Environmental Health Perspectives articles from May 2004

Environmental Health Perspectives archives from May 2004

Chemical process safety at a crossroads.(Guest Editorial)
May 1, 2004... December 2004 will mark the 20th anniversary of the worst industrial accident in history, the chemical plant disaster in Bhopal, India, that killed thousands of people and injured tens of thousands more. Along with other safety professionals...

Hazards of fast food.(Correspondence)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2004... In the article "Another Fast-Food Fear," Fields (2003) discussed the possible contaminants such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in cardboard containers used to serve fast foods. The possible impurities, such as PFOA, are not likely to be...

Asbestos and international organizations.(Correspondence)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2004... More information is available on the harmful effects of asbestos, and more incontestable epidemiologic and experimental evidence is available on its carcinogenicity, than for any other environmental agent. The first reports of its use date back...

Exceeding the methyl mercury reference dose: how dangerous is it?(Correspondence)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2004... The methyl mercury exposure data presented by Hightower and Moore (2003) with regard to San Francisco fish consumers illustrates how regular consumption of certain species of fish can lead to an exposure that exceeds the current U.S....

Methyl mercury reference dose: response to Schoen.(Correspondence)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2004... Mercury symptoms have been documented in the literature from many different exposures: from the "blue pill" used in the treatment of syphilis (Hirschhorn et al. 2001), to the mercurials used in teething powders causing acrodynia (or pink...

Arsenic in food.(Correspondence)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2004... Lasky et al. (2004) provided a notable contribution to the evaluation of the public health impacts of the use of arsenicals, among the many antimicrobials permitted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for administration in feed. To...

Food and population growth.(Correspondence)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2004... It was a pleasure to read "Infectious Disease: The Human Cost of Our Environmental Errors" by Weinhold (2004). His article on microbes, people, and human environmental errors has encouraged me to share new and apparently unforeseen data that...

Human testing: Sass and Needleman respond to industry.(Correspondence)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2004... In the March 2004 issue of EHP, we reported on two examples of industry-sponsored studies that intentionally dosed human subjects with toxic pesticides (Sass and Needleman 2004). The four industry-sponsored respondents (Charnley and Patterson...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
May 1, 2004... The November 2003 Forum article "New Data on Methylmercury and Fetuses" [EHP 111A753 (2003)] incorrectly stated, "The hair mercury of pregnant women in Minamata ranged from 25 to 50 ppm." In fact, there are no direct data on the hair mercury...

Origins of obesity.(Chemical Exposures)
May 1, 2004... Fifty-nine million Americans are considered obese, and 300,000 die each year from related causes, making this disorder the second-leading U.S. cause of death after smoking. The ever-expanding reach of obesity is leading some scientists to look...

Contentious worker testing.(Pesticides)
May 1, 2004... Washington State farmworkers who mix, Load, or apply organophosphate or N-methyl carbamate pesticides must now receive cholinesterase blood tests as part of a controversial new state rule. The goal of the new rule, which took effect in February...

Unions sue for cleaner factory air.(The Beat)
May 1, 2004... Two labor unions have filed suit against the U.S. Department of Labor in hopes of forcing the agency to enact recommended standards for exposure to toxic metalworking fluids. These fluids, used to reduce friction and improve product quality in...

Good buy for Biocomplexity.(The Beat)
May 1, 2004... As part of its continuing Biocomplexity in the Environment grant effort, the National Science Foundation in October 2003 announced awards totaling $31.9 million for 30 science and engineering projects centered on better understanding...

Smoking out sickle cell.(The Beat)
May 1, 2004... Researchers from the University of California, Davis, have found that children with sickle cell disease who were exposed to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) at home had more than twice as many episodes of pain (known as "crises") as sickle...

Ozone surprise.(EMFs)
May 1, 2004... Once again, an accidental discovery may have aided science. Following up on a puzzling observation made years ago, analytical chemist Steven Goheen and his team at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory write in the February 2004 issue of...

HVAC officemate.(Indoor Air Quality)
May 1, 2004... Heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems, particularly those in humid climates, frequently harbor microbial growth that may contribute to illness among workers. Researchers are on the lookout for technologies that can kill...

Environment, health, and safety online.(ehp net)
May 1, 2004... Professionals in chemistry, engineering, and environmental science are working to deliver factual and easy-to-understand information at the grassroots website Environment, Health, and Safety Online (http://www.ehso.com/). This densely packed...

Death toll of biomass burning.(The Beat)
May 1, 2004... Indoor burning of biomass such as wood, dung, crop residue, and charcoal kills 1.6 million people each year, including 1 million children, reports the nongovernmental British Intermediate Technology Development Group. Biomass releases...

Environmental polymorphism registry launched.(The Beat)
May 1, 2004... January 2004 saw the launch by the NIEHS and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill of the Environmental Polymorphism Registry. This innovative registry will eventually contain genetic data gathered from blood samples collected from more...

AAP: soft drinks and schools don't mix.(The Beat)
May 1, 2004... An American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement in the January 2004 issue of Pediatrics calls on schools to stop selling soft drinks and start providing healthier alternatives such as real fruit juice and water. Easy access to sugary foods...

Awards spur excellence in research.(NIEHS News)
May 1, 2004... Since the National Research Service Awards (NRSA) Program was enacted by Congress in 1974, the NIH has awarded institutional training grants to universities and research centers with the proven commitment and resources to nurture aspiring young...

NIEHS tops for postdocs.(NIEHS News)
May 1, 2004... The Scientist has named the NIEHS one of the best places for postdoctoral researchers to work in its annual survey, published 16 February 2004. Of the top 15 U.S. institutes, the NIEHS was voted third best. The survey was open to...

Estrogen exposure and metabolic gene expression.(Headliners: Breast Cancer)
May 1, 2004... Ansell PJ, Espinosa-Nicholas C, Curran EM, Judy BM, Philips BJ, Hannink M, Lubahn DB. 2004. In vitro and in vivo regulation of antioxidant response element-dependent gene expression by estrogens. Endocrinology 145:311-317. Exposure to...

Go for the GLO.(beyond the Bench)
May 1, 2004... In Rochester, New York, where most of the housing stock was built before 1940, childhood lead poisoning rates in many neighborhoods surpass 35%. Health professionals consider childhood lead poisoning to be the greatest environmental health risk...

Lessons learned? Chemical plant safety since Bhopal.(Focus)
May 1, 2004... It was 3 December 1984, a quiet night in Bhopal, India, until a cascade of catastrophic circumstances, system failures, and outright negligence at the Union Carbide pesticide plant led to the accidental release of approximately 40 metric tons...

Environmental buyouts: protection at a price.(Spheres of Influence)
May 1, 2004... Environmentalists working with the notion that the dollar can be more powerful than the regulatory sword have in the last two decades turned increasingly to an alternative strategy for preventing some types of potential pollution. Rather than...

Keeping an eye on exposure: video monitoring in the lab.(Innovations)
May 1, 2004... The pharmaceutical laboratory can be a dangerous place. Although much of the work in pharmaceuticals goes on in well-controlled manufacturing plants, basic research and batch-scale production of new compounds are done as bench operations,...

Forage findings: expanding the definition of EDCs.(Science Selections)
May 1, 2004... Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) can derail hormone signaling pathways in vertebrates by interacting with estrogen receptors. These same receptors can also serve as unintended docking sites for phytoestrogens, weakly estrogenic chemicals...

EMFs and DNA effects: potential mechanism elucidated.(Science Selections)
May 1, 2004... For many years, scientists have suspected that long-term exposure to extremely-low-frequency electromagnetic fields (EMFs) A may be associated with increased risk of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer disease, Parkinson disease, and...

Storage of serum in plastic and glass containers may alter the serum concentration of polychlorinated biphenyls.(Commentary)
May 1, 2004... Valid exposure assessment and biomonitoring of toxicants rely on standardized specimen collection, handling, storage, and measurement. In a study designed to determine organochlorine concentrations in blood samples, we recruited participants...

Chemical communication threatened by endocrine-disrupting chemicals.(Commentary)
May 1, 2004... Communication on a cellular level--defined as chemical signaling, sensing, and response--is an essential and universal component of all living organisms and the framework that unites all ecosystems. Evolutionarily conserved signaling "webs,"...

Retrospective time-trend study of polybrominated diphenyl ether and polybrominated and polychlorinated biphenyl levels in human serum from the United States.(Research)
May 1, 2004... Six polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), one hexabromobiphenyl [polybrominated biphenyl (PBB)], and one hexachlorobiphenyl [polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)] were measured in 40 human serum pools collected in the southeastern United States...

Synergistic interaction in simultaneous exposure to Streptomyces californicus and Stachybotrys chartarum.(Research)
May 1, 2004... The microbial exposure associated with health complaints in moldy houses consists of a heterogeneous group of components, including both living and dead bacteria, fungi, and their metabolites and active compounds. However, little is known about...

Urinary 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine as a biomarker of oxidative DNA damage in workers exposed to fine particulates.(Research)
May 1, 2004... Residual oil fly ash (ROFA) is a chemically complex mixture of compounds, including metals that are potentially carcinogenic because of their ability to cause oxidative injury. In this study, we investigated the association between exposure to...

Phytoestrogen signaling and symbiotic gene activation are disrupted by endocrine-disrupting chemicals.(Research)
May 1, 2004... Some organochlorine pesticides and other synthetic chemicals mimic hormones in representatives of each vertebrate class, including mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and fish. These compounds are called endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs)....

Human consumption of methyleugenol and its elimination from serum.(Research)
May 1, 2004... Under a mandate from the U.S. Congress, the National Toxicology Program (NTP) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services conducts animal bioassays for carcinogenicity of potentially toxic chemicals to which the U.S. population might be...

Biochemical effect evaluation of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid-contaminated wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus).(Research)
May 1, 2004... Wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) were captured at Blokkersdijk, a nature reserve in the immediate vicinity of a fluorochemical plant in Antwerp, Belgium, and at Galgenweel, 3 kilometers farther away. The liver perfluorooctane sulfonic acid...

Magnetic-field-induced DNA strand breaks in brain cells of the rat.(Research)
May 1, 2004... In previous research, we found that rats acutely (2 hr) exposed to a 60-Hz sinusoidal magnetic field at intensities of 0.1-0.5 millitesla (mT) showed increases in DNA single- and double-strand breaks in their brain cells. Further research...

Interlaboratory comparison of four in vitro assays for assessing androgenic and antiandrogenic activity of environmental chemicals.(Research)
May 1, 2004... We evaluated and compared four in vitro assays to detect androgen agonists and antagonists in an international interlaboratory study. Laboratory 1 used a cell proliferation assay (assay 1) with human mammary carcinoma cells stably transfected...

Low-dose agrochemicals and lawn-care pesticides induce developmental toxicity in murine preimplantation embryos.(Research)
May 1, 2004... Recent epidemiologic studies suggest that parents working in areas of high pesticide application are at increased risk for adverse reproductive outcomes such as infertility (Fuortes et al. 1997; Greenlee et al. 2003; Smith et al. 1997), poor...

Backward estimation of exposure to organochlorines using repeated measurements.(Research)
May 1, 2004... Great Lakes sport-caught fish are contaminated with various organochlorines (OCs) such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Through consumption of these fish, humans are subject to continuing levels of OC contamination. To assess potential...

Maternal stress modulates the effects of developmental lead exposure.(Research)
May 1, 2004... Lead exposure is higher among children with low socioeconomic status (SES) compared with other children in the United States. Low SES itself is a known risk factor for various diseases and dysfunctions, effects that have been ascribed to...

Health and environmental consequences of the World Trade Center disaster.(Workgroup Report)
May 1, 2004... The attack on the World Trade Center (WTC) created an acute environmental disaster of enormous magnitude. This study characterizes the environmental exposures resulting from destruction of the WTC and assesses their effects on health. Methods...

Human genetics, environment, and communities of color: ethical and social implications.(Meeting Report)
May 1, 2004... A conference titled "Human Genetics, Environment, and Communities of Color: Ethical and Social Implications" and a workshop symposium titled "Human Genetics and Environmental Justice" were held by West Harlem Environmental Action, Inc., with...

Association between hemochromatosis genotype and lead exposure among elderly men: the normative aging study.(Environmental Medicine)
May 1, 2004... Because body iron burden is inversely associated with lead absorption, genes associated with hemochromatosis may modify body lead burden. Our objective was to determine whether the C282Y and/or H63D hemochromatosis gene (HFE) is associated with...

Medications as a source of human exposure to phthalates.(Case Report)
May 1, 2004... Phthalates are a group of multifunctional chemicals used in consumer and personal care products, plastics, and medical devices. Laboratory studies show that some phthalates are reproductive and developmental toxicants. Recently, human studies...

Predictors of personal polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposures among pregnant minority women in New York City.(Children's Health)
May 1, 2004... As part of a multiyear birth-cohort study examining the roles of pre- and postnatal environmental exposures on developmental deficits and asthma among children, we measured personal exposures to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) among 348...

Early-life environmental risk factors for asthma: findings from the children's health study.(Children's Health)
May 1, 2004... Early-life experiences and environmental exposures have been associated with childhood asthma. To investigate further whether the timing of such experiences and exposures is associated with the occurrence of asthma by 5 years of age, we...

Probability estimates for the unique childhood leukemia cluster in Fallon, Nevada, and risks near other U.S. military aviation facilities.(Children's Health)
May 1, 2004... A unique cluster of childhood leukemia has recently occurred around the city of Fallon in Churchill County, Nevada. From 1999 to 2001, 11 cases were diagnosed in this county of 23,982 people. Exposures related to a nearby naval air station such...

Developmental toxicology initiative: obesity, puberty onset, and adolescent diseases/dysfunctions.(NIEHS Extramural Update)
May 1, 2004... The third and final year of the Fetal Basis of Adult Disease: Role of the Environment initiative will emphasize the role of in utero and neonatal exposures to environmental chemicals in the susceptibility to obesity and adolescent diseases,...

Proteomic and metabolomic approaches to diagnose diabetes and pre-diabetes.(Fellowships, Grants, & Awards)
May 1, 2004... More than 5 million adults in the United States have undiagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus, and another 38 million with pre-diabetes are at increased risk for developing diabetes. The lack of a simple and reliable way to detect diabetes and...

In Vivo Cellular and Molecular Imaging Centers (ICMICs).(Fellowships, Grants, & Awards)
May 1, 2004... The Cancer Imaging Program, a program of the Division of Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), invites applications for new or competing P50 research center grants for In Vivo Cellular and Molecular Imaging...

Calendar.(Announcements)(Calendar)
May 1, 2004... 2004 June 1-3 June, Tue-Thu. U.S. EPA Science Forum 2004: Healthy Communities and Ecosystems. Washington, DC. Information: Alina Martin of Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), 703-318-4678, e-mail:...

War and Tropical Forests: Conservation in Areas of Armed Conflict.
May 1, 2004... War and Tropical Forests: Conservation in Areas of Armed Conflict Edited by Steven V. Price New York: Food Products Press (Haworth Press), 2003. 219 pp. ISBN: 1-56022-098-8, $49.95 cloth; ISBN: 1-56022-099-6, $24.95 paper This...

New books.(Announcements)
May 1, 2004... A Bridge Not Attacked: Chemical Warfare Civilian Research During World War II Harold Johnston Singapore:World Scientific Publishing Co., 2004. 276 pp. ISBN: 981-238-152-X, $50 A Guide to Practical Toxicology: Evaluation, Prediction and Risk...

Metabolomics--a new exciting field within the "omics" sciences.(Guest Editorial)
May 15, 2004... Metabolomics is an emerging field in analytical biochemistry and can be regarded as the end point of the "omics" cascade. Whereas genomics deals with the analysis of the complete genome in order to understand the function of single genes, the...

Harnessing the HGP for Public Health.(Toxicogenomics)
May 15, 2004... The enormous amount of genetic data from the Human Genome Project (HGP) has benefited researchers studying gene-environment interactions, but also presents challenges in experimental design, data management, and the ethical, legal, and social...

The bleeding edge of technology.(Proteomics)
May 15, 2004... In any given proteomics experiment, a cell or tissue can express hundreds or thousands of proteins at a time. Unlike the static genome, the proteome can change quickly, and key responses to toxicants and disease may involve small amounts of...

Diet and DNA.(Nutrigenomics)
May 15, 2004... The emerging field of nutrigenomics explores how nutrients in foods interact with genes that contribute to chronic diseases. The goal of nutrigenomics is to understand individual nutrient genotypes to design dietary interventions that restore...

How viruses sabotage silencing.(RNAi)
May 15, 2004... The discovery and description of RNA silencing less than a decade ago has spawned a flood of research, revolutionizing the practice of functional genomics and leading to intensive exploration of its potential application to treat numerous...

International sequencing consortium.(txg net)
May 15, 2004... The sequencing of multiple species' genomes by the Human Genome Project, including those of the human, the worm Caenorhabditis elegans, and the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, has laid the foundation for the field of comparative genomics....

Drawing comparisons at Duke.(NCT Update)
May 15, 2004... Comparative genomics is the study of genomes from different species in order to better understand how species have evolved and what the functions are of both genes and noncoding sections of the genome. As part of the NIEHS Toxicogenomics...

Metabolomics: what's happening downstream of DNA.(Focus)
May 15, 2004... The decoding of the human genome gave rise to genomics and proteomics--"global" studies of genes and proteins, respectively--which are often touted in terms of their enormous clinical potential. In the midst of a growing shift toward...

Hexachlorobenzene exposure: widespread toxicant produces pervasive effects.(Science Selection)
May 15, 2004... Toxicogenomics work in a rat model system has given new insight into how chemical toxicants can effect large-scale stress responses in the immune system [EHP 112:782-791]. This month, Janine Ezendam and colleagues at Utrecht University, the...

Using a customized DNA microarray for expression profiling of the estrogen-responsive genes to evaluate estrogen activity among natural estrogens and industrial chemicals.(Toxicogenomics)
May 15, 2004... We developed a DNA microarray to evaluate the estrogen activity of natural estrogens and industrial chemicals. Using MCF-7 cells, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of estrogen-responsive genes among approximately 20,00g human genes. On the...

Toxicogenomics of subchronic hexachlorobenzene exposure in Brown Norway rats.(Toxicogenomics)
May 15, 2004... Hexachlorobenzene (HCB) is a persistent environmental pollutant with toxic effects in man and rat. Reported adverse effects are hepatic porphyria, neurotoxicity, and adverse effects on the reproductive and immune system. To obtain more insight...

Metal particulate matter components affect gene expression and beat frequency of neonatal rat ventricular myocytes.(Toxicogenomics)
May 15, 2004... Soluble particulate matter (PM) components (e.g., metals) have the potential to be absorbed into the bloodstream and transported to the heart where they might induce the expression of inflammatory cytokines and remodel electrical properties. We...

Inhibition of Ape1 nuclease activity by lead, iron, and cadmium.(Toxicogenomics)
May 15, 2004... Many environmental metals are co-carcinogens, eliciting their effects via inhibition of DNA repair. Apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) endonuclease 1 (Ape1) is the major mammalian abasic endonuclease and initiates repair of this cytotoxic/mutagenic...

Toxicogenomics through the Eyes of Informatics: conference overview and recommendations.(Meeting Report)
May 15, 2004... Virginia Bioinformatics Institute, in conjunction with National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences, hosted a conference, "Toxicogenomics through the Eyes of Informatics," in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, on 12-13 May 2003. Researchers...

Revolutionary genome sequencing technologies--the $1,000 genome.(Fellowships, Grants, & Awards)
May 15, 2004... The purpose of this Request for Applications (RFA) is to solicit grant applications to develop novel technologies that will enable extremely low-cost genomic DNA sequencing. Current technologies are able to produce the sequence of a...

Near-term technology development for genome sequencing.(Fellowships, Grants, & Awards)
May 15, 2004... The purpose of this Request for Applications (RFA) is to solicit grant applications to develop novel technologies that will substantially reduce the cost of genomic DNA sequencing. Current technologies are able to produce the sequence of a...

In vivo Cellular and Molecular Imaging Centers (ICMICS).(Fellowships, Grants, & Awards)
May 15, 2004... The Cancer Imaging Program, Division of Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), invites applications for new or competing P50 Research Center Grants for In vivo Cellular and Molecular Imaging Centers (ICMICs)....

Pharmacogenetics research network and knowledge base.(Fellowships, Grants, & Awards)
May 15, 2004... The purpose of this RFA is to solicit applications for an open re-competition of the Pharmacogenetics Research Network and Knowledge Base (http://www.nigms.nih.gov/pharmacogenetics). This is a network of multidisciplinary, collaborative groups...

Strategic partnering to evaluate cancer signatures.(Fellowships, Grants, & Awards)
May 15, 2004... The purpose of this initiative is to build on recent demonstrations that molecular signatures correlate with important clinical parameters in cancer. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) invites investigators to form strategic partnerships that...

Calendar.(Announcements)(Calendar)
May 15, 2004... 2004 June 1-3 June, Tue-Thu. 3rd Annual Comparative Mouse Genomics Centers Consortium Symposium--Cell Cycle & DNA Repair Variants. Austin, Texas. Information: Sydni McGahan, UT M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Science park--Research...

Design and Analysis of DNA Microarray Investigations.
May 15, 2004... Design and Analysis of DNA Microarray Investigations by Richard M. Simon, Edward L. Korn, Lisa M. McShane, Michael D. Radmacher, George W. Wright, and Yingdong Zhao New York:Springer-Verlag, 2004. 199 pp. ISBN: 0-387-00135-2. $59.95 cloth...

New books.(Announcements)
May 15, 2004... Applying Genomic and Proteomic Microarray Technology in Drug Discovery Robert S. Matson Boca Raton,FL:CRC Press, 2004. 376 pp. ISBN: 0-8493-1469-0, $149.95 Case Studies of Existing Human Tissue Repositories: "Best Practices" for a...