Environmental Health Perspectives back issues from April 2000:
The Trickle-Down Theory of Cleaner Air.
Apr 01, 2000; ... Relentlessly single-minded, microbes have tirelessly gone about the business of life since the earth first cooled, pretty much unremarked by humanity unless it is to be labeled for their sometimes negative effects on health. But as living organisms that display many of the same life ...
ME and My Shadow.
Apr 01, 2000; ... Everyone Exposed to Methyleugenol Whether you intend to or not, chances are you will consume approximately 6 micrograms of methyleugenol (ME) today, according to a report in this month's issue by Dana B. Barr and colleagues of a study designed to measure ME in human blood serum ...
Smoking-Induced Leukemia.
Apr 01, 2000; ... How Much Is Benzene to Blame? Benzene, known to cause leukemia, is present in cigarette smoke. However, although smokers are one-and-a-half to two times more likely to develop leukemia than nonsmokers, the degree to which the risk of leukemia can be attributed to the low doses ...
Getting On Our Nerves.
Apr 01, 2000; ... The Long-Term Effects of Chlorpyrifos In the United States, termite treatments with chlorpyrifos, a widely used organophosphate pesticide, are currently applied about 20 million times per year to houses and lawns, and 82% of U.S. adults have detectable levels of the chlorpyrifos ...
Fellowships, Grants, & Awards.
Apr 01, 2000 ... Exploratory Grants for Genomic Imprinting and Environmental Disease Susceptibility The NIEHS invites research grant applications from interested investigators to conduct timely, innovative, and mechanistic research on the importance of genomic imprinting in determining ...
New Books.
Apr 01, 2000 ... Adipocyte Biology and Hormone Signalling J. M. Ntambi, ed. Amsterdam: IOS Press, 2000, 300 pp. ISBN: 1-58603-002-7, $117 Animal Models of Neurological Disease II: Metabolic Encephalopathies and Epilepsies Alan A. Boulton, Glen B. Baker, Roger F. Butterworth Totowa, NJ: The ...
Airing on the Side of Caution or Pulling Standards Out of Thin Air?
Apr 01, 2000; ... In May 1999, a federal appeals court ruled that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had violated the U.S. Constitution when it strengthened regulations for ground-level ozone and particulate matter (PM). EPA administrator Carol Browner called the decision "one of the most ...
Associations between Air Pollution and Mortality in Phoenix, 1995-1997.
Apr 01, 2000; ... We evaluated the association between mortality outcomes in elderly individuals and particulate matter (PM) of varying aerodynamic diameters (in micrometers) [[PM.sub.10], [PM.sub.2.5], and [PM.sub.CF] ([PM.sub.10] minus [PM.sub.2.5])], and selected particulate and gaseous phase pollutants ...
Adolescent Health and the Environment.
Apr 01, 2000; ... The effects of toxicants depend on the dose and the time in the life span when exposure occurs. The biology of adolescence is distinctive and provides opportunities for unique actions of toxicants both in terms of disruption of function and disruption of maturation. Maturation of a number ...
Recurrent Acute Respiratory Tract Infections in Areas With High Nitrate Concentrations in Drinking Water.
Apr 01, 2000; ... A review of the literature indicated an association among high nitrate ingestion, methemoglobinemia, and pathologic changes in bronchi and lung parenchyma. The present study examined a possible correlation among drinking water nitrate concentration, methemoglobin levels, cytochrome ...
A 37-Year-Old Mechanic with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities.
Apr 01, 2000; ... A 37-year-old heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning mechanic developed respiratory, musculoskeletal, and central nervous system symptoms associated with a variety of odorous environmental chemicals. Organic disease was not evident, but the patient was distressed by these symptoms and ...
Career Development and Training Opportunities.
Apr 01, 2000 ... The NIEHS announces the availability of support for career development and training awards to increase the cadre of scientists working in areas of particular importance to the NIEHS. Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (K23) and Midcareer Investigator ...
Cumulative Impact.
Apr 01, 2000; ... The terms "cumulative" and "cumulative effects" are becoming more widely used in environmental impact assessment. The popularity of the concept is understandable as our culture comes to recognize that solitary insults to the environment considered in isolation cannot capture the full ...
Chinese Fridges Keep Food and the Planet Cool.
Apr 01, 2000; ... An international project aims to boost the manufacture and purchase of green refrigerators--not those 1970s-style avocado-green fridges, but environmentally friendly refrigerators. According to the China State Statistical Bureau, over 12 million refrigerators will be manufactured for the ...
The Core of the Candle Problem.
Apr 01, 2000; ... A romantic evening at home surrounded by candlelight may pose a not-so-romantic health hazard. Some candles made with metal wicks emit lead into the air when burned, finds a study by environmental chemist Jerome Nriagu of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, scheduled for publication ...
FAA Turns Down the Volume.
Apr 01, 2000; ... According to the 1998 annual report of the Air Transport Association, U.S. airlines flew 423.3 billion passenger miles in 1987, a number that grew to 619.5 billion miles in 1998. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), air traffic is expected to double nationally by the ...
Reducing Radon State by State.
Apr 01, 2000; ... In August 2000, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) expects to finalize proposed regulations to protect people from exposure to radon through indoor air and drinking water. The regulations will provide flexibility in determining how to limit exposure to radon by allowing each ...
Economic Commission for Europe's Environment and Human Settlements Division.
Apr 01, 2000; ... Pollution does not respect international borders anywhere, but in Europe, with its heavy industrialization and small nations, this is particularly evident. By the 1970s, it had become apparent that air pollution from other nations was contributing to the acidification of lakes in Sweden ...
The Beat.
Apr 01, 2000 ... Organic Power A demonstration project conducted by the USDA Agricultural Research Service has found that diesel vehicles such as trucks, tractors, and buses can run more cleanly if organically based biodiesel is mixed with the regular diesel fuel. "B20" fuel (which is 20% ...
Breathtaking Research.
Apr 01, 2000; ... Dangers in the Air We Breathe Although the air we breathe is necessary for life, certain factors may make this same air detrimental to our health. For instance, a seemingly endless list of compounds can be toxic at certain concentrations, and inhaling such compounds may lead to ...
Winds of Change: Reducing Transboundary Air Pollutants.
Apr 01, 2000; ... The acid rain in Lorraine comes partially from Spain. Similarly, about half the acid rain that falls on Canada originates in the United States, as does a large portion of the ground-level ozone found there. Air pollution never respects international boundaries, but in recent months a spate ...
Inhaled Crocidolite Mutagenicity in Lung DNA.
Apr 01, 2000; ... We used transgenic mice carrying the lacI reporter gene to study the mutagenesis potential of asbestos crocidolite. The animals were exposed by nose-only inhalation to an aerosol containing 5.75 mg/[m.sup.3] crocidolite dust for 6 hr/day and 5 consecutive days. After 1, 4, and 12 weeks, we ...
The Environmental Genome Project: Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications.
Apr 01, 2000; ... The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences is supporting a multiyear research initiative examining genetic influences on environmental response. Proponents of this new initiative, known as the Environmental Genome Project, hope that the information learned will improve our ...
Associations between Mortality and Air Pollution in Central Europe.
Apr 01, 2000; ... Increased mortality has been observed in association with elevated concentrations of air pollutants in European cities and in the United States. We reassessed the effects of particulate matter in Central Europe. Mortality and air pollution data were obtained for a highly polluted region of ...
Phlebotomy Increases Cadmium Uptake in Hemochromatosis.
Apr 01, 2000; ... The intestinal absorption of the nephrotoxic environmental pollutant cadmium increases markedly when iron stores are depleted. This may be mediated by an up regulation of the recently identified mucosal transporter DMT1 (Nramp2 or DCT1) for divalent cations. We tested whether the highly ...
Neurologic Function among Termiticide Applicators Exposed to Chlorpyrifos.
Apr 01, 2000; ... Chlorpyrifos is a moderately toxic organophosphate pesticide. Houses and lawns in the United States receive a total of approximately 20 million annual chlorpyrifos treatments, and 82% of U.S. adults have detectable levels of a chlorpyrifos metabolite (3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol; TCP) in ...
Lead in Calcium Supplements.
Apr 01, 2000; ... Intercalibrated measurements of lead in calcium supplements indicate the importance of rigorous analytical techniques to accurately quantify contaminant exposures in complex matrices. Without such techniques, measurements of lead concentrations in calcium supplements may be either ...
Balancing the Risks and Benefits of Drinking Water Disinfection: Disability Adjusted Life-Years on the Scale.
Apr 01, 2000; ... To evaluate the applicability of disability adjusted life-years (DALYs) as a measure to compare positive and negative health effects of drinking water disinfection, we conducted a case study involving a hypothetical drinking water supply from surface water. This drinking water supply is ...
Levels of Methyleugenol in a Subset of Adults in the General U.S. Population as Determined by High Resolution Mass Spectrometry.
Apr 01, 2000; ... We developed a sensitive and accurate analytical method for quantifying methyleugenol (ME) in human serum. Our method uses a simple solid-phase extraction Followed by a highly specific analysis using isotope dilution gas chromatography--high resolution mass spectrometry. Our method is very ...
The Contribution of Benzene to Smoking-Induced Leukemia.
Apr 01, 2000; ... Cigarette smoking is associated with an increased risk of leukemia; benzene, an established leukemogen, is present in cigarette smoke. By combining epidemiologic data on the health effects of smoking with risk assessment techniques for low-dose extrapolation, we assessed the proportion of ...
The Potential Health Impacts of Climate Variability and Change for the United States: Executive Summary of the Report of the Health Sector of the U.S. National Assessment.
Apr 01, 2000; ... We examined the potential impacts of climate variability and change on human health as part of a congressionally mandated study of climate change in the United States. Our author team, comprising experts from academia, government, and the private sector, was selected by the federal ...
Socioeconomic Predictors of High Allergen Levels in Homes in the Greater Boston Area.
Apr 01, 2000; ... In the United States, childhood asthma morbidity and prevalence rates are the highest in less affluent urban minority communities. More than 80% of childhood asthmatics are allergic to one or more inhalant allergens. We evaluated whether socioeconomic status was associated with a ...
Embryonic Treatment with Xenobiotics Disrupts Steroid Hormone Profiles in Hatchling Red-Eared Slider Turtles (Trachemys scripta elegans).
Apr 01, 2000; ... Many compounds in the environment capable of acting as endocrine disruptors have been assayed for their developmental effects on morphogenesis; however, few studies have addressed how such xenobiotics affect physiology. In the current study we examine the effects of three ...