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An editorial published today in the prestigious journal Environmental Health Perspectives calls for increased research to identify possible environmental causes of autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders in America's children and presents a list of ten target chemicals including which are considered highly likely to contribute to these conditions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-toxic-chemicals-autism-disabilities.html Autism spectrum disorders Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:14:18 EST news254578412 (Medical Xpress) -- Research increasingly points to the products common in our daily lives—including cosmetics and household cleaners—as sources of potentially dangerous chemical exposures.   Susan Pinney, PhD, an epidemiologist and associate professor with the University of Cincinnati (UC) College of Medicine’s environmental health department, says no one should assume they are safe: "People need to be their own health advocates; consumer products are, in fact, products marketed because they are designed to fill a perceived need of the general population. Regulations are not always as strict as you may assume.” http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-chemicals-daily-life-basics.html Health Fri, 06 Apr 2012 08:08:18 EST news252918463 Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have discovered how exposure to arsenic can turn normal stem cells into cancer stem cells and spur tumor growth. Inorganic arsenic, which affects the drinking water of millions of people worldwide, has been previously shown to be a human carcinogen. A growing body of evidence suggests that cancer is a stem-cell based disease. Normal stem cells are essential to normal tissue regeneration, and to the stability of organisms and processes. But cancer stem cells are thought to be the driving force for the formation, growth, and spread of tumors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-arsenic-stem-cells-cancerous-spurring.html Cancer Wed, 04 Apr 2012 08:27:25 EST news252746818 Blood tests have been a mainstay of diagnostic medicine since the late 19th century, offering a wealth of information concerning health and disease. Nevertheless, blood derived from the human umbilical cord has yet to be fully mined for its vital health information, according to Rolf Halden, a researcher at Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-trail-blood-diagnostic-tool-age.html Health Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:45:28 EST news248449519 Melissa Perry, Sc.D., M.H.S., professor and chair of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the GW School of Public Health and Health Services and adjunct associate professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, led an observational study indicating that environmental exposure to organochlorine chemicals, including Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) and p,p'-DDE (the main metabolite of the insecticide DDT) can affect male reproduction. The research was published online on Dec. 21, 2011 in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-environmental-exposure-organochlorines-impact-male.html Health Mon, 09 Jan 2012 12:47:56 EST news245335666 Researchers from Boston University's Slone Epidemiology Center (SEC), in collaboration with Harvard School of Public Health, have found numerous prescription and over-the-counter drugs and supplements use certain chemicals called phthalates as inactive ingredients in their products. The findings appear on-line in Environmental Health Perspectives. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-phthalates-numeruous-medicines-supplements.html Health Thu, 15 Dec 2011 05:30:02 EST news243148277 (Medical Xpress) -- Levels of second-hand smoke exposure among non-smoking adults fell by almost 30 per cent after smoke free legislation was introduced in England in 2007, researchers in the Department for Health (University of Bath) have found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-free-legislation-linked-second-hand-exposure.html Health Wed, 14 Dec 2011 06:34:04 EST news243066830 Could persistent pollutants like DDT and PCBs or chemicals found in plastics be making you fat or diabetic? The answer may depend on what sort of bacteria you have churning around in your gut, according to Cornell scientists. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-toxins-fat-gut-bugs.html Health Thu, 03 Nov 2011 07:45:27 EST news239525117 Cutting out short auto trips and replacing them with mass transit and active transport would yield major health benefits, according to a study just published in the scientific journal Environmental Health Perspectives. The biggest health benefit was due to replacing half of the short trips with bicycle trips during the warmest six months of the year, saving about $3.8 billion per year from avoided mortality and reduced health care costs for conditions like obesity and heart disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-bikes-commuting-economic-health-benefits.html Health Wed, 02 Nov 2011 04:59:42 EST news239428772 Environmental toxicants such as dioxins, PCBs, and pesticides can pose a risk for cardiovascular disease. For the first time a link has been demonstrated between atherosclerosis and levels of long-lived organic environmental toxicants in the blood. The study, carried out by researchers at Uppsala University, is being published online this week in ahead of print in the prestigious journal Environmental Health Perspectives. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-link-shown-environmental-toxicants-atherosclerosis.html Health Tue, 11 Oct 2011 13:03:20 EST news237556982 Gulf War Illness (GWI) -- the chronic health condition that affects about one in four military veterans of the 1991 Gulf War -- appears to be the result of several factors, which differed in importance depending upon the locations where veterans served during the war, according to a Baylor University study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-gulf-war-illness-complex-vary.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 19 Sep 2011 03:21:46 EST news235620989 A newly published study by researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health heightens concerns over the potential health effects on children of a group of ubiquitous chemicals known as phthalates. Phthalates are a class of chemicals that are known to disrupt the endocrine system, and are widely used in consumer products ranging from plastic toys, to household building materials, to shampoos. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-prenatal-exposure-phthalates-linked-decreased.html Health Tue, 06 Sep 2011 03:15:49 EST news234497728 (Medical Xpress) -- Antibiotic use in conventional animal food production in the United States has created public health concern because it has been shown to contribute to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that can potentially spread to humans. A new study, led by Dr. Amy R. Sapkota of the University of Maryland School of Public Health, provides data demonstrating that poultry farms that have transitioned from conventional to organic practices and ceased using antibiotics have significantly lower levels of drug-resistant enterococci bacteria. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-poultry-farms-significantly-antibiotic-resistant-bacteria.html Medical research Wed, 10 Aug 2011 03:00:03 EST news232163505 In a study of 31 Boston offices, polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants now banned internationally by the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants were detected in every office tested. The research, published online June 30 ahead of print in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP), links concentrations of PBDEs in office dust with levels of the chemicals on the hands of the offices’ occupants. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-office-surfaces-source-exposure-pbdes.html Health Thu, 30 Jun 2011 08:48:23 EST news228642464 An EPA study published online Monday in Environmental Health Perspectives finds that the 2008 peat bog wildfires in NC led to an increase in emergency room visits for respiratory and cardiovascular effects. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-peat-wildfire-linked-heart-failure.html Health Mon, 27 Jun 2011 16:38:00 EST news228411458 A review published online June 22 ahead of print in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) reports the conclusions of an international workshop on ways to improve chemicals safety testing for effects on the breast. The studies reviewed by workshop scientists indicate that chemical exposures during critical periods of development may influence breast growth, ability to breastfeed, and cancer risk. The scientists recommend that future chemical testing evaluate effects on the breast after prenatal and early-life exposure. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-scientists-safety-chemicals-prenatal-exposures.html Health Wed, 22 Jun 2011 04:26:32 EST news227935573 A new University of Missouri study shows that the exposure to the controversial chemical Bisphenol A (BPA) through diet has been underestimated by previous lab tests. In the study, researchers compared BPA concentrations in mice that were given a steady diet supplemented with BPA throughout the day, compared to the more common lab method of single exposure, and found an increased absorption and accumulation of BPA in the blood of mice. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-exposure-bpa-underestimated.html Health Mon, 06 Jun 2011 03:24:02 EST news226549419 A new case study examining an infant's neurobehavioral abnormalities and extremely high bisphenol A (BPA) concentration of the baby's mother suggests a link between the two. The study, Environmental Health Perspectives: A Case Study of High Prenatal Bisphenol A Exposure and Infant Neonatal Neurobehavior, was led by researcher Sheela Sathyanarayana, MD of Seattle Children's Research Institute, and recently published online in Environmental Health Perspectives. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-highest-bpa-pregnant-woman-abnormalities.html Health Wed, 11 May 2011 14:50:01 EST news224343458 (PhysOrg.com) -- A group of 264 Mexican-American children living in California had higher levels of polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants in their blood serum than 283 counterparts living in Mexico, according to research published online April 15 ahead of print in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-documents-pbde-flame-retardant-children.html Health Fri, 15 Apr 2011 08:46:27 EST news222075962 Mothers' exposure during pregnancy to pollutants created by the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels and other organic material may lead to behavioral problems in their children, according to a new study. Researchers found that within a sample of 215 children monitored from birth, those children with high levels of a pollution exposure marker in their cord blood had more symptoms of attention problems and anxiety/depression at ages 5 and 7 than did children with lower exposure. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-prenatal-exposure-pollutants-linked-behavioral.html Health Tue, 12 Apr 2011 09:44:33 EST news221820258