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While all links worked when entries were posted to the database, different publishers
have different policies about retaining articles and providing access to archived material.
Thus some of the links, particularly older ones, may no longer be functional.
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Higher levels of manganese in hair and blood are associated with lower IQ in children, especially girls, who live near a manganese processing site, finds a study of Mexican children.
Despite being an essential element, high levels of manganese may cause cognitive and intellectual deficits, especially if exposure occurs during childhood. Few studies have examined the impact of airborne manganese on children's intelligence. 25 August 2010. More...
Egyptian women living in cities are three to four times more likely to develop breast cancer than women living in rural areas, a difference that may be due to exposures and/or lifestyle.
These from Egypt parallel previous reports of urban-rural differences in breast cancer incidence from China and India. In those countries, urban living increased breast cancer rates by the same margins of three to four times when compared to rural environments. 10 August 2010. More...
Children exposed to PCBs in their first years of life are less likely to be protected from diseases by vaccinations, according to a new study.
Exposure to PCBs is strongly associated with lower antibody levels. The results may help understand why effectiveness of vaccines varies so much among children. 6 August 2010. More...
Arsenic carried to rice fields by contaminated irrigation water tends to accumulate in top soil layers where the rice takes it up, contaminating the grain, lowering its nutritional value and exposing large populations who depend on it for food.
Rice is one of the largest sources of arsenic exposure for people in Bangladesh and India, representing about half the total intake 12 July 2010. More...
Lead levels in both soil and children declined dramatically after hurricanes twice flooded New Orleans in 2005. The researchers who report the results propose that the flooding altered the soil lead conditions, thereby lowering children's exposure to the neurotoxin.
In almost all of the neighborhoods tested, soil lead levels fell by almost 50 percent to well below federal safety standards. At the same time, children's blood lead levels decreased more than 30 percent. 8 July 2010. More...
Bacteria living in human intestines can change arsenic's chemistry, in some cases producing a more toxic form that is linked to cancer.
This is the first report of arsenic becoming more harmful as it passes through the human digestive track. The results parallel those found in animal studies and suggest that regulators may need to take into account the way exposures occur when determining the health risks associated with arsenic. 30 June 2010. More...
Researchers have determined that exposure to low levels of mercury can encourage clotting of red blood cells, a dangerous condition called thrombosis that contributes to cardiovascular disease.
The research shows that red blood cells, when dying after exposure to mercury, release proteins that encourage blood cells and platelets to clot and clump together inside vessels. The increased clots can worsen existing cardiovascular disease and raise its risk in others. 23 June 2010. More...
Experts send a mixed message to consumers when it comes to eating fish: it's good for your heart health but beware of the methylmercury.
A new way of organizing and ranking the pollutant's levels in fish and shellfish may help consumers navigate this apparent contradiction. Of the top five selling fish in the United States, only one-- tuna-- has above average mercury content. 26 April 2010. More...
Levels of arsenic that are observed in many people around the world alter cell signals and damage DNA in early stage breast cancer cells, according to new research.
The results suggest that arsenic could make tumors grow more aggressively in women who have very early stage breast cancer. 16 April 2010. More...
A study in people adds to the growing evidence and concern that mercury can alter the immune system in ways that may promote autoimmune diseases such as arthritis and lupus.
This is the first time mercury has been shown to affect in people the immune signaling proteins that are responsible for inducing inflammation. The results support recent animal studies that find similar changes to rodent immune systems after mercury exposure. 13 April 2010. More...
A new study suggests that hundreds of chemicals used commercially could persist and bioaccumulate, yet next to nothing is known about their actions and levels in the environment.
Predicting exposures and if and how chemicals may pose a health threat is incredibly difficult. Now, researchers propose a unique way to screen and identify chemicals that may need further evaluation and monitoring. 2 April 2010. More...
Researchers have found that the extent of harm caused by certain common compounds could be influenced by a person’s genes and lifestyle. Two people exposed to the same amount of a chemical could have different levels in their blood and respond differently.
The study looked at seven elements, which included arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, selenium and zinc. Test subjects included 2,926 adult Australian twins. 16 March 2010. More...
A study finds that silver has the potential to cause problems with nerve cell development at concentrations five times less than that of the pesticide chlorpyrifos, a known nerve cell toxicant.
The findings call into question the widespread and increasing use of nanoparticles of silver in consumer products. 21 January 2010. More...
Silver nanoparticles used as antimicrobials in fabric can leach out of clothes as they are being washed. One brand lost over half of its silver content from the fabric with just two washings.
The discovery raises questions about potential effects of human and environmental exposures 7 January 2010. More...
The severity of a child's autism coincided with the levels of toxic metals excreted in their urine after treatment with a metals removal therapy, finds a study published in the Journal of Toxicology.
The higher the levels of lead, antimony and other metals excreted, the more severe was the child's autism. The findings hold true across four independent tools used to assess autism severity. 28 December 2009. More...
People who ate enough contaminated fish to raise methyl mercury levels in their bodies to levels still considered "safe" had subtle changes to their heart rhythm that may affect their long-term health.
The fish also contain high levels of fish oils – including omega 3 fatty acids – that are generally considered to be protective for the heart. But, in this study, eating more fish oil in tandem with the methylmercury did not prevent the heart anomalies. 24 December 2009. More...
Ice core samples from Mount Everest that represent 800 years of atmospheric history contain much higher levels of certain metals in the last three decades than in the previous seven centuries.
Data from a recent study that examined the cores from the Himalayan Mountains are the first to show that levels of arsenic, molybdenum, tin and antimony in the ice samples have sharply increased during the last 30 years. Until recently, the levels had been relatively stable for centuries. 21 December 2009. More...
In a study of nerves from rat brains, scientists confirm that the effects of different environmental contaminants can add together.
The research adds to a growing body of evidence that estimates of risk should evaluate combinations of chemicals that are most likely to be encountered through environmental exposure. 1 December 2009. More...
Exposure to arsenic causes human stem cells to transform into cancer cells, report researchers who studied the cells in a laboratory.
People in certain regions of the world are exposed to high levels of arsenic through drinking water tainted by the naturally-occurring element. The results of this new study may explain why arsenic is associated with several human cancers, including prostrate cancer in men. 5 November 2009. More...
Flourescing fish may offer a quick and easy way to test if specific chemicals – or complex mixtures found in the environment – will affect the thyroid gland and its normal hormonal functions.
With so many chemical contaminants in the environment, rapid screening tools that target specific physiological processes or tissues are increasingly valuable to regulators and researchers. 2 October 2009. More...
People who eat wild game shot by hunters have significantly higher levels of lead circulating in their blood than those who do not, report researchers from the CDC.
The results agree with a handful of other studies that have found the lead from the bullets used to kill game such as deer and elk can leach into the meat and then into the people who eat it. 28 September 2009. More...
New research in Virginia reports that levels of hormones key for growth and controlling stress were skewed in tree swallow nestlings contaminated with mercury.
The study finds some of the highest mercury levels ever measured in wild songbird nestlings. The researchers point to the birds' insect food as the source of contamination. 10 September 2009. More...
Exposure to low to moderate levels of lead before birth and as a child can permanently change the brain's structure in a way that may alter if and how it transmits messages, a new study finds.
More differences in the nerve cells and the thickness of their coverings were found in adults who had higher lead exposure during development and as children. Some areas of the brain developed less robust nerve pathways and other parts had thicker or thinner coverings. 2 September 2009. More...
A recent study links higher blood lead levels with high blood pressure in pregnant women, suggesting that lead exposure may increase the risk of developing hypertension during pregnancy.
All of the women in the study had blood levels below the level considered 'acceptable' by most health agencies, providing additional support for the need to lower the threshold. 10 August 2009. More...
A study of young children in India has found that higher blood lead levels are associated with a suite of behavioral and thinking problems that can alter attention, abstract thinking and appropriate behavior.
This study is one of the first to pinpoint specific childhood behaviors and cognitive skills affected by lead exposure, most notably anxiety, social problems and overall executive function (planning, problem solving, behavior control). The study found no "safe" level. 4 August 2009. More...
A study with rats suggests that radioactive uranium inhaled by soldiers on the battlefield and by workers in factories may bypass the brain's protective barrier by following nerves from the nose directly to the brain.
This study provides yet another example of how some substances can use the olfactory system to bypass the brain's protective blood barrier and go directly to the brain. Titanium nanoparticles and the metals manganese, nickel, and thallium use the same route. 31 July 2009. More...
A new study with mice links arsenic exposure to reduced immune response.
The results suggest those people most exposed to arsenic through their drinking water may be more susceptible to illness and possibly death when infected with the H1N1 swine flu virus. 17 July 2009. More...
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.
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. 26 June 2009. More...
Developmental exposure to PCBs can permanently damage hearing but co-exposure with methyl mercury reduces the effects.
The mercury doses were selected to achieve a ratio of PCBs to methyl mercury similar to that found in walleye caught by fisherman in Wisconsin, but the doses were higher than those typically encountered by people. 25 June 2009. More...
Nine years after China banned lead in gasoline, lead levels in children's blood is decreasing.
A new study reports that by 2007, boys' blood lead levels had dropped to 79.3 µg/L from 96.4 µg/L in 2004. 4 June 2009. More...
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