contact: info@safer-world.org
ACTIVE – LETTERS TO …
The European Parliament will be voting on a new chemicals law that should save many illnesses and deaths because of toxic chemicals. The Parliament will have a strong say in this new legislation. Your elected representatives - Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) - are voting on your behalf.
Elections will be held in June 2004, so MEPs and candidates will be particularly keen to be aware of issues that concern you. Visit this site again in May to question your candidates.
Right now, we need you to tell your MEP what you think. If you receive a reply from your MEP, please send us a copy of their response.
Click on your country to send an email to your MEP. Go to the page and follow the instructions. There is a sample letter available. You may write your own text too. http://www.chemicalreaction.org/
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From P A N
U P S (Pesticide Action Network Updates Service)
Action Alert Tell the U.S. Congress to
Block Bill Undermining POPs Treaty March 24, 2004
The Bush administration and its allies in the chemical and pesticide industries
are pushing legislation forward that will seriously undermine implementation of
the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs Treaty). If you
live in the U.S., please help us stop this legislation by taking the two easy
steps outlined below.
1 - CALL your U.S. Senators (Switchboard: 202-224-3121) and U.S. Representative
(Switchboard: 202-225-3121) and ask them to **block the current draft bill**
moving through Congress that would cripple U.S. implementation of the Stockholm
Convention; and 2)**support better legislation** that would allow full U.S.
implementation of the Convention. See the sample letter below for points you can
make on your call.
2 - EMAIL your U.S. Senators and U.S. Representative by cutting and pasting the
sample letter below and sending it to them directly. Use the links provided to
find their email addresses.
BACKGROUND:
More than 50 countries have now ratified the historic Stockholm Convention, an
international treaty designed to eliminate a class of dangerous chemicals that
are toxic, travel long distances, persist in the environment, and build up the
food chain. The treaty will ban 12 POPs, including nine pesticides once used
widely in the U.S., and includes provisions for taking future action on
additional POPs, including several pesticides still in widespread use in the
U.S.
The POPs treaty comes into force on May 17, 2004 and requires that a first
meeting of ratifying countries be held within a year. To fully participate in
decision-making under the treaty, the U.S. must ratify the Convention 90 days
before the first meeting takes place.
The Bush administration wants to be at the table as implementation of this
sweeping treaty moves forward, and is eager to ratify the Convention before the
deadline. Congress must pass implementing legislation bringing U.S. laws into
accord with the treaty before the Senate can move forward with ratifying the
Convention. Unfortunately, the draft implementing legislation now being pushed
through Congress by the administration and industry backers is dangerously
flawed.
More specifically, the version of this bill that emerged from the House
Agriculture Committee would amend existing law (i.e. the Federal Insecticide,
Fungicide and Rodenticide Act or FIFRA) in a way that could make it more rather
than less difficult for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) to
take action on new POPs pesticides identified under the treaty. It also allows
U.S. EPA to ignore treaty decisions when considering domestic action on new POPs
pesticides, and does not require U.S. EPA to take any action at all when a new
POPs chemical is listed under the treaty. For a more detailed explanation of why
we believe this bill is fatally flawed, see the NGO statement (see link below)
presented to U.S. EPA and key congressional staff on March 8, 2004.
PAN together with environmental and public health groups around the country are
calling on Congress to block this bill and support legislation supporting full
implementation of the Stockholm Convention, AND two important related treaties,
the Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent (PIC) and the Long-Range
Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP).
For more information on PAN's work to eliminate POPs pesticides, visit
http://www.panna.org/campaigns/pops.html.
See also
http://www.ciel.org/Publications/POPs_Announce_Congress_Mar04.pdf
for more information on the current debate in Congress. For a current list of
countries that have ratified the Stockholm Convention, see
http://www.pic.int, the
Rotterdam Convention, see
http://www.pic.int.
NGO Statement to U.S. EPA:
http://www.ciel.org/POPs/fifra_epa_mar904.html
SAMPLE LETTER
Copy the text below, then click on these links to find and email your Senators
and Representative, pasting the sample letter and adding your personalized
message.
For an email address for your U.S. Senator:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Date
The Honorable Senator/Representative ________
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator/Representative _______:
Please do not support the version of implementing legislation for the Stockholm
Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) emerging from the House
Agriculture Committee. This billæwhich has been developed by the Bush
administration to amend the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act
(FIFRA)æseverely undermines the spirit of the historic Stockholm Convention by
making it more difficult rather than easier for EPA to take action on pesticides
that are identified as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) under the treaty.
POPs are a class of particularly dangerous chemicals that are toxic, move great
distances via wind and water, persist in the environment and bio-accumulate as
they move up the food chain. In enacting the Stockholm Convention, the global
community has recognized that these chemicals pose a worldwide threat to human
health and the environment.
The bill now moving through Congress allows the U.S. to ignore decisions to
target new chemicals for global elimination, and does not require EPA to take
any action at all when a new POPs chemical is listed under the treaty - even
though the U.S. will be a full participant in those treaty decisions.
As a concerned constituent I urge you to support new implementing legislation
that allows the U.S. to fully implement the Stockholm Convention. Effective
legislation to implement this treaty in the U.S. must truly protect the public
from pesticides that are identified as dangerous POPs chemicals now or in the
future.
Thank you for your consideration,
your name
===
From Diana Buckland
March 24, 2004 : Submissions – Australian govt. MCS/Chemical Injury Enquiry
I think you would be most interested in this Global Recognition Campaign - the response from around the world in submitting to this enquiry has been enormous. Please go to the links listed below to see the full story. Thanks very much.
Kind
Regards, Diana Buckland
4 Mia Street Kallangur, 4503 Queensland Australia
email:
dbucklan@bigpond.net.au
Representative of Australian Chemical Trauma Alliance
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~actall/
Global Recognition Campaign / Multiple Chemical Sensitivity
http://www.wtv-zone.com/infchoice/mcs_australia.html
http://www.wtv-zone.com/infchoice/mcsawareness.html
http://www.wtv-zone.com/infchoice/our_garden.html
www.ehponline.org/press
(Environmental Health Perspectives - more than 12% of population reports extreme
sensitivity to common chemicals)
http://www.abqtrib.com/archives/opinions04/030904_opinions_mckee.shtml
http://www.universityofhealth.net/PR/3304PRUSNOMHearing.htm
(Mercury warning)
http://www.dragonfleye.org/envir.htm (School Environmental Health Policy)
Dear All, just a reminder to distribute this widely to give as many people as possible, the opportunity to submit their stories to this Global Recognition Campaign for multiple chemical sensitivity/chemical injury/chemically induced illnesses.
Multiple Chemical Sensitivity/ Chemical Injury/Chemically Induced Illnesses/ Global Recognition Campain- Submissions Accepted from All Countries
My name is Diana Buckland from Australia and my son suffers multiple chemical sensitivity/chemical injury/illness/intolerance/sensitivity/chemically induced illness/environmental illness.
On the 9th July, 2003, South Australia's Upper House, the Legislative Council, voted unanimously to support an Australian Democrat's Motion, The Hon. Sandra Kanck, requesting the Social Development Committee enquire into and report on multiple chemical sensitivity. The Social Development Committee is a standing Parliamentary Committee of six elected representatives, three from the Upper House and three from the Lower House, who regularly investigate issues of public concern. A Parliamentary Enquiry into mcs is a big step forward and a great opportunity for people suffering chemically induced illnesses and their supporters, to tell their story and present their case to Legislators. The Enquiry will help to inform the basis for future Public Health Policy and guide reforms in Chemical Regulation.
Submissions to the Enquiry are now open and will be formally considered from February, 2004 and are open for WORLD-WIDE SUBMISSIONS. I have not been advised of a closing date, so people who suffer chemically induced illnesses may present their stories "as they have to live it" and any documentation whatsoever supporting this chemically induced illness may be submitted also. The postal address for Submissions:-
Ms. Robyn Schutte, Secretary, Social Development Committee, Parliament House, North Terrace, Adelaide 5000 South Australia.
The email address is for Submissions:- robyn.schutte@parliament.sa.gov.au
The bottom line is to tell it as it is, they do want to hear each person's story, the pain, suffering, difficulty/impossibility accessing any health care, home health care, home help or any help whatsoever, educational facilities, social events due to the chemicals and chemically perfumed products everywhere (depending on the level of chemical sensitivities as this is variable), the isolation, the ridicule, abandonment - this is what it is all about to tell your story of how you are affected. In Australia, many people have presented multiple Submissions and will continue to do so.
Please take this opportunity to submit your information to influence National Policy which will in turn, impact upon other Governments by example, please take the time to inform these officials of the realities of chemically induced illnesses to the best of your abilities.
Let us make this the year in which we can be granted the recognition required for all people world-wide suffering mcs/chemical injury/illness/intolerance/sensitivity/chemically induced illness/environmental illness.
Thank you, Diana Buckland for and on behalf of those people, 4 Mia Street, Kallangur, 4503 Queensland, Australia.
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CHEMICALS – NAPHTALENE
Proposal for the Adoption of a Unit Risk Value for
Naphthalene. Materials for Review by the Scientific Review Panel for Air Toxics
http://www.oehha.ca.gov/air/toxic_contaminants/naphthd2.html
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CHEMICALS - PESTICIDES
From P A N U P S (Pesticide Action Network Updates Service)
Resource Pointer #361 (Environmental Law, Policy and Management) April 14, 2004
Resource
Pointer #359 (Industrial Pollution) March 17, 2004
www.panna.org
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FOOD – EU - MODIFIED RICE
Press
Release, March 22 2004: Friends of the Earth Europe and Coalition against
BAYER-Dangers (Germany)
Europe Urged to reject Modified Rice
Worlds
staple food at risk from multinationals
European Governments are being urged to reject a Genetically Modified (GM) rice
in order to protect the world's largest staple food from falling into the hands
of multinational companies.
Member states have only until Sunday 28th March to object to an application by
German-based Bayer Cropscience to import into the EU a GM rice that has been
modified to resist the companies own herbicide, glufosinate ammonium. It is the
first time that a company asks for the authorisation of GM rice in Europe. Both
Friends of the Earth Europe and the German "Coalition against Bayer Dangers" (CBG)
claim that an EU approval of the rice will send a dangerous signal to developing
countries and could lead to the eventual corporate take-over of one of the
worlds most important foods. Currently 2.5 billion people depend on rice as a
staple food.
As well as the dangers to the worlds food supply Friends of the Earth and CBG
are concerned that
* Long term studies to examine the potential for more serious health effects
were not carried out
* Feeding studies on broilers conducted by Bayer were judged by the UK
authorities to be of "limited capacity" to identify adverse effects, while in a
pig feeding
study a
difference in response (increased weight gain) was observed in pigs who ate the
GM rice
* Bayer does not provide any information on the likelihood of imported rice
being spilled and the effects this might be have on the 5 southern EU member
states
that currently grow rice (Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal and
France).
Geert Ritsema of Friends of the Earth: "This genetically modified rice not only
poses a health risk to European consumers but could also endanger the
livelihoods of millions of people outside the EU. Europe has a strong moral
obligation to take this into account when they assess this rice."
"Allowing the import of GM rice into Europe will give the green light to
multinationals to promote this unsustainable form of farming in developing
countries. Allowing the worlds most important staple food to fall into the hands
of companies like Bayer is a dangerous and unprecedented move."
Philipp Mimkes of CBG: "Agricultural biotechnology has so far been a complete
disaster for Bayer. This application for genetically modified rice will become
another chapter in their book of failures. It's time that Bayer quit producing
genetically engineered food."
Geert Ritsema, GMO campaign coordinator Friends of the Earth Europe, mobile:
+31-6-290 05 908, office: +32-2-542 0182
Philipp Mimkes, Coalition against BAYER-dangers / Germany; +49-(0)211-333 911,
CBGnetwork@aol.com
www.CBGnetwork.org (English and
German)
Briefing about the food safety and environmental risks of Bayer's GMO rice
Legal
requirements
The GMO Directive 2001/18 requires that member states and the Commission "ensure
that all appropriate measures are taken to avoid adverse effects on human health
and the environment which might arise from the deliberate release or the placing
on the market of GMOs"
And recital 11 states that: "Placing on the market also covers import. Products
containing and/or consisting of GMOs covered by this Directive cannot be
imported into the Community if they do not comply with its provisions."
I think that, at this stage, it will be difficult for us to muster legal
arguments to show that the EU should not 'export' environmental damage by
importing produce from a crop known to damage the environment. For now I would
stick to the moral argument, but I am talking to Pete and Phil about
investigating this further.
Food safety considerations
Friends of the Earth believes that there are several serious concerns about the
safety of LLrice62 for use in human food.
* The genetic analysis of the impact of the inserted genes on the rice indicated
the possibility of an alteration in the plant metabolism as a result of the
genetic
modification; at the very least this was not ruled out by Bayer.
* No examination of the GM rice was done to make sure that unanticipated changes
to its metabolism had not occurred
* Changes were observed in known compositional compounds of rice, including a
substantial increase in the amount of existing allergenic compounds.
* One of the feeding studies conducted by Bayer was judged by the UK authorities
to be of "limited capacity" to identify adverse effects, while in the other a
difference in response (increased weight gain) was observed for consumption of
the GM rice.
* Long term studies to examine potential for more serious health effects were
not carried out.
Taken together, Friends of the Earth considers that the evidence suggests that
unexpected changes could have occurred in the GM rice which could affect its
nutritional value and safety for human consumption.
Rice is a staple food for 2.5 billion people. For many of those people,
including citizens of the EU, it can make up a large proportion of the diet. The
US Government has stated that when assessing GM foods for its own livestock,
regulators should take particular care because "a single plant product may
constitute a significant portion of the animal diet... Therefore, a change in
nutrient or toxicant composition ... may be a very significant change in the
animal diet" (emphasis added)1. If this argument is valid for US cattle, what
about the humans around the world who could end up eating GM rice as the
mainstay of their diet?
The Cartagena Protocol On Biosafety to the Convention On Biological Diversity
notes that there are "limited capabilities of many countries, particularly
developing countries, to cope with the nature and scale of known and potential
risks associated with living modified organisms". The decisions by the European
Union with respect to this GM rice will therefore be extremely influential in
countries with limited resources to undertake their own regulatory review. The
EU authorities must take the assessment of this rice extremely seriously - and
ensure that it is completely safe for consumption as a large proportion of the
diet - because this assessment will affect people not just in the EU, but around
the world.
Environmental impacts
No information on whether GM rice could escape into the EU environment
Bayer's application is for import of the GM rice but not cultivation. Rice is
grown in 5 southern EU member states - Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal and
France. Although gene flow to crop rice or weedy red rice is possible in such
areas2,3,4, Bayer said in its application that it considered this risk to be
only 'theoretical', because LLRICE62 is not intended to be grown in Europe (Page
43 of notification). However, nowhere in its application has Bayer provided data
to show that grains will not be imported into regions where rice is grown and
that it cannot escape. Bayer did not provide any information on the proportion
of imported rice that may contain viable rice and whether or where spillages of
imported rice have occurred in the past.
Environmental impacts in third countries.
One of the key concerns raised by the UK authorities with respect to
herbicide tolerant crops (and the subject of four years of field trials in the
UK) was the impact of the changed herbicide regime on wildlife that makes use of
agricultural areas. In the United States, around half of natural wetlands have
been lost in the last century and rice fields provide a vital food resource for
wetland birds as a result. The weed seeds and invertebrates of rice fields are
known to be important food sources for wetland birds. If the use of herbicide
tolerant rice reduces such biodiversity, in the same way as has been shown for
GM beet crops and spring oilseed rape in the UK trials, then the production of
Liberty link rice in the US could have serious impacts on wild birds in the
United States and other countries where the crop is grown.
Resistance to the herbicide may develop rapidly.
One of the key weeds that rice farmers need to control is weedy rice. Liberty
Link rice has been promoted in the United States as a means of controlling weedy
rice in particular. However, cultivated and weedy rice are so closely related
that they can easily cross breed. recent research from China, designed to
replicate the occurrence of wild rice in the field, found transgene escape to
wild rice (Oryza rufipogon Griff.) occurring at the rate of 1.21 and 2.19 % in
the field5. A recent study modelling commercial production of glufosinate
tolerant rice in Latin America predicted that the development of herbicide
resistant weedy rice populations would occur within 3 to 8 years6. This will
mean that farmers will have to use more herbicides to control these herbicide
resistant weed populations.
Impacts on centres of agricultural biodiversity
Dispersal of transgenes into wild rice, non GM rice and traditional
varieties of rice would be of particular concern in those areas which are
centres of agricultural biodiversity, such as India. The importance of
protecting such world resources cannot be over stated; rice gets its resistance
to two of Asia's four main rice diseases from a single sample of rice that came
from central India7.
1 Guest, G. 1992. Response to FDA Draft Federal Register Notice on Food
Biotechnology
2 OECD (1999) Series on Harmonization of Regulatory Oversight in Biotechnology
No.14. Consensus document on the biology of Oryza sativa (rice). ENV/JM/MONO(99)26
3 Messegeur, J. et al (2001) Field assessments of gene flow from transgenic to
cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L.) using a herbicide resistance gene as tracer
marker. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 103: 1151-1159.
4 Zhang, N., Linscombe, S. & Oard, J. (2003) Out-crossing frequency and genetic
analysis of hybrids between transgenic glufosinate herbicide-resistant rice and
the weed, red rice. Euphytica 130: 35-45.
5 Chen LJ et al. (2004) Gene flow from cultivated rice (Oryza sativa) to its
weedy and wild relatives
Annals of Botany 93 (1): 67-73
6 Madsen KH, Valverde BE, Jensen JE (2002) Risk assessment of
herbicide-resistant crops: A Latin American perspective using rice (Oryza sativa)
as a model Weed 16 (1): 215-223
7 World Resources Institute
http://www.wri.org
Coalition against BAYER-dangers,
www.CBGnetwork.org
CBGnetwork@aol.com
Fax: (+49) 211-333 940 Tel: (+49) 211-333 911
please send an e-mail for receiving the English newsletter Keycode BAYER free of
charge. Italian/French/Spanish newsletters also available.
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RACHEL'S ENVIRONMENT & HEALTH NEWS
April 15, 2004 ANSWERING THE CRITICS OF PRECAUTION, Part 1, #789
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SCIENCE
April 01, 2004: Environmental Health Perspectives: Volume 112, Number 5, April 2004
Parts of “Table of Contents:“
p. A 266 Grand Rounds in Environmental Medicine: Information on MCS Needed. The Simple Truth about Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. Multiple
Chemical Sensitivity: Response to Pall . . . Accuracy of Declared Conflicts of Interest. Conflicts of Interest: Gibson's Response
p. A 300 Passing Along Pesticides - When PCBs Act Like Thyroid Hormone Gill Damage in Puget Sound Fish
p. 516 Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) Exert Thyroid Hormone-like Effects in the Fetal Rat Brain but Do Not Bind to Thyroid Hormone Receptors , Gauger et al.
p. 524 Screening for Estrogen and Androgen Receptor Activities in 200 Pesticides by in Vitro Reporter Gene Assays Using Chinese Hamster Ovary Cells- Kojima et al.
p. 532 Effects of Organochlorine Contaminants on Thyroid Hormone Levels in Arctic Breeding Glaucous Gulls, Larus hyperboreus Verreault et al.
p. 538
The Protective Effect of 
-Aminolevulinic
Acid Dehydratase 1-2 and 2-2 Isozymes against Blood Lead with Higher Hematologic
Parameters Kim et al.
p. 542
Reproductive Effects of Occupational DDT Exposure among Male Malaria Control
Workers. Salazar-García et al.
p. 548 Prenatal Lead Exposure, -Aminolevulinic
Acid, and Schizophrenia. Opler et al.
p. 553 Enhancing Effect of the Endocrine Disruptor para-Nonylphenol on the Generation of Reactive Oxygen Species in Human Blood Neutrophils. Okai et al.
p. 557 Is the Association of Airborne Particles with Daily Deaths Confounded by Gaseous Air Pollutants? An Approach to Control by Matching. Schwartz et al.
p. 562 Blood Organic Mercury and Dietary Mercury Intake: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999 and 2000 Mahaffey et al.
p. 571 Phthalate Exposure and Pulmonary Function. Hoppin et al.
p. 575 Sensitivity of the Immature Rat Uterotrophic Assay to Mixtures of Estrogens. Tinwell and Ashby
p. 583 Ambient Endotoxin Concentrations in PM10 from Southern California. Mueller-Anneling et al.
p. 589 Personal Exposure Meets Risk Assessment: A Comparison of Measured and Modeled Exposures and Risks in an Urban Community Payne-Sturges et al.
p. 599 Arsenic-Induced Enhancement of Ultraviolet Radiation Carcinogenesis in Mouse Skin: A Dose-Response Study Burns et al.
p. 604 Workgroup Report: Understanding Sex Differences in Environmental Health: A Thought Leaders' Roundtable Keitt et al.
p. 610 Urban Air Pollution and Mortality in a Cohort of Norwegian Men. Nafstad et al.
p. 616 Grand Rounds: Asbestos-Induced Peritoneal Mesothelioma in a Construction Worker. Fonte et al.
p. 620 Cognitive Deficits and Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in Adult Monozygotic Twins with Lead Poisoning Weisskopf et al.
p. 626 Molecular Evidence of an Interaction Between Prenatal Environmental Exposures and Birth Outcomes in a Multiethnic Population Perera et al.
p. 631 Cancer Risk and Parental Pesticide Application in Children of Agricultural Health Study Participants Flower et al
p. 636 Reporting Pesticide Assessment Results to Farmworker Families: Development, Implementation, and Evaluation of a Risk Communication Strategy. Quandt et al.
http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2004/112-5/toc.html?section=ehp
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Toxic Effects of Chemical Mixtures- -- Excellent Review of the Toxicological Literature
Archives of Environmental Health, Jan, 2003, by Harold I. Zeliger
ABSTRACT. Exposures to chemical mixtures have reportedly produced unexpected effects. Examination of new case studies, as well as those previously reported, shows that when the human body is exposed to mixtures of chemicals that include lipophilic and hydrophilic species, the lipophiles facilitate the absorption of the hydrophiles at enhanced levels and produce effects that are not expected from an individual chemical. These effects include enhanced acute and chronic responses, low-level concentration response, and unexpected target organ attack. Octanol:water partition coefficients are predictive of relative lipophilicity and hydrophilicity. The findings have implications for safe drinking water standards, air quality standards, safe industrial and environmental exposure levels, product formulation, product labeling, and protocols for toxicity testing of chemical products.
Key words: additive effects, Aerospace Syndrome, chemical mixtures, hydrophilic chemicals, lipophilic chemicals, low-level exposure, octanol:water partition coefficient, potentiation, synergistic effects, Sick Building Syndrome, toxic chemicals, toxicity of chemical mixtures http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m0907/1_58/101860467/print.jhtml
Scherrmann: If you have problems to open the file, I can send you the article in a private email (without an attachment).
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The brains of children in many parts of Europe are suffering greater damage from environmental risks than previously recognised, scientists say. The World Health Organization says the emphasis from now on should be on the precautionary principle, putting safety first. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3568939.stm
Toxic America. Tracking the hazardous chemicals that seep stealthily into our bodies Vicki Haddock, Insight Staff Writer http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/03/28
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Indoor carbon dioxide levels and ADD/schools. Link between chemicals and learning problems The EPA also cites exposure to hazardous chemicals as a possible cause of some of the rising number of learning-disabled students. Exposure to lead, mercury, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) is suspected of causing harmful and sometimes permanent neurological effects in children. For example, research suggests that lead may cause lowered intelligence, reading and learning disabilities, impaired hearing, reduced attention span, hyperactivity, and antisocial behavior.
According to the EPA, 900,000 children in the United States have elevated levels of lead in their blood. Interior classrooms painted before 1978 in which walls are flaking paint chips may expose children to lead. However, the jury is still out about whether the dramatic rise in learning disorders, particularly the significant rise in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), might be caused by exposure to chemicals. …
Poor indoor quality = Poor concentration
The most common environmental problem reported by schools is poor indoor air quality, or poor ventilation. A 1996 European study of 800 students from eight different schools documents a reduction in mental ability caused by poor indoor air quality. The study was presented at the Seventh International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate in 1996. That study and others are now linking performance to changes in indoor air quality, according to the EPA. Poor ventilation generally reduces a person's ability to perform specific mental tasks requiring concentration, calculation, or memory and therefore affects academic achievement, the study reports.
Another consequence of poor ventilation in school buildings is high rates of carbon dioxide, which is not a health threat but does indicate poor ventilation and therefore high rates of indoor air pollution. Carbon dioxide is primarily generated by exhalation from people inside the building, according to the EPA. Student scores on concentration tests were low in classrooms with high rates of carbon dioxide. With proper ventilation and improved management of indoor air quality, student performance improves the EPA states.
Overcrowding also exacerbates the problem of indoor air quality in buildings with poor ventilation. The National Education Association reports that schools have four times as many occupants per square foot as office buildings. The NEA also notes that many school ventilation systems were not constructed to accommodate significant increases in student population. … http://www.education-world.com/a_issues/issues177.shtml
Article by Diane Weaver. Dunne Education World® . Copyright © 2003 Education World. Originally published 6/4/2001
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Flame retardant in breast milk
Thursday March 11, 2004. The Guardian. Paul Brown
A flame retardant said to cause brain damage in mice, and used in everything from televisions to soft furnishings to prevent fire deaths, is being found in human breast milk and birds' eggs. Today a committee of technical experts from the EU will meet in Italy to decide whether the chemical Deca-BDE should be banned or further tests should be carried out to see if there is a safe threshold for humans. Recent studies in the UK showed that one in 12 of those tested had detectable levels of the chemical in the blood and every home which was tested had Deca-BDE in its house dust. The chemical industry is attacking the validity of a Swedish study which found brain damage in mice and fighting fo the continued use of the chemical saying it saves lives by slowing the spread of house fires. The Environment Agency is urging caution about the continued use of the chemical. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1166654,00.html
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Brain Res. 2004 May 8;1007(1-2):192-7. Long-term exposure to low levels of formaldehyde increases the number of tyrosine hydroxylase-immunopositive periglomerular cells in mouse main olfactory bulb. Hayashi H, Kunugita N, Arashidani K, Fujimaki H, Ichikawa M.
Laboratory of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Department of Basic Techniques and Facilities, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Neuroscience, Tokyo Metropolitan Organization for Medical Research, 2-6, Musashidai, Fuchu City, Tokyo 183-8526, Japan.
Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) in response to a long-term low-level chemical exposure is as yet an unclarified disorder. To determine the role of olfactory function in the induction of MCS, immunocytochemical analysis of the main olfactory bulb (MOB) was performed after exposure of mice to low levels of formaldehyde. A long-term exposure resulted in an increase in the number of tyrosine hydroxylase-immunopositive periglomerular cells and may affect the neuronal function of the MOB. PMID: 15064152 [PubMed - in process] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15064152
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''Animal and in vitro studies indicate that the chemosensitive neurons and airway epithelium may be critical targets for irritants that participate in the induction of inflammation.'' ''There exists a group of individuals who report a variety of symptoms on exposure to low levels of common volatile organic mixtures such as perfume, cigarette smoke, and cleaning agents.''
Environ Health Perspect. 1991 Nov;95:39-44. The upper respiratory tract: mucous membrane irritation. Bascom R. Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore 21201.
Despite the widespread recognition that mucosal irritation is a cardinal feature of "sick-building syndrome," few data exist on the cause, natural history, or pathophysiology of upper respiratory mucous membrane irritation. The baseline prevalence of nasal symptoms among building occupants is often 20%, but in some studies it is as high as 50 to 60%. New techniques of nasal challenge and analysis of cells and mediators in nasal lavage fluid have proved useful in the assessment of rhinitis caused by antigens, cold air, and viruses, and these techniques are now being applied to the study the response to irritants. Human inhalation challenge studies have recently demonstrated a spectrum of sensitivity to environmental tobacco smoke, but the basis for this difference requires additional investigation. Animal and in vitro studies indicate that the chemosensitive neurons and airway epithelium may be critical targets for irritants that participate in the induction of inflammation. New research methods are needed, particularly to evaluate complaints of nasal congestion, drying, and irritation. Techniques should be developed that may be useful for field studies, where the health effects of a complex mixture are being assessed in a specific indoor environment. There exists a group of individuals who report a variety of symptoms on exposure to low levels of common volatile organic mixtures such as perfume, cigarette smoke, and cleaning agents. Some of these individuals report having occupied "sick buildings" during the time their symptoms began. Research is needed to understand the basis of their complaints, their etiology, and treatment. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=1821376
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Toxic Tipping Point - Are the CDC, the FDA, and other health agencies covering up evidence that a mercury preservative in children's vaccines caused a rise in autism? by Andrea Rock. March/April 2004 Issue
In August of 2001, Rita Shreffler of Nixa, Missouri, sent her son's baby tooth to a lab. A year earlier, nine-year-old Andy had been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism, and Shreffler had just read a report in the journal Medical Hypotheses suggesting that such neurological disorders might be the result of mercury poisoning associated with an additive in children's vaccines. … http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2004/03/02_354.html @2004 The Foundation for National Progress
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erj press packs - short releases - february 2004- European Respiratory Journal, Vol. 23, Number 2, If you need the original articles, you are kindly asked to address your request to erj@cedos.int.ch
Long-term ozone effects on children's lung growth The question whether ambient ozone has adverse effects on children's health is raised every summer with increasing temperature and ozone levels, and potential short-term effects on children's lung function were demonstrated in many studies. But what about longer-lasting ozone effects? Short-term refers to a time period of a few days, and only few investigations deal with the aspect of medium-term effects (comprising a time period of several months) or long-term effects.
Children are considered to be at higher risk than adults to possible damage caused by air pollution, since they spend more time outdoors, are more active, and their growing lungs might be more susceptible.
In the present study, carried out by Gabriele Ihorst (Institute for Medical Biometry and Medical Informatics, Freiburg, Germany) with Austrian and German colleagues, morethan 2,000 school children from Austria and South Western Germany were observed over a time period of 3.5 years, and a total of about 12,000 lung function tests were obtained.
An effect of highest summer ozone concentrations (semiannual summer mean 46-54 ppb) leading to delayed lung growth was observed (especially for younger children), but in the following winter seasons the pattern was reversed. This is interpreted http://www.ersnet.org/4/3/4_3_32_1.asp#s3
The authors' conclusion is that medium term ozone effects on children's lung growth as a possible catch-up effect by the authors. In the long run, i.e. over the entire study period of 3.5 years, no harmful ozone effects could be shown. may be present, but they are at least partially reversible.
Contact: Gabriele Ihorst Institute for Medical Biometry and Medical Informatics Freiburg, Germany, Email: Gabi@imbi.uni-freiburg.de
Original article's title: "Long- and medium-term ozone effects on lung growth including a broad spectrum of exposure"
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Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2004 Mar 16 [Epub ahead of print]
A short chemical sensitivity scale for assessment of airway sensory hyperreactivity. Nordin S, Millqvist E, Lowhagen O, Bende M. Department of Psychology, Umea University, 901 87, Umea, Sweden.
OBJECTIVES. A short version of the 21-item Chemical Sensitivity Scale (CSS), called the Chemical Sensitivity Scale for Sensory Hyperreactivity (CSS-SHR), was developed and evaluated for the quantifying of self-reported affective reactions to and behavioural disruptions in daily activities by odorous/pungent substances among patients with sensory hyperreactivity (SHR) for clinical and epidemiological studies. METHODS. Twenty-two patients with clinically
diagnosed SHR and 124 control participants responded to the CSS and to additional questions about chemical sensitivity for the evaluation of the CSS-SHR. RESULTS. Eleven of the 21 items of the CSS were selected, on statistical grounds, to constitute the CSS- SHR, which was found to generate approximately normal distributions, have good test-retest reliability (r(xy)=0.87), satisfying internal consistency (r(alpha)=0.76-0.84) and predictive and concurrent validity, and to be uni-dimensional. The metric properties of the CSS-SHR were, despite its few items, comparable with those of the CSS.
A proposed diagnostic cut-off score for SHR demonstrated a high correct classification rate (92%) for the CSS-SHR. CONCLUSIONS.
The favorable metric properties of the CSS-SHR and its sensitivity/specificity suggests that it is useful for clinical diagnosis and epidemiological study of sensory
hyperreactivity in combination with other diagnostic tools. PMID: 15024570 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15024570
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Chronic illness doubles in the young as living standards rise By Maxine Frith, Social Affairs Correspondent. 19 March 2004
Record numbers of children and young adults are suffering from long-term illnesses and conditions, according to figures released yesterday.
While better housing and labour-saving appliances have improved standards of living, rates of chronic illness have doubled in children and young adults. The figures were published yesterday by the Office for National Statistics as part of its annual Living in Britain survey, involving 20,000 people.
The study showed that among children and young adults, asthma and other allergies made up the bulk of the problems. Other conditions included breathing problems other than asthma, digestive disorders, mental illness and heart disease.
One in six children under five now suffer from a long-standing illness, compared with 4 per cent in 1972. Chronic conditions have also more than doubled among five to 15-year-olds, from 8 per cent 30 years ago to one in five in 2002. A quarter of people aged 16 to 44 now suffer from a long- term illness. Experts said that the majority were suffering from allergies such as asthma.
The number of adults with the condition has increased sixfold in the past 25 years and has tripled among children, amounting to 5.1 million sufferers. A spokeswoman for the National Asthma Campaign said: "We don't know the reasons for this increase, although we do know that genetics play a part.
"Environmental pollution may also be a factor, as well as the 'sealed box' syndrome where children are growing up in centrally-heated houses and are not getting fresh air or being exposed to infection to help them build up immunity to disease."
These changes are also highlighted in the survey. In 1972, only half of households had access to a car or van; now three quarters have at least one vehicle. Only one in three households had central heating 30 years ago, compared with 93 per cent in 2002. http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health/story.jsp?story=502725 © 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd
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Edinburgh Evening News. 31st March, 2004.
THE long-term health effects of man-made chemicals are to be debated in Edinburgh.
Speakers at the debate, part of the Edinburgh International Science Festival, include the chief scientific advisor to the Gulf War Veterans' Association.
The discussion has been sparked by a debate in the European Union on whether to ban chemicals that have been shown to build up in humans.
According to a UK-wide blood survey by World Wildlife Fund, a cocktail of man-made chemicals was found in every person tested, highlighting a widespread contamination by chemicals found in products such as toys and cars.
Environmentalists claim exposure to these chemicals is threatening the population's health and fertility, pointing to increasing incidences of asthma, allergies and falling sperm counts. But synthetic chemicals are believed to have made a significant contribution to improving the quality of human life and there are fears in the scientific community that excessive legislation could hinder further research.
Among the speakers at the event on April 10 will be Professor Malcolm Hooper, chief scientific advisor to the Gulf War Veterans' Association. The event is being held at the Royal Museum from 2pm. http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/edinburgh.cfm?id=367952004
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