Extra Reading

BPA Craziness C&EN (Chemical and Engineering Nnews) - the other site of the BPA debate

BPA in Consumer Products Risk Assessment

Kelsi Thorsness & Sarah Helgeson & Abbi McClintic
Presentation Date: March 2nd

Dine Nation Arsenic Risk Assessment

Clarita Lefthand
Presentation Date: March 2nd

Current Events

• Derived from flowers, but not benign: Pyrethroids raise new concerns. Chemicals derived from flowers may sound harmless, but new research raises concerns about compounds synthesized from chrysanthemums that are used in virtually every household pesticide. Environmental Health News http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/pyrethroids-raise-concerns

• People of Mossville 'are like an experiment'. For decades, Mossville residents have complained about their health problems to industry and government. This predominantly African-American community in southwest Louisiana suspects the 14 chemical plants nearby have played a role in the cancer and other diseases that have ravaged the area. CNN http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/02/26/toxic.town.mossville.epa/

• VA to reopen Gulf War vets' files. The Veterans Affairs Department will re-examine the disability claims of what could be thousands of Gulf War veterans suffering from ailments they blame on their war service, the first step toward potentially compensating them nearly two decades after the war ended. Associated Press http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top/all/6886494.html

• Judge throws out soldiers' chemical exposure suit. A federal judge Thursday dismissed a lawsuit alleging that a defense contractor concealed the risks of a cancer-causing chemical that nearly 140 Indiana National Guard soldiers may have been exposed to while serving in Iraq. Associated Press http://www.therepublic.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=111&ArticleID=143184

• Report highlights deep environmental spending cuts in Mass. State government in Massachusetts has dialed back staffing in some environmental agencies to 1980s levels, cutting back far enough to impede project permitting and threaten a series of new ambitious laws, environmental advocates and a former top state official said. Cape Ann Beacon, Massachusetts. http://www.wickedlocal.com/manchester/news/x1570100786/Report-highlights-deep-environmental-spending-cuts-in-Mass

• 'Pesticide drift' eluding efforts to combat it. The Environmental Protection Agency is considering a petition from farm worker and public health advocates to ban pesticide spraying near schools, hospitals and child care centers. Morning Edition, NPR. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123817702

• Pesticide exposure deprives Yaquis of breastfeeding. Long-term research finds that pesticides have prevented some daughters of mothers exposed to pesticide spraying from being able to breast-feed their babies. Some daughters lacked development of the mammary tissue needed to produce milk. Indian Country Today http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/global/latin/85049497.html

• Toxic waters. Thousands of the nation's largest water polluters are outside the Clean Water Act's reach because the Supreme Court has left uncertain which waterways are protected by that law, according to interviews with regulators. As a result, some businesses say that the law no longer applies to them. New York Times Registration Required http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/01/us/01water.html

• Study: Herbicide upsetting some animals' hormone systems. A new study shows that male frogs exposed to the herbicide atrazine – commonly found in U.S. rivers and streams – can make a startling developmental U-turn, turning female so completely that they can mate with other males and lay viable eggs. Washington Post Registration Required http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/01/AR2010030102331.html

• States push EPA, Congress to curb business confidentiality claims for chemicals. Federal law forces companies to provide detailed information to U.S. EPA about the toxicity of the chemicals they use. But the same law prohibits the agency from sharing that information with the public or even with state and local authorities. Greenwire http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/03/01/01greenwire-states-push-epa-congress-to-curb-business-conf-35359.html

-EPA revisits atrazine. Over the course of this year, EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs will attempt to integrate everything there is to know about the safety of atrazine, including animal toxicity data and, for the first time, human epidemiology data, looking at both cancer and noncancer effects. Chemical & Engineering News http://pubs.acs.org/isubscribe/journals/cen/88/i09/html/8809gov1.html

• BPA update. Bisphenol-A may soon hit the list of known toxicants under California's Proposition 65, the law that lets state regulators restrict the use of toxic chemicals and require warnings on product labels. What does the science say, and what are practical steps people and companies are taking to go BPA-free? San Francisco KQED, California. http://www.kqed.org/epArchive/R201003011000

• Panel kills bill barring some beauty products. Fifteen harmful chemicals, including formaldehyde and arsenic, will remain in beauty products in the state after a legislative panel Monday killed a proposal that would have prohibited the sale of toiletries and cosmetics that contain them. Denver Post, Colorado. http://www.denverpost.com/politics/ci_14495236

• Chinese medicine has caused kidney failure and even cancer. So how safe are these popular 'cures?' Several patients have fallen ill or died after being sold Chinese herbal potions and pills that either contained, or were contaminated with, illegal substances, such as poisonous plants, asbestos, or heavy metals such as mercury. London Daily Mail, United Kingdom. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1254746/Chinese-medicine-caused-kidney-failure-cancer-So-safe-popular-cures.html