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Current query:Type: Scientific Studies
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A compound in red wine may offer yet another health benefit – it may slow formation of the amyloid plaques associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
Results from a newly published laboratory study show the compound may slow the development of protein clumps – called amyloid fibrils. The fibrils – made of beta-amyloid protein – ultimately aggregate into the distinctive plaques commonly found in Alzheimer’s patients. 6 November 2009. More...
People who eat wild game shot by hunters have significantly higher levels of lead circulating in their blood than those who do not, report researchers from the CDC.
The results agree with a handful of other studies that have found the lead from the bullets used to kill game such as deer and elk can leach into the meat and then into the people who eat it. 28 September 2009. More...
Exposure to low to moderate levels of lead before birth and as a child can permanently change the brain's structure in a way that may alter if and how it transmits messages, a new study finds.
More differences in the nerve cells and the thickness of their coverings were found in adults who had higher lead exposure during development and as children. Some areas of the brain developed less robust nerve pathways and other parts had thicker or thinner coverings. 2 September 2009. More...
A recent study links higher blood lead levels with high blood pressure in pregnant women, suggesting that lead exposure may increase the risk of developing hypertension during pregnancy.
All of the women in the study had blood levels below the level considered 'acceptable' by most health agencies, providing additional support for the need to lower the threshold. 10 August 2009. More...
A study of young children in India has found that higher blood lead levels are associated with a suite of behavioral and thinking problems that can alter attention, abstract thinking and appropriate behavior.
This study is one of the first to pinpoint specific childhood behaviors and cognitive skills affected by lead exposure, most notably anxiety, social problems and overall executive function (planning, problem solving, behavior control). The study found no "safe" level. 4 August 2009. More...
A study with rats suggests that radioactive uranium inhaled by soldiers on the battlefield and by workers in factories may bypass the brain's protective barrier by following nerves from the nose directly to the brain.
This study provides yet another example of how some substances can use the olfactory system to bypass the brain's protective blood barrier and go directly to the brain. Titanium nanoparticles and the metals manganese, nickel, and thallium use the same route. 31 July 2009. More...
Chemicals heavily used in everyday products can end up in dust and increase people's exposure to the contaminants, reports a study by Belgium researchers who calculated exposure to bisphenol A, an antibacterial agent and a flame retardant through dust.
The researchers conclude that exposure to BPA, tetrabromobisphenol-A and triclosan from dust contributes to less than 10 percent of average total daily exposure. Diet and direct contact with personal care products are the the greatest contributors. 15 July 2009. More...
Scorpion venom can change the way rats grow and develop if they are exposed to the neurotoxins before birth.
Scorpion stings are a public health problem in Brazil. This is one of a few studies to date to examine if scorpion venom poses a unique threat to developing offspring. The study clearly shows that baby rats are developmentally altered in many ways if their moms are "stung" while pregnant. 15 July 2009. More...
Researchers report that women with higher DDE blood concentrations were 2.5 times more likely to have high thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH).
Increased concentrations of the long-lived pesticide residue were also associated with reduced thyroxine (T4) levels. Potential effects of chemicals on thyroid function during pregnancy are of concern because thyroid hormones play a crucial role in fetal brain development. 14 July 2009. More...
In a study of men and women 55 to 67 years old, higher lead levels were associated with poorer performance on tasks used to assess memory deficits.
Although other studies have found associations between lead exposure and cognitive deficits in older adults, this is the first study to link lead exposure with specific measures of memory impairment that are characteristic of Alzheimer’s Disease. 26 June 2009. More...
Developmental exposure to PCBs can permanently damage hearing but co-exposure with methyl mercury reduces the effects.
The mercury doses were selected to achieve a ratio of PCBs to methyl mercury similar to that found in walleye caught by fisherman in Wisconsin, but the doses were higher than those typically encountered by people. 25 June 2009. More...
Newborn girls exposed prenatally to phthalates scored poorly on a standard behavior test – and very differently from boys. The phthalate metabolites found in the mother's urine were associated with the girls' poor performance on tests of attention and alertness.
This is the first study to link phthalates to neurological development effects in humans. Previous health studies have linked phthalates to altered genital development, obesity, diabetes risk and poor sperm quality. 8 June 2009. More...
Nine years after China banned lead in gasoline, lead levels in children's blood is decreasing.
A new study reports that by 2007, boys' blood lead levels had dropped to 79.3 µg/L from 96.4 µg/L in 2004. 4 June 2009. More...
New research indicates that smoking during pregnancy can lead to impulsive behavior in children.
Preteenagers whose mothers smoked during pregnancy are more impulsive on a standard behavior test and use different regions of their brain while performing the test when compared to children whose mothers did not smoke. 26 May 2009. More...
Although there is a naturally wide range in the age that healthy girls enter puberty, a new study finds the age may be shifting younger for all of Denmark.
The shift toward a younger age is of concern because it exposes girls to hormones for more of their life and may lead to damaging behavioral changes. 26 May 2009. More...
Preschoolers who lived in homes using gas appliances scored lower on cognitive tests and had a higher likelihood of exhibiting inattention behaviors than those in homes without gas appliances, finds a recent study.
The effects on memory, verbal skills and the coordination of complex behaviors were greater when more gas appliances were used in the homes. They were also more pronounced in children with a certain gene type involved with the detoxification of toxic exposures. 22 May 2009. More...
Exposure to commonly used agricultural pesticides may increase the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, particularly among people who have certain gene types.
The degenerative nerve disease can develop when dopamine levels in the brain are lower than normal. Without pesticide exposures, susceptible gene variants alone were not sufficient to increase risk. The increased risk to Parkinson's required both susceptible genes and pesticide exposure. 14 May 2009. More...
A new study reveals that by interfering with thyroid hormone, exposure to low levels of bisphenol A (BPA) slows the rate at which tadpoles develop into frogs.
Thyroid signals are necessary both for normal frog metamorphosis and for fetal development in people. In these experiments, exposure to levels similar to those found in human infants prevented key genes from turning on, thus delaying tadpole development. 12 May 2009. More...
A recent study conducted in California’s Central Valley found that people who lived near fields sprayed with a combination of pesticides used on crops such as potatoes, dry beans and tomatoes had an increased risk of Parkinson’s disease.
These results add to the growing literature suggesting that exposure to multiple chemicals may be more harmful than exposure to individual chemicals and contribute to the debate of evaluating chemical safety one at a time rather than in combination. 27 April 2009. More...
A single, modest exposure to caffeine during early development in the womb can alter heart growth and cardiac function later in life, finds this mouse study.
The results suggest even small amounts of caffeine delivered at the wrong time during development may change the heart. Since approximately 60 percent of women say they have consumed coffee during the first month of pregnancy, understanding the consequences of prenatal caffeine exposure is important. 14 April 2009. More...
Autism rates among school children living within a 10- or 20-mile radius of toxic waste sites are nearly twice as likely to have autism compared to children living farther away from such sites.
These data support the widely speculated but controversial idea that exposure to chemical contaminants can increase the risk of developing autism. 13 April 2009. More...
A study with mice finds that diet can modify the harmful effects of bisphenol A. The findings shed light on perceived inconsistencies in BPA research results.
Differences in diet dramatically altered the risk that mouse oocytes would develop errors in how chromosomes are aligned during cell division after exposure to BPA. When these errors occur in people, they can cause spontaneous miscarriage and severe disabilities. 9 April 2009. More...
Scientists identify changes in brain chemistry caused by perfluorinated chemicals that may be the cause of 'deranged spontaneous behavior' observed when young mice are exposed to PFCs.
The chemicals are used in clothing, carpeting, upholstery, floor and car waxes, firefighting foams, and even in the lining of food containers, including pizza boxes and microwave popcorn bags. 3 April 2009. More...
A chemical that makes electronics and other household products safe from fire disrupts behavior in mice, suggesting that the chemical alters brain development. The behavioral effects were seen at fairly low doses, were worse at the higher doses tested and grew stronger as the mice aged.
The findings indicate that very early life exposure to the chemical -- called deca-BDE -- has lasting effects on the brain. The chemical may affect behavior by interfering with a neurotransmitter -- a nervous system signaling molecule -- called acetylcholine. 19 March 2009. More...
For the first time, scientists find that extremely low levels of some types of environmental estrogens disrupt specialized brain cells and their ability to regulate brain chemistry. All of the EEs tested changed the way cells released and reabsorbed dopamine, an important chemical messenger that governs movement and pleasure.
These changes may explain how EEs contribute to nervous system diseases, such as Parkinsons and schizophrenia, that are caused by abnormal dopamine responses. 3 March 2009. More...
Researchers report that very minute quantities of the hormone found in the birth control pill alter sperm development in rainbow trout by changing the number of chromosomes, which can lead to lower survival and long-term health problems in the offspring.
This error is called aneuploidy. For people, aneuploidy is the biggest known cause of spontaneous miscarriage and the number one cause of congenital birth defects. 17 February 2009. More...
Eating mercury contaminated seafood increases the risk of heart disease in men, reports a unique study that examined whalers on the Faroe Islands.
The researchers found a clearly significant correlation of increased blood pressure and arterial thickness with higher mercury levels found in their bodies. 5 January 2009. More...
Women who give birth after age 35 and men who father children after age 40 increase their risk of having autistic children, according to a large population-based study in the US.
Accumulated environmental pollutants in the body and the damage caused by them are offered as possible explanations for the increased risk. One potential cause is chemicals that damage cell DNA, including those pollutants that the parents were exposed to when they were developing in the womb. 24 December 2008. More...
A mix of two pesticides had greater toxic effects on exposed salmon than would be expected from one separately, adding to concerns that health risks from pesticides are underestimated.
Almost all risk assessments are conducted one chemical at a time, even though wildlife and humans are always exposed to many chemicals at a time. 19 December 2008. More...
Exposure to ionizing radiation just days after birth can impact anxiety and memory during later life, finds a new study with rats.
The radiation exposed rats were less anxious and more forgetful. These behavioral changes are believed to be caused by structural damage to the brain's cerebellum. 11 December 2008. More...
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