A recent study has reportedly raised concerns about whether exposure to perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) compromises vaccine effectiveness in children. Philippe Grandjean, et al., “Serum Vaccine Antibody Concentrations in Children Exposed to Perfluorinated Compounds,” Journal of the American Medical Association, January 2012. Approved for use in some food contact applications such as microwavable paper, PFCs “have emerged as important food contaminants,” according to the study’s authors, who gathered data from 587 participants in a prospective birth cohort study based in the Faroe Islands. According to a January 24, 2012, Harvard School of Public Health press release, “The results showed that PFC exposure was associated with lower antibody responses to immunizations and an increased risk of antibody levels in children lower than those needed to provide long-term protection.” In particular, the authors noted that “a two-fold greater concentration of three major PFCs was associated with a 49% lower level of serum antibodies…
Category Archives Scientific/Technical Items
U.S. researchers have reportedly discovered methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in retail pork samples “at a higher rate than previously identified,” raising questions about the organism’s “overall ecology and transmission” in the food supply. Ashley O’Brien, et al., “MRSA in Conventional and Alternative Retail Pork Products,” PLoS One, January 2012. Conducted by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) and the University of Iowa College of Public Health, the study examined 395 fresh pork cuts collected from 36 stores in Iowa, Minnesota and New Jersey, in addition to comparing products “from conventionally-raised swine and swine raised without antibiotics.” According to the analysis, researchers isolated S. aureus in 256 pork samples (64.8 percent) and MRSA in 26 samples (6.6 percent) but discovered “no significant difference” in prevalence between conventional and alternative pork products. The study notes, however, that 26.9 percent of MRSA isolates were a “livestock-associated” strain known as ST398 (t034, t011) as…
A recent study has reportedly suggested a link between red and cooked meat consumption and renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Carrie Daniel, et al., “Large prospective investigation of meat intake, related mutagens, and risk of renal cell carcinoma,” The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, December 2011. Researchers apparently monitored approximately 492,000 participants over nine years using a “detailed dietary assessment linked to a database of heme iron, heterocyclic amines (HCA), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), nitrate, and nitrite concentrations in cooked and processed meats.” According to the study abstract, the results revealed that participants who consumed approximately 2.2 ounces of cooked red or processed meat per 1,000 calories were 19 percent more likely to be diagnosed with RCC than those consuming less than 0.3 ounces per 1,000 calories. “Red meat intake may increase the risk of RCC through mechanisms related to the cooking compounds BaP and PhIP,” speculated the study’s authors, who…
Researchers have reportedly identified a new threat to North American honeybees after discovering evidence of a parasitic “zombie” fly infestation in some bee populations. Andrew Core, et al., “A New Threat to Honey Bees, the Parasitic Phorid Fly Apocephalus borealis,” PLOS One, January 2012. According to the study, scientists detected a known paper-wasp and bumblebee parasite, the phorid fly Apocephalus borealis, in 77 percent of honeybee hives sampled in the San Francisco area, as well as in commercial hives located in South Dakota and California’s Central Valley. Known to manipulate behavior in other arthropods such as fire ants, phorid flies apparently cause their honeybee hosts to abandon the hive and die, at which point “up to 13 phorid larvae emerge from each dead bee and pupate away from the bee.” The parasite could thus be one of the multiple factors contributing to colony collapse disorder (CCD), suggested the researchers, who also noted…
A recent study has allegedly concurred with theories suggesting that newborn mice exposed to bisphenol A (BPA) exhibit signs of behavioral changes as adults. Henrik Viberg, et al., “Dose-dependent behavioral disturbances after a single neonatal Bisphenol A dose,” Toxicology, December 2011. After administering a single dose of BPA to three groups of 10-day-old male mice, researchers reportedly found that the two groups exposed to the highest BPA concentrations behaved differently than normal mice when placed in new environments at 2 and 5 months of age. According to the study abstract, these findings suggest that “a single neonatal exposure to [BPA] causes adult disturbances in spontaneous behavior in a novel home environment” that are both dose-related and long-lasting. In particular, the authors noted that the apparent effects of neonatal BPA exposure on the cholinergic system are similar to those seen “after a single postnatal exposure to other [persistent organic pollutants], such as…
A recent Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) study has allegedly linked canned soup consumption to increased urinary bisphenol A (BPA) levels in humans. Jenny Carwile, et al., “Canned Soup Consumption and Urinary Bisphenol A: A Randomized Crossover Trial,” Journal of the American Medical Association, November 2011. According to a November 22, 2011, HSPH press release, researchers analyzed urinary BPA levels in 75 volunteers who first consumed one 12-ounce serving of canned vegetable soup for five days and then one 12-ounce serving of fresh vegetable soup for five days, or vice versa. The results evidently indicated that one serving of canned soup daily “was associated with a 1,221 percent increase in BPA compared to levels in urine collected after consumption of fresh soup.” Although the study authors acknowledged that further research is necessary to determine the duration of the BPA spike, they nevertheless found that “the magnitude of the rise…
A study recently presented at the American Heart Association’s (AHA’s) 2011 Scientific Sessions in Orlando, Florida, has suggested a link between sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption and incident cardiovascular (CV) risk factors in women regardless of weight gain. Christina Shay, et al., “Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption and Incident Cardiovascular Risks Factors: The MultiEthnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA),” AHA 2011 Scientific Sessions, November 2011. Researchers apparently used data from approximately 4,000 adult participants enrolled in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis between 2000 and 2007, identifying during follow-up several incident CV risk factors that included (i) weight gain; (ii) increase waist circumference; (iii) low HDL, LDL and triglycerides; (iv) impaired fasting glucose; and (v) type 2 diabetes. The results evidently indicated that, compared with consuming less than one SSB per day, intake of more than two servings per day “was significantly associated with greater risk for incident increased [waist circumference], hypertriglyceridemia and [impaired fasting glucose]…
Lehigh University researchers studying U.S. and U.K. nanotechnology news coverage from 2000 to 2009 have found relatively few articles about “nanotechnology health, environmental, and societal risks.” Sharon Friedman & Brenda Egolf, “A Longitudinal Study of Newspaper and Wire Service Coverage of Nanotechnology Risks,” Risk Analysis, November 2011. Their article appeared in an issue devoted to nanotechnology risks, communications and labeling. According to Friedman and Egolf, most of the coverage from 29 newspapers and two wire services “focused on news events” and any discussion of risks or scientific uncertainties “was counterbalanced by many more articles extolling nanotechnology’s benefits.” The authors conclude that with the general public’s minimal knowledge about nanotechnology, “this type of coverage could create public distrust of nanotechnology applications should a dangerous event occur.”
A recent study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has suggested that school soft drink bans do little to curb sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption among adolescents. Daniel Taber, et al., “Banning All Sugar-Sweetened Beverages in Middle Schools,” Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, November 2011. Researchers in 2004 and 2007 surveyed approximately 7,000 fifth and eighth graders from public schools in 40 states, concluding that “SSB consumption was not associated with state policy.” In middle schools with no SSB policy and those that prohibited only soda sales, close to 30 percent of the students reported purchasing SSBs, including energy or fruit drinks, on campus. Moreover, the study found that state policies banning all SSBs in middle schools “appear to reduce in-school access and purchasing of SSBs but do not reduce overall consumption.” “We found that banning only sodas does nothing to stop kids from buying sugary drinks at…
A recent study has reportedly associated non-diet soft drink consumption among teenagers with an increased risk for violent tendencies, raising questions about the legitimacy of the so-called “Twinkie Defense” used in the 1979 trial of Dan White for the assassination of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk. Sara Solnick and David Hemenway, “The ‘Twinkie Defense’: the relationship between carbonated non-diet soft drinks and violence perpetration among Boston high school students,” Injury Prevention, October 2011. A collaboration between Harvard School of Public Health Professor David Hemenway and University of Vermont Economics Professor Sara Solnick, the study relied on questionnaires completed by more than 1,800 Boston public high school students ages 14 to 18 years. According to an October 28, 2011, Harvard Crimson article, the results evidently showed that “teens who drank more soft drinks were between nine and fifteen percent more likely to be violent” even after researchers accounted for…
