The Weekly Toxic Times
From the Michigan Network for Children's Environmental Health
News highlights from July 14 - July 22, 2008
A recap of the top stories on toxins in Michigan, National, and International
news.
Michigan News
Dow Chemical Co. to clean homes along the Tittabawassee River
The Saginaw News, Wednesday, July 16, 2008
"Young's property on Riverside Drive, a private road adjoining the
Tittabawassee River on the city's southwest side, is among 11 homes Midland's
Dow Chemical Co. has targeted for cleanup after tests revealed 'uncharacteristically
high levels' of dioxin contamination."
www.mlive.com/saginawnews/news/index.ssf/2008/07/dow_chemical_co_to_
clean_homes.html
New coal plants in Michigan draw fire
Detroit Free Press, Monday, July 21, 2008
"Michigan electric companies say the voracious appetite for energy-sucking
gadgets... are pushing them to build the first new coal plants in the state
in 20 years to satisfy the demand. Environmental groups say the sudden
rush to build coal plants calls on a 19th-Century technology to solve 21st-Century
problems."
www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080721/NEWS05/807210329/
1007/NEWS05
National News
PCB-exposed women may have fewer boys
Environmental Health News, Monday, July 21, 2008
"A new study by Irva Hertz-Picciotto of the University of California,
Davis found that among women from the San Francisco Bay Area, those exposed
to higher levels of PCBs during the 1950s and 1960s, were 33 percent less
likely to give birth to male children than the women least exposed. The
researchers note that while PCBs were banned in the 1970s, PBDEs still
in use share many of the biochemical and toxicologic properties of PCBs."
Summary:
environmentalhealthnews.org/newscience/2008/2008-0717hertz-picciottoetal.html
Article: www.ehjournal.net/content/7/1/37/abstract
Chemical companies, health groups spar on consumer safety
The Hill, Thursday, July 17, 2008
"Chemical companies and health groups are battling over a provision
in a consumer safety bill that would ban the use of plastic-softening chemicals
found in many everyday products such as clothing, shoes and furniture."
thehill.com/leading-the-news/chemical-companies-health-groups-spar-on-
consumer-safety-2008-07-14.html
The greening of chemistry
Chemical Heritage, Vol. 26, No. 2, Summer 2008
"A philosophy only recently introduced to the chemicals industry,
green chemistry promotes the careful design of chemicals manufacturing
processes to reduce the use of toxic components and minimize waste and
energy use."
www.chemheritage.org/pubs/magazine/feature_greening_p1.html
Medicine gears up for a code green
Washington Post [Registration Required], Tuesday, July 22, 2008
"It is ironic that the U.S. medical industry--an industry trusted
to protect health--is releasing substances that may be tied to cancer,
diabetes and other illnesses. But recently, some health-care professionals
are thinking greener."
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/18/AR2008071802
755.html
Landlord Cited in Lead Probe
The Republican Newsroom, Tuesday, July 15, 2008
"In what authorities described as one of the largest cases of its
kind, the government has cited an apartment building owner for more than
800 violations of failing to disclose whether or not lead paint is located
there, including units in Holyoke, Springfield, and Westfield."
www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/07/landlord_cited_in_lead_probe.html
Life after Tar Creek
Tulsa World, Oklahoma, Sunday, July 20, 2008
"Marlus Kimbrough and her children have a new life far away from
Picher, a former mining town polluted by towering piles of gravel and abandoned
lead mines."
www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=20080720_11_A1_hLEAV
I477027
Cosmic markdown: EPA says life is worth less
Washington Post [Registration Required], Saturday, July 19, 2008
"This value is routinely calculated by putting a dollar figure on
the worth of life -- not any particular person's life, just that of a generic
American. The figure is then used to judge whether potentially lifesaving
policy measures are really worth the cost."
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/18/AR2008071803
235.html
Environment becomes heredity
Miller-McCune, Monday, July 14, 2008
"Advances in the field of epigenetics show that environmental contaminants
can turn genes 'on' and 'off,' triggering serious diseases that are handed
down through generations. But the same diseases may be treatable by simple
changes in nourishment and lifestyle."
www.miller-mccune.com/article/489
Alaska newborns at higher risk for defects
Anchorage Daily News, Thursday, July 17, 2008
"Alaska infants are twice as likely to be born with major birth defects
as infants in the U.S. as a whole, according to a new study by the state
Department of Health and Social Services -- and officials are at a loss
to explain why."
www.adn.com/life/health/story/466924.html
Sunscreen safety is called into question
New York Times [Registration Required], Tuesday, July 22, 2008
"For years, dermatologists have told us sunscreen protects skin.
Now, many people are questioning that advice after an environmental group
challenged the safety of many popular brands."
www.nytimes.com/2008/07/22/health/22well.html?ref=science
For list of safe sunscreens:
www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/special/sunscreens2008/index.php
Color Me Concern: Activists ask FDA to ban artificial food dyes after research supports possible link to ADHD
The Baltimore Sun, Thursday, July 17, 2008
"New research indicates the chemicals [synthetic dyes] can disrupt
some children's behavior, and activists and consumer groups are asking
for bans or limits on the dyes. A prestigious British medical journal recommended
that doctors use dye-free diets as a first-line treatment for some behavior
disorders; British regulators are pressuring companies to stop using the
dyes, and some are complying."
www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-to.hs.additive17jul17,0,6973489.story
NTP brief on BPA receives mixed peer reviews
ACS Publications, Thursday, July 17, 2008
"Less than 2 months after the U.S. National Toxicology Program (NTP)
released its much-awaited draft brief on the human-health risks of bisphenol
A (BPA), the agency's board of scientific advisers gave the report a somewhat
mixed review."
pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/esthag/asap/html/es801811y.html
Wal-mart: the new FDA
Fortune, Wednesday, July 16, 2008
"A chemical used in plastic baby bottles is being driven off retailers'
shelves not by regulators, but by advocacy groups, politicians and giant
retailers."
money.cnn.com/2008/07/15/magazines/fortune/gunther_bpa.fortune/
International News
Pay system to target worst contaminants
Toronto Globe and Mail, Ontario, Saturday, July 19, 2008
"Vancouver-area polluters will be paying more to pick their poison
if a proposed raft of bylaws passes next week."
www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080719.BCEMISSIONS19/
TPStory/National
Children, coal don't mix, China study shows: Sharp drop in developmental problems after power plant was closed
Associated Press, Monday, July 14, 2008
"Children born after the closure of a coal-burning plant in China
had 60 percent fewer developmental problems, a study released Monday suggests,
giving ammunition to those who argue the country should embrace cleaner
sources of energy."
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25677038/
Dial Back Cellphone Use, City Officials Tell Parents
The Toronto Star, Saturday, July 12, 2008
"In what is believed to be the first policy of its kind in Canada,
the agency is advising children and teens to limit the time they spend
on cellphones until more is known about potential health effects."
healthzone.ca/health/article/459099
Articles were researched and compiled by Beth Kerwin and Marci Baranski, MNCEH Interns.
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