|
||||||
|
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.
For links no longer working, you may be able to gain paid access to text via the publisher's site.
Certain types of PCBs can affect the way a brain chemical responsible for halting signals sends its chemical messages from nerve to nerve, according to research conducted on frog egg cells
These results further tease apart PCBs' complex effects on brain chemicals and better explain how these interactions can result in abnormal brain function. 10 March 2010. More...
Babies born to women with higher levels of the herbicide metolachlor in their babies' umbilical cord blood weighed less than babies born to women with lower measured levels of the pesticide.
Metolachlor is a weed killer that is applied to soil to prevent the growth of weeds. It is widely used in agriculture and along roadsides. Metolachlor is frequently found in ground water due to agricultural runoff. 10 March 2010. More...
Swedish scientists have discovered a remarkable increase in the incidence of leukemia in people living close to an oil refinery.
Lysekil is one of the largest and most modern oil refineries in Europe. Yet, during the past 10 years, communities downwind of the refinery had twice as many cases of leukemia as would be expected based on the refinery's low emissions. 5 March 2010. More...
Dibutyl phthalate (DBP) rubbed onto mouse skin changed the chemistry of the rodents' immune system and made them more prone to developing contact allergies, reports a new study published in the scientific journal Immunology.
This is the first study to show how DBP modifies the mouse immune system to predispose it to developing a type of allergy known as contact hypersensitivity. The results support prior studies that have found a connection between phthalates and allergies. 4 March 2010. More...
Men who are exposed to benzene at levels close to the U.S. permissible limit are more likely to have an abnormal number of chromosomes in their sperm, according to new research.
Having the wrong number of chromosomes in sperm or eggs is the largest known source of miscarriage in people. 16 February 2010. More...
A study of professional pesticide applicators suggests that exposure to the insecticide coumaphos may increase their risk of prostate cancer if they had a family history of the disease.
The insecticide coumaphos, an organophosphate compound, is primarily used to control pests on beef and dairy cattle. Though unlikely, exposure to the general population may occur when eating food products from coumaphos-treated animals, such as meat or milk. 15 February 2010. More...
New research suggests that exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) during gestation and lactation lowers male fertility in adulthood and that the effect may persist for at least three generations.
The rat study tested relatively low levels of BPA chosen to fall within the range of human exposure. It is the first to indicate that BPA might have transgenerational effects on male reproductive health. 9 February 2010. More...
As one class of flame retardants is phased out due to health concerns, new types – sometimes with widespread exposure and unknown effects – may be phased in.
A new study examining one type of potential replacement chemicals called organophosphorous flame retardants finds that men exposed through house dust had lower thyroid hormone levels and reduced sperm concentration. This is one of the first human studies to look at potential health effects of exposure to these types of flame retardants. 5 February 2010. More...
Exposure to very low concentrations of the plastic monomer bisphenol A (BPA) causes cellular damage and death in cultured human placenta cells, researchers report.
The doses used for this study are similar to blood levels found in pregnant women. Particularly concerning was the observation that that effects were most pronounced at the lowest - rather than the highest - concentrations of BPA. 2 February 2010. More...
Women who were fed soy-based infant formula as babies are 25 percent more likely to develop uterine fibroids than those who were breastfed or given milk-based formula.
Fibroids affect about a quarter of all women and are the leading cause of hysterectomy. This is the first study to examine whether exposure to soy estrogens early in life is associated with fibroids development later in life. 1 February 2010. More...
A study conducted in Massachusetts suggests that exposure to perchloroethylene through drinking water may be associated with an increased risk for certain congenital anomalies, but the results are not entirely conclusive.
Women whose estimated PCE exposure was higher may have a 50 percent increased risk of birth defects. Women ever exposed to PCE also had a 3-fold increased risk of giving birth to babies with neural tube defects or oral clefts. 28 January 2010. More...
A study of breast milk samples from more than 300 women in North Carolina found flame retardants were highest in women aged 25 to 29.
The PBDEs were detected in almost three-quarters of the women in the study. Women older than 35 had the lowest levels. 25 January 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...
Exposure during development to the active ingredient of many birth control pills caused infertility in adult male rates.
More than 50 million women worldwide take contraceptive pills. Of those, 3 to 4 percent may take them into the second trimester of pregnancy. Doses sufficient to cause effects were higher compared to birth control pills. 15 January 2010. More...
A new study in rats shows that persistent organic pollutants (POPs) – at levels found in farmed Atlantic salmon – cause insulin resistance and associated obesity and liver disease in the animals. The study is the first to show this experimentally.
Insulin resistance can lead to type 2 diabetes, which is becoming a global epidemic. The association between high levels of POPs in people and increased chance of developing diabetes has been known since 2006. Until now, scientists could not positively conclude that POPs influenced the onset of diabetes. 14 January 2010. More...
A new study finds that exposure to phthalate chemicals may be linked to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in school-aged children.
The Korean students in the study who were identified as having ADHD symptoms were more likely to have higher levels of phthalate chemical markers in their urine than children without symptoms of the disorder. 12 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...
A study examining frogs in South China shows for the first time that frogs absorb PBDE flame retardants from their food, concentrate them in their tissues and organs and deposit higher amounts of them in their eggs.
The concentrations of PBDEs were greater in the frogs than in their food. The results indicate the fire suppressors may have the potential to biomagnify - increase in concentration with each increasing level of the food chain (as occurs with the insecticide DDT). 5 January 2010. More...
Scientists report they found the anti-viral medication Tamiflu in rivers in Japanese cities during last year's flu season. Tamiflu is an antiviral drug used to slow the spread of the flu virus by both treating and preventing influenza, including H1N1 and avian flu (H5N1).
The contamination raises serious public health safety concerns about the overuse of antiviral drugs that may lead to development of Tamiflu-resistant flu strains. The results highlight a need for enhanced treatment of wastewater, especially during periods of elevated flu risk. 4 January 2010. More...
New research reports that the enzymes in the roots of a poplar tree can alter the chemical structure of a common type of PCB pollutant, rendering it less harmful than the original chemical.
The results are a first step in determining if plants would be a valuable tool in cleaning up contaminated sites. 29 December 2009. 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...
Living for decades near busy urban or rural roads may affect brain health and could contribute to cognitive decline as women age, conclude German scientists in a study published in the journal Environmental Research.
This is the first study to find an association between cognitive impairment and long-term exposure to air pollution due to traffic. It is also one of a handful of recent studies to report a link between air pollution and brain function in people. 22 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...
A study from California suggests that living closer to high traffic roads may increase the risk of spontaneous abortion in certain women. The association was seen only with African-Americans, not with women of other races.
Increased risk of spontaneous abortion was seen among African-American women living close to roads where traffic exceeded 15,000 vehicles per day. Many large city streets have a daily traffic volume of 15,000 cars or more. 18 December 2009. More...
Falcons that make their home in some of California's largest cities carry more flame retardant pollutants in them as compared to those that preside in rural areas, finds a study that measured the chemicals in the birds' eggs.
Levels of these flame retardants in the eggs also tripled over the two decades of the study. In contrast, PCB levels in the eggs did not change in any of the regions over the same time period. 15 December 2009. More...
The widely used herbicide atrazine may be responsible for a host of health problems seen in freshwater fish and amphibians, according to researchers who evaluated a group of published studies that examined the chemical's effects.
Exposure to atrazine levels found in the environment reduced immune function, sex organ development and function, and the production of steroid hormones in both groups of animals. 14 December 2009. More...
Eight years after a heavily contaminated military site in northern Canada was cleaned up, PCB levels in wildlife have plummeted.
The findings are the first to show that Arctic wildlife can recover from intense pollution if the contaminated sites in these very cold-weather regions are remediated. 11 December 2009. More...
A study that surveyed members of a West Virginia community finds that higher exposures to anti-stick chemicals released from a nearby factory may be linked to low birth weight and early birth in babies born to women who live in the area.
Data were collected as part of a survey of more than 69,000 people living close to a chemical plant located in the Mid-Ohio Valley in West Virginia. 7 December 2009. More...
Exposure to the common herbicide atrazine rapidly induces the release of stress hormones in rats, which may explain how the weed killer produces some its harmful reproductive effects.
Elevated stress hormones can disrupt the hormone signals that spur ovulation. Atrazine is one of the most frequently used herbicides in the US. 4 December 2009. More...
|
||||||
![[delete]](/images/x.gif)