A large analysis of more than 100 studies from around the world shows that exposure to pesticides, or bug and weed killers, and solvents is likely associated with a higher risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. The research appears in the May 28, 2013, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Plastic additives known as phthalates (pronounced THAL-ates) are odorless, colorless and just about everywhere: They turn up in flooring, plastic cups, beach balls, plastic wrap, intravenous tubing and—according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—the bodies of most Americans. Once perceived as harmless, phthalates have come under increasing scrutiny. A growing collection of evidence suggests dietary exposure to phthalates (which can leech from packaging and mix with food) may cause significant metabolic and hormonal abnormalities, especially during early development.
Air pollutants from traffic are associated with increased asthma severity levels in pregnant asthmatic women, according to a new study.
Both fine-particle air pollution and noise pollution may increase a person’s risk of developing cardiovascular disease, according to German researchers who have conducted a large population study, in which both factors were considered simultaneously.
Living near a major roadway during the prenatal period is associated with an increased risk of respiratory infection developing in children by the age of 3, according to a new study from researchers in Boston.
Academic researchers have found that breathing motor vehicle emissions triggers a change in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, altering its cardiovascular protective qualities so that it actually contributes to clogged arteries. The finding, shown in mice, reveals how car emissions activate the early cell and tissue damage called oxidation that causes inflammation leading to hardening of the arteries and HDL cholesterol may play a key role.
Global warming trends have a significant influence on the spread of West Nile Virus to new regions in Europe and neighboring countries, where the disease wasn’t present before, according to a new study by the University of Haifa. The study was commissioned by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) in Stockholm, which belongs to the European Union. The study found that rising temperatures have a more considerable contribution than humidity, to the spread of the disease, while the effect of rain was inconclusive.
People with higher levels of cadmium in their urine — evidence of chronic exposure to the heavy metal found in industrial emissions and tobacco smoke — appear to be nearly 3.5 times more likely to die of liver disease than those with lower levels, according to a study by Johns Hopkins scientists.
Mount Sinai researcher estimates that lead exposure could cause mental retardation in 6 in 1,000 children living near the sites.
Toxic waste sites with elevated levels of lead and chromium cause a high number of “healthy years of life lost” in individuals living near 373 sites located in India, Philippines and Indonesia, according to a study by a Mount Sinai researcher published online today in Environmental Health Perspectives. The study leader, Kevin Chatham-Stephens, MD, Pediatric Environmental Health Fellow at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, presented the findings today at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Washington, DC.
Harsh Bais and Janine Sherrier of the University of Delaware’s Department of Plant and Soil Sciences are studying whether a naturally occurring soil bacterium, referred to as UD1023 because it was first characterized at the University, can create an iron barrier in rice roots that reduces arsenic uptake.
More than a quarter of a century after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, many children and teenagers who developed thyroid cancer due to radiation are in complete or near remission, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).
Long-term exposure to air pollution may be linked to heart attacks and strokes by speeding up atherosclerosis, or "hardening of the arteries," according to a University of Michigan public health researcher and colleagues from across the U.S.
The New York City Police Department and the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory are scheduled to conduct this July the largest urban airflow study ever to better understand the risks posed by airborne contaminants, including chemical, biological and radiological (CBR) weapons as they are dispersed in the atmosphere and in the City's subway system. The NYPD will use the data collected during the three days of research to optimize emergency response following an intentional or accidental release of hazardous materials.
Today, a group of influential scientists called for swift action by the UN system to prevent harm from a wide variety of synthetic chemicals in consumer products and pesticides that play a role in increased incidences of reproductive diseases, cancer, obesity, and type-2 diabetes worldwide.
Increase in gold nanoparticles can accelerate aging and wrinkling, slow wound healing, cause onset of diabetes.
The chances of developing lung cancer associated with asbestos exposure, asbestosis and smoking are dramatically increased when these three risk factors are combined, and quitting smoking significantly reduces the risk of developing lung cancer after long-term asbestos exposure, according to a new study.
• Exposure during pregnancy was associated with an increased incidence of three cancers. • The highest increases were found for retinoblastoma and germ cell tumors. • Findings require replication in other large studies.
A new study found that higher levels of mercury exposure in young adults increased their risks for type 2 diabetes later in life by 65 percent. The Indiana U. study is the first to show a link between mercury and diabetes in humans.
As Earth Day approaches, public health experts are sounding the alarm about endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in the environment. These chemicals have been linked to health conditions such as cancer, infertility and obesity.
Almost 4 million people die annually from household air pollution (HAP) caused by exposure to the combustion of biomass fuels, kerosene, or coal. A new article explains the need for studies into biomarkers of HAP exposure and predictors of respiratory disease.
The mystery of how arsenic levels in beer sold in Germany could be higher than in the water or other ingredients used to brew the beer has been solved, scientists announced here today at the 245th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society. The meeting, which features almost 12,000 reports and other presentations, continues through Thursday.
Rice imported from certain countries contains high levels of lead that could pose health risks, particularly for infants and children, who are especially sensitive to lead’s effects, and adults of Asian heritage who consume large amounts of rice, scientists said here today. Their research, which found some of the highest lead levels in baby food, was among almost 12,000 reports scheduled for the 245th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society, which continues through Thursday.
Earlier efforts to determine the health and environmental effects of the nanoparticles that are finding use in hundreds of consumer products may have produced misleading results by embracing traditional toxicology tests that do not take into account the unique properties of bits of material so small that 100,000 could fit in the period at the end of this sentence.
Climate drives a large part of diarrheal disease in Sub-Saharan Africa and makes communities vulnerable to climate change.
Pit latrines are one of the most common human excreta disposal systems globally, and their use is on the rise as countries aim to meet the sanitation-related target of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Strong evidence supports the use of these basic toilets as a way to improve human health. However, improperly designed pit latrines can actually allow disease-causing microbes or other contaminants to leach into the groundwater. The contaminated water puts people, and especially children, at risk of developing potentially life-threatening diarrheal diseases.
A common test used to determine mercury exposure from dental amalgam fillings may significantly overestimate the amount of the toxic metal released from fillings, according to University of Michigan researchers.
A Mayo Clinic study has concluded that patients with implanted cardiac devices such as pacemakers and defibrillators can safely drive or ride in an electric car without risk of electromagnetic interference (EMI).
A team of scientists led by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the National University of Singapore (NUS), revealed in a new study, for the first time, the presence of the pathogenic chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) in amphibians sampled in Singapore. And the American bullfrog may be a central player in the spread of the disease.
Does your neighborhood really define health? Most of us make a choice between suburbs, countryside, or city and settle down. But others, particularly those living in poverty, don’t always get to make that choice—the choice that could actually determine our quality and length of life. So how does this choice affect our health? Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing PhD Candidate Laura Samuel is finding out.
Research conducted at Henry Ford Hospital shows that race and possibly genetics play a role in children’s sensitivity to developing allergies. Researchers found: • African-American children were sensitized to at least one food allergen three times more often than Caucasian children. • African-American children with one allergic parent were sensitized to an environmental allergen twice as often as African-American children without an allergic parent.
Washington University engineering researchers have created a new type of air-cleaning technology that could better protect human lungs from allergens, airborne viruses and ultrafine particles in the air. The device, known as the SXC ESP, was created by a team led by Pratim Biswas, PhD, the Lucy & Stanley Lopata Professor and chair of the Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering in the School of Engineering & Applied Science.
Meta-analyses of bisphenol A studies show human exposure is likely to be too low for estrogenic effects.
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By identifying two genes required for transforming inorganic into organic mercury, which is far more toxic, scientists today have taken a significant step toward protecting human health.
Mothers who are exposed to particulate air pollution of the type emitted by vehicles, urban heating and coal power plants are significantly more likely to bear children of low birth weight, according to an international study led by co-principal investigator Tracey J. Woodruff, PhD, MPH, professor of obstetrics and gynecology and reproductive sciences at UC San Francisco along with Jennifer Parker, PhD, of the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Researchers examined the role of local and state health departments in responding to and preventing community-driven concerns associated with animal production sites.
The hazards of breathing outdoor air in some Chinese cities have been well-documented. Now a University at Buffalo study confirms that breathing indoor air also carries significant cancer risks, especially for Chinese women.
The American public can expect to add earlier and more severe flu seasons to the fallout from climate change, according to a research study published online Jan. 28 in PLOS Currents: Influenza.
Female mice exposed to Bisphenol A through their mother's diet during gestation and lactation were found to be hyperactive, exhibit spontaneous activity and had leaner body mass than those not exposed to the chemical, researchers at the University of Michigan School of Public Health have discovered.
Exposure to a chemical once used widely in plastic bottles and still found in aluminum cans appears to be associated with a biomarker for higher risk of heart and kidney disease in children and adolescents, according to an analysis of national survey data by NYU School of Medicine researchers published in the January 9, 2013, online issue of Kidney International, a Nature publication.
UCLA researchers have found a link between Parkinson's disease and the pesticide Benomyl, whose toxicological effects still linger in the environment, ten years after it was banned by the EPA. More important, the research suggests the way this pesticide does its damage may occur in other people with Parkinson's, even for those who were not exposed to this pesticide.
Chemicals used as flame retardants are present as environmental pollutants at locations around the globe, including remote sites in Indonesia, Nepal and Tasmania, according to a study by researchers from Indiana University.
Global travel and climate warming could be creating the right conditions for outbreaks of a new virus in this country, according to a new Cornell University computer model. The model predicts outbreaks of chikungunya, a virus transported by travelers and spread by the invasive Asian tiger mosquito, could occur in 2013 in New York City, Atlanta and Miami.
While the American Thoracic Society welcomes the lower National Ambient Air Quality Standard for fine particulate matter announced today by the Environmental Protection Agency, we are disappointed that the EPA didn't act to more fully protect public health via the more stringent standards that the ATS supports.
Concentrations of BPA less in common dog toys.
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