Please check the CHE-WA website to stay abreast of the latest postings, news and events: http://washington.chenw.org.
If you would like to join the Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE) and the CHE-Washington regional group, please complete the application at http://www.healthandenvironment.org/roles/register?&phase=registerform. Joining CHE means receiving up to four email messages a month from the CHE National listserv. CHE costs nothing to join and the benefit is shared information and opportunities for further engagement, if you choose. Be sure to mark that you want to join the Washington State Regional Group at the bottom of the application.
1) CHE-WA held its most recent quarterly meeting on Wednesday May 16th. The notes and some slides from that meeting are now posted on the CHE-WA website: http://washington.chenw.org/meetings.html. Additional slides will be posted as they become available.
2) CHE-WA regional partner CHE-Alaska will hold a teleconference titled, "Protecting Human Health and the Environment in Alaska: The Global Treaty on Persistent Chemicals and Its Relevance to People of the North" at 9:00 Alaska time on June 21, 2007. The north has become a hemispheric sink for persistent industrial chemicals that arrive on atmospheric and oceanic currents. These chemicals accumulate in wildlife and people and are associated with a range of adverse health effects including endocrine disruption, damage to the immune and neurological systems and cancers. Over 140 nations have ratified an international treaty known as the Stockholm Convention to protect human health and the environment from persistent organic pollutants (POPs). POPs are chemicals that remain intact in the environment for long periods, become widely distributed geographically, accumulate in the fatty tissue of living organisms and are toxic to humans and wildlife. POPs circulate globally and can cause damage wherever they travel. The United States has not yet ratified the treaty. The Preamble of the Stockholm Convention acknowledges that "Arctic ecosystems and Indigenous communities are particularly at risk because of the biomagnification of persistent organic pollutants and that contamination of their traditional foods is a public health issue." The speakers will provide crucial information about the implementation of the Stockholm Convention and the recent international "Conference of Parties," attended by representatives of more than 140 nations in Senegal. This teleconference briefing provides an opportunity to discuss the science and policy aspects of the treaty and the importance of this global agreement to the health and well-being of people living in Alaska. Featured speakers are Joseph DiGangi, PhD; Daryl Ditz, PhD; and Shawna Larson. For more information, please contact Alaska Community Action on Toxics, 907-222-7714 or info@akaction.net.
3) The next quarterly CHE-WA meeting will be held Friday September 14th from 10:00 a.m. to noon at Antioch University Seattle. Michael Lerner, PhD, founder and president of Commonweal and co-founder of the Collaborative on Health and the Environment, will be our featured guest speaker.
June 27, 2007
9:00 a.m. - noon
Seattle, Washington
at the Bertha Landes Room, Seattle City Hall, 5th Avenue and Cherry Street
In this meeting, we will 1) share the results of recent local focus group research and polling on climate change and share how this research is informing message development and campaign planning; 2) exchange information on progress toward community engagement campaign(s) currently under development (and/or currently being implemented) and map these plans to a commonly held understanding of our destination as a movement; and 3) caucus in affinity groups to identify opportunities for collaboration in our current organizing and communications efforts -- and identify potential gaps as well as strategies for closing those gaps.
Contact: Pam Emerson, 206-684-5518 or pamela.emerson@seattle.gov
July 10, 2007
2:00 - 3:00 p.m. EDT, 11:00 - noon PDT
Cynthia F. Bearer, MD, PhD, will speak.
Website: http://www.ehinitiative.org/Projects/tele_con.htm
Contact: Laura Abulafia, Laura@aaidd.org
July 11, 2007
1:00 - 2:30 p.m. EDT / 10:00 a.m. PDT
Please join the US Environmental Protection Agency for the third in the Distinguished Speaker Webcast Series to celebrate ten years of children's environmental health protection. Speakers include 1) Deborah Millette, associate director for program development, Division of Emergency and Environmental Health Services of the National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2) Emily Williams, director of Healthy Homes Division of the Office of Homes and Lead Hazard Control, Department of Housing and Urban Development; 3) Rebecca Morley, executive director of the National Center for Healthy Housing; 4) Paul Haan, executive director of the Healthy Homes Coalition, West Michigan; and 5) Karen L. Meyerson, RN, BSN, AE-C manager of Asthma Network of West Michigan. Participants will listen via telephone and view presentations via Microsoft Live Meeting. Participation is limited.
Contact: OCHPWebcast@icfi.com
July 19 - 20, 2007
Portland, Oregon
at the Oregon Convention Center's Portland Ballroom 251
The conference will provide a dynamic forum for exploring issues related to community-based research partnerships, methods, funding and project planning, and the dissemination of findings. Effective models of CBPR from the northwest and throughout the country will be showcased. The conference will provide a forum for examining the role of CBPR in improving health and eliminating health disparities -- highlighting the voices of community members, researchers, funders and others working with underserved and underrepresented populations; build upon the knowledge and skills of participants interested in the application of CBPR for social change and improved health; explore the multi-faceted process of CBPR -- including partnerships, methods and ethics -- and to learn from partnerships that have addressed these challenges and opportunities; and explore local, state and national funding sources, including opportunities to hear directly from grant seekers and funders.
Website: http://www.nwhfevents.org/
The Programme for Global Paediatric Research and The Chinese Society of Pediatrics of the Chinese Medical Association invite submissions of abstracts related to environmental pollutants affecting foetal and child development and especially neurodevelopment and intellectual/cognitive development. Colleagues from throughout the world who are working in fields related to environmental pollutants and childhood development are invited to meet at this important symposium in order to examine the critical issues and establish clear plans for collaborative study. One of the goals of the symposium is to discern the next research steps that should be taken. Abstracts are due July 31, 2007, and should be submitted through the Conference website: http://www.chinamed.com.cn/pgpr2007/login.asp.
A new website, eChemPortal, the Global Portal to Information on Chemical Substances has been launched: http://www.oecd.org/ehs/echemportal. eChemPortal offers free public access to information on properties and effects of chemical substances. It is an integrated system that allows users to simultaneously search multiple databases prepared for government chemical review programmes around the world.
The current version of eChemPortal offers the possibility to retrieve information by searching on chemical names or CAS Registry numbers. The second phase will incorporate additional search options to retrieve and compile specific hazard or other effects data (for example, toxicity endpoints) from the participating databases. At this time, the following databases participate in eChemPortalTM: European chemical Substances Information System (ESIS, European Commission), CHRIP (Japan's Information on Biodegradation and Bioconcentration of the Existing Chemical Substances in the Chemical Risk information platform), OECD HPV Database (OECD), Screening Information Datasets for High Volume Production Chemicals (UNEP Chemicals), HPVIS (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) and INCHEM (IPCS).
by Sarah Boseley, London Guardian
June 19, 2007
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2106130,00.html
Parents who smoke near their newborn babies are turning their children into heavy passive smokers and putting them in danger of breathing problems and cot death, a new study shows. Tiny babies with at least one parent who smokes have more than five times the usual level of cotinine -- a chemical metabolite of nicotine -- tests showed. The study, published online today by the journal Archives of Diseases in Childhood, found that having a mother who smoked was the biggest risk factor for a big build-up of cotinine in a baby's body.
Article Summary: In the study, babies who had a mother who smoked had quadruple the amount of cotinine in their urine compared to babies of nonsmoking parents. Having a father who smoked doubled the amount of cotinine in the urine. It is already known that smoking is linked to cot [crib] death. The tests also showed that cotinine levels were higher in babies whose rooms were not very warm, and the babies had higher cotinine levels in the winter months -- when cot deaths tend to increase. This could be connected with windows being closed and parents being more inclined to smoke indoors, the study says. Levels were also higher in babies who shared a bed with their parents, which is considered a risk for cot death. Smoke may be responsible for up to 6,000 deaths a year in young children in the US alone. The researchers add that there are "practical difficulties" in preventing smoking in the home which require the goodwill of those who live there as well as education about the dangers to children. The best hope, say the authors, is the desire of mothers to do their best for their babies.
by Mike Lee, San Diego Union-Tribune
June 19, 2007
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20070619-9999-1n19ewaste.html
Article Summary: Roughly 20 million pounds of e-waste left California for foreign ports last year, according to the California Department of Toxic Substances Control. The actual export volume is likely to be much higher because of several factors, including the state's reliance on self-reporting by recycling companies. Each year, an estimated 100 million computers, monitors and televisions become obsolete in the United States, making e-waste the fastest-growing portion of the nation's garbage. These products typically are loaded with toxic metals such as barium, cadmium and mercury. For example, a computer monitor can contain 4 pounds of lead, which can cause birth defects and mental retardation. Environmentalists and advocates for the poor note that many nations receiving e-waste shipments lack the United States' child-labor laws and pollution regulations. Their groups have documented cases of foreign workers, including children and pregnant women, taking apart computers, televisions and other electronics while fully exposed to toxins in those machines. In addition, "e-scrap in developing countries is (often) incinerated, not only wasting needed resources but adding toxic chemicals to the environment," said a recent statement by a global, public-private partnership called Solving the E-Waste Problem.
Malaysia was the clear favorite of e-waste exporters, accounting for nearly 40 percent of reported shipments from California. Brazil, China, Vietnam and India also were on the department's list of top e-waste destinations. Some of those nations aren't allowed to import e-waste from the United States because they have ratified the Basel Convention, a 1992 agreement to control the international movement and disposal of hazardous waste. The pact bans member countries from accepting such material from nonmembers such as the United States. Mexico and South Korea, two other nations on California's ranking of e-waste destinations, are Basel participants but have made separate agreements with the United States to allow for the shipments. In California, regulators have long recognized the need for better oversight of e-waste and taken some steps to address the issue. For instance, the state's toxics control agency asks exporters to state where they are shipping e-waste. Early this year, California put its e-waste reporting system online. The change makes it easier for companies to comply with rules for export notices, and state officials say the added convenience will encourage better reporting.
by Jerry Kronenberg, Boston Herald
June 19, 2007
http://business.bostonherald.com/businessNews/view.bg?articleid=1007203
Article Summary: A new study claims five of six sunscreens inadequately block harmful rays or contain substances with "significant" safety issues. The Environmental Working Group plans to report today that just 128 of 785 sunscreens studied offer "very good sun protection with ingredients that present minimal health risks." The group gives 620 other products "Caution" ratings and lists the remaining 37 as "Avoid." EWG didn't test sunscreens in a lab, but checked each brand's ingredients against some 400 safety and efficacy studies. EWG Executive Director Richard Wiles said some products work great, but contain questionable substances like oxybenzone. He said some studies have shown oxybenzone mimics the hormone estrogen, which doctors have tied to certain cancers. John Bailey of the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association, an industry trade group, rejects the study's findings because they didn't conduct lab tests.
synopsis by Dr. Maricel Maffini and Wendy Hessler, Environmental Health News
June 18, 2007
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/newscience/2007/2007-0618bruinetal.html
Nicotine, a powerful drug found in tobacco products and anti-smoking therapies, impaired the ability of adult rats to control glucose levels after they had been exposed to the drug during fetal development and lactation.
Article Summary: The study to be published in the Journal of Endocrinology investigated rats born to mothers given nicotine levels similar to those encountered by moderate smokers. The rats had fewer insulin-making cells in the pancreas -- effects similar to those associated with type 2 diabetes in humans. As adults, all of the exposed offspring had similar levels of glucose and insulin in the mornings, but after being given glucose, animals with fetal and neonatal nicotine exposure had higher total glucose levels compared to the controls. Those exposed during development and as newborns also could not clear the glucose up to 2 hours after the sugar challenge. The same animals had fewer beta cells in their pancreas because of increased cell death rather than decreased production. At 26 weeks, only those with both fetal and neonatal exposure continued to have fewer beta cells.
The study is important because it provides another reason to quit smoking during pregnancy and adds information about the safety of using nicotine replacement therapy during pregnancy. During pregnancy, smoking exposes the developing fetus to nicotine and a multitude of chemical contaminants that can affect the health and welfare of the baby. Nicotine from cigarettes or replacement therapies crosses the placenta and concentrates in the amniotic fluid and fetal blood. It is also found in mother’s milk at levels up to 3 times higher than in her blood. The risks and benefits of nicotine treatment for pregnant women should be evaluated to find a dose that will help the smoker quit without harmful exposure to the unborn baby. The results underscore the importance of developmental "windows of susceptibility." Alterations in the womb can have (a) immediate consequences resulting in spontaneous abortions, (b) mediate consequences such as premature birth or (c) long-lasting consequences that can trigger health problems or conditions many years after birth.
by Alex Breitler, Stockton [California] Record
June 18, 2007
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070618/A_NEWS/706180309
Article Summary: Recent research presented to state air authorities says post-menopausal women who live in regions swarming with tiny pollution particles face a greater risk of developing heart disease. The study by researchers at the University of Washington focuses on the smallest but perhaps the most dangerous pollution particles -- known as PM2.5 because the specks are less than 2.5 microns wide. These dots of dust and soot are released into the air by driving, construction, farming, burning wood (especially during the winter) and other actions. Scientists analyzed medical records of about 65,000 post-menopausal women from 36 U.S. cities, including Sacramento, over a period of six years. The women had no history of heart disease. During the study, 1,816 women had heart attacks or strokes or were diagnosed with arterial diseases; 261 died. The authors found that as fine particulate matter levels increase by 10 micrograms per cubic meter, a woman's risk of dying from a heart attack or stroke increases by 76 percent.
by Andrew Rimas, Boston Globe
June 18, 2007
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/health_science/articles/2007/06/18/she_hopes_to_limit_the_environmental_impact_of_dolls/
Toys, according to Sally Edwards, a researcher at the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production at UMass-Lowell, are the next frontier in environmentalism.
Article Summary: Before going to UMass, she spent 14 years working for the EPA, starting by managing the cleanup of a superfund site in New Hampshire. The experience of managing hazardous waste sites taught her a valuable lesson: "It's very difficult to clean contaminated groundwater. In fact, it's a fallacy to even think that we can always clean up contamination. It's much easier and cheaper to prevent it." Prevention is the spirit of sustainable design. Practitioners like Edwards in the emerging field of sustainable design study the entire life cycle of a consumer product, from the factory, to the home, to the garbage dump. Edwards, 49, has made a particular study of dolls. She has studied factories from China to Germany to Peru, examining differences in materials and design, and in how they put their dolls together. At the Käthe Kruse doll factory in Germany, which she visited for her thesis, she saw that high environmental standards and happy workers kept a business profitable for more than a hundred years. (It's still thriving today). In a village in the Andes Mountains, she found a factory staffed by single mothers who have become economically independent by making dolls out of wool and natural dyes. The travels inspired Edwards this year to start the Sustainable Toys Initiative, which is an effort to try to bring together manufacturers, designers and government with the goal of building toys that do not harm children, workers or the earth.
[Editor's note: Read a related article about a church in Oklahoma that has removed toxic toys from its nursery: http://newsok.com/article/3067773.]
by Mary Beckman, Los Angeles Times
June 18, 2007
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-closer18jun18,1,6682576.story?ctrack=1&cset=true
Last week, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims began hearing arguments about whether a childhood vaccine that protects against measles, mumps and rubella caused autism in a 12-year-old (Cedillo versus Secretary of Health and Human Services). Here is a look at the studies behind the controversy.
Article Summary: In 1998, a gastroenterologist named Dr. Andrew Wakefield postulated in an article in The Lancet that the vaccine might cause autism. In 2004, 10 of 12 coauthors of Wakefield's paper retracted the claims in it. Because of the public's concern, various governments investigated the possible autism-vaccine link with more rigorously-designed studies. Researchers focused on two vaccine components: thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative, and the killed virus that provides the immunization against measles. Scientists started with studies that looked at how many children were being vaccinated and how many new cases of autism were diagnosed to see if there was a link between the two, but found that vaccine administration could not account for the rise in cases of autism. A 2005 Japanese study of children in Yokohama between 1988 and 1996 found that MMR vaccination rates dropped over that time, but autism rates rose, even after vaccinations stopped in 1993. A 2002 Denmark study of more than 537,000 children — 440,000 of whom had received the vaccine — between 1991 and 1998 found the same autism risk in vaccinated and unvaccinated children. No link was found between vaccination date and onset of autistic symptoms. Still more studies have found that autism rates continued to rise after thimerosal was removed from vaccines. Epidemiologist Craig Newschaffer of Drexel University School of Public Health in Philadelphia says researchers can't rule out a small percentage of highly susceptible individuals that the vaccine might affect, and so the search is still on for a possible link between either measles or mercury and the disease. The idea is not unreasonable, Newschaffer adds, but finding susceptible individuals is difficult. Another unresolved issue is whether autism is actually increasing or physicians are getting better at diagnosing it. "It is extremely, extremely hard to tell the difference," Newschaffer says.
by Jayne O'Donnell, USA TODAY
June 16, 2007
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/manufacturing/2007-06-17-china-lead-usat_N.htm
The Chinese government opposes a proposed U.S. standard limiting the amount of lead allowed in bracelets, necklaces and other jewelry sold for children. All but three of more than 30 Consumer Product Safety Commission recalls for lead in children's jewelry since 2003 were for China-made items. The others were made in India. The Chinese government said in comments to the CPSC that it's not necessary to limit the lead content to the proposed 0.06% by weight because much of the lead wouldn't seep out of jewelry so would "do little harm for children." China's comments are the only ones opposing the CPSC proposal. A final regulation is likely by early 2008.
Article Summary: CPSC is concerned that children can ingest unsafe levels of lead after putting necklaces and other jewelry in their mouths, even briefly. CPSC says 20,000 children were treated in emergency rooms from 2000 to 2005 after swallowing jewelry. The number doesn't include choking incidents. Lead poisoning can lower the IQ, cause learning disabilities and lead to kidney or liver disease. The CPSC maintains a website at which parents to check if their children's jewelry has been recalled at http://cpsc.gov.
In the comments, Guo LiSheng, a deputy director general in China's Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, said the agency agrees with the U.S. that children's health and safety need to be protected but believes putting warning labels on the jewelry "may be more efficient than setting the limit of lead content."
by Dave Hogan and Ryan Kost, Portland Oregonian
June 16, 2007
http://www.oregonlive.com/elections/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1181966138132070.xml&coll=7
All Oregon restaurants, bars, bingo halls and bowling lanes will be smoke-free beginning in January 2009 after the Legislature voted Friday to expand the state's indoor smoking ban. Lawmakers said their aim is to reduce the heart and lung problems caused by cigarette smoke. Health officials say more than 800 Oregonians die each year from diseases caused by second-hand smoke. Opponents said the ban will cost the state government millions of dollars each year in lost cigarette taxes and reduced lottery sales because smokers will go elsewhere. But supporters say the health benefits of reduced smoking outweigh the financial costs.
Article Summary: Oregon will join about 20 other states in making bars smoke-free. Musicians and others who work in smoky bars -- such as legislators -- have debated whether a smoking ban is worth the potential loss of smoking customers. Fife said Oregon musicians began to favor a smoking ban after seeing what bans did in places such as New York City, California and Washington. "If anything, business goes up," said Bruce Fife of Portland. Tribal casinos in Oregon can continue to allow smoking.
by Kate Coscarelli, Newark Star-Ledger
June 16, 2007
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-11/1181967817212270.xml&coll=1
The state's highest court threw out a lawsuit that 26 towns and counties brought against the makers of lead paint to get them to remove it from the walls of homes and treat lead-poisoned residents. In a 4-2 decision yesterday, the Supreme Court said the local governments, including Newark and the counties of Essex and Union, cannot claim the companies created a "public nuisance" by selling the paint decades ago. If such a case were allowed to proceed it would turn the law into a "monster," the court said.
Article Summary: The court said the state Legislature has already recognized the scope and severity of lead paint exposure and enacted laws to address it. And it said the health crisis was caused by property owners letting the paint deteriorate to the point of flaking and chipping. The lawsuit also did not point to a particular injury suffered by the towns and counties that would entitle them to collect damage payments from the companies, said the majority. In a strongly worded dissent, Chief Justice James Zazzali said common law should be "molded" to accommodate new issues and lead paint manufacturers should be called to task, rather than putting the burden on taxpayers -- especially those who cannot easily pay for remediation.
The state Public Advocate's Office, also involved in the case, said it would look for ways to strengthen the existing laws, but added the ruling wasn't all bad. The ruling comes on the heels of a similar decision by the Missouri Supreme Court which threw out a St. Louis case earlier this week. Governments around the country have sued lead paint manufacturers with mixed success in recent years, including Rhode Island; counties in California, and Texas, and the cities of San Francisco, Oakland, Milwaukee and St. Louis, according to the Alliance for Healthy Homes in Washington, D.C. Lead poisoning, particularly in children, can cause neurological, developmental and other health problems.
by Martin Mittelstaedt, Toronto Globe and Mail
June 16, 2007
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070616.BOYS16/TPStory/National
Article Summary: The incidence of asthma, autism, childhood cancer, learning disabilities and behavioral disorders, among others, is higher in boys, sometimes startlingly so. Autism, for instance, almost seems like a male preserve, with boys outnumbering girls four to one. Why boys appear to be more vulnerable to a host of ailments is a major scientific puzzle, but a new report says part of the reason may be that males are more sensitive to pollution and many hormone-like chemicals widely used in consumer products ranging from computers to plastic water bottles. In recent decades, there has been a big increase in the use of chemicals that have been found to exhibit hormone-like properties, including flame retardants used in computers and furniture foam, phthalates used in personal care products and soft plastics, and bisphenol A, a plastic compound used in water bottles and the inside linings of beverage and food cans.
The report is by the Canadian Partnership for Children's Health and Environment, a group funded in part by Environment Canada and backed by a number of major public health and environmental organizations. Although the report stressed that girls are more likely to develop some conditions, such as the birth defect spina bifida, it said for a number of increasingly common health problems "boys seem to be particularly at risk." Problematic outcomes include a lower number of births of males; an increase in male genital tract defects including undescended testicles and hypospadias; and developmental disabilities including autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, learning disabilities, Tourette's syndrome, cerebral palsy, and dyslexia. The report said there could be a genetic reason for these observations because there are a larger number of stem cell divisions during male fetal development, providing greater odds for something to go awry. However, it said there are also about 200 substances researchers have found that are in commercial use and exhibit neurotoxicity, or the ability to damage developing brain and nervous system tissue. Among these are lead, mercury, dioxins, pesticides, solvents, and flame retardants.
by Dr. Paul Hepperly, New Farm
June 15, 2007
http://www.newfarm.org/columns/research_paul/2007/0607/testscores.shtml
Article Summary: It is estimated that more than 90 million acres of corn will be planted before the 2007 season is over. This will be the largest area since 1944 and 12.1 million acres more than in 2006. More land in corn may have a significant human-health impact, as well, influencing children conceived during the months of peak herbicide and fertilizer application and runoff. Since the 1940s, the U.S. Corn Belt has become the persistent target for large applications of synthetic fertilizers and herbicides. Besides fostering vibrant corn growth, these additives also contribute not only to the contamination of our soil, water and the air we breathe, but also to contaminating our own bodies and those of our children.
According to Dr. Paul Winchester from the Indiana University School of Medicine, seasonal runoff periods for pesticides and nitrates used on corn fields coincide well with the conception dates for children who have lower scores on the state's academic achievement tests during their school years. Indiana children conceived June through August have the lowest scores on math and language tests, based on studies of hospital and school records by University of Indiana Medical researchers. Fertilizer and herbicide runoff from corn fields into surface waters is highest during the summer months, as well. High nitrate and atrazine levels are suspected of derailing the normal production of thyroid hormones. These hormones are well known for their crucial impact on intellectual development. The earliest stages of pregnancy are the most susceptible to outside disruption of developmental processes. Records of more than 1.6 million Indiana students in grades 3 through 10 and their scores on the Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress (ISTEP) program for both math and language. Both categories showed the same result: Children conceived between June and August when pesticide and nitrate exposures are at their peak turned in the lowest test scores. The correlation was consistent across races and genders.
from Living on Earth
June 15, 2007
http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.htm?programID=07-P13-00024&segmentID=3
Article Summary: The National Academy of Sciences is recommending that federal agencies like the EPA adopt sweeping changes to the ways that they test for health effects of chemicals. The goal is for these tests to be faster and cheaper, provide far more information, and be done with little or no use of laboratory animals. Also, the EPA has just announced that it will finally begin testing 73 common pesticides for effects on the human hormonal, or endocrine system. This assessment of so-called hormone disruptors has been years in the waiting and finally came about in part because of a lawsuit filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Hormone disrupters are chemicals that interfere with the normal action of our hormones. These natural hormones guide infant development and also guide many of our day-to-day life functions. Dr. Gina Solomon, a senior scientist with the NRDC, said that EPA was required to start testing chemicals to see if they are endocrine disrupters eight or nine years ago. NRDC and other groups brought a lawsuit against EPA when it missed the first deadline required by Congress. EPA then, as part of the settlement of that lawsuit, agreed to start the testing process. They agreed to do that by 2002. They haven't started yet, and they've only now announced a draft short list of chemicals that they're thinking about testing. Regarding the National Academy of Sciences' recommendation, Dr. Solomon commented: "Most of the chemical tests that are required are looking for crude end points such as death in a laboratory rat, obvious tumors, birth defects or severe toxicity of internal organs. There are a lot more subtle ways and earlier markers of toxicity that we could be focusing on, but we're not there quite yet. And the NAS panel is proposing moving in a much more upstream direction where we'll find hints of toxicity far before it really occurs." Current toxicity testing does not provide information about low-dose effects or effects of chemical mixtures, she added. The new approach that the NAS is proposing would help deal with some of these problems by looking at pathways toward toxicity that can be tested just in cell systems in the laboratory.
[Editor's note: To read the news release from the National Academies and link to their full report, visit http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=11970.]
by Angel Jennings, New York Times
June 15, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/15/business/15recall.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
The toy maker RC2 Corporation pulled a number of its Thomas & Friends trains and accessory parts off the shelves yesterday after learning that the red and yellow paint used to decorate more than 1.5 million of the toys contained lead. Lead, if ingested by children, can cause long-term neurological problems that affect learning and behavior.
Article Summary: The affected Thomas toys were manufactured in China, which has come under fire recently for exporting a variety of goods, from pet food to toothpaste, that may pose safety or health hazards. More than two dozen items are affected by the recall. The company has urged consumers to mail in their Thomas toys in exchange for a replacement and a free train. The company has agreed to handle the shipping cost for all consumers who request it.
by Jane Zhang, Wall Street Journal
June 14, 2007
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118178599187934722.html?mod=todays_us_page_one
The Food and Drug Administration is likely to propose a major shift in how it inspects and regulates imported food, as Americans continue to devour vast amounts of imported, and sometimes exotic, food. The goal is to shift to a "risk-based" system under which FDA inspectors, using extensive information, would focus on shipments posing the biggest potential hazards. To do that, the agency could collect more data from overseas on how foods are produced and handled -- called "life-cycle" data -- and feed it into a database for its inspectors.
Article Summary: Currently FDA inspectors are expected to block tainted imports but often get little information indicating which imports might be dangerous. Over the past 10 years, the number of imported food items has tripled while the FDA's food budget has stagnated. As a result, only 1% of food imports are physically inspected. Michael Doyle, director of University of Georgia's Center for Food Safety, said it would be "a major step forward" if the agency adopts the risk-management approach and converts to up-to-date screening and testing technologies, as originally proposed in a 2002 FDA blueprint that has been lying dormant in the agency for five years. Any comprehensive retooling of the FDA import policies would require approval from the HHS and the White House, and increased funding from Congress. The cost of the 2002 plan was estimated at $80 million a year, according to former FDA officials. The 2002 plan is one of several approaches being discussed inside and outside the FDA to improve food safety.
The FDA's moves come as Congress and the Bush administration are debating how to improve the safety of both imported and domestically produced food, amid the importation of contaminated pet food and tainted toothpaste from China. Earlier this year, the FDA, in the wake of last year's E. coli contamination of spinach, recommended tough regulations on the U.S. fresh-produce industry but was rebuffed by its parent agency, the Department of Health and Human Services. Now, under fire for not moving aggressively enough to protect the food supply, the administration seems to be more amenable to taking steps to beef up safety.
from the Associated Press, International Herald Tribune
June 13, 2007
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/13/europe/EU-GEN-UN-Environmental-Deaths.php
Tackling air pollution, contaminated drinking water and other environmental risks could save 13 million lives annually around the globe, according to a new report Wednesday. The report, released by the World Health Organization, shows that Angola, Burkina Faso, Mali and Afghanistan -- all linked by poverty -- are among the countries most affected by environmental risk factors that also include noise pollution, hazards in the work place, agricultural methods, and climate change. In 23 of the 192 countries focused on in the report, more than 10 percent of deaths can be traced to just two risk factors -- unsafe drinking water and indoor air pollution because of the burning of so-called solid fuels -- including wood, cow dung or coal -- for cooking, the WHO said. The report also highlights that rich and more developed countries are not immune to environmental health risks.
Article Summary: Simple water purification methods could decrease the incidence of diseases such as diarrhea that affect a large number of children, said Susanne Weber-Mosdorf, the WHO's assistant director-general for sustainable development and healthy environments. She noted that children were particularly affected by environmental hazards. Around the world, children under five years of age make up 74 percent of deaths due to diarrhea and respiratory infections, the WHO said. The WHO also suggested that using gas or electricity for cooking, improving ventilation or keeping children away from smoke could reduce the number of deaths and have a major impact on respiratory infections and diseases among women and children. Roberto Bertollini, director of the Special Programme on Health and Environment at the WHO's Regional Office for Europe, urged countries not to neglect health matters when focusing on development.
[Editor's note: The news release from the WHO is available on their website: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2007/pr30/en/index.html.]
by Jeremy Laurance, London Independent
June 13, 2007
http://news.independent.co.uk/health/article2651059.ece
Drinking water poisoned with arsenic may be causing cancer on the same scale as passive smoking, affecting millions of people worldwide, a public health specialist has warned. Every private well or borehole in the world used for drinking water should be tested for the presence of the metal, Professor Allan Smith, an epidemiologist at the University of California, Berkeley, said. Research in northern Chile, one of the most heavily contaminated areas, has shown that between 5 and 10 per cent of the population died from arsenic poisoning, most from lung and bladder cancer.
Article Summary: Professor Smith, who has studied the effects of the contamination in northern Chile for 15 years, said its impact on the human population was "without precedent". Many areas of the world, including parts of the US, have levels of arsenic in drinking water well in excess of the World Health Organization maximum of 10 micrograms per liter. Bangladesh, West Bengal, Pakistan, Iran, Nepal, Cambodia and Vietnam were among the worst affected along with parts of the United States including Nevada, Utah and California. In Nevada, private wells had been found with levels up to 1,000 micrograms per liter, he said.
from Reuters
June 12, 2007
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTON27410120070612
Agricultural workers with extensive exposure to pesticides may have an elevated risk of brain cancer, new research suggests. In a study of nearly 700 adults with or without brain tumors, French researchers found that agricultural workers with the highest level of exposure to pesticides were twice as likely to be diagnosed with brain cancer as those with no occupational pesticide exposure. There was also evidence that people who treated their house plants with pesticides had an elevated brain cancer risk. However, the researchers caution that this has not been seen in previous studies, and more research is needed to confirm whether the connection is real. Past studies have linked pesticide exposure among farmers to adverse effects on the brain, such as a higher risk of Parkinson's disease.
Article Summary: The overall average risk of brain cancer was 29 percent higher among subjects with occupational exposure to pesticides than subjects with no exposure, with those with the highest exposure showing a two-fold higher risk of developing a brain tumor. There was no strong evidence that workers with the lower levels of pesticide exposure had an elevated brain cancer risk. Regarding household pesticide use, study participants who said they used pesticides on their house plants were about twice as likely as those who never used pesticides to be diagnosed with brain cancer. It's not clear what to make of this finding, according to Baldi's team. It's possible, they note, that people with brain cancer might have been biased toward reporting household pesticide use. Other factors not measured in the study, like total exposure to household chemicals, might also account for the link, the researchers point out.
from the Environmental Justice Resource Center
June 7, 2007
http://www.ejrc.cau.edu/TWARTSignon.htm
According to the United Church of Christ Toxic Wastes and Race at Twenty 1987-2007 report, environmental injustice in communities of people of color is as much or more prevalent today than twenty years ago. On behalf of Environmental Justice Networks and EJ organizations from across the United States, the principal authors of the report (Drs. Robert D. Bullard, Paul Mohai, Robin Saha, and Beverly Wright) are inviting groups to sign on a letter to be directed to key elected officials, including key Congressional leaders, the presidential candidates and the Bush Administration to let them know that the findings in the 2007 report need to be addressed immediately. Access the report at http://www.ejrc.cau.edu/TWARTFinal.htm. Please email Dr. Glenn S. Johnson at the Environmental Justice Resource Center (ejrc@cau.edu) or call 404-880-6911 to indicate that you want to sign on.