Environmental Health Perspectives articles from July 2003

Environmental Health Perspectives archives from July 2003

Environmental health in developing countries: an overview of the problems and capacities.(Guest Editorial)
July 1, 2003... Human health and environmental health are intimately intertwined. The existence of clean air, clean Water, a stable climate, thriving wildlife, and well-managed natural resources determines the extent to which people can enjoy their basic...

Herbicide effects on embryo implantation and litter size.(Correspondence)
July 1, 2003... We are concerned over specific scientific issues reported by Cavieres et al. in the November 2002 issue of EHP (Cavieres et al. 2002). The paper, which has already received considerable attention in the media, presents conclusions that are not...

Reported seasonal dependence of herbicide developmental toxicity in mice.(Correspondence)
July 1, 2003... In their paper published in the November 2002 issue of EHP, Cavieres et al. (2002) exposed pregnant mice to a commercial herbicide mixture and determined pregnancy outcomes. Separate experiments were conducted for each season of the year; the...

Asthma and Gulf War exposures.(Correspondence)
July 1, 2003... As a physician who treats patients with Gulf War syndrome and multiple chemical sensitivities, and on the basis of my clinical experience, I believe that these diseases are related and reflect valid pathophysiologic and biochemical processes in...

Asthma and Gulf War exposures: response.(Correspondence)
July 1, 2003... As clearly stated in the introduction of our paper (Lange et al. 2002), there are many deployment-related exposures that have been suggested as causes for illnesses observed among veterans of the Gulf War. In our study we investigated the...

Communication in emergencies.(Correspondence)
July 1, 2003... In their Commentary "Ethical Perspectives for Public and Environmental Health," Lambert et al. (2003) paraphrased a 1990 editorial that I coauthored with Lester Lave (Morgan and Lave 1990) to create a straw man against which to contrast their...

Communication in emergencies: response.(Correspondence)
July 1, 2003... In our paper (Lambert et al. 2003), we did not advocate neutral messages in acute emergency response situations and agreed with Morgan and Lave (1990) that we have a responsibility to prevent people from entering harm's way. However, we...

Corrections.
July 1, 2003... In "Longterm Follow-Up of Residents of the Three Mile Island Accident Area: 1979-1998" [EHP 111:341-348 (2003)]) Talbott et al. attributed a statement to Maureen Hatch through a reference that was incorrect and would like to correct the error....

WHO names top 10 health risks.(International Health)
July 1, 2003... Government action, in concert with individual action, can increase healthy life expectancy by 5-10 years worldwide, concludes The World Health Report 2002: Reducing Risks, Promoting Healthy Life. The report summarizes one of the largest...

New paint: no harm, no foul?(Material Science)
July 1, 2003... The hulls of oceangoing ships traditionally have been coated with toxic paints containing heavy metals such as copper and tributyltin, active ingredients that work by poisoning hull-hugging marine organisms such as barnacles, tube worms, and...

Corralling CAFOs.(The Beat)
July 1, 2003... The U.S. EPA and USDA have announced significantly tighter rules for controlling runoff from concentrated animal feeding operations (CMOs). The rules require approximately 15,000 large CAFOs to obtain permits for discharge, or potential...

Olive branch for health?(The Beat)
July 1, 2003... In April 2003, the WHO and the International Solidarity Fund of Cities against Poverty launched a program to improve public health in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Health officials from cities in the program areas will meet...

When the phones go dead.(The Beat)
July 1, 2003... As global sales of mobile phones surged in 2002 to over 400 million units, 10 major mobile phone manufacturers signed on to a Basel Convention-sponsored initiative for environmentally sound management of discarded phones. Mobile phones are made...

MODIS operandi for mapping haze.(Innovative Technologies)
July 1, 2003... Particles that are put into the air in one spot on the globe can wind up being inhaled thousands of miles away. Desert dust has traveled from Asia to the west coast of North America in sufficient amounts to influence air quality there, and...

Development Gateway Foundation.(EHPnet)
July 1, 2003... Founded in 2001, the Washington, D.C.-based Development Gateway Foundation (DGF) takes advantage of new information and communications technologies (ICT) to help nations alleviate poverty and foster sustainable development. The DGF's activities...

Taking a shot at lead.(The Beat)
July 1, 2003... U.S. shooting enthusiasts fire more than 160 million pounds of lead shot and bullets into the soil at outdoor firing ranges each year. In January 2003, the Izaak Walton League, a Gaithersburg, Maryland-based conservation group, signed a...

Banking on progress in Asia.(The Beat)
July 1, 2003... From Azerbaijan to Vietnam, Asia is confronted with massive environmental degradation, caused largely by exponential population growth, along with expanding manufacturing and petroleum and mineral extraction. Yet despite an economic boom, Asia...

Good scents--bad sense?(The Beat)
July 1, 2003... That pine or citrus scent left after cleaning may not be a sign of a healthier environment, according to recent unpublished studies led by Charles Weschler at Denmark's Technological University. The studies suggest that even tiny concentrations...

Building self-reliance in environmental science: the ITREOH experience.(NIEHS News)
July 1, 2003... As globalization of industry and commerce brings forth the need for international collaboration to ensure public health worldwide, the NIH is responding by supporting programs such as the International Training and Research Program in...

Bisphenol a linked to chromosome damage in Mice.(Headliners: Endocrine Disruptors)
July 1, 2003... Hunt PA, Koehler KE, Susiarjo M, Hodges CA, Ilagan A, Voigt RC, et al. 2003. Bisphenol A exposure causes meiotic aneuploidy in the female mouse. Curr Biol 13:546-553. Bisphenol A (BPA) is a common component in polycarbonate plastics used...

The capacity to change: building global environmental health expertise.(Focus)
July 1, 2003... Over the past decade, a number of national research and international aid organizations have begun exploring diverse methods to help developing countries build the research capacity to deal with their own environmental problems. The World...

Environmental triage in Afghanistan.(Spheres of Influence)
July 1, 2003... Since the conflict that ended Taliban rule in late 2001, Afghanistan has made fitful starts toward recovery. The resumption of services and rebuilding of roads is encouraging, but even taking stock of the devastation remains at an early stage....

Connecting to a sustainable future.(Innovations)
July 1, 2003... Planet Earth has a problem, a big problem. The planet's finite resources are overburdened by the unceasing demands of overconsumption. Fortunately, there is an antidote to the problem: sustainable development, a concept that has taken root and...

Suspect inheritance: potential neurotoxicants passed to fetuses.(Science Selections)
July 1, 2003... In a new twist in an ongoing saga, recent findings show that mothers exposed to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are passing the suspected neurotoxicants on to their unborn infants [EHP 111:1249-1252]. Researchers led by Anita Mazdai of...

Concentrating on PBDEs: chemical levels rise in women.(Science Selections)
July 1, 2003... On the heels of a European Union announcement of a forthcoming ban on polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) comes a report by researchers led by Myrto Petreas of the California Department of Toxic Substances Control that women in the San...

Heavy on the metals: parsing the particulate content of the London Smog.(Science Selections)
July 1, 2003... Half a century after the 1952 London Smog debacle, in which an estimated 12,000 people were killed in the months following a particularly intense early December bout of air pollution, a team of English and U.S. researchers has sliced through...

Environmental factors in autoimmune disease.(NIEHS Extramural Update)
July 1, 2003... Autoimmune diseases are chronic, potentially life-threatening conditions. There are more than 80 recognized autoimmune diseases including systemic lupus erythematosus, glomerulonephritis, multiple sclerosis, autoimmune thyroiditis, rheumatoid...

Fellowships, grants, & awards.(Announcements)
July 1, 2003... Novel Technologies for In Vivo Imaging (SBIR/STTR) The National Cancer Institute (NCI), the NIEHS, the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney...

Calendar.(Announcement)
July 1, 2003... August 3-8 August, Sun-Fri. Human Genetics & Genomics. Waterville, Maine. Information: Conference Registration, Gordon Research Conferences, PO Box 984, West Kingston, RI 02892-0984 USA, 401-783-4011, fax: 401-783-7644, e-mail:...

Precaution, Environmental Science, and Preventive Public Policy.
July 1, 2003... Edited by Joel A. Tickner Washington, DC:Island Press, 2003. 406 pp. ISBN: 1-55963-331-X, $60 cloth; ISBN: 1-55963-332-8, $30 paper. Except perhaps for SARS, few things have spread across the planet as quickly as the precautionary principle...

New books.(Announcements)
July 1, 2003... Air Quality in Cities Nicolas Moussiopoulos, ed. Heidelberg, Germany:Springer-Verlag, 2003. 298 pp. ISBN: 3-540-00842-X, $106.25 Approaches to Handling Environmental Problems in the Mining and Metallurgical Regions Walter Leal Filho, Irina...

No evidence of dioxin cancer threshold.(Commentary)
July 1, 2003... The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has developed an estimate of the human cancer risk from dioxin, using the standard low-dose linear extrapolation approach. This estimate has been controversial because of concern that it may...

Assessing human exposure to phthalates using monoesters and their oxidized metabolites as biomarkers.(Commentary)
July 1, 2003... Phthalates are a group of industrial chemicals with many commercial uses, such as solvents, additives, and plasticizers. For example, di-(2-ethythexyl) phthalate (DEHP) is added in varying amounts to certain plastics, such as polyvinyl...

A climate-based model predicts the spatial distribution of the Lyme disease vector Ixodes scapularis in the United States.(Research)
July 1, 2003... An understanding of the spatial distribution of the black-legged tick, Ixodes scapularis, is a fundamental component, in assessing human risk for Lyme disease in much of the United States. Although a county-level vector distribution map exists...

Effects of the isoflavones genistein and equol on the gonadal development of Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes).(Research)
July 1, 2003... The estrogenic isoflavone compound genistein recently has been found in the effluents of sewage treatment plants and pulp mills, and the related compound equol has been detected in the runoff from agricultural fields treated with hog manure....

The relationship between environmental exposures to phthalates and DNA damage in human sperm using the neutral comet assay.(Research)
July 1, 2003... Phthalates are industrial chemicals widely used in many commercial applications. The general population is exposed to phthalates through consumer products as well as through diet and medical treatments. To determine whether environmental levels...

On the relationship between time-series studies, dynamic population studies, and estimating loss of life due to short-term exposure to environmental risks.(Research)
July 1, 2003... There is a growing concern that short-term exposure to combustion-related air pollution is associated with increased risk of death. This finding is based largely on time-series studies that estimate associations between daily variations in...

High body burdens of 2,2',4,4'-tetrabromodiphenyl Ether (BDE-47) in California women.(Research)
July 1, 2003... Following our first report on elevated polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) concentrations in California women, we expanded our investigation to include diverse groups of local women. We analyzed additional adipose and serum samples collected...

Bisphenol A is released from used polycarbonate animal cages into water at room temperature.(Research)
July 1, 2003... Bisphenol A (BPA) is a monomer with estrogenic activity that is used in the production of food packaging, dental sealants, polycarbonate plastic, and many other products. The monomer has previously been reported to hydrolyze and leach from...

The temporal pattern of respiratory and heart disease mortality in response to air pollution.(Research)
July 1, 2003... Short-term changes in ambient particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters < 10 lam (PM]o) have been associated with short-term fluctuations in mortality or morbidity in many studies. In this study, we tested whether those deaths are just...

Arsenic groundwater contamination in Middle Ganga Plain, Bihar, India: a future danger?(Research)
July 1, 2003... The pandemic of arsenic poisoning due to contaminated groundwater in West Bengal, India, and all of Bangladesh has been thought to be limited to the Ganges Delta (the Lower Ganga Plain), despite early survey reports of arsenic contamination in...

Skin as a route of exposure and sensitization in chronic beryllium disease.(Research)
July 1, 2003... Chronic beryllium disease is an occupational lung disease that begins as a cell-mediated immune response to beryllium. Although respiratory and engineering controls have significantly decreased occupational beryllium exposures over the last...

Toxicologic and epidemiologic clues from the characterization of the 1952 London smog fine particulate matter in archival autopsy lung tissues.(Research)
July 1, 2003... Exposure to atmospheric fine particulate matter (PM), even at low ambient concentrations, has clearly been linked to increases in mortality and morbidity. A 10-[micro]g [m.sup.-3] increase in P[M.sub.10] (PM < 10 [micro]m) has been found to...

Inhalation exposure of rats to asphalt fumes generated at paving temperatures alters pulmonary xenobiotic metabolism pathways without lung injury.(Research)
July 1, 2003... Asphalt fumes are complex mixtures of various organic compounds, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). PAHs require bioactivation by the cytochrome P-450 monooxygenase system to exert toxic/carcinogenic effects. The present study...

Distribution of methyl sulfone metabolites of polychlorinated biphenyls and p,p'-DDE in human tissues.(Research)
July 1, 2003... We determined methylsulfonyl metabolites of chlorinated biphenyls (MeS[O.sub.2]-CBs) and 1,1-bis (4-chlorophenyl)-2, 2-dichloroethene (p,p'-DDE) in human adipose, liver, brain, and lung tissues obtained from 11 Belgian individuals (9-62 years...

A study of urban housing demolitions as sources of lead in ambient dust: demolition practices and exterior dust fall.(Research)
July 1, 2003... Demolition of older housing for urban redevelopment purposes benefits communities by removing housing with lead paint and dust hazards and by creating spaces for lead paint-free housing and other community resources. This study was conducted to...

Human prenatal and postnatal exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers, polychlorinated biphenyls, polychlorobiphenylols, and pentachlorophenol.(Environmental Medicine)
July 1, 2003... The aim of this study was to determine human prenatal and postnatal exposures to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), hydroxylated metabolites of PCBs (polychlorobiphenylols; OH-PCBs), and pentachlorophenol...

The work environment and workers' health in four large office buildings.(Environmental Medicine)
July 1, 2003... We conducted a 1-year epidemiologic study in Boston, Massachusetts, beginning May 1997, to examine the associations between environmental factors and office workers' health. We recruited 98 subjects (81 females and 17 males) in 21 offices in...

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers in maternal and fetal blood samples.(Children's Health)
July 1, 2003... Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are widely used as time retardants in consumer goods, such as plastics, electronics, textiles, and construction material. PBDEs have been found in human milk, fat, and blood samples. Rodent studies...

Assessment of pre- and postnatal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls: lessons from the inuit cohort study.(Children's Health)
July 1, 2003... Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are food-chain contaminants that have been shown to induce adverse developmental effects in humans. In the course of an epidemiologic study established to investigate neurodevelopmental deficits induced by...

Birth malformations and other adverse perinatal outcomes in four U.S. wheat-producing states.(Children's Health)
July 1, 2003... Chlorophenoxy herbicides are widely used in the United States and Western Europe for broadleaf weed control in grain farming and park maintenance. Most of the spring and durum wheat produced in the United States is grown in Minnesota, Montana,...

Particle concentrations in inner-city homes of children with asthma: the effect of smoking, cooking, and outdoor pollution.(Children's Health)
July 1, 2003... Inner-city children have high rates of asthma. Exposures to particles, including allergens, may cause or exacerbate asthma symptoms. As part of an epidemiologic study of inner-city children with asthma, continuous (10-min average) measurements...