginia economist who pored over years of national data says there's an "incredibly strong" correlation, which adds to a growing body of research on lead's harmful effects. The findings, to be published this winter in the journal Environmental Research, suggest that from 1953 to 2003, the fall and rise of the average SAT math and verbal score has tracked the rise and fall of blood lead levels so closely that half of the change in scores over 50 years, and possibly more, probably is the result of lead, says economist Rick Nevin... http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-02-02-lead-SAT_N.htm Chemicals found in a wide range of household products, including nonstick pans and skin creams, may make it harder for some women to get pregnant, a new study shows.
Researchers led by Chunyuan Fei, of UCLA, studied data on 1,240 women and found those with higher levels of fluorine-containing compounds in their blood took longer to conceive. The study is published in next month's issue of the medical journal Human Reproduction... http://www.azstarnet.com/news/278050 New research on bisphenol A suggests that people are being exposed to the estrogen-mimicking chemical from a number of sources and not just food, as is commonly thought. Scientists think there may be other sources because they have found unexpectedly high levels of the compound, used in the making of plastic, in people who have been fasting. This has led to speculation that people may be absorbing the chemical from such seemingly innocuous items as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) water pipes and carbonless cash-register receipts... http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090130.LBPA30//TPStory/Environment A study released today finds that bisphenol A, a chemical widely used to make plastic and suspected of causing cancer, stays in the body much longer than previously thought. The findings are significant because the longer the chemical lingers in the body, the greater chance it has of doing harm, scientists say... http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/38515489.html About seven-and-a-half years ago, the District of Columbia’s water authority switched from chlorination to an alternative water-disinfection technology: chloramination. The goal had been to reduce the potentially carcinogenic by-products of chlorination that developed in drinking water. And the substitution worked. However, an unintended consequence of this improved disinfection technique was the sudden release of copious amounts of lead into the drinking water that serves the nation’s capital. Until then, notes Marc Edwards of Virginia Tech, no one had realized that chlorine had been playing a role in binding substantial amounts of lead to the interior of plumbing pipes... http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/40275/title/Water-cleanup_experiment_caused_lead_poisoning Montreal's waste-water treatment plant in Riviegravere des Prairies is recognized as the third-largest in the world, treating an average of 32 square metres of waste water a second before releasing it into the St. Lawrence River. But there was new evidence yesterday that the waste-water treatment plant - while top rate at removing organic matter and phosphorus - is seriously inadequate when it comes to removing harmful pharmaceutical drugs. In a study that was made public yesterday, Universite de Montreal researchers announced they have found more prescription drugs in the sewage plant's effluence and in water samples taken a half-kilometre downstream... http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/story.html?id=35ddce87-580c-40b1-8d52-2f94a84d2877 A new study concludes that hundreds of young children in the District experienced potentially damaging amounts of lead in their blood when lead levels were dramatically rising in the city's tap water. In some high-risk neighborhoods, the number of toddlers and infants with blood-lead concentrations that can cause irreversible IQ loss and developmental delays more than doubled after harmful levels of lead began leaching into the city's drinking water in 2001, according to the findings. The peer-reviewed study, obtained by The Washington Post, is to be published soon in Environmental Science and Technology, a journal on advances in chemical and environmental research... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/26/AR2009012602402.html The chances of developing a tumour dropped by around 37 per cent in women under 50 who drank tea at least three times daily. But older women who drank a similar amount did not see any benefits, according to the study. Researchers believe the anti-cancer properties of tea may have a more potent effect on the types of tumours that tend to grow in younger women. A team of US researchers led by Dr Nagi Kumar at the Moffitt Cancer Centre in Tampa, Florida, studied 5,000 women aged between 20 and 74 who had been treated for breast cancer... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/4310418/Three-cups-of-tea-can-cut-breast-cancer-risk-by-a-third.html More than three decades after highly toxic PCBs were banned in the United States, an unusual PCB compound has turned up in the air outside several Chicago schools. Polychlorinated biphenyls are a group of chemicals that once were widely used as coolants and lubricants but were outlawed after studies linked them to cancer, liver and kidney damage and other ailments. Hundreds of sites around the nation are contaminated with PCBs, which are known as persistent chemicals because they don't break down in the environment and can build up in people and animals. PCBs move easily among land, water and air, and scientists know several of the chemicals tend to be present in the air Chicagoans breathe... http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-pcb-zonejan22,0,7312688.story The most contaminated wildlife on Earth­­--killer whales in the Pacific Northwest—are picking up nearly all their chemicals from Chinook salmon in polluted ocean waters off the West Coast, according to a new scientific study. The whales, which feed in coastal waters from British Columbia’s Queen Charlotte Islands to the San Francisco area, were declared an endangered species in the United States and Canada after their numbers shrank. These killer whales, called southern residents, live in waters straddling the U.S.-Canada border and spend summers hunting salmon around Washington’s Puget Sound and Vancouver Island. A healthier population, called northern residents, feeds on salmon off more remote parts of British Columbia. The two populations are only about 200 miles apart, but it makes a world of difference: The southern whales are up to 6.6 times more contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) than the northern ones... http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/contaminated-killer-whales Anti-androgens, that are found in a number of medicines including cancer treatments and pesticides used in agriculture, were found in 30 rivers across England. The group of chemicals can block the male hormone and therefore reduce male fertility. Scientists found male fish are already being affected and warned that it could also be contributing to a reduction in human sperm counts, that have been falling in the last fifty years... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/4283806/New-evidence-that-river-pollution-could-be-causing-male-fertility-problems.html Drinking water in more than half of 100 older Toronto homes tested last summer exceeded the acceptable level of lead – a huge increase over a previous study. While water officials attribute the spike to warm weather in the second round of tests, high lead levels at the tap – as much as eight times the accepted standard – highlight a long-standing problem with lead service lines leading to homes in older parts of the city... http://www.yourhome.ca/homes/article/570605 A small child is sweeping the yard outside her home - anywhere else the scene would be touching - but here in the Cesmin Lug refugee camp in northern Kosovo, it is tragic. The children are sick with lead poisoning. The camps were built close to the Trepca lead mine and smelting works. The factory was closed by order of the UN administration in Kosovo, in 2000. But the slag heaps were never cleaned up. The lead blackens the children's teeth, blanks out their memory, and stunts their growth... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7827031.stm Babies exposed to high levels of testosterone in the womb have a higher risk of developing autistic traits, research has revealed. The link to the male hormone could provide a way to test unborn babies for the condition and has added a new dimension to the debate about the ethics of screening... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1112622/Hormone-clue-lead-pre-natal-screening-autism.html AFTER DECADES of unsuccessful attempts to visualize the structure of an important enzyme implicated in three-quarters of all human breast cancers, researchers are now reporting the first X-ray crystal structure of this protein. Hormone maker The enzyme that produces estrone from androstenedione uses unusual chemistry. Debashis Ghosh of the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute, in Buffalo, and his colleagues solved the 2.9A structure of aromatase, the only enzyme in the animal world that can catalyze the biosynthesis of estrogens from androgens. They report the feat in Nature (2009, 457, 219)... http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/87/i02/8702notw8.html Canadian scientists are recruiting hundreds of pregnant women for a landmark, $6-million study designed to track whether the household chemicals that expectant mothers encounter can trigger health problems in their children -- or even alter the babies' genetic makeup. The government-funded research, which is to involve 2,000 mothers and their offspring, is expected to provide fodder for a fascinating new branch of science known as epigenetics... http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=1161453 A report released recently by a committee of the National Research Council finds that government risk assessment methods likely underestimate the effects of phthalates, a group of hormone-mimicking compounds widely used in consumer products. Responding to a request from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the committee examined the agency's current approach to assessing health risks of this large family of chemicals. The report concludes that the agency could underestimate phthalate risk if it doesn't consider the effects of combined exposure to different compounds, which can cause more serious or different toxic effects together than they would have caused individually. In other words, the sum could be worse than its parts... http://blogs.consumerreports.org/safety/2009/01/more-concerns-a.html