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Current query:Type: Scientific Studies
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Thus some of the links, particularly older ones, may no longer be functional.
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Common air pollutants can react with one another to form highly reactive and toxic chlorine gasses, reports a study published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
In areas where both NOx and HCl concentrations are generally high, these chemical reactions can also increase ozone pollution. 7 October 2009. More...
A new study finds that fewer older people are hospitalized due to heart problems associated with air pollution if they live in places that have more homes with central air conditioning.
But, a vicious cycle of energy demand, air conditioning use and air pollution can develop, the researchers explain. More air conditioning use requires more energy. Generating energy leads to air pollution and contributes to global warming, possibly spurring higher use of air conditioning. 4 September 2009. More...
Management measures that keep unwanted pests out of buildings and apartments can control cockroaches and their associated allergens better than traditional pesticide sprayings.
This is the first study to show how a one-time, low cost visit by professionals can effectively reduce the insects' populations for up to six months. Sealing cracks and using bait traps--rather than periodic pesticide applications--to control the pests lowers people's indoor exposures to unhealthy toxic chemicals and allergens that can lead to asthma. 22 June 2009. More...
Men with high levels of chemicals used as anti-adhesive, stain and water repellents had fewer normal sperms and a tendency for lower sperm concentration.
This study is the first to evaluate the potential impact of exposure to chemicals known as perfluoroalkyl acids, or perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), on male fertility. 7 May 2009. More...
Researchers find for the first time that mice exposed to dioxin during development or while nursing have a diminished capacity to fight a flu infection later in life.
Mouse pups born to pregnant mice that were exposed to a small amount of the ubiquitous and persistent pollutants had fewer white blood cells that normally kill the flu virus and more of a different kind that increases lung inflammation. The increased inflammation can make the disease more severe and recovery more difficult. 18 March 2009. More...
A nanomaterial prized for its potential use in electronics moved through human lung fluid and altered the way lung cells reacted to infections, possibly reducing their ability to signal immune defenders and fight off the invaders.
The results add more concern about the safety of the very tiny particles called single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT). Workers who make the materials -- and consumers who use them -- may be at risk if the nanomaterials are inhaled. 6 March 2009. More...
Weather changes due to global climate change could substantially increase people's exposure to many pathogens and toxic agricultural contaminants, predicts a study from the United Kingdom.
The full health implications are uncertain. Managing the risks will require research as well as policy changes. 26 February 2009. More...
Genetics, age and gender determine what kind and how badly lungs are harmed in mice that breath ozone, a dangerous type of air pollution.
This study is the first to report which differences influence health effects of ozone exposure in various strains of mice. These data suggest that genetic makeup plays a strong role in how young and adults respond to ozone. 21 January 2009. More...
Research with mice reveals that the phthalate DEHP can increase the severity of allergic reactions in young animals when they are exposed neonatally to the contaminant via their mother's milk.
Rates of allergic skin conditions -- called dermitits -- are increasing in people. These new results may shed light on one of the drivers of this trend. 14 January 2009. More...
Catching a ride on nanoparticles is a newly discovered way for harmful substances to get inside living cells.
While health effects in people are not yet known, the cell injury reported in this new study from Europe raises concern for workers who make the nanoparticles and consumers who use them. 7 January 2009. More...
The type of chemicals someone is exposed to in the womb, or soon after birth, may predetermine the risk for developing respiratory infections as an infant and allergy and asthma as an adult, according to a study that focused on PCBs and DDE.
In the study, both the amount and type of PCBs a baby was exposed to in the womb, or in the first three months after birth, affected the number of respiratory infections a child had. Some types of PCBs seemed to be associated with increased respiratory infections; other types seemed be associated with fewer infections. 5 January 2009. More...
A recent study confirms and broadens our understanding of asthma by showing the respiratory disease is highly affected by particulate matter.
For the first time, researchers report that asthma incidence and severity is associated with a specific type of indoor air pollution, referred to as course particulate matter. Specifically, the amounts of wheezing, slowing of a child’s activity and use of rescue medication were all elevated in children living in homes with more of this type of indoor air pollution. 16 December 2008. More...
Widely-used pollutants called organotins can harm cells - and even kill them - by interfering with their ability to take apart unwanted proteins.
The chemical tie to and block the activity of a key cell molecule, called the proteasome, making it dysfunctional. Organotins are used in PVC plastics and as anti-fungal agents in textiles and agricultural pesticides. 15 December 2008. More...
Dibutyltin, an understudied chemical used widely in PVC plastics, can interfere with the natural ability of human and animals cells to control important immune responses and inflammation.
The results may help understand why asthma and allergies are increasing in people. 11 December 2008. More...
Drinking coffee may benefit health by targeting and killing viruses such as herpes and poliovirus, according to new research from Japan.
Coffee both reduced herpes virus's ability to spread to other cells and halted their reproduction. With polio virus, the extracts stopped viral multiplication. 30 September 2008. More...
Minute quantities of a bacterial protein inserted in corn provoke immune reactions in mice.
The protein is added to increase the effectiveness of plant-based transgenic vaccines. The results indicate that special care will be needed with transgenic corn to reduce exposure to workers and the public if this protein is used commercially in corn or other food crops, to avoid unwanted immune responses in people and decreased effectiveness of oral vaccines that use the protein. 8 November 2007. More...
New research exposing mice to a chemical used to make polyurethane foam and paints provides the first experimental confirmation that the compound causes respiratory tract disease.
The findings corroborate epidemiological studies showing links between on-the-job exposure to toluene diisocyanate and both nasal inflammations, diseases that affect at least half the industrial workers in the US. The results help understand how breathing even small amounts of a chemical can lead to debilitating respiratory diseases. 20 July 2007. More...
Could lead poisoning contribute to asthma and other allergic diseases?
Experiments with cells in the immune system of mice--which are hypersensitized by lead-- provide support for this hypothesis. 25 June 2007. More...
Exposure through the skin to PFOA, a chemical commonly used to make fabric protectors, stain repellants and non-stick surfaces, increases the allergic response in mice when they are subsequently exposed to an allergen.
The results suggest one possible explanation for the rising incidence of asthma in children. Exposure to PFOA is virtually ubiquitous. The levels used in this experiment, however, were much higher than those commonly detected in people. 29 May 2007. More...
An international scientific conference has forged a new consensus statement on the importance of fetal exposures for adult health.
Chemical exposures during prenatal and early postnatal life can bring about important effects on gene expression. New research on rodent models shows that developmental exposures to toxic chemicals, such as the hormonally active substances, diethylstilbestrol, tributyl tin, bisphenol A, genistein, can increase the incidence of reproductive abnormalities, metabolic disorders, including obesity and diabetes, and cancer. 25 May 2007. More...
Extensive results from studies of endocrine-disrupting compounds indicate that toxicological testing can no longer assume high dose results predict the effect of low doses.
Because the design of all regulatory testing has been based upon this assumption, it is highly likely to have missed low dose effects and led to health standards that are too weak. 30 April 2007. More...
Scientists studying residents living in a 1970s era housing development built atop a retired oil field waste pit found an extraordinarily high incidence of lupus, an autoimmune disease.
Researchers calculated that the rate was 30 to 99 times higher in people living in this six-block area of Hobbs, NM, than what would be expected in the general population. The disease was significantly associated with higher than normal exposure to the environmental contaminants mercury and pristane, a hydrocarbon found in petroleum. 10 April 2007. More...
Scientists report in a new study that six environmental contaminants which act like the hormone estrogen increase the speed and intensity of immune reactions in human and mouse cells.
The doses used were selected to be well within the range of human exposures. Intermediate doses had stronger impacts than higher doses. The results suggest that these contaminants may be contributing to the epidemic of asthma. 3 April 2007. More...
Young children living in houses with the highest measured levels of a common phthalate in house dust were two to four times as likely to report wheezing or allergic symptoms than those with lower levels.
The results are similar to those found by Swedish investigators in 2004 and support the notion that exposure to common chemicals may contribute to recent increases in allergic disease in the industrialized world. 27 March 2007. More...
The risk of adult-onset asthma is more than double for workers employed in offices with plastic wall-lining.
This conclusion emerged from a case-control study in southern Finland examining the work and home environment of 521 asthmatics and 932 controls. The researchers suggest that the association is a result of increased exposure to the phthalate DEHP in work environments that have used materials containing polyvinyl chloride, which can be as much as 40% by weight DEHP. 7 November 2006. More...
The phthalate DEHP increases allergic reaction to a mite allergen in mice at levels within the range deemed safe by current EPA standards.
The dose-response relationship followed an inverted-U pattern, with an intermediate dose causing larger effects than the highest dose use. This is the first report of non-monotonic response for a phthalate. The results implicate DEHP as a possible causal agent in increasing prevalence of allergic reactions in developed countries. 18 October 2006. More...
Science Byte: Experiments with mice reveal that exposure to environmentally-relevant levels of the phthalate DEHP caused atopic dermatitis-like skin lesions to get worse in mice.
The exposure level sufficient to cause adverse effects is comparable to recent estimates of the daily exposure of Americans and a thousand-fold lower than the no-effect level based on liver damage. The researchers propose that ubiquitous use of DHEP has contributed to widespread increases in immune diseases like atopic dermatitis. EHP. 27 May 2006. More...
Science Byte: As small particle air pollution increases, cardiovascular and respiratory problems mount for senior citizens.
Scientists tracked hospital admission rates among Medicare patients in relation to concentrations of small particle air pollution (PM 2.5). Even a small rise results in more hospitalizations. JAMA. 8 March 2006. More...
Science Byte: At levels of ozone exposure near or below current EPA standards, infants are at increased risk of respiratory symptoms.
This conclusion emerged from a study of 691 infants in SW Virginia, who were monitored over a summer while simultaneous estimates were obtained on ozone levels. The effect was somewhat stronger for children of asthmatic mothers. EHP 30 December 2005. More...
Science Byte: For decades, safety tests for immune system effects have relied almost exclusively on exposure of the adult immune system to predict perinatal immune risk.
Yet research has now established that the developing immune system is a remarkably sensitive target with many changes underway, many of which do not occur in adults. Hence research on mature immune systems can't predict what will happen during development. Perinatal effects may help explain the increased incidence of atopy, asthma and certain autoimmune conditions. EHP. 17 November 2005. More...
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