Please check the CHE-WA website to stay abreast of the latest postings, news and events: http://washington.chenw.org.
To join the Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE) and CHE-Washington, please complete the form at http://www.healthandenvironment.org/roles/register?&phase=registerform. Be sure to mark that you want to join the Washington State Regional Group at the bottom of the application.
1) Notes and slide presentations from CHE-WA's January 4th quarterly meeting are posted on our website: http://washington.chenw.org/meetings.html. If you are interested in joining the newly formed Climate Change and Health Working Group resulting from discussion at this meeting, please contact Elise Miller at emiller@iceh.org.
2) The fourth annual environmental health lecture series entitled "Our Health, Our Environment: Making the Link -- Seeking Solutions" is underway. The series, sponsored by the Seattle Biotech Legacy Foundation and organized by the Institute for Children's Environmental Health, includes one lecture each month January through April. Remaining lectures:
All lectures will be held at Seattle Town Hall from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., preceded by a reception from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. For more information and to purchase admission, please visit http://washington.chenw.org/lectures.html. Admission is also available at the door.
February 21, 2007
10:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Victoria, British Columbia Canada
at Harbour Towers Hotel and Suites, 345 Quebec Street
Emerging infectious diseases and toxics are pressing issues for wildlife professionals. This one-day symposium will provide current information regarding the implications of emerging infectious diseases and toxics for wildlife and ecosystem management, wildlife and human health perspectives, media representation of the issues, and recommended safe practices to avoid exposure and/or spread. Experts in emerging infectious diseases and toxics will present their research on the following topics: avian influenza, west nile virus, chronic wasting disease, hantavirus, chytridiomycosis, herbicide/amphibian interactions (glyphosate and atrazine), and insecticide poisoning in birds of prey. We will also discuss the accuracy of media presentations, public perception and effectiveness of government policies.
Website: http://www.snwvb.org/victoria-meeting2.html
Contact: Elke Wind, 250-716-1119 or ewind@telus.net
February 22, 2007
7:30 a.m. - noon
Seattle, Washington
at Seattle University, 12th and Marion
Sustainability is an important trend for business, one that occupies the world stage front and center, and one that has strong local implications, too. Business is well-positioned to create value from sustainability, reduce risk through sustainable approaches, and lead the development of solutions to the world's most pressing issues -- such as climate change, water scarcity, energy supply, waste/pollution and ecosystem destruction. In this forum and in-depth workshop, Andrea Ramage, director of Sustainable Solutions, will present the links between business and sustainability through a Sustainability Value Model, based on Dr. Stuart Hart's work at Cornell University. The framework will help workshop attendees to better grasp the many dimensions of sustainability relative to their own organizations, assess their organization's status with respect to sustainability, and identify potential future risks and opportunities. Breakfast Forum and Workshop. Register for the Forum only or for the combined program with the Workshop. Registration prices include discounts for students, NBIS members and Seattle University staff.
Website: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/9390
Contact: info@nbis.org
March 2, 2007
8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Seattle, Washington
at William H. Gates Hall
This program brings together speakers from Alcoa, Weyerhaeuser and other global corporate leaders with top policymakers from Washington, Oregon and California to discuss the impact of global warming on the corporate bottom line. The conference will emphasize the economic risks and opportunities to corporations presented by pending federal and state legislation, evolving carbon trading markets, emissions registries and reporting, and "clean energy" technologies. The program has been approved for 7.0 General CLE credits.
Website: http://www.uwcle.org
Contact: 206-543-0059 or 800-253-8648 or uwcle@u.washington.edu
from the Associated Press, International Herald Tribune
February 11, 2007
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/12/america/LA-GEN-Colombia-Toxic-Flowers.php
Article Summary: By the time velvety, vibrant-colored flowers reach a Valentine's Day buyer, they will have been sprayed, rinsed and dipped in a battery of potentially lethal chemicals. Most of the toxic assault takes place in the waterlogged savannah surrounding the capital of Colombia, which has the world's second-largest cut-flower industry after the Netherlands, producing 62 percent of all flowers sold in the United States. Economic gains from producing flowers come at a cost to workers' health and Colombia's environment, according to consumer advocates who complain of an over-reliance on chemical pesticides. Colombia's flower exporters association responded by launching Florverde, which has certified 86 of its 200 members for taking steps to improve worker safety and welfare. Growers to apply a wide range of fertilizers, pesticides and fungicides, some of which have been linked to elevated rates of cancer and neurological disorders and other problems. Florverde says its members have reduced pesticide use by 38 percent since 1998, to an average of 97 kilograms (213 pounds) of active ingredient per hectare (2.4 acres) per year. Nevertheless, 36 percent of the toxic chemicals applied by Florverde farms in 2005 were listed as "extremely" or "highly" toxic by the World Health Organization. And researchers have found some disturbing data: The Harvard School of Public Health examined 72 children ages 7-8 in a flower-growing region of Ecuador whose mothers were exposed to pesticides during pregnancy and found they had developmental delays of up to four years on aptitude tests. A survey of 84 farms between 2000 and 2002, partly financed by Asocolflores, found only 16.7 percent respected Florverde's recommendation that workers wait 24 hours before re-entering greenhouses sprayed with the most toxic of pesticides. Producers say they would love to go organic, especially given the high costs of pesticides. But their risks include infestations and stiff competition from emerging flower growers in Africa and China.
by Adrienne Tanner, Vancouver Sun
February 10, 2007
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=4cbdb21a-a201-4f63-a4f3-29dbc90529bb
Elevated dioxin levels found in milk at two Fraser Valley diary farms have prompted a province-wide order to change how feed is stored in farms with bins made of pressure-treated wood.
Article Summary: Lumber in storage bins may have been treated with wood preservatives such as pentachlorophenols. In large quantities, pentachlorophenols and other dioxins have been linked to health problems in humans, including cancer and birth defects. Farms with chemically-treated wood bunkers in use are being ordered to line them with untreated plywood and a layer of plastic to prevent future chemical leaching, said Robin Smith, executive director for the milk producers association. Milk that tested with higher-than-normal levels of dioxins was tested in 2005. By the time the results were revealed in the spring of 2006, the problem milk had been mixed with milk from many other farms and sold. At no time was there a risk to the public buying milk at the supermarket, said Dr. Perry Kendall, B.C.'s provincial health officer, due to the dilution factor. However, the dioxin levels were deemed high enough to warrant an investigation to find the contamination source and take all necessary steps to remove it. Subsequent tests after mitigating steps were taken to separate the feed from the wood showed the dioxin levels had dropped to normal levels.
by Felicity Barringer, New York Times
February 10, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/10/washington/10benzene.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
WASHINGTON -- The Environmental Protection Agency is requiring significant reductions in the amount of cancer-causing benzene and other toxic hydrocarbon gases in gasoline and released into the air during storage and use, under a rule released Friday. The final rule, issued under a court-ordered deadline set after environmental groups filed suit about two years ago, provides more uniform reductions around the country than the agency had originally proposed. It was greeted with praise from environmental groups usually critical of the Bush administration in this area and with considerably less enthusiasm by the organization representing the country's 149 refineries.
Article Summary: The rule puts a ceiling on the total benzene content of any gasoline produced after 2011 and limits opportunities for those refineries that are not meeting the benzene limit to meet their obligation by buying credits from other refineries whose gasoline more than meets the standard. The original proposal would have given refineries more leeway to average the benzene content across their entire gasoline supply. That would have left some regions, particularly parts of the Pacific Northwest and the Rocky Mountain States, with benzene levels well above the levels permissible elsewhere, because their gasoline has historically contained more benzene. In addition to the new benzene limits for gasoline, the new rule also orders cuts for benzene levels in tailpipe emissions and pungent benzene vapors escaping from gasoline cans.
by Carolyn Abraham, Toronto Globe and Mail
February 10, 2007
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070209.wfungus0210/BNStory/ClimateChange/home
A tropical and potentially lethal fungus that has mysteriously made a home on Canada's temperate West Coast has prompted foreign medical experts to issue a worldwide alert to doctors and tourists. The warning comes after a 51-year-old Danish visitor contracted the rare and life-threatening fungal infection on Vancouver Island. In the January issue of the Journal of Emerging Infectious Diseases, published monthly by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, doctors in Denmark -- who eventually found clumps of the fungus growing in the man's chest -- have cited the island as a potential health risk to travelers. Cryptococcus gattii, a microscopic pathogen normally found in tropical or subtropical locales in Australia, Africa, India or South America -- was first identified on Vancouver Island in 2001. Many suspect that global warming has recently enabled the one-celled organism to thrive in the trees, soil, water and air along the island's east coast. While chances of contracting C. gattii remain low, the airborne cells and spores can lodge deep in the lungs, leading to pneumonia. The fungus can also attack the central nervous system and result in meningitis. As of December, 2006, 165 people had been infected and eight have died.
Article Summary: Animals from household pets to porpoises have been hardest hit, making this one of the world's few, true multispecies outbreaks. Human cases have emerged on the B.C. mainland, Oregon and Washington state. Infections, usually curable with antifungal drugs when caught early, have been misdiagnosed in local patients and visitors. C. gattii is not contagious and is only known to be contracted from the environment. Most people exposed never develop symptoms. But there is no known way to prevent environmental exposures or predict who will be susceptible to them. Symptoms, which generally take two to nine months to develop, include night sweats, fever and chronic respiratory problems. The elderly, those taking steroids and people with lung conditions seem to be at higher risk. But the cases so far have primarily affected healthy adults.
by Larry Pynn, Vancouver Sun
February 9, 2007
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=0b2b8d71-2080-417f-985b-349732fb9b1f&k=1512
An estimated 500,000 Canadians are living in homes that exceed pending new federal guidelines for radon gas, a naturally occurring radioactive substance described by health officials as a quiet killer and the leading cause of lung cancer after smoking, the Vancouver Sun has learned.
Article Summary: Radon gas is odorless, colorless and tasteless, a byproduct of the decay of uranium in soils and rocks that can accumulate at dangerous levels in homes. Like smoking, it can take many years of radon inhalation to damage lung tissue at the DNA level and result in cancer. Due to health risks, the federal government in Ottawa is moving to lower the threshold at which homeowners should take remedial action to reduce the risk. Health Canada estimates radon gas kills 2,000 people annually in Canada and 20,000 in the U.S. The World Health Organization estimates radon causes up to 15 per cent of lung cancers worldwide. Canada is poised to lower the guideline for radon gas in homes to 200 becquerels per cubic meter from 800 becquerels (a measurement of radioactivity), which means that thousands of homes that would have been considered safe are now viewed as a potential source of lung cancer. Officials estimate that people spending 75 per cent of a lifetime (of 70 years) inside a home with a main floor radon concentration of 800 becquerels have a one-in-10 chance of developing lung cancer from radon gas. Countries such as Australia, Spain, and the United Kingdom already have a standard of 200 becquerels. The U.S. has the lowest of all at 150 becquerels, a guideline adopted in 1986 and described by the Environmental Protection Agency as "a balance between health protection and what is technically feasible." Remediation options, costing from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, include sealing cracks in concrete floor slabs, fitting airtight covers on sumps, installing special traps in basement drains, covering over exposed soils, and installing a ventilation system to move the radon outdoors.
by Marla Cone, Los Angeles Times
February 9, 2007
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-bath9feb09,1,2514820.story
Some shampoos and other bath products still contain traces of a cancer-causing petrochemical that federal health officials have expressed concerns about for more than 20 years, according to test results announced Thursday by environmental activists. All 18 children's and adult products tested in a laboratory contained 1,4-dioxane, and three had concentrations that exceeded the Food and Drug Administration's recommended limit, says the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a San Francisco-based coalition of eight national environmental and health advocacy organizations. The chemical is not an additive, but an unintended byproduct during manufacture of some formulations.
Article Summary: In 1985, the FDA asked the cosmetics industry to voluntarily limit the chemical to 10 ppm. But there are no standards governing it and no testing requirements. Fifteen of the 18 were at or under the 10 ppm recommendation. A probable human carcinogen, 1,4-dioxane penetrates skin, although much of it evaporates when used, according to FDA documents. Cosmetics industry representatives say the amounts of the chemical detected in the products are safe, especially since they are mainly in shampoos and other products that are quickly washed off. The federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, advises consumers to avoid products listing the surfactants PEG, polyethylene, polyethylene glycol, polyoxyethylene, polyethoxyethylene or polyoxynolethylene as ingredients unless the company has shown that they are not tainted with 1,4-dioxane.
by Rick Weiss, Washington Post
February 9, 2007
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/08/AR2007020801883.html
Approximately one in every 150 children in the United States has autism or a closely related disorder -- a figure higher than most recent estimates -- according to a federal survey released yesterday, the most thorough ever conducted. The new data, from 14 states, do not mean that autism is on the rise, because the criteria and definitions used were not the same as those used in the past.
Article Summary: The sheer number of children apparently affected -- 560,000 nationwide if the new statistics are extrapolated to all 50 states -- makes autism an "urgent public health issue" and a "major public health concern," said Marshalyn Yeargin-Allsopp, chief of the developmental disabilities branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which conducted the survey. The prevalence of autism, a poorly understood behavioral syndrome that interferes with a child's ability to relate to or interact with others, varies mysteriously from state to state in the survey, with New Jersey standing out as a hot spot and Alabama and West Virginia having low rates. The survey, which is to be updated regularly, offers no clues about what causes autism or the range of related disorders that together cost the nation tens of billions of dollars a year and take an immeasurable emotional toll on families. The survey provides an unequaled, standardized baseline measure of the prevalence and distribution of autistic behaviors around the country, CDC officials said. In the short term, that can help state and federal officials budget their special education and mental health services needs. Over the longer term, it may tell at last whether autism is becoming more common and, if so, why.
[Editor's note: See related articles on autism rates in New Jersey at http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkyJmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk3MDczNzMy and on the response from the National Autism Association at http://www.projo.com/ri/portsmouth/content/autism_react_10_02-11-07_DT4C51R.12828c4.html.]
by Gary Chittim, KING 5 News
February 8, 2007
http://www.king5.com/localnews/environment/stories/NW_020807ENBpbdeanalyzerEL.644b7423.html
Article Summary: A Washington group has acquired a device that detects the presence of toxic flame retardants and hope to use it to change state laws. PBDEs, a widely used flame retardant that is linked with possible brain and thyroid problems, leach out of the products, including computers, furniture, and even infant car seats getting into dust. Sen. Debbie Regala and Representative Ross Hunter have teamed up to introduce a bill to make Washington State the first in the nation to ban PBDEs. With Democratic majorities in both chambers this year and a strong list of co-sponsors in the Senate, they are optimistic it will pass.
from Reuters
February 8, 2007
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2007-02-08T184857Z_01_COL867717_RTRUKOC_0_US-LEAD-EXPOSURE.xml&WTmodLoc=HealthNewsHome_C2_healthNews-2
NEW YORK -- A study of elderly men shows that the higher their cumulative exposure to lead in everyday life, the lower were their scores on a variety of cognitive tests -- and the worse the deterioration over time. Dr. Marc G. Weisskopf, of Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, and colleagues examined the link between mental skills and life-time lead exposure among a subgroup of subjects in the Normative Aging Study, a cohort of community-dwelling elderly men. None of the men studied had dealt with high levels of lead in their work.
Article Summary: The investigators found that there were substantial associations between different lead exposure markers and scores on cognitive tests. As blood lead levels increased, vocabulary scores went down. As bone lead increased, the change in performance worsened over time on nearly all tests. The strongest effects were observed on performance and reaction time scores on visuospatial and visuomotor tests. The team points out that their results are based on a testing interval of only 3.5 years. "It is possible that follow-up over longer periods of time would reveal other (perhaps stronger) effects," Weisskopf and colleagues conclude.
by Michelle Cole, Portland Oregonian
February 7, 2007
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/117082232225140.xml&coll=7
Article summary: Today, Oregon lawmakers begin their third attempt to write an electronics recycling law. A handful of states, including Washington and California, already have laws to keep defunct and potentially toxic computers and televisions out of landfills. In 2005, legislation was introduced in Salem that followed the California electronics recycling model. Under that plan, consumers pay a $6 to $10 recycling fee when they buy a computer monitor or television set. But in Oregon, an electronics industry lobbyist branded the advanced fee a "computer sales tax." This year, the idea is to replicate the Washington model. The rules are being written for that law, which will take effect Jan. 1, 2009. Manufacturers will be required to register, pay a fee to the state, and either provide recycling services directly or pay a state-approved organization to handle high-tech scrap. There are no estimates yet of how much of those costs will be passed on to the consumer.
Computer monitors, television sets and other electronics contain hazards that can threaten humans and the environment if not properly handled. The cathode ray tube in a computer monitor can contain as much as four pounds of lead, which can damage the nervous system. Printed circuit boards can have small amounts of mercury. Plastics can contain flame-retardant chemicals that can be released into the environment and move up the food chain to humans.
by Cassandra Profita, Astoria [Oregon] Daily Astorian
February 6, 2007
http://www.dailyastorian.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=398&ArticleID=40126&TM=64330.6
Experts say it's tough to tell exactly where contaminants such as DDT, PCB and PAH are entering the Columbia River. But it's no mystery where these toxics end up. "Everything comes down to Astoria," said Mary Lou Soscia, director of the water and watersheds office for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The river's toxic brew reveals itself in the sediment along the banks, in the crayfish and salmon that feed on microorganisms and insects, and in the birds that eat the fish. Many are worried about the implications for people who consume the accumulated contaminants in the river's salmon and sturgeon. And the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has research that shows toxics can have damaging effects on endangered fish species.
Article Summary: The EPA has named the Columbia River Basin a "national priority" and pledged to reduce toxics in the water and fish tissue by 10 percent in five years. The federal agency is spearheading a strategic plan for reaching that goal. State and local leaders who have been working to regulate and clean up toxics for decades are optimistic that the strategy will work -- that by pooling resources with the EPA they can piece together the puzzle of toxics in the river. They're also hoping more federal dollars will go toward making the river cleaner and healthier in the future. Technically, DDT and PCB shouldn't be in the river at all -- they've been outlawed for decades. Yet, year after year, these pollutants show up on sediment tests in the estuary, creating expenses and headaches for local ports looking to dredge. Part of the EPA's plan for these legacy toxics is to remove as many of them from their known locations as possible. The agency has already begun removing the industrial contaminants PCB and PAH from the Superfund site in Portland Harbor and the Bradford Island site. Soscia said despite these efforts, there is evidence of PCB in the water column, indicating it is still being released into the river from somewhere. Not all the river's pollution is left over from the past. New, or "emergent" contaminants are also being detected in the river. Among them are the flame retardants PBDEs and traces of pharmaceuticals, such as Prozac and antibiotics that presumably get flushed down the toilet and end up in the river. Soscia said one of the major catalysts for the EPA's involvement in the river system was research from the Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission that showed high levels of contaminants in fish tissue and reports that tribal members eat up to nine times more fish than the general population. Water quality standards are largely based on what levels of toxics are considered safe for human consumption.