Statistics Canada will test the blood and urine of 5,000 Canadians, ages 6 to 79, so the government can for the first time chart the chemicals that pollute Canadians. 70 metals and chemicals will be tracked. The Globe and Mail, 3 January 2007
A new study finds the strongest evidence yet for the hypothesis that widespread environmental exposure to bisphenol A during fetal life causes breast cancer in adult women. The research, led by Ana M. Soto, professor of anatomy and cellular biology at Tufts University School of Medicine, in Boston, was published Dec. 6 in the online edition of Reproductive Toxicology (DOI: 10.1016/j.reprotox.2006.10.002). Chemical and Engineering News, December 6th
Recent studies have detected pesticides, plastics and polymers not only in umbilical cord blood, but in the placenta, in human milk and in the bloodstreams and body fat of infants. Women's E News, 19 December 2006.
Norway is to lobby for a "global ban" on the controversial pesticide endosulfan and the brominated flame retardant HBCDD, the government announced on Friday.
The initiative is one of a series in a white paper on ecotoxins. The government proposes legislation giving businesses until 2008 to produce action plans for eliminating "all emissions" of ecotoxins by 2020.
Information and labelling requirements on consumer products would be strengthened with the aim of eliminating a range of substances including mercury, other brominated flame retardants, PFOS, the antibacterial compound triclosan and copper. ENDS Europe DAILY 2228, 18/12/06
Of salmon from the Pacific Northwest, farmed Atlantic salmon from British Columbia tend to have the most PCBs, whereas wild pink salmon and chum have the least. Farmed chinook and coho had PCB levels comparable with those of wild salmon. Environmental Science & Technology, December 13, 2006
More than 700 scientists signed an open letter to the Prime Minister Stephen Harper, urging the federal government to do more to crack down on the chemicals they say are harming human health. "A significant body of scientific evidence is drawing links between toxic chemicals and health conditions such as cancer, asthma, autism, learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, birth defects and low birth weight," reads the letter released on Monday.
A toxic mixture of chemicals from birth control pills, shampoo and even compounds used to make foam seating pours out of sewers and pipes across Canada every day, and hundreds of scientists say Ottawa must do more to stop it. CBC December 11 2006
New thinking on the causes of breast cancer suggests the disease's origins may be found not in anything a woman has done, but in what her mother - and possibly her grandmother - did before her. The findings further suggest that tiny exposure to hormone-like industrial chemicals early in life can have profound effects not just later in adulthood, but in future generations as well. Taken as a whole, said scientists gathered today for a conference on early environmental exposures and their link to breast cancer, the research simultaneously offers hope and despair: It points the way to potential new cures while highlighting how little we understand of a pollution pervasive in our bodies and environment.
"We are inducing certain genetic sequences that later on make the animal more susceptible to cancer," said Dr. Jose Russo, director of the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, where some of this research is being done."This is not a humongous dose where you kill the animal. These are levels found in the environment, but are enough to change the (genetic) expression," he said. Oakland Tribune, 3 December 2006
Triclosan, widely used in soaps and toothpastes for its ability to kill bacteria, has been found to hasten the transformation of tadpoles into adult frogs. The new research, published online September 29 in Aquatic Toxicology, is the first to show that triclosan can act as an endocrine disrupter at concentrations found in North American streams. Although sewage treatment plants remove most of the triclosan washed down the drain, the chemical makes its way into U.S. streams at readily detectable levels. More than 55% of streams examined in 2002 had a median concentration of 0.14 parts per billion (ppb). Chemical & Engineering News, October 24th 2006
Six case-control studies by the same team of Swedish epidemiologists consistently found an increased risk of brain tumors associated with cell phone and cordless phone use. Odds ratios ranged from 1.3 to 6.1, depending upon tumor type and phone technology, with confidence limits showing statistical significance. No consistent associations were found for salivary gland tumors, B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or testicular cancer. World Journal of Surgical Oncology, 11 October 2006
HCH was used as an insecticide during sheep-dipping. Owners of more than 100 sheep were almost four times as likely to develop NHL as owners of fewer than 100 sheep. The study uses the number of sheep dipped as an index of exposure. Lindane continues to be used to control lice in children's hair. European Journal of Cancer. November 2006
Staff at computer factories could be at increased risk of contracting cancer because of working environments containing high levels of chemicals, metals and electromagnetic fields, according to a new study.
In what is the largest study of its kind, the findings focus on upwards of 30,000 deaths of members of staff at factories in the US since 1969. It comes as government health inspectors have begun conducting a long-delayed follow-up inquiry into an Inverclyde factory at the centre of numerous cancer scares.
Scots scientists have criticised the "limited" second investigation into the National Semiconductor plant in Greenock, and say the new study helps "firm-up the picture" surrounding health risks. The study by the Boston University School of Public Health in the US, published in the science journal Environmental Health, analysed the causes of death for 31,941 IBM workers and compared them with causes of death among the American population during this period.
The results of the study indicate there was increased mortality due to several types of cancer, especially in manufacturing workers and workers at particular plants in California, Minnesota, New York, and Vermont. Most notably, there was an excess of deaths due to cancer of the brain and central nervous system. The Herald, October 19 2006
Chemical pollutants that mimic the female hormone oestrogen may play a part in the development of breast cancer and could account for the increase in cases, a scientist said yesterday.
The "gender-bending" chemicals are found in a host of common products, from scented candles and air fresheners to plastics used for babies' bottles and the casings of mobile phones.
They are known as endocrine disrupters and a new study for WWF (World Wildlife Fund) says they could be implicated in the development of breast cancers at two crucial stages, when a girl is in the womb and at puberty.They can act singly or as a much more powerful cocktail, according to Dr Andreas Kortenkamp, from London University's School of Pharmacy.
Because of their oestrogenic effect endocrine disrupters have also been blamed for "feminised" fish and frogs, as well as declining sperm counts and malformed male reproductive organs in humans. Now Dr Kortenkamp, director of the Centre of Toxicology at the School of Pharmacy, says they could be implicated in breast cancer. The Telegraph, October 18th 2006
Sir: For Sir Richard Peto to say that the environmental risk hypothesis of breast cancer is "rubbish" is to ignore the considerable scientific evidence that many everyday chemicals act like oestrogen in the body ("The growth of breast cancer", 29 September).
In the 30 years that breast cancer incidence rates have doubled, as your article states, the prevention advice from the UK government has remained consistently focused on individual lifestyle factors. More of the same will give us more of the same. A programme of genuine primary prevention that addresses exposures which may be implicated in breast cancer causation, particularly at especially vulnerable times in women's lives (puberty and peri-menopausally) might, on the other hand, help contribute to lowering breast cancer incidence rates.
In Ontario and California governments are initiating such public health measures. Must the UK lag behind because epidemiology is resistant to new hypotheses of risk and exposure?
Laura Potts,Reader In Public Health And The Environment, York St John University The Independent, 3 October 2006
The Danish government has launched an information campaign aimed at alerting expectant and nursing mothers to the potential hazards of chemical compounds in cosmetics, baby products and toys. The action was taken after a survey found three out of four women were unsure how to address such concerns, the environment ministry said on Wednesday. A nine-point set of guidelines includes suggestions that pregnant women and nursing mothers use cosmetics and skin creams as sparingly as possible, avoid spray cans and paints, and refrain from dyeing their hair. ENDS Europe DAILY 2173, 28 September 2006
Traces of a cocktail of toxic chemicals linked to cancer and foetal deformities are being eaten even in the healthiest of diets. Man-made pollutants and chemicals were found in every one of 27 food products, including staples such as bread and eggs, that were tested by experts. In further tests carried out by WWF, formerly the World Wide Fund for Nature, every one of 352 people who provided blood samples over the past five years was found to be contaminated with toxic chemicals. All the contaminants found in the samples were at low levels, well within legal limits, but there are serious fears for long-term health. The
Times, UK 21 September 2006
The Canadian Cancer Society says people should be protected from inadvertent exposure to cancer causing agents including those in our environment. They use the precautionary principle when developing positions, which states that when an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause-and-effect relationships are not fully established scientifically. Canadian
Cancer Society 14 September 2006
Cancer is rising rapidly among children across Europe and the increase shows no sign of slowing, researchers have found. The rate of the increase - up 17 per cent over 20 years - is too large to be accounted for by improvements in detection and is worrying specialists. They say different cancers have different causes and one factor cannot be responsible for all. But modern lifestyles and changes in the environment are likely to be behind the rise.Professor Richard Sharpe of the Medical Research Council's Human Reproductive Sciences Unit suggests that there's a link between incidents of hypospadias, undescended testes, low sperm-count and testicular cancers. "We don't yet know the exact cause of these problems, but they are all inter-related. It seems that the increase in these abnormalities is to do with environmental and lifestyle factors. It is something that has only happened recently," Sharpe says. The
Independent, UK 14 September 2006
High cancer levels found in British estuary fish could indicate a link between pollutants and disease in humans, it was revealed yesterday. Liver tumours in the fish hint at a connection with chemicals such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy metals, according to experts. Tumours were found in up to a quarter of the fish taken from sites in the open sea and some industrial estuaries. The highest levels were in dab from the central and western North Sea. Dr Grant Stentiford, from the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Agriculture Science (CEFAS) in Weymouth, Dorset, said: "There are higher levels of [fish] cancer and other diseases in estuaries with the highest contamination levels." The
Scotsman, Scotland 7 September 2006
According to a new study of childhood cancer incidence published this September in The European Journal of Cancer, "the overall incidence rate based on 77,111 cases has increased significantly (P < 0.0001), with an average annual percentage change (AAPC) of 1.1%."The authors state that "the increased incidence can only partly be explained by changes in diagnostic methods and by registration artifacts. The patterns and magnitude of these increases suggest that other factors, e.g. changes in lifestyle and in exposure to a variety of agents, have contributed to the increase in childhood cancer in the recent decades." This important study shows that increasing cancer incidence is not merely a problem of ageing and may be in part due to exposure to artificial environmental agents. European
Journal of Cancer September 2006
Thousands of untested industrial chemicals may threaten the public health despite a 30-year old law to review and regulate their use. Chemicals in commercial products often reach the market without the government determining their toxicity to humans and the environment, according to the Government Accountability Office. The problem originates with the Toxic Substances Chemical Act. The GAO says Environmental Protection Agency "reviews of new chemicals provide only limited assurance that health and environmental risks are identified because TSCA does not require companies to test chemicals before they notify EPA of their intent to manufacture the chemicals." United
Press International, Washington 9 August 2006
The
French government has adopted a strategy aimed at halving sales of the
most harmful pesticides and biocides as part of its national plan to
reduce health risks from environmental pollution. The objective of
cutting sales by 50% was announced on Wednesday. Among the instruments
adopted to achieve the cut is a tax on products containing
carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic (CMR) substances. Both measures
goes further than plans expected imminently from the European
commission in an EU strategy on sustainable pesticide use. Other
measures, such as a mandatory five-metre no-spray zone alongside
watercourses, go further than actions recently announced by other
member states. Among other measures in the plan are financial support
to encourage practices that use fewer pesticides, improved risk
assessment procedures and new traceability and labelling provisions. In
a separate development, EU pesticide trade association Ecpa has
launched a public campaign to promote the "environmental, economic and
social viability of the sustainable use of crop protection products". ENDS
Europe DAILY 29 June 2006
The
European commission has dropped a bombshell on the bromine industry by
announcing that an exemption for the flame retardant deca-BDE from an
imminent ban on hazardous substances in electronics has effectively
been cancelled.In a note distributed to member states last week (see
link below) the commission said commercial formulations of deca
contained small levels of nona-BDE, which will be banned from 1 July
under the restrictions on hazardous substances directive. Green MEP
Carl Schlyter hailed the commission's new guidance as a "major success
for consumers and the environment across Europe".
"The
firms that persisted using this bioaccumlative and toxic substance now
have until Saturday to ensure their products are free of deca," he
said. "It will prove an expensive lesson for them to learn but serves
them right for putting consumers and the environment at unnecessary
risk when safer alternatives exist." ENDS
Europe DAILY 28 June 2006
Teenagers in Los Angeles and New York City face a substantial — and strikingly similar — cancer risk from breathing the air, largely because of toxic chemicals inside
their homes and schools, a new scientific study shows.For the research,
87 high school students, including 41 from Jefferson High School in
South Los Angeles, wore backpacks equipped with air monitors that
measured what each was exposed to throughout the day. Although outdoor air in both cities is heavily polluted, indoor air was responsible for 40% to 50% of the teenagers' cancer risk from the compounds measured.The New York and Los Angeles teenagers were the only groups looked at in the study. They were
exposed to virtually the same average concentrations of nearly all of
the 19 carcinogens examined, according to the research by a Massachusetts
consulting firm, Columbia University,
UC Davis and the Harvard School of Public Health."Given that we spend
most of our time indoors, we're really affected by indoor sources. We
use a lot of cleaners and we're exposed to off-gassing from
furnishings," said Sonja Sax, the study's lead researcher and an
associate at Gradient Corp., which specializes in risk science."There
were two contaminants driving the risk," she said, "and they were
mostly coming from indoors." Formaldehyde — a colorless gas that wafts
mostly from particleboard cabinets and shelving, plywood paneling and
other pressed-wood furnishings — was the biggest culprit by far,
responsible for half of the Los Angeles teenagers' cancer risk.
A chemical called 1,4-dichlorobenzene, used in solid deodorizers and mothballs, also posed a substantial cancer risk. "Some households had very, very high concentrations and others
didn't have much at all," Sax said. The researchers suspect that toilet
deodorizers were to blame.Only one outdoor pollutant, benzene, found in
car exhaust, contributed significantly to the risk, and much less so
than formaldehyde and dichlorobenzene. Although 42% to 48% came from
indoor sources, 24% came from outdoor sources. The source of an
additional 32% to 36% could not be determined. The teenagers faced a
risk from breathing the chemicals "in the same order of magnitude" as
secondhand smoke, according to the study, published online last week in
the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. In Los Angeles, 513 teenagers per million exposed (equivalent to 1 of every 1,949) could contract cancer from the pollutants, and in
New York, 687 per million. Los Angeles Times 22 June 2006
Cancer rates in villages near the Trawsfynydd power station are 'alarmingly
high' leading to new concerns about the side-effects of nuclear power,
a new investigation reveals. The study claims that women under 50 are
particularly at risk, with their level of cancer during the past three years being 15 times more than the national average.
Western Mail June 13 2006
Residents
of four Bronx neighborhoods who say their children developed leukemia
or Hodgkin's disease from exposure to toxic chemicals in a nearby
landfill have enough evidence to be allowed to sue the city, a state
appellate court ruled yesterday.
In a 3-to-2 decision, the Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court
ruled yesterday that the methodology used by epidemiologists and
toxicologists hired by the Bronx residents met the test of "general
acceptance in the scientific community" needed for the case to go to
trial. "To hold otherwise," said the decision, written by Justice
Angela M. Mazzarelli, "would deny redress to these plaintiffs, who are
living in an area where they are being systematically poisoned by
environmental contaminants." New York Times June 7, 2006
Chemical in Plastics Is Tied to Prostate Cancer
Bisphenol A, found in baby bottles and microwave cookware, permanently
altered genes in newborn lab rats, a study finds.
Linking prostate cancer to a widespread industrial compound, scientists have found that
exposure to a chemical that leaks from plastic causes genetic changes
in animals’ developing prostate glands that are precursors of the most
common form of cancer in males.The
chemical, bisphenol A, or BPA, is used in the manufacture of hard,
polycarbonate plastic for baby bottles, microwave cookware and other
consumer goods, and it has been detected in nearly every human body
tested. Scientists and health experts have theorized for more than a
decade that chemicals in the environment and in consumer products mimic
estrogens and may be contributing to male and female reproductive
diseases, particularly prostate cancer.The new study of laboratory rats suggests that prostate cancer,
which usually strikes men over 50, may develop when BPA and other
estrogen-like, man-made chemicals pass through a pregnant woman’s womb
and alter the genes of a growing prostate in the fetus. One in every
six men develops prostate cancer, a
rate that has increased over the last 30 years. Researchers at the
University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Cincinnati
exposed newborn rats to low doses of BPA and found the structure of
genes in their prostate cells was permanently altered, a process of
reprogramming in early life that promotes cancer in adulthood. One key gene was switched on, producing too much of a
cell-damaging enzyme that has been detected in cancerous prostate cells
but not normal cells.Also, as the rats aged, they were more likely than
unexposed animals to develop precancerous lesions, or cellular damage,
in the prostate that have been known for years to lead to prostate cancer in humans. “The present findings provide the first evidence of a
direct link between developmental low-dose bisphenol A … and
carcinogenesis of the prostate gland,” according to the researchers.
Results from the team, led by Gail S. Prins, associate professor of
andrology at the
University of Illinois at Chicago, and Shuk-mei Ho, chair of environmental health at the University of Cincinnati, are reported today in the journal Cancer Research. Los Angeles Times, June 1, 2006
One chemical alone may do no harm in low doses, but in conjunction with a few of its peers, even in doses that are individually safe, it can inflict serious harm. New research in frogs shows that a mixture of nine chemicals found in a seed-corn field in York
County, killed a third of exposed tadpoles and lengthened time to metamorphosis by more than two weeks for the survivors. Biologist Tyrone Hayes and his colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley, have spent the past
four years testing four herbicides, two fungicides and three insecticides
commonly used in American cornfields. Individually, the chemicals had little
effect on developing tadpoles at low concentrations, such as about 0.1 part per
billion. But when Hayes exposed them to all nine at the same low level in the
laboratory--the lowest level actually found in the field--the future frogs fell
prey to endemic infection. Those that survived ended up smaller than their
counterparts raised in clean water--despite taking longer to mature into adults.
"In humans, this is like saying, 'The longer you are pregnant, the smaller your
baby will be,' which means the womb is no longer a nurturing environment," Hayes
notes. Scientific American 10 May 2006
Young boys who drink fluoridated water are at an increased risk of developing bone cancer, according to a new study published in the May issue of the journal,
Cancer Causes and Control.A
team of Harvard University scientists, led by Dr. Elise Bassin, found a
five fold increased risk of developing osteosarcoma in teenage boys who
drank fluoridated water at ages 6, 7, and 8. The research, funded by
the National Institute of Environmental Health Studies, reinforces
previous findings in both animals and humans. According to Fluoride
Action Network (FAN) Executive Director, Dr. Paul Connett, "Increasing
a child's risk of contracting a frequently fatal bone cancer is too high a price to pay for a small reduction in tooth decay. The
60-year old gamble that ingested fluoride could protect the tooth
enamel without damaging other tissues, has clearly been a bad one." Fluoride Action Network media release April 5, 2006
The effect of chemicals such as
organochlorines and hormone disrupting substances in the soil at Widnes
and Runcorn and in the waters and sediment of the Mersey Estuary could
be causing far worse damage than previous studies ever made out,
according to the new research. As the borough goes all out to the
encourage people to quit cigarettes and eat more vegetables in a bid to
combat cancer ADRIAN SHORT asks whether experts have been barking up
the wrong tree and should instead be looking at the borough's status as
the historic homeland of chemical manufacturing for the past 300 years
as the answer to Halton's cancer problem. WORRYING research by experts
at the University of Liverpool suggests chemical contamination in the
environment could play a far bigger role in causing cancer than
previously feared. The new research is of particular relevance to
Halton which is the historic home of the alkali chemical industry and a
key centre for organocholorine manufacture and many other chemical
manufacturing processes. Three centuries of manufacturing activity has
led to a legacy of severe land contamination which is proportionally
greater than any other area of the UK and the precise constitution of
the contamination in some areas remains unclear.Cheshire on line , March 30 2006
READ THE ARTICLE HERE
A class of poorly researched endocrine-disrupting
chemicals poses a much greater risk to the environment and humans than
previously thought, according to the results of an EU research project.
Project leaders say the findings emphasise the need for more robust
coverage of endocrine disruptors in the EU's Reach chemical reform. Environment Daily 2064, 22/03/06
Babies and young children may be at risk of developing cancer through
exposure to pesticides in food, say scientists. Low levels of chemicals
found in pesticide spraying, left, and plastics are more influential in
causing cancer than previously thought, experts from the University of
Liverpool said. They say that chemicals pass to humans from eating meat
and dairy products and can also be transferred from a mother to her
baby via breast milk. Jamie Page, chairman of the Cancer Prevention and
Education Society, said: “This research suggests that there are
links between chemicals and cancer. It is our opinion that if progress
is to be made in the fight against cancer, far more attention and
effort must be made to reduce human exposure to harmful
chemicals.” Previous investigations concluded that these
chemicals — called organochlorines — occurred at
concentrations too low to be considered a major factor in cancerous
diseases. The Times March 21, 2006
Parents were yesterday warned by researchers that
levels of pesticides previously thought to be harmless could cause
cancers in babies and young children. Liverpool University scientists
argue that low levels of chemicals from pesticides and plastics could
affect the development of babies before they are born and increase
their likelihood of developing cancer later in life. TheGuardian, Tuesday March 21 2006
LIVERPOOL, UK – 20 March 2006: New research
at the University of Liverpool suggests that environmental
contaminants, such as pesticides, are more influential in causing
cancer than previously thought. Previous studies in cancer causation
have often concluded that exposure to carcinogenic or
endocrine-disrupting chemicals, for example, organochlorines (OC) -
found in pesticides and plastics - occurs at concentrations that are
too low to be considered a major factor in cancerous disease. Now new
research at the University of Liverpool, published in the Journal of
Nutritional and Environmental Medicine, has found that exposure even to
small amounts of these chemicals may result in an increased risk of
developing cancer - particularly for infants and young adults. The full
article is available on: www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/13590847.asp LIVERPOOL, UK – 20 March 2006
WASTE incinerators are dangerous and no more
should be built, say doctors - just as the Government is encouraging
councils to increase their numbers. The warning comes as Ministers
today unveil a draft waste disposal strategy promoting incineration as
the answer to England's waste crisis. A junior Minister in the
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, Ben Bradshaw, will
launch the document which says incineration must be part of the
solution. However, a new report from a British doctors' group, which
puts them on the side of "green"campaigners,says incinerators are a
health hazard that can cause higher rates of adult and childhood cancer
and also birth defects around municipal waste incinerators. The British
Society for Ecological Medicine (BSEM), a professional body for
specialists in allergies, poisons and other environmental health
factors, says it has been convinced that the fallout is harming people,
animals and fish. Incinerators should go to the bottom of the list of
options for dealing with waste and not one more should be built, the
report says. Instead it recommends more modern ways of dealing with
waste, such as recycling. The authors also argue that incineration is
contrary to international law giving people the right to a
healthy environment. Yorkshire Post, Tuesday 14 March 2006
As government departments and agencies review and
work towards more disclosure about toxic chemicals and carcinogens in
consumer products, critics are pressuring the new Conservative
government to ban or phase out some chemicals altogether. Cancer rates
are rising sharply and critics blame in part a number of carcinogens in
the environment that people accumulate unknowingly. A carcinogen is a
recognized cancer-causing agent, however, there are many suspected
carcinogens whose links to cancer are not proven. The Canadian Cancer
Society says that 50 per cent of cancers are preventable. Although most
preventable cancers can be attributed to smoking, people can
unknowingly accumulate carcinogens in their bodies through inhalation,
ingestion or skin contact. They can be found in pesticides and weed
killers, household cleaners and detergents, personal care products,
fruit with traces of pesticides, beef with growth hormones, composite
wood products and plastics. The Hill Times, March 13th, 2006
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are chemical
substances that persist in the environment, have a wide geographical
distribution, bioaccumulate through food webs, and pose a risk of
causing adverse effects to human health and the environment. This group
of priority pollutants consists of pesticides (such as DDT), industrial
chemicals (such as polychlorinated biphenyls, PCBs) and unintentional
by-products of industrial processes (such as dioxins and furans). EU
member states have committed to take measures to eliminate or reduce
the release of POPs into the environment by ratifying the global POPs
treaty, known as The Stockholm Convention. However, because of their
high environmental persistence and capacity to accumulate in fatty
tissues of living organisms, the exposure to these substances is
expected to persist in the future, with the food chains as main routes
of exposure. In Sweden, consumption of fatty fish from the Baltic Sea ,
off the Swedish east coast, is the single major exposure source for
POPs. Cohorts of professional fishermen and their families from the
Swedish east coast have been found to constitute excellent study bases
for epidemiological evaluations of human health effects of POPs. Full
article available on: http://www.ehjournal.net/content/4/1/28 EU Commission newsletter
These benefits could accumulate to E95m over the
following over 25 years, the commission's analysis says. This compares
to total direct and indirect costs of up to E5bn over the eleven to
fifteen years it will take to introduce Reach. Environment Daily 2040, 16/02/06
The European commission has adopted changes to EU
rules on classifying and labelling mixtures of chemical substances. A
new directive introduces new warning labels for paints and varnishes
containing lead, products containing chlorine, preparations containing
cadmium and cements containing chromium, among other technical changes.
The directive was published in the EU's official journal this week and
amends a 1999 law on chemical preparations. It forms part of EU
"classification and labelling" legislation, which underpins hazard
assessments for chemicals on the European market. See directive
2006/8/EC. Environment Daily 2025, 26/01/06
This State of the Evidence report demonstrates
that a significant body of scientific evidence links exposure to
radiation and synthetic chemicals to an increased risk of breast
cancer. It summarizes the findings of more than 350 experimental,
epidemiologic and ecological studies and describes some of the ongoing
controversies in breast cancer research. The report recommends new
directions for future research and includes a 10-point plan to act on
the evidence and reduce human exposure to radiation and synthetic
chemicals. This plan is based primarily on the precautionary principle,
which in part states that indication of harm, not just proof of harm,
is grounds for action. The full report is available here. Published by Breast Cancer Fund and Breast Cancer Action
Spare a thought for the male hornyhead turbot. For
despite its name, it is changing gender. And the sunscreens that
symbolise bronzed sex appeal may be partly to blame. Scientists have
found that male hornyhead turbot and English sole, feeding near sewage
outfalls on the Californian coast, are being feminised - and a chemical
found in sunscreens is the likely culprit. Meanwhile, Swiss researchers
have found other suspected gender-bender chemicals from sun creams and
oils building up in fish in their rivers. The Times January 17, 2006
CHILDREN frequently exposed to household
insecticides used on plants, lawns and in head lice shampoos appear to
run double the risk of developing childhood leukaemia, research
suggests. A study by French doctors, published today in the journal
Occupational and Environmental Medicine, supports concerns raised in
recent years about the use of toxic insecticides around the home and
garden — including plant sprays, medication shampoos and mosquito
repellents — and a possible correlation with increased rates of
acute leukaemia in children. The latest study by Inserm, France’s
national institute for medical research, was based on 280 children who
had acute leukaemia, newly diagnosed and 288 children matched for sex
and age but disease free. Detailed interviews were carried out with
each mother. These included questions about the employment history of
both parents, the use of insecticides in the home and garden and the
use of insecticidal shampoos against head lice. It showed that the risk
of developing acute leukaemia was almost twice as likely in children
whose mothers said that they had used insecticides in the home while
pregnant and long after the birth. Exposure to garden insecticides and
fungicides as a child was associated with a more than doubling of
disease occurrence. The use of insecticidal shampoos for head lice was
associated with almost twice the risk. Describing the links as
“significant”, the authors said that preventive action
should be considered to ensure that the health risks to children were
as small as possible. A group of pesticides known as carbamates, which
are present in plant treatments, lice shampoos and insect sprays, are
most commonly linked to cases of leukaemia. There are three main
carbamates used in the UK — carbaryl, carbofuran and carbosulfan. The Times January 17, 2006
The Danish government plans to challenge the
European Commission over approval of a flame retardant that may cause
birth defects and cancer. The government announced on Monday that it
will take the European Commission to court over its decision to
overturn a ban on bromated flame retardants in electronic devices.
Bromated flame retardants are a group of chemicals used to prevent
fires in appliances such as televisions and computers, but the
chemicals are suspected of causing birth defects and cancer. One of the
retardants, deca-BDE was to be banned starting on July 1, but the
Commission has now decided to annul the ban. The government of
Denmnark, an EU member state, had asked the Commission to provide proof
that alternatives to deca-BDE do not exist. It did not do so, and the
government will ask the courts to ensure that the chemical is not
exempted from the current ban. "It is unacceptable that the Commission
will exempt deca-BDE from the general ban when there are alternatives
to it," said the Danish Environment Minister Connie Hedegaard. COPENHAGEN, Denmark, January 4, 2006 (ENS)
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