Environmental Health Perspectives articles from June 2004

Environmental Health Perspectives archives from June 2004

The oceans and human health.(Guest Editorial)
June 1, 2004... For millennia, the oceans have been perceived by mankind as a producer of essential protein, a vital transportation artery, a source of great danger (from storms, hurricanes, typhoons, tsunamis, and venomous and predatory animals) and the...

Connecting the oceans and human health.(Guest Editorial)
June 1, 2004... Life on Earth is and has always been inextricably associated with the oceans that occupy greater than 70% of the planet's surface. The origins of life as we know it began in the depths of the oceans, and human life is still unreservedly...

Access to environmental information.(Perspectives / Correspondence)
June 1, 2004... In the February 2004 issue of EHP in the article "Does Secrecy Equal Security? Limiting Access to Environmental Information," Richard Dahl (2004) discussed the government's current policies placing greater restrictions on public access to...

Testing toxic compounds in human subjects: ethical standards and good science.(Perspectives / Correspondence)
June 1, 2004... We read with interest the letter by Sass and Needleman (2004) and the responses it triggered (Charnley and Patterson 2004; Chart et al. 2004; McAllister 2004; Tobia et al. 2004). In our opinion, Sass and Needleman made two main points: a) human...

Testing toxic pesticides in humans: health risks with no health benefits.(Perspectives / Correspondence)
June 1, 2004... Sass and Needleman (2004a) described circumstances under which industry-sponsored studies on erythrocyte cholinesterase inhibition by the pesticides dichlorvos and aldicarb showed significant adverse effects that were dismissed by the...

Toxicity of fragrances.(Perspectives / Correspondence)
June 1, 2004... I appreciated Barb Wilkie's (2004) important letter on the need to do more research on health effects of artificial fragrance and flavor products. Over 4,000 chemicals are used in artificial fragrance products, yet the vast majority of products...

Reconstructing the environment in Iraq.(Environmental Education)
June 1, 2004... Three wars and a 12-year embargo have cumulatively damaged Iraq's land, air, water, and health infrastructure. Now, as part of efforts to reverse this pattern of damage, the U.S. Agency for International Development has awarded the Stony Brook...

Japan's toxic past resurfaces.(Hazardous Waste)
June 1, 2004... Chemical weapons stored by the Japanese army at the end of World War II pose greater health risks than previously thought, according to a recent report by Japan's Ministry of the Environment. The study found chemical weapon stockpiles or damage...

Water pollution into wine.(The Beat)
June 1, 2004... The French ecological group Robin des Bois has issued a statement that production of Beaujolais Nouveau wine has left six French rivers in the Beaujolais region polluted with large amounts of pesticides and two of them--the Azergues and the...

Mist misses the mark.(The Beat)
June 1, 2004... Redesigned asthma inhalers are being introduced as manufacturers begin phasing out the ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons that once helped propel asthma drugs into the lungs. Some of the new inhalers use hydrofluoroalkane, an environmentally...

High cost of heavy traffic.(The Beat)
June 1, 2004... The latest annual Urban Mobility Report, released in October 2003 by the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University, found that traffic congestion cost the United States an estimated $69.5 billion in wasted fuel and lost...

Echinacea no cure-all for kids.(Herbal Medicine)
June 1, 2004... Children suffer an average of 6-8 upper respiratory infections (URIs) each year, each lasting 7-9 days. Decongestants and cough suppressants often provide little relief for children under 12, prompting many parents to try alternatives such as...

Why males are more at risk for melanoma.(Cancer)
June 1, 2004... A team of researchers from the University Hospital of Tubingen, Germany, has shown that genetic variations in BRAF, a gene previously implicated in malignant melanoma, could account for a substantial proportion of the so-called sporadic form of...

Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies.(ehp net)
June 1, 2004... Climate change: the news is flooded with stories related to this issue, from the raging debate over whether the Kyoto Protocol is the best way to control climate change, to human-interest stories about rising ocean and flood waters and other...

A-maize-ing plastics.(The Beat)
June 1, 2004... Sony and Mitsubishi Plastic have overcome one of the shortcomings of eco-friendly plastics by developing a new corn-based plastic that's flame-retardant. The material incorporates an unidentified inorganic flame retardant and is as strong as...

Environmental heroes.(The Beat)
June 1, 2004... This year marked the 15th annual presentation of the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize to grassroots activists from six geographic regions. Each year, winners are selected by an international jury to split a $125,000 cash award. A survey...

New Centers for Oceans and Human Health.(Environews / NIEHS News)
June 1, 2004... One in twenty: that's the percentage of people who develop rashes, nausea, or other symptoms after swimming in marine waters with levels of pollution deemed acceptable by the European Union and the U.S Environmental Protection Agency, according...

Toxin talk in Miami.(beyond the BENCH)
June 1, 2004... Summertime in the United States means crowds of people flocking to the coast to enjoy the beaches and oceans. For many people--with no small credit to Steven Spielberg--their biggest fear associated with the oceans is sharks. But a much more...

MeHg/PCB combination impairs motor skills in young rats.(Headliners / Toxic Synergism)
June 1, 2004... Roegge CS, Wang VC, Powers BE, Klintsova AY, Villareal S, Greenough WT, Schantz SL. 2004. Motor impairment in rats exposed to PCBs and methylmercury during early development. Toxicol Sci 77:315-324. Methylmercury (MeHg) and polychlorinated...

The state of the oceans, part 2: delving deeper into the sea's bounty.(Environews / Focus)
June 1, 2004... The oceans, which cover 70% of the world's surface, are the least explored and least understood ecosystems on the planet. Yet today scientists realize marine organisms are becoming increasingly important as sources for new medicines and medical...

Risk assessment at the EPA: an agency self-exam.(Environews / Spheres of Influence)
June 1, 2004... The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has for the first time conducted an internal investigation of its own approach to risk assessment. The investigation's results are contained in a 193-page staff paper titled An Examination of EPA...

Robolobsters: the beauty of biomimetics.(Environews / Innovations)
June 1, 2004... Lobsters have a keenly developed sense of smell, which they use to detect and trace the odor of their food to its source in the ever-turbulent ocean. Scientists working in a new field known as biomimetic robotics believe that humans can solve...

Exhaustive variation: diesel studies should look at particle differences.(Environews / Science Selections)
June 1, 2004... In the past 12-15 years, most experiments on the health effects of diesel exhaust particles (DEP) have employed samples from one of two types of engines. Automobile-generated DEP has been tested extensively for its effects on the heart and...

Disinfection question: how should we measure exposure?(Environews / Science Selections)
June 1, 2004... Chlorination of public water supplies began in the early 1900s and quickly led to a massive reduction in waterborne diseases. At the same time, chlorination and other disinfection methods introduced a subtler threat to public health:...

Risky shellfish? Assessing hazards of clam consumption.(Environews / Science Selections)
June 1, 2004... Although the north shore of the St. Lawrence River's lower estuary is regularly inspected for the presence of toxic algae and biological contamination, this coastal ecosystem is not regularly monitored for chemical contaminants. Bioaccumulation...

Antimony: an unlikely confounder in the relationship between well water arsenic and health outcomes in Bangladesh.(Research / Commentary)
June 1, 2004... Recent in vitro studies have suggested a potential role for antimony as a confounder in human health studies related to arsenic in drinking water. We measured tube-well water concentrations of antimony and arsenic in the Pabna region of...

A tale of two diesels.(Research / Commentary)
June 1, 2004... Two different samples of diesel exhaust particles (DEP) have been used by toxicologists interested primarily in cancer/genotoxicity or noncancer--such as pulmonary inflammation and asthma exacerbation--health end points. These are,...

Bioassay-directed fractionation and Salmonella mutagenicity of automobile and forklift diesel exhaust particles.(Research / Article)
June 1, 2004... Many pulmonary toxicity studies of diesel exhaust particles (DEPs) have used an automobile-generated sample (A-DEPs) whose mutagenicity has not been reported. In contrast, many mutagenicity studies of DEPs have used a forklift-generated sample...

Sample characterization of automobile and forklift diesel exhaust particles and comparative pulmonary toxicity in mice.(Research / Article)
June 1, 2004... Two samples of diesel exhaust particles (DEPs) predominate in health effects research: an automobile-derived DEP (A-DEP) sample and the National Institute of Standards Technology standard reference material (SRM 2975) generated from a forklift...

Relationships between PCBs and thyroid hormones and retinol in female and male polar bears.(Research / Article)
June 1, 2004... We studied the relationships between polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and thyroid hormones (THs) and retinol within two groups of female polar bears (Ursus maritimus), females with cubs of the year (FWCOY) and females without cubs of the year...

Prediction of residential pet and cockroach allergen levels using questionnaire information.(Research / Article)
June 1, 2004... We assessed the accuracy of questionnaire reports of cat and dog ownership and presence of cockroaches in predicting measured allergen concentrations in house dust. We collected dust samples in the homes of 932 newborns living in New England....

Cellular and humoral immune abnormalities in Gulf War veterans.(Research / Article)
June 1, 2004... We examined 100 symptomatic Gulf War veterans (patients) and 100 controls for immunologic assays. The veterans and controls were compared for the percentage of T cells (CD3); B cells (CD19); helper:suppressor (CD4:CD8) ratio; natural killer...

Natural variability and the influence of concurrent control values on the detection and interpretation of low-dose or weak endocrine toxicities.(Research / Article)
June 1, 2004... While defining the no effect level for the 5[alpha]-reductase inhibitor finasteride in the Hershberger assay, we encountered an inverted-U low-dose trophic effect on the prostate gland of the rat. Two attempts to confirm this observation were...

Adipose tissue levels of organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls and risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.(Research / Article)
June 1, 2004... In this nested case-control study we examined the relationship between non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and organochlorine pesticide exposure. We used a data set originally collected between 1969 and 1983 in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency...

Estradiol uptake, toxicity, metabolism, and adverse effects on cadmium-treated amphibian embryos.(Research / Article)
June 1, 2004... The exposure of Buff arenarum embryos to 25 [micro]mol/L 17[beta]-estradiol ([E.sub.2]) resulted in 100% lethality within 48 hr, whereas 10 [micro]mol//L [E.sub.2] was the no observed effect concentration value for short-term chronic (7 days)...

Cytogenetic markers, DNA single-strand breaks, urinary metabolites, and DNA repair rates in styrene-exposed lamination workers.(Research / Article)
June 1, 2004... The effect of occupational exposure to styrene on frequencies of chromosomal aberrations and binucleated cells with micronuclei and on single-strand break levels in peripheral blood lymphocytes was studied in 86 reinforced plastic workers and...

Emission-particle-induced ventilatory abnormalities in a rat model of pulmonary hypertension.(Research / Article)
June 1, 2004... Preexistent cardiopulmonary disease in humans appears to enhance susceptibility to the adverse effects of ambient particulate matter. Previous studies in this laboratory have demonstrated enhanced inflammation and mortality after intratracheal...

Ultrafine particle deposition in subjects with asthma.(Research / Article)
June 1, 2004... Ambient air particles in the ultrafine size range (diameter < 100 nm) may contribute to the health effects of particulate matter. However, there are few data on ultrafine particle deposition during spontaneous breathing, and none in people with...

Chemical risks associated with consumption of shellfish harvested on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River's lower estuary.(Research / Article)
June 1, 2004... Shellfish have the capacity to accumulate chemical contaminants found in their biotope and therefore present a potential risk for consumers. This study was conducted to assess the chemical risks associated with consumption of shellfish...

Breast cancer risk and historical exposure to pesticides from wide-area applications assessed with GIS.(Research / Article)
June 1, 2004... Pesticides are of interest in etiologic studies of breast cancer because many mimic estrogen, a known breast cancer risk factor, or cause mammary tumors in animals, but most previous studies have been limited by using one-rime tissue...

Endocrine disruption and altered gonadal development in white perch (Morone americana) from the lower Great Lakes region.(Research / Article)
June 1, 2004... High prevalences of gonadal intersex have been observed in wild fish populations in areas affected by domestic and industrial effluents. For this study, fish were collected in 1998 from the Cootes Paradise region of Hamilton Harbour in western...

Exocrine pancreatic pathology in female Harlan Sprague-Dawley rats after chronic treatment with 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin and dioxin-like compounds.(Research / Article)
June 1, 2004... We evaluated the effect of chronic exposure to dioxin and dioxin-like compounds on the pancreas in female Harlan Sprague-Dawley rats. This investigation represents part of an ongoing National Toxicology Program initiative to determine the...

Mercury exposure aboard an ore boat.(Environmental Medicine / Grand Rounds)
June 1, 2004... Two maritime academy interns (X and Y) were exposed to mercury vapor after spilling a bottle of mercury on the floor in an enclosed storeroom while doing inventory aboard an ore boat. During a 3-day period, intern Y suffered transient clinical...

Pesticide testing in humans: ethics and public policy.(Environmental Medicine / Workgroup Report)
June 1, 2004... Pesticide manufacturers have tested pesticides increasingly in human volunteers over the past decade. The apparent goal of these human studies is to establish threshold levels for symptoms, termed "no observed effect levels." Data from these...

The effect of disinfection by-products and mutagenic activity on birth weight and gestational duration.(Children's Health / Article)
June 1, 2004... Epidemiologic studies of disinfection by-products have traditionally focused on total trihalomethane (TTHM) concentration as a surrogate for maternal exposure during pregnancy. We used birth certificate data on 196,000 infants to examine the...

Levels of lead in breast milk and their relation to maternal blood and bone lead levels at one month postpartum.(Children's Health / Article)
June 1, 2004... Despite the many well-recognized benefits of breast-feeding for both mothers and infants, detectable levels of lead in breast milk have been documented in population studies of women with no current environmental or occupational exposures....

Association of [FEV.sub.1] in asthmatic children with personal and microenvironmental exposure to airborne particulate matter.(Children's Health / Article)
June 1, 2004... Exposure to particulate matter (PM) air pollution has been shown to exacerbate children's asthma, but the exposure sources and temporal characteristics are still under study. Children's exposure to PM is likely to involve both...

Centers for Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research.(Announcements / NIEHS Extramural Update)
June 1, 2004... In 1998, recognizing that exposure to hazardous environmental conditions can be particularly detrimental to the health of children, the NIEHS, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...

Novel technologies for in vivo imaging.(Announcements / Fellowships, Grants, & Awards)
June 1, 2004... This program announcement (PA) must be read in conjunction with the current Omnibus Solicitation of the NIH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Food and Drug Administration for Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small...

Epidemiology and other health studies financial assistance program.(Fellowships, Grants, & Awards)
June 1, 2004... The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environment, Safety, and Health announces the availability of funds to provide medical evaluations in order to identify occupationally related health impacts in former DOE workers. This request for...

Calendar.(Announcements)(Calendar)
June 1, 2004... 2004 July 3-6 July, Sat-Tue. 18th Meeting of the European Association of Cancer Research. Innsbruck, Austria. Information: FECS--the Federation of European Cancer Societies, Avenue E. Mounier 83, B-1200 Brussels, +32-2775-02-01, fax:...

The Ethics of Environmentally Responsible Health Care.
June 1, 2004... The Ethics of Environmentally Responsible Health Care By Jessica Pierce and Andrew Jameton New York:Oxford University Press, 2004. 149 pp. ISBN: 0-19-513903-8, $36.95 cloth The answer to the ethical question "How should we live?" depends...

New books.(Announcements)
June 1, 2004... A Textbook of Modern Toxicology, 3rd Edition Ernest Hodgson, ed. Hoboken, NJ:John Wiley & Sons, 2004. 584 pp. ISBN: 0-471-26508-X, $89.95 An Introduction to the Environmental Physics of Soil, Water and Watersheds Calvin...

Reviews of environmental health, 2004.(Introduction)
June 15, 2004... Our broadening realization of the interconnectivity of well-being among species and ecosystems must bring new perspective to environmental health if we are to deal successfully with the dynamics of global change and human activity. Individuals...

Neurodevelopment and endocrine disruption.
June 15, 2004... In this article I explore the possibility that contaminants contribute to the increasing prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, and associated neurodevelopmental and behavioral problems in developed countries. I discuss...

Association of pesticide exposure with neurologic dysfunction and disease.
June 15, 2004... Poisoning by acute high-level exposure to certain pesticides has well-known neurotoxic effects, but whether chronic exposure to moderate levels of pesticides is also neurotoxic is more controversial. Most studies of moderate pesticide exposure...

Potential for increased human foodborne exposure to PCDD/F when recycling sewage sludge on agricultural land.
June 15, 2004... Sewage sludge from municipal wastewater treatment is used in agriculture as a nutrient source and to aid in moisture retention. To examine the potential impact of sludge-amended soil on exposures to polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and...

Lung cancer risk after exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: a review and meta-analysis.
June 15, 2004... Typical polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon mixtures are established lung carcinogens, but the quantitative exposure-response relationship is less dear. To clarify this relationship we conducted a review and meta-analysis of published reports of...

Rationale for a new generation of indicators for coastal waters.
June 15, 2004... More than half the world's human population lives within 100 km of the coast, and that number is expected to increase by 25% over the next two decades. Consequently, coastal ecosystems are at serious risk. Larger coastal populations and...

Recent developments in low-level lead exposure and intellectual impairment in children.
June 15, 2004... In the last decade children's blood lead levels have fallen significantly in a number of countries, and current mean levels in developed countries are in the region of 3 [micro]g/dL. Despite this reduction, childhood lead poisoning continues to...

Health and environment information systems for exposure and disease mapping, and risk assessment.(Information Systems: Mini-Monograph)
June 15, 2004... A large number of chemicals are used on a regular basis in modern society. Thousands of new chemicals are added each year, many of which may have toxic properties constituting potential health hazards. Rapid assessment of the risk associated...

Spatial epidemiology: current approaches and future challenges.(Information Systems: Mini-Monograph)
June 15, 2004... Spatial epidemiology is the description and analysis of geographic variations in disease with respect to demographic, environmental, behavioral, socioeconomic, generic, and infectious risk factors. We focus on small-area analyses, encompassing...

Using geographic information systems for exposure assessment in environmental epidemiology studies.(Information Systems: Mini-Monograph)
June 15, 2004... Geographic information systems (GIS) are being used with increasing frequency in environmental epidemiology studies. Reported applications include locating the study population by geocoding addresses (assigning mapping coordinates), using...

Interpreting posterior relative risk estimates in disease-mapping studies.(Information Systems: Mini-Monograph)
June 15, 2004... There is currently much interest in conducting spatial analyses of health outcomes at the small-area scale. This requires sophisticated statistical techniques, usually involving Bayesian models, to smooth the underlying risk estimates because...

Cancer risk near a polluted river in Finland.(Information Systems: Mini-Monograph)
June 15, 2004... The River Kymijoki in southern Finland is heavily polluted with polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans and may pose a health threat to local residents, especially farmers. In this study we investigated cancer risk in people living...

Use of GIS and exposure modeling as tools in a study of cancer incidence in a population exposed to airborne dioxin.(Information Systems: Mini-Monograph)
June 15, 2004... In environmental health research there is a recognized need to develop improved epidemiologic and statistical methods for rapid assessment of relationships between environment and health. Exposure assessment is identified as a major challenge...

Spatial analysis of the relationship between mortality from cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease and drinking water hardness.(Information Systems: Mini-Monograph)
June 15, 2004... Previously published scientific papers have reported a negative correlation between drinking water hardness and cardiovascular mortality. Some ecologic and case-control studies suggest the protective effect of calcium and magnesium...