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While all links worked when entries were posted to the database, different publishers
have different policies about retaining articles and providing access to archived material.
Thus some of the links, particularly older ones, may no longer be functional.
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Common air pollutants can react with one another to form highly reactive and toxic chlorine gasses, reports a study published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
In areas where both NOx and HCl concentrations are generally high, these chemical reactions can also increase ozone pollution. 7 October 2009. More...
Levels of antibiotics measured in streams, lakes and well water near pharmaceutical factories in India are 100,000 to 1,000,000 times higher than levels measured in waters that receive sewage effluent in the US or China.
Much of the world's supply of supply of generic antibiotics are produced in the study area. 9 September 2009. More...
Several long-lived pollutants measured in the blood of Canadian Inuits, including stain repellents, are associated with altered thyroid hormone levels, according to new research.
The study highlights again how long-persisting environmental pollutants can accumulate in people and alter normal hormone levels. It is unique because it included women and is one of the first large-scale studies to look at the stain repellent PFOS's effects on thyroid hormone. 5 August 2009. More...
A new study in Mexico finds that women with higher exposure to phthalates during their third trimester of pregnancy were up to four times as likely to have their babies early.
This is the first human study to investigate associations between exposure to phthalates and preterm birth rates. Early births are of concern because they are associated with long-term health problems and are the leading cause of neonatal mortality in the United States, accounting for more than one third of infant deaths. 3 August 2009. More...
Fish produced fewer – or no eggs at all – after only one to two weeks of exposure to either of two different types of synthetic progestin hormones found in women's birth control and menopausal drugs.
The more potent of the pair of progestins also lowered sperm production and affected behavior in male fish. Effects occurred at levels found in the environment in sewage effluents. 30 July 2009. More...
Concentrations of PCBs, dioxins, and some flame retardant chemicals in human breast milk declined significantly between 1996 and 2006.
A new study of Swedish women confirms that PCBs -- a chemical used in electronics and transformers until the 1970s -- and dioxins and furans -- byproducts of industrial processes -- are less prevalent in breast milk now than in the mid 1990s. 24 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...
First time expectant mothers in the US have much lower blood levels of selected persistent organic pollutants than women did before the chemicals' ban and restrictions on use and emissions.
Levels of a PCB indicator fell drastically, from 140 nanograms per gram in women sampled between 1959-1966 to about 8 nanograms per gram in women from the more recent sample. Still, a metabolite of the insectide DDT, which has not been used in the US for 30 odd years, was detected in all of the women's blood. 23 June 2009. More...
A bacteria-killing chemical widely used in an array of consumer products has made its way down kitchen and bathroom sinks and into dolphins living in US coastal waters.
Researchers report for the first time that a marine mammal--the bottlenose dolphin--is accumulating triclosan from water bodies where treated sewage is released. The study examined animals from rivers, an estuary, a harbor and a lagoon in South Carolina and Florida. 18 June 2009. More...
A new study shows that pesticides, some already banned for decades from the US market, continue to persist in homes.
DDT and chlordane – two pesticides that have been banned for decades – were found in 42 percent and 74 percent of homes respectively. Chlorpyrifos and diazinon, both banned for several years, were detected in 78 percent and 35 percent of homes respectively. 16 June 2009. More...
Some horse estrogens used in hormone replacement therapies make their way from people to wastewater and into fish where they may contribute to the feminization of the animals, reports a study from England.
Laboratory tests showed the hormones – one of which was more potent than human varieties – can turn on estrogen hormone systems in fish at very low concentrations. This is the first time scientists report that HRT-related horse estrogens in water coming into and leaving sewage treatment plants are estrogenic in fish. 9 June 2009. More...
Bacteria in sewage can chemically transform estrogenic compounds, converting them to back to their original chemical form as the sewage travels toward treatment plants after the compounds have been excreted by people.
The findings open the door to exploring new ways in which the estrogens that are more resistant to bacterial modification could be changed at the sewage treatment plant to make them easier to remove from the water. 5 June 2009. More...
A five-generation rat study provides the clearest evidence to date that exposure to low levels of environmental estrogens can increase the risk of abnormal cell growth in the male breast.
Abnormalities which could have the potential to become cancerous developed in the mammary gland tissue of male rats that were exposed to either the soy-based phytoestrogen genistein or ethinyl estradiol -- an estrogen used in birth control pills. 27 May 2009. More...
A recent study in Arizona of household air identified over 400 airborne chemicals ranging from pesticides to phthalates.
Pesticides, including diazinon, chlorpyrifos and DDT were found at surprisingly high levels, as were phthalates. 28 April 2009. More...
Female rats exposed to estrogenic compounds through their mothers while in the womb had greater reactions to pain as adults, according to a study by Italian researchers.
The increased pain sensitivity may be due to permanent changes in how the nerves developed in the rats that were exposed before birth to either ethynylestradiol, the most commonly used synthetic estrogen in birth control pills, or methoxychlor, a common insecticide long known to have estrogenic activity in mammals. 16 April 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...
Weather changes due to global climate change could substantially increase people's exposure to many pathogens and toxic agricultural contaminants, predicts a study from the United Kingdom.
The full health implications are uncertain. Managing the risks will require research as well as policy changes. 26 February 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...
Genetics, age and gender determine what kind and how badly lungs are harmed in mice that breath ozone, a dangerous type of air pollution.
This study is the first to report which differences influence health effects of ozone exposure in various strains of mice. These data suggest that genetic makeup plays a strong role in how young and adults respond to ozone. 21 January 2009. More...
A new study finds that widely used flame retardant chemicals known as PBDEs can cross the placenta barrier, passing readily from mother to fetus, where they accumulate in the liver.
Researchers found that the chemicals accumulated in the liver of the fetus, which had higher levels of the widely used chemicals than did the placental tissue. PBDE concentrations exceeded those of the more well-known PCBs and organochlorine pollutants. 16 January 2009. More...
The type of chemicals someone is exposed to in the womb, or soon after birth, may predetermine the risk for developing respiratory infections as an infant and allergy and asthma as an adult, according to a study that focused on PCBs and DDE.
In the study, both the amount and type of PCBs a baby was exposed to in the womb, or in the first three months after birth, affected the number of respiratory infections a child had. Some types of PCBs seemed to be associated with increased respiratory infections; other types seemed be associated with fewer infections. 5 January 2009. More...
Triclosan, an antibacterial agent used in toothpastes, soaps and cosmetics, alters thyroid function in male rats, highlighting a potential concern for people - especially pregnant women and children.
Effects occurred at doses that people may experience, given the many diverse sources of exposure now prevalent because of triclosan's widespread use. 5 December 2008. More...
A common disinfectant used by public water treatment plants creates a byproduct that is highly toxic to mammalian cells. How much is made depends upon details of how the plants process water.
The amount produced can be reduced significantly by simple changes in the treatment process. Despite this, many plants continue to use methods that create more of the toxic chemical than necessary. 18 November 2008. More...
Prenatal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) may lower a child's intelligence at age nine by several points, a study from Oswego, New York, finds.
The pre-teen children whose mothers were highly exposed to PCBs during pregnancy scored lower in general and verbal IQ tests than those born to mothers who were mildly exposed. The findings support other human studies that suggest exposure to these persistent chemicals disrupts early childhood mental development. 27 October 2008. More...
Chemicals used in sunscreens, cosmetics, and other consumer products to protect against harmful UV sunlight can mimic the effects of the female hormone estrogen and interfere with the male hormone testosterone.
The effects can be detected at levels found in human blood after applying sunscreen. 18 September 2008. More...
Baby boys exposed to common pollutants during pregnancy are at greater risk of being born with testicular defects.
Boys exposed to the highest mixture levels of PCBs and DDT were three times as likely to be born with undescended testicles. This defect is on the rise in the industrialized world and is related to male infertility. 14 September 2008. More...
In the first prospective study exploring how fetal exposures may affect the risk of childhood obesity, scientists from Spain report that children born to mothers with higher levels of the pesticide hexachlorobenzene in cord blood were significantly more likely to be overweight and obese by the age of six.
These results add to growing evidence that fetal exposure to contaminants can interfere with hormonal mechanisms that control weight later in life, thereby contributing to the world-wide epidemic of metabolic disorder. 22 August 2008. More...
New research confirms that estrogenic contaminants can seep into sediment after being carried by sewage into rivers.
Standard water treatment doesn't remove them from waste water effluent, so they pass from treatment plants into rivers. Once in river waters, they move into river sediments and thus potentially reach groundwater, contaminating sources of drinking water. 8 October 2007. More...
New experiments reveal that the synthetic estrogen used by women for birth control causes wide ranging health effects in minnows, but that the effects differed when the drug was tested alone compared with when it was mixed with wastewater effluent.
The estrogen caused feminization of male fish, and altered DNA integrity, immune cell number, and ability to breakdown pollutants. The study highlights the need for more research on the potential health effects of exposure to complex mixtures. 7 September 2007. More...
Thirty-eight of the world's leading scientific experts on bisphenol A have warned policymakers of potential adverse health effects of exposure to the widespread molecule used to make plastic and food can lining.
They conclude that average levels in people are above those that cause harm to animals in laboratory experiments. And they calculate that average serum levels in people can only be explained by assuming that exposures today are already above the level that EPA considers safe. 13 August 2007. More...
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