13 May 2003. A new report, covered by the Los Angeles Times, finds that the number of autism cases in California has almost doubled in the last 4 years. The report focused only on cases of severe autism, making it unlikely that the change is due to changes in detection procedures. No cause has been identified. According to the report, the rate of increase is accelerating.

12 May 2003. A panel of Norwegian scientists is warning pregnant and nursing women not to eat whale meat, according to a story published by Reuters Health. Their analysis concludes that the meat contains sufficient contaminants like mercury and PCBs to harm fetal development, especially brain development.

12 May 2003. Analysis by the Louisville Courier-Journal of air quality data shows that residents living in and around Louisville KT are exposed to a range of air pollutants at levels dramatically above those considered safe. For example, at one elementary school butadiene levels in the air were up to 125 times above safe levels; at a middle school 540 times higher. Emissions from rubber manufacturing facilities in nearby "Rubbertown" are one source of the problem. This industrial complex began manufacturing synthetic rubber in WWII and now includes 11 different plants.

11 May 2003. Writing in the New York Times, Jennifer 8. Lee describes accusations by people living near vast hog farms that air pollution from the waste is causing illness. Lee writes that "A growing number of scientists and public health officials around the country say they have traced a variety of health problems faced by neighbors of huge industrial farms to vast amounts of concentrated animal waste." Effects include neurological damage judged to be a result of hydrogen sulfide poisoning from industrial farms." Symptoms range from seizures to fatigue, loss of appetite, headaches, poor memory, dizziness and other health problems." Bush Administration officials and hog industry representatives assert more science is needed to establish the links.

5 May 2003. Writing in the Sacramento Bee, reporter Ed Fletcher describes a proposal by State Senator Deborah Ortiz to develop a biomonitoring program patterned after the CDC's national body burden survey. The program would give health and environmental officials in California information about contamination levels within residents of the state. Sponsors of the bill include CHE members Commonweal and The Breast Cancer Fund. The bill was approved by the Senate Health and Human Services Committee last week, and moves on now for consideration by other committees.

4 May 2003. Marla Cone writes in the Los Angeles Times about a debate over new warnings issued to prevent people from consuming too much mercury-contaminated fish. After California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer sued seven grocery chains to force them to post mercury warnings next to fish known to contain mercury above safety threshold levels, signs went up beside some fresh and frozen fish, but not beside canned tuna, which can also contain excessive mercury. "The signs give no specific advice about canned tuna, saying only, in smaller type, that "mercury levels in canned tuna vary, but on average are lower than levels in many other fish." No signs are posted in aisles where canned fish is sold." The tuna industry and the California Restaurant Association oppose putting up detailed signs.

23 April 2003. Writing in USA Today, reporter Elizabeth Weise describes new scientific findings that suggest we may be paying a health cost for the convenience of certain chemicals that are widely used in consumer products. In the article she covers the broiling controversies over the perfluorinated chemicals used in Teflon, Gore-Tex and related products, the health impacts of bisphenol A leaching from polycarbonate plastic, and the emerging data on health risks associated with brominated flame retardants. Collectively these data indicate that we allowed these chemicals to move into global production far too rapidly, and that people now are paying the price in a variety of disabilities and diseases. So what's the solution? Weise explores the controversy over using the Precautionary Principle to guide decisions about what products should be allowed into the marketplace, and when.

20 April 2003. Marla Cone examines scientific findings that are driving growing concerns about brominated flame retardants (PBDEs) in the environment, in a front page story in the Los Angeles Times. Experiments with animals show that PBDEs disrupt brain development, most likely because of their ability to interfere with thyroid hormone. Data from a diversity of sources show that PBDE levels are building very rapidly in North America, including in people. American body burdens of PBDEs are much higher than European, because Europe has banned two bioaccumulative types of PBDEs whereas the US has not. More on PBDEs...

20 April 2003. Articles in Science magazine and the New York Times (both by Madrid-based reporter Samuel Loewenberg) describe efforts underway in the European Union to strengthen policies on chemical health risks. The Science article focuses on changes in EU approaches to chemical regulation, based on the Precautionary Principle. New standards will require much more stringent testing of some 30,000 chemicals on the market today, and in addition will restrict use of 1,500 chemicals for which data now raise sufficient concerns about health effects. The New York Times article looks more broadly at EU business regulation, including chemical policies. In the Times, Loewenberg quotes U.C. Berkeley business professor David Vogel: "In this new generation of environmental issues the E.U. is moving quite aggressively, while U.S. policy is stalemated." The EU measures are designed to avoid harm before it occurs, whereas in the US, lobbying by corporations has created circumstances where policies only advance during crises.

While many (if not most) industry representatives are predicting economic catastrophes as a result of these new policies, some expect the new policies to encourage innovation by forcing companies to find new chemicals that are less hazardous than those currently in use.

19 April 2003. A story in the New York Times describes the discovery of extraordinarily high asthma rates in children in Harlem. Approximately one in every four children living in central Harlem has this respiratory disorder. Data indicate that the incidence rate of asthma has doubled since 1980, but the cause is unknown.

Not mentioned by the NY Times: The high prevalence of asthma in economically distressed urban areas in NY indicates that one of the hypotheses suggested for asthma's increase--that better early child care has reduced challenges to the immune system and led to susceptibility to asthma--is wrong. Something else is going on.

18 April 2003. The Guardian (UK) reports that a scientific study of over 15,000 people working at the Rocky Flats weapons plant outside Denver, Colorado, reveals a significant link between exposure to plutonium and the risk of lung and brain cancer.

7 April 2003. Julie Wakefield writes in Environmental Health Perspectives about the children's environmental health summit convened by the National Institute on Environmental Health Sciences at NIH headquarters in Bethesda, MD, in late February. Several central themes were explored during the session, including the importance and opportunities for prevention through exposure reduction.

The article quotes WHO scientist Terri Damstra: "Prevention of exposure is the single most effective means of protection against environmental threats." The importance of timing of exposure and acute sensitivity during fetal development was emphasized repeatedly. CHE chair Dr. Philip Lee stressed the need for more research focused on specific impacts on children, and also that new research has already identified opportunities for prevention that, as yet, have gone unfulfilled. And CHE scientist Pete Myers pointed out that despite revolutionary advances in scientific understanding of links between environment and health, the regulatory structure in place today is mired in the Jurassic.

4 April 2003. A story in the Mobile Register by Ben Raines gives the first public indication that the US Food and Drug Administration is changing its approach to evaluating mercury hazards in fish. This change will dramatically lower the level of mercury contamination that warrants fish advisories, and make the FDA's warnings consistent with those of the EPA. Now, for example, the FDA recommends that women and children can eat as much as two cans of tuna each week without running a health risk. The new standard will acknowledge that as little as half a can per week will push a child over the acceptable limit. The limit for a 130-pound woman will be one can per week. Scientists familiar with past FDA policies describe the new approach as "a sea change."

1 April 2003. Writing in the Los Angeles Times, reporter Marla Cone describes research carried out by scientists at Case Western Reserve that confirms, for the first time, an environmental contaminant causes a genetic error that in humans leads to spontaneous miscarriages and birth defects, including Down Syndrome. As Cone describes, the contaminant bisphenol A has its effect in mice at levels that occur today in people. "Toxicologists say the chemical leaches from plastic food and drink containers, including baby bottles and cookware, as they age, especially when they are microwaved or cleaned with harsh detergents. BPA also has been found at low levels in water supplies." The article quotes reproductive toxicologist Dr. Frederick vom Saal: "It looks like someone shot the chromosomes with a shotgun. They are totally disorganized. If you disorganize the chromosomes, it is a death sentence for an embryo. This is a stunning form of damage. It disrupts development of the cell that becomes your baby."

More on the study...

1 April 2003. According to an article in New Scientist Magazine, scientists are reporting that a smoking ban in Helena, Montana, has cut heart attack rates by more than half. Scientists summarized their findings at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology's Chicago. They believe the effect is due to elimination of second-hand smoke, and theorize that second hand smoke increases heart attacks by increasing the likelihood of formation of inappropriate blood clots in susceptible people.

29 March 2003. A report in the NY Times by Jennifer 8 Lee draws attention to an EPA review of a chemical, called ammonium perfluorooctanoate, which is used to make Teflon and which is released by Teflon during normal use. The chemical is highly persistent and according to the EPA review, poses surprisingly high risks for younger women and girls. A similar chemical, previously used to manufacturer Scotchgard, was pulled off the market by 3M under EPA pressure in 2000. Consistent with NY Times coverage of environmental health stories, Lee's coverage of the story actually soft-pedals the strength of EPA's draft conclusions about the compound, also known as PFOA or C8 (in Dupont's files, its manufacturer). Studies reviewed by the EPA link PFOA to deaths (in newborn rats), prostate cancer, birth defects and adverse effects on internal organ weights. The fact that PFOA literally does not break down in the environment adds significantly to health concerns. The Environmental Working Group has played a key role in drawing attention to health problems of PFOA and related compounds. Much more information is available on their website.

25 March 2003. In the NY Times, Jane Brody explores the arguments about vaccines and autism. She argues that if the mercury-based additive to vaccines, thimerosal, has been causing autism, then its removal from common childhood vaccines should lead very quickly to a decrease in autism rates. Her own conclusion is that thimerosal represents an insubstantial threat to the developing brain, based on several recent studies.

25 March 2003. Carol Kaseuk Yoon reports in the New York Times about a study by scientists at the University of Washington showing that children lower their exposures to pesticides by eating organic instead of conventional produce. "The study's data showed that an organic diet could, under some circumstances, decrease a child's pesticide exposure — as measured from byproducts in the urine — from above the amounts considered to be of negligible risk by the Environmental Protection Agency to levels below." Yoon goes on to quote Yale Professor John Wargo: "This justifies the importance of an organic diet, that organic foods lower a child's exposure. Industry people are saying show me the dead bodies. I don't want people gambling with my kids that way."
More on the study...

24 March 2003. Writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, reporter Gail Bensinger examines the third generation of Agent Orange's victims Agent Orange. "At the residential treatment center where Phuong [one victim] shares a sunny, aqua- painted room with three other youngsters, Agent Orange is a daily reality. All of the 30 boarders and nearly half of the 100 day students are suffering from its effects: twisted or stunted limbs, bodies covered with tumors, some blind or deaf children, others with faces in perpetual pain." According to Chuck Searcy, the Hanoi representative of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, "the U.S. government is really in denial about Agent Orange. The official policy is not even to discuss it."

17 March 2003. According to Reuters Health, a coalition of consumer and health organizations has called for an immediate ban on playsets made of arsenic-treated wood. The request, made to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, also asks that thousands of playsets already in backyards and school grounds across America be recalled. The recommendation is based on evidence showing that children playing on the structures run an increased risk of cancer, because arsenic continues to leach out of the wood long after it is installed. Evidence cited in testimony before the CPSC by Jane Houlihan, Vice President for Research from the Environmental Working Group, indicates that typical exposures for children may exceed EPA safety standards by a factor of 2000.
More on the recommendation...

10 March 2003. In its issue dated 17 March 2003, US News and World Report examines two stories that touch on the neurological impacts of mercury in children. The first, "Heavy Metal Fish," describes new steps being taken to encourage children and women of child-bearing age to limit mercury-laden fish consumption, including tuna, at a time when the Bush Administration appears to be set on a course that will lead to more mercury reaching the environment. The second is about vaccines, and includes comments about the possibility that mercury in vaccines may be causing neurological damage in children. It cites several recent studies suggesting that current formulations of vaccines are not involved in autism.

6 March 2003. A story in the Washington Post offers suggestions to home-owners about practical steps they can take to make the home environment healthier. Many of the recommendations involve avoiding use of materials from which volatilie organic compounds (VOC's) will evaporate. According to the article, growing consumer interest in products with these benefits are attracting manufacturers and lowering costs.

5 March 2003. A study of water supplies in New Jersey discovers many chemicals present in trace amounts, according to a story in the North Jersey News. The findings "startled researchers with the variety of drugs, consumer products, and industrial compounds detected." None of the contaminants appeared present at levels sufficient to raise questions about traditional toxicological concerns. But no studies have ever--not once--examined the health impacts of mixtures as complicated as these, nor even the consequences of low level exposures of many of the detected compounds on fetal development in people.
More on mixtures...

5 March 2003. According to the Toronto Star, a study by researchers from Laval University have documented subtle neurodevelopmental effects of exposure in the womb to mercury and PCBs in Inuit children living in far northern Canada. The results parallel earlier findings in studies of children living in the Great Lakes region of the US and they create a dilemma for people and health officials in the region. Exposure comes from eating traditional foods, like fish and seal, which become contaminated by bioaccumulation of chemicals to the top of the food chain. For the most part, however, "the health status of aboriginals who follow a traditional diet is spectacularly better than of those who have taken up the southern lifestyle." While PCB levels appear to be declining, mercury levels are rising. At what point do the health benefits of traditional foods no longer outweigh the neurodevelopmental risks? The dilemma is worsened by the fact that almost all the pollution comes from sources far to the south, carried by atmospheric currents. Hence no local steps can be taken to prevent contaminating the food chain.

4 March 2003. David Kohn writes in Newsday about health safety questions raised by laboratory data on phthalates, ubiquitous additives to many different consumer products, from plastic baby toys to cosmetics to vinyl flooring. They are even "the new car smell in new cars." A growing body of experiments with laboratory animals demonstrate that phthalates can cause developmental errors, but industrial users of phthalates assert there is no evidence phthalates cause harm in people. The problem with then concluding that phthalates are safe, according to Mike Shelby, director of the Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction at the National Institute of Environmental Health Services, is no one has done the needed studies: "Industry says there is no human evidence, and that's true," says Shelby. "But the absence of evidence doesn't mean there's no effect. In this case, it means that no one's studied it." More on phthalates...

4 March 2003. The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal report that the EPA has concluded that children run a much greater risk than adults of developing cancer after being exposed to mutagenic contaminants. For a child under 2, the risk is increased 10-fold compared to adults, while for children aged 2- 15 it is increased 2-5 times. This finding is part of a draft report the EPA has prepared for public comment, analyzing children's risks to cancer-causing agents. While details of the mechanism of carcinogenesis vary from mutagen to mutagen, the key to children's greater risk is the fact that, while still growing, their cells are dividing more frequently than adults and are therefore more vulnerable to DNA damage. According to the Times, "to be sure, there are many categories of carcinogens, and children are not at increased increased cancer risk from all of them. Because mutagens damage DNA, children are more at risk because as they grow, their cells divide more frequently than those of adults, perpetuating that damage." The guidelines are available on the EPA website

24 February 2003. According to Reuters Health, scientists call for more research into links between environmental exposures and children's health at a meeting sponsored by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. "Children are especially vulnerable to pollutants because they breathe in more air and take in more food and liquid, proportional to their size, than adults, said Phil Lee, a senior scholar at the University of California, San Francisco, and former assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services" and CHE chairman.

24 February 2003. The Guardian (London) reports that scientific advisors to the British Department of Health are urging research into factors affecting human fertility. The scientists, members of the Committee on Toxicity of chemicals in food, consumer products and the environment (Cot), are recommending an expert review of the evidence showing how chemicals, working environments, and lifestyles may be affecting the sexual development of boys and their fertility as men

22 February 2003. In an op-ed in the New York Times, science writer/editor Rebecca Skloot asks the "big elephant in the room" question that has been ignored for literally decades of work on fertility treatments. Should these experiments be allowed without federal scrutiny and regulation? Growing scientific evidence indicates that increased risks of birth defects and disease accompany the use of common infertility treatments like in vitro fertilization. Writes Skloot: "If the far-off prospect of cloning can arouse such heated debate, surely the safety of current infertility treatments can do the same. It took scientists decades to figure out that diethylstilbestrol, or DES, a widely used fertility drug of the 50's and 60's, caused cancer and infertility in children exposed to it in their mothers' wombs. Let's not make that mistake again.

20 February 2003. Stories in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times report on a suppressed EPA report on children's health and the environment. According to the Journal: "A partial draft, titled "America's Children and the Environment," notes that states increasingly are issuing warnings about dangerous mercury levels in fish. It says there is mounting evidence that mercury is collecting in the blood of women of child-bearing age. The evidence is also increasing, warns the EPA report, that high doses of mercury can cause mental retardation and other neurological disorders in infants." The Journal story examines utility and coal industry pressure on the Administration to not implement stronger mercury standards.

Not covered by either story: While the WSJ story describes a battle within the Bush Administration about mercury, it fails to report that a key source of political pressure to stall on the report's release as been the Office of Management and Budget's John Graham. In principle, OMB has no role to play in this report because it is a scientific finding without regulatory impact. In fact, according to EPA sources, Graham's office insisted on reviewing the document.

And finally, a note abour press wars. When the Administration learned that the Journal had obtained a full copy of the report and was preparing to run a story, it leaked selective portions of it to the New York Times. Hence the Times coverage provides a far rosier interpretation.

11 February 2003. The LA Times reports that the EPA is proposing to relax industrial toxic emission measures, responding to business complaints that standards are too costly. Affected industries include petrochemical plants, pulp mills, automobile manufacturers and steel mills. "The emissions at issue are not hazardous because of smog-forming potential, but because they can lead to cancer or damage the brain or a developing fetus."

10 February 2003. The New York Times reports that delegates attending a U.N. conference in Nairobi " endorsed a global crackdown on pollution caused by mercury, although the United States blocked efforts for binding restrictions on its use." The story cites CDC data from its recent body burden report, to the effect that one in twelve pregnant women in the US have unsafe mercury levels, threatening neurological development in more than 300,000 babies in the US. Exposures are likely to be much worse elsewhere, as national and state programs in the US to alert consumers to mercury exposures are far more aggressive than in other countries.

8 February 2003. Writing in the New York Times, Jennifer Lee reports that scientists at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) have concluded that exposure to arsenic in playground structures made out of chromated copper arsenate-treated wood increases the risk of bladder and lung cancer in children. "This pesticide contains arsenic, a known carcinogen, which bleeds from the wood. Young children can ingest the arsenic when they put their hands to their mouths or when they touch food or toys which are then placed in their mouths. The study projects that between 2 to 100 children out of one million will get bladder and lung cancer from their exposure to the arsenic."

Link to the CPSC fact sheet

4 February 2003. Martin Mittelstaedt reports in the Toronto Globe and Mail that a new analysis by the United Nations Environment Programme concludes that the world's environment is increasingly contaminated by mercury, a developmental neurotoxin. "According to the report, millions of children may already be suffering ailments -- ranging from learning difficulties to impaired nervous systems-- due to dietary mercury. The report concludes that "The available data indicate that mercury is present all over the globe, especially in fish, in concentrations that adversely affect human beings and wildlife." Mercury contamination enters the environment via multiple pathways, with burning of coal for electricity production and waste incineration accounting for 70% of global emissions. Emissions are growing most rapidly in Asia. Atmospheric transport carries mercury pollution literally around the globe.

2 February 2003. A story in the Los Angeles Times written by Miguel Bustillo reports that the US Environmental Protection Agency and the California EPA are concerned about health implications of perchlorate contamination in the Colorado River, a source of drinking water for more than 15 million people in the US southwest. Even at low levels, perchlorate interferes with thyroid action and may thus disrupt developmental processes under thyroid control, including brain development. The principal source of contamination is an old rocket fuel production site in Nevada. Health authorities are also questioning whether the use of this water for irrigation of lettuce crops may extend the risks to a much wider array of Americans who purchase produce grown in southern California. The Department of Defense disputes the possibility that the low level exposures could be a health risk.

31 January 2003. Two studies released this week provide new insights into the levels of contaminants experienced by the American public. One, conducted by the US Centers for Disease Control, measured the levels of 116 compounds, including an array of heavy metals like arsenic and mercury, traces of second-hand smoke, organochlorines, and organophosphate pesticides. Almost 8,000 people age 1 and older were included in the survey, with specific sample sizes varying from compound to compound. The second study, by CHE partners the Environmental Working Group, Commonweal and the Mt Sinai School of Medicine, looked more intensely at a much smaller group, measuring 210 chemicals in 9 people. Of the 210 sampled, 167 were found, an average of 91 compounds per person. Many of the compounds found are linked to cancer, nervous system disorders, birth defects, immune system deficiencies and reproductive problems. The two studies were widely reported in the press, including Newsday, the New York Times, Washington Post, Detroit Free Press and San Francisco Chronicle. The Chronicle also ran an op-ed by Ruth Rosen.

More on CDC's study...
More on EWG's study...

25 January 2003. Supporting recommendations in a report issued by a consortium of environmental, health, labor and human rights organizations, an editorial in the New York Times calls for domestic legislation that would require US companies to make public information about activities overseas that would be prohibited or require disclosure by US domestic law. Citing the success of the US EPA's Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) in reducing industrial emissions by 50% during the first decade following the TRI's implementation, the Times argues that "The idea of an international right to know is a creative and, for the companies, a not particularly burdensome new approach. American companies could still behave badly if they chose to do so. The law does not prevent irresponsible mining companies in Peru from spilling mercury on local roads, or toy makers in China from employing children. But they would have to tell the public about these practices, and let the market, and public opinion, go to work."

24 January 2003. In an editorial, the Los Angeles Times reminds readers that the source of funding for scientific research can taint the process, especially when there are economic interests at stake. The editorial focuses on medical research and biases introduced by companies seeking to gain competitive advantage for their products. It fails to note, however, that the situation it describes in medical research on disease treatment is actually far more prevalent in research examining the health impacts of chemical exposures. Federal and independent funding of medical research may not be sufficient to counterbalance the biases of research underwritten by private interests, but it is vastly greater in amount than independent funding available to examine health risks associated with chemical exposures. Here, research by chemical interests with an economic stake in the outcome dramatically outweighs independent investigations. As a result, scientific literature on chemical exposures is littered with false assurances about safety.

24 January 2003. A story in the Wall Street Journal describes a new report by US PIRG on industrial releases of toxic contaminants in the United States. The report, based on a zip-code by zip-code analysis of the US EPA's Toxic Release Inventory, documents a long-term trend that has led to a big increase in emissions in the South relative to the Northeast US. "Thirteen Southern states, stretching from North Carolina to New Mexico, were responsible for producing nearly half of all toxic releases known to cause cancer." The report allows on-line readers to look state-by-state for sources of toxic emissions, and provides separate analyses for cancer-causing contaminants vs. those that induce neurological, developmental, reproductive and other types of health damage. The story in the Journal cites medical concerns that evidence increasingly links exposure to a range of health conditions, including multiple sclerosis, lupus, breast cancer and asthma.

24 January 2003. Writing in the Los Angeles Times, Rosie Mestel describes indications emerging from a series of studies of birth outcomes that the risk of several rare birth defects/diseases are increased in children conceived through in vitro fertilization. Release of a new Dutch study in The Lancet is the latest indication. Their research reveals a a four- to seven-fold increase in the rate of retinoblastoma, a rare cancer of the eye. Earlier studies published within the past two years had linked in vitro fertilization to heightened risk of Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome and Angelman syndrome. Because the normal rates of these diseases are extremely rare, the increase in risk indicated by these studies does not translate to a high risk for in vitro births, but according to the LA Times "a growing number of scientists and doctors think the reports are a cause for unease."

Prevention of infertility should become the first line of defense.

18 January 2003. Writing in the Boston Globe, reporter Anne Barnard describes the wide gap between what men with prostate cancer are told about the impact of surgery on sexual performance, and what actually happens most of the time. Surgeons will promise that sex without devices is possible in up to 80% of cases, but the reality is just the opposite. "One large-scale study of prostate cancer survivors found that, 18 months after treatment, 60 percent could not get an erection firm enough for intercourse."

Yes, medical advances in treating malignancies like prostate cancer have achieved dramatic improvement in survivorship. But the cancer itself still extracts an important toll on life. In this case, it's impotence. Children suffering from brain tumors have life-long legacies of the disease and the treatment, even though they are cured of the cancer itself. Women after surgical treatment for breast cancer struggle with the psychological and physical impact of mastectomy. These examples, and many more, emphasize the need to focus on prevention, on reducing the incidence of cancer, not just decreasing the mortality rate once cancer develops. A exclusive focus on "cure" misses entirely how best to advance public health protections, and any individual or organization that uses cancer mortality data to buttress an argument that we are winning the war against cancer should be suspected of abetting interests that place a secondary value on public health.

1 January 2003. Writing in the New York Times, Sandra Blakeslee describes a just-published study documenting a ten-fold higher levels of autism in metropolitan Atlanta than would be expected on the basis of historical records. These new findings are consistent with more recent studies of autism, which have reported much higher rates during the 1990s than previously. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, does not resolve the cause of the increase, some portion of which is likely a result of changes in the way that autism is diagnosed. The study was also covered by The Atlanta Constitution Journal and Reuters Health.

27 December 2002. In a remarkable investigative article for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, reporter Andrew Schneider reveals an outrageous intervention by John Graham (White House Office of Management and Budget) to prevent EPA from warning home owners around the country about significant health risks arising from the use of asbestos-contaminated insulation. The contamination is traceable to a vermiculite mine in Libby, Montana, owned and operated by W.R. Grace.

"In that town near the Canadian border, ore from a vermiculite mine was contaminated with an extremely lethal asbestos fiber called tremolite that has killed or sickened thousands of miners and their families. Ore from the Libby mine was shipped across the nation and around the world, ending up in insulation called Zonolite that was used in millions of homes, businesses and schools across America." The EPA was prepared to issue a warning in April 2002, until Graham intervened. His nomination to head that office had been challenged by health and environment groups because of his past association with an industry-tainted research center.

27 December 2002. In his second major story on perchlorate in the Wall Street Journal in December, reporter Peter Waldman explores the disruptive impacts that perchlorate contamination is having on drinking water supplies. "Several of the nation's fastest-growing areas -- including Las Vegas, Texas and Southern California -- could face debilitating water shortages because of groundwater contamination by perchlorate, the main ingredient of solid rocket fuel." ... "Dozens of perchlorate-tainted wells have been shuttered nationwide, casting a pall on growth plans in several parched areas." According to Waldman, the chief concern about perchlorate arises from the fact it is an endocrine disrupter. More...

16 December 2002. In a front page story in the Wall Street Journal, staff reporter Peter Waldman explores a controversy involving widespread drinking water contamination by perchlorate resulting from its use as a rocket fuel. The debate is about the possible possible health consequences of the toxin that could result from perchlorate's ability to disrupt thyroid function. At issue is whether low levels of perchlorate, present in the drinking water of millions of Americans, heighten risk to disorders like thyroid cancers and neurodevelopmental problems such as autism. Relying on old data, the Pentagon claims perchlorate is dangerous only at very high levels. In contrast, EPA is focused on perchlorate's low level effects. A sidebar in the WSJ describes perchlorate as "one of a newly recognized group of toxins called endocrine disrupters." More...

9 December 2002. In an article written for UPI's end-of-year review, Science and Technology editor Dee Ann Divis describes a disturbing pattern in the approach the Bush Administration is taking to evaluate nominees for scientific committees. Candidates have been rejected for making contributions to Democratic candidates or for espousing positions at odds with certain industries and Bush's far-right constituency. Among the panels affected are a CDC's advisory committee, a panel on lead poisoning, and the Army Science Board. The article cites an accusation that the political review extends even to peer-review study sections, thereby affecting the very nature of research approved for federal support. Several scientific organizations are raising objections, including the American Public Health Association.

16 November 2002. According to a new study described in the Baltimore Sun and just released in the American Journal of Human Genetics, babies conceived using in vitro fertilization techniques (IVF) are more likely to be born with a rare genetic disorder called Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome. Children with this disorder at at higher risk for certain cancers before puberty and also tend to be born large with large tongues and poor closures of the abdominal wall, causing hernias that must be repaired surgically. Several researchers interviewed by the Sun cautioned that while the data are intriguing more research needs to be done before accepting the results.

12 November 2002. Writing in the Washington Post, reporter Jennifer Huget describes a new, over-the-counter kit to test whether a man's sperm count is high enough to be considered fertile. If the test shows a positive result, it indicates that the man's sperm is at least 20 million sperm per milliliter, a threshold for fertility criteria established by the World Health Organization. Roughly 40 percent of fertility problems that challenge more than 2 million couples in the US are due to reductions in male fertility. This kit will help identify men who may have difficulty conceiving. Factors other than low sperm count also undermine male fertility; this test will not provide information on these other problems.

11 November 2002. Stories in the New York Times and the Kansas City Star cover the the most sophisticated study of geographic variation in US sperm count yet conducted. Scientists from four different geographic regions across America report they find important differences in sperm density and motility. Men in Missouri have the lowest sperm count compared to New York, Minneapolis and Los Angeles. The cause of these differences are not yet known. The scientists conducting the study hypothesize it may be related to the intensity of pesticide use in industrial agriculture in Missouri compared to the other, more urban areas. More on the study...

5 November. In a detailed article in USA Today, reporter Anita Manning examines a new study of the health consequences of eating mercury-contaminated fish. The report, by Dr. Jane Hightower, a physician from the San Francisco area, examines health effects including hair loss, fatigue, depression, difficulty concentrating and headaches. The report concludes that anyone who consumes a lot of fish, especially large steak fish such as swordfish and shark, could be at risk. The article in USA Today also summarizes government recommendations for tuna consumption. The low limits may surprise may parents whose children eat canned tuna regularly.

The same research was also covered by San Francisco Chronicle environmental reporter Jane Kay. Her story focused on the reversibility of mercury levels in the patients studied by Hightower, who commented: "We found that if people eat fish, the mercury goes up. They stop eating the fish, the mercury goes down. It's that simple."

26 October 2002. Do food additives cause tantrums? A report filed by the BBC Health News desk summarizes research that indicates food additives including common food colorings are associated with short term behavioral disorders in children. The results are controversial. More...

24 October 2002. New Scientist describes research at Italy's National Research Council implicating cellphone microwave radiation in promoting leukemia. "Paradoxically, the study suggests that the radiation makes tumours grow more aggressively by initially killing off cancer cells." Work in this field remains highly controversial, although this research, if verified would add to evidence that cellphone radiation has the potential for human effects. Importantly, the focus of this research is not via cell damage by heating, the initial focus of concern, but rather on gene activation, first of genes that direct cell death (a normal part of the life stages of cells, called apoptosis), and then by turning on additional genes that promote tumor growth.

Evidence has been mounting that cellphone radiation is too weak to cause DNA damage, leading to skepticism about cellphone health impacts. This alternative mechanism opens a new set of issues to explore, which may operate at exposure levels far beneath those necessary to cause damage. Confirmation of the work is essential. New Scientist quotes Colin Blakemore, a physiologist at the University of Oxford and a member of the British National Radiological Protection Board's advisory group on non-ionising radiation: "It's a very confused field."

24 October 2002. The Associated Press and Reuters both report on a special joint hearing of the health committees of the California State Senate and Assembly about breast cancer. Dr. Ana Soto, a specialist in breast cancer at Tufts Medical School, told the committees that "Breast cancer rates in the United States have increased from one in 22 in the 1940s to one in eight today, and the factors that are known to increase the risk of breast cancer -- reproductive history, genetics, exercise and alcohol use -- account for less than half of all cases. She added "it is high time to seriously consider environmental chemicals as the most likely cause of this sudden increase in risk." Dr. Gina Solomon, a lead member of CHE's science committee and a senior scientist at the National Resources Defense Council, also testified. Dr. Solomon suggested that "drawing more links between environmental toxins and breast cancer could help to broaden understanding of who develops the disease and why."

Read Dr. Solomon's summary of what is known about the causes of breast cancer.

23 October 2002. Katherine Ellison writes in the Washington Post about an epidemiological puzzle emerging from Marin County, California, where non-Hispanic white women "have received a diagnosis of breast cancer nearly 40% higher than the national norm." According to Kenneth Olden, the director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, "rates are higher here than anywhere else." Yet no explanation offered to date appears sufficient to explain the apparent epidemic. Olden, according to the article, consigns it to "demographics." One community activist, Fern Orenstein, responds "It's easy for them to say "demographcis," but--hello? There hasn't been enough research into what's in our air and in our soil and in the products we use."

20 October 2002. In the Mobile Register, reporter Ben Raines describes the medical diagnoses carried out by a well-known physician in the San Francisco area, linking mercury exposure to a range of ailments. "A surgeon had tremors so bad she was afraid she'd have to give up operating. A geophysicist said he couldn't think anymore and was unable to do even simple subtraction. A mother, father and child living on a ranch in the rolling hills of wine country were losing their hair. ...Now, in a diagnosis rattling experts in San Francisco's medical community and beyond, Hightower has determined that all of those patients were suffering from mercury poisoning, and the mercury came from the fancy fish they ate."

20 October 2002. In an editorial, the New York Times comments on the "shocking report from California" indicating that the drastic upsurge in autism rates that had been discovered within that state is real rather than a statistical artifact. According to the Times, "California's self-examination has underscored the surprising lack of information about the prevalence of this relatively rare brain disorder elsewhere in the nation. Studies carried out by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in recent years found that the number of cases in metropolitan Atlanta and in one New Jersey township were significantly higher than previous estimates of prevalence would suggest. But nobody knows for sure what the nationwide trends are." Left unstated is the fact that this could be said for many other health trends affecting learning and behavior. In the meantime, comments the Times, "it could take years to unravel the widening mystery of autism." More on the study...

18 October 2002. The New York Times reports on a study concluding that California has experienced a drastic increase in the rate of autism, tripling since 1987 from 2,778 in 1987 to 10,360 in 1998, but that the causes for the increase remain unknown. Skeptics had argued that the increase was not real and instead caused by greater awareness of the condition and more systematic medical diagnosis. The study focused only on the most profound form of autism, full-spectrum autism, not milder forms such as Ausberger's syndrome. The scientist who led the investigation concluded that the changes have been too rapid for the cause to be genetic factors alone. More...

17 October 2002. According to Reuters Health Newswire, a new study in the "Annual Review of Public Health" finds that environmental hazards faced by poor people in the United States and the United Kingdom are even worse than had been generally recognized. According to the study, "the poor are most likely to be exposed not only to the worst air quality, the most noise, the worst water, and to hazardous wastes and other toxins, but also of particular consequence, to lower-quality environments on a daily basis at home, in school, on the job, and in the neighborhood."

16 October 2002. Reporting in the Wall Street Journal, Sharon Begley summarizes a new study by scientists at the National Cancer Institute revealing that recent cancer incidence statistics summaries have misled public health officials into believing that the war on cancer was being won, when in fact the incidence of a number of cancers continued to rise. This new analysis, which takes into account time delays in reporting, shows that breast cancer, prostate cancer, lung cancer, melanoma, colorectal cancer and several other cancers have actually been increasing in the United States. More on study...

16 October 2002. Writing in the Boston Globe, reporter Sally Jacobs explores a brewing controversy over the widespread use of phthalates in a wide range of consumer products, including cosmetics.

Accompanied by provocative advertising in the New York Times, a report issued in Summer 2002 by consumer and public health organizations brought attention to this practice and highlighted toxicological data from animals showing adverse effects caused by phthalates, particularly for male fetuses in the womb.

Now, according to the Globe, "many women are backing away from their vanity tables and worrying" that phthalate exposure may have damaged their children while in the womb. More...

16 October 2002. The Los Angeles Times and the New York Times report on a ten-year study of the brain structure finding that children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have brains significantly smaller than normal. The size differences are apparent in early childhood, at the earliest ages examined in the study. The authors conclude that ADHD is a biologically-based disorder with clear structural differences, and that the events initiating ADHD are likely to occur in the womb. More on the research...

8 October 2002. According to Reuters News, several class action lawsuits have been filed against companies producing or selling chromated copper arsenate treated wood. This product, also known as CCA wood, has been used for over 70 years. The treatment protects against insect destruction. In the past, individual consumers have filed--and won--a series of lawsuits, mostly against small, privately-held companies. The class action lawsuits represent a new phase, one which Reuters compares to the "recent legal nightmares including scores of asbestos claims that drove some US firms into bankruptcy." At least one of the class action suits is against Georgia-Pacific. Industry spokespeople interviewed by Reuters indicated they thought the suits "had no merit." More about recent action on CCA wood...

4 October 2002. Writing in Environmental Health Perspectives, reporter Tina Adler describes the increasing frequency of issue ads placed in prominent publications raising questions about environmental threats to health.

click on image to see ad series

For example, the Mount Sinai School of Medicine Center for Children’s Health and the Environment (CCHE) published a series of ads raising questions about whether current regulatory testing was adequate given what scientific research now suggests as links between different health disabilities and exposure to contamination. Each of the seven full-page ads placed by CCHE in the New York Times repeated variations on a common theme:

Industry spokespeople from the "American Council on Science and Health" (ACSH) quoted by Adler indicated their dissatisfaction about the ad series, and indeed sent a protest letter to the Mt Sinai Board of Directors complaining about the advertisements. According to the EHP article, ACSH associate director Jeff Stier argued that studies published in legitimate scientific publications don't need advertisements.

17 September 2002. Research conducted at the University of Wisconsin reveals that a commercial mixture of lawn chemical herbicides including 2,4-D causes fetal loss in mice. A story about this research in the LA Times reports that the scientists who conducted the study obtained the herbicides by simply going to a local hardware store and buying a common brand.

Tests are usually conducted on pure components of such brands, instead of the actual mixtures sold. Tests with the pure components had indicated exposure at levels used in these experiments should not have caused effects. In fact, the lowest level used in the experiments, which caused significant fetal loss, was one-seventh the level allowed by EPA in drinking water.

These results indicate that mixtures must become a focus of regulatory testing for toxicology, and that current standards are not adequate. More...

17 September 2002. Picking up on a story first carried by Science Magazine, Rick Weiss writes in the Washington Post that the Bush Administration is packing key scientific panels with industry advocates. One of the affected committees advises the US Centers for Disease Control on the health impacts of environmental exposures to chemicals. While an administration spokesperson claimed that "no litmus test" was used in selecting new committee members, a candidate was rejected after he answered a series of questions about cloning, embryo cell research, and physician assisted suicide. The interviewer told him that the position would go to someone else because his views did not match Bush's.

According to the Post, new members of the CDC advisory panel include "Roger McClellan, former president of the Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology, a North Carolina research firm supported by chemical company dues; Becky Norton Dunlop, a vice president of the Heritage Foundation who, as Virginia's secretary of natural resources, fought against environmental regulation; and Lois Swirsky Gold, a University of California risk-assessment specialist who has made a career countering environmentalists' claims of links between pollutants and cancer. The committee also includes Dennis Paustenbach, the California toxicologist who served as an expert witness for Pacific Gas and Electric when the utility was sued for allowing poisonous chromium to leach into groundwater. The case was made famous in the movie "Erin Brockovich."

31 August 2002. In an editorial, the New York Times argues that "it is time to rein in this fruitless quest" for an environmental cause of breast cancer on Long Island, based on the recent negative findings reported by by the Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project. Unfortunately, for the Times conclusion, you can't rule out an association using a study whose design precluded being able to find one in the first place. The study's conclusions were limited by two design flaws:

• First, it examined chemical levels at the time of cancer diagnosis, not at the time of breast cancer initiation. Current research indicates that this may take place decades before breast cancer detection, with periods of maximum sensitivity proposed to occur in the womb and around puberty.
• Second, its statistical design was inappropriate for examining chemicals interacting in mixtures, in which they always occur, particularly when the chemicals are hypothesized to act through a common mechanism, which in this case they are (estrogenicity).

For more extensive, accurate and balanced coverage of this report, see Newsday's in-depth coverage.

More...

30 August 2002. Writing in Science Magazine, reporter Dan Faber describes "house-cleaning" by the Bush Administration of the Advisory Panel for the National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH), the unit of the US Centers for Disease Control focused on environmental issues, including contamination. Replaced panel member Dr. Ellen Silvergeld, a public health expert at the University of Maryland, observed: "The last time anything like this [overhaul] happened was under [former President Ronald] Reagan."

Incoming committee members contrast sharply with the scientists they are replacing. Most of the outgoing members are independent research scientists at universities. The newcomers have tight links to industry and to conservative think-tanks, and a history of hostility to environmental regulation. "Among them are toxicologist Roger McClellan, an Albuquerque, New Mexico-based consultant and former director of the Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology; Becky Norton Dunlop, a vice president of the conservative Heritage Foundation who battled federal environmental regulators as a Virginia official; and Lois Swirsky Gold, an expert on risk assessments who has minimized reports linking environmental pollutants and cancer."

Under the leadership of Dr. Richard Jackson, current director of NCEH, the CDC has carried out pioneering work documenting links between contamination and disease and developing new methods for assessing body burdens of chemicals carried by the American public. Critics of the new changes in the Advisory Panel express concern that the CDC's ability to engage in these research issues will be hampered by a panel with such strong industry links.

28 July 2002. Anticipating the release of a federally-funded study on links between high breast cancer rates on Long Island, New York, and exposure to organochlorine chemicals, Newsday runs a remarkable 3-part series about the research, written by Dan Fagin. The series tracks the study from its origins in the hands of breast-cancer activists lobbying Congress through to its disappointing conclusions.

From Newsday:

In contrast to Newsday's extensive coverage by Fagin, the New York Times ran an op-ed by Gina Kolata. A key passage: "And even if there is a link [between contamination and breast cancer], several experts said, it may be beyond the capacity of science to find it." This is an important observation and consistent with the limits of what can be concluded from the study, yet Kolata goes on to mischaracterize the key findings, writing: " those who got breast cancer were no more likely to have been exposed to the chemicals than those who didn't."

In fact, the study found that current levels of specific organochlorine levels in the women's blood are not associated with an elevated risk of breast cancer. This is not the same as Kolata's reinterpretation, because current levels may not accurately reflect past exposures. An unresolved question is whether contamination levels at the time of diagnosis accurately reflect exposure levels at the time of biological impact of the contaminant, which may have been decades earlier. As the authors of the study note: "These data do not rule out the possibility, however, that breast cancer risk is elevated by high organochlorine exposures several decades earlier."

More on the research itself and the limitations of epidemiology...

26 July 2002. An independent scientific panel appointed by the US Food and Drug Administration admonished the FDA to put strong warnings on tuna because mercury contamination levels in canned and fresh tuna are high enough to pose a threat to the developing fetus and children. The panel concluded that current FDA recommendations, no more than 2 cans of tuna per week, were too weak. Even at very low contamination levels, mercury can interfere with brain development.

FDA representatives said that developing new recommendations were now a high priority. Ten states including Michigan, Wisconsin and Maine already have tuna advisories more restrictive that the FDA's.

The panel's recommendation received widespread coverage in the press (e.g., San Francisco Chronicle).

The scientific review was forced in April 2002 by scandalous revelations that the tuna industry had undue influence on FDA's decision-making process.

June 15 2002. In an article in San Francisco Medicine, Dr Philip Lee and Steve Heilig challenge clinicians to learn about the emerging science establishing links between environmental contaminants and human disease.