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While all links worked when entries were posted to the database, different publishers
have different policies about retaining articles and providing access to archived material.
Thus some of the links, particularly older ones, may no longer be functional.
For links no longer working, you may be able to gain paid access to text via the publisher's site.
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...
Researchers report a difference in breast cancer risk between minority and white women exposed to PCBs between the 1930s and late 1970s while on the job at manufacturing plants that made electrical capacitors.
In non-white women, as exposure to PCBs increased, so did their risk for breast cancer onset. White women working in the same plants had no relationship between PCB exposures and breast cancer onset, a finding that is consistent with previous studies. 2 April 2009. More...
Thirty-six scientists conclude in a peer-reviewed commentary that the FDA's draft decision on bisphenol A uses unacceptable criteria for selecting data and depends heavily upon a key paper that is fatally flawed.
The NIH-funded research rejected by the FDA is likely to produce reliable and valid scientific data than the studies used by the agency in its draft. 30 October 2008. More...
Exposure to lead at concentrations below the US safe standard level decreases childhood intelligence, according to a study of children living in Rochester, New York.
The findings show a significant decline of 5 intelligence quotient (IQ) points in children with blood lead levels between 5 and 9.9 micrograms per deciliter (mcg/dL), which is lower than the Centers for Disease Control's safe limit of 10 mcg/dL. 27 February 2008. More...
A new analysis by the CDC indicates that many Americans are exposed to bisphenol A at levels above the current safety threshold set by the EPA based upon decades-old data.
These levels are significantly higher than those sufficient to cause a wide array of health effects in animals following exposure in the womb. Exposure to another industrial chemical, 4-tertiary-octylphenol, is also widespread. 8 November 2007. More...
Thirty-eight of the world's leading scientific experts on bisphenol A have warned policymakers of potential adverse health effects of exposure to the widespread molecule used to make plastic and food can lining.
They conclude that average levels in people are above those that cause harm to animals in laboratory experiments. And they calculate that average serum levels in people can only be explained by assuming that exposures today are already above the level that EPA considers safe. 13 August 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...
Traditional covert influence of industry on occupational and environmental health policies has turned brazenly overt in the last several years.
More than ever before the OEH community is witnessing the perverse influence and increasing control by industry interests. Government has failed to support independent, public health-oriented practitioners and their organizations, instead joining many corporate endeavors to discourage efforts to protect the health of workers and the community. International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health [PDF]. 2 March 2007. More...
Industry-funded studies in nutrition research are over seven times more likely to have a favorable conclusions about consumption of soft drinks, juice and milk than research funded independently.
These results are consistent with analyses of health research on chemicals, cell phones, tobacco and pharmaceuticals. PLoS Medicine. 8 January 2007. More...
Studies of health risks of cell phone use that are funded exclusively by industry are substantially less likely to report statistically significant effects.
Compared to studies funded by public agencies or charities, industry funded studies find adverse effects approximately 1/10th as frequently. This pattern is consistent with research funded by the tobacco and chemical industries. Environmental Health Perspectives. 2 January 2007. More...
Prenatal exposure to the pesticide chlorpyrifos is associated with developmental delays in children and attention deficit hyperactivity problems.
The proportion of New York City 3-yr olds showing delayed development was five times greater in the higher exposure group. Pediatrics. 21 November 2006. More...
Swedish researchers report that Sir Richard Doll, co-author of a famous paper minimizing the role of chemicals in causing cancer, failed to disclose his industry funding for work on vinyl chloride, dioxin and phenoxy herbicides in papers published that were relevant to industry interests.
According to the Swedish researchers, documents they have unearthed reveal that Doll had a longterm financial relationship with Monsanto from the 1970s to the 1990s, worth up to a thousand pounds a day. He also took money from Dow, ICI and the American Chemistry Council. The researchers provide examples of other scientists who failed to disclose financial interests. 12 November 2006. More...
Even with access to prenatal care, minority women experience higher rates of perinatal loss of pregancy.
All minorities experienced higher rates of intrauterine growth restriction, preterm birth, very preterm birth, cesarean delivery, light vaginal bleeding and heavy vaginal bleeding compared with the white population. Overall adjusted odds ratio, compared to whites, were 3.5 (black), 1.5 (Hispanic) and 1.9 (other). Obstetrics and Gynecology. 6 July 2006. More...
An analysis of public records and court documents reveals an industry campaign to undermine steps taken by the US occupational health agency to develop safety standards for exposure to hexavalent chromium.
By splitting a study into two parts and publishing them separately, industry scientists made a significant elevation in risk of lung cancer go away. This study was never submitted by industry in its entirety to OSHA, but only became available when it was discovered in bankruptcy legal filings. 24 February 2006. More...
Science Byte: The tobacco industry hired a network of consultants to generate controversy about second-hand smoke.
Most of the consultants were affiliated with an academic institution, and were hired by a law firm to avoid direct contact with industry. European Journal of Public Health. 13 February 2006. More...
In a study of agricultural workers in California, exposure to organochlorine pesticides during pregnancy is associate with a decrease in gestational age but not preterm labor.
Of 11 different organochlorine pesticides studied, only hexachlorobenze (HCB) was associated with an earlier onset of labor. There was no effect on fetal growth. Although the onset of labor occurred several days earlier, there was not an increased rate of preterm delivery. Environmental Health Perspectives 2 December 2005. More...
Science Byte: The multi-causal origins of human disease and disability complicate applications of criteria commonly used to link cause with effect through epidemiological research.
Two of the 'Bradford Hill criteria' used by public health scientists--consistency and temporality--can be misleading when applied to endocrine disruption, because multiple causes can act upon the same endpoints, simultaneously or at different times. EHP. 10 November 2005. More...
Science Byte: North Carolina children are more likely to be exposed in school to pollution arising from large hog farms if they are poor and not white.
Odor from livestock was noticeable outside 21% of schools sampled, and inside 8% of them. Livestock odors at public schools, particularly those in economically disadvantaged areas, may have broad implications for schools and communities. EHP. 10 November 2005. More...
Science Byte: Anglers who eat fish caught in the lower Hudson River had blood mercury levels almost twice as high as those who never ate local fish.
People eating local fish more than once a week had higher levels than those who ate them less frequently. Environmental Research. 5 November 2005. More...
Science Byte: Although occupational and environmental diseases are often viewed as isolated and unique failures, they are in fact an outcome of a pervasive system of corporate priority setting, decision making, and influence.
This system produces disease because political, economic, regulatory and ideological norms prioritize values of wealth and profit over human health and environmental well-being. There is a substantial tradition of manipulation of evidence, data, and analysis. IJOEH 23 October 2005. More...
Science Byte: Body burden measurements of a socioeconomically disadvantaged urban neighborhood revealed children were exposed simultaneously to a combination of VOCs, heavy metals, OC pesticides and PCBs.
Many of these chemicals are known or suspected carcinogens and neurotoxicants. A comparison with CDC data indicates that the exposures for these children may be near the high end of exposures experienced by the general public. EHP 15 October 2005. More...
Preterm birth is linked to air pollution in the Los Angeles basin.
Mothers living in neighborhoods with concentrated poverty, unemployment and dependence on public assistance are at disproportionately high risk. Winter season increased susceptibility further. American Journal of Epidemiology 30 June 2005. More...
Scientists from government, academic and independent laboratories challenge proposals that 'hormesis' be used to justify weakening public health standards.
This dose-response pattern involves low- dose stimulation in contrast to high-dose inhibition. A peer-reviewed commentary in the scientific journal of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences concludes that it is irresponsible for proponents of hormesis to portray chemicals with numerous adverse effects as having "benefits" from low-dose stimulation while ignoring their hazards. 25 June 2005. More...
Over 100 scientists with active research programs studying endocrine disruption from 15 countries have issued a joint, signed statement concluding that scientific uncertainty should not delay precautionary action on reducing the exposures to and the risks from endocrine disrupters.
According to their assessment, current safety standards are ill-equipped to deal with risks caused by endocrine disrupters and that current testing procedures may lead to serious underestimations of risk. Effects in wildlife are well established; People in some countries are experiencing high prevalence of disorders consistent with endocrine disruption effects. Because there are inherent difficulties in establishing causality in humans, precautionary action be taken before epidemiological data provide certainty. 23 June 2005. More...
Science Byte: Environmental chemicals can interfere with brain development during critical periods, thereby impacting sensory, motor, and cognitive function.
But establishing cause and effect in people is a research nightmare. Regulation in the US essentially requires proof of harm rather than proof of safety. Interdisciplinary scientific exploration is essential to address this significant public and mental health threat. American Psychologist. 5 May 2005. More...
Science Byte: A study in Maryland reports that African American and poor neighborhoods are much more likely to be high risk zones for airborn cancer risks than white, economically-advantaged neighborhoods.
Comparing across census tracts, as the proportion of white residents increased, airborne cancer risks decreased. Approximately half of the cancer risk was associated with vehicle emissions. EHP. 15 March 2005. More...
Science Byte: A review of confidential documents reveals that the tobacco industry schemed to undermine scientific conclusions about links between second-hand smoke and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
Philip Morris executives commissioned consultants to write review articles for publication in the medical literature, and successfully encouraged one author to change his original conclusion that second-hand smoke is an independent risk factor for SIDS to state that the role of SHS is "less well established." Based on this recent action, it appears that the tobacco industry is continuing a disinformation campaign, contrary to recent claims of good corporate citizenship. Pediatrics. 7 March 2005. More...
A review of industry-funded studies used to challenge findings that atrazine at extremely low levels causes hermaphroditism in frogs reveals flawed experiments and misleading representation of the results.
Controls in experiments were contaminated. Positive results were summarized as negative. Poor animal husbandry caused high mortality rates. A statistical analysis of relevant studies finds that industry funding and specific labs are strongly associated with reporting negative results. 20 December 2004. More...
Science Byte: A study of air particles and health in Los Angeles reports a link between PM 2.5 levels and atherosclerosis.
The results indicate that increases in air pollution increase the risk of heart attacks. The effect was largest for non-smoking older women, who experienced a 16% increase in heart disease as PM 2.5 increased by 10 micrograms per cubic meter. EHP. 25 November 2004. More...
Even at levels considered safe by the U.S. EPA, exposure very early in development to lawn care and farm chemicals resulted in serious developmental injury to mouse embryos.
All but one of the 13 chemicals tested individually on pre-implantation mouse embryos impaired normal development. All 6 mixtures created to resemble environmentally- realistic mixtures caused damage. 23 August 2004. More...
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