Environmental Health Perspectives articles from August 2006

Environmental Health Perspectives archives from August 2006

Global perspective on environmental health.(Guest Editorial)
August 1, 2006... The environment is a key determinant of human health, and exposures to toxic chemicals, physical factors, and pollutants all have a direct impact on the quality of life, the burden of disease, and the outcome of longevity. In the developing...

EHP: a home at the NIEHS.(DIRECTOR'S PERSPECTIVE)
August 1, 2006... As readers of EHP, many of you have no doubt followed the recent discussions over the fate of this publication as a publicly supported journal. I initiated these discussions last year as part of the process of evaluating the priorities,...

Manganese as a potential confounder of serum prolactin.(Correspondence)
August 1, 2006... de Burbure et al. (2006) elegantly demonstrated that dopaminergic markers in the serum, namely prolactin and homovanillic acid, are affected in children exposed to cadmium, lead, mercury, and arsenic. These findings, at low environmental...

Potential confounder: Bernard and de Burbure respond.(Correspondence)
August 1, 2006... We thank Aschner for his positive comments and interesting suggestion regarding a possible influence of manganese on serum prolactin levels. We fully acknowledge that the four elements we studied (de Burbure et al. 2006) are probably not the...

Dietary nitrate: where is the risk?(Correspondence)
August 1, 2006... Links between nitrate and health risk have been studied for > 50 years, resulting in a large body of research. As two book-length reviews of the issue (Addiscott 2005; L'hirondel and L'hirondel 2001) tried to show, none of the health claims...

Dietary nitrate: Ward et al. respond.(Correspondence)
August 1, 2006... We read with interest the letter by L'hirondel et al. regarding our workgroup report (Ward et al. 2005). L'hirondel et al. describe the research on methemoglobinemia, cancer, adverse reproductive, and other health outcomes as "extensive" and...

Errata.(Correction notice)
August 1, 2006... In Figure 1 of the article by Triche et al. [Environ Health Perspect 114:911-916 (2006)], the 24-hr average and the 8-hr maximum average were labeled incorrectly. The corrected figure appears below: On page 873 of the article by Sirivelu et...

Crisis not over for hurricane victims.(HEALTH DISPARITIES)
August 1, 2006... Thousands of Gulf Coast families displaced in 2005 by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita are the victims of an unprecedented epidemic of chronic medical and mental health problems, yet are receiving little appropriate care, reveals a report released...

An ugly picture for flower workers and their children.(OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH)
August 1, 2006... Every year, Americans spend nearly $20 billion on fresh flowers, about 70% of which come from abroad, mainly from Latin America, according to the Society of American Florists. While this can represent an economic boon for some countries,...

PFOA alters liver gene expression.(CHEMICAL EXPOSURES)
August 1, 2006... In the latest of a series of strikes against perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), the chemical has been found to affect gene expression in the livers of lab rats. PFOA is used in the manufacturing of fluorotelomers, which include nonstick substances...

An outbreak of new sources of avian flu drug.(PHARMACEUTICALS)
August 1, 2006... Worldwide, 228 people have been infected with H5N1 avian influenza, largely through exposure to sick birds; of these, more than half have died. Although only limited human-to-human transmission has been confirmed, scientists fear a worldwide...

Tax schemes for environmental payoff.(The Beat)
August 1, 2006... A new policy brief from the World Resources Institute and the Brookings Institution examines how different fiscal strategies can both raise money and benefit the environment. The brief discusses state-level initiatives that tax septic systems...

WTO kills European GMO moratorium.(The Beat)
August 1, 2006... In May 2006, the World Trade Organization ruled that the European Union moratorium on genetically modified (GM) foods was illegal. The case was brought by the United States, Canada, and Argentina, the world's biggest producers of GM foods. The...

Ironic breeze.(The Beat)
August 1, 2006... Researchers at the University of California, Irvine, confirm in the May 2006 issue of the Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association that indoor air purifiers used in small, poorly ventilated areas can add to indoor ozone levels,...

Sunscreen ads miss men.(The Beat)
August 1, 2006... A Boston University review of 24 popular magazines found that publications aimed at groups at high risk for skin cancer rarely contain advertising for sun protection products. Middle-aged and older men are both the least likely to use sunscreen...

Wal-Mart aims for organic.(The Beat)
August 1, 2006... The summer of 2006 will see the food shelves of the world's largest retail chain, Wal-Mart, getting an organic boost. The company will begin selling a wide range of organic foods at relatively affordable prices--possibly just 10% higher than...

Random acts of sustainability.(The Beat)
August 1, 2006... Random House, a publisher with 13% of the U.S. adult book trade, announced in May 2006 that it plans to raise the amount of recycled paper it uses to print books from 3% to 30% by the year 2010. Random House is the first major U.S. publisher to...

UNEP Finance Initiative.(ehpnet)
August 1, 2006... Around the time of the Rio Earth Summit, the UN Environment Programme began raising awareness of environmental and sustainability issues among the financial industry. Today, the program's Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) helps more than 160...

Gene-environment studies: who, how, when, and where?(NIEHS News)(Clinical report)
August 1, 2006... With the sequencing of the human genome completed, the question becomes: what now? Many common diseases are known to be associated with genetic variants, or changes in single nucleotides of the DNA making up the human genome. However,...

Inadequate housing may put immigrant farmworkers at risk.(Public Health)
August 1, 2006... Even though rates of substandard housing for the general U.S. population are relatively low, percentages for subpopulations such as immigrants are disproportionately high. In this report NIEHS grantee Thomas A. Arcury and colleagues at Wake...

Flagging environmental health awareness on beaches.(BEYOND THE BENCH)
August 1, 2006... During the summer months, folks flock to the beach to enjoy the combined pleasures of sun and sea. Smart beachgoers know that before they take a dip, they should check whether any warning flags are flying, indicating hazardous conditions such...

The apple bites back: claiming old orchards for residential development.(Focus)
August 1, 2006... As the U.S. population continues to grow, increasing demand for housing and related community resources means more land is being converted from agricultural uses to residential applications. According to the revised 1997 National Resources...

A risky environment for investment.(Spheres of Influence)
August 1, 2006... Floods in Europe. Heat waves in the United States. Snowfall in the deserts of the United Arab Emirates. These are among the unusual weather conditions witnessed in different parts of the world in the past five years, conditions that demonstrate...

Shiny science: a new substitute for hexavalent chromium.(Innovations)
August 1, 2006... Although perhaps more familiar to those of us of a certain age who remember when all cars had sparkling mirror-finish bumpers, chromium still plays a big part in industry. Chromium is valued for its brightness, durability, resistance to...

A liquid path to lung disease: early arsenic exposure and effects in young adults.(Science Selections)
August 1, 2006... Increased rates of cancer and mortality have been documented in areas of the world where drinking water contains high concentrations of naturally occurring arsenic. A new study by a group of Californian and Chilean researchers now provides...

Ultrafines' quick neurological hit: particles take a direct route to the brain.(Science Selections)
August 1, 2006... Proof of the penetrating capabilities of tiny particles continues to emerge. A team of U.S. researchers has just added to and clarified the existing evidence by documenting significant, rapid accumulations of inhaled ultrafine manganese oxide...

Hearing loss, loud and clear: combined effect of noise and toluene in workers.(Science Selections)
August 1, 2006... Animal studies have clearly shown that simultaneous exposure to noise and toluene, a clear organic solvent widely used in various manufacturing industries, causes hearing loss. Studies of this interaction in the workplace have been limited,...

PAHs and cognitive impairment: prenatal exposure catches up with toddlers.(Science Selections)
August 1, 2006... Previous studies have documented reduced fetal growth and developmental impairment resulting from exposure to environmental toxicants such as tobacco smoke. Now researchers at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health implicate...

The Superfund Basic Research Program--research for the future.(NIEHS Extramural Update)
August 1, 2006... It is a time of introspection for the Superfund Basic Research Program, a university-based grants program established in 1987. While maintaining the program's premise of supporting basic research for practical application to address the...

High Tech Trash: Digital Devices, Hidden Toxins, and Human Health.
August 1, 2006... High Tech Trash: Digital Devices, Hidden Toxins, and Human Health By Elizabeth Grossman Washington, DC:Island Press, 2006. 334 pp. ISBN: 1-55963-554-1, $25.95 In High Tech Trash, Elizabeth Grossman traces the effects of the...

New books.(Announcements)
August 1, 2006... A Basic Introduction to Pollutant Fate and Transport: An Integrated Approach with Chemistry, Modeling, Risk Assessment, and Environmental Legislation Frank M. Dunnivant, Elliot Anders Hoboken, NJ:John Wiley & Sons, 2006. 504 pp. ISBN:...

Evoecotoxicology: environmental changes and life features development during the evolutionary process--the record of the past at developmental stages of living organisms.(Commentary)
August 1, 2006... For most of evolutionary history, scientific understanding of the environment and life forms is extremely limited. In this commentary I discuss the hypothesis that ontogenetic features of living organisms can be considered biomarkers of...

Biomonitoring and biomarkers: exposure assessment will never be the same.(Commentary)
August 1, 2006... Using modern analytical technology, it is now possible to measure almost any chemical present in our bodies. The future role of classical exposure assessment will perhaps be marginalized because biomonitoring programs can directly measure the...

The environmental "riskscape" and social inequality: implications for explaining maternal and child health disparities.(Commentary)
August 1, 2006... BACKGROUND: Research indicates that the double jeopardy of exposure to environmental hazards combined with place-based stressors is associated with maternal and child health (MCH) disparities. OBJECTIVE AND DISCUSSION: Our aim is to present...

Digestion assays in allergenicity assessment of transgenic proteins.(Review)
August 1, 2006... The food-allergy risk assessment for transgenic proteins expressed in crops is currently based on a weight-of-evidence approach that holistically considers multiple lines of evidence. This approach recognizes that no single test or property is...

Oxidative metabolites of diisononyl phthalate as biomarkers for human exposure assessment.(Research)
August 1, 2006... Diisononyl phthalate (DINP) is a complex mixture of predominantly nine-carbon branched-chain dialkyl phthalate isomers. Similar to di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, a widely used phthalate, DINP causes antiandrogenic effects on developing rodent male...

Estimation of relative bioavailability of lead in soil and soil-like materials using young swine.(Research)
August 1, 2006... In this article we summarize the results of a series of studies that measured the relative bioavailability (RBA) of lead in a variety of soil and soil-like test materials. Reference material (Pb acetate) or Pb-contaminated soils were...

Translocation of inhaled ultrafine manganese oxide particles to the central nervous system.(Research)
August 1, 2006... BACKGROUND: Studies in monkeys with intranasally instilled gold ultrafine particles (UFPs; METHODS: To determine if olfactory translocation occurs for other solid metal UFPs and assess potential health effects, we exposed groups of rats to...

Levels and concentration ratios of polychlorinated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers in serum and breast milk in Japanese mothers.(Research)
August 1, 2006... Blood and/or breast milk have been used to assess human exposure to various environmental contaminants. Few studies have been available to compare the concentrations in one matrix with those in another. The goals of this study were to determine...

Low blood lead levels do not appear to be further reduced by dietary supplements.(Research)
August 1, 2006... OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to evaluate the association of dietary intakes of selected micronutrients and blood lead (PbB) concentrations in female adults and in children. DESIGN: With longitudinal monitoring, we measured daily intakes of...

Arsenic exposure is associated with decreased DNA repair in vitro and in individuals exposed to drinking water arsenic.(Research)
August 1, 2006... The mechanism(s) by which arsenic exposure contributes to human cancer risk is unknown; however, several indirect cocarcinogenesis mechanisms have been proposed. Many studies support the role of As in altering one or more DNA repair processes....

Inferences drawn from a risk assessment compared directly with a randomized trial of a home drinking water intervention.(Research)
August 1, 2006... Risk assessments and intervention trials have been used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to estimate drinking water health risks. Seldom are both methods used concurrently. Between 2001 and 2003, illness data from a trial were...

Phorate exposure and incidence of cancer in the Agricultural Health Study.(Research)
August 1, 2006... BACKGROUND: We recently reported a link between use of the organophosphate pesticide phorate and risk of prostate cancer among applicators with a family history of prostate cancer in the Agricultural Health Study (AHS). OBJECTIVE: This...

Volatile organic compounds and pulmonary function in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988-1994.(Research)
August 1, 2006... BACKGROUND: Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are present in much higher concentrations indoors, where people spend most of their time, than outdoors and may have adverse health effects. VOCs have been associated with respiratory symptoms, but...

Coarse particles and heart rate variability among older adults with coronary artery disease in the Coachella Valley, California.(Research)
August 1, 2006... Alterations in cardiac autonomic control, assessed by changes in heart rate variability (HRV), provide one plausible mechanistic explanation for consistent associations between exposure to airborne particulate matter (PM) and increased risks of...

Mycotoxin adducts on human serum albumin: biomarkers of exposure to Stachybotrys chartarum.(Research)
August 1, 2006... OBJECTIVE: Despite the growing body of evidence showing adverse health effects from inhalation exposure to the trichothecene-producing mold Stachybotrys chartarum, controversy remains. Currently, there are no reliable assays suitable for...

Ozone and daily mortality in Shanghai, China.(Research)
August 1, 2006... BACKGROUND: Controversy remains regarding the relationship between ambient ozone and mortality worldwide. In mainland China, the largest developing country, there has been no prior study investigating the acute effect of [O.sub.3] on death...

Lead exposure is associated with decreased serum paraoxonase 1 (PON1) activity and genotypes.(Research)
August 1, 2006... Lead exposure causes cardiac and vascular damage in experimental animals. However, there is considerable debate regarding the causal relationship between lead exposure and cardiovascular dysfunction in humans. Paraoxonase 1 (PON1), a...

Application of cryopreserved human hepatocytes in trichloroethylene risk assessment: relative disposition of chloral hydrate to trichloroacetate and trichloroethanol.(Research)
August 1, 2006... BACKGROUND: Trichloroethylene (TCE) is a suspected human carcinogen and a common groundwater contaminant. Chloral hydrate (CH) is the major metabolite of TCE formed in the liver by cytochrome P450 2E1. CH is metabolized to the hepatocarcinogen...

Nested case-control study of autoimmune disease in an asbestos-exposed population.(Research)
August 1, 2006... OBJECTIVE: To explore the potential association between asbestos exposure and risk of autoimmune disease, we conducted a case-control study among a cohort of 7,307 current and former residents of Libby, Montana, a community with historical...

Cancer incidence among pesticide applicators exposed to cyanazine in the Agricultural Health Study.(Research)
August 1, 2006... BACKGROUND: Cyanazine is a common pesticide used frequently in the United States during the 1980s and 1990s. Animal and human studies have suggested that triazines may be carcinogenic, but results have been mixed. We evaluated cancer incidence...

Cooperation of the inducible nitric oxide synthase and cytochrome P450 1A1 in mediating lung inflammation and mutagenicity induced by diesel exhaust particles.(Research)
August 1, 2006... Diesel exhaust particles (DEPs) have been shown to activate oxidant generation by alveolar macrophages (AMs), alter xenobiotic metabolic pathways, and modify the balance of pro-antiinflammatory cytokines. In this study we investigated the role...

The OECD program to validate the rat Hershberger bioassay to screen compounds for in vivo androgen and antiandrogen responses. Phase 1: use of a potent agonist and a potent antagonist to test the standardized protocol.(Research)
August 1, 2006... The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has completed phase 1 of the Hershberger validation intended to identify in vivo activity of suspected androgens and anti-androgens. Seventeen laboratories from 7 countries...

Di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate enhances atopic dermatitis-like skin lesions in mice.(Research)
August 1, 2006... Di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) has been widely used in polyvinyl chloride products and has become ubiquitous in the developed countries. DEHP reportedly displays an adjuvant effect on immunoglobulin production. However, it has not been...

UMTS base station-like exposure, well-being, and cognitive performance.(Research)
August 1, 2006... BACKGROUND: Radio-frequency electromagnetic fields (RF EMF) of mobile communication systems are widespread in the living environment, yet their effects on humans are uncertain despite a growing body of literature. OBJECTIVES: We...

Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals Research Program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: summary of a peer-review report.(Research)
August 1, 2006... At the request of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Research and Development, a subcommittee of the Board of Scientific Counselors Executive Committee conducted an independent and open peer review of the Endocrine...

Hearing loss in workers exposed to toluene and noise.(Environmental Medicine)
August 1, 2006... In this study we investigated the risk of hearing loss among workers exposed to both toluene and noise. We recruited 58 workers at an adhesive materials manufacturing plant who were exposured to both toluene and noise [78.6-87.1 A-weighted...

Effect of prenatal exposure to airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on neurodevelopment in the first 3 years of life among inner-city children.(Children's Health)(Clinical report)
August 1, 2006... Our prospective cohort study of nonsmoking African-American and Dominican mothers and children in New York City is evaluating the role of prenatal exposure to urban pollutants, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), environmental...

Increased mortality from lung cancer and bronchiectasis in young adults after exposure to arsenic in utero and in early childhood.(Children's Health)
August 1, 2006... Arsenic in drinking water is an established cause of lung cancer, and preliminary evidence suggests that ingested arsenic may also cause nonmalignant lung disease. Antofagasta is the second largest city in Chile and had a distinct period of...

PAH-DNA adducts in cord blood and fetal and child development in a Chinese cohort.(Children's Health)
August 1, 2006... Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are an important class of toxic pollutants released by fossil fuel combustion. Other pollutants include metals and particulate matter. PAH-DNA adducts, or benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) adducts as their proxy,...

Effect of prenatal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls on incidence of acute respiratory infections in preschool Inuit children.(Children's Health)
August 1, 2006... OBJECTIVE: We set out to assess whether environmental prenatal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) is associated with incidence of acute respiratory infections in preschool Inuit children. STUDY DESIGN: We reviewed the medical...