tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-378428202024-03-12T18:46:08.573-07:00The Neighborhood ToxicologistThe Neighborhood Toxicologist summarizes information on chemical contaminants that impact our daily lives and our environment.Emily Monossonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00896682323554212375noreply@blogger.comBlogger100125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37842820.post-68198934538756514112017-03-27T14:10:00.000-07:002017-03-28T06:04:34.204-07:00The Neighborhood Toxicologist has evolved! <div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Please join me at my new site, </span><a href="https://toxicevolution.wordpress.com/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Evolution in a Toxic World. </a> (I will no longer be checking or posting content to this site.)</div>
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<b>Model Kay Heffernon with a soda and hot dog on Jones Beach, </b></div>
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<b>NY 1948. Photo by George Silk, LIFE photos. </b></div>
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Emily Monossonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00896682323554212375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37842820.post-72579648493738053232017-03-15T12:24:00.002-07:002017-03-15T12:24:57.583-07:00Dear Mr. Pruitt, let's talk about lead<div style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: Bitter, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 1.69231em;">
Dear Mr. Pruitt,</div>
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Last week I wrote to you about DDT. This week let’s consider lead. Like DDT, another jaw-dropper for my environmental toxicology undergrads. You may not remember leaded gasoline. It was phasing out just as you were probably hitting the road. But I do, and I remember feeling good about asking for “unleaded” at the pump. Those were the days when the tetra-ethyl lead added to gas was called just “ethyl.” The manufactures, a combination of Dupont, Standard Oil and General Motors, branded their new company and their product with a young woman’s name, leaving out the second half – the lead — that literally drove men crazy if not to their death. The chemical helped gas burn more efficiently; a good thing. And it helped the oil industry dominate the automobile industry by pushing aside other possible fuels or fuel additives, like ethanol.</div>
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Lead is another opportunity to discuss the struggle between those who tried to protect Americans and the nation’s workers and an industry that values profit over all. A struggle that is now something you must face almost daily. In this case Alice Hamilton, a tireless and pioneering advocate for worker health who, along with others, tried to get the lead out as early as 1925. This was just a year after workers at the so-called <a href="http://pittmed.health.pitt.edu/jan_2001/butterflies.pdf" style="color: #dd5424; text-decoration: none;">House of Butterflies</a> died; one of them in a straitjacket, his brain poisoned by the additive. There is also the story of how tetra-ethyl, a product of American Industry, helped launch the Nazi <img alt="Related image" class=" alignright" height="281" scale="0" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/df/2b/3b/df2b3bc0dd7956ffff26f8f65346cd18.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(229, 229, 229); display: inline; float: right; height: auto; margin: 5px 0px 10px 25px; max-width: 100%; padding: 1px; vertical-align: middle;" width="167" />Luftwaffe (leaded fuel was a necessity for their airplanes). And the story of how the industry, when asked by the surgeon general if public health impacts of the new additive had been considered, apparently assured him, sans any data, that the streets would be “…so free from lead that it will be impossible to detect..”*</div>
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Industry assurances and oil politics aside, I don’t need to exaggerate, advocate or hammer home the benefits of chemical regulation when it comes to lead.</div>
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Despite Hamilton and colleagues’ best efforts, the industry went on to use, at its peak in 1970, some <em style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif;">250,000 tons</em> of lead in gasoline. That is hundreds of thousands of tons of lead pried from the earth’s crust and spewed into our air, water and soil. The sheer magnitude of lead used in gasoline was another shocker for students alerted to the problem of lead more recently via the recent news from Flint, Michigan and elsewhere. A generation who now equates lead with old pipes and drinking water. Those were the days when there was an average of 2-3 <em style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif;">grams</em>of lead in every gallon of gasoline. My mother’s Country Squire, the old wood paneled station wagon, much like today’s Escalades, Land Cruisers and Suburbans (which have only slightly improved mileage) burned through about a gallon of gasoline every twelve miles. Living in the suburbs our family contributed plenty of lead to our neighborhood, the back streets of Boston and points north and south. (Back of the envelope: 10,000 miles of travel per year, 833 gallons of gas meant roughly 2000 grams, or 70 ounces of lead, <em style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif;">a year</em>.) Over the courses of my childhood, my mother’s car added a little less than my own body weight at the time, ninety pounds of lead, to our environment. And that was just one car — my dad’s black VW bug (roughly 20 MPG) contributed it own fair share. I don’t think these are numbers anyone could be proud of. No matter who you are, where you live or what political party you belong to.</div>
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<img alt="Label for Ethyl Gasoline Additive" class=" alignleft" scale="0" src="https://sciencenotes.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/ethyl.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(229, 229, 229); display: inline; float: left; height: auto; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 1px; vertical-align: middle;" />By the 1960’s the national average for lead in blood rose to somewhere around 600 parts per billion (we can’t blame this all on ethyl, our homes – inside and out – were coated in the stuff as well.) It’s likely that my sisters and I carried in our blood, lead levels that would now be considered high – although most likely, we were better off than kids living in the city. Today, we worry about children with blood lead over 50 parts per billion. We also know that aside from the more immediate poisonous effects, even in small amounts lead can lower children’s I.Qs and alter their behavior.</div>
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That my students were clueless about leaded gasoline, is, in large part thanks to the EPA. When your agency ordered manufacturers to phase-out lead and find a replacement, it was not only an EPA victory, but a victory for all Americans. Here is Carol Browner as the final nails hit the lead coffin in 1996:</div>
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The elimination of lead from gas is one of the great environmental achievements of all time. Thousands of tons of lead have been removed from the air, and blood levels of lead in our children are down 70 percent. This means that millions of children will be spared the painful consequences of lead poisoning, such as permanent nerve damage, anemia or mental retardation.</div>
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Why even talk about leaded gasoline? Because like DDT, this was another triumph of <em style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif;">your</em> agency. Another victory over powerful industries that put profits over human health. Lead is clearly still a problem – particularly for municipalities and homes with aging pipes and in too many cases lead paint – legacies from our earlier generations, that sadly keep on giving. But we all still use gasoline. And, both the automobile industry and the oil industry have retained if not grown in power over the decades. I would love to provide my students with current examples of good Corporate Citizens. I’d like to say, “That was then, this is now.” There is plenty of opportunity for the corporations that impact the quality of the air we breath and must hold responsibility for our health and for our changing climate (I understand you disagree here – so I won’t belabor this point). With nearly a century of exposure to oil combustion products – the health-science is indisputable. As you advocate for a smaller EPA, and consider the current CAFE (fuel economy) standards, I would very much appreciate some examples to share with my public health students, so that they can rest assured that they won’t be telling <em style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif;">their</em> students jaw-dropping stories from the time that EPA handed its authority over to big oil and the auto industry.</div>
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<em style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif;">Featured Image</em>: Sign on an antique gasoline pump, advertising gasoline additive (tetraethyl lead) by the Ethyl Corporation. Photo taken at the highway rest stop on I-94 westbound, east of Bismarck, North Dakota, USA. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetraethyllead#/media/File:EthylCorporationSign.jpg" style="color: #dd5424; text-decoration: none;">Plazak, 2010</a>.</div>
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*Midgley, T. Jr., 1922, Letter to Cumming, National Archives Record Group 90, 30 December 1922</div>
Emily Monossonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00896682323554212375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37842820.post-25065303650171358912017-03-10T13:09:00.000-08:002017-03-10T13:09:48.603-08:00Dear Mr. Pruitt, today we talked about DDT<div style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: Bitter, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 1.69231em;">
Dear Mr. Pruitt,</div>
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I teach an introductory environmental toxicology class to undergraduate public health majors. Each week we talk about different issues from mercury to DDT and nanomaterials. And each week, inevitably, we talk about the EPA. I am a child of the 1960s, the age when it finally dawned on us that for all the benefits of modern industrial chemicals – from plastics to mosquito-free evenings — maybe there was a dark side to welcoming these new products into our homes and releasing billions of tons of new chemicals into our environment. We talk about what happened, or didn’t, before the EPA reined in pesticides, air pollutants, water pollutants. This week’s topic was DDT and the beginning of pesticide regulation.</div>
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<img alt="DDT" class=" wp-image-3942 alignleft" data-attachment-id="3942" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="DDT" data-large-file="https://toxicevolution.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/ddt.png?w=243&h=307?w=501" data-medium-file="https://toxicevolution.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/ddt.png?w=243&h=307?w=238" data-orig-file="https://toxicevolution.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/ddt.png?w=243&h=307" data-orig-size="501,632" data-permalink="https://toxicevolution.wordpress.com/2017/03/10/dear-mr-pruitt-today-we-talked-about-ddt/ddt/" height="307" sizes="(max-width: 243px) 100vw, 243px" src="https://toxicevolution.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/ddt.png?w=243&h=307" srcset="https://toxicevolution.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/ddt.png?w=243&h=307 243w, https://toxicevolution.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/ddt.png?w=486&h=614 486w, https://toxicevolution.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/ddt.png?w=119&h=150 119w, https://toxicevolution.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/ddt.png?w=238&h=300 238w" style="border: 1px solid rgb(229, 229, 229); display: inline; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 0px 5px; max-width: 100%; padding: 1px; vertical-align: middle;" width="243" /><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #888888; font-size: 0.846154em; line-height: 1em; margin: 5px; text-align: left;">
Life Magazine ad, meant to show safety of DDT</div>
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First I need to tell you, I am not someone who eats all organic all the time. I realize that until we have better solutions, some growers will use pesticides to save their crops. And not everyone can grow (or buy,) organic. I know that not all pesticides are problematic, and more often it is over-reliance or over-use that is the problem. But I can also say this with <em style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif;">some</em> level of comfort because these pesticides are registered and regulated by our federal agencies, most importantly the EPA. Though, I have add that there is plenty of room for improvement! I’ve seen only a couple of applications for pesticide registration and I think even you would be surprised by the amount of missing information.</div>
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As the new administrator, I am sure you know the history of DDT, <em style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif;">Silent Spring</em>and the emergence of the EPA. But did you know that some of the first pesticide regulations (pre-EPA) focused on “immediate” harm rather than long-term? Then the EPA began to require consideration of other “adverse” effects and environmental effects. Eventually DDT and similar pesticides were banned. Even so, we still live with their legacy. A <a href="http://press.endocrine.org/doi/10.1210/jc.2015-1841" style="color: #dd5424; text-decoration: none;">recent study</a> has linked DDE exposure at a young age (or even possibly <em style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif;">in utero</em>) with an increased incidence of breast cancer in women.</div>
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While it would be nice to be able to say “of course, we know so much more now, that can’t happen again.” That there won’t be another DDT. My students know that some day in their life-time there will be another DDT. Maybe it won’t be a pesticide. Maybe it won’t accumulate in the environment. But, some new miracle chemical or maybe even gene product will have effects that <em style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif;">could —</em> without pressure by agencies like yours – cause the next generation to look back with disbelief, asking how could this happen?</div>
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Making new pesticides, safer pesticides is costly with all the hoops and testing that must be done. And we’ve learned so much from past mistakes. I haven’t read much about what your intentions are towards pesticide regulation and enforcement – but the cuts proposed in EPA’s budget and some of your past efforts seem like you <em style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif;">might</em> lean towards deregulation. If that is the case do you really honestly believe, that this current generation and their kids, will be better off without federal regulation of pesticides? I would love to believe that industry would regulate itself – but they haven’t a good track record for self-regulation.We can learn from past mistakes, but then we have to apply what we learn. If you have some examples that show otherwise, I would love to share them with my class.</div>
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By their very nature, there will always be things we don’t know about new products. The qualities that make them useful is often their novel activity (nanochemicals are a great example of that.) Look, in the beginning, no one knew DDT would hang around for decades. Or that humans would end up with more DDT in their bodies than was permitted in the food they ate. Or that it might cause breast cancer decades later. But had producers been pushed to ask some of these questions – we might be free of these chemicals today, rather than having molecules produced over half a century ago still jiggling around in our love handles and muffin tops.</div>
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Your family as well as mine and this current generation of college kids are all better off today than in the days <em style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif;">before</em> the EPA. This is thanks in large part, to your predecessors and all those who now work for you. Let’s move forward together, rather than backwards.</div>
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Best, Emily</div>
Emily Monossonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00896682323554212375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37842820.post-81033897271513505732017-01-23T06:34:00.001-08:002017-01-23T06:34:45.198-08:00About Twelve Percent<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 15px;">Ok, I’ve had it. Too many times on the news, I’ve heard something like this, “after all, 53% of white women voted for Donald Trump.” Or, "42% of women voted for Trump." <span data-mce-style="color: #ff0000;" style="color: red;"> </span><strong><span data-mce-style="color: #ff0000;" style="color: red;">WRONG</span>.</strong> What they mean of course is the percentage of those who actually voted. But too often that part is dropped. Like here in the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/21/us/women-march-protest-president-trump.html?_r=0">New York Times</a> "About 53 percent of white women voted for Mr. Trump, according to exit polls." As my husband says, that's asking a reader to do some work to realize that <i>doesn't mean</i> 53% of all white women who are eligible to vote. </span></div>
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Consider that only <a data-mce-href="http://www.electproject.org/2016g" href="http://www.electproject.org/2016g" style="color: #00aadc;" target="_blank">59% of total eligible</a> voters in our country voted. And assume that also means roughly 59% of women (more women than men voted so could be a little more) for which we match up woman to man almost 1:1 if not a bit more, depending on the <a data-mce-href="http://www.businessinsider.com/map-the-states-with-more-men-than-women-2013-12" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/map-the-states-with-more-men-than-women-2013-12" style="color: #00aadc;" target="_blank">state</a>. And <em>OF THOSE</em> 42% voted Trump. Which means, about <span data-mce-style="color: #ff0000;" style="color: red;"><strong>12%</strong></span> or so (like I said, a little more if there are more women than men) of all women who can vote in our country voted Trump.</div>
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Or approximately: 0.59*0.5*0.42=0.123. (This also means that, roughly, only 16% of women in our country who could vote, voted for Clinton.)</div>
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One friend suggests that maybe the media is trying to hold us voters accountable when they throw around figures (for so few voting in general). Which may be the case. But with all the fake news today, it's more important than ever to be accurate with our numbers. Let's not take the percentages out of context.</div>
Emily Monossonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00896682323554212375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37842820.post-76200740784089944362017-01-10T12:54:00.004-08:002017-01-10T13:23:06.564-08:00Trump's war on science, a shot over the bow<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I was hoping that maybe Trumps anti-vax statements would be one of those things he backtracked on (I have in my head the little tune from Scrubs, Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong,); but his recent ask, this one to Robert Kennedy Jr, a well-know anti-vaxxer who maintains that the MMR vaccine causes autism (despite the overwhelming <a data-mce-href="http://justthevax.blogspot.com/2014/03/75-studies-that-show-no-link-between.html" href="http://justthevax.blogspot.com/2014/03/75-studies-that-show-no-link-between.html" style="color: #00aadc;">science</a>), to chair "a commission on vaccination safety and efficacy," suggests otherwise. I don't know why I'm surprised. Says Kennedy, "We ought to be reading the science and debating the science." </div>
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I've been writing about vaccines for a few years in different contexts. Below is an excerpt from my upcoming book. The book is about how we can reduce our dependence on drugs and chemicals like pesticides, by relying on natural allies. One of those allies is our own immune response, this excerpt from a chapter about tech advances in vaccine development includes a bit about Maurice Hilleman, the virologist who developed the vaccine anti-vaxxers love to hate (along with many other vaccines):</div>
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The concept of a vaccination is simple enough: vaccines provoke immunity by exposing individuals either to pathogens that have been weakened or killed so that they can no longer cause full-on disease, or to bits of pathogens. But pathogens are wildly diverse, and a vaccine strategy that works for one disease may not work for others. Some are fairly straightforward—for example, injecting weakened or killed polio virus provides lasting protection. (Since 2000, the United States has used only killed polio virus.) When I was vaccinated as a kid, I likely received the next best thing to a natural infection: live but weakened versions of polio, mumps, and measles. A generation later, most of my children’s shots were filled with inactivated or killed viruses, or bits of microbes.<a data-mce-href="#_edn1" href="https://wordpress.com/post/toxicevolution.wordpress.com#_edn1" name="_ednref1" style="color: #00aadc;">[i]</a> Kids today do still receive some attenuated (weakened) virus vaccines, notably against mumps, measles, and rubella.</div>
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Many of these twentieth-century vaccines began with Maurice Hilleman, a virologist and vaccine developer who spent most of his career at Merck Pharmaceutical. The mumps vaccine my kids received may even be traced back to the 1963 mumps virus that once infected Hilleman’s own daughter, Jeryl Lynn. As he tells the story, one night she woke complaining of a sore throat. “Oh my god,” said Hilleman, pointing to the glands under his chin and holding out his hands, “her throat was like this.”<b> </b>Though rare, a mumps infection can have serious complications, from permanent hearing loss to life-threatening brain swelling. There was no vaccine. So Hilleman raced to the lab and grabbed some swabs. Three years later, he treated his one-year-old daughter Kirsten with a vaccine he had developed from Jeryl Lynn’s virus. “Here was a baby being protected by a virus from her sister, and this has been unique in the history of medicine. . . . It was a big human-interest story.”<a data-mce-href="#_edn2" href="https://wordpress.com/post/toxicevolution.wordpress.com#_edn2" name="_ednref2" style="color: #00aadc;">[ii]</a> Hilleman, who passed away in 2005, is credited not only with developing dozens of vaccines but also saving more lives than any scientist before him. But, as the authors of an article in <em>Science</em> about twenty-first-century vaccine development pointed out in 2013, “By the latter part of the twentieth century, most of the vaccines that could be developed by direct mimicry of natural infection with live or killed/inactivated vaccines had been developed.”<a data-mce-href="#_edn3" href="https://wordpress.com/post/toxicevolution.wordpress.com#_edn3" name="_ednref3" style="color: #00aadc;">[iii]</a><b> </b>In other words, the most manageable pathogens, like mumps, were under control. What’s left for vaccine makers are the problem pathogens.... They are also confronted with a growing trend of distrust in vaccines. Ironically, vaccination critics are part of a population that has benefited greatly from vaccines, largely avoiding the raft of infectious diseases that plagued earlier generations.</div>
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Yet no matter how many lives vaccines save, there is no skirting the issue. Vaccination is a medical intervention. We inject newborns and toddlers—the most vulnerable members of society, who cannot decide for themselves. Some parents worry about their kids receiving too many vaccines at once. Others are concerned by the small amounts of toxic chemicals like formaldehyde and ethyl mercury used to kill or to preserve vaccines. Some believe conspiracy theories about vaccines spreading disease. And many have been frightened by a now-discredited study accusing the MMR vaccine (also developed by Hilleman) of causing autism. Some of these concerns contain an unsettling kernel of truth. A portion of the polio vaccines that my generation—millions of children—received were contaminated with the monkey virus, SV40. Until the 1960s, polio vaccine was grown and isolated from green monkey cells. Hilleman and a colleague discovered the virus; a couple of years later, another researcher showed that the virus caused cancerous tumors in hamsters. By the time vaccine makers had replaced monkey-cell cultures with human cell cultures, an estimated 100 million of us baby boomers had been vaccinated. Fifty years later, despite much suspicion and study, the virus has not yet been shown to cause cancer in humans.<a data-mce-href="#_edn4" href="https://wordpress.com/post/toxicevolution.wordpress.com#_edn4" name="_ednref4" style="color: #00aadc;">[iv]</a>...</div>
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While there may always be unintended consequences of vaccines, the role they have played (and continue to play) in saving lives over the past century has been huge. Now vaccine makers have the tools to develop increasingly safer vaccines, effective against some of the most obstinate pathogens—and they can do so more rapidly.</div>
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Adapted from <em><a data-mce-href="https://islandpress.org/book/natural-defense" href="https://islandpress.org/book/natural-defense" style="color: #00aadc;">Natural Defense: enlisting bugs and germs to protect food and health</a> (Island Press, Spring 2017)</em></div>
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<a data-mce-href="#_ednref1" href="https://wordpress.com/post/toxicevolution.wordpress.com#_ednref1" name="_edn1" style="color: #00aadc;">[i]</a>. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “U.S. Vaccines,” Appendix B-2, April 2015, <a data-mce-href="http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/appendices/B/us-vaccines.pdf" href="http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/appendices/B/us-vaccines.pdf" style="color: #00aadc;">http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/appendices/B/us-vaccines.pdf</a>, accessed August 9, 2016.</div>
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<a data-mce-href="#_ednref2" href="https://wordpress.com/post/toxicevolution.wordpress.com#_ednref2" name="_edn2" style="color: #00aadc;">[ii]</a>. For a video story by Maurice Hilleman, see: The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, “Mumps: Jeryl Lynn Story,” <em>The History of Vaccines</em>, October 29, 2004, <a data-mce-href="http://www.historyofvaccines.org/content/mumps-jeryl-lynn-story" href="http://www.historyofvaccines.org/content/mumps-jeryl-lynn-story" style="color: #00aadc;">http://www.historyofvaccines.org/content/mumps-jeryl-lynn-story</a>, accessed August 9, 2016.</div>
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<a data-mce-href="#_ednref3" href="https://wordpress.com/post/toxicevolution.wordpress.com#_ednref3" name="_edn3" style="color: #00aadc;">[iii]</a>. Wayne C Koff et al., “Accelerating Next Generation Vaccine Development for Global Disease Prevention,” <em>Science</em> 340 (2013) doi:10.1126/science.1232910, accessed August 9, 2016, 2.</div>
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<a data-mce-href="#_ednref4" href="https://wordpress.com/post/toxicevolution.wordpress.com#_ednref4" name="_edn4" style="color: #00aadc;">[iv]</a>. Vicent Rancaniello, <em>Virology </em>(blog), <a data-mce-href="http://www.virology.ws/2010/04/13/poliovirus-vaccine-sv40-and-human-cancer/" href="http://www.virology.ws/2010/04/13/poliovirus-vaccine-sv40-and-human-cancer/" style="color: #00aadc;">http://www.virology.ws/2010/04/13/poliovirus-vaccine-sv40-and-human-cancer/</a>, accessed October 2016.</div>
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<a data-mce-href="#_ednref5" href="https://wordpress.com/post/toxicevolution.wordpress.com#_ednref5" name="_edn5" style="color: #00aadc;">[v]</a>. Polio Global Eradication Initiative, “Vaccine-Derived Polio Viruses,” <a data-mce-href="http://www.polioeradication.org/polioandprevention/thevirus/vaccinederivedpolioviruses.aspx" href="http://www.polioeradication.org/polioandprevention/thevirus/vaccinederivedpolioviruses.aspx" style="color: #00aadc;">http://www.polioeradication.org/polioandprevention/thevirus/vaccinederivedpolioviruses.aspx</a>, accessed August 9, 2016.</div>
Emily Monossonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00896682323554212375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37842820.post-64014012644528968562016-12-19T07:19:00.000-08:002016-12-19T07:22:16.125-08:00Toxic Textiles: Book review of Fake Silk<div style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<strong>Book Review.</strong> Below is an excerpt from my recent review of:<em>Fake Silk</em> The Lethal History of Viscose Rayon Paul David Blanc, Yale University Press. The review first appeared in S<cite style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; font-family: "Benton Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">cience,</cite><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Benton Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"> 25 Nov 2016:</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Benton Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Vol. 354, Issue 6315, pp. 977</span></div>
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<strong>In</strong> this slim, action-packed book, Paul David Blanc takes the reader on a historical tour that touches on chemistry, occupational health, and the maneuverings of multinational corporations. Our guide is a small, “elegant” molecule called carbon disulfide—a compound that is a key ingredient in the making of viscose (better known as rayon) and is also insidiously toxic, having devastated the minds and bodies of factory workers for more than a centuryFake Silk: The Lethal History of Viscose Rayon unveils a story that, in Blanc’s words, “deserves to be every bit as familiar as the cautionary tale of asbestos insulation, leaded paint, or the mercury-tainted seafood in Minimata Bay.” Who knew that the fabric that has had its turn on the highfashion runway, as a pop-culture joke (remember leisure suits?), and more recently as a “green” textile had such a dark side?</div>
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Rayon is a cellulose-based textile in which fibers from tree trunks and plant stalks are spun together into a soft and absorbent fabric. First patented in England in 1892, viscose-rayon production was firmly established by the American Viscose Company in the United States in 1911. Ten years later, the factory was buzzing with thousands of workers. “Every man, woman, and child who had to be clothed” were once considered potential consumers by ambitious manufacturers.</div>
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However, once the silken fibers are formed, carbon disulfide—a highly volatile chemical— is released, filling factory workrooms with fumes that can drive workers insane. Combining accounts from factory records, occupational physician’s reports, journal articles, and interviews with retired workers, Blanc reveals the misery behind the making of this material: depression, weeks in the insane asylum, and in some cases, suicide. Those who were not stricken with neurological symptoms might still succumb to blindness, impotency, and malfunctions of the vascular system and other organs. For each reported case, I could not help but wonder how many others retreated quietly into their disabilities or graves.</div>
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Yet, “[a]s their nerves and vessels weakened, the industry they worked for became stronger,” writes Blanc. In Fake Silk, he exposes an industry that played hardball: implementing duopolies and price-fixing and influencing federal health standards. For more see <a data-mce-href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/354/6315/977?utm_campaign=twitter-books" href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/354/6315/977?utm_campaign=twitter-books" style="color: #00aadc;">here.</a> <span style="background-color: white;">(Though you may need a subscription or library to access the rest.)</span></div>
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Emily Monossonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00896682323554212375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37842820.post-824668053883676042016-12-15T11:33:00.000-08:002016-12-15T11:33:13.536-08:00An antibiotic alternative? Hope through science.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVoA1hfN0HTe9iKtNJEUIKX2A1e_osKen6zMl2rle0_sg15IVPwOVazCbNT52r4W3kNFrEPV1IXIOSCm68WjUpG31Tv3ghcW1XhG0b-ARfFuWnd9rHwGzhXlBYdbh7GtI53qhg/s1600/Antibiotic_sensitvity_and_resistance+Graham+Beards.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVoA1hfN0HTe9iKtNJEUIKX2A1e_osKen6zMl2rle0_sg15IVPwOVazCbNT52r4W3kNFrEPV1IXIOSCm68WjUpG31Tv3ghcW1XhG0b-ARfFuWnd9rHwGzhXlBYdbh7GtI53qhg/s320/Antibiotic_sensitvity_and_resistance+Graham+Beards.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Antibiotic resistance test. Image: Dr. Graham Beards</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 15px;">A toddler suddenly becomes deathly ill. In the ER she is diagnosed with dysentery, caused by a rare but particularly aggressive form of </span><em style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 15px;">Salmonella.</em><span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 15px;"> </span><span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 15px;">One antibiotic after another fails because the strain, picked up when her family was traveling across parts of Asia, resists multiple antibiotics; but there is an alternative new drug. Like a guided missile, the drug targets only the disease causing</span><span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 15px;"> </span><em style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 15px;">Salmonella</em><span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 15px;">. Not only that, but as long as</span><span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 15px;"> </span><em style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 15px;">Salmonella</em><span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 15px;"> </span><span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 15px;">remains, the drug particles replicate, increasing in number until the infection subsides. Despite the carnage, the toddler’s gut microbiome remains unharmed – no need for probiotics or fear of complications like</span><span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 15px;"> </span><em style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 15px;">C. diff</em><span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 15px;">. If</span><span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 15px;"> </span><em style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 15px;">Salmonella</em><span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 15px;"> </span><span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 15px;">responds by evolving resistance, the drug may respond in turn engaging an ages old evolutionary dance. By the next morning the color returns to her cheeks. By evening, she is cured.</span></div>
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While still a fantasy here is the U.S., the scenario has been playing out in Eastern European hospitals and clinics for nearly a century. The “new” drug is a virus called a bacteriophage (or simply “phage”), that attacks bacteria. It is a cure nearly as old as life; at least as old as bacteria. Microbiologists have suggested that for every strain of bacteria on earth from the oceans to those populating our own microbiomes– there is at least one, if not multiple bacteriophages.</div>
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<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; overflow: hidden;"><img alt="phage" class=" wp-image-2453 alignright" data-mce-src="https://toxicevolution.files.wordpress.com/2016/11/phage.jpg?w=1700" height="184" src="https://toxicevolution.files.wordpress.com/2016/11/phage.jpg?w=1700" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; border: 0px none; display: block; float: right; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px;" width="157" /></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; background: rgb(243, 246, 248); color: #4f748e; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px; padding: 16px;">Viral phages infecting a bacterium. Image: Dr. Graham Beards</dd></dl>
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As diseases like TB, gonorrhea, E.coli, staph and other common infections increasingly evolve to resist our antibiotics, health care workers are fast becoming desperate for new antimicrobials that are both effective and cause minimal damage to our own microbiomes. Bacteriophages are potent antimicrobials. Once disparaged here in the U.S. and in western medicine in general, these bacteria infecting viruses are making their way back into academic and biotech laboratories. If all goes well, <a data-mce-href="//companies.phage.org/" href="https://companies.phage.org/" style="color: #00aadc;">they may be coming </a>to a pharmacy near you.</div>
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We now know that throughout our existence viruses have woven in and out of life – leaving their stamp on most if not all living things. By some accounts up to eight percent of our genetic material came to us by way of viruses. Yet for all the fear and harm we associate with viruses many (if not most) are phages, infecting bacteria, like those in our microbiome. Genomics is just beginning to reveal the diversity and representations of these entities in nature and within our bodies. But the role that phages can serve as potent antimicrobials is no mystery. As infectious agents of bacteria they are a normal and pervasive component of earth’s flora, and they have already saved countless lives. One day they just might save us or our loved ones.</div>
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This is only one solution. There are plenty of others in the works. Lets just hope they get the funding they need in the coming years.</div>
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Adapted from <em><a data-mce-href="https://islandpress.org/book/natural-defense" href="https://islandpress.org/book/natural-defense" style="color: #00aadc;">Natural Defense: enlisting bugs and germs to protect food and health</a> (Island Press, Spring 2017.) </em></div>
Emily Monossonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00896682323554212375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37842820.post-66816798438237123292016-04-12T14:14:00.000-07:002016-04-12T14:14:06.958-07:00Raisin Hell (and Dogs)<br />
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<img alt="20150531_162658 (2)" class=" wp-image-1516 alignleft" height="120" src="https://toxicevolution.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/20150531_162658-2.jpg?w=340&h=204" style="border: 1px solid rgb(229, 229, 229); display: inline; float: left; height: auto; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 1px; vertical-align: middle;" width="200" />(<i>Cross-posted from <a href="https://toxicevolution.wordpress.com/">toxicevolution</a></i>.)We were closing in on the end of a glorious spring weekend when my husband discovered the bag. “Any chance you left this lying around — empty?” he’d asked holding the remnants of a one pound bag of Trader Joe’s raisins I’d purchased just the day before with images of molasses filled hermit cookies in mind. I hadn’t, nor had I made the hermits, or chewed away the corners of the bag. Apparently Ella (pictured above) had consumed every last raisin, save the two handfuls my husband snacked on before leaving the bag on the living room floor.</div>
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“I bet she won’t be feeling too good later,” he’d said, eyeing the ever expectant dog sitting at our feet, tail wagging, hoping for a few more of the sweet treats. He had no idea. Nor had I. Not really. I’d had some inkling of a rumor that raisins and grapes were bad for dogs, but never paid too much attention. It’s one of those things you hear at the same time you hear of people treating their dogs to grapes. So, to be safe (and feeling a bit sheepish that, as a toxicologist I ought to have an answer to the raisin question) I suggested he call the vet. And that is when we fell into the raisin hell rabbit hole. Five minutes later dog and husband were on their way to the doggie ER, pushed ahead of the mixed breeds and the Golden and the sad-sack blood hound and their people waiting for service.</div>
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Meanwhile I took to Google. Was this really a life or death dog emergency? If so, why weren’t we more aware? I get it, that one species’ treat can be another’s poison. Differences in uptake, metabolism, excretion. Feeding Tylenol to cats is a very bad idea (as if you could feed a cat a Tylenol tablet). And pyrethrin-based pesticides in canine flea and tick preventions are verboten in felines. The inability to fully metabolize and detoxify these chemicals can kill a particularly curious cat. But raisins in dogs? Not so clear. Googling will either send you racing off to the vet or to bed. You may even toss your best friend a few grapes for a late night treat, smug in the knowledge that those who have bought into the hysteria are hemorrhaging dollars while paying off the vet school debt of a veterinarian who is gleefully inducing their dog to vomit, while you snooze.</div>
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Even Snopes the online mythbuster was <a href="http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/raisins.asp" style="color: #dd5424; text-decoration: none;">confused</a> (though they suggest erring on the side of caution.)<img alt="20160412_115827" class=" wp-image-1515 alignright" height="213" src="https://toxicevolution.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/20160412_115827.jpg?w=127&h=213" style="border: 1px solid rgb(229, 229, 229); display: inline; float: right; height: auto; margin: 5px 0px 10px 25px; max-width: 100%; padding: 1px; vertical-align: middle;" width="127" /></div>
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By the time I arrived at the clinic, uncertain enough to follow up on husband and dog, Ella’s raisin packed gut under the influence of an apomorphine injection (a morphine derivative which induces vomiting in seconds) had done its thing. While Ben and I waited for Ella’s return in the treatment room, somewhat relieved, we played, “Guess how much?” Treatment with a drug, time with the vet, multiplied by the “after hours factor” this being a Sunday evening after all, we’d settled on something in the $300-400 range.</div>
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“Ella did great,” said the vet tech who’d taken her from Ben and hour or so earlier. “A pile of raisins came up. Some were even still wrinkled!” Phew. Potential disaster averted. We’d accepted that it’d likely cost a few hundred – but we’d soon be heading home with Ella in the back seat. We had a good laugh about the revisit of the raisins. But the vet tech wasn’t finished. That was just the first step. “So now we’ll give her some activated charcoal,” she continued “and you can pick her up on Tuesday.” Total estimated <em style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">low-end</em> estimate? A bit over $1000. Paid up front (I have wondered what would have happened if we couldn’t pay – but that is a whole other issue). Apparently we had underestimated the price of a good vomit.</div>
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“We can’t be sure we’ve got all the raisins. So we treat with aggressive I.V. Two days is the standard minimum.” Noting our jaws dragging on the floor, or maybe my comment “that’s a plane ticket to Europe” she added, looking at us a bit less sympathetically. Adding “well, of course you can take her tomorrow, or even tonight….<em style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">if </em>that’s what you want. But that’s what we do. You can talk about it with the Vet.” Or, sure, go ahead take your chances. Poor dog.</div>
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Emetics like apomorphine, according to the literature, are only good for purging 40-60% of a dog’s stomach contents. So, even a good barf, will likely leave some raisins behind.</div>
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Two days though? With I.V? While waiting for the vet another bout of Googling confirmed the standard treatment. Induce vomiting, charcoal, two days of IV and kidney chemistry panel. Ouch.</div>
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But, here is the kicker: no one in the whole Google universe could tell me <em style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">why</em> we were doing this. Why the fruit we take for granted in our cookies can kill our dogs. The virtual gauntlet thrown, I took the challenge. Surely the scientific literature sitting behind a pay wall would provide the answer. But even in my go to database, the <em style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">Web of Science</em> a site that normally yields more far papers than I care to even skim their titles – there were a handful of articles. Yet there was evidence of poisonings: one article reported kidney failure in a Shih Zhu and a Yorkie in South Korea. Another wrote of a Norwegian elkhound, lab, Border collie and a Dachshund all poisoned by raisins. The most popular article, published over ten years ago focused on 43 cases of renal failure following raisin consumption drawn from a decades’ worth of reports to the AnTox database (sponsored by the ASPCA).</div>
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That <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1939-1676.2005.tb02744.x/pdf" style="color: #dd5424; text-decoration: none;">study</a> confirms renal failure following raisin ingestion. Since all dogs in the study were already presenting with symptoms the authors couldn’t provide information on what <em style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">proportion </em>are sensitive. Though they acknowledge that there are plenty of anecdotal dogs for whom grapes and raisins are a risk-free treat. They also suggests there is no correlation between amount of raisins ingested and degree of kidney toxicity. In other words there is <em style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">no dose response</em>. That alone is enough to confound a toxicologist (dose response is a basic tenet of toxicology, the dose makes the poison and all that), and spark controversy amongst dog owners. A dog can eat a few and die. Or eat a whole 16oz bag, and get by with or without treatment depending (albeit with the upset to be expected after eating a heap of dried fruit.) Not only that, but no one know why raisins cause kidney failure. There have been plenty of guesses: fungal toxins; pesticides; something intrinsic to a particular variety; or canine genetics. But there just isn’t enough consistency to identify a mechanism of toxicity. And so vets err on the side of caution.</div>
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One vet tells me her dog went into kidney failure after eating some grapes she discarded (she managed to save the dog). Another says she’s never seen a dog with raisin toxicity (of course absence of evidence isn’t evidence of absence – but those dogs who can eat grapes and not die, won’t show up on the vet’s doorstep either.)</div>
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“Sorry to hear about your dog’s experience with raisins,” writes veterinary toxicologist John Babish writes after I’ve emailed him about Ella’s ordeal (John was my advisor while in graduate school at Cornell University) asking: what’s up with the raisins?</div>
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“The same thing can occur with grapes – all kinds and colors. Canine responses to grapes and raisins are highly variable and some dogs are not affected at all – about 30% are sensitive to very sensitive and a clear majority do okay with no effects. A negative fallout of the inconsistency of response is that some bloggers maintain that grapes/raisins are not toxic to dogs.” Which explains blogs and websites like the Dog Place posting <em style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><a href="http://www.thedogplace.org/Nutrition/Grapes-Poison-Dogs-09061.asp" style="color: #dd5424; text-decoration: none;">Snopes and ASPCA Poison Control Urban Legend</a>; Poisoned by Grapes, NOT; Grape/Raisin Debate; </em>or No More Vet Bills<em style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">,<a href="http://www.nomorevetbills.com/2011/grapes-toxic-to-dogs/" style="color: #dd5424; text-decoration: none;">Grapes Toxic to Dogs</a>?</em></div>
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We are not used to uncertainty. We live in a high-tech age of data. We can sequence the human genome and create disease resistant rice. We can measure toxic substances down to the parts per quadrillion (trust me, that’s a really small amount,) and tease apart the inner workings of our cells in detail unimagined even a decade ago. But sometimes you have to make a decision with the information you have. We weren’t willing to bet that Ella was in the majority.</div>
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Two days later we collected our pooch, happy as ever and oblivious to the whole ordeal. We won’t ever know (I hope) if she is in the minority of dogs who can’t handle their grapes and raisins; or if that $1000 worth of purging saved her life, or simply emptied our wallet. But, just in case – that replacement bag of raisins I bought? Those will remain on the <em style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">top</em> shelf hidden away until I get the urge to make some hermits.</div>
Emily Monossonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00896682323554212375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37842820.post-81131041137404216432015-04-21T12:47:00.000-07:002015-04-21T12:47:04.529-07:00You say tomato, I say blight!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-mce-href="https://toxicevolution.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/late_blight_tomato_fruit1x500.jpg" href="https://toxicevolution.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/late_blight_tomato_fruit1x500.jpg" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: #eeeeee; clear: left; color: #1b8be0; font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.3999996185303px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img alt="From http://www.longislandhort.cornell.edu/vegpath/photos/lateblight_tomato.htm#images" class="size-medium wp-image-1021" data-mce-selected="1" data-mce-src="https://toxicevolution.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/late_blight_tomato_fruit1x500.jpg?w=225" height="200" src="https://toxicevolution.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/late_blight_tomato_fruit1x500.jpg?w=225" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px none rgb(221, 221, 221); color: #222222; display: block; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; line-height: 1.7; margin: 5px auto 0px !important; max-width: 98%; outline: rgb(119, 119, 119) solid 1px; padding: 0px; resize: none;" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;">http://www.longislandhort.cornell.edu/<br />vegpath/photos/<br />lateblight_tomato.htm#images</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 19.6000003814697px; line-height: 1.7;">The first inkling that things were really bad was the news that late blight had not only wilted and rotted my own tomatoes but </span><a data-mce-href="redfirefarm.com" href="https://wordpress.com/post/13157249/redfirefarm.com" style="color: #1b8be0; font-size: 19.6000003814697px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.7; text-decoration: none;">Red Fire Farm’</a><span style="font-size: 19.6000003814697px; line-height: 1.7;">s (Montague, Massachusetts) as well. Farmer Ryan Voiland has been growing and selling tomatoes since middle school, setting up a road-side stand outside his parent's home. A decade or so later Voiland – a thirty-something soft-spoken organic farmer with a degree from Cornell – had become an award winning tomato grower. “That first year was remarkable,” recalled Voiland, cracking a shy smile, “we heard about the Massachusetts Tomato Contest …. had a good crop and managed to send in some specimens.” Red Fire's tomatoes won five out of twelve awards, more than any farm, organic or conventional, had ever won in a single year. Red Fire, now a successful Community Supported Agriculture farm or CSA, grows more than 150 different tomato varieties offering them up for tasting at their annual Tomato Festival. But in 2014, a fungus-like disease called Late Blight had made its way up the valley, jumping from one farm to another until it hit Red Fire. Tomato crops died within days. Rows of once lush plants resembled vegetative versions of Zombie armies; upright stalks studded with browned blight infested leaves. Large brown spots blossomed on the fruits turning them soft and unsellable.</span></div>
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<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.7;"><img alt="late blight on leaf" data-mce-src="http://www.longislandhort.cornell.edu/vegpath/photos/images/late_blight_tomato_leaf3x500.jpg" height="226" src="http://www.longislandhort.cornell.edu/vegpath/photos/images/late_blight_tomato_leaf3x500.jpg" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; border: 0px none rgb(238, 238, 238); display: block; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; line-height: 1.7; margin: 5px auto 0px !important; max-width: 98%; padding: 0px;" width="264" /></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif !important; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em !important; padding: 0px 0px 5px 40px; position: relative; text-align: left;">From: http://www.longislandhort.cornell.edu/ vegpath/photos/lateblight_tomato.htm#images</dd></dl>
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That my kitchen garden, just a few miles away from Voiland's farm succumbed as well, was no surprise; I am not the most attentive farmer. When I can amble down to the Red Fire farm stand and purchase plump red Brandywines, Big Yellow Zebras or Sungolds, tending to tomatoes is not a make or break situation. But for independent farmers and CSAs, such large scale crop loss can be devastating. The 2014 outbreak left local tomato fields in tatters, but it wasn't the worst case of the blight to hit Red Fire. In 2009, writes Voiland in his farm blog, Late Blight “caused massive crop loss and severely impacted us financially.” Voiland had plenty of company that season as the blight ripped into tomato plants all along the east coast and mid-Atlantic. Chef and author Dan Barber penned a <a data-mce-href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/opinion/09barber.html?pagewanted=all" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/opinion/09barber.html?pagewanted=all" style="color: #1b8be0; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.7; text-decoration: none;"><em style="font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.7;">New York Times</em> op-ed </a>about the outbreak, “You Say Tomato, I say Agricultural Disaster.” The article was just one of hundreds published that year. “I, myself,” <a data-mce-href="http://www.themarthablog.com/2009/08/the-tomato-blight-in-my-garden.html" href="http://www.themarthablog.com/2009/08/the-tomato-blight-in-my-garden.html" style="color: #1b8be0; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.7; text-decoration: none;">wrote Martha Stewart</a> in a 2009 blog, “have lost seventy percent of the fifty different varieties in my garden. Even though I still have tomatoes on the vine, many of the beautiful heirloom varieties, which were planted, never had a chance.” Stewart's post was accompanied by an image of an ugly diseased tomato, a far cry from the doyenne's trademark perfection.</div>
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Diseased tomatoes are nothing new, whether grown by conventional or organic tomato farmers. Voiland and others are constantly on the lookout for early blight and black mold; cut worms and leaf miners; and all sorts of specks, spots and cankers. But Late Blight, caused by the fungus-like <em style="font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.7;">Phytophtora infestans</em> – a pathogen with an affinity not only for tomatoes but also for their botanical cousin the potato – was a new one for Northeast growers. And, ever since it's 2009 debut, the blight that wipes out crops within days, has returned each growing season. For Voiland and many CSA farmers tomatoes are an essential crop. A classic summer vegetable. But ever since blight, tomatoes have become harder to bring to market.</div>
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That 2009 outbreak may have been the first to hit northeast tomatoes but it certainly was not the first time <em style="font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.7;">Phytophthora </em>went pandemic. Nor were tomatoes the first vegetable (or, fruit) to be taken by blight. Over a century ago a mysterious potato disease spread across Europe like wild fire. Healthy plants died within days. Potatoes in the ground turned putrid. Tenant farmers in Ireland were hit particularly hard. Some one million Irish died and more than a million sailed for distant shores. Late blight had touched off the infamous Potato Famine, altering social structures, politics, and agricultural practices – its effects relevant even today. Since its emergence on potato fields blight has remained the bane of farmers around the globe. Even so, no one expected the 2009 outbreak.</div>
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“In our experience,” writes Cornell plant pathologist William Fry and colleagues of the outbreak in their recent article <em style="font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.7;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.apsnet.org/publications/apsnetfeatures/Pages/2009LateBlight.aspx" href="http://www.apsnet.org/publications/apsnetfeatures/Pages/2009LateBlight.aspx" style="color: #1b8be0; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.7; text-decoration: none;">The 2009 Late Blight Epidemic in Eastern U.S</a>.</em>, available online by the American Phytopathogical Society, “the scale of pathogen release was completely unexpected and unprecedented.” Fry has tracked the plant pathogen to its roots and teased apart its DNA. So what changed? How did this happen? Using an NCIS-like approach including DNA finger-printing, the group traced the 2009 outbreak to a single source and a single strain, subsequently named “US22” (there are dozens of late blight strains; but US22 was the bane of 2009 growers.) While the scenario played out like an agro-terrorist attack with blight hitting just about everywhere in the east, the cause was disturbingly mundane. Blight infected plants, traced back to big box distributors like Home Depot, Kmart, Lowes and others, which had purchased <em style="font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.7;">their</em> plants from one national plant distributor. News reports fingered Alabama-based distributor Bonnie Plants a charge the company vehemently denied though that summer, though they pulled their plants from a dozen states and took a financial hit. Since the outbreak, working with Cornell plant pathologists, the company has cleaned up their act. Now, it seems as if blight is here to stay. Even so, no matter the source, the mere existence of the fungus-like blight isn't enough to cause disease. For Blight to take wing, it requires moderate, wet conditions. When the temperatures hover around the 70s and the rains settle in – an apparently healthy crop can disintegrate within days.</div>
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Had 2009 been hot and dry, Voiland and others might have been hauling out the hoses and irrigation equipment, rather than contending with Blight. But along the east coast, conditions both in 2009 and 2014 have been more reminiscent of Ireland and England than Arizona. Since that initial outbreak, the threat of late blight has loomed large. Before 2009 few tomato growers in the Northeast worried about losing whole crops to late blight; now even home gardeners are wondering how to tame it or better, avoid it altogether.</div>
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Should the weather turn cool and damp and the blight start flying this summer there are few options other than:</div>
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1) Consider choosing resistant varieties like the Iron Ladies, Defiants and others.</div>
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2) Track blight and prepare as best you can using <a data-mce-href="http://usablight.org/" href="http://usablight.org/" style="color: #1b8be0; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.7; text-decoration: none;">http://usablight.org/</a></div>
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3) Read up on blight <a data-mce-href="http://www.extension.org/pages/18361/organic-management-of-late-blight-of-potato-and-tomato-phytophthora-infestans#.VS1fw_nF-Uk" href="http://www.extension.org/pages/18361/organic-management-of-late-blight-of-potato-and-tomato-phytophthora-infestans#.VS1fw_nF-Uk" style="color: #1b8be0; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.7; text-decoration: none;">http://www.extension.org/pages/18361/organic-management-of-late-blight-of-potato-and-tomato-phytophthora-infestans#.VS1fw_nF-Uk</a></div>
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4) Give your plants space, and watch them like a hawk.</div>
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Published in the <em style="font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.7;">Montague Reporter </em>April 2015</div>
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<i style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;">Cross-posted from toxicevolution.wordpress.com</i></div>
Emily Monossonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00896682323554212375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37842820.post-68178032877728858602015-04-21T12:31:00.000-07:002015-04-27T14:18:32.310-07:00Happy to be back! And with new Book in tow!!It has been quite a while (apologies to those who left comments over the past 3 years...when Google took over, I couldn't figure out how to get in!) Just tried again after getting on the forum and am happy to have control of my blog back.<br />
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Anyway, in the meantime, I have been continuing to think about evolution and toxicology and what that means for us. It's a big deal. Evolution is relevant in our everyday lives (just think about antibiotic resistance; pesticide and herbicide resistance which even if you don't use, you are impacted because it forces users to increase application rates.) And, though we tend to think of evolution as something that happens over billions or millions of years - we now know it can also happen rapidly. Depending on who's doing the evolving in days, weeks, months or a few years. Not only that but we humans can and do influence evolution of everything from bacteria to plants, bugs, fish, even mammals. This isn't a good thing. At least, not for us.<br />
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Any who, the upshot of all of this is a new book! <a href="http://islandpress.org/unnatural-selection">Unnatural Selection: how we are changing life gene by gene</a> is written for anyone interested in the too-often under appreciated downsides of using lots of chemicals. That is, evolution in the pests and pathogens we tend to insist on wiping out! Next up is a book about the solutions. Hopefully in a year or so.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPRex00RJpwxoDxretmqlLOM0z7zaKLKLEI9xgqXfo4R50K5jieZqv-fVH9dXj1vro2iFNs8uwtLALKUroAQwUvORNXZXF60mECy5NH5M2pxDrynRVQLx13vFfId-RqzncFxa6/s1600/9781610914987.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPRex00RJpwxoDxretmqlLOM0z7zaKLKLEI9xgqXfo4R50K5jieZqv-fVH9dXj1vro2iFNs8uwtLALKUroAQwUvORNXZXF60mECy5NH5M2pxDrynRVQLx13vFfId-RqzncFxa6/s1600/9781610914987.jpg" /></a></div>
I've posted some blogs at <a href="http://toxicevolution.wordpress.com/">toxicevolution.wordpress.com </a>and now have a site with updates about events and talks at <a href="http://emilymonosson.wordpress.com/">emilymonosson.wordpress.com </a><br />
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<br />Emily Monossonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00896682323554212375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37842820.post-82902924260820100742012-03-28T18:05:00.004-07:002015-04-21T12:14:25.256-07:00The Neighborhood Toxicologist is Evolving<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9erIybJS7pVcnKfIQ79ces6KiL7klJnr6rRjH9b24AMC4PfKeliR-QBYBRZFcFrnLPnoYjuyTfZynJVb8LzzmXsEDYFyD6rU4eDQIR6SsvPiQ-fhXIce-Z4EENWPlvDwGPUeB/s1600/evolution+in+a+toxic+world.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9erIybJS7pVcnKfIQ79ces6KiL7klJnr6rRjH9b24AMC4PfKeliR-QBYBRZFcFrnLPnoYjuyTfZynJVb8LzzmXsEDYFyD6rU4eDQIR6SsvPiQ-fhXIce-Z4EENWPlvDwGPUeB/s1600/evolution+in+a+toxic+world.jpg" /></a></div>
When I started writing this blog, my goal was to explain why certain chemicals in consumer products were toxic, as well as discuss some of the uncertainties in toxicology. Over the years, all this writing about one chemical after another - many of them industrial age chemicals - got me thinking about all the defenses we have that protects us to some degree against toxics. Would these systems hold up to the onslaught of chemicals in the world today? Why do we handle some chemicals better than others? How can we better predict and prevent toxicity? <br />
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One thing led to another, which eventually led to a book! So I am happy to announce the publication of my first toxicology book, <a href="http://islandpress.org/ip/books/book/islandpress/E/bo8078594.html">Evolution in a Toxic World</a>, and another <a href="http://toxicevolution.wordpress.com/">blog</a> by the same name. Hope to see you there. </div>
Emily Monossonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00896682323554212375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37842820.post-58990831554436872182010-08-16T15:15:00.000-07:002010-08-17T14:44:36.263-07:00Peanut allergies in a nutshell<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">This summer I met a family from Australia who’d mentioned their daughter was highly allergic to peanuts. Wondering if all the concern about peanut allergies was yet another case of Americans overreacting to anything health-related I asked if they’d ever heard of schools in Australia banning peanuts.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“Our daughter’s school has been peanut-free for years,” they replied, as if it were an odd question. They added, “Lots of schools are.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Like many people, I’ve also wondered if the seeming rise in prevalence of peanut allergies was real. After all, how many times have I heard someone say, “Well, we all grew up with peanut butter, and I didn’t know anyone who was allergic. What’s all the fuss about now?” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Turns out -- according to several studies published in medical and allergy journals over the past decade -- that peanut and tree nut related allergies, or hypersensitivity of the immune system to specific proteins in these nut families, truly is on the rise in Australia, the US and other Westernized countries. It is now estimated that over 1% of the US population has peanut or tree nut allergies, and one study reported a <a href="http://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(09)00560-0/abstract">doubling of peanut allergies</a> in children over a five year period. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">So what’s going on? Has something changed in the way we are exposed to peanuts, tree nuts and other increasingly allergenic foods (sesame, and soy for example)? Or is it simply that our <a href="http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/immuneSystem/Pages/whatIsImmuneSystem.aspx">immune systems</a> are going haywire? <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">The immune response is complex. While we’re all familiar with the role of antibodies, which confer immunity to anything from the common cold to polio, they are only one of five different types of immune proteins, or immunoglobulins. Other immune proteins protect vulnerable regions of the digestive and respiratory tract from pathogens, elicit our bodies to produce antimicrobials, and help us get a “jump” on our response once pathogens have breached other protections and entered our bloodstream. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Then there is immunoglobulin E (IgE). Although recent studies suggest that IgE may protect against certain parasitic worms (less of a problem these days in western countries compared with other regions of the globe), IgEs are most notorious for their role in causing allergic reactions, or an inappropriate immune response to a relatively harmless substance. Basically, once a body is sensitized by a potential allergen, a bit of basement mold perhaps, or a whiff of pollen from the old oak tree, IgEs are then distributed thoughout the body in association with immune cells like mast cells and basophils, which lay in wait for the next exposure. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">When subsequent exposure occurs, these sensitized immune cells release a slew of potent chemicals including histamine, cytokines, and prostaglandins. These are all useful chemicals when released at the appropriate time and place, as during a normal immune response when the body is combating a pathogen or healing a wound (and even then they may cause some damage to healthy cells and tissues.) But as far as anyone knows, there is no appropriate time or place for an allergic response. Yet no matter the reason, when these chemicals are released the body responds.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">The allergic responses many of us experience are caused by the increases in vascular permeability, constriction of smooth muscles (including those around the smallest passages of our lungs), and increased mucus production caused by histamine and other chemicals. The impacts on a body can range from mild to severe. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">So, while I might suffer through a month or two of asthma, sneezing and itchy eyes (along <a href="http://www.aaaai.org/media/statistics/allergy-statistics.asp">with the more than 20% of the U.S. population</a> affected by allergies), thankfully my IgEs seem to respond relatively mildly. But for some, an IgE response can cause anaphylaxis, a far more severe and systemic condition which may include vomiting, constricted breathing, and plunging blood pressure. The onset of these life-threatening responses can lead to anaphylactic shock and can occur within minutes of exposure. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">A 2008 study published in the journal </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Current Opinion in Allergy and Clinical Immunology</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> estimated that allergic anaphylaxis may occur in up to <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18596588">2% of the U.S. population</a> at some point in their life, with varying degrees of severity. And the risk of occurrence, particularly in children, is on the rise.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Which brings us to some of the top triggers for anaphylaxis - a list that includes many common substances like latex, insect venom (e.g. bee stings), medications (e.g. penicillin) and certain foods including shellfish, milk, tree nuts, and peanuts. Of these, food allergies are among the most common triggers of anaphylaxis requiring emergency room treatment. By some estimates, in the US food allergies account for roughly 30,000 visits to the emergency room and at least 100 fatalities a year, and several reviews of the medical literature including a 2009 review published in Clinical Pediatrics conclude that peanuts and tree nuts cause the majority of reported allergy-induced fatalities. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">When a food is allergenic, the allergic reaction is usually caused by a specific type of protein contained in the food. In peanuts, <a href="http://cpj.sagepub.com/content/early/2009/04/20/0009922808330782.citation">eight different allergens have been identified</a>. What differentiates allergenic proteins from other food proteins is that they resist acid, heat, and enzymatic breakdown in the gut. So they tend to be identified by the body’s immune system as an intruder rather than a nutrient, with potentially devastating consequences.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Efforts to understand why the US and other Westernized populations has a higher prevalence of peanut allergies than, say, China, where peanut consumption is also high, have identified the U.S. food industry’s practice of <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11398088">dry roasting peanuts rather than boiling or frying peanuts</a> as one potentially relevant factor. The higher temperatures reached by the dry roasting process increases the allergenicity of peanut proteins. Other factors contributing to higher prevalence likely include differences in diet, routes (oral or dermal) and timing of nut exposures. Additionally, scientists have hypothesized that improved hygiene and reduced disease incidence in young children may also contribute to increased prevalence of allergies in general. Scientists and allergists have also speculated that increased use of peanuts in common consumer products, from soaps to shampoos and skin creams, may contribute to creating a more sensitized population. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Whatever the underlying cause, some people, once they are sensitized, need only ingest a very small amount (50 millgrams, approximately 100</span><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">th</span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> of a teaspoon, down to as low as 2 mg) of peanut product to cause what could become a life-threatening reaction. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">It is a mind-boggling response. Consider the tiniest oral exposure setting off a systemic response within minutes. How does this happen?</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“What you think of as low dose might contain plenty of stable antigen [or allergenic protein],” explains Southeastern Louisiana University Immunologist Dr. Penny Shockett. “Also,” Shockett added, “once the system is sensitized it doesn't necessarily take a high dose for tripping the mast cell response. If you are highly sensitized (i.e. allergic) you have more sensitized mast cells in tissues (or basophils in the blood) sitting and waiting for the allergen, which can potentially detect it quickly and strongly.”</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> Studies indicate that not only has</span></span><span style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> the prevalence of peanut allergies risen over the past few decades, but also the risk of anaphylaxis in general, at least in the United States and other Western countries. As we alter our diets based on the ever-changing suggestions of health and nutrition experts, cultures adopt one another’s diets, and diseases are reduced through changes in hygiene and vaccines, scientists are in a quandary as to the causes of increased peanut and tree-nut sensitivity. Hopefully both the underlying causes and solutions for those who are allergic will be identified sooner than later. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">For those currently affected by severe allergies, <a href="http://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(09)00560-0/abstract">the focus is on management</a>. In addition to education of individuals with allergies, particularly children, this means a range of options for schools. First and foremost involves appropriate medical and treatment plans in schools, followed by education of the school community, and strategies to avoid exposures for allergic individuals. In the case of peanut allergies avoidance in schools ranges from peanut free buildings to peanut free classrooms or separate lunch tables. As to the most effective management practice, the jury is still out.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><i><span style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Emily Monosson, Ph.D. writes and blogs as the Neighborhood Toxicologist, is a member of the GMRSD school committee, and is a member of the district’s Wellness Committee. The information presented here is the product of her own research into the issue and does not represent the opinion or work of the GMRSD school district, or the Wellness Committee. </span></span></i><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Emily Monossonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00896682323554212375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37842820.post-89888158978383701942010-05-05T12:31:00.000-07:002010-05-10T06:06:02.835-07:00McElligott's Plastic<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“Ask for a cone, save the environment!” proclaimed the sign at the local Creamee. The girls asked for cups anyway, to catch the drippings of the oversized soft-serve half-and-half cones they'd ordered. “Guess we’re not saving the environment today,” said one, dipping her plastic spoon into the Styrofoam cup. </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 18px; font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Styrofoam is one incarnation of polystyrene plastic – more affectionately known as “#6” or, the plastic we can’t recycle.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Polystyrene is also the </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">black polystyrene casing of my computer, my bicycle helmet, the foamed polystyrene clamshell we were offered to carry home the remainders from a local restaurant and, the countless little white Styrofoam pellets degraded from sheets of weathered insulation I spent the weekend picking from the weeds at the local junk-yard turned conservation land along with a handful of diligent volunteers.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">While collecting the little white bits from the earth, I imagine how each year some portion of those beads along with larger rafts of insulation are blown or washed into the bordering Sawmill River, some journeying only as far as the local swimming hole, while others carried by the Sawmill make their way to the Connecticut and beyond. I imagine their journey a perverse version of Dr.Seuss’s </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">McElligot’s Pool</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">, where you never know what exotic species might make their way from the deep ocean to a backyard pond, only these make their way to the deep ocean. This isn’t fanciful fiction. Just this year scientists confirmed the presence of a plastic “patch” of our own in the <a href="http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=39136&tid=282&cid=68026&ct=162">North Atlantic</a>, the evil twin of the infamous <a href="http://www.algalita.org/5-Gyres.html">North Pacific trash gyre</a> – a region known for its accumulation of plastic from soccer balls to microscopic bits of Styrofoam and other assorted plastics. Looking around at all the Styrofoam I’ve missed, the scientist in me wants to radio-tag those naughty bits and send them on their way. Maybe in a few years we’d know for sure if pieces of Montague were swirling about the wide Sargasso Sea. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><a href="http://www.algalita.org/">Captain Charles Moore</a>, an adventurer, environmentalist and researcher, credited with discovering the North Pacific patch once commented on the </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">return</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"> of plastic to the oceans and its consumption by marine life</span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"> in an article for </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">Natural History Magazine</span></span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">, “</span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">Ironically,” wrote Moore “the debris is re-entering the oceans whence it came; the ancient plankton that once floated on Earth's primordial sea gave rise to the petroleum now being transformed into plastic polymers. That exhumed life, our ‘civilized plankton,’ is, in effect, competing with its natural counterparts, as well as with those life-forms that directly or indirectly feed on them.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">” Research by Moore and others, now shows that plastics in the ocean can accumulate toxicants long banned like PCBs and DDTs, and there is some concern that once ingested, contaminated plastics might release these chemicals, along with others used for plastics production including colorants, fire retardants and plasticizers into their host. Someday there may be no need to shrink-wrap seafood.</span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">Like other plastics, polystyrene – the base material for Styrofoam or foamed polystyrene clamshell food containers, microwavable cups (think cup-o-noodles), plastic plates and coffee cups – is a polymer, a chemical chain of repeating units, like beads on a string. In this case the beads or monomers are styrene. Produced naturally by plants and animals, styrene – like many chemicals - is relatively non-toxic in these small amounts. And, like many chemicals, natural production is dwarfed by human production (at least in localized concentrations,) which in the case of styrene tops 13 billion pounds a year in the US alone. The majority is used to produce polystyrene. While polystyrene might not appear on the top ten list for toxic chemicals, it is made from benzene. Over 50% of all benzene that is produced <a href="http://www.gpca.org.ae/overview.asp">from oil</a> is eventually turned into styrene. And sweet smelling benzene is nasty stuff. Just a whiff brings me back to organic chemistry lab in college. We used it without a care until the day it was officially deemed a carcinogen – and then we didn’t. At the risk of showing my age, that was in 1979. And in a strange case of collective heads- in-sand, benzene <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17718179">was known to cause cancer</a> since the 1920s. (We can thank industry along with federal regulators to for that small lapse.) Benzene is now one of the few industrial chemicals officially listed as a known human carcinogen – causing leukemia in this case – and it is industry workers who are most at risk. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">So what happens to all that polystyrene? The E<a href="http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/nonhaz/municipal/pubs/msw07-rpt.pdf">PA estimated that in 2007</a>, nearly 3 billion pounds of it was used in the production of disposable goods, including foamed polystyrene plastic plates, cups, egg cartons, and packaging peanuts. Aside from the packaging peanuts we might bring to a UPS store for reuse, with a recycling rate for all polystyrene estimated as a mere 0.8%, most will end up in a landfill. At worst it’ll end up our local streams, rivers and oceans. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">And, when it does according to new research by </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">Katsuhiko Saido and colleagues from the Nihon University, in Chiba, Japan, it will not only degrade more rapidly than it would on land (under certain marine conditions) but it will also release toxicants including a small amount of bisphenol A, notoriously linked with polycarbonate plastics, and styrene which brings us back to – d’oh!<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">The good news is that like most other plastics, technically, polystyrene foam </span></span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">is recyclable</span></span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">.</span></span><span style="color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"> In fact, it can be recycled back into many of the products from which it came – plates, clamshells, egg cartons and insulation, or into less desirable “dead end” products like light-weight concrete. The bad news is that the process isn’t cost effective, at least in the US – and so isn’t all that popular. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">Then there are the more creative uses for this problem plastic. Some, like Cass Phillips, writer and co-owner of </span></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><a href="http://www.hawaiiorchidgrowers.org/detail.php?id=53">Kamuela Greenhouse</a>/Specialty Orchids in Waimea, </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">Hawaii have considered turning the environmental blight into beauty. With USDA grant funding, Phillips is currently testing the utility of various locally collected and processed recycled plastics as a growth medium additive with an eye to providing a durable low cost product for the Hawaii orchid industry. When asked about foamed polystyrene, she responded: <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">“I found that a certain type of orchid</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">, miltoniopsis</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"> (aka the pansy orchid), grew fastest and largest in straight granulated polystyrene foam, in a trial that included three controls (cinder, coconut fiber and orchid bark)…... What truly stunned me is that the pansy orchids went into their bloom cycle 2-3 months before any other sample." There could be several reasons for the accelerated growth. One might suppose improved water retention could be a factor, but the ground polystyrene foam dried out almost instantly. That leaves us pondering other possibilities, including one that could be considered insidious: the release of growth-inducing chemicals. Sorting out the differences will require further analysis, but in the meantime Phillips has found herself wondering about the wisdom of schools using Styrofoam plates in their lunch programs, and the consequences of slurping down cups-o-soup from Styrofoam tubs. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">Of course the best way to keep this ubiquitous plastic from polluting the oceans and clogging the landfills is to reduce use (according to the American Chemistry Council, the PS industry has been in decline for the past four years, though they give no reason), and close the recycling loop. More immediately, I’m sure there’ll be many more opportunities to pick Styrofoam from newly acquired conservation land, and for those rare occasions when I can’t clean my plate while dining at one of the local eateries, I’ve begun asking for foil or cardboard for the leftovers. </span></span></p>Emily Monossonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00896682323554212375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37842820.post-85318379574057878452010-01-25T09:16:00.000-08:002010-02-10T09:20:34.985-08:00Yankee Swap: tritium contaminated water anyone?<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">First published in the </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Montague Reporter</span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">First we hear about tens of thousands of picocuries* in the groundwater beneath <a href="http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20100116/NEWS02/1160313/Search-on-for-Vermont-Yankee-tritium-leak">Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power</a> plant, next it’s over one hundred gallons of water contaminated with over 2 million picocuries in some sort of concrete trench. Oops. Besides sloppy practices, lax monitoring, shoddy construction, and obfuscation (what underground pipes?) what do these numbers mean? Should we worry about all that tritium? And what the heck is a picocurie anyway?</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Tritium is a radioactive isotope of the element hydrogen. What sets apart the radioactive elements from the non-radioactive is their lack of stability. They can disintegrate spontaneously, sometimes changing into other elements over time. Uranium, for example, decays into lead (although it may take billions of years,) while it takes roughly a decade for tritium to decay into helium.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">The difference between a radioactive element and a plain old element depends upon what’s in the nucleus. The nucleus of any atom consists of protons (positive elements), neutrons (neutral elements) and electrons (negative elements). While the chemical properties of an element mostly depend on the number of protons in the nucleus, the radioactive properties are determined by the number of neutrons and the balance amongst the protons, neutrons and electrons. An element like hydrogen and its radioactive twin, tritium, have the same number of protons (and so, the same chemical properties), but instead of a single neutron, tritium has three neutrons. Tritium occurs naturally in small amounts, in addition to being produced by man either purposefully for research and consumer products (ever wonder about that glowing watch dial or that luminous EXIT sign?), or as a by-product of the nuclear industry. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Because tritium is chemically similar to hydrogen it can and does take the place of hydrogen – when this happens in water </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">tritiated water</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> or radioactive water is formed. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">The radiation released by tritium is referred to as a beta particle. Beta particles, or electrons, are a form of ionizing radiation capable stripping electrons from other atoms, causing a sort of chain reaction of destabilization, and breaking chemical bonds. Although the beta particles released by tritium are low energy, incapable of penetrating through barriers such as skin (unlike some other forms of radiation), should tritium enter the body through inhalation or umm…water, those emitted particles would then have full access to vulnerable tissues and molecules. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Tritiated water is particularly insidious. The tritiated water lurking below Vermont Yankee for example, could be absorbed by the root systems of nearby plants, or imbibed by unsuspecting animals. Once consumed, distributes rapidly throughout the body of plant or animal. Additionally, ingestion of tritiated water, can lead to incorporation of tritium into organic materials like DNA, proteins and amino acids. Only, unlike hydrogen, tritium will eventually decay, leaving behind an atom of helium and releasing a beta particle with enough energy to break nearby chemical bonds. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">In the body, the making and breaking of the chemical bonds between atoms is a highly coordinated process, normal and essential to life. The “unscheduled” breaking of chemical bonds can cause permanent cell damage, damage to the cell’s DNA or cell death.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">The human genome is contained within the DNA of our 46 chromosomes located in a cell’s nucleus. Replication of these chromosomes during cell division is a critical process, requiring a number of complex biochemical interactions including copying and construction of identical chromosomal pairs that are then split off into the newly divided cell. Because integrity of the genetic material is essential to life, not only are there biochemical systems involved in maintaining chromosomes during division, but there are also a number of mechanisms by which errors may be repaired.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Say a few molecules of tritium enter the cell and cozy up to nuclear DNA. At some point in their unstable life-time they will disintegrate, releasing their energized electrons. Should the cells’ chromosomes be in their pathway, the transfer of energy from electron to chromosome may be enough to break off a bit of chromosome. Sometimes, depending on conditions within the cell and location of the break, the broken pieces may rejoin the chromosome, leaving little or no evidence of damage; other times a broken piece remains separate, becoming a chromosomal deletion; or both the deleted piece and the damaged chromosome will be copied as if nothing happened, only it will be altered. Or, instead of direct interference with DNA, emitted electrons may interact with other molecules such as oxygen, causing “indirect” damage by creating highly reactive oxygen radicals. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Since DNA tends to be a target of ionizing radiation, tissues made up of cells that are rapidly dividing – such as blood forming organs constantly churning out cells – tend to be far more sensitive to radiation damage than say, brain cells. Similarly, embryos and fetal tissues are more susceptible to radiation damage than adult tissues. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal"><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">There is some good news amidst all this havoc and destruction. That is, most if not all cells have some capacity for DNA repair. These include an array of enzymes and proteins that find and correct damaged DNA in addition to a number of antioxidants capable of disarming those reactive oxygen radicals. The presence of such repair mechanisms have led some to speculate that exposures to very low amounts of radiation may be a good thing, “priming” these repair systems and leading to greater protection with low levels of exposure – a phenomenon referred to as hormesis. However, a National Academy of Science report on </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><a href="http://dels.nas.edu/dels/rpt_briefs/beir_vii_final.pdf">The Health Effects of Low Level Ionizing Radiation</a></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">, published in 2007, found no available evidence of radiation induced hormesis in mammals, and concluded that </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">any single track of ionizing radiation (for example by a single ejected electron in the case of tritium) has the potential to cause cellular damage.</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></i></span></span><i><span style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">And, despite the capacity for repair, sometimes the system is overwhelmed, or sometimes the repair itself introduces a new error (think sloppy auto mechanic.) At this point the genetic damage has the potential to become permanent, or “fixed.” Permanent damage to DNA can result in the eventual development of cancerous cells, or a defect in an exposed fetus or as a mutation passed on to the next generation. While the evidence for carcinogenicity in human populations is strong for some radioactive isotopes like strontium-90, plutonium and radium, the health effects of tritium, a weak beta emitter are less clear. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Which brings us to concentration. How much is too much? What does it mean that the groundwater has over 200,000 picocuries of tritium per liter of water, or that there are “troughs” with over 2 million picocuries per liter? A curie (named in honor of radiation pioneers Pierre and Marie Curie) is a quantity of radionuclide in which there are 37 billion disintegrations a second. That’s a lot of disintegration and in the case of tritium would be a lot of beta particles whizzing about. But the amounts drawn from the ground water were measured in picocuries per liter – or one millionth of a millionth of a curie. So, every second, until all the tritium has disintegrated to helium (the half-life for tritium is 12.5 years) there would be roughly 7,400 electrons winging about in a liter of Vermont Yankee groundwater.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">As a result of the current hypothesis that exposure to any amount of ionizing radiation carries with it some risk of cancer, the U.S. EPA’s Maximum Contaminant Level Goal for all radionuclides in drinking water, a goal which aims for “zero-risk” to public health, is zero picocuries per liter. Unfortunately, achieving “zero risk” is not only wishful thinking but currently unenforceable and, because there is some naturally occurring tritium impracticable. Instead, EPA has developed Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCL) for drinking water. While the MCLs are enforceable, they are calculated considering best available technology and economic feasibility. For tritium, the derived** MCL is 20,000 picocuries per liter, while the derived MCL for strontium 90, a more powerful beta emitter associated with bone cancer and leukemia, is 8 picocuries. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Here’s the thing. Right now we’re talking two wells and a trench (where, incidentally, a small amount of radioactive cobalt has turned up as well.) While current concentrations in the ground water (the trench is another story) may not present an immediate health risk, who knows what a more comprehensive analysis - currently underway - might reveal? </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:12.75pt"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;color:#333333;"><i>*As of Feb 10, 2010 over 2 million pCi was measured in test wells around the plant. </i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:12.75pt"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;color:#333333;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; line-height: normal; font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><i>For more see: </i></span></span><a href="http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20100205/NEWS04/2050349/1003/NEWS02">http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20100205/NEWS04/2050349/1003/NEWS02</a></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:12.75pt"><i><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">**The MCL for beta emitters is based on a dose of 4mrem/year to the total body and assumes ingestion of 2L a day – the picocurie concentrations are derived for each specific beta emitting isotope depending on their strength. Over the years, there has been discussing of using different calculations for tritium that would dramatically reduce the MCL. </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>Emily Monossonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00896682323554212375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37842820.post-65433018793901846562010-01-07T10:17:00.000-08:002010-01-08T06:12:11.341-08:00Evolution of the Toxic Response: In the beginning there were chemicals....<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal"><span style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><i>The following is what I intend to be the first in a series of essays on the <b>Evolution of the Toxic Response</b> – a topic which piqued my interest after what could either be called a disastrous flirtation with the publishing world, or an invaluable lesson in pursuing your passion. The disaster was allowing myself to be duped into thinking the content and style of this blog would actually make an engaging book (wrong,) the passion was in realizing that writing primarily <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><i>about toxicants of interest to the consumer (and in the style that would be most appealing to mass market publishers) has caused me to lose my way as a toxicologist and a scientist. </i> </span></i></span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal"><span style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">There is no doubt that some toxicants are, well, toxic. But there is always the question of exposure, dose, and potency. Topics often lost in breezy articles meant to engage a reader – rather than inform about the complexities not only of toxicology but science in general. Unfortunately the publishing world seems to have no confidence in its mass readership. Readers are attracted by alarmism, so hype it up. They’ll doze if there is too much science, so keep it simple. They just want to be told what’s best for them, so just tell them. But after whipping off one light and fluffy page after another about dangerous toxicants hidden away our homes and gardens (along with a few good toxins in our ‘fridges) all in preparation for my failed Book Proposal, a request by the local news paper to write about bisphenol A or BPA resulted in a nearly visceral reaction at the thought of writing yet one more article for consumer consumption about chemicals consumed by consumers</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal"><span style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">But after the storm, and the lull where I could barely bring myself to write another word about chemicals, came the passion. I was attracted to toxicology because I was fascinated by chemicals that screwed up the normal processes of life. But that was back in a time long long ago when toxicology meant PCBs, lead, mercury, dioxin, and assorted pesticides. These were obvious chemicals in concentrations that couldn’t hide within the peaks and valleys of the chemists’ printout. But science has come a long way since then. Now, we know far more about the minute amounts of a myriad of chemicals contaminating our water, air and food than we do about the way they might interact with our lung cells, or livers, or brains. We know that our bodies sequester the smallest amounts of these chemicals in our bones, brains, and fat cells. </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal"><span style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Many of these chemicals will stick around on earth at least for our lifetimes, and those of our children. What will be the consequences of these chemical exposures – if any? What do we really mean when we say that these chemicals are toxic? At what point does a contaminant become a toxicant? Given all the synthetic and naturally occurring chemicals entering and exiting our bodies with virtually every breath – some of which by now are unavoidable, others we might choose to inhale and ingest, and still others have been with us for eons, how can I, as toxicologist better understand the collective impact? </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal"><span style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">This was when I remembered I’ve inherited more than my big ears, hazel eyes and dry skin from my ancestors. I’ve inherited a whole system of toxic defense mechanisms, because really, well before the first animal ventured onto land, well before the first single-celled organism respired oxygen, life on earth relied upon chemical defense mechanisms of one sort or another. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal"><span style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">And to some extent, we owe our lives -- as do all life forms -- from bacteria, to plants and all animals -- to these toxic detoxification processes. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal"><span style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Yet are they enough to protect life from the steady rain of natural and synthetic chemicals experienced by life on earth today?</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal"><span style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">That is the question I intend to explore in this upcoming series of essays, so stay tuned if you dare. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;font-size:large;"><i>Also if you are a toxicologist, chemist, geologist etc. and would like to discuss the topic further please don't hesitate to contact me at emonosson@verizon.net I'd love to begin a virtual journal group on this topic. </i> </span></p>Emily Monossonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00896682323554212375noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37842820.post-52080709175976898842009-11-25T07:37:00.000-08:002010-02-12T06:14:59.349-08:00Is there bias in bi(a)sphenol A?<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 12.75pt"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Over the past two years the debate about bisphenol A (BPA) has become a quagmire where highly regarded scientists who once worked side by side, now sit across the fence virtually flinging insults at one another. You wouldn’t know this reading the Sunday paper or countless mainstream press articles, blogs and even academic journals which have successfully vilified this ubiquitous chemical. Like many Americans, you’re probably tossing away your polycarbonate bottles and looking askance at the stash of cans in your pantry. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 12.75pt;tab-stops:297.75pt"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Yet two summary panel reports on BPA prepared by the <a href="http://cerhr.niehs.nih.gov/chemicals/bisphenol/BPAFinalEPVF112607.pdf">National Toxicology Program (NTP)</a> and by the <a href="http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/08/briefing/2008-0038b1_01_02_FDA%20BPA%20Draft%20Assessment.pdf">Food and Drug Association (FDA)</a>* downplayed the risks of BPA, while at the same time, NTP highlighted the need for more research - and as of<a href="http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/PublicHealthFocus/ucm197739.htm#current"> January 2010 the FDA</a> indicated they too have concluded there is some cause for concern, particularly in infants and children. As a writer I find this disconnect fascinating. As a mother who replaced the polycarbonate bottles shortly after the first round of BPA press, I wonder if the chemical is deserving of its reputation as the evil twin of estrogen. As a toxicologist, I am dismayed by the apparent bias found on both sides of the fence.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 12.75pt"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Years ago, while interviewing for a job, I was asked if science was objective. I quickly answered in the affirmative. My future employer’s brow wrinkled, but she remained silent – giving me time to think. While science is objective, it is carried out by mere humans. And we all have our biases. I wouldn’t have been interviewing with a group whose mission was to support communities affected by industrial contaminants and who could only offer a pittance in salary if I didn’t lean towards the affected. Yet, I pondered, when reviewing the literature in support of their mission would I be biased? Here’s the truth – when reading studies funded by either the military or industry my sci-dar is on full alert. Likewise, I’m just as wary when reading studies conducted by environmental activist organizations, yet I am more trusting of studies produced by academics, particularly those funded by sources that tend not to have a stake in the outcome. Really, my sci-dar should be on full alert at all times, and in the end, I am careful not to cherry-pick studies from any one source, just to support a position.</span></span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 12.75pt"><span style=" ;color:black;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Are there concerns about bias in the bisphenol A analysis? As a recent memoirist who shall not be named, likes to say, “You Betcha.” Just Google “BPA bias” and you’ll find over one million pages.</span></span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 12.75pt"><span style=" ;color:black;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">One need only read Environmental Health Perspectives, published by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), where the <a href="http://www.ehponline.org/docs/2009/117-11/toc.html">most recent BPA battle is playing out</a>. But the stakes are higher than simply resolving BPA’s toxicity. Bisphenol A has brought to the fore the very nature of toxicity testing and regulation, questioning the role or (or lack of) basic research in chemical testing and regulation.</span></span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 12.75pt"><span style=" ;color:black;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:16px;"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">That toxicity testing, particularly of endocrine disrupting chemicals like BPA is in dire need of overhaul is not in question. Says </span></span></span><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Dr. L. Earl Gray**, </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Research Biologist and Team Leader of the Reproductive Toxicology Division at the US</span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span></span><em><span style="font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">EPA</span></span></span></em><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">, about updating routine chemical testing:</span></span></span></span></span></span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 12.75pt"><span style=" ;color:black;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:16px;"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“There is a lot more awareness of the issues with endocrine disrupting chemicals and thoughts about screening….they are also trying to shorten the multigenerational protocol [one of the standard toxicity tests required of industry]…</span></span></span><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">hopefully and likely the new assays will be able to replace the old ones fairly quickly.</span></span></span><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">”</span></span></span></span></span></span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 12.75pt"><span style=" ;color:black;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:16px;"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Problem is, it took a decade to develop and validate those new assays. A snail’s pace, and a significant chunk of time for those at greatest risk, the very young. Even so, when it comes to BPA, there are those who suggest reviewers and regulators stick with studies based on regulatory testing protocols, because those methods have been rigorously validated, even if they don’t incorporate the latest science. </span></span></span></span></span></span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 12.75pt"><span style=" ;color:black;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Of the hundreds of scientific articles on BPA many could be classified as basic science, while only a fraction use regulatory testing protocols. Studies in rodents report that BPA causes diabetes, weight gain, mammary gland cancer, early onset puberty, infertility and behavioral changes. Some of these findings cannot be repeated (reproducibility is a central tenet of science). Meanwhile studies in human populations report associations (which are not cause and effect linkages) between BPA and heart disease, diabetes, infertility in industry workers, and behavioral changes in toddlers born to mothers whose urine concentrations during pregnancy mirror those in the general population. </span></span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 12.75pt"><span style=" ;color:black;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Despite the uncertainties, aren’t all of these studies enough to require that industry remove the chemical from our food and drink? While I am skeptical of studies produced by industries whose bottom line depends upon a particular chemical and in sticking with decades old testing procedures, I also know that a chemical posing an imminent danger is good for academic business, generating more grant money, more publications, and more consulting. It’s not an ideal system, but given time the scientific method prevails – and in the interim we have guidance from the expert panels. In the case of BPA both panels had the freedom to consider any and all relevant and valid studies.</span></span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 12.75pt"><span style=" ;color:black;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:16px;"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">While the NTP panel concluded there was cause of “some concern,” noting the need for more research, the FDA concluded that current exposures to BPA do not present a health risk. So began the fireworks. Critics charged the panels were biased omitting too many basic studies from their final analysis. </span></span></span><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">In his <a href="http://www.epa.gov/ocir/hearings/testimony/110_2007_2008/2008_0610_leg.pdf">congressional testimony</a>, Gray</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> who was a </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">member of the NTP panel disagrees. Testifying before congress about BPA</span></span><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">, Gray noted, that “</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">the criteria [for inclusion in the review] provided minimum standards for experimental design and statistical analysis. Many studies failed to meet these minimal criteria – these studies came from industry, government and academic laboratories.</span></span></span></span></span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 12.75pt"><span style=" ;color:black;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:16px;"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“T</span></span></span><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">he controversy,” says Gray “resides over the fact that standard and enhanced multigenerational studies are negative for low dose effects and many academic studies were positive….</span></span></span><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> several of the multigenerational studies have added low dose groups, estrogen sensitive endpoints and tried to replicate the low dose effects to no avail... These differences are due in part to differences in how a chemical is administered in a study.” Differences which also include the use of live animals versus test tube studies (which preclude metabolism and excretion of a chemical), the timing of exposure and the range of doses tested. </span></span></span></span></span></span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 12.75pt"><span style=" ;color:black;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Yet based on accounts by the popular press, enviro-blogs and magazines – if you still drink from a polycarbonate bottles or serve your kids canned foods then you must be an irresponsible parent. When I replaced our reusable bottles with BPA free – but didn’t toss the canned goods, my inner toxicologist reasoned that we are exposed to a myriad of natural estrogenic chemicals in foods like soy, plants, and milk – was BPA any worse? Meanwhile the environmentalist in my brain reminds me that we don’t choose to consume industrial chemicals like BPA. Shouldn’t we have that choice? But since BPA does not accumulate in humans (a quality that may trigger a chemical ban), “that choice” depends primarily upon the amount and frequency of BPA exposure, how it’s metabolized and its potency. </span></span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 12.75pt"><span style=" ;color:black;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">So is it or isn’t it? Maybe the nearly 30 million dollars recently committed by <a href="http://www.niehs.nih.gov/news/releases/2009/bisphenol-research.cfm">NIEHS for BPA</a> research will solve the question, and maybe BPA will be one more example for the scientific flip-flopper pile along with fiber, mammograms, and therapeutic estrogens. For now, there’s FDA’s final report due at the end of the month, and Consumer Report’s recent <a href="http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine-archive/december-2009/food/bpa/overview/bisphenol-a-ov.htm">investigation of BPA in canned goods </a>– both of which will surely add a few feet to the fence separating some very good scientists. </span></span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 12.75pt"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">*This report is the 2008 draft, a final report was just published you can find FDA's current position on BPA <a href="http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/PublicHealthFocus/ucm197739.htm#current">here</a>. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 12.75pt"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0008673">Here </a>is a recent article on the relationship between BPA in urine and heart disease</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 12.75pt"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">CHECK OUT the <a href="http://www.hhs.gov/safety/bpa/">US DEPT Health and Human Services </a> site for the latest on BPA (added Jan 16 2010)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 12.75pt"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">AND a Jan 28 2010 interview with <a href="http://blogs.consumerreports.org/safety/2010/01/expert-q-and-a-bpa-linda-birnbaum-niehs.html">Dr. Linda Birnbaum of NIEHS</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 12.75pt"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">**In the spirit of disclosure, I worked for Earl back in the early nineties, he was not only a great guy to work for, but I also respect his science and opinions. </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: 12.75pt"><span style=" ;color:black;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span></o:p></span></p>Emily Monossonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00896682323554212375noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37842820.post-56196845729710877892009-10-07T08:07:00.000-07:002009-11-06T13:16:13.961-08:00Recombinant DNA, Synthetic Biology,and Nanotechnology, oh my!<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">There is an interesting article on <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/09/28/090928fa_fact_specter">Synthetic Biology</a> in last week's New Yorker. Though I just gave it a skim, and didn't read the ending – the topic is intriguing and describes a field of science devoted to developing the capacity to build and manipulate biological systems as if they were Legos. According to <a href="http://syntheticbiology.org/">SyntheticBiology.Org</a> their goals begin with identification of the parts that “have well-defined performance characteristics and can be used (and re-used) to build biological systems” and end with “reverse engineer and re-design a ‘simple’ natural bacterium."<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Wow. Should they succeed, they’d bear a hefty biological, ethical, environmental responsibility. Were these people nut jobs? Nascent Frankensteins? Or were they just being realistic about the future of their science? As I thought about what this all meant it dawned on me that Synthetic Biology, being an extension of Genetic Engineering, in some ways wasn’t so different or separate from nanotechnology.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">I don’t mean that they’re similar in how the products of these technologies interact with living systems, all threats of “grey goo” (a worst-case scenario hypothesized by Eric Drexler, popularizer of nanotechnology, whereby nanobots run a muck, literally mucking up the world) aside - one science proposes to build biological systems while the other builds chemicals. Although, I suspect, as time goes on these two technologies will mingle if not marry (if they haven't run off to Las Vegas and <a href="http://2020science.org/2008/01/26/synthetic-biology-and-nanotechnology/">done so already</a>.) Biological systems after all are nothing more than chemical building blocks – so once those building blocks are better understood, and once we have the capability to not only engineer one cell at a time, but also to build chemicals one atom at a time, why not? </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:large;">As a toxicologist observing the emergence of nanotechnology it has been easy to ask what nanotechnology can learn from past practices of chemical production, regulation, use and disposal. But beyond toxicology, biotechnology, has also laid some groundwork as to how to proceed with – or not-- development of a new technology that will impact all of our lives for better or worse, in ways we cannot fully understand. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Genetic engineering, the cornerstone of biotechnology, has been around since 1972 when scientists including <a href="http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1980/berg-autobio.html">Paul Berg</a> of Stanford University first recombined pieces of DNA – the molecule which holds the secrets of all live on earth. Two years later, Berg and others raised serious concerns about unfettered recombinant DNA research, eventually calling for a temporary moratorium on certain types of research. <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/pdf_extract/185/4148/303">Berg’s committee proposed that</a>, “…until the potential hazards of such recombinant DNA molecules have been better evaluated or until adequate methods are developed for preventing their spread, scientists throughout the world join with the members of this committee in voluntarily deferring the following types of experiments....” the authors then listed specific research that they considered most risky, acknowledging that…”our concern is based on judgments of potential rather than demonstrated risk since there are few available experimental data…and that adherence to our major recommendations will entail postponement or possibly abandonment of certain types of scientifically worthwhile experiments.” A year later, the first conference on “<a href="http://authors.library.caltech.edu/11971/1/BERpnas75.pdf">Recombinant DNA molecules</a>” widely referred to as Asilomar for the idyllic conference center by the sea, took place, and <a href="http://authors.library.caltech.edu/11971/1/BERpnas75.pdf">is still </a>referred to, and reflected upon as a model of “self-regulation” by the scientific community (the meeting included scientists from around the world, lawyers, government officials and journalists as well.) </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Of course the concept of self-regulation may be an oversimplification since the conference purposefully focused on health and environmental safety only. The ethics and legalities of recombinant DNA were not on the agenda, “This choice of agenda,” <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/92/20/9011.full.pdf">wrote Berg</a> years later, “was deliberate, partly because of lack of time at Asilomar and partly because it was premature to consider applications that were so speculative and certainly not imminent.” Perhaps. I imagine, like my district’s school committee meetings which I’ve sometimes referred as “adults behaving badly” – if we stuck with the nuts and bolts rather than the deeper questions – we too might be more successful. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Berg revealed one other key to success on at a <a href="http://www.biotech-info.net/asilomar_revisited.html">symposium celebrating the 25</a></span><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><a href="http://www.biotech-info.net/asilomar_revisited.html">th</a></span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><a href="http://www.biotech-info.net/asilomar_revisited.html"> anniversary </a>of Asilomar: molecular biologists weren’t yet heavily invested in the science and the public knew very little – so that there was still room for fluidity in the conversation. Positions on the recombinant DNA were not yet “hardened,” and scientists were primarily academic. This was a time when government funding was flush, when there was separation of academia and industry and the biotechnology industry with all its promises of the next million dollar drug was more “Jetsons” than reality.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Which brings me back to nanotechnology - a field developing under incredible public, government, and scientific scrutiny. Even industry, as I’ve read and heard, wishing to avoid the genetically modified foods fiasco (which is either ironic or inevitable considering Asilomar), seems willing to tread carefully when it comes to development of nanomaterials. A <a href="http://www.safenano.org/SingleNews.aspx?NewsID=846">recent report</a> by the DEEPEN (Deepening Ethical Engagement and Participation in Emerging Nanotechnologies) project – emphasizes a role for increased public participation in governance decisions related to nanotechnology development. In part because nanotechnology is poised to affect everyday life – so why not include all participants -- those who deliberately participant and those who are incidental nano-tourists in the conversation? </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">There's one caveat to suggestions by DEEPEN and others. There have been so many meetings, and project reports on how best to move forward conscientiously with nanotechnology, that there is some concern there’s too much talk and too little action. Meanwhile, nanomaterials find their way into more and more consumer products (<a href="http://www.nanotechproject.org/topics/consumer_products/">1000 and count</a>ing,) and the body of research papers continue grow like a bacterial culture in log growth phase. But that's no reason not to broaden the conversation.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Perhaps comparisons between nanotechnology and Asilomar are unfair for nanotech.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">As Berg noted, in 1975, neither Joe Public nor Joe the Plumber were invited members of the 'Recombinant DNA steering committee,' the focus of the meeting was strictly focused, and recombinant DNA was, and still is fairly easily defined. Isolating and rejoining segments of DNA – that was recombinant DNA. Today we have the world wide web of information where the public, if they wish can be informed, NGOs following and reporting on nanotechnology, a technology that is already in use, and scientists who <a href="http://www.safenano.org/SingleNews.aspx?NewsID=840">can’t even agree on what constitutes a nanoparticle</a>. Are they particles with one dimension measuring 100 nm or less? Or, should they be much smaller, encompassing particles in the 30 nm or smaller range, particles most likely to exhibit new and different physical-chemistry? </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Then there are nanodots, nano-metals oxides, nanotubes and other nanos – all very different chemically although they may share some basic properties in terms of size, or increased reactivity as a result of decreased size, but how much do we know of their differences in terms of how nanoparticles will move and react inside a living being, or outside in the big wide world? </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Our best hope right now, is that nanotechnology as a field is still young and flexible. Hopefully the talk with turn to action before nanotech’s arteries begin to harden before, as Berg observed twenty-five years after Asilomar – the issues become “chronic.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal">(For the results of a recent poll on public understanding of nanotechnology and synthetic biology <a href="http://www.nanotech-now.com/news.cgi?story_id=34835">click here</a>. )</p>Emily Monossonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00896682323554212375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37842820.post-23959846895987317482009-10-05T18:19:00.000-07:002009-10-06T08:23:04.628-07:00Lining Asbestos-Concrete Drinking Water Pipes with Vinyl: Its enough to make you wonder<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">I’ve been a “lurker” on the TCE List serve – a gathering site for those impacted by this old industrial solvent and one of this country’s most important groundwater contaminants. Unfortunately it is an incredibly active list because so many people are affected by this legacy pollutant. Often, I let the emails pile up - shifting them into my TCE folder - in case, one day, I might have something useful to offer the list. But today one email caught my attention. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="articlegraf" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt; margin-left:0in;line-height:16.2pt"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">It began with a posting by Lenny Siegel, Executive Director, </span><a href="http://www.cpeo.org/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Center for Public Environmental Oversight </span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">– and list host. The subject line was “PCE in pipes - this is new to me.” If something about these chlorinated solvents is new to Lenny it’s new to a lot of folks, activists and scientists alike, because Lenny really knows his stuff. So I took a look. </span></span></p> <p class="articlegraf" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt; margin-left:0in;line-height:16.2pt"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:#222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">According to the </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><a href="http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091005/NEWS/910050301"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Cape Cod Times </span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); "><a href="http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091005/NEWS/910050301"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">article</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> posted by Lenny, a study by Boston University </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:#222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">epidemiologist </span><a href="http://www.busbrp.org/ann-aschengrau.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Ann Aschengrau</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">, found an </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">association between exposure to </span><a href="http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp18.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">PCE</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> (perchlorethylene, or tetrachlorethylene – a solvent most commonly associated with dry cleaning) contaminated drinking water, and an increased risk for birth defects in offspring of Cape Cod women exposed to the water back in the 70's and early 80's. </span></span></span></span></span></p> <p class="articlegraf" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt; margin-left:0in;line-height:16.2pt"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">That PCE was in drinking water wasn’t surprising – it’s a common contaminant in groundwater near old dry cleaning sites . What was surprising was that an old leak, landfill or dry cleaner wasn’t responsible for contamination this time around. The culprit was the municipal drinking water pipes. </span></span></span></p><p class="articlegraf" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt; margin-left:0in;line-height:16.2pt"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Apparently back in the good old days (in this case the 1960’s and '70's) according to the Aschengrau, who was interviewed for the article, </span></span></span></p> <p class="articlegraf" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt; margin-left:0in;line-height:16.2pt"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"></span></span></p><blockquote><p class="articlegraf" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt; margin-left:0in;line-height:16.2pt"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“…</span></span><span style="color:#222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">water pipes in several towns on the Cape and elsewhere in Massachusetts were purposely sprayed with vinyl plastic and PCE to improve the taste of drinking water.....</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="articlegraf" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt; margin-left:0in;line-height:16.2pt"><span style="color:#222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Manufacturers wrongly assumed the PCE would disappear during the drying process, but large amounts remained and slowly leached into drinking water in Barnstable, Bourne, Falmouth, Mashpee, Sandwich, Provincetown, Brewster and Chatham, ……Once the PCE contamination was detected, authorities cleared the pipes through a flushing process, saying replacing hundreds of miles of vinyl-coated pipe would be too expensive..”</span></span></span></p></blockquote><p class="articlegraf" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt; margin-left:0in;line-height:16.2pt"><span style="color:#222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="articlegraf" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt; margin-left:0in;line-height:16.2pt"><span style="color:#222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Reading the chatter on Lenny’s list, I learned that back in the early 1980s Avery Demond, an MIT master’s student </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><a href="http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/15478/11148000.pdf?">studied leaching of PCE</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><a href="http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/15478/11148000.pdf?"> </a>from those vinyl lined pipes. Back then Demond wrote that while his focus was on the hydrodynamic factors controlling release of the toxicant, it was “difficult if not impossible” to ignore the social context of the problem. Meaning, people were drinking the contaminated water. As Demond noted, PCE was a common contaminant in drinking water a levels of 1 part-per-billion (ppb) or below. But then a 1976 survey of organic chemicals in water (with a focus on water treatment byproducts) turned up PCE concentrations ranging from 6 ppb to upwards of 1000 ppb in water from a Newport RI state park, warranting a closer look. After seeking potential industrial sources, municipal pipes eventually came under suspicion. </span></span></span></p> <p class="articlegraf" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt; margin-left:0in;line-height:16.2pt"><span style="color:#222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Wrote Demond, early on,</span></span></span></p><p class="articlegraf" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt; margin-left:0in;line-height:16.2pt"><span style="color:#222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"></span></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“...the PSWB [water board] tested the liner in May 1968 and contemporary analytical tests and techniques could not find anything undesirable in the water that might have arisen from the water’s contact with the liner. (The sophisticated powerful gas chromatography equipment in general use today was either unavailable or not thought to be needed.) The development of the liner predates the current widespread concern about organics.”</span></blockquote> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><p></p> <p class="articlegraf" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt; margin-left:0in;line-height:16.2pt"><span style="color:#222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">That last statement about sums it up, if you were wondering what they were thinking using pipes recently treated with a solvent combined with a plastic matrix allowing it to leach out over time. They weren't, because they didn't have to. Smell no evil, taste no evil, measure no evil. </span></span></span></p><p class="articlegraf" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt; margin-left:0in;line-height:16.2pt"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Although by the time Demond wrote his thesis, organic solvents were losing their innocence, as residents of Woburn, Massachusetts were realizing the possible linkages between high incidences of childhood leukemia and water contaminated with PCE's chemical cousin, TCE.</span></span></p> <p class="articlegraf" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt; margin-left:0in;line-height:16.2pt"><span style="color:#222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Unfortunately for New Englanders, according to Demond, the vinyl-lined asbestos-cement pipes produce by Johns Mansfield Company (of asbestos fame) were used primarily in New England to control alkalinity-related corrosion of the pipes. Over 600 miles of vinyl lined asbestos-cement pipes were laid in Massachusetts, with the majority on Cape Cod. A few years after the leaching problem was identified the company stopped production. </span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">While some pipes were replaced, remediation more often consisted primarily of flushing, until concentrations fell below levels of concern at the time. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Twenty year's later, Aschengrau’s paper in the journal </span><a href="http://www.ehjournal.net/content/pdf/1476-069x-8-44.pdf"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Environmental Health </span></a></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">reports finding “large increases in the risk of gastrointestinal defects (particularly oral clefts), neural tube defects (particularly anencephaly) and, modest increases in the risk of genitourinary defects (particularly hypospadias),” and </span></span><span style="color:#222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">concludes</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"></span></span></span></p><blockquote><span style="line-height: 115%; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“</span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%; color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">The results of this study suggest that the risk of certain congenital anomalies is increased among the offspring of women who were exposed to PCE-contaminated drinking water around the time of conception. Because these results are limited by the small number of children with congenital anomalies that were based on maternal reports, a follow-up investigation should be conducted with a larger number of affected children who identified by independent records.”</span></span></span></span></blockquote><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%; color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"></span></span></span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">For more, check out Aschengrau's paper. </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;Times New Roman","serif"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></p>Emily Monossonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00896682323554212375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37842820.post-34342643373827631922009-09-30T10:30:00.000-07:002009-09-30T18:01:04.014-07:00The salty dumping grounds: plasticized Part II<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[Here is the second part of T</span><a href="http://theneighborhoodtoxicologist.blogspot.com/2009/09/dumping-grounds-brief-history-of-ocean.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">he Dumping Grounds</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">, a history of ocean plastics.]</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">An Earlier Voyage</span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">In 1971 over twenty years before the </span><a href="http://www.algalita.org/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Alguita’s</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> first voyage, nearly forty years before the recent </span><a href="http://sio.ucsd.edu/Expeditions/Seaplex/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Scripps</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> voyage into the Gyre and roughly twenty years after his own voyage across the Pacific in Kon-Tiki, anthropologist and adventurer Thor Heyerdahl with a small international crew made his way across the Atlantic aboard the </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Ra I</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">, a papyrus raft-vessel constructed as a modern day experiment using ancient technology.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">On that first voyage, as Ra made its way from across the Atlantic from Morocco to just east of Barbados, Heyerdahl, commenting on the preponderance of oil-clots and other flotsam wrote</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“pollution observations were forced upon all expedition members by its grave nature…” </span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SAfont-family:";"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/An%20Earlier%20Voyage%20for%20blog.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[1]</span></a></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Encouraged by interest in their findings by members of United Nations, Heyerdahl set off in the </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Ra II</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> a year later prepared to record observations, and to collect samples.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">With oil lumps washing aboard at one point, the </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Ra II</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">’s log reported that “the pollution is terrible.” A couple of days later, after encountering a plastic bottle, some rope, a can and other items, a log entry expressed shock at the degree to which remote regions of the Atlantic had become polluted by man.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">From the day of departure, wrote Heyerdahl, to the day they landed in Barbados, the </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Ra II</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> was accompanied not only by lumps of oil, but also by plastic containers, metal cans and glass bottles.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">In closing wrote Heyerdahl, </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">“The present report has no other object than to call attention to the alarming fact that the Atlantic Ocean is becoming seriously polluted and that a continued indiscriminate use of the world’s oceans as an international dumping ground for imperishable human refuse may have irreparable effects on the productivity and very survival of plant and animal species.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Plastics Overboard!</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Years before Heyerdahl’s journey, Stephen Rothstein, then a University of California biologist, had discovered small plastic particles in the stomachs of Leach’s Petrels and nestlings captured on Gull Island, Newfoundland in 1964.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Wondering why the petrels might ingest plastics, Rothstein wrote, “Before the occurrence of plastic particles, it is probable that nearly all such objects were edible.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Thus, natural selection would not have favored petrels which avoided nonedible floating objects…</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/An%20Earlier%20Voyage%20for%20blog.docx#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SAfont-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[2]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">”</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">It seems this was the case with other marine creatures as well, as researchers throughout the early 1970’s and ‘80s cataloged the impacts of plastics on marine mammals, birds, turtles and fish.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">While plastic fishing nets, ropes and packing bands ensnared Neptune’s creatures, small bits substituted for food.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Seabirds mistook plastic bits for prey, inadvertently feeding them to their young, as green sea turtles gobbled down plastic banana bags tossed off the side of a dock.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Wrote David Laist, then senior policy and program analyst at the Marine Mammal Commission, in his testimony at the 1986 hearing on Plastic Pollution in the Marine Environment, “Animals which become entangled may exhaust themselves and drown, be slowed to the point of becoming easy prey for other predators, or unable to catch fast moving prey, or develop wounds and infections from abrasion of attached debris.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Animals which ingest plastics may be poisoned or have digestive tracts blocked or damaged by plastics that are difficult or impossible to excrete, regurgitate, break down, or otherwise eliminate once ingested.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/An%20Earlier%20Voyage%20for%20blog.docx#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SAfont-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[3]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">”</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">As a 1970’s teenager, the “Keep America Beautiful” decade, it’s hard to forget the heart rending photos of fur seals girdled by discarded plastic strapping, or young turtles and seabirds caught up in six-pack rings.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">By some accounts, a 1988 cleanup along a 1.8 mile stretch of the Texas coast turned up almost 16,000 six-pack rings</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/An%20Earlier%20Voyage%20for%20blog.docx#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SAfont-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[4]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">I have a vague recollection of pulling six-pack rings from my parent’s trash after chastising them for carelessly throwing them away without first slashing them apart. There was growing concern that endangered marine mammals and sea turtles alike were adversely impacted by their encounters with plastic waste, the likes of which the Alguita had stumbled upon in the North Pacific gyre. Only the hearing to prevent plastic pollution took place ten years earlier.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">One of the first suggestions proposed by Laist to improve the situation was ratification and implementation of the </span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships or MARPOL</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> Annex V, introduced through the International Maritime Organization by the United States and other countries.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">MARPOL is the main international convention dealing with release of pollutants by ships.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Before MARPOL, there was OILPOL, an international convention adopted to prevent ships from releasing waste oil, back in the 1950’s, strengthened over the years to include releases of oily bilge water and toxic chemicals.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Not until 30 years later, as plastic lines and nets became integral to the fishing industry, and plastic strapping and packaging of food items and other consumables became common aboard all sea-going vessels from the merchant marines to the world’s Navy’s did the international community recognize the need to control the release of plastics from ships as well.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Ratification of MARPOL Annex V would ban the dumping of plastics into the ocean from all vessels, in all locations. There is some unintended logic to the progression from the early OILPOL to MARPOL’s Annex V, for oil is the precursor to our modern day plastics.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">The Marine Mammal Commission wasn’t alone in calling for the ratification of annex V. MARPOL’s annex V was supported by a rare combination of organizations and federal agencies, including those normally in opposition such as the Environmental Defense Fund, and the Society of Plastics Industry. In his testimony in favor of ratification at the Plastic Pollution hearing, C.E. O’Connell, sounded much like today’s National Rifle Association’s dictum that “guns don’t kill people, people kill people,” when he essentially stated that the plastics industry did not pollute the world’s oceans, plastics users, including beachgoers, municipalities and the marine, naval and fishing industry did</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/An%20Earlier%20Voyage%20for%20blog.docx#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SAfont-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[5]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">And they did - legally.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Back in 1982, when the merchant marine fleet registered around 71,000 ships, and plastics had worked their way on board in every conceivable role, from the packaging galley food to plastic strapping, it was estimated that some 639,000 plastic containers were tossed </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">daily</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/An%20Earlier%20Voyage%20for%20blog.docx#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:AR-SAfont-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[6]</span></span></b></span></span></span></a></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">And that estimate didn’t even include all the plastics tossed overboard by navy ships, luxury cruise ships, like the QE2, which serve as a luxury playground for nearly 10 million Americans each year, or the tons of plastic fishing nets and gear lost to the sea.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">I inadvertently contributed my share back in 1989.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">After collecting winter flounder from the Narrow River, a seemingly clean river that cut through Narragansett, RI on its way to the bay, and finding them distressingly contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls I was eager to collect winter flounder untainted by coastal contaminants.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">As it turned out, EPA’s ocean survey vessel the Anderson, a converted Vietnam era Naval Patrol gunner, had a few unscheduled days that fall.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">We booked four days at sea, hired Mike the Rebel fisherman (he kept a confederate flag in the rear window of his truck, had long blond hair and a good sized tattoo on his bicep) and headed 130 miles offshore to Georges Bank to trawl for flounder.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">When the Anderson nearly jerked to a halt mid-tow, and the winches spun a little too easily, the loss of our net, along with the heavy metal doors that dragged along the oceans bottom became all too clear.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">We had just made our contribution to the hundreds of miles of ghost fishing nets drifting about or laying upon the ocean floor.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Though I never would have tossed my Styrofoam coffee cup overboard, the episode didn’t register as an environmental catastrophe.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">The ocean was big and the net was gone. “It happens,” was all Mike had to say, that was why we brought a spare. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">The thousands of lost fishing nets and lines are only part of the ocean’s plastic problem.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Like early twentieth century coastal cities, merchant marines, cruise ships, navy vessels and fishing boats have looked to the sea for disposal.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">And why not? Aircraft carriers with crews of 6,000 sailors generate over 3 million pounds of trash during their six months at sea</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/An%20Earlier%20Voyage%20for%20blog.docx#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SAfont-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[7]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">By some estimates, plastics, before any major efforts by the navy to reduce plastic waste, accounted for over 12 % of all waste generated on board</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/An%20Earlier%20Voyage%20for%20blog.docx#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SAfont-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[8]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">. That means over 300,000 pounds of plastics dumped in a six month period by a single vessel, in just one of the world’s navies. Up until 1988, the Navy estimated it contributed more than 4.5 million pounds of plastic to the world’s oceans</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/An%20Earlier%20Voyage%20for%20blog.docx#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SAfont-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[9]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> [insert volume analogy, e.g. # of coke bottles].</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">For far too many years it was common practice to dump trash directly overboard.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">In total, just the amount of plastics dumped at sea from say, the 1960’s when plastics entered our lives in a big way through the mid-1980s (when at least those </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">adhering </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">to MARPOL Annex V quit dumping) is mind boggling.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Particularly because all of that plastic is still with us – somewhere – today. We’ve contaminated the largest of earth’s commons, the oceans, with our plastics.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Considering this enormous tonnage of plastic in addition to that which has floated down rivers and out with the tides or with the sewage, left on beaches, blown from the decks of hulking garbage scows on their way to mega landfills in New York and New Jersey like Fresh Kills, Meadowlands and Pelham Bay, the recent encounters with a gyre full of plastic is sadly not surprising.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">What is surprising is that until now, no one really knew the extent to which we’d contaminated our oceans, and how that contamination would eventually come back to haunt us.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span></p><div style="mso-element:footnote-list"> <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%"> <div id="ftn1"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/An%20Earlier%20Voyage%20for%20blog.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;mso-bidi-Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SAfont-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[1]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> Heyerdahl, Biological Conservation Vol 3 April 1971, 164-168</span></p> </div> <div id="ftn2"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/An%20Earlier%20Voyage%20for%20blog.docx#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;mso-bidi-Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SAfont-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[2]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> Plastic Particle Pollution of the Surface of the Atlantic Ocean: Evidence from a Seabird, The Condor 75:344-366, 1973.</span></p> </div> <div id="ftn3"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/An%20Earlier%20Voyage%20for%20blog.docx#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;mso-bidi-Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SAfont-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[3]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> Statement of Mr. David Laist Senior Policy and Program Analyst Marine Mammal Commission, Plastic Pollution in the Marine Environment, 1986 Hearing before the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Navigation, Washington, DC</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Serial No. 99-47. P. 21</span></p> </div> <div id="ftn4"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/An%20Earlier%20Voyage%20for%20blog.docx#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;mso-bidi-Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SAfont-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[4]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> http://www.seaweb.org/resources/writings/writings/seatroubles.php</span></p> </div> <div id="ftn5"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/An%20Earlier%20Voyage%20for%20blog.docx#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;mso-bidi-Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SAfont-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[5]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> Statement of C.E. O’Connell, President of the Society of the Plastics Industry, Plastic Pollution in the Marine Environment, 1986 Hearing before the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Navigation, Washington, DC</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Serial No. 99-47 p. 108.</span></p> </div> <div id="ftn6"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/An%20Earlier%20Voyage%20for%20blog.docx#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;mso-bidi-Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SAfont-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[6]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> Horsman, 1982, The Amount of Garbage Pollution from Merchant Ships, Marine Pollution Bulletin, 13:167-169. Wastes in the Marine Environment, Office of Technology Assessment, Washington, DC, 1987. </span></p> </div> <div id="ftn7"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/An%20Earlier%20Voyage%20for%20blog.docx#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;mso-bidi-Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SAfont-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[7]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> Navy’s Shipboard Solid Waste Management Program, Ye-Ling Wang, 1997. </span></p> </div> <div id="ftn8"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/An%20Earlier%20Voyage%20for%20blog.docx#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;mso-bidi-Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SAfont-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[8]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> A Float Solid Waste Characterization Study, </span><a href="http://www.agraco.com/pdflinks/NimitzReportAbbrev.pdf"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">http://www.agraco.com/pdflinks/NimitzReportAbbrev.pdf</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> 2008</span></p> </div> <div style="mso-element:footnote" id="ftn9"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/An%20Earlier%20Voyage%20for%20blog.docx#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;mso-bidi-Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SAfont-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[9]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> Clean Ships, Clean Ports, Clean Oceans p. 23</span></p> </div></div>Emily Monossonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00896682323554212375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37842820.post-29225176973065564652009-09-25T08:52:00.000-07:002009-09-26T14:39:18.800-07:00Lice patrol<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Though I’ve got lice stories to tell of my own, I’ve been embargoed by the victims. So instead I’ll begin with my friend, Kate’s* daughter, who discovered the unwelcome visitors two days before her first day of high school – a school in a new town where she didn’t know a soul. As if walking into a new social situation wasn’t hard enough!<br /><br />Although Kate makes a point to tread lightly on this earth, choosing natural to synthetic, and organic when possible, for her, this called for an exception.<br /><br />“We went for the toxic stuff,” she said.<br /><br />Why lice, so common these days, can still cause one to be ostracized I don’t know. There isn’t a school around that hasn’t reported a recent outbreak.<br /><br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Growing up in the suburbs circa 1960s, lice was more of a joke than a problem. “You don’t have lice do you?” was a common refrain when offered a comb or brush for our preteen locks. No one ever thought their best friend would seriously be harboring the little critters.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br />So back in the mid-ninties when lice hit my daughter’s day care, I was appalled.<br /><br />A few years later those lice had apparently moved on to my kids’ elementary school, where the motto “Caring is Sharing” apparently went a little too far (and yes embarrassingly enough, that was their motto - at least for a time.) Each year, as the dreaded “letter” indicating a new crop of lice arrived in the mail, we’d tentatively comb through our kids’ hair, thankful every time we found suspect nits to be nothing more than lint. Our school wasn’t alone. It is estimated that upwards of six to twelve million kids ages 3-12 are infested each year in the United States alone.<br /><br /><a href="http://nuvoforheadlice.com/history.htm">Humans have been battling lice </a>since the earliest days of our existence. Archeological digs reveal lice or nits (the rice-like egg cases adult female lice affix to human hair shafts) on human hairs, old combs, mummies you name it. And, just to dispel any fears, the body lice associated with Typhus and other diseases are not the lice that infect our silken locks. In fact there are three types of lice, head lice, body lice and pubic lice. Curiously and thankfully they not only seem to know their place on our bodies, but can apparently distinguish us, their favored and only host, from our pet pooches and lap cats. And, head lice, unlike body lice, are seldom associated with disease other than excessive itching and an occasional infection as a result of said itching.<br /><br />Given all these years living together, humans of course have developed a diverse arsenal from the lethal to the eccentric fight these beasties. A swig of shed snake skin tea anyone? Or perhaps a liniment of mercury and stavesacre - also known as lice-bane, or Delphinium staphisagria – a beautiful but highly toxic plant. In the 1920’s its topical use was apparently associated with the death of at least one child. And then there was, and according to some reports still is, kerosene. A treatment which brings me back to my tree-climbing days when my father used gasoline to remove sticky pine-sap from my hands. Clean of sap, but coated with a flammable solvent I’d walk to the shower afraid I might explode. Not a recommended practice – and something I’d thought was left behind with the generation for whom chemicals were life saving and life simplifying miracles – not for our generation who was left to clean up their mess. So I was surprised when, besides exhortations to avoid using kerosene, I came across a recent report from </span> <a href="http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/headlice.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Harvard School of Public Health</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> warning those seeking lice-treatments away from “…motor or machine oils, as these materials can be harmful.” Really? But then, we’ve used plenty of harmful treatments to remove the itchy pests over the years.<br /><br />For decades the most effective treatment was DDT – credited with keeping lice out of our hair from the 1940s when it was first hailed as a wonder-pesticide through the 70s (the chemist <a href="http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1948/muller-bio.html">Paul Muller</a> snagged a Nobel Prize eight years after patenting this now notorious organochlorine chemical.) DDT’s widespread use has been credited with keeping me and my 1960s compatriots lice-free throughout our youth. But then DDT became the poster-chemical for all that was wrong with wonton use of industrial, persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals. Not only did it contribute to the demise of raptors and fish eating birds, but after only a little over twenty years of use, the wily little beasts began to develop resistance (as did other pests treated with DDT.) Not surprising for an insect that can <a href="http://www.ajmc.com/supplement/managed-care/2004/2004-09-vol10-n9Suppl/Sep04-1891pS260-S263"> eat and mate </a>at the same time. Clearly lice are efficient when it comes to survival and reproduction.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br />More recently, lice have developed resistance to other standbys like Lindane, now banned in California and some European countries for a combination of reasons - including its toxicity. One wonders why it’s still available for use in the U.S. when </span><a href="http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/PostmarketDrugSafetyInformationforPatientsandProviders/ucm110848.htm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">according to the FDA</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> “….serious side effects including seizures and deaths have been reported to the FDA in patients who use too much Lindane or after a second treatment with Lindane….Seizures can happen in some patients even if they use Lindane as directed; Certain people are at higher risk to develop seizures and death from Lindane. This includes: babies and children; elderly; people weighing less than 110 pounds (50 kg).”<br /><br />If for some reason you are prescribed Lindane, I would suggest you check out FDA’s site and read carefully. </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">And then there are the commonly used and readily available over-the-counter formulations including RID, Pronto and licetrol, which rely upon an ancient remedy derived from chrysanthemums – pyrethrin. Unfortunately, today’s lice have developed resistance to both pyrethrins and their synthetic chemical cousin permethrin (found in NIX, another popular treatment.) According to one report, if lice are still hanging around after two courses of correctly applied treatments – your little guests are very likely resistant to eviction – at least by those chemicals.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br />And finally (for toxic stuff) there’s malathion – an FDA approved lice treatment for children greater than six years of age. Malathion not only is an irreversible neurotoxicant but also, in its commercial formulation, has the added risk of going up in flame. Because the treatment is so flammable, users are warned away from using hair dryers and curling irons (for the 8-12 hours required for treatment,) and while resistance has yet to be documented in the U.S. that’s not the case worldwide. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br />So, what’s a modern parent like Kate to do when faced with a head full of lice, and an impending social disaster for her child? </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br />Enter the </span><a href="http://www.medletter.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Medical Letter On Drugs and Therapeutics</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">, an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to appraisals of new drugs, which just published a review of lice medications including FDA’s most recently approved treatment, a 5% benzyl alcohol lotion. According to Medical Letters, because it actively suffocates lice by opening and obstructing their airways – rather than working at a biochemical level (inhibiting certain enzymes, a mode of action to which insects may develop resistance) there’s some hope this treatment won’t contribute to development of “superlice.” Additionally studies suggest the required ten-minute treatment is not only effective but “well tolerated,” even by the very young. Though they note that “preterm neonates injected intravenously with products containing benzyl alcohol have developed a ‘gasping syndrome’ with CNS depression,….sometimes progressing to neurological deterioration and cardiovascular collapse,” lice treatments are topical and this one has been approved for infants six months of age and older. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br />There are also “smothering” treatments – like mayonnaise and olive oil – to which I can personally attest (though I won’t say how.) These treatments slow active lice down enough to easily remove, but be warned, at least one recipient of the treatment (which involves spending the night with hair dressed in mayonnaise) has sworn off the stuff for life. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br />Here again, one can find words of wisdom offered up by Harvard’s School of Public Health which cautions that “Olive oil (or any similar food-grade product) would seem intrinsically safe, but may have associated hazards nonetheless. Oil may cause accidents (slips), and would be difficult to remove from the hair and scalp.” Hmmmm, here's a thought - avoid swabbing your floors with the stuff, and you may be OK. Seriously though, their </span><a href="http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/headlice.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">site</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> is worth checking out for a review of lice treatments in general.<br /><br />Another smothering agent is dimethicone, the “primary” and apparently active ingredient in another newish product, LiceMD (I say apparently because it is frustratingly difficult to find any information on how the product works other than it contains </span><a href="http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/ingredient.php?ingred06=702011&nothanks=1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">dimethicone</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">.) Dimethicone is type of silicone oil. I can confirm the ease of combing one’s hair (my own) after use – silicone after all is an excellent lubricant for rusty chains and creaky doors too. So maybe we’re not too far from motor oil and other lubricants after all. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br />A more pleasant treatment might be a combination of essential oils including lavender, peppermint and eucalyptus dissolved in ethanol and isopropanol (another alcohol) – </span><a href="http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1603/0022-2585(2006)43[889:FARPOE]2.0.CO;2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">reported </span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">to work as well on active lice as some of the more traditional pesticides to which lice are resistant.<br /><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Lice shouldn’t be cause for social trauma, but they are. So when the bugs find their way to your home, be patient – and at least give the non-toxics a try - they might just do the trick. And, you never know, there may even be some unexpected benefits - there’s nothing like gently combing through and nitpicking your kids hair to (at least temporarily) strengthen family ties - not that I'd know.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">*Not her real name.</span></div></div>Emily Monossonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00896682323554212375noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37842820.post-38137738151919541182009-09-16T12:06:00.000-07:002009-10-07T12:30:18.898-07:00The salty dumping grounds: a brief history of ocean dumping<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; LINE-HEIGHT: normal" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">In light of all the recent activity surrounding ocean plastics including voyages by both </span></i><a href="http://www.algalita.org/09-north-pacific-gyre-exploration.html"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Captain Charlie Moore</span></i></a><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> and </span></i><a href="http://sio.ucsd.edu/Expeditions/Seaplex/"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Scripps</span></i></a><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">, I thought it might be relevant to consider our practice (past and present) of using the oceans as receptacles for our waste. This is a little different than the typical posts (it's from an earlier project on plastics) and will be posted in sections. Here's the first.</span></i></span></p><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; LINE-HEIGHT: normal" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">In with the tides, Nantasket Beach, 1988</span></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">As far as plastics in the ocean, I needed no introduction. All along the sandy beaches of Hull, a thin barrier beach reaching out into Massachusetts Bay, where my family resided each summer, plastics washed up by the incoming tide were a common sight. We knew when Boston’s sewers had overloaded by the condoms, tampon applicators and other assorted bits of plastic that washed ashore after a storm. When lobstermen switched from the picturesque wooden traps to plastic coated metal, we knew by the fragments of trap that poked up from the wet sand below the high-tide mark. So when the Coastweeks cleanup came to Hull in 1988 my father, garbage bag in hand, wearing his Sears dungarees, faded blue denim shirt, and size 12 Jack Purcells, combed the beach separating plastic, metal and cardboard from the sand. My father, along with hundreds of other volunteers that year, collected a total of 25 tons of debris from Massachusetts’s beaches. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">That fall, as I attended the annual Society of Toxicology and Chemistry Halloween Dance dressed as “Beach waste,” I was naïve about the dangers of plastics. As far as I knew plastic was a nuisance and an eyesore but was essentially inert unless burned; not all that interesting to a toxicologist. But it made a good costume. A necklace of pink and white tampon applicators and milk bottle caps collected by my father was the perfect accessory to the orange fishnet cape adorned with fading coke bottles, pieces of old lobster trap and other assorted beach waste items. Problem was, only other east coast attendees got that I was beach waste. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Back then, Alice Outwater, fresh out of MIT’s graduate school worked with the floatable scum of Boston - wastewater scum - for the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority. She writes about the 1980s, “roughly fifty thousand tampon applicators a day were arriving at the wastewater treatment plants in Boston.”</span><a title="" href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/Draft%20Ch%202%20March%2016%20Em.doc#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> Recently, I asked her about the fate of those applicators, “Most of the plastics in the wastewater,” she replied, “ended up in the scum, which, originally, was released on the outgoing tide</span></span><span style="font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">. </span></span><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">” As recently as 1989, Boston’s sewage treatment plants released upwards of 10,000 gallons per day of that scum, which included grease, oil, and rosy pink tampon applicators,</span><a title="" href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/Draft%20Ch%202%20March%2016%20Em.doc#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> and it was all legal.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Who would have thought that the applicators my sisters and I flushed from our Newton home might one day wash up on our beloved Nantasket beach in Hull? Did Playtex consider this when they manufactured the first silky plastic applicators back in 1962</span><a title="" href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/Draft%20Ch%202%20March%2016%20Em.doc#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">? Or, did both Playtex and consumers assume, as generations before them, that flowing water combined with technology was the solution for much of our waste? </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal" class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">The solution to pollution</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Our relationship with the world’s oceans includes worship, fear and contemplation, yet throughout history we have dumped our waste into the nearest water body. If the ocean was large enough to hide fearsome sea monsters, make ships disappear, and swallow Atlantis, surely it was large enough to absorb our waste. By one estimate, for every million molecules of the world’s waters, the ocean contains over 970,000 molecules, while glaciers and ice caps contain 21,000, rivers contain a single molecule</span><a title="" href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/Draft%20Ch%202%20March%2016%20Em.doc#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">, and all of life including us watery beings contains a mere half a molecule. So what could beings who represent less than one part-per-million of all the oceans water possibly </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">do</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> to harm the oceans? Turns out, quite a lot. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Four thousand years ago, the Sumerians not only figured out how to move water to where they wanted it, but they also managed to develop a sewer system to carry away their waste. Two thousand years ago Romans built public latrines that discharged via their central sewage system, aptly named the Cloaca Maxima, directly into the river Tiber. Despite all this historical precedent (although one might think we’d have figured this out sooner) western world city dwellers were still dumping chamber pots into the streets and ditches until well into the late nineteenth century. Fortunately for us, city engineers and health departments finally figured out what the ancients had known - that flowing water could carry away a city’s human waste. By early twentieth century, when my father’s father was setting down roots in his new country after a trip across the Atlantic, and in his new city Boston, Boston was being celebrated for having one of the best sewage treatment systems in the country thanks to a collection of pipes that sent the city’s wastewater out into Boston Harbor. </span></span><span style="font-family:';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:';"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"></span></o:p></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">As east coast cities like Boston and New York exploded with immigrants like my grandfather and his family, so too did the amount of household waste, including ashes, garbage, night soil and cesspool cleanings (for those not hooked up to the cities sewers) which along with street sweepings and dead animals, ended up in watery graves along the eastern seaboard, out of sight. While our coastal ancestors paved the way for dumping at sea, inlanders were no different. For them, flowing water, was also the solution to growing waste problems. By the end of the nineteenth century, some Midwestern cities were dumping upwards of 270,000 tons of garbage, manure, night-soil and dead animals into the mighty Mississippi River, while others dumped into the Missouri, the Ohio</span><a title="" href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/Draft%20Ch%202%20March%2016%20Em.doc#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> and the Great Lakes</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Occasionally, all this dumping was problematic. Once in a while, dumping interfered with the boats and barges that worked the rivers, or the tides and winds conspired, pushing putrid waste back towards the shore. Navigation became difficult, and coastal areas became hazardous to one’s health. After this happened in Boston during the summer of 1898, ninety years before tampon applicators washed up in Hull, and almost 100 years before Alguita’s maiden voyage, the wisdom of dumping at sea was reconsidered</span><a title="" href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/Draft%20Ch%202%20March%2016%20Em.doc#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">. By 1899 the country’s first law protecting our waterways was enacted.</span><a title="" href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/Draft%20Ch%202%20March%2016%20Em.doc#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[7]</span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> Although key phrases like floatable waste and navigable waters separated the lawful from the unlawful, centuries-old habits die hard. Seven years after the new law, Bostonians were still sending literally tons of market waste, ashes and house dirt, street sweepings and cesspool and catch basin cleanings out to the coastal ocean. Dumping at sea was cheap. In 1912 for just 40 cents, Boston could unload a ton of garbage</span><a title="" href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/Draft%20Ch%202%20March%2016%20Em.doc#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[8]</span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">. As long as the stuff didn’t reappear and as long as ships could still sail, there was no reason not to dump it. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Thankfully for us all, coastal garbage dumping eventually ceased, but our mindset, that the solution to pollution is the ocean, persists. Throughout the past century and into the next, coastal cities and towns have continued to rely upon local rivers and harbors to swallow up their citizen’s sewage. Yet the sewage and wastewater that traveled from my grandfather’s apartment out to the harbor was far different than the sewage that flowed from the subsequent generation of Bostonians who came of age living better through chemistry. Before the current age of plastics, much of what was dumped eventually degraded – even the oil. But plastics don’t break down – at least not within our lifetime. And as recently as 1987, over 1,000 major industrial facilities and nearly 600 municipal sewage treatment plants discharged directly into estuaries or coastal waters around the country</span><a title="" href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/Draft%20Ch%202%20March%2016%20Em.doc#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[9]</span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> dispersing not only fugitive tampon applicators and other bits of plastics but industrial contaminants as well.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal" class="MsoNormal"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">To find out more about plastics in our oceans today, check out websites of both the </span></i><a href="http://www.algalita.org/09-north-pacific-gyre-exploration.html"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">ORV Alguita </span></i></a><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">(Captain Moore's vessel) and the </span></i><a href="http://sio.ucsd.edu/Expeditions/Seaplex/"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">New Horizon</span></i></a><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">, (Scripps' vessel.)</span></i></p><p style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal" class="MsoNormal">The second part to this article can be found <a href="http://theneighborhoodtoxicologist.blogspot.com/2009/09/plasticized-oceans-part-ii.html">here</a>.</p><div style="mso-element: footnote-list"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%"><br /><div id="ftn1"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a title="" href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/Draft%20Ch%202%20March%2016%20Em.doc#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> Water, by Alice Outwater pg 169, and personal communication.</span></p></div><div id="ftn2"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a title="" href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/Draft%20Ch%202%20March%2016%20Em.doc#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> http://www.mwra.state.ma.us/03sewer/html/sewhist.htm</span></p></div><div id="ftn3"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a title="" href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/Draft%20Ch%202%20March%2016%20Em.doc#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span><a href="http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Playtex-Products-Inc-Company-History.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Playtex-Products-Inc-Company-History.html</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">; "The new Gentle Glide tampon is a major breakthrough in design. Since 1962 when Playtex created the first plastic applicator tampon, we've continually improved the design of our feminine care products by listening to consumers and anticipating their feminine care needs. This exciting new product is designed to meet women's needs for ultimate comfort and protection", commented Julie Elkinton, Vice President of Feminine Care at Playtex.” From http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-6908790/Playtex-Introduces-a-New-Gentle.html</span></p></div><div id="ftn4"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a title="" href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/Draft%20Ch%202%20March%2016%20Em.doc#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> Gaia’s Body, Tyler Volk, p 112</span></p></div><div id="ftn5"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a title="" href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/Draft%20Ch%202%20March%2016%20Em.doc#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> The Collection and Disposal of Municipal Waste, 1908, Wm F. Morse, The Municipal Waste Journal and Engineer, Ny, NY</span></p></div><div id="ftn6"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a title="" href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/Draft%20Ch%202%20March%2016%20Em.doc#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> The Collection and Disposal of Municipal Waste, 1908, Wm F. Morse, The Municipal Waste Journal and Engineer, Ny, NY.</span></p></div><div id="ftn7"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a title="" href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/Draft%20Ch%202%20March%2016%20Em.doc#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[7]</span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> http://www.eoearth.org/article/Rivers_and_Harbors_Act_of_1899,_United_States</span></p></div><div id="ftn8"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a title="" href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/Draft%20Ch%202%20March%2016%20Em.doc#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[8]</span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">R. Hering and S. Greeley: Collection and Disposal of Municipal Refuse, 1921</span></i></p></div><div style="mso-element: footnote" id="ftn9"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a title="" href="file:///C:/Users/Emily%20Monosson/Documents/plasticized/Draft%20Ch%202%20March%2016%20Em.doc#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">[9]</span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> Wastes in Marine Environments, OTA, 1987 p.13.</span></p></div></div></span><p></p><div style="mso-element: footnote-list"><div style="mso-element: footnote" id="ftn4"></div></div>Emily Monossonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00896682323554212375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37842820.post-33672277499587930022009-09-09T10:19:00.000-07:002009-09-25T11:33:50.001-07:00PCBs: back with a vengence?<span style="font-size:130%;">Teaching college-aged students can keep you young or, make you feel really old. In this case I was feeling particularly old. My college advisor, with whom I’d kept in touch over the years, had invited me to talk about chemical contaminants with her class of soon-to-be graduating seniors. Wanting to distinguish between the “trendy” chemical contaminants, and the “legacy” contaminants, I brought up PCBs.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">“You all know what PCBs are don’t you?” I’d asked, after observing what seemed like puzzled expressions on more than a few young faces. Shrugs all around, with the exception of one eager and confidently raised hand.<br /><br />"Polychlorinated biphenyls,” responded the proud owner of that hand.<br /><br />The rest were still clearly puzzled. As was I. How could these bright young students be ignorant of one of this century’s most important legacy chemicals? Not only that, but how could these students who attended college in Schenectady, home of General Electric – the company that not only brought “Good Things to Life,” but also introduced PCBs to much of the Hudson River - be ignorant of one of the most important contaminants in their backyards? (Well, aside from depleted uranium, but that’s another story.)<br /><br />PCBs, I realized, define the chemical generation gap. These kids didn’t have a clue. Except for all the flap over the Hudson River cleanup nearly a decade ago unless you're unfortunate enough to be directly impacted by Monsanto (one of the primary producers of PCBS), GE or other PCBs users, you rarely hear about the chemical these days.<br /><br />Until this past weekend, that is. I should have known something was up when a friend and colleague working at Berkshire Community College sent a Facebook message indicating she had some questions about PCBs. She never followed up, and to be honest, I thought, “What could anyone want to know about those these days?” Never mind that the college is located in Pittsfield, MA – the <i>other </i>home of GE – where the company not only contaminated the nearby </span><a href="http://www.housatonic-river.com/about.php">Housatonic</a><span style="font-size:130%;"> River, but also neighborhoods all over the city (again – a story for another time.)<br /><br />But PCBs reentered my life, and many others, on a sunny Sunday morning, with a front page article about PCBs in caulking published by the </span><a href="http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2009/09/06/pcb_risk_feared_at_older_ne_schools/?page=1"><span style="font-size:130%;">Boston Globe</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;">. Over the past </span><a href="http://www.pcbinschools.org/"><span style="font-size:130%;">couple of years, PCBs have been discovered</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"> in samples of window and masonry caulking of school buildings and others built circa 1960-70 and possibly earlier. Most of it found following incidental or voluntary testing including voluntary testing by Berkshire Community College. At some sites, testing revealed incredibly high concentrations - meaning hundreds of thousands of parts per million. Which means hundreds of parts per thousand. That’s high, when disposal of waste containing just fifty part-per-million PCBs often requires special consideration. I immediately wondered about my kid's school - though recently renovated, the original building had that 60's look. As a new member of the school committee and more than well aware of our dire finances did I even want to <i>know</i> about this? As a parent with two kids in the school, and a toxicologist - I am obligated to ask.<br /><br />PCBs are really a complex mixture of similarly structured chemicals – carbon rings with assorted number and placement of chlorines. Which means when considering </span><a href="http://www.epa.gov/osw///hazard/tsd/pcbs/pubs/effects.htm"><span style="font-size:130%;">PCB toxicity</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;">, one must consider toxicity of many different chemicals which may act independently or as a complex mixture. That is, exposure to one PCB may influence the toxicity of another PCB, or one kind of PCB might affect the brain, while another may affect reproduction. Understanding health and environmental impacts of single chemicals is difficult enough. Understanding complex mixtures can take a lifetime -- and plenty of good scientists have devoted their careers to PCBs (they just don't make Science News or the front page these days.)<br /><br />To date, PCBs are considered all-around toxicants at least in laboratory studies (and by association, in epidemiological studies on highly exposed human populations) affecting reproduction, neurological development, immune response and reproduction and are considered a probable human carcinogen by the USEPA. In the environment in addition to impacting other species, they are credited with wiping out mink populations that once lived along contaminated rivers. Mink for example, are exquisitely sensitive to the reproductive impacts of certain kinds of PCBs.<br /><br />But before there is widespread panic, there are questions that must be answered, including 1) concentrations of PCBs in caulking 2) amounts of PCBs released from contaminated caulking 3) how might one be exposed to PCBs from caulking, 4) and potential exposures of teachers and students exposed PCBs released from caulking? (According to the Globe this is the topic of an ongoing study.)<br /><br />Now that PCBs are back on the front page, maybe the next time I ask students about these important legacies, they won’t be so puzzled.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span><o:p></o:p></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">UPDATE: EPA recently issued a press release (on Sept 25 2009) along with the <a href="http://www.epa.gov/pcbsincaulk/">following website</a> for those concerned about PCBs in caulk: <a href="http://www.epa.gov/pcbsincaulk/">http://www.epa.gov/pcbsincaulk/</a><br /></span><p></p><br /></div>Emily Monossonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00896682323554212375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37842820.post-85337956342544175972009-08-24T05:35:00.000-07:002009-09-08T13:11:32.684-07:00Back to school with less plastic<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman';"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">For those interested in the </span></i><a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-monosson24-2009aug24,0,5894887.story"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">LA Times op-ed Back to School with Less Plastic </span></i></a><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">-- a teaching moment, I've posted a slightly longer version of the editorial below, along with a few links to reports associated with the editorial. For those of you seeking to reduce plastics from school and office, there is also a sampling of sites offering alternative school and office supplies.<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">My thirteen year-old daughter and I have just returned from the annual back-to-school pilgrimage to the local Big Box Office Store and I am appalled. While for me the leathery smell of new shoes stirs sweet pangs marking those precious last days of summer -- for my children it will most likely be the smell of vinyl and assorted plastics that will remind them of those bitter-sweet end-of-summer days. </span></span></i></span></p><i><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">As a child of the ‘60s, back when plastics had yet to touch every aspect of our lives, my pencils and rulers were wooden, my binder cardboard and fabric, my book bag canvas, and back-to-school shopping wasn’t a major industry – let alone a “season.” </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">As a toxicologist who's spent much of the past year studying the world’s overabundance of plastics and their associated toxicities and a consumer who carries cloth bags, avoids over packaged lunch items, much to my kid’s dismay, and diligently recycles -- though admittedly I am not a purist when it comes to plastic-- this year’s shopping trip has left me feeling particularly hypocritical. We entered Big Box armed with “the List.” Parents of school-age kids, know to expect this list sometime in July, the kickoff for the “season.” We left Big Box with an armful of poly vinyl chloride (PVC), polystyrene, polypropylene, polyethylene – all neatly packaged in yet more polystyrene and PVC. We passed on the plastic bag at the checkout counter. At least we could do that much. Never mind that the store's bags were among the few easily recyclable or reusable plastic products available.</span></span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">The hundreds of brightly colored disposable plastic pens sold by Big Box certainly are not recyclable. Not only are the plastics often mixed (polystyrene, thermoplastic elastomer and polycarbonate, for example) but without a sufficient market for the materials recycling is not feasible. By some estimates hundreds of millions if not billions of disposable pens are bought in the U.S. each year. Once disposed or lost, b</span></span></span><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">its of those pens will eventually add to the earth’s expanding “plastic layer,” a marker of our twentieth century penchant for the disposable rather than reusable. </span></span></span></span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">Then there is the scourge of the 3-ring binder</span></span><span style="color:red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">. </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">I’ve got a stack in the corner of my office. Some are reusable. Others not. Their covers and inside pockets are torn, the rings sprung partly open, their cardboard innards peek through the corners and the colors are all wrong. Last year’s binders were orange and yellow. This year according to “the List” binders must be purple, blue, green and red, a different color for each subject. No kidding. While binders in good condition can be reused, eventually, they will join their plastic companions in the waste-pile.</span></span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">If Big Box Office Store can collect e-waste and printer cartridges, you’d think they could collect and encourage reuse and recycling of school and office supplies. Apparently once all that plastic leaves the door – it’s our problem not theirs. So much for "extended producer responsibility." And with nearly 56 million k-12 students returning to school, all of those new plastic binders, lunch boxes, pens, rulers and pencil sharpeners (which break more easily than an egg shell,) are a big problem.</span></span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">A problem which, with a little creativity, could be turned into a sobering educational opportunity --just as students now study the water cycle, what if they studied the life-cycle of their pen or better yet, their PVC notebook? What if they learned that the production of </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><a href="http://www.pvcinformation.org/assets/pdf/Wilma_Subra_report_on_PVC_fenceline_communities.pdf"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">PVC may contaminate the air </span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">of local neighborhoods with vinyl chloride, a known carcinogen, and may be associated with increased dioxin concentrations in local residents? Or that some portion of the plastics in their school supplies could end up circulating for decades in remote ocean regions? What if they learned that in some locations marine birds have been found with guts full of colorful plastic bits? Or that plastic could even be a </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">good</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"> thing if we reused or recycled over and over?</span></span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia;"><span style="line-height: 18px; font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">Of course, school supplies are only a drop in the plastic bucket. A small fraction of the over</span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 18px; font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><a href="http://www.americanchemistry.com/s_acc/sec_policyissues.asp?CID=996&DID=9827"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">100 billion pounds of plastic resin</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"> reportedly produced by US industries.</span></span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="line-height: 18px; font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"> </span></span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 18px; font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">This is 100 billion pounds of substances resistant to degradation. Substances that will, over the years break into smaller and smaller pieces, some of which will release their chemical building blocks and additives like heavy metals and phthalates– several of which are now known to interfere with endocrine function – into the environment. But plastic school supplies for many kids are, in addition to all those lunch baggies and packaging, part of a yearly ritual which teaches kids that our disposable plastic culture is normal and acceptable</span></span></span></span></span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 18px; font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">Each new mechanical pencil, binder, report cover and lunch box adds to the planet's steadily accumulating plastic burden. According to the EPA, we </span><a href="http://www.epa.gov/waste/conserve/materials/plastics.htm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">discarded thirty million tons of plastic</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">in 2007, 12% of our municipal waste. Back in the 1960s less than 1% or our waste was plastic. Of those thirty million, we recycle a paltry 2.1 millon tons. The rest is landfilled</span></span><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">, burned in incinerators, </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">washed up onto remote beaches, or is swirling around in the great Trash Gyre of the North Pacific, where scientists from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography are </span><a href="http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/general/08-09SEAPLEX2.asp"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">busy sampling</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"> little bits of our discarded plastics.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">By sending our kids back to school with a backpack that is, if not plastic, filled with plastic, what are we teaching them? Buying new shoes each year made sense – kids grow out of shoes. Buying a whole new set of school supplies which last barely a year under the best of circumstances, does not. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">But there’s hope. Just as plastic is a man-m</span></span><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">ade modern miracle of chemical-engineering, cleaning up after the plastic mess could be</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"> this century’s modern miracle. For some products, closed loop processing – fully recyclable carpets for example - reduces resource use and waste.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">For school supplies that can’t be easily recycled, what if kids were challenged (or bribed) to keep their plastic binders, rulers and pencil sharpeners safe and in good shape so they can be reused the next year? For items that fail to last– perhaps a collection box piled high – sent to key politicians or even back to Big Box, who might in turn, send a message to industry. And better yet, what if teachers - creators of “the List” - urged students to seek out recycled, recyclable or plastic-free school supplies? </span></span></span></span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">At the very least, let’s teach them that it’s time to slow the growth of the plastic layer, a worthy goal for the 21</span></span><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">st</span></span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"> century.</span></span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">There are plenty of sites out there to help reduce plastics in school and office too - below is just a sampleing : </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; "><a href="http://www.thegreenoffice.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">The Green Office</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; "><a href="http://www.care2.com/greenliving/best-cool-green-school-supplies.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Care2 make a difference</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; "><a href="http://www.chej.org/publications/PVCGuide/PVCFree.pdf"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Center for Health and Environmental Justice</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">For binders, try recycling industries near you, some may take back and redistribute binders that are in good condition.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">For pens, try the </span><a href="http://pen-guy.blogspot.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Pen Guy </span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">- not exactly recycling but reuse as art!</span></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman';"><br /></span></div><p></p><p></p></i>Emily Monossonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00896682323554212375noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37842820.post-61097105709437041042009-08-06T11:18:00.000-07:002009-08-06T13:58:08.955-07:00A lot of information on a little topic: EPA's Nanotitanium Case Study<div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Still stuck in the sunscreen limbo? Wondering which to choose - "chemical" filters or "natural" filters like nanotitanium? While we know chemical filters tend to be absorbed into the skin, should we be concerned about absorption of nanotitanium as well? Or perhaps you're wondering when anyone is going to get around to really thinking about how best to evalute risks of nanomaterials? Well here's your chance to read all about it - at least all about the life and times of nanotitanium in one relatively complete report. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">EPA has just releasee their </span><a href="http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=210206"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Nanomaterials Case Studies: Nanoscale Titanium Dioxide in Water Treatment and in Topical Sunscreen DRAFT</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">. I haven't read the section on water treatment, but this past winter I was involved in the review of the section on sunscreen - sure to be a hot topic even as summer is sadly winding down. While the report won't help you choose which sunscreen to use, it provides a fairly comprehensive review of nanotitanium. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div> </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The document, according to EPA is, "...a starting point to to identify what is known and, more importantly, what needs to be known about selected nanomaterial applications." </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:180%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">And, as they tackle the moving target (in the sense that research and publications just keep rolling in) that is nano from production to product, birth to afterlife they invite readers to:</span></div><div><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">....consider the questions listed throughout the document and offer specific comments on how individual questions, or research needs, might be more precisely or accurately articulated. If additional questions should be included or if information is already available to address some of the questions posed here, readers are encouraged to provide such comments as well. These or other comments on any aspect of the document should be submitted in writing in accordance with instructions, including the specified time period, stated in a Federal Register notice appearing on or about July 31, 2009 referring to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD 2009-0495.</span></blockquote></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">So have at it. It'll be interesting to follow the further development of this report.</span></div>Emily Monossonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00896682323554212375noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37842820.post-29110804902976461602009-07-28T12:02:00.000-07:002010-02-10T09:19:15.553-08:00Woodsmoke: a dose of our own, in my backyard<p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><i>Updated: February 2010</i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"Do you have a woodstove," the doctor asks as I sit, barelegged in my too-small hospital gown, and give the respirometer a feeble puff. It’s my second try and I beg for one more, surely I can do better. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">“Woodstove? Yes - but it’s one of those new ones,” I answer defensively, “you know, with a catalytic converter.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Not one of those smoke belching dinosaurs, I’d like to add, the kind that blackens the cobwebs and sends clouds of smoke throughout the neighborhood as did the one in our old rental. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">But I’m in denial. I ought to know better. Burning wood is dirty, pure and simple. No matter how hot the stove, no matter the catalytic converter devoted to reducing our share of wood smoke.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Chemically wood is about fifty percent carbon and forty-five percent oxygen, some hydrogen (around 6%) with a dash of nitrogen and assorted elements such as calcium, potassium and magnesium. That means that a cord of maple wood, roughly the amount we burn each winter, which weighs around 4,000 pounds, depending on how dry it is, contains roughly 4,000 pounds of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen. But, once we stuff the old pizza boxes, the Sunday Times, a little kindling from my husband’s workshop and add a few matches all that is neatly bound up in those logs up will be transformed into heat, light, gas and particles large and small. Some of those particles will end up in the ash pile at the bottom of our stove, and some, along with a mixture of hot gases will flow up the chimney and into the air. Technically, our little stove should release no more than 4 grams of particulates into the air per hour – a tenth of what stoves used to emit before the EPA stepped in. But is that good enough?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Even though we’re talking as little as four grams an hour (and upwards of 30 grams over a day), it is primarily those small particles which concern my doctor. As our wood burns, no matter how efficient or tight our stove, particulates and gases will leak out – if not into our home then up and out our chimney into the neighborhood, mingling with all of our neighbor’s wood gases and aromatic (in more ways than one) wood smoke.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The lovely smoky aroma that comes with wood burning not only indicates the return of crisp fall weather – but the slew of airborne chemicals from carcinogenic polyaromatics to volatile organic carbons (VOCs) to gases like carbon dioxide (the major gas), carbon monoxide and methane – and minerals like potassium, wafting around our "fresh country air." (I say this with some irony as our semi-rural valley sees its share of air pollutants hailing from NYC. And, depending on the weather, can have some of the worst air in the state, particularly in the summer.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">There are also very small bits of carbon in our wood smoke, known as particulate organic carbon, which make up in large part the particulate material or PM, released when wood is burned.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">As with any science, the science of air pollutants like wood smoke evolves over time. What’s known to be released into the air when wood burns, and how much, is refined as technology allows scientists to measure increasingly smaller amounts and sizes of pollutants, as are the dangers of exposure to such pollutants.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The old adage you can’t condemn what you can’t measure (or something like that) often accounts for the all too common phenomenon of the dropping baseline in toxicology. The baseline being what was once considered “safe” or acceptable concentrations of exposure. Think lead, mercury, and radioactive chemicals like strontium and plutonium. All chemicals once treated more cavalierly, back in the day, than they are now. And all chemicals for which “allowable” concentrations have continued to decline over the decades.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">When EPA first regulated particulates in 1987, they focused on PM</span><sub><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">10</span></sub><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">, or particulates 10 microns and smaller. Subsequent studies suggested that the much smaller particles were likely more dangerous, leading EPA to regulate PM</span><sub><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">2.5</span></sub><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">, (particulates that are 2.5 microns) nearly 10 years later in 1997. Flash forward nearly another ten years, and further concerns about these small particulates, caused EPA to reduce the acceptable amount of PM</span><sub><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">2.5</span></sub><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> exposures in a 24 hour period by almost half. And, as technology provides scientists with the tools to study smaller and smaller particles, the studies that led to reductions in PM</span><sub><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">2.5</span></sub><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> are being supplanted by studies revealing the toxicological importance of smaller and smaller particles. Some studies suggest that the majority or peak size of particulates released by wood smoke range from 0.15 to 0.4 microns – a few hundred nanometers in size. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Not only are researchers figuring out that bigger is sometimes better (much like FOX television which offered up a new Plus-sized reality show “</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">More to Love,</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">”) they’re also realizing that mass or weight isn’t everything.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The current U.S. EPA standard for PM</span><sub><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">2.5</span></sub><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> considers only the combined mass, essentially the combined weight, of these little particles. Not the chemical composition nor the number of particles, nor the relative size of the particles. As scientists well know by now (or ought to) when it comes to very little things – like chemicals in the nanometer range (which include some of these particulates) – size does matter.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Typically the smaller things get the more surface area they have. Think about peeling a pound of granny smith apples, and a pound of crab apples. Which would you rather peel? More apple skin, more surface area on those little crab apples. Same with particulates. As these little particulates get smaller, they reveal more surface area. Same amount of mass but more area to react with a body’s cellular surfaces. Typically, the more reactive a particle, the more toxic it tends to be.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">In fact, scientists are now linking the smallest of the small particulates, the ultrafine particles (particles smaller 100 nanometers in size) which comprise the smaller end of PM</span><sub><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">2.5</span></sub><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> with a range of adverse health effects including asthma, chromosomal damage and cardiovascular effects linked to inhalation of particulate matter.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Using the woodstove is one of those lifestyle choices we make every day. As I swear up and down that my asthma tends to worsen with the leaf-mold season rather than wood smoke (although admittedly the two coincide - so who's to say) we rationalize that for each cord of the old maple that fell into our yard years ago, we avoid burning the imported fuel oil sitting below in our basement tank. Besides, we’re only burning a cord or two a year – and although could same can be said for our neighbors on either side, down the street and around the block, at least we’re not burning five hundred thousand tons of wood as proposed by Pioneer “Renewable” Energy....right? But that’s a story for another day.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p></p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">For a good review of several recent studies on ultrafine particles check out Janet Raloff’s <a href="http://www.sciencenews.org/view/feature/id/45186/title/Bad_Breath">“Bad Breath.” </a></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">If you’d prefer primary literature, you can read all about it in Environmental Health Perspectives:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:180%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:18px;"><a href="http://www.ehponline.org/docs/2009/0800335/abstract.pdf">Gent et al., Symptoms and Medication Use in Children wtih Asthma and Traffic-related Sources of Fine Particle Pollution </a></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:180%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:18px;"><a href="http://www.ehponline.org/docs/2009/0800194/abstract.pdf">Delfino et al., Air Pollution Exposures and Circulating Biomarkers of Effect in a Susceptible Population: Clues to Potential Causal Component Mixtures and Mechanisms</a></span></span></p>Emily Monossonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00896682323554212375noreply@blogger.com0