Environmental Health Perspectives back issues from March 2007:
Separation of risks and benefits of seafood intake.(Commentary)
Mar 01, 2007; ... BACKGROUND: Fish and seafood provide important nutrients but may also contain toxic contaminants, such as methylmercury. Advisories against pollutants may therefore conflict with dietary recommendations. In resolving this conundrum, most epidemiologic studies provide little guidance ...
Skin exposure to isocyanates: reasons for concern.(Review)(Clinical report)
Mar 01, 2007; ... OBJECTIVE: Isocyanates (di- and poly-), important chemicals used worldwide to produce polyurethane products, are a leading cause of occupational asthma. Respiratory exposures have been reduced through improved hygiene controls and the use of less-volatile isocyanates. Yet isocyanate asthma ...
Serum dioxin concentrations and quality of ovarian function in women of Seveso.(Research)(Clinical report)
Mar 01, 2007; ... BACKGROUND: Although 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) has been associated with alterations in ovarian function and hormones in animals, it has not been studied in humans. On 10 July 1976, an explosion exposed residents of Seveso, Italy, to the highest levels of TCDD in a ...
Arsenic methylation, GSTT1, GSTM1, GSTP1 polymorphisms, and skin lesions.(Research)(Clinical report)
Mar 01, 2007; ... OBJECTIVE: We investigated whether primary and secondary arsenic methylation ratios were associated with skin lesions and whether GSTT1, GSTP1, and GSTM1 polymorphisms modify these relationships. METHODS: A case-control study of 600 cases and 600 controls that were frequency ...
Impact of trivalent arsenicals on selenoprotein synthesis.(Research)(Clinical report)
Mar 01, 2007; ... BACKGROUND: Exposure to arsenic has been associated with development of skin, lung, bladder, liver, and kidney cancer. Recent evidence suggests that an increase in oxidative stress in cells treated with arsenicals represents the molecular mechanism behind arsenic-induced carcinogenesis ....
Low-dose exposure and immunogenicity of transgenic maize expressing the Escherichia coli heat-labile toxin B subunit.(Research)
Mar 01, 2007; ... BACKGROUND: Transgenic maize, which produces the nontoxic B subunit of the Escherichia coli heat-labile toxin (LT-B) in seed, has proven to be an effective oral immunogen in mice. Currently, there is considerable concern over accidental consumption of transgenic maize expressing LT-B by ...
Evaluation of the U.S. EPA/OSWER preliminary remediation goal for perchlorate in groundwater: focus on exposure to nursing infants.(Research)(Clinical report)
Mar 01, 2007; ... BACKGROUND: Perchlorate is a common contaminant of drinking water and food. It competes with iodide for uptake into the thyroid, thus interfering with thyroid hormone production. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) set a ...
Biomonitoring of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid exposure and dose in farm families.(Research)(Clinical report)
Mar 01, 2007; ... OBJECTIVE: We estimated 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) exposure and systemic dose in farm family members following an application of 2,4-D on their farm. METHODS: Farm families were recruited from licensed applicators in Minnesota and South Carolina. Eligible family ...
Cardiovascular effects of pulmonary exposure to single-wall carbon nanotubes.(Research)
Mar 01, 2007; ... BACKGROUND: Engineered nanosized materials, such as single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNT), are emerging as technologically important in different industries. OBJECTIVE: The unique physical characteristics and the pulmonary toxicity of SWCNTs raised concerns that respiratory ...
Within- and between-home variability in indoor-air insecticide levels during pregnancy among an inner-city cohort from New York City.(Research)(Clinical report)
Mar 01, 2007; ... BACKGROUND: Residential insecticide use is widespread in the United States, but few data are available on the persistence and variability in levels in the indoor environment. OBJECTIVE: The study aim was to assess within- and between-home variability in indoor-air insecticides ...
Effects of monobutyl and di(n-butyl) phthalate in vitro on steroidogenesis and Leydig cell aggregation in fetal testis explants from the rat: comparison with effects in vivo in the fetal rat and neonatal marmoset and in vitro in the human.(Research)
Mar 01, 2007; ... BACKGROUND: Certain phthalates can impair Leydig cell distribution and steroidogenesis in the fetal rat in utero, but it is unknown whether similar effects might occur in the human. OBJECTIVES: Our aim in this study was to investigate the effects of di(n-butyl) phthalate (DBP), ...
Inhalation exposure study of titanium dioxide nanoparticles with a primary particle size of 2 to 5 nm.(Clinical report)
Mar 01, 2007; ... BACKGROUND: Nanotechnology offers great promise in many industrial applications. However, little is known about the health effects of manufactured nanoparticles, the building blocks of nanomaterials. OBJECTIVES: Titanium dioxide (Ti[O.sub.2]) nanoparticles with a primary size of ...
Induction of inflammation in vascular endothelial cells by metal oxide nanoparticles: effect of particle composition.(Research)(Clinical report)
Mar 01, 2007; ... BACKGROUND: The mechanisms governing the correlation between exposure to ultrafine particles and the increased incidence of cardiovascular disease remain unknown. Ultrafine particles appear to cross the pulmonary epithelial barrier into the bloodstream, raising the possibility of direct ...
Estimating risk from ambient concentrations of acrolein across the United States.(Research)(Clinical report)
Mar 01, 2007; ... BACKGROUND: Estimated ambient concentrations of acrolein, a hazardous air pollutant, are greater than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reference concentration throughout the United States, making it a concern for human health. However, there is no method for assessing the ...
Workgroup report: base stations and wireless networks--radiofrequency (RF) exposures and health consequences.(Research)(Conference notes)
Mar 01, 2007; ... Radiofrequency (RF) waves have long been used for different types of information exchange via the airwaves--wireless Morse code, radio, television, and wireless telephony (i.e., construction and operation of telephones or telephonic systems). Increasingly larger numbers of people rely on ...
Quality of life and capsaicin sensitivity in patients with airway symptoms induced by chemicals and scents: a longitudinal study.(Environmental Medicine)(Clinical report)
Mar 01, 2007; ... OBJECTIVE: It is common in asthma and allergy clinics to see patients presenting with upper and lower airway symptoms that are induced by chemicals and scents and not explained by allergic or asthmatic reactions. Previous studies have shown that these patients often have increased cough ...
Metals in particulate pollutants affect peak expiratory flow of schoolchildren.(Children's Health)(Clinical report)
Mar 01, 2007; ... BACKGROUND: The contribution of the metal components of particulate pollutants to acute respiratory effects has not been adequately evaluated. Moreover, little is known about the effects of genetic polymorphisms of xenobiotic metabolism on pulmonary function. OBJECTIVES: This ...
In utero p,p'-DDE exposure and infant neurodevelopment: a perinatal cohort in Mexico.(Children's Health)(dichlorodiphenyldichloroethene)(Clinical report)
Mar 01, 2007; ... BACKGROUND: Evidence suggests that p,p'-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethene (DDE) affects neurodevelopment in infants, although a critical exposure window has not yet been identified. OBJECTIVES: Our goal was to assess the prenatal DDE exposure window and its effect on the ...
Dental amalgam restorations and children's neuropsychological function: the New England children's Amalgam Trial.(Children's Health)(Clinical report)
Mar 01, 2007; ... BACKGROUND: A concern persists that children's exposure to mercury vapor from dental amalgams produces neurotoxicity. OBJECTIVE: Our goal was to compare the neuropsychological function of children, without prior exposure to dental amalgam, whose caries were repaired using either ...
Exposure to hexachlorobenzene during pregnancy and children's social behavior at 4 years of age.(Children's Health)(Clinical report)
Mar 01, 2007; ... BACKGROUND: Hexachlorobenzene (HCB) is an organochlorine chemical that has been used in agriculture and industrial processes. Behavioral impairment after HCB exposure has been described in animal models, but little information is available in humans. OBJECTIVES: Our goal was to ...
Adult lead exposure: time for change.(Mini-Monograph)(Clinical report)
Mar 01, 2007; ... We have assembled this mini-monograph on adult lead exposure to provide guidance to clinicians and public health professionals, to summarize recent thinking on lead biomarkers and their relevance to epidemiologic research, and to review two key lead-related outcomes, namely, cardiovascular ...
The epidemiology of lead toxicity in adults: measuring dose and consideration of other methodologic issues.(Mini-Monograph)
Mar 01, 2007; ... We review several issues of broad relevance to the interpretation of epidemiologic evidence concerning the toxicity of lead in adults, particularly regarding cognitive function and the cardiovascular system, which are the subjects of two systematic reviews that are also part of this ...
Recommendations for medical management of adult lead exposure.(Mini-Monograph)(Disease/Disorder overview)
Mar 01, 2007; ... Research conducted in recent years has increased public health concern about the toxicity of lead at low dose and has supported a reappraisal of the levels of lead exposure that may be safely tolerated in the workplace. In this article, which appears as part of a mini-monograph on adult ...
Lead exposure and cardiovascular disease--a systematic review.(Mini-Monograph)(Clinical report)
Mar 01, 2007; ... OBJECTIVE: This systematic review evaluates the evidence on the association between lead exposure and cardiovascular end points in human populations. METHODS: We reviewed all observational studies from database searches and citations regarding lead and cardiovascular end points ....
Cumulative lead dose and cognitive function in adults: a review of studies that measured both blood lead and bone lead.(Mini-Monograph)(Clinical report)
Mar 01, 2007; ... OBJECTIVE: We review empirical evidence for the relations of recent and cumulative lead dose with cognitive function in adults. DATA SOURCES: A systematic search of electronic databases resulted in 21 environmental and occupational studies from 1996 to 2006 that examined and ...
Pfiesteria in estuarine waters: the question of health risks.(Letter to the editor)
Mar 01, 2007; ... The conclusion of Morris et al. (2006) that "Exposure to Pfiesteria Species in Estuarine Waters Is Not a Risk Factor for Illness" is unsupported because a) a description of Pfiesteria-related fish kills in the Chesapeake estuaries during 1999-2002 was omitted; b) quantitative data on ...
Erratum.(Correction notice)
Mar 01, 2007 ... In Table 1 of the the article by Gulson et al. [Environ Health Perspect 114:1186-1192 (2006)], the average ...
Interim editors bring breadth of experience.(Editorial)
Mar 01, 2007; ... As many of you are aware, Jim Burkhart retired as editor-in-chief of EHP in January of this year. Jim did an exceptional job of guiding the journal, and under his leadership EHP saw a rise in impact factor that now ranks the journal in first place in two categories of scientific ...
Filling the translation-policy gap.(DIRECTOR'S PERSPECTIVE)(environmental health)
Mar 01, 2007; ... Formulating health policy without a thorough understanding of the implications of the environment's influence on health can be compared to building an airplane without an understanding of basic physics: though it may appear to have all the appropriate parts in the appropriate places, ...
Rallying around the environmental flag.(WARFARE)
Mar 01, 2007; ... Social scientists have long studied competition for natural resources as a source of conflict around the world, but they have paid little attention to the environment in post-conflict societies. Must the environment invariably suffer in the wake of conflict? Can former combatants rally ...
Displaced enthusiasm?(SECONDHAND SMOKE)
Mar 01, 2007; ... As evidence mounts that secondhand smoke (SHS) can harm human health, an increasing number of U.S. and Canadian cities are passing bans on smoking in restaurants and bars. Proposed bans have been opposed by a few commercial establishments and their respective trade associations, who fear ...
The Tuskegee Legacy Project.(ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE)(attitudes of black americans toward health research)
Mar 01, 2007; ... Medical research studies often do not include ethnic and racial minorities as study participants in numbers that are representative of their populations. A study published in the November 2006 issue of the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved aimed to determine whether the ...
Chrysotile on ice.(POLICY)
Mar 01, 2007; ... Parties to the Rotterdam Convention, a group of more than 100 countries that have agreed to share information about hazardous chemicals, elected in October 2006 not to add chrysotile asbestos to the list of hazardous chemicals subject to right-to-know export controls. The 1998 Rotterdam ...
Defense de fumer.(The Beat)(smoking bans in public places in France)(Brief article)
Mar 01, 2007; ... February 2007 saw something many believed could never happen: the banning of public smoking in France, a country often seen as staunchly pro-smoking. Public places as defined by the law include metro stations, museums, government offices, and stores, but not streets. Cafes, nightclubs, and ...
Green building comes to DC.(The Beat)(District of Columbia)(Brief article)
Mar 01, 2007; ... The District of Columbia passed legislation in December 2006 that makes it the first major city to require private developers to follow the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards of the U.S. Green Building Council. Under the law, district-funded commercial and ...
Will WIC can tuna?(The Beat)(Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.)(Brief article)
Mar 01, 2007; ... A number of health advocacy groups have urged the USDA to remove canned tuna from its Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, also known as WIC, saying the inclusion of tuna exposes breastfeeding mothers and their nursing infants to methylmercury when safer ...
A friend indeed.(The Beat)(asthma friendly[R] product standards)(Brief article)
Mar 01, 2007; ... The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, in conjunction with the physician-led Allergy Standards Limited, has developed the first asthma friendly[R] product standards for items such as plush toys, pillows and other bedding, flooring, vacuum cleaners, and air filtration devices ....
Backyard boiler risk.(The Beat)(Brief article)
Mar 01, 2007; ... In many areas of the United States, residents are using outdoor wood boilers to save money on heating oil and natural gas. These units are not equipped with air pollution controls, nor are they regulated, and owners are free to fuel them with anything that will burn, including painted wood ...
Young lungs in China.(The Beat)(air pollution)(Report)(Brief article)
Mar 01, 2007; ... As China's economy booms, so does its air pollution. This, according to a November 2006 Chinese health report, is a main reason why increasing numbers of Chinese people in their 30s are now beset with chronic lung diseases that traditionally have affected ...
California Environmental Protection Agency.(ehpnet)(Website overview)
Mar 01, 2007 ... Sizewise, California is the third largest state in the United States, it has the largest population, and its economy ranks among the top ten in the world. Because of its economic clout, laws that are made in the state can have a ripple effect throughout the country and even the world. One ...
Centered on breast cancer.(NIEHS News)(National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences)(Clinical report)
Mar 01, 2007; ... A relationship between early menarche in girls and later development of breast cancer has long been observed. Some environmental factors, such as diet and exposure to endocrine disruptors and other chemicals, could affect children's timing and pace of puberty and development. This leads to ...
GATA-3 maintains differentiation of mammary ductal cells.(Breast Cancer)(Clinical report)
Mar 01, 2007; ... Kouros-Mehr H, Slorach EM, Sternlicht MD, Werb Z. 2006. GATA-3 maintains the differentiation of the luminal cell fate in the mammary gland. Cell 127:1041-1055. GATA-3 is one of a family of genes responsible for driving the processes that turn undifferentiated stem cells into ...
Research helps clean up a water supply.(BEYOND THE BENCH)(perfluorooctanoic acid)
Mar 01, 2007; ... Many of the conveniences of modern life are made possible with man-made compounds. One such chemical, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), has a broad spectrum of use, from the manufacture of non-stick cookware to aerospace technology. PFOA's persistence in the environment is troubling, ...
Secondhand suspicions: breast cancer and passive smoking.(Focus)(Clinical report)
Mar 01, 2007; ... Does a young woman living with a smoker or taking a job working in a smoky bar have a greater chance of developing breast cancer? Some scientists believe that such situations can indeed raise a woman's risk of developing breast cancer before the age of 50. Because epidemiological and ...
Environment: California out in front.(Spheres of Influence)
Mar 01, 2007; ... When it comes to ecological diversity, California has it all: snow-capped mountains, wide deserts, scenic beaches, and some of the worst environmental problems in the country. Six of the country's ten most polluted cities--Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Fresno-Madera, Visalia-Porterville, ...
More human, more humane: a new approach for testing airborne pollutants.(Innovations)(Clinical report)
Mar 01, 2007; ... People not only inhale airborne contaminants but also absorb them through the skin. Both routes can set off localized toxic reactions or damage internal organs such as the liver, kidney, and brain. Conventional tests of the toxicity of gases and vapors, in which laboratory animals are ...
Breaking in through critical windows: p,p'-DDE may alter fetal neurodevelopment.(Science Selections)(Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane)(Clinical report)
Mar 01, 2007; ... DDT has been widely used to control mosquitoborne malaria since the late 1940s. The compound and metabolites such as p,p'-DDE linger in the environment for decades; even in areas where DDT has been banned, these neurotoxic chemicals are still detected in human blood, fat, breast milk, and ...
Carbon concerns: nanotubes cause cardiovascular damage.(Science Selections)
Mar 01, 2007; ... Lung deposition of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), one of the most commonly used materials in nanotechnology, is already known to cause localized toxic effects. Now scientists have demonstrated that such deposition also leads to cardiovascular damage in mice, including accelerated ...
The testosterone test: phthalate inhibits Leydig cell aggregation.(Science Selections)(Clinical report)
Mar 01, 2007; ... Testicular cancer and low sperm count are adult disorders, but evidence increasingly suggests they have a fetal origin. Cryptorchidism and hypospadias, apparent at birth, also appear linked to prebirth events. According to the testicular dysgenesis syndrome (TDS) hypothesis, all four ...
Metal duo damages lungs: lead and manganese in fine particulates.(Science Selections)
Mar 01, 2007; ... Extensive evidence indicates that fine particulates can damage human lungs. But much remains unknown about exactly which components of these particulates are to blame. In a small study of Korean children, researchers have found that two metals, lead and manganese, are among the substances ...
The division of extramural research and training welcomes two new program administrators.(NIEHS Extramural Update)(Superfund Basic Research Program)
Mar 01, 2007; ... Dr. Heather F. Henry joined the Center for Risk Analysis (CRIS) on 10 July as a program administrator for the Superfund Basic Research Program (SBRP). She received a B.S. in Biology from the University of Rochester, which included a year of study in plant-derived medicine at universities ...
Fellowships, grants, & awards.(Announcements)
Mar 01, 2007 ... Social and Cultural Dimensions of Health (R01) The ultimate goal of this program announcement is to encourage the development of health research that integrates knowledge from the biomedical and social sciences. This involves the further development of health-related social science ...
How Everyday Products Make People Sick: Toxins at Home and in the Workplace.(Book review)
Mar 01, 2007; ... By Paul D. Blanc Berkeley:University of California Press, 2007. 374 pp. ISBN: 0-520-24882-1, $19.95 Most individuals who are concerned with public health, specifically occupational and environmental health, have some awareness that the field did not begin ...
New books.(Announcements)
Mar 01, 2007 ... Acid in the Environment Gerald R. Visgilio, Diana M. Whitelaw, eds. New York:Springer, 2007. 332 pp. ISBN: 978-0-387-37561-8, $89.95 Apoptosis, Cell Signaling, and Human Disease Rakesh Srivastava Totowa, NJ:Humana Press, 2006. 384 pp ....