Women Require Less Tobacco Exposure Than Men To Increase Colon Cancer Risk

I have discovered many people don't realize that smoking tobacco increases the riwk of several cancers, not just lung cancer.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081006102533.htm

ScienceDaily (Oct. 6, 2008) — While smoking poses a health threat to both men and women, women require less tobacco exposure than men to have a significant increased risk for colorectal cancer, according to new research presented at the 73rd Annual ACG Scientific Meeting in Orlando. In a separate analysis, researchers found smoking may increase the risk of pancreatic cancer precursor lesions, particularly in patients with a strong family history of the disease.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070827095224.htm

Smoking Increases Risks For Head And Neck Cancers For Men And Women

ScienceDaily (Aug. 28, 2007) — Smoking significantly increases the risk for head and neck cancers for both men and women, regardless of the anatomic site. Published in the journal Cancer, a large, prospective study confirmed strong associations between current and past cigarette smoking and malignancies of the head and neck in both genders.

Cancers of the head and neck include cancers of the larynx, nasal passages/nose, oral cavity, and pharynx. Worldwide, more than 500,000 people are diagnosed with these cancers every year. According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), men are more than three times more likely than women to be diagnosed with head and neck cancer and almost twice as likely to die from their disease.

While tobacco use has long been identified as an important risk factor for head and neck cancers, the new study finds that smoking plays a greater role in the development of head and neck cancer in women than men.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/01/040107074305.htm

ScienceDaily (Jan. 7, 2004) — Active smoking appears to play a larger role in the development of breast cancer than previously thought, according to a study in the January 7 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Tobacco smoke contains a number of human carcinogens, and metabolites of cigarette smoke have been found in the breast fluid of smokers. However, studies examining the association between tobacco smoke and breast cancer risk have yielded inconsistent results. Many studies have not been able to independently assess the contributions of the timing of exposure, age of diagnosis, or genetic susceptibilities to the overall risk of breast cancer. In addition, many of these studies did not consider passive smoking exposures, or exposure to secondhand smoke, among nonsmokers.

Peggy Reynolds, Ph.D., of the California Department of Health Services, and her colleagues examined breast cancer risk among 116,544 women in the California Teachers Study who had reported their smoking status on a survey given to them when they enrolled in the study.

Between 1996 and 2000, 2,005 of the women were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. The incidence of breast cancer among current smokers was approximately 30% greater than that among women who had never smoked, irrespective of whether they were compared to women who had or had not been exposed to passive smoking. Analysis of subgroups of active smokers revealed increased breast cancer risks among women who started smoking before age 20, who began smoking at least 5 years before their first full-term pregnancy, and who had a longer duration of smoking or who smoked 20 or more cigarettes per day.

Current smoking was associated with increased breast cancer risk in women without a family history of breast cancer but not among women with a family history of the disease. There was no statistically significant increase in breast cancer risk among former smokers, and there was no evidence of an association between passive smoking exposure and breast cancer risk.

"Our results, which suggest that active smoking may be associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, argue for further research that can account for heterogeneity in individual susceptibility," the authors write. "Exposures to tobacco smoke, if causally related to breast cancer, could offer one of the few available modifiable avenues for preventing this disease."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/12/001229084058.htm

ScienceDaily (Dec. 29, 2000) — Smoking more than triples the risk of developing squamous cell carcinoma, one of the most common forms of skin cancer, researchers from the Netherlands have shown.

Patients Who Recover From Coma But Cannot Communicate Feel Pain

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081006093039.htm

ScienceDaily (Oct. 6, 2008) — Do patients who survive a severe brain injury but fail to recover speech or non-verbal communication perceive pain? After their remarkable publication where they showed that a patient in a vegetative state in reality was conscious, scientists at the University of Liège (ULg) were able to tackle the very difficult issue of pain perception in coma survivors.

The Coma Science Group of the Cyclotron Research Centre and Neurology Department of the ULg used PET scanning to measure minimally conscious and vegetative patients’ brain activation in response to noxious stimulation.

After comparing results obtained in the different patient groups with those in healthy volunteers who could communicate it felt painful they concluded that minimally conscious patients must feel pain despite being unable to tell their environment. Hence, these patients should receive pain-killers, the authors concluded.

This study has major ethical and therapeutical consequences also with regard to end-of-life decisions in these challenging but vulnerable patient populations.

Antisocial Behavior May Be Caused By Low Stress Hormone Levels

As in most situations, moderation is best.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081001093506.htm

ScienceDaily (Oct. 5, 2008) — A link between reduced levels of the 'stress hormone' cortisol and antisocial behaviour in male adolescents has been discovered by a research team at the University of Cambridge.

Levels of cortisol in the body usually increase when people undergo a stressful experience, such as public speaking, sitting an exam, or having surgery. It enhances memory formation and is thought to make people behave more cautiously and to help them regulate their emotions, particularly their temper and violent impulses.

The new research, funded by the Wellcome Trust, shows that adolescents with severe antisocial behaviour do not exhibit the same increase in cortisol levels when under stress as those without antisocial behaviour. These findings suggest that antisocial behaviour, at least in some cases, may be seen as a form of mental illness that is linked to physiological symptoms (involving a chemical imbalance of cortisol in the brain and body).

more than 99 percent of Alaska's large glaciers are retreating,

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081006130550.htm

ScienceDaily (Oct. 6, 2008) — Most glaciers in every mountain range and island group in Alaska are experiencing significant retreat, thinning or stagnation, especially glaciers at lower elevations, according to a new book published by the U.S. Geological Survey. In places, these changes began as early as the middle of the 18th century.

Although more than 99 percent of Alaska's large glaciers are retreating, a handful, surprisingly, are advancing.

Nearly One In Four Of World’s Mammals At Risk Of Disappearing Forever

We are the only species capable of saving the earth from the next big asteroid. Instead, we are creating conditions that will have the same effect in the near future.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081006154952.htm

ScienceDaily (Oct. 6, 2008) — The most comprehensive assessment of the world’s mammals has confirmed an extinction crisis, with almost one in four at risk of disappearing forever, according to The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™, revealed at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Barcelona.

The new study to assess the world’s mammals shows at least 1,141 of the 5,487 mammals on Earth are known to be threatened with extinction. At least 76 mammals have become extinct since 1500. But the results also show conservation can bring species back from the brink of extinction, with five percent of currently threatened mammals showing signs of recovery in the wild.

“Within our lifetime hundreds of species could be lost as a result of our own actions, a frightening sign of what is happening to the ecosystems where they live,” says Julia Marton-Lefèvre, IUCN Director General. “We must now set clear targets for the future to reverse this trend to ensure that our enduring legacy is not to wipe out many of our closest relatives.”

The real situation could be much worse as 836 mammals are listed as Data Deficient. With better information more species may well prove to be in danger of extinction.

“The reality is that the number of threatened mammals could be as high as 36 percent,” says Jan Schipper, of Conservation International and lead author in a forthcoming article in Science.

Biden addresses his son's deployment ceremony

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/03/biden.deployment/index.html

updated 2:28 p.m. EDT, Fri October 3, 2008
DOVER, Delaware (CNN) -- It was a very public goodbye for Joe Biden on Friday as the Delaware senator addressed the deployment ceremony of his son's National Guard unit as they prepare to leave for a tour of duty in Iraq.
...
Palin's son Track, 19, an infantry soldier, was deployed to Iraq with his Army unit September 11. Palin spoke at her eldest son's deployment ceremony in Alaska, which honored the 4,000 Alaska-based troops to be deployed from Fort Wainwright to Iraq in the coming weeks.

GOP, Democrats battle in Pa. over voter dress code

Do the Pennsylvania GOP leaders think their voters are spineless wimps who aren't very committed?

By MARTHA RAFFAELE, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 57 minutes ago

HARRISBURG, Pa. - Sue Nace thought election volunteers were joking when they told her she would have to remove her T-shirt to vote in the presidential primary last spring.

But it was no laughing matter to the poll workers-turned-fashion police, who said Nace's Obama shirt was inappropriate electioneering — and made her cover the writing before casting a ballot.

Now, a political fight over what voters can wear to the polls is headed to court in Pennsylvania — with the Republican Party favoring a dress code and Democrats opposed.

To the GOP, the lack of rules could open the door to all kinds of questionable displays — even, one Republican leader suggested, something as outlandish as a musical hat.

To the Democrats, voters should be free to express themselves. They fear a dress code could scare away some new voters.

The political showdown was triggered by a Pennsylvania Department of State memo advising counties last month that voters' attire doesn't matter as long as the "voter takes no additional action to attempt to influence other voters."

Because the memo is not legally binding, some counties have kept past restrictions on clothing and political buttons.

But two Pittsburgh-area elections officials sued to have the memo rescinded. Their lawsuit warned that if the memo stands, "nothing would prevent a partisan group from synchronizing a battalion of like-minded individuals ... to descend on a polling place, presenting a domineering, united front, certain to dissuade the average citizen who may privately hold different beliefs."

This fight over the interpretation of a state law designed to shield the polls from partisan electioneering could determine which presidential candidate's supporters might be turned away from the polls in this battleground state.

Democrats have benefited from a surge in voter registration this year, with young adults 18-24 making up the largest group of new registrants, according to statistics from March 30 to Sept. 8. A poll released Wednesday by Quinnipiac University showed Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama pulling 15 percentage points ahead of Republican John McCain in the state.

State Democratic Party Chairman T.J. Rooney said GOP support for the dress code is a partisan effort to scare away new voters.

"To go (to the polls) and engage in an expression of democracy and then be accosted by the fashion police is a form of voter intimidation," he said.

The state Republican Party says Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell's administration crafted a partisan memo that would open the door to abuses.

"The first thing would be a button or a shirt, and maybe the next thing would be a musical hat," said GOP chairman Robert Gleason, who called a news conference in support of dress codes.

Douglas Hill, head of Pennsylvania's association of county commissioners, believes the state's 67 counties are now evenly split on the question. Before the memo, counties leaned toward banning politically polarizing clothing and buttons because "they didn't want to get into fine-line disputes," he said.

Nace, a 44-year-old Obama supporter, hopes the state's recommendation will stand so she can vote Nov. 4 while wearing her political leanings on her sleeve.

"Especially with this election, for some reason it feels very personal to me," she said. "Even when I see another car with a bumper sticker on it, it's like, 'Yeah, they get it.'"

During the April 22 primary, Nace was allowed into the voting booth in York County only after she rolled up her Obama T-shirt to hide the writing. After the state memo came out, York County rescinded its ban.

At least four states — Maine, Montana, Vermont and Kansas_ explicitly prohibit wearing campaign buttons, stickers and badges inside polling places, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures and state officials.

In Kentucky, elections officials last month told poll workers they should admit voters decked out in campaign apparel, after e-mails circulated warning that Obama supporters would be turned away if they wore shirts and pins.

Seniors in Poor Areas More Likely to Die After Surgery

http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20080930/hl_hsn/seniorsinpoorareasmorelikelytodieaftersurgery;_ylt=AvCMghWveRtCTwMzCYlO8jnVJRIF

Mon Sep 29, 11:46 PM ET

MONDAY, Sept. 29 (HealthDay News) -- Elderly Americans who live in low-income ZIP codes are more likely to die after surgery than those who live in higher-income ZIP codes, according to new research.

The study analyzed death rates among more than one million older adults who had one of six common high-risk heart or cancer surgeries between 1999 and 2003.

The risk of death was between 17 percent and 39 percent higher for patients in low-income ZIP codes, mainly because the quality of care is lower at hospitals in lower socioeconomic areas, the study authors said.

In fact, all patients (regardless of income) who had surgery at hospitals in the poorest areas were more likely to die, while all patients who had surgery at hospitals in the richest areas were less likely to die.

Compact Fluorescent Lighting: Are We Trading Energy Conservation For Toxic Mercury Emissions?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081001093454.htm

ScienceDaily (Oct. 3, 2008) — A team of Yale scientists has found that certain countries and some U.S. states stand to benefit from the use of compact fluorescent lighting more than others in the fight against global warming. Some places may even produce more mercury emissions by switching from incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent lighting.

The study, which appears online October 1 in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, looked at all 50 states and 130 countries to determine the impact of fluorescent lighting on total mercury emissions in those regions.

Estonia, which relies heavily on coal-powered energy generation, tops the list as the country that would see the greatest reduction in mercury emissions for every incandescent bulb it replaces with a compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL). However, given its similar reliance on coal-fired plants, coupled with its huge population, China stands to reduce its mercury emissions by the greatest overall amount. Other countries near the top of the list include Romania, Bulgaria and Greece; within the U.S., North Dakota, New Mexico and West Virginia have the greatest potential to reduce their mercury emissions.

But much of South America, Africa, the Middle East and parts of Europe, along with Alaska, California, Oregon, Idaho and several New England states, would actually increase their mercury emissions by making the switch from incandescent to fluorescent lighting. The results depend on a complex relationship between a number of factors, including how dependent a region is on coal-powered energy generation, the chemical makeup of the coal used in those plants, and existing recycling programs for CFLs.

"Compact fluorescent lighting is an area where we're really pushing this alternative and all these policies are being enacted, but we're not looking at the potential unintended consequences of what we're doing," said study author Julie Beth Zimmerman, an assistant professor in Yale's Department of Chemical Engineering and its School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.

Touted as a greener alternative to traditional lighting, CFLs are about four times more energy-efficient than incandescent bulbs and last up to 10 times longer. This increased efficiency lessens the energy demand on generating stations powered by fossil fuels and reduces greenhouse gas emissions, as well as the amount of packaging and old light bulbs that end up in landfills. But unlike incandescent light bulbs, CFLs contain mercury, a toxin with potentially hazardous effects that can be released during manufacturing and disposal.

"It's always good to promote energy efficiency, but it's always a tradeoff," said lead author Matthew Eckelman, a graduate student in Yale's Department of Chemistry and the Center for Industrial Ecology. "You may get a lower energy bill at home, but you don't see the emissions or the runoff downstream."

While the researchers stress that their study isn't an excuse to ignore the energy problem and stick with old, inefficient technologies, they caution that nation-wide strategies such as recent bans on incandescent bulbs, adopted by several countries including the U.S., may be too general. "All sustainability issues are local," said Zimmerman. "We need to ask if we should be making decisions on a national level, or if this is something better left to local governments."

Who Should Be Considered 'Essential' During A Pandemic Flu Outbreak

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081002172441.htm

ScienceDaily (Oct. 3, 2008) — Not only are doctors, nurses, and firefighters essential during a severe pandemic influenza outbreak. So, too, are truck drivers, communications personnel, and utility workers. That's the conclusion of a Johns Hopkins University article to be published in the journal of Biosecurity and Bioterrorism.

The report, led by Nancy Kass, Sc.D, Deputy Director of Public Health for the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, provides ethical guidance for pandemic planning that ensures a skeletal infrastructure remain intact at all times. Dr. Kass says, “when preparing for a severe pandemic flu it is crucial for leaders to recognize that if the public has limited or no access to food, water, sewage systems, fuel and communications, the secondary consequences may cause greater sickness death and social breakdown than the virus itself.”

The authors represent a wide-range of expertise in several areas of pandemic emergency planning both at the state and federal levels. After examining several accepted public health rationing strategies that give priority to all healthcare workers and those most susceptible to illness, the authors propose a new strategy that gives priority to a more diverse group. “Alongside healthcare workers and first responders, priority should be given to the people who provide the public with basic essentials for good health and well-being, ranging from grocery store employees and communications personnel to truck drivers and utility workers,” says Dr. Kass.
...
Similarly, individuals and families who can afford it should do their best to prepare for any disaster. The paper notes, the more initiative the general public exercises in stockpiling several weeks' worth of food, water, paper goods, batteries medicines, and other needed supplies, the less vulnerable they will be to a break in the supply chain. In fact, the report emphasizes, it is important for leaders to communicate to the middle class and the wealthy that it is their responsibility to prepare for self-sufficiency in order to free up scarce supplies and allow first responders to direct their attention towards those too poor or vulnerable to prepare themselves.

The article lays out a set of ethics rules and principles to help guide and frame a pandemic response strategy that is evidence-based, transparent, fair, and recognizes the burdens the public may face. Dr. Kass points out the “consideration of ethics are critical not only in having respectful and inclusive discussion and engaging with the public fairly, but it also improves the likelihood of public health and medical success through increased cooperation and understanding of government plans.”

Arctic Sea Ice Hits Second-lowest Recorded Extent, Likely Lowest Volume

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081002172436.htm

ScienceDaily (Oct. 3, 2008) — Arctic sea ice extent during the 2008 melt season dropped to the second-lowest level since satellite measurements began in 1979, reaching the lowest point in its annual cycle of melt and growth on Sept. 14, according to researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder's National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Preliminary data also indicate 2008 may represent the lowest volume of Arctic sea ice on record, according to the researchers. The declining Arctic sea ice is due to rising concentrations of greenhouse gases that have elevated temperatures across the Arctic and strong natural variability in Arctic sea ice, according to scientists.

Reducing Work Commutes Not Easy In Some Cities

I live in the Atlanta metro area, and the average commute is one of, maybe the longest, in the nation.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080925165505.htm

ScienceDaily (Oct. 3, 2008) — Shorter work commutes are one way to reduce gasoline consumption, but a new study finds that not all cities are equal in how easy it would be to achieve that goal.

Research suggests that Atlanta and Minneapolis may be the U.S. metropolitan areas that would find it most difficult to reduce the miles that workers commute each day.

Meanwhile, Las Vegas and Miami may be the metro areas where it would be easiest to reduce commuting miles.

The research aimed to see how difficult it would be to reduce the average commuting trip lengths by a realistic amount -- just 3 percent -- in 26 metro areas, said Morton O’Kelly, co-author of the study and professor of geography at Ohio State University.
...
For cities like Atlanta and Phoenix, with widely separated residential and employment zones, the specific nature of development in those metro areas makes it difficult to reduce commuting miles, O’Kelly said.

U.S. Gets C for Health Care

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081002111423.htm

Where You Live Matters When You're Seriously Ill
ScienceDaily (Oct. 4, 2008) — America does a mediocre job caring for its sickest people. The nation, says a new report, gets a C. Palliative care programs make patients facing serious and chronic illness more comfortable by alleviating their pain and symptoms and counseling patients and their families.

Only Vermont, Montana and New Hampshire earned an A, according to America's Care of Serious Illness: A State-by-State Report Card on Access to Palliative Care in Our Nation's Hospitals, a report based on a study in the October 2008 issue of the Journal of Palliative Medicine. Three states – Oklahoma, Alabama and Mississippi – got an F.
...
The study suggests that in states with more palliative care programs, patients are less likely to die in the hospital; don't have to go to the intensive care unit as much in the last six months of life; and spend fewer days in intensive care or the coronary unit in the last six months.

That also saves hospitals money, which could help lower health care costs.

For state ratings, the report and recommendations: http://www.capc.org/reportcard.

Gas From The Past Gives Scientists New Insights Into Climate And The Oceans

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081003155620.htm

ScienceDaily (Oct. 4, 2008) — In recent years, public discussion of climate change has included concerns that increased levels of carbon dioxide will contribute to global warming, which in turn may change the circulation in the earth's oceans, with potentially disastrous consequences.

In a paper published October 3 in the journal Science, researchers presented new data from their analysis of ice core samples and ocean deposits dating as far back as 90,000 years ago and suggest that warming, carbon dioxide levels and ocean currents are tightly inter-related. These findings provide scientists with more data and insights into how these phenomena were connected in the past and may lead to a better understanding of future climate trends.

The researchers discovered that elevations in carbon dioxide levels were related to subsequent increases in the Earth's temperature as well as reduced circulation of ocean currents in the North Atlantic. The data also suggests that carbon dioxide levels increased along with the weakening of mixing of waters in the Southern Ocean. This, the researchers say, may point to potential future scenario where global warming causes changes in ocean currents which in turn causes more carbon dioxide to enter the atmosphere, adding more greenhouse gas to an already warming climate.
...
Ahn and Brook state that a variety of factors may be at work in the future that alter the relationship between climate change and ocean currents. One potential factor is that the levels of carbon dioxide in today's atmosphere are much higher than they were during the period Ahn and Brook studied.

Engineer texted seconds before crash

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26978145/

Associated Press updated 5:52 p.m. ET, Wed., Oct. 1, 2008

LOS ANGELES - A Metrolink engineer sent a cell phone text message 22 seconds before his commuter train crashed head-on into a freight train last month, killing 25 people, federal investigators said Wednesday.

Cell phone records of engineer Robert Sanchez, who was among the dead, show he sent a message after receiving one about a minute and 20 seconds before the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a press release.

Investigators are looking into why Sanchez ran through a red signal and collided with a Union Pacific train Sept. 12 in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley. It was the nation's deadliest rail crash since 1993.

Sanchez sent his last text message at 4:22:01 p.m. According to the freight train's onboard recorder, the accident occurred at 4:22:23 p.m.

Records obtained from Sanchez's cell phone provider also showed that he sent 24 text messages and received 21 messages over a two-hour period during his morning shift. During his afternoon shift, he received seven and sent five messages.

Nine Ways to Avoid Household Toxins

http://www.newsweek.com/id/161841

Newsweek
One expert offers tips for consumers who want to avoid exposure to everyday household toxins and chemicals.
Christina Gillham
Newsweek Web Exclusive
Oct 1, 2008 | Updated: 4:19 p.m. ET Oct 1, 2008

Barely a month goes by without some toxic scare, whether it's the chemicals in the plastic used for some baby bottles, or lead in lipsticks. You could be forgiven for being a nervous shopper, even if much of the data on what's toxic is inconclusive. It's not necessary to become compulsive, but to help cautious consumers navigate all the confusing warnings and advisories, Nena Baker, author of "The Body Toxic" (North Point Press, 2008), offers her tips for reducing your exposure to everyday toxins.

1. Filter Your Water. A simple water filter can capture a lot of pollutants. Some cities' water supplies can contain trace amounts of arsenic, lead, perchlorate and/or atrazine, a pesticide that may cause cardiovascular and reproductive problems, and possibly cancer. (Though the Environmental Protection Agency has concluded that atrazine is not likely to cause cancer in humans, it is awaiting the results of further studies.) Traces of atrazine in drinking water are most likely to be found in areas of heavy agricultural production like the Midwest and Southeast. (To find out how safe your city's water is, get a copy of your local water-utility report at the EPA’s water-safety site.)

2. Know What ' s in Your Grooming Products. Shampoos, lotions and makeup can contain a number of toxins like parabens and phthalates, which have been identified as hormone disruptors and may be linked to certain cancers. When shopping for cosmetics and personal-care products, read the ingredients labels—avoid anything that includes the words "paraben" (often used as a suffix, as in methylparaben) or "phthalate" (listed as dibutyl and diethylhexyl or just "fragrance"). If there isn't an ingredients list, log on to cosmeticsdatabase.com, a Web site devised by the Environmental Working Group (ewg.org) that identifies the toxic ingredients of thousands of personal-care products.

3. Don ' t Eat Microwave Popcorn. The inside of a microwave popcorn bag is usually coated with a perfluorinated chemical (PFC) called a fluorotelomer that can break down to form perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). Designed to prevent oil from seeping through the bag, PFOA can migrate into the food when heated. It has been linked to cancer and birth defects in animals and preliminary epidemiological studies suggest that a pregnant woman's exposure to PFOA may reduce her baby's birth weight. Moreover, the EPA's scientific advisory board has recommended that the chemical be listed as a likely human carcinogen. The good news is that the EPA has asked manufacturers to work toward eliminating PFOA from their products by 2015. While it's unknown what level of exposure from popcorn bags is harmful, Baker says that consumers should be aware that any exposure could result in very long lasting presence of the chemical in your body. Some perfluorinated compounds are extremely persistent and never break down in the environment, she explains.

4. Don ' t Get Stain-Protection Treatment. This is an extra you can add to new furniture, shoes or clothes, but Baker says you should avoid this option because these treatments usually contain perfluorinated chemicals. "If you use this on new furniture, it's going to be in your home; you're going to breathe it," she says. Baker also recommends avoiding pots and pans that have a nonstick coating. While nonstick materials are not made of perfluorinated chemicals, the substance is often used in their production. If the pan gets scratched or worn, the chemicals can be released into the air, says Baker.

5. Limit Use of Canned Food and Plastic Containers. Baker recommends reducing your intake of canned foods. Most canned goods are coated with a resin lining derived from Bisphenol-A (BPA), which recently made headlines because of its presence in the plastic used in some baby bottles. A component of polycarbonate plastic, BPA may be linked to certain cancers, fertility and behavioral problems in children. The risk is especially great when exposed in the womb; women who are pregnant or are thinking of becoming pregnant and young children should be especially careful of their canned-food intake.

Not all plastics contain BPA, but because it can leach into food when heated, Baker suggests that consumers avoid heating foods in plastic containers. "If you can avoid heating plastic, it's probably a good thing to do." She suggests using glass or ceramic containers for heating food instead. BPA can also leach into food when it is scratched or worn; so to be safe, if you have a water bottle or other plastic container, discard it if it becomes scratched or clouded.

6. Use PBDE-Free Electronics. Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDE) are a family of flame retardants; two types of the chemical were once added to furniture, car upholstery and mattresses, but were voluntarily taken off the market by manufacturers after concerns were raised about their toxicity. Another kind of PBDE remains on the market however, and according to Baker, "it is equally as problematic as the one voluntarily removed from the market." The chemical, most commonly found in TVs and computer monitors, is stirred into the equipment's plastic and can heat up over time, causing the material to break away and settle into the dust. Many manufactures have stopped using PBDEs for electronics, but not all have. Check with the manufacturer to determine if your goods contain PBDE. You can find a list of PBDE-free products at the Environmental Working Group’s Web site.

7. Don ' t Use Paint Made With Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC). VOCs include a variety of chemicals and are found in some household products like paint and paint strippers. They are emitted as gases and have been associated with allergies, breathing problems and asthma, and are suspected to cause cancer, according to the EPA. Fortunately, low-VOC and no-VOC paints are readily available.

8. Patronize a Perc-Free Dry Cleaner. Perchloroethylene (perc) is also a VOC and is most commonly used in dry cleaning. The EPA identifies perc as a known human toxin and "a precursor to ground-level ozone (smog)." It usually enters the body through inhalation and remains stored in fat tissue. While many dry cleaners have begun using alternative cleaning practices (the EPA has ordered a phaseout of perc machines in residential buildings by 2020, and California will eliminate all use of perc by 2020), it's best to ask what chemicals they use. If they use perc, make sure you hang your newly cleaned clothes outside for a day to air out the chemical.

9. Dust and Vacuum Weekly. Baker says that toxins like PBDE can settle into the dust in your house, so to be extra safe, it's best to keep your house clean through regular dusting and vacuuming. This is especially important if you are pregnant, have a young child or have a pet, which can transfer the dust through its movements.
URL: http://www.newsweek.com/id/161841
© 2008


Posted By: caitmin @ 10/01/2008 7:31:39 PM

Comment: In addition the the EWG site, there is also the National Eczema Association site which lists various ingredients that should be avoided - particularly for people with eczema or sensitive skin. They issue a seal of acceptance to products that avoid irritants - there is list of skincare products but also things like detergents too.

The NEA site is http://www.easeeczema.org


Posted By: scotten @ 10/01/2008 6:02:29 PM

Comment: 9) Dust and vacuum weekly - the problem with this is most vacuums blow tiny particles back into the air that make it through the bag. For this to work you need a vacuum with a HEPA filter.

Health Benefits of Dietary Fiber

Also, you'll never need a laxative!

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-09/ada-nft092608.php

Public release date: 26-Sep-2008
Contact: Julia Dombrowski
American Dietetic Association
News from the October 2008 Journal of the American Dietetic Association

American Dietetic Association Issues New Position Statement on "Health Implications of Dietary Fiber"

Adequate intakes of dietary fiber help protect against cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes and gastrointestinal disorders. Usual intakes of dietary fiber in this country are only half of the recommended levels, so there is a need to promote high-fiber foods such as whole grains, legumes, vegetables and fruits to people of all ages. Not all dietary fibers are equally effective in their physiological effects, so it is best to obtain fiber from a wide range of sources. The American Dietetic Association encourages consumers to consume adequate amounts of fiber, particularly from food sources, according to a new ADA position statement published this month on the health implications of dietary fiber:

It is the position of The American Dietetic Association that the public should consume adequate amounts of dietary fiber from a variety of plant foods.

NASA data show Arctic saw fastest August sea ice retreat on record

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-09/nsfc-nds092608.php

Public release date: 26-Sep-2008
Contact: Sarah DeWitt
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Following a record-breaking season of arctic sea ice decline in 2007, NASA scientists have kept a close watch on the 2008 melt season. Although the melt season did not break the record for ice loss, NASA data are showing that for a four-week period in August 2008, sea ice melted faster during that period than ever before.

Each year at the end of summer, sea ice in the Arctic melts to reach its annual minimum. Ice that remains, or "perennial ice," has survived from year to year and contains old, thick ice. The area of arctic sea ice, including perennial and seasonal ice, has taken a hit in past years as melt has accelerated. Researchers believe that if the rate of decline continues, all arctic sea ice could be gone within the century.

device boosts gas mileage by up to 20 percent

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-09/acs-acs092308.php

Public release date: 29-Sep-2008
Contact: Michael Woods
American Chemical Society
American Chemical Society's Weekly PressPac -- Sept. 24, 2008
A new device could enhance fuel economy by up to 20 percent.

Evidence that inexpensive device boosts fuel economy by up to 20 percent
Energy & Fuels

Amid sticker-shock fuel prices, researchers in Pennsylvania are reporting results of laboratory tests and road tests verifying that a simple, inexpensive device attached to a car engine's fuel injector can boost gas mileage by up to 20 percent. That translates into several more precious miles per gallon, they say. Their study is scheduled for the November 19 issue of ACS' Energy & Fuels, a bi-monthly journal.

In the new study, Rongjia Tao and colleagues describe development and testing of a new fuel economy booster. The small device consists of an electrically charged tube that can be attached to the fuel line of a car's engine near the fuel injector. The device creates an electric field that thins fuel, or reduces its viscosity, so that smaller droplets are injected into the engine. That leads to more efficient and cleaner combustion than a standard fuel injector, the researchers say.

Six months of road testing in a diesel car showed that the device increased highway fuel from 33 miles per gallon (mpg) to 37 mpg. "We expect the device will have wide applications on all types of internal combustion engines, present ones and future ones," the report states, citing engines powered by gasoline, biodiesel, and kerosene. Further improvements in the device could lead to even better mileage, they suggest. — MTS

ARTICLE #1 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
"Electrorheology Leads to Efficient Combustion"

DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT ARTICLE
http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ef8004898

Rongjia Tao, Ph.D.
Temple University
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122

second-hand smoke may trigger nicotine dependence symptoms in kids

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-09/uom-pws092908.php

Public release date: 29-Sep-2008
Contact: Sylvain-Jacques Desjardins
University of Montreal

New study from Canadian researchers published in Addictive Behaviors

This release is available in French.

Montreal, September 29, 2008 – Parents who smoke cigarettes around their kids in cars and homes beware – second-hand smoke may trigger symptoms of nicotine dependence in children. The findings are published in the September edition of the journal Addictive Behaviors in a joint study from nine Canadian institutions.

"Increased exposure to second-hand smoke, both in cars and homes, was associated with an increased likelihood of children reporting nicotine dependence symptoms, even though these children had never smoked," says Dr. Jennifer O'Loughlin, senior author of the study, a professor at the Université de Montréal's Department of Social and Preventive Medicine and a researcher at the Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal.
...
Dr. O'Loughlin added that this inter-university investigation builds on previous findings: "Exposure to second-hand smoke among non-smokers may cause symptoms that seem to reflect several nicotine withdrawal symptoms: depressed mood, trouble sleeping, irritability, anxiety, restlessness, trouble concentrating and increased appetite."

Common insecticide can decimate tadpole populations

How interesting. When I first started reading the article, I expected the tadpoles were harmed because of a lack of insects to eat. Shows how little I know about the diet of tadpoles! I was assuming they eat the same things as adult frogs. You know what they say about what happens when we assume things :)

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-09/uop-cic092908.php

Public release date: 29-Sep-2008
Contact: Morgan Kelly
University of Pittsburgh
Common insecticide can decimate tadpole populations
Insecticide malathion initiates chain reaction that deprives tadpoles of food source, indirectly killing them at doses too small to kill them directly

PITTSBURGH—The latest findings of a University of Pittsburgh-based project to determine the environmental impact of routine pesticide use suggests that malathion—the most popular insecticide in the United States—can decimate tadpole populations by altering their food chain, according to research published in the Oct. 1 edition of Ecological Applications.

Gradual amounts of malathion that were too small to directly kill developing leopard frog tadpoles instead sparked a biological chain of events that deprived them of their primary food source. As a result, nearly half the tadpoles in the experiment did not reach maturity and would have died in nature. The research was funded by a National Science Foundation grant.

The results build on a nine-year effort by study author Rick Relyea, an associate professor of biological sciences in Pitt's School of Arts and Sciences, to investigate whether there is a link between pesticides and the global decline in amphibians, which are considered an environmental indicator species because of their sensitivity to pollutants. Their deaths may foreshadow the poisoning of other, less environmentally sensitive species—including humans. Relyea published papers in 2005 in Ecological Applications suggesting that the popular weed-killer Roundup® is "extremely lethal" to amphibians in concentrations found in the environment.

Solar Collector Could Change Asphalt Roads Into Renewable Energy Source

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080812135702.htm

ScienceDaily (Aug. 14, 2008) — Anyone who has walked barefoot across a parking lot on a hot summer day knows that blacktop is exceptionally good at soaking up the sun’s warmth. Now, a research team at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) has found a way to use that heat-soaking property for an alternative energy source.

Through asphalt, the researchers are developing a solar collector that could turn roads and parking lots into ubiquitous—and inexpensive–sources of electricity and hot water.

The research project, which was undertaken at the request of Michael Hulen, president of Novotech Inc. in Acton, Mass, which holds a patent on the concept of using the heat absorbed by pavements, is being directed by Rajib Mallick, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering.

Tobacco-movie Industry Ties Traced To Hollywood's Early Years

This shouldn't really be surprising to anybody. Product placement in TV and movies is well-known.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080924192435.htm

ScienceDaily (Sep. 27, 2008) — Remember the glamour days of smoking when such stars as Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall puffed their way into Hollywood legend? When images of John Wayne and Gary Cooper, cigarette in hand, symbolized virility? And Joan Crawford lighting a cigarette was the epitome of elegance?

Today's movie industry still draws on those images to justify smoking in movies - even as public health experts call for smoking to be eliminated from youth-rated films. Last month the National Cancer Institute concluded that on-screen smoking causes youth to start smoking.

"We're told smoking is part of Hollywood's history and a necessary artistic device," said Stanton Glantz, PhD, professor of medicine at the University of California-San Francisco and an author of a new study that "debunks the myth" that smoking in movies purely reflected American tastes at the time. "Our work further strengthens the case for getting smoking out of youth-rated films by rating new smoking movies 'R.'"

Glantz and Robert Jackler, MD, professor and chair of otolaryngology at the Stanford University School of Medicine, along with other researchers, used once-secret tobacco industry documents to trace Hollywood-tobacco marketing deals to the early days of movie making, including Al Jolson in the silent film era.

"Commercial arrangements between the movie industry and tobacco companies were there from the very beginning," said Glantz, director of UCSF's Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education.

In the school's Legacy Tobacco Documents Library, Kristen Lum a UCSF medical student and lead author of the study, uncovered financial contracts between tobacco companies and Hollywood stars to endorse specific cigarette brands. (Today such deals would be worth millions of dollars.) The resulting cigarette ads feature stars under contract to major film studios, usually plugging their latest films and the studios that released them. Studios controlled their stars' agreements and timed the ads to appear as films opened across the country. Cross-promotion benefited both industries, researchers observed.

...

But the key to uncovering the commercial link between the movie and tobacco industries was the discovery of the contracts, said Lum. "The contracts were the documents that really drove this research," Lum said. "The actual advertisements were the end product of a very well-thought-out commercial/PR endeavor for the tobacco industry. Joan Crawford, Gary Cooper, Spencer Tracy, all the big names were there."

The study was supported in part by a grant from the National Cancer Institute.

Atmospheric Concentration of CO2

http://www.earthpolicy.org/Indicators/Temp/2008_data.htm#table1

Global Temperature Trends

http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/2007/

Goddard Institute for Space Studies
Global Temperature Trends GSFC Earth Sciences Division

GISS Surface Temperature Analysis

Global Temperature Trends: 2007 Summation

The year 2007 tied for second warmest in the period of instrumental data, behind the record warmth of 2005, in the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) analysis. 2007 tied 1998, which had leapt a remarkable 0.2°C above the prior record with the help of the "El Niño of the century". The unusual warmth in 2007 is noteworthy because it occurs at a time when solar irradiance is at a minimum and the equatorial Pacific Ocean is in the cool phase of its natural El Niño-La Niña cycle.

Figure 1 shows 2007 temperature anomalies relative to the 1951-1980 base period mean. The global mean temperature anomaly, 0.57°C (about 1°F) warmer than the 1951-1980 mean, continues the strong warming trend of the past thirty years that has been confidently attributed to the effect of increasing human-made greenhouse gases (GHGs) (Hansen et al. 2007). The eight warmest years in the GISS record have all occurred since 1998, and the 14 warmest years in the record have all occurred since 1990.

Figure 1, above. (a) Annual surface temperature anomaly relative to 1951-1980 mean, based on surface air measurements at meteorological stations and ship and satellite measurements of sea surface temperature. (b) Global map of surface temperature anomalies for 2007. (Figure also available as large GIF or PDF.)

[global warming graph]

Ex-Gitmo prosecutor rips military tribunals

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26908214/

Associated Press
updated 8:32 p.m. ET, Fri., Sept. 26, 2008

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - A former prosecutor testified Friday that breakdowns in the delivery of evidence to Guantanamo detainees could lead to wrongful convictions, saying his experience changed him from a "true believer" to feeling "truly deceived."

Testifying in the war crimes case he led before quitting this month, Army Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld said the government has not provided exculpatory evidence to lawyers for Mohammed Jawad, who is accused in a grenade attack that injured two American soldiers.

He said the embattled military tribunal system may not be capable of delivering justice for Jawad or the victims.

"They are not served by having someone who may be innocent be convicted of the crime," said Vandeveld, who testified by video link from Washington.

Vandeveld, the second former prosecutor to testify on behalf of a detainee this year, said the problem affects cases throughout the Pentagon's system for prosecuting alleged terrorists at this U.S. Navy base.

"This is a system that has existed for six years, and I think it is impossible for anyone in good conscience to stand up and say he or she is provided all the discovery in a case," said Vandeveld, who has blamed bureaucracy as well as ethical lapses.
...
Vandeveld said he become gradually disillusioned and even developed sympathy for the defendant, who was captured as a teenager and allegedly subjected to beatings and sleep-deprivation.

"My views changed," said the once hard-charging prosecutor. "I am a father, and it's not an exercise in self-pity to ask oneself how you would feel if your own son was treated in this fashion."

Vandeveld is at least the fourth prosecutor to quit in disillusionment with the tribunals. The former chief prosecutor, Air Force Col. Morris Davis, quit in October and later testified about alleged political interference.

Working environment is 1 cause of rheumatoid arthritis

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-09/ki-wei092408.php

Public release date: 24-Sep-2008
Contact: Sabina Bossi sabina.bossi@ki.se Karolinska Institutet

It has long been known that environmental factors play a part in the development of rheumatoid arthritis; smoking and drinking alcohol, along with heredity, are particularly instrumental in increasing the risk of the disease. Scientists at Karolinska Institutet have now produced results that suggest that working environment factors can also increase the chances of developing rheumatoid arthritis.

This is especially true of psychosocial workload, in particular what is called "low decision latitude", according to the results of a study in progress due to be published in Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics. The project is being led by Professor Lars Alfredsson of the Department of Environmental Medicine and Professor Lars Klareskog of the Department of Medicine.

"We've uncovered clear correlations between the disease and jobs in which one cannot control one's own situation," says Professor Alfredsson.

Reducing Work Commutes Not Easy In Some Cities, Study Suggests

I live in Atlanta, and I have no reason to doubt it's ranking in this study.

http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/lesscommute.htm

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Shorter work commutes are one way to reduce gasoline consumption, but a new study finds that not all cities are equal in how easy it would be to achieve that goal.

Research suggests that Atlanta and Minneapolis may be the U.S. metropolitan areas that would find it most difficult to reduce the miles that workers commute each day.
...
The best way to reduce commuting miles by 3 percent depended on the circumstances of individual cities, according to O’Kelly. In a few cities, a big gain came from reducing the drives of “extreme commuters” – those who commuted long distances to work, sometimes more than 100 miles.

For example, in Atlanta, 95 percent of commuters have commutes of 30 miles or less. But the remaining 5 percent drive as far as 121 miles to work.

“If you take away the 5 percent of most extreme commuters in a city like Atlanta, you can save quite a bit,” O’Kelly said. Still, in most cities the biggest savings came from making relatively small adjustments in more average commuting lengths.

O’Kelly said the results show that how cities are developed can play a key role in how easy it would be to reduce driving.

“Long average commutes are a byproduct of how our cities are laid out,” he said.

Surprise rise in warming gases worries experts

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26891040/

Associated Press updated 4:46 p.m. ET, Thurs., Sept. 25, 2008

WASHINGTON - Worldwide industrial emissions of carbon dioxide — the main gas tied to manmade global warming — jumped 3 percent last year, international scientists said in a new report Thursday.

That means the world is spewing more carbon dioxide than the worst case scenario forecast by U.N. experts in 2007. Scientists said if the trend does not stop, it puts the world potentially on track for the highest predicted rises in temperature and sea level.

The pollution leader was China, followed by the United States, which past data show is the leader in emissions per capita in carbon dioxide output. And while several developed countries slightly cut their CO2 output in 2007, the United States churned out more, according to the Global Carbon Project, an initiative funded government science programs around the world.
...
Emissions in the United States rose nearly 2 percent in 2007, after declining the previous year. The U.S. produced 1.75 billion tons of carbon.

Gregg Marland, a senior staff scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, said he was surprised at the results because he thought world emissions would drop due to the economic downturn. That didn't happen.
...
What is "kind of scary" is that the worldwide emissions growth is beyond the highest growth in fossil fuel predicted just two years ago by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said Ben Santer, an atmospheric scientist at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab.

Under the panel's scenario then, temperatures would increase by somewhere between 4 and 11 degrees Fahrenheit by the year 2100.
...
The emissions, which are based on data from oil giant BP PLC and look at the burning of fossil fuel and production of cement, show that China has become the major driver of world trends. China emitted 2 billion tons of carbon last year, up 7.5 percent from the previous year.

"We're shipping jobs ashore from the U.S., but we're also shipping carbon dioxide emissions with them," Marland said. "China is making fertilizer and cement and steel and all of those are heavy energy-intensive industries."
...
Denmark's emissions dropped 8 percent. The United Kingdom and Germany reduced carbon dioxide pollution by 3 percent, while France and Australia cut it by 2 percent.

Economists opposed to bailout

I pasted the list of signatures into TextPad, with line numbers turned on, and there are currently 192 signatures.

http://faculty.chicagogsb.edu/john.cochrane/research/Papers/mortgage_protest.htm

To the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate:

As economists, we want to express to Congress our great concern for the plan proposed by Treasury Secretary Paulson to deal with the financial crisis. We are well aware of the difficulty of the current financial situation and we agree with the need for bold action to ensure that the financial system continues to function. We see three fatal pitfalls in the currently proposed plan:

1) Its fairness. The plan is a subsidy to investors at taxpayers’ expense. Investors who took risks to earn profits must also bear the losses. Not every business failure carries systemic risk. The government can ensure a well-functioning financial industry, able to make new loans to creditworthy borrowers, without bailing out particular investors and institutions whose choices proved unwise.

2) Its ambiguity. Neither the mission of the new agency nor its oversight are clear. If taxpayers are to buy illiquid and opaque assets from troubled sellers, the terms, occasions, and methods of such purchases must be crystal clear ahead of time and carefully monitored afterwards.

3) Its long-term effects. If the plan is enacted, its effects will be with us for a generation. For all their recent troubles, America's dynamic and innovative private capital markets have brought the nation unparalleled prosperity. Fundamentally weakening those markets in order to calm short-run disruptions is desperately short-sighted.

For these reasons we ask Congress not to rush, to hold appropriate hearings, and to carefully consider the right course of action, and to wisely determine the future of the financial industry and the U.S. economy for years to come.


Signed (updated at 9/25/2008 8:30AM CT)

Robbing Peter to pay Paul

http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2008/09/will-they-forge.html

Billy Bob says...

Can somebody remind me again why we need to give $700B to the banks so that they can lend it back to us?

Learning From Mistakes Only Works After Age 12, Study Suggests

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080925104309.htm

ScienceDaily (Sep. 25, 2008) — Eight-year-old children have a radically different learning strategy from twelve-year-olds and adults. Eight-year-olds learn primarily from positive feedback ('Well done!'), whereas negative feedback ('Got it wrong this time') scarcely causes any alarm bells to ring. Twelve-year-olds are better able to process negative feedback, and use it to learn from their mistakes. Adults do the same, but more efficiently.

Political Conservatives Fear Chaos; Liberals Fear Emptiness

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080924124549.htm

ScienceDaily (Sep. 25, 2008) — Political conservatives operate out of a fear of chaos and absence of order while political liberals operate out of a fear of emptiness, a new Northwestern University study finds.

“Social scientists long have assumed that liberals are more rational and less fearful than conservatives, but we find that both groups view the world as a dangerous place,” says Dan McAdams, study co-author and professor of human development and psychology at Northwestern University. “It’s just that their fears emerge differently.”

To better understand the differences between politically conservative Christian Americans and their liberal counterparts, McAdams and Northwestern University co-author Michelle Albaugh asked 128 socially active churchgoers this question: What if there were no God?

“Social scientists -- who are generally liberals -- have for decades done research to figure out what makes conservatives tick,” says McAdams.

Like the Northwestern study, the preponderance of research finds that conservatives fear unchecked human impulses that challenge the status quo. What McAdams and Northwestern researcher Albaugh also find is an underlying, but different, fear that drives liberals as well.

“Political conservatives envision a world without God in which baser human impulses go unchecked, social institutions (marriage, government, family) fall apart and chaos ensues,” says McAdams. Liberals, on the other hand, envision a world without God as barren, lifeless, devoid of color and reasons to live.

“Liberals see their faith as something that fills them up and, without it, they conjure up metaphors of emptiness, depletion and scarcity,” McAdams said. “While conservatives worry about societal collapse, liberals worry about a world without deep feelings and intense experiences.”

The study findings may shed light on why conservatives prefer more authoritarian leaders while liberals do not, he adds.

Calorie Restriction and Longevity

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080924151018.htm

ScienceDaily (Sep. 26, 2008) — Calorie restriction, a diet that is low in calories and high in nutrition, may not be as effective at extending life in people as it is in rodents, according to scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Previous research had shown that laboratory animals given 30 percent to 50 percent less food can live up to 50 percent longer. Because of those findings, some people have adopted calorie restriction in the hope that they can lengthen their lives. But the new research suggests the diet may not have the desired effect unless people on calorie restriction also pay attention to their protein intake.
...
Previous research from Fontana's group had found that a diet lower in protein might protect against some cancers. These more recent findings suggest lowering protein also might be important to longevity. Fontana admits his evidence is preliminary, but the findings suggest that when people adjust their diets to improve health and lengthen life, they should control not only calories and fat but also keep an eye on protein.

Fontana isn't proposing radical low-protein diets. Instead, he is suggesting the current recommended daily allowance (RDA) for protein, which is 0.82 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, or about 56 grams of protein for an average, adult man and 46 grams for an average, adult woman. Most people, including CRONies, consume much more protein than the RDA recommendation.

"It's much easier to restrict protein than to restrict calories," he says. "If our research is on the right track, maybe humans don't need to be so calorie restricted. Limiting protein intake to .7 or .8 grams per kilogram per day might be more effective. That's just a hypothesis. We have to confirm it in future studies."

Until then, Fontana suggests people might want to look at protein consumption and tailor it to RDA recommendations. Traditionally, he says, nutritionists have not worried about people eating too much protein, but these findings suggest perhaps they should.

Bush's WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Environmental Protection Agency has decided there's no need to rid dEPA against limiting rocket fuel ingredient in water

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/09/22/rocket.fuel.epa.ap/index.html

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Environmental Protection Agency has decided there's no need to rid drinking water of a toxic rocket fuel ingredient that has fouled public water supplies around the country.

EPA reached the conclusion in a draft regulatory document not yet made public but reviewed Monday by The Associated Press.

The ingredient, perchlorate, has been found in at least 395 sites in 35 states at levels high enough to interfere with thyroid function and pose developmental health risks, particularly for babies and fetuses, according to some scientists.

The Snake

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071017130134AASTk9X

The Snake
by Al Wilson

On her way to work one morning
Down the path along side the lake
A tender hearted woman saw a poor half frozen snake
His pretty colored skin had been all frosted with the dew
"Oh well," she cried, "I'll take you in and I'll take care of you"
"Take me in oh tender woman
Take me in, for heaven's sake
Take me in oh tender woman," sighed the snake

She wrapped him up all cozy in a curvature of silk
And then laid him by the fireside with some honey and some milk
Now she hurried home from work that night as soon as she arrived
She found that pretty snake she'd taking in had been revived
"Take me in, oh tender woman
Take me in, for heaven's sake
Take me in oh tender woman," sighed the snake

Now she clutched him to her bosom, "You're so beautiful," she cried
"But if I hadn't brought you in by now you might have died"
Now she stroked his pretty skin and then she kissed and held him tight
But instead of saying thanks, that snake gave her a vicious bite
"Take me in, oh tender woman
Take me in, for heaven's sake
Take me in oh tender woman," sighed the snake

"I saved you," cried that woman
"And you've bit me even, why?
You know your bite is poisonous and now I'm going to die"
"Oh shut up, silly woman," said the reptile with a grin
"You knew damn well I was a snake before you took me in
"Take me in, oh tender woman
Take me in, for heaven's sake
Take me in oh tender woman," sighed the snake

Conflict of Interest?

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/22/paulson-goldman-bailout/

In making his push to administer the largest federal bailout of Wall Street in history, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is seeking unfettered authority. McClatchy poses the question today, “can you trust a Wall Street veteran with a Wall Street bailout?,” referring to Paulson, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs:

But the conflicts are also visible. Paulson has surrounded himself with former Goldman executives as he tries to navigate the domino-like collapse of several parts of the global financial market. And others have gone off to lead companies that could be among those that receive a bailout.

In late July, Paulson tapped Ken Wilson, one of Goldman’s most senior executives, to join him as an adviser on what to about problems in the U.S. and global banking sector. Paulson’s former assistant secretary, Robert Steel, left in July to become head of Wachovia, the Charlotte-based bank that has hundreds of millions of troubled mortgage loans on its books.

Goldman Sachs cashed in under Paulson, with earnings in 2005 of $5.6 billion; Paulson made more than $38 million that year. A 2005 annual report shows that “Goldman was still a significant player” in issuing mortgage bonds. The conflict of interest is increasingly clear today, as Bloomberg reports that “Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley may be among the biggest beneficiaries” of Paulson’s bailout plan:

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley may be among the biggest beneficiaries of the $700 billion U.S. plan to buy assets from financial companies while many banks see limited aid, according to Bank of America Corp.

“Its benefits, in its current form, will be largely limited to investment banks and other banks that have aggressively written down the value of their holdings and have already recognized the attendant capital impairment,” Jeffrey Rosenberg, Bank of America’s head of credit strategy research, wrote in a report today, without identifying particular investment banks.”

McClatchy adds that the administration’s draft law “also would preclude court review of steps Paulson might take.” Joshua Rosner of Graham Fisher & Co. remarked that Treasury’s ability to “without oversight, determine [that] a financial institution [is] an agent of the government” could be used to mask previous illegal activities at Goldman. The Wonk Room notes six months ago, Paulson claimed, “our banks and investment banks, are strong.”

The conflict of interest provides all the more reason for the bailout legislation in Congress to have more stringent oversight that the administration opposes.

DNA test clears Dallas man jailed for 25 years

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26797020/

updated 7:25 p.m. ET, Fri., Sept. 19, 2008

DALLAS - A 56-year-old man who spent 25 years behind bars for a rape he says he didn't commit walked out of court a free man Friday after a judge recommended his aggravated rape conviction be overturned.

Johnnie Earl Lindsey said he wrote six letters to a Dallas County court seeking post-conviction DNA testing that could prove his innocence. All six were ignored, he said.

"I couldn't get nobody to hear my case," said Lindsey. "Once I could get someone to pay attention to what's going on, there was no doubt in my mind I would be exonerated."

That day came Friday, about a week after testing on DNA evidence from a rape kit taken after a 1981 sexual assault of a Dallas woman excluded Lindsey as the source.

He becomes the 20th man in Dallas County proven innocent by DNA testing since 2001, although one of those men will be retried by prosecutors. Those 20 cases are a national high for one county, according to the Innocence Project, a New York-based legal center specializing in wrongful conviction cases.

State District Judge Larry Mitchell released Lindsey on a personal recognizance bond and recommended the state Court of Criminal Appeals overturn the rape conviction. Lindsey will be considered officially exonerated once the higher court accepts the recommendation or if Gov. Rick Perry grants a pardon.

Mitchell, who was credited by Lindsey for being the first court official to take an interest in his case, delivered an impassioned apology from the bench.

"I can't tell you how sorry I am this happened to you. Your freedom was taken away from you for all these years," Mitchell said. "There's a saying that justice delayed is justice denied. Justice was delayed for too long in your case."

We are facing a global pandemic of antibiotic resistance

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-09/bmj-waf091708.php

We are facing a global pandemic of antibiotic resistance, warn experts
Analysis: Antibiotic resistance BMJ Online First

Vital components of modern medicine such as major surgery, organ transplantation, and cancer chemotherapy will be threatened if antibiotic resistance is not tackled urgently, warn experts on bmj.com today.

A concerted global response is needed to address rising rates of bacterial resistance caused by the use and abuse of antibiotics or "we will return to the pre-antibiotic era", write Professor Otto Cars and colleagues in an editorial.

All antibiotic use "uses up" some of the effectiveness of that antibiotic, diminishing the ability to use it in the future, write the authors, and antibiotics can no longer be considered as a renewable source.

They point out that existing antibiotics are losing their effect at an alarming pace, while the development of new antibiotics is declining. More than a dozen new classes of antibiotics were developed between 1930 and 1970, but only two new classes have been developed since then.

According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the most important disease threat in Europe is from micro-organisms that have become resistant to antibiotics. As far back as 2000, the World Health Organisation was calling for a massive effort to address the problem of antimicrobial resistance to prevent the "health catastrophe of tomorrow".

A Healthy Lifestyle Halves The Risk Of Premature Death In Women

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080916215130.htm

ScienceDaily (Sep. 19, 2008) — Over half of deaths in women from chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease could be avoided if they never smoke, keep their weight in check, take exercise and eat a healthy diet low in red meat and trans-fats, according to a study published on the British Medical Journal website.

Early Parenting Plays Key Role In Infants' Physiological Response To Stress

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080916100928.htm

ScienceDaily (Sep. 19, 2008) — In infancy, genes are the key influence on a child's ability to deal with stress. But as early as 6 months of age, parenting plays an important role in changing the impact of genes that may put infants at risk for responding poorly to stress.
...
Both genes and parenting were found to be important to the infants' development of the way in which the brain helps regulate cardiac responses to stress. At 3 and 6 months old, those infants with the form of the dopamine gene associated with later risky behaviors did not display an effective cardiac response to the stressor (a decrease in vagal tone which takes the brake off the heart so it can respond appropriately), while those infants with the non-risk version of the gene did. At these early ages, the researchers found, it didn't appear to matter whether mothers were sensitive or not.

However, by the time the infants were 12 months old, the pattern changed. Infants with the risk form of the gene who also had mothers who were highly sensitive now showed the expected cardiac response while they were exposed to the stressful situation. Those infants with the risk form of the gene who had insensitive mothers continued to show the ineffective cardiac response to the stressor. These findings suggest that although genes play a role in the development of physiological responses to stress, environmental experience (such as mothers' sensitive care-giving behavior) can have a strong influence, enough to change the effect that genes have on physiology very early in life.

Arctic sea ice bottoms out at second lowest extent on record

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1090&tstamp=200809

The extent of the sea ice in the Arctic has reached its annual minimum, and is now beginning to re-freeze, according to data released by the National Snow and Ice Data Center this week. This year's minimum came on September 12, and came close to, but did not exceed, last year's record minimum set on September 16, 2007. For the second straight year, the fabled Northwest Passage explored by Roald Amundsen in 1905 opened. Explorers have been attempting to sail the Northwest Passage since 1497, and 2007 and 2008 are the only known years the passage has been ice-free. In addition, 2008 saw the simultaneous opening of the Northeast Passage along the coast of Russia. This means that for the first time in recorded history, the Arctic ice cap was an island, and one could completely circumnavigate the Arctic Ocean in ice-free waters.

How to limit your BPA exposure

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26736202/

Laura Tarantino, head of the FDA’s office of food additive safety. But she acknowledged, “there are a number of things people can do to lower their exposure.”

For example, consumers can avoid plastic containers imprinted with the recycling number ’7,’ as many of those contain BPA. Or, said Tarantino, they can avoid warming food in such containers, as heat helps to release the chemical.

Mother's flu shot protects newborns

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-09/jhub-mfs091608.php

Public release date: 17-Sep-2008
Contact: Tim Parsons
Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health

Newborns can be protected from seasonal flu when their mothers are vaccinated during pregnancy, according to a study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The researchers observed a 63 percent reduction in proven influenza illness among infants born to vaccinated mothers while the number of serious respiratory illnesses to both mothers and infants dropped by 36 percent. The study is the first to demonstrate that the inactivated influenza vaccine provides protection to both mother and newborn. The findings were presented during the National Vaccine Advisory Committee meeting in Washington, D.C. on September 17 and will be published in the October 9 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

The inactivated influenza vaccine (the flu shot) is not licensed for infants younger than six months. The alternative nasal flu vaccine is not available for children under age 2. The flu shot has been recommended for pregnant women in the U.S. since 1997, although approximately 15 percent of pregnant women are vaccinated each year.

Political Views Affect Firms' Corporate Social Responsibility

http://blackwellpublishing.com/press/pressitem.asp?ref=1880

Burnaby, British Columbia – September 17, 2008 – A new study in The Financial Review establishes a relationship between political beliefs of corporate stakeholders and the corporate social responsibility (CSR) of their firms. Companies with a high CSR rating tend to be located in Democratic states, while companies with a low CSR rating tend to be located in Republican states.

The self-made myth

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid={B4FBCBBD-1278-4421-889C-1D4B7982B9C3}&siteid=google

Societal support key to much wealth creation, report says
By Thomas Kostigen, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last update: 8:55 p.m. EDT June 28, 2004
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (CBS.MW) -- Some of the wealthiest entrepreneurs in this country say there is no such thing as the "self-made man."
With more millionaires making rather than inheriting their wealth, there is a false conceit that they haven't received outside support, a new report says.
But society's role in wealth creation is significant, therefore society has an obligation to maintain a level playing field for opportunities to create wealth, contends the report, "I Didn't Do It Alone: Society's Contribution to Individual Wealth and Success."
The idea that if government would get out of the way, then every entrepreneur would automatically succeed is wrong, the report says.
The report is published by Boston-based United for a Fair Economy, a nonprofit group that researches and raises awareness on issues related to wealth and power. It has signed more than 2,200 multimillionaires and billionaires to a petition to reform and keep the inheritance tax; the "I Didn't Do It Alone" report was gleaned from small sample of those petitioners.
"Pro-business economic policies and tax policies are often centered on the myth of the self-made man," the report says. But the myth of "self-made" wealth "is potentially destructive to the very infrastructure that enables wealth creation."
Individuals profiled believe that they prospered in large part thanks to things beyond their individual control, such as social investments in education, research, technology and infrastructure, the report says. Or as Jim Sherblom, former CFO of Genzyme, says, "We are all standing on the shoulders of those who came before us."
He and others profiled believe it's vital to give back to society so that others in the next generation can have the same opportunities they had. This giving goes beyond taxes to charity and mentoring programs.
"This is not so much a call for increased taxes as it is a highlight of society's role and claim upon us as individuals. We each have a responsibility to the common wealth upon which individual wealth is possible," says Chuck Collins, the report's co-author.
In prepared remarks, Collins was more emphatic: "How we think about wealth creation is important since policies such as large tax cuts for the wealthy often draw on the myth of the self-made man... Taxes are portrayed as onerous, unfair redistribution of privately created wealth -- not as reinvestment or giving back to society. Yet, where would many wealthy entrepreneurs be today without taxpayer investment in the Internet, transportation, public education, legal system, the human genome and so on?"
Those Collins profiled in the report say their success is attributable to many factors, among them public schools and colleges, government investment in research and small business assistance, contributions of employees, and strong legal and financial systems.
...
Warren Buffett, founder of Berkshire Hathaway and the second-richest man in the world, says: "I personally think that society is responsible for a very significant percentage of what I've earned."
And Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, says, "Lots of people who are smart and work hard and play by the rules don't have a fraction of what I have. I realize I don't have my wealth because I'm so brilliant."
What shines through the report is that those profiled and interviewed have an awareness of what made them successful, and they want to pass that along to future generations in the form of public support.

U.S. National Debt

http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

U.S. NATIONAL DEBT CLOCK

The Outstanding Public Debt as of 17 Sep 2008 at 10:23:44 PM GMT is:
$ 9,641,606,798,326.94

The estimated population of the United States is 304,746,329
so each citizen's share of this debt is $31,638.14.

The National Debt has continued to increase an average of
$1.79 billion per day since September 28, 2007!

1.79 billion = 1,079,000,000 =
for each person : $3.54/day, $1292.34/year

National Debt -- In the News

4 Feb 08 - Bush Proposes $3.1 Trillion Budget (Los Angeles Times)
4 Feb 08 - Bush Budget Would Bring Record Deficits (Associated Press)
27 Jan 08 - The State of the Union -- and its Debt (TheStreet.com)
13 Mar 07 - Wincing Dems are likely to raise the limit on Debt (The Hill)
16 Mar 06 - Congress sets new Federal Debt Limit: $9 trillion (National Public Radio)
16 Mar 06 - Senate votes Debt Limit hike to $8.965 trillion (Reuters)
16 Mar 06 - US Debt: At least it's not $1 zillion (Reuters)
16 Feb 06 - U.S. moves to miss hitting Debt Ceiling (MarketWatch)
8 Feb 06 - Big Deficit looms behind revival of 30-year bond (Reuters)
7 Feb 06 - Bush's Budget sparks bipartisan protest (CBS News)
30 Jan 06 - Federal borrowing raised to record level (CNN)
10 Jan 06 - Bush seeking to limit spending growth in '07 Budget (Bloomberg)
8 Jan 06 - U.S. hovers close to its Debt Ceiling -- Treasury boss says government business could be affected (San Francisco Chronicle)
27 Nov 05 - Deficit cracking GOP's solidarity -- party-line vote no longer assured (San Francisco Chronicle)
26 Nov 05 - Opinion: Get down to business on U.S. Deficit (The Indianapolis Star)
20 Oct 05 - Budget debate a defining moment for GOP, groups say (CNSNews)
5 Oct 05 - Editorial: Bush mismanagement worsens Deficit (The Capital Times (WI))
17 Sep 05 - Analysis: Katrina's costs will swell National Debt (Associated Press)
7 Sep 05 - Budget Deficit yet another storm victim (Los Angeles Daily News)
10 Apr 05 - Editorial: $7,782,816,546,352 in Debt (CBS News)
7 Apr 05 - Editorial: Bureau of Public Debt: Surrounded by IOUs (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
4 Apr 05 - Bush's agenda faces opposition from election-wary Republicans (Bloomberg.com)
25 Jan 05 - $1.3 Trillion in Deficits forecast over decade (Los Angeles Times)
21 Jan 05 - Does Social Security really face an $11 trillion Deficit? (FactCheck.org)
13 Jan 05 - Critics call Bush's Deficit efforts feeble (Boston Herald)
10 Jan 05 - Editorial: Deficit deception (St. Petersburg Times)
19 Nov 04 - Bush signs [$800 Billion] Debt-limit hike (CBS News)
18 Nov 04 - Senate votes to let US borrow up to $8.18 trillion (Boston Globe)
4 Nov 04 - Why Democrats should be thankful -- at least they won't have to clean up the Bush fiscal catastrophe (Slate -- MSNBC)
3 Nov 04 - Administration pressures Congress to raise Debt Ceiling (Boston Globe)
23 Oct 04 - Where [Bush and Kerry] stand on taxes and the Budget (Detroit Free Press)
9 Jun 04 - Editorial: Reagan policies gave green light to red ink (Washinton Post)
2 Feb 04 - Bush sends $2.4 trillion budget (including record $521 billion Deficit) to Hill (CBS News)
4 Jan 04 - Bush's budget for 2005 seeks to rein in domestic costs (New York Times)
17 Dec 03 - Bush Deficit plan draws derision (CBS News)
9 Jul 03 - Home is where the National Debt is (The Providence Journal)
28 Jun 03 - Treasury official criticizes Debt ceiling (Washington Post)
19 Jun 03 - Editorial: Delusional on the Deficit, by Sen. Ernest Hollings (Dem-SC) (Washington Post)
15 Jun 03 - Aging population makes this Deficit scarier (USA Today)
10 Jun 03 - Congressional analyst now sees this year's Deficit exceeding $400 billion (San Francisco Chronicle)
31 May 03 - Democrats expect record Debts -- Federal Deficit is forecast to approach $500 billion next year (Washington Post)
20 May 03 - White House urges Senate to raise Debt ceiling soon (Washington Post)
14 Mar 03 - GOP senators oppose size of Bush tax cut (NY Times)
20 Feb 03 - U.S. Government hits national debt ceiling -- Treasury begins taking evasive actions (CNN)
29 Aug 01 - Congressional Budge Office: "Social Security funds needed to balance books" (CNN)
22 Feb 01 - Bush unveils 'fiscally responsible' budget--reduces Deficit, but not Debt (CNN)
==========================================================
27 Sep 00 - President Clinton Announces Another Record Budget Surplus (CNN)
7 Sep 00 - National Debt Clock Stops, Despite Trillions of Dollars of Red Ink (CNN)
26 Jun 00 - Concord Coalition Warns that the new "Surplus" is not new money, it's simply a new projection (Concord Coalition)
1 May 00 - Clinton Announces Record Payment on National Debt (CNN)
4 Aug 99 - US to buy back National Debt, first time in 25 years (BBC)

It's The Wages

http://www.time-blog.com/swampland/2008/09/its_the_wages_stupid.html

As the presidential candidates debate how "fundamentally sound" our economy is, Scott Lilly points to a bigger problem that is getting buried under the mess on Wall Street:

It is clear to any detached observer that the travails on Wall Street are not simply a superficial kink in the circulation of the nation’s money supply. There are deep-seated problems here that will impede growth, and accelerate business failures and job losses if not objectively identified and forcefully addressed. While we have recklessly disregarded the need for prudent supervision of our banking and financial systems, the real problem is even deeper.


For eight years we have papered over the fact that American consumers do not have the purchasing power to sustain economic expansion. As a report I authored a little more than a month ago details, the wage and salary increases that have occurred since 2000 have not been sufficient to even maintain the level of income that most families enjoyed at the beginning of this decade. Employment has not kept pace with population growth. And even though worker productivity has increased by nearly 20 percent over this period, weekly wages are barely higher than they were on the day the current president took office.

Under normal circumstances, we would have seen the effects of slow wage and job growth much sooner in the economic cycle. But the Bush administration and their enablers at the Federal Reserve Board found a way to inoculate the economy temporarily from the fact that the paychecks which Americans were taking home were insufficient to buy the goods and services the economy was capable of producing. The prescription was easy credit—car loans, credit cards, and most importantly, mortgages.

Prenatal stress may form a component of the inherent desire for physical activity.

With all the negative effects on a child from pre-natal stress, maybe this is a good effect.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-09/plos-rsc091508.php

Public release date: 16-Sep-2008
Contact: Jamie Hanlon
Public Library of Science
Research supports correlation between finger lengths and stress hormones

Edmonton—If you find yourself lacking in motivation to go for a run or hit the gym, you may want to check your fingers. According to a joint University of Alberta/ University of California- Riverside research study to be published by PLoS ONE, the online, open-access journal from the Public Library of Science, there is a direct correlation between digit length and voluntary exercise.

The study also casts some doubt on a previously released study which linked digit length and male aggression.

While both situations were first thought to have been caused by exposure to elevated levels of prenatal testosterone in the womb, research conducted using lab mice yielded no concrete evidence to support that original hypothesis. The new study, conducted using 1,000 white mice, seems to support a stronger connection between digit length, voluntary exercise and high levels of prenatal stress hormones, which was indicated by the difference in activity level between the control mice and the selectively-bred active mice. Given the results, the findings suggest that prenatal stress rather than prenatal testosterone levels in the womb, forms a component of the inherent desire for physical activity.

"The research shows a link, or relationship, between the brain, behaviour and personality traits and the shape of the hand," said Peter Hurd, University of Alberta psychology professor and one of the lead researchers. "It opens the door to the notion that aspects of one's personality, in this case the desire to exercise, are fixed very early in life."

###

Peter Hurd
University of Alberta

Citation: Yan RHY, Malisch JL, Hannon RM, Hurd PL, Garland T Jr. (2008) Selective Breeding for a Behavioral Trait Changes Digit Ratio. PLoS ONE 3(9): e3216. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0003216

PLEASE ADD THE LINK TO THE PUBLISHED ARTICLE IN ONLINE VERSIONS OF YOUR REPORT (URL live from Sep 17): http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0003216

Expert urges FDA to take action to reduce BPA exposure

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-09/uom-euf091608.php

Public release date: 16-Sep-2008
Contact: Kelsey Jackson
University of Missouri-Columbia
Expert urges FDA to take action to reduce BPA exposure
MU studies have shown dangerous health effects with BPA exposure since 1997

COLUMBIA, Mo. – In the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), researchers report a significant relationship between urine concentrations of the environmental estrogen bisphenol A (BPA) and cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and liver-enzyme abnormalities. In an accompanying editorial, Frederick vom Saal, a University of Missouri scientist, urges the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to follow recent action by Canadian regulatory agencies, which have taken significant steps to limit human and environmental exposures to BPA. Since 1997, research from vom Saal and other MU colleagues have shown adverse health effects of BPA at exposure levels below those currently considered safe by the FDA.

"Despite growing research that confirms BPA is dangerous to our health, the FDA and the European Food Safety Authority have chosen to ignore warnings from expert panels and other government agencies and have continued to declare BPA as 'safe,'" wrote vom Saal, who is a Curator's professor of biological sciences in MU's College of Arts and Science. "Further evidence of harm should not be required for regulatory action to begin the process of reducing exposure to BPA."

BPA is a one of the world's highest production-volume chemicals and is used to make hard plastic items such as: drinking glasses, baby bottles, food-storage containers, the lining of food and beverage containers, and dental sealants. Previous studies have shown adverse health effects of BPA on the brain and reproductive system, as well as metabolic diseases in laboratory animals. After a two-year review, the United States National Toxicology Program stated its concern that, at current levels of exposure, BPA posed a risk to human infants. The research published in JAMA is based on data from more than 1,450 Americans examined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and is the first major study linking BPA to diseases in humans, vom Saal said.

"The good news is that government action to reduce exposures may offer an effective intervention for improving health and reducing the burden of some of the most consequential human health problems," vom Saal said.

###

Vom Saal's editorial "Bisphenol A and Risk of Metabolic Disorders" is published in the Sept. 17 issue of JAMA and co-authored by John Peterson Myers. Vom Saal is a leading researcher in the effects of BPA exposure. He has written more than 20 articles on BPA.

see also http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-09/jaaj-hul091108.php

Arctic sea ice reaches lowest extent in 2008, second lowest ever recorded

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-09/uoca-asi091608.php

Public release date: 16-Sep-2008
Contact: Stephanie Renfrow
University of Colorado at Boulder
Arctic sea ice reaches lowest extent in 2008, second lowest ever recorded

The Arctic sea ice cover appears to have reached its minimum extent for the year, the second-lowest extent recorded since satellite record-keeping began in 1979, according to the University of Colorado at Boulder's National Snow and Ice Data Center, or NSIDC.

While slightly above the record-low minimum set on Sept. 16, 2007, this season further reinforces the strong negative trend in summertime sea ice extent observed over the past 30 years, according to NSIDC researchers.

NSIDC will issue a press release at the beginning of October with full analysis of the possible causes behind this year's low ice conditions, particularly interesting aspects of the melt season, the conditions going into the winter growth season ahead, and graphics comparing this year to the long-term record.

###

Full text and graphics on this season's sea ice conditions are available at http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/.

NSIDC is part of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, a joint center of CU-Boulder and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NSIDC scientists provide Arctic sea ice news and analysis with partial support from NASA.

Higher or lower than other animals?

I've been a vegetarian since 1978 because of things like this.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080917/ap_on_re_us/abused_pigs;_ylt=AuJrZ6uF_aO_bp4MWMBnbKis0NUE

Video shows workers abusing pigs

By FREDERIC J. FROMMER, Associated Press Writer 47 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - An undercover video shot at an Iowa pig farm shows workers hitting sows with metal rods, slamming piglets on a concrete floor and bragging about jamming rods up into sows' hindquarters.