A recent study has reportedly claimed that prenatal exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) could affect “behavioral and emotional regulation” in girls ages 3 and younger. Joe Braun, et al., “Impact of Early-Life Bisphenol A Exposure on Behavior and Executive Function in Children,” Pediatrics, October 2011. The results appear to confirm earlier research led by Harvard School of Public Health researcher Joe Braun that was covered in Issue 322 of this Update. Using a prospective birth cohort of 244 mothers and their 3-year-old children, the study authors measured gestational BPA exposure at 16 and 26 weeks and birth, as well as childhood exposure at 1, 2 and 3 years of age. Although they detected BPA in more than 97 percent of gestational and childhood urine samples, researchers also found that, especially among girls, “each 10-fold increase in gestational BPA concentrations was associated with more anxious and depressed behavior . . .…
Category Archives Scientific/Technical Items
A recent study has suggested that non-obese individuals are better able to regulate their cravings to consume fattening foods than those who are obese. Kathleen Page, et al., “Circulating glucose levels modulate neural control of desire for high-calorie foods in humans,” Journal of Clinical Investigation, September 19, 2011. Researchers from Yale University and the University of Southern California apparently studied brain scans of nine thin and five obese subjects as they viewed images of high-calorie foods, low-calorie foods, and non-food items during times when they had normal and low blood sugar levels. Researchers found that non-obese participants shown pictures of high-calorie foods had increased activity in the part of their brains used for impulse control while obese people showed little activity in that part of the brain. According to the study, “higher circulating glucose levels predicted greater medial prefrontal cortex activation, and this response was absent in obese subjects. These…
A new Environmental Health Perspectives paper discusses a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee’s recent conclusion that the evidence is too inconclusive to associate children’s consumption of artificial colors in food with hyperactivity or to recommend warning labels. Titled “Synthetic Food Colors and Neurobehavioral Hazards: The View from Environmental Health Research,” the paper suggests that if FDA had approached the issue from an environmental health perspective and broadened its inquiry to consider a range of adverse effects, current research findings could have supported a different outcome. The author notes that the review confined itself “to the clinical diagnosis of hyperactivity . . . rather than asking the broader environmental question of behavioral effects in the general population; it failed to recognize the significance of vulnerable subpopulations; it misinterpreted the meaning of effect size as a criterion of risk.” The article concludes that scientific risk reviews with “too narrow a…
A recent study funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reportedly measured internal exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) from dietary sources, with results suggesting that the substance is, for the most part, metabolized and excreted by the body. Justin Teeguarden, et al., “Twenty-Four Hour Human Urine and Serum Profiles of Bisphenol A during High-Dietary Exposure,” Toxicological Sciences, September 2011. Scientists with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Food and Drug Administration, and Northwest Pacific National Laboratory apparently profiled the urine and blood serum of 20 healthy adults for 24 hours (24-h) after “high-dietary” BPA exposure via meals enriched with canned foods. “From a safety perspective, the most pressing fundamental question regarding BPA is whether human blood/tissue concentrations of BPA following typical daily exposures are similar to, above, or below blood/tissue concentrations causing demonstrably adverse effects in animal models,” wrote the authors. “The main objective of this study was…
A recent study has suggested that the rising prevalence of gout, which now reportedly affects 4 percent of Americans, “may be associated” with greater frequency of obesity and hypertension. Yanyan Zhu, et al., “Prevalence of Gout and Hyperuricemia in the US General Population,” Arthritis & Rheumatism, July 28, 2011. Researchers compared data from 5,707 participants in the 2007- 2008 U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to NHANES data from 1988-1994. The latest survey also asked participants about their history of gout as diagnosed by a health care professional, with hyperuricemia or elevated uric acid levels defined as a serum urate level greater than 7.0 mg/dL in men and 5.7 mg/dL in women. According to a Boston University Medical Campus press release, when compared to earlier NHANES data, the prevalence of gout and hyperuricemia “was 1% and 3% higher, respectively.” In addition, “further analysis revealed that gout prevalence was higher…
A Finnish study has allegedly confirmed an association between adult-only exposure to certain pesticides and type 2 diabetes. Riikka Airaksinen, et al., “Association Between Type 2 Diabetes and Exposure to Persistent Organic Pollutants,” Diabetes Care, August 4, 2011. Researchers reportedly analyzed data from 1,988 adults born in Helsinki during 1934-1940, finding that just over 15 percent had type 2 diabetes. The results evidently indicated that “for participants with the highest exposure to oxychlordane, trans-nonachlor, 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis-(p chlorophenyl)-ethylene (p,p’-DDE), and polychlorinated biphenyl 153, the risk of type 2 diabetes was 1.64-2.24 times higher than that among individuals with the lowest exposure.” In addition, “the associations between type 2 diabetes and oxychlordane and trans-nonachlor remained significant and were strongest among the overweight participants.” According to the authors, these findings suggest that organochlorine pesticides and body fat “may have a synergistic effect on the risk of type 2 diabetes.” Although lead author Riikka Airaksinen also…
A recent study has claimed that after adopting organic practices and ceasing the use of antibiotics, large-scale poultry farms had “significantly lower levels” of antibiotic-resistant and multidrug resistant (MDR) Enterococcus than their conventional counterparts. Amy Rebecca Sapkot, et al., “Lower Prevalence of Antibiotic-resistant Enterococci On U.S. Conventional Poultry Farms That Transitioned to Organic Practices,” Environmental Health Perspectives, August 2011. Researchers apparently sampled poultry litter, feed and water “from 10 conventional and 10 newly organic poultry houses in 2008,” finding that the percentages of resistant E. faecalis and resistant E. faecium “were significantly lower (p<0.05) among isolates from newly organic versus conventional houses for two (erythromycin and tylosin) and five (ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, nitrofurantoin, penicillin and tetracycline) antimicrobials.” They also reported that 42 percent of E. faecalis isolates and 84 of E. faecium isolates from conventional poultry houses were multidrug resistant, compared to 10 percent of E. faecalis isolates and 17 percent of E. faecium…
A recent Harvard School of Public Health study has allegedly identified a “strong association” between red meat consumption, especially processed red meat consumption, and Type 2 diabetes. An Pan, et al., “Red meat consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes: 3 cohorts of US adults and an updated meta-analysis,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, August 2011. Researchers apparently analyzed data from three cohort studies: 37,083 men followed for 20 years in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study; 79,570 women followed for 28 years in the Nurses’ Health Study I; and 87,504 women followed for 14 years in the Nurses’ Health Study II. The study’s authors also apparently conducted “an updated meta-analysis, combining data from their new study with data from existing studies that included a total of 442,101 participants, 28,228 of whom developed type 2 diabetes during the study.” According to an August 10, 2011, Harvard School of Public Health press…
The British Medical Journal has published a study that sought to “assess the impact of fast food restaurants adding calorie labeling to menu items on the energy content of individual purchases.” According to the researchers, including an independent consultant and a city official, the more than 8,400 adults interviewed in 2009 did not overall purchase foods lower in calories after New York City implemented regulations requiring calorie posting, but among the one in six lunchtime customers who used the calorie information provided, lower calorie choices were made. Significant variations were apparently found in the data collected from different chains, a matter attributed to customer purchasing patterns and changes in menu options and promotions. More than 7,300 lunchtime customers at 275 fast-food locations, representing 13 chains, were interviewed in 2007 and provided their register receipts so researchers could verify their self-reported purchases. The same method was used to compare and assess…
A recent study claims that the calorie counts which restaurants provide for their fare is “accurate overall,” although there is “substantial inaccuracy for some individual foods, with understated energy contents for those with lower energy contents.” Lorien E. Urban, et al., “Accuracy of Stated Energy Contents of Restaurant Foods,” Journal of the American Medical Association, July 20, 2011. Noting that restaurant foods “provide approximately 35% of the daily energy intake in US individuals,” researchers used a validated bomb calorimetry technique to test 269 food items, including 242 unique items, from 42 quick-serve and sit-down restaurants in Arkansas, Indiana and Massachusetts. Their findings apparently indicated that 19 percent of the 269 samples “contained measured energy contents of at least 100 kcal/portion more than the state energy contents,” an amount “that has been projected to cause 5 to 15 kg of weight gain per year if consumed daily.” The study also determined…
