In The News / Feb 10

Is cadmium the new lead? Link reported between the ubiquitous metal and kids with learning disabilities.

It’s a heavy metal. It’s linked to learning problems in school children. And every child is exposed. Sounds like lead? It’s cadmium.

Signs are emerging that cadmium – a widespread contaminant that gets little attention from health experts and regulators – could be the new lead.

Children with higher cadmium levels are three times more likely to have learning disabilities and participate in special education, according to a new study led by Harvard University researchers.

Absorbed from the soil, cadmium is found in certain foods, particularly potatoes, grains, sunflower seeds and leafy greens, as well as tobacco. It also has been discovered in some inexpensive children’s jewelry, prompting new voluntary industry standards last fall.

Dr. Robert Wright, the study’s senior author, emphasized that the links to learning disabilities and special education were found at commonplace levels previously thought to be benign.

more…

 

New Science

Understand the latest scientific findings
  • Childhood obesity linked to phthalate exposure. 7 February 2012

    Overweight children tend to have higher levels of certain phthalate metabolites in their urine, according to a year-long study of minority children in New York City. Researchers found that a 10-fold increase in MEP concentrations was associated with subsequent increases in body mass index and waist size. This is the first study to examine the association between phthalate exposure and body weight measures in children. Prior studies in teens and women find a similar association between the same phthalate – MEP – and the same two body measures. more…

  • 'Inactive' phthalates widespread in medications. 6 February 2012

    Researchers from Boston University and Harvard University found more than 100 different prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications and dietary supplements contain phthalates as inactive ingredients. That is, the chemicals do not act as medicines but instead carry and deliver the medicinal ingredients. It's no secret that pharmaceuticals contain phthalates. What's surprising is the extent of their use in such different types of products, including nutritional supplements. more…

Media Reviews

Scientists critique media coverage

Editorials

  • Facing up to flu.

    The world is ill-prepared for a severe flu pandemic of any type. The potential for mutant-flu research to improve public health any time soon has been exaggerated. Timely production of sufficient vaccine remains the biggest challenge. more…

  • We must all do our part to fight climate change.

    Quebecers may be better at talking the talk about climate change than walking the walk. The government should do a better job getting out the message of the importance of individual actions in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. more…

Opinions

  • The green jobs debate: A boon or bust for the economy?

    Is the green economy good news, or is it destroying other industries - leaving those workers unemployed and hurting the broader economic landscape? more…

  • Oregon's forests are being poisoned and so are you.

    One of the most tragic scenes I have actually witnessed was standing on a mountaintop, clearcut by machines, bare of the plant communities that provide wildlife habitat, and then looking out to the west to see log-ladened ships exporting our unmilled logs — and jobs — overseas. more…

More news from EHN From Environmental Health News

Caught with the packaging? Widespread plasticizer clouds doping tests of cyclists.

In the race to catch drug cheats, sports officials are turning to more sophisticated tests. Since cheaters are rarely caught red-handed, scientists devised a plan to catch them with the packaging – inside their bodies – by looking for residues of a plasticizer. But the chemical is so ubiquitous that it has clouded the results of these blood doping tests.

more…

It's the economy. And politics. And not much else.

Economics and political cues dictate climate change concern for a public that has a remarkably short attention span on the topic, researchers find. Science-based education efforts have 'only a minor effect.'

more…

Authors of Wall Street Journal climate piece downplay industry ties.

Half of the 16 scientists who penned a controversial Wall Street Journal opinion piece proclaiming there is "no need to panic" about global warming have ties to either the oil and gas industry or groups dedicated to debunking climate science, a DailyClimate.org investigation has found.

more…

Shareholders boost carbon disclosure – study.

Disclosures about greenhouse gas emissions and carbon-reduction strategies can lift a company's economic value, a new study has found.

more…

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In The News (CONTINUED) / Feb 10

  • The Curse: Cancer mysteriously ravages German village.

    Cancer has struck nearly every household in Wewelsfleth, a village of 1,500 inhabitants in northwest Germany near the mouth of the Elbe River. Residents feel not only cursed, but also abandoned by authorities in their search for an elusive answer. Der Spiegel

  • Malawi: Cholera in a time of floods.

    They survived floods and witnessed the horrific scenes of their houses, livestock, household items and gardens being swept away at the end of January. Now, the people of the Nsanje and Chikhwawa districts on Malawi’s southern border with Mozambique are facing another menace: a cholera outbreak. Inter Press Service

  • Reclaimed bus yard begins life as urban wetland.

    It took three years and more than $26 million to turn an old MTA bus yard in South Los Angeles into what it is today: a sprawling park and urban wetland that will store and clean millions of gallons of storm water — while also giving children a place to play. Some say it is a model of how cities should treat polluted runoff. Los Angeles Times

  • California sets trends in health regulation.

    The state has been first to pass major public health initiatives that have spread throughout the country. California was first to require smog checks for clean air, pass anti-tobacco initiatives and bike helmets laws. CNN

  • China probes "bouncing" boiled eggs.

    Chinese authorities are investigating eggs which bounce after being boiled and may make men sterile, state media reported Friday, in the latest food safety scare to hit the country. Reuters

  • Indoor ecosystems.

    Hardy Acinetobacter are burrowed into the crevices of my cutting boards. Counter-tops are biodiversity hot spots of bacteria and fungi, including sphingomonads that may have settled out of the tap water used to wipe the counter. The toilet seat is coated with bacteria associated with human skin. A large citizen-science survey is assessing the biodiversity of interior spaces. Science

More news from today
>170 more stories today, including:
  • Obese pets could unleash fat veterinary bills
  • Mad-cow disease unlikely in Marin cases
  • Climate: Trouble in the air, double on the ground; Uncertainty about crucial ocean microbes; 'Energy literacy' to be examined
  • Are saunas the best way to rid your body of toxins?
  • Stories from UK, Poland, UAE, S Africa, Japan, China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, India, Australia, Mexico, Jamaica, Canada
  • US stories from MA, CT, NJ, PA, MD, VA, FL, MN, OH, IL, KY, IA, LA, SD, TX, MT, ID, WY, CO, AZ, OR, CA, AK
  • Editorials: Drug screening for new mine workers; Roads to hell?