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Contents(click on page numbers for links)
LEGISLATION
ASIA PACIFICNICNAS Reforms Implementation Plan .....................................................................3Model Code of Practice - Labelling of Workplace Hazardous Chemicals ......3China NHFPC Issues Draft Standards for Food Contact Materials .................4
AMERICABoxer close to deal with Senate tSCA bill’s sponsors ...........................................5Prop 65 Enforcement Amendment Summary ........................................................5Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether; Community Right-to-Know toxic Chemical Release Reporting .........................................................................................8
EUROPEPublic consultation: the EFSA Strategy 2020 ..........................................................8Europe continues to phase out ozone layer-damaging chemicals ...............10EURL-Ecvam publishes status report on alternative methods ........................11
INTERNATIONALtechnical Instructions for the Safe transport of Dangerous Goods by Air (Doc 9284) .............................................................................................................11
REACH UPDATEWorkshop on soil risk assessment - material available ......................................13Is your employer ready for the REACH 2018 deadline? .....................................13Biocides Guidance on exposure assessment to human health updated ....13Updated Guidance on the compilation of safety data sheets: translations available .....................................................................................................14
JANET’S CORNERthinking Cap .....................................................................................................................15
HAZARD ALERTDichloromethane ............................................................................................................16
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ContentsGOSSIP
Common solvent keeps killing workers, consumers ..........................................23Concern over hidden diesel pollutant .....................................................................28Body’s ‘chemical calendar’ discovered .....................................................................30Science is Golden podcast episode 6: myth busting ..........................................31BPA linked to low birth weights in baby girls ........................................................32United Nations to decide on ban for toxic chemical linked to contamination at Williamtown RAAF base.............................................................33Antidepressants and blood thinners prompt brain cancer cells to eat themselves .................................................................................................................35Don’t blame the wattle: Allergy expert explains real causes of hayfever and why spring isn’t always the worst time for sufferers ................36Plastic in the food chain: Artificial debris found in fish .....................................39Antibacterial Soap Has Poor Killing Power .............................................................40
TECHNICAL NOTESENVIRONMENtAL RESEARCH ......................................................................................42MEDICAL RESEARCH .......................................................................................................42OCCUPAtIONAL RESEARCH .........................................................................................42PUBLIC HEALtH RESEARCH ..........................................................................................43
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The NICNAS reforms will maintain com-munity health and environment standards while reducing regulatory burden on industry.
ASIA PACIFIC
NICNAS Reforms Implementation Plan2015-10-16the Hon Fiona Nash, the (then) Assistant Minister for Health, launched the National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS) Reforms Implementation Plan at an industry roundtable held at Parliament House on 16 September 2015. the implementation plan outlines:
• opportunities for community and industry consultation;• timing of legislation and It system changes;• proposed improvements to NICNAS’s registration and payments
processes;• process for developing new procedures and guidance.NICNAS is running consultation workshops in Sydney and Melbourne during November/December 2015 to discuss issues raised in a consultation paper. Additional workshops in other capital cities will be dependent on the level of interest. A copy of the consultation paper is available at: http://www.nicnas.gov.au/about-nicnas/nicnas-reforms/implementation-of-the-reforms/plan.
NICNAS Bulletin, 6 October 2015
http://www.nicnas.gov.au
Model Code of Practice - Labelling of Workplace Hazardous Chemicals2015-10-16On 9 September 2015, Safe Work Australia released the revised model Code of Practice for Labelling of Workplace Chemicals. this model Code of Practice has been developed to provide practical guidance to persons conducting a business or undertaking involved in the manufacture, import, supply or use of hazardous chemicals on how to correctly label hazardous chemicals used in the workplace. to have legal effect in a jurisdiction, the model Code of Practice must be approved as a code of practice in that jurisdiction. to determine if this model Code of Practice has been approved as a code of practice in a particular jurisdiction, check with the relevant regulator. An amendments table advising the changes that have been made to this Code is included in the September 2015 version.
Legislation
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The implementation of China’s new Food Safety Law on 1 Octo-ber 2015 has provided a key impetus for Chinese authorities to accelerate the revision and publication of a series of support-ing standards.
Legislationthe previous version is located on the historical versions page. the latest version is available at: Labelling of Workplace Hazardous Chemicals Code of Practice
Safe Work Australia, 9 September 2015
http://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au
China NHFPC Issues Draft Standards for Food Contact Materials 2015-10-16the implementation of China’s new Food Safety Law on 1 October 2015 has provided a key impetus for Chinese authorities to accelerate the revision and publication of a series of supporting standards. On 29 September 2015, China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) released 70 draft standards relating to food safety for public consultation until 31 October 2015. Among the draft standards, there are 6 key national food safety standards relating to food contact materials in China, including:
1. Paper, Paperboard and Paper Products for Food Contact Use2. Metal Materials and Products for Food Contact Use3. Rubber Materials and Products for Food Contact Use4. Plastic Resins for Food Contact Use5. Plastic Materials and Products for Food Contact Use6. Paints and Coating for Food Contact UseA reform of all food product standards began in 2013. All existing GB standards are to be harmonised with the new Food Safety Law. the new food safety standards set out the requirements for raw materials, sensory parameters, physical and chemical specifications, additives and migration specifications, etc. Some requirements have been significantly revised, while others have been formatted without significant practical changes. Of particular interest are the standards which come attached with a consolidated positive list of permitted substances such as that used to standardise the use of food contact materials. In addition, a series of testing method standards for the determination FCM migration into their associated foodstuff have also been issued for public consultation.
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Senator Barbara Boxer (D-California) is close to a deal with the sponsors of the Udall-Vittter TSCA reform bill (S 697) that would allow it to proceed on the Senate floor, ac-cording to well-placed Senate sources.
LegislationStakeholders should pay attention to the drafts and submit feedbacks online. Further information is available in Chinese at: NHFPC news
Chemlinked, 9 October 2015
<a.href=”http://chemlinked.com/en/news”>http://chemlinked.com/en/news
AMERICA
Boxer close to deal with Senate TSCA bill’s sponsors2015-10-16Senator Barbara Boxer (D-California) is close to a deal with the sponsors of the Udall-Vittter tSCA reform bill (S 697) that would allow it to proceed on the Senate floor, according to well-placed Senate sources. the measure is expected to be taken up for floor consideration in the next few days. However, it is not yet known which issues Ms Boxer, a strident critic of the bill, is seeking changes on in exchange for her support. In June, she had vowed to complicate passage of the Udall-Vitter bill if it was taken up instead of a parallel bill passed by the House. Some of Ms Boxer’s principal concerns with the Senate bill have been about provisions that would pre-empt state action on chemicals. Ms Boxer is the ranking member on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which passed the bill in April. the House overwhelmingly passed its own version of tSCA reform in June. Her support for the Udall-Vitter bill would ease passage of the measure out of the Senate. the bill now has 56 cosponsors, 23 of them Democrats, in the 100-member chamber.
Chemical Watch, 1 October 2015
http://chemicalwatch.com
Prop 65 Enforcement Amendment Summary2015-10-16the California Attorney General’s Office recently proposed regulations intended to reform the private enforcement of Proposition 65. Specifically, the Attorney General intends to limit the settlement funds diverted away from the State’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (“OEHHA”), the agency that administers Proposition 65; increase the transparency of settlements in private party Proposition 65 cases; and reduce the financial incentives for private plaintiffs to bring and settle Proposition 65 cases that do not confer substantial public benefit. In
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Legislationtheory, private enforcement of Proposition 65 should result in a lowering of overall exposure to listed chemicals and, thus, a greater public benefit, than enforcement solely by public prosecutors. Proposition 65 expressly allows for recovery of civil penalties, but attorneys’ fees are awarded to private plaintiffs under California’s private attorney general statute and an additional form of payment, so called “payments in lieu of civil penalties” (PILP), is permitted under the Attorney General’s Proposition 65 enforcement regulations. PILP are funds paid to plaintiffs or plaintiffs groups to fund environmental activities, public education programs, and/or funds to the plaintiff for additional enforcement of Proposition 65 or other laws. Under the current private enforcement scheme, 75% of civil penalties are required to be paid to OEHHA, which are spent administering the statute. However, according the Attorney General’s analysis, the vast majority of payments under the statute go toward attorneys’ fees and PILP. these payments are not shared with OEHHA. For example, in 2013, of the total $17 million in settlements, 73% went to attorney’s fees and costs; 11% went to PILP, and only 15% consisted of civil penalties. the proposed regulations would limit the circumstances under which civil penalties could be diverted to plaintiffs and their attorneys, who would have to demonstrate a nexus between the way the funds would be spent and a public benefit. this would be accomplished by eliminating PILP and establishing payments called Additional Settlement Payments (ASP). ASP are defined as payments that are not civil penalties, attorneys’ fees or costs. the proposed amendments deem ASP to “offset” civil penalties and require plaintiffs to demonstrate to a judge that the offset is in the public interest. In addition, ASP are prohibited for any settlement not subject to judicial review; that is, those settlements entered after plaintiff sends a 60-Day Notice of Violation, but before a complaint is filed with the court.
the proposed regulations list a number of factors that the Attorney General will consider in determining whether to object to a settlement including ASP. A notable requirement shows what the Attorney General considers to be unreasonable ASP. Under that proposal, ASP that exceed the amount due OEHHA (i.e., 75% of the civil penalty amount) will likely draw an objection from the Attorney General. the proposed regulations also require Proposition 65 plaintiffs to provide pre-lawsuit settlements to the Attorney General. Although many of the settlements entered at this early stage are already reported to the Attorney General’s Office, this proposed amendment would mandate that they be reported. In addition, the proposed regulations no longer deem that product reformulation resulting in lower chemical exposure always results in a public benefit. the proposed regulations do presume such a benefit, but also require
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Legislationa showing that at least some of the products at issue are above the Proposition 65 warning threshold and that the products will be below the warning threshold once reformulated. If that showing is not made, “the mere fact of reformulation may not establish the existence of a significant public benefit.” And without a showing of such public benefit, the court may not approve the settlement. Ultimately, the Attorney General’s proposed regulations will likely increase the costs to defendants in Proposition 65 actions. As is typically the case, whenever additional substantive and procedural requirements for prosecuting and settling Proposition 65 actions are imposed on private plaintiffs, they are passed through to defendants in some manner. For example, the showing required to demonstrate to a court that a reformulation standard confers a “significant public benefit” could be very expensive for plaintiffs. to prove that a settling defendant’s product caused an exposure that was above the warning threshold before reformulation and under it thereafter, will require two exposure assessments and perhaps the consultation of experts. this cost will undoubtedly be passed along to defendants in the form of additional attorneys’ fees and costs. In addition, it may remove the option for some defendants to “buy their peace.” Currently, defendants faced with a Proposition 65 suit may decide to settle and reformulate even when a listed chemical is likely present in a product at a level below which a warning would be required because meeting the plaintiff’s demands is probably less costly than establishing the level that would trigger the warning requirement. Unfortunately, the Attorney General’s proposed amendment may work to make this option less feasible. the limitations on PILP and ASP will likely have a similar impact on the costs borne by defendants. Clearly, the Attorney General is concerned about OEHHA not receiving what she believes the agency is due from “appropriate” civil penalty awards. However, tying ASP to civil penalties in a way that will reduce payments to private plaintiffs, without limiting attorneys’ fees, will cause them to seek additional attorneys’ fees to cover the “shortfall” or to increase the amount of civil penalties demanded. Either way, plaintiffs will look to defendants to cover the difference. Interested parties should submit written comments to the California Attorney General regarding the proposed regulatory action. the deadline for submission is 5:00 p.m. 9 November 2015.
Keller & Heckman, 13 October 2015
https://www.khlaw.com
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On 24 September, the United States Environmental Protec-tion Agency (EPA) denied a petition to remove ethylene glycol monobutyl ether (EGBE) from the category Certain Glycol Ethers under the list of chemicals subject to reporting under section 313 of the Emergency Plan-ning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) of 1986 and section 6607 of the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA) of 1990.
LegislationEthylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether; Community Right-To-Know Toxic Chemical Release Reporting2015-10-16On 24 September, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) denied a petition to remove ethylene glycol monobutyl ether (EGBE) from the category Certain Glycol Ethers under the list of chemicals subject to reporting under section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) of 1986 and section 6607 of the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA) of 1990. EPA has reviewed the available data on this chemical and has determined that EGBE does not meet the deletion criterion of EPCRA section 313(d)(3). Specifically, EPA is denying this petition because EPA’s review of the petition and available information resulted in the conclusion that EGBE meets the listing criterion of EPCRA section 313(d)(2)(B) due to its potential to cause serious or irreversible chronic health effects in humans, specifically, liver toxicity and concerns for haematological effects. Further information on the petition is available in the federal register at: https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2015/10/08/2015-25674/ethylene-glycol-monobutyl-ether-community-right-to-know-toxic-chemical-release-reporting
Federal Register, 8 October 2015
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr
EUROPE
Public consultation: the EFSA Strategy 20202015-10-16the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is asking its partners and stakeholders to help shape the Authority’s strategic direction for the next five years. the draft EFSA Strategy 2020 is open for public consultation for six weeks, during which time all interested parties – from politicians and policy-makers to scientists, food producers and consumers – are invited to comment on and contribute to the document. Sue Davies, Chair of EFSA’s Management Board, said: “the EFSA Strategy 2020 will shape the Authority’s work over the next five years. It will help ensure that EFSA can anticipate and address the risks presented by an increasingly complex supply chain and contribute to a high level of consumer protection and trust. “Enhancing transparency and stakeholder engagement will be essential to achieve this, from the development of mandates and
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Legislationthroughout the risk assessment process. It is important that stakeholders respond to the consultation and contribute their views on how this can best be achieved.” Dr. Bernhard Url, EFSA’s Executive Director, said: “Our work has a direct impact on the lives of millions of Europeans so it is essential that our strategy addresses their expectations. that is why we are carrying out this consultation.” the document examines a number of emerging “drivers of change” that will directly influence the direction of EFSA’s work between now and 2020. these include:
• the continuing globalisation of food production and trade;• the emergence of new risks and hazards that ask difficult questions of
risk assessors and scientists;• the evolution of scientific knowledge and proliferation of new sources
of data; and• expectations from society for public bodies to be more open in the
way they work.taking into account these challenges and opportunities, the agency has developed five key strategic objectives to guide its future work:
7. Prioritise public engagement in the process of scientific assessment.8. Widen EFSA’s evidence base and maximise access to its data.9. Build the EU’s scientific assessment capacity and knowledge
community.10. Prepare for future risk assessment challenges.11. Create an environment and culture that reflects EFSA’s values.Cooperation and openness will be crucial to the success of the new strategy, Dr. Url added. “We can take advantage of the coming opportunities only through concerted collective action across the European risk assessment community. this is why we are determined to build a more open, connected EFSA,” he said. EFSA has also identified the initial practical steps that will be needed to turn these objectives into reality. these will also be reviewed following the consultation, and a detailed implementation plan will be developed, in close cooperation with our scientific partners and stakeholders. A copy of the consultation document is available at: Public consultation: Draft EFSA Strategy 2020
EFSA, 8 October 2015
http://www.efsa.europa.eu
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Europe continues to make progress in phasing out chemicals which damage the ozone layer according to a new report from the European Environ-ment Agency (EEA).
LegislationEurope continues to phase out ozone layer-damaging chemicals2015-10-16Europe continues to make progress in phasing out chemicals which damage the ozone layer according to a new report from the European Environment Agency (EEA). the report considers the use of more than 200 chemicals controlled by the Montreal Protocol and EU legislation. Over the last few decades, chemicals known to harm the ozone layer have been successfully substituted in most parts of the world since 1989 when the Montreal Protocol came into force. Within the EU, ozone depleting substances (ODS) are covered by the ODS Regulation, which is more stringent than the rules of the Protocol and covers additional substances. Companies are obliged to report their use of ODS, including imports, exports, production and destruction. the EU has implemented the phase-out of ODS use in line with the Montreal Protocol requirements over the period 1987-2010, which is 10 years ahead of the legal provision. the key metric under the Protocol to measure the use is ‘consumption’. It is calculated from the reported data on production, import, export and destruction. the EEA report ‘Ozone depleting substances 2014’ shows that consumption in the EU was negative in 2014, as was the general trend over the last years. these negative values are the result of a phase-out in combination with rather high destruction and low stocks. Since the potential to harm the ozone layer varies among substances, the data collected on these chemicals are expressed not only in metric tonnes but also in ‘ozone depleting potential’ (ODP) tonnes which show quantities in terms of their environmental effects rather than physical weight. the report is published to coincide with the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer. Many ODS are also potent greenhouse gases. their phase out has therefore had a significant positive impact on climate change prevention. However, some of the ODS substitutes can equally contribute to climate change. the EEA has recently published a web page, which provides more information on the links between ODS substitutes and climate change. More information is available at:
• Protecting the ozone layer while also preventing climate change• European Commission DG Climate Action information on ozone
depleting substancesEuropean Environment Agency, 16 September 2015
http://www.eea.europa.eu
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The European Commission Joint Research Centre’s EU Reference Laboratory for Alternatives to Animal Testing (EURL Ecvam) has published a “status report”, summarising all of its activities between May 2014 and Sep-tember this year.
LegislationEURL-Ecvam publishes status report on alternative methods2015-10-16the European Commission Joint Research Centre’s EU Reference Laboratory for Alternatives to Animal testing (EURL Ecvam) has published a “status report”, summarising all of its activities between May 2014 and September this year. In this time, EURL-Ecvam has developed adverse outcome pathways (AOPs) relevant to neurotoxicity, toxicity via disruption of the endocrine system and liver toxicity. Most of these have been added to an AOP knowledge base-wiki, developed by the JRC, in conjunction with the US EPA and the OECD. In March 2014, EURL-Ecvam launched a public web survey, asking groups to submit test methods related to the clearance of chemicals from the liver (human hepatic metabolic clearance or HHMC). Nine test facilities submitted 15 HHMC methods, aiming to measure in vitro the rate at which a test chemical is metabolised by a human liver-based test system. EURL-Ecvam has selected three of the most highly ranked protocols, all of which use human liver cells. they will be used to develop a standard operating procedure to help predict metabolic clearance of chemicals in vivo. the laboratory is also working on an in vitro integrated testing strategy (ItS) to identify possible neurotoxicity. the proposed ItS will be based on a combination of human cell models and endpoints, suited to high-throughput methods. In vitro assays will be “anchored” to key events, identified in AOPs for neurotoxicity. In total, EURL-ECVAM has assessed 15 alternative test methods since May 2014, covering fish toxicity, genotoxicity, toxicokinetics, teratogenicity, skin sensitisation and skin and eye irritation. the report also details EURL-Ecvam’s activities as part of the EU alternative testing project, Seurat-1. Further Information is available at: Report (in full)
Chemical Watch, 15 October 2015
http://chemicalwatch.com
INTERNATIONAL
Technical Instructions for The Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air (Doc 9284)2015-10-16the broad principles governing the international transport of dangerous goods by air are contained in Annex 18 to the Convention on International
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LegislationCivil Aviation —the Safe transport of Dangerous Goods by Air. the technical Instructions amplify the basic provisions of Annex 18 and contain all the detailed instructions necessary for the safe international transport of dangerous goods by air. Dangerous goods can be carried safely by air transport providing certain principles are adopted. these principles have been used in developing the technical Instructions. they are intended to facilitate transport while providing a level of safety such that dangerous goods can be carried without placing an aircraft or its occupants at risk, providing all the requirements are fulfilled. they try to ensure that should an incident occur it cannot lead to an accident. On 10 September 2015, the International Civil Aviation Organisation published an Addenda/Corrigenda to the technical Instructions. these changes were made to reflect recommendations by the Dangerous Goods Panel. Details of Addendum/Corrigendum No. 2 to the technical Instructions (2015/2016 Edition) is available at: Addendum/Corrigendum No. 2 to the technical Instructions (2015/2016 Edition)
International Civil Aviation Organisation, 10 September 2015
http://www.icao.int
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ECHA & EFSA hosted a scientific workshop on soil risk assessment on 7 and 8 October.
Workshop on soil risk assessment - material available2015-10-15the European Chemicals Agency and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) hosted a scientific workshop on soil risk assessment on 7 and 8 October. the event focused on the safe use of industrial chemicals, biocides and pesticides, aiming to prevent soil contamination. Over 200 participants representing academia, industry, regulators and stakeholders discussed assessing the risks of chemical substances in soil. the workshop also aimed to address how the long-term challenges from the regulatory perspective can be reflected in research on soil risk assessment. the discussions were reinforced by case studies, information on the recent developments in this field and on risk assessment methodologies applied in chemicals management. the presentations are available on the event page. A video recording is also coming soon. Further information from the workshop is available at: Event page
ECHA, 7 October 2015
http://echa.europa.eu
Is your employer ready for the REACH 2018 deadline?2015-10-15the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has published a leaflet informing workers in chemical companies about the upcoming 2018 REACH registration deadline. Workers are encouraged to check with their employer whether the chemical substances used in their workplace are intended to be registered by 2018. the leaflet was produced together with the European trade Union Confederation (EtUC) and the EU’s Information Agency for Occupational Safety and Health (EU-OSHA). It is available in 23 languages. A copy of the leaflet is available at: Leaflet
ECHA enews, 14 October 2015
http://echa.europa.eu
Biocides Guidance on exposure assessment to human health updated2015-10-15the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has released an update to the Biocides Guidance on exposure assessment for human health is available (Volume III, Part B, Chapter 3). the entire Chapter 3 has been revised
REACH Update
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The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has published translations into 22 EU languages of the latest update to the Guidance on the com-pilation of safety data sheets (version 3.0).
REACH Updateand the exposure assessment principles have been separated from the technical parts, such as input parameters, models, default values and the majority of the Annexes. the technical methodology is now published as a separate document called Biocides Human Health Exposure Methodology on the webpage Ad hoc Working Group – Human Exposure. the guidance documents are available at:
• Guidance on Human Health, Assessment (Volume III, Part B)• Biocides Human Health Exposure MethodologyECHA enews, 14 October 2015
Updated Guidance on the compilation of safety data sheets: translations available2015-10-15the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has published translations into 22 EU languages of the latest update to the Guidance on the compilation of safety data sheets (version 3.0). the Guidance document was updated in August 2015 to specifically take into account the end of the transitional period for labelling mixtures according to the Dangerous Preparation Directive (DPD), the need to indicate the classification of their components according to the Dangerous Substances Directive (DSD) and to reflect the full implementation of the CLP regulation. A copy of these guidance documents are available at:
Guidance on the compilation of safety data sheets
ECHA enews, 14 October 2015
http://echa.europa.eu
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Thinking Cap2015-10-15
Janet’s Corner
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Dichloromethane (DCM) — or methylene chloride — is an or-ganic compound with the formula CH2Cl2.
Dichloromethane2012-05-29Dichloromethane (DCM) — or methylene chloride — is an organic compound with the formula CH2Cl2. this colourless, volatile liquid with a moderately sweet aroma is widely used as a solvent. Although it is not miscible with water, it is miscible with many organic solvents. Dichloromethane does not occur naturally in the environment. [1,2]
USES [3]
Dichloromethane is predominantly used as a solvent in paint strippers and removers; as a process solvent in the manufacture of drugs, pharmaceuticals, and film coatings; as a metal cleaning and finishing solvent in electronics manufacturing; and as an agent in urethane foam blowing. In addition, it is used as a propellant in aerosols for products such as paints, automotive products, and insect sprays. Dichloromethane is used as an extraction solvent for spice oleoresins, hops, and for the removal of caffeine from coffee. However, due to concern over residual solvent, most decaffeinators no longer use it. Dichloromethane is also approved for use as a post harvest fumigant for grains and strawberries and as a degreening agent for citrus fruit. Dichloromethane’s low boiling point allows the chemical to function as a heat engine that can extract movement from low-grade temperatures. It can also be used to weld certain plastics. Often sold as a main component of plastic welding adhesives, it is also used extensively by model building hobbyists for joining plastic components together — it is commonly referred to as “Di-clo.” Dichloromethane is also used in the garment printing industry for removal of heat-sealed garment transfers, and its volatility is exploited in novelty items — bubble lights and jukebox displays. Furthermore, it is used in the material testing field of civil engineering; specifically it is used during the testing of bituminous materials as a solvent to separate the binder from the aggregate of an asphalt or macadam to allow the testing of the materials.
SOURCES & ROUTES OF EXPOSURE [2,4]
Routes of exposure to dichloromethane are:
• Inhalation: Most cases of human exposure to dichloromethane occur when people breathe vapours from paint strippers. When household water becomes contaminated, people can inhale vapours while showering, laundering, and cooking. When dichloromethane is
Hazard Alert
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Hazard Alertused near an open flame, poisonous “phosgene” gas can be created. Phosgene can cause permanent lung damage at low levels.
• Ingestion: People can be exposed when they drink contaminated water or when they use it for preparing food.
• Dermal: Dichloromethane can be absorbed through the skin, but this is a minor route of exposure.
the principal route of human exposure to dichloromethane is inhalation of ambient air. Occupational and consumer exposure to dichloromethane in indoor air may be much higher, especially from spray painting or other aerosol uses. People who work in these places can breathe in the chemical or it may come in contact with the skin. Dichloromethane has been detected in both surface water and groundwater samples taken at hazardous waste sites and in drinking water at very low concentrations.
HEALTH EFFECTS [2,3]
Acute Effects
Case studies of dichloromethane poisoning during paint stripping operations have demonstrated that inhalation exposure to extremely high levels can be fatal to humans. Acute inhalation exposure to high levels of dichloromethane in humans has resulted in effects on the central nervous system (CNS) including decreased visual, auditory, and psychomotor functions, but these effects are reversible once exposure ceases. In addition, dichloromethane irritates the nose and throat at high concentrations. People exposed to dichloromethane may feel unsteady, dizzy, and have nausea and a tingling or numbness of your finger and toes. A person breathing smaller amounts of methylene chloride may become less attentive and less accurate in tasks requiring hand-eye coordination. Skin contact with methylene chloride causes burning and redness of the skin.
Chronic Effects
the major effects from chronic inhalation exposure to methylene chloride in humans are effects on the CNS, such as headaches, dizziness, nausea, and memory loss. Animal studies indicate that the inhalation of methylene chloride causes effects on the liver, kidney, CNS, and cardiovascular system. EPA has calculated a provisional Reference Concentration (RfC) of 3 milligrams per cubic meter (mg/m3) based on liver effects in rats. the Reference Dose (RfD) for dichloromethane is 0.06 milligrams per kilogram body weight per day (mg/kg/d) based on liver toxicity in rats.
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Hazard AlertReproductive/Developmental Effects
No studies were found regarding developmental or reproductive effects in humans from inhalation or oral exposure. However, animal studies have demonstrated that dichloromethane crosses the placental barrier, and minor skeletal variations and lowered foetal body weights have been noted.
Cancer Risk
Several studies did not report a statistically significant increase in deaths from cancer among workers exposed to methylene chloride. Animal studies have shown an increase in liver and lung cancer and benign mammary gland tumours following inhalation exposure to dichloromethane. EPA considers dichloromethane to be a probable human carcinogen and has ranked it in EPA’s Group B2.
SAFETY [5]
First Aid Measures
• Eyes: In case of contact, immediately flush eyes with plenty of water for at least 15 minutes. Get medical aid.
• Skin: In case of contact, flush skin with plenty of water. Remove contaminated clothing and shoes. Get medical aid if irritation develops and persists. Wash clothing before reuse.
• Ingestion: If swallowed, do not induce vomiting unless directed to do so by medical personnel. Never give anything by mouth to an unconscious person. Get medical aid.
• Inhalation: If inhaled, remove to fresh air. If not breathing, give artificial respiration. If breathing is difficult, give oxygen. Get medical aid.
Exposure Controls/Personal Protection
Engineering Controls
Facilities storing or utilising this material should be equipped with an eyewash facility and a safety shower. Use adequate general or local exhaust ventilation to keep airborne concentrations below the permissible exposure limits.
Personal Protective Equipment
• Eyes: Wear chemical goggles.• Skin: Wear appropriate protective gloves to prevent skin exposure.
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Hazard Alert• Clothing: Wear appropriate protective clothing to prevent skin
exposure.• Respirators: A respiratory protection program that meets OSHA's
29 CFR 1910.134 and ANSI Z88.2 requirements or European Standard EN 149 must be followed whenever workplace conditions warrant a respirator’s use.
REGULATIONS [6,7,8]
United States
Exposure Limit Limit Values HE CodesHealth Factors
and Target Organs
OSHA Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) - General Industry See 29 CFR 1910.1052
25 ppm tWA125 ppm StEL12.5 ppm Action Level
HE1 CancerHE3 Cardiac and liver
toxicity HE7 Light-headedness,
staggering, unconsciousness, decreased eye/hand coordination, numbness of the extremities
HE8 Central nervous system effects/narcosis
HE14 Eyes, nose, throat, skin irritation
HE17 Chemical anoxia (metabolic conversion to CO)
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Hazard AlertExposure Limit Limit Values HE Codes
Health Factors and Target
OrgansOSHA PEL - Construction Industry See 29 CFR 1926.1152
25 ppm tWA125 ppm StEL12.5 ppm Action Level
HE1 CancerHE3 Cardiac and liver
toxicity HE7 Light-headedness,
staggering, unconsciousness, decreased eye/hand coordination, numbness of the extremities
HE8 Central nervous system effects/narcosis
HE14 Eyes, nose, throat, skin irritation
HE17 Chemical anoxia (metabolic conversion to CO)
OSHA PEL - Shipyard Employment See 29 CFR 1915.1052
25 ppm tWA125 ppm StEL12.5 ppm Action Level
HE1 CancerHE3 Cardiac and liver
toxicity HE7 Light-headedness,
staggering, unconsciousness, decreased eye/hand coordination, numbness of the extremities
HE8 Central nervous system effects/narcosis
HE14 Eyes, nose, throat, skin irritation
HE17 Chemical anoxia (metabolic conversion to CO)
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Hazard AlertExposure Limit Limit Values HE Codes
Health Factors and Target
OrgansNational Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Recommended Exposure Limit (REL) See Appendix A
Lowest feasible concentrationCa
HE1 Cancer
American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) Threshold Limit Value (TLV) (2001) (Listed under dichloromethane)
50 ppm(174 mg/m3) tWAA3, BEI
HE4 Cardiovascular changes
HE7 Neurological effects (headache, dizziness, loss of balance, memory difficulties, numbness in hands or feet)
HE8 Central nervous system effects (narcosis)
HE17 Asphyxiant, anoxiant
CAL/OSHA PELs See Section 5202
25 ppm(87 mg/m3) tWA125 ppm(435 mg/m3) StEL
Australia
• Safe Work Australia has set an allowable limit for workers to be exposed to 50 parts per million dichloromethane over an eight-hour workshift. It has determined that dichloromethane is a Category 3, suspected carcinogen. It is possible that there is no safe level of exposure to a carcinogen.
• Australian Drinking Water Quality Guidelines (NHMRC and ARMCANZ, 1996): 0.004 mg/L (i.e. 0.000004 g/L).
Europe
• Dichloromethane use is regulated under the Solvent Emissions Directive (1999/13/EC).
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Hazard Alert• Dichloromethane will be controlled under the EU Water Framework
Directive (2000/60 EC).• Environmental exposure• Air: the atmospheric lifetime of dichloromethane is several months.
Due to its high volatility, this substance will mainly be transferred from the aquatic environment to air. In the troposphere, methylene chloride is then broken down in carbon dioxide and hydrogen chloride.
• Occupational Exposure Limits (8-hour tWA)• Netherlands (MAC) : 100 ppm• United Kingdom (OEL) : 100 ppm (MEL)• Germany (MAK) : 100 ppm (IIIB suspected carcinogen)• Sweden (tLV) : 35 ppm (skin notation)• France (VME) : 50 ppm• Switzerland (MAK) : 100 ppm
REFERENCES
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dichloromethane2. http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/tf.asp?id=233&tid=423. http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/hlthef/methylen.html4. http://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/eh/chemfs/fs/MthylChlrde.htm5. http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9948&code=SLM26776. https://www.osha.gov/dts/chemicalsampling/data/CH_253450.html7. http://www.npi.gov.au/substances/dichloromethane/health.html8. http://www.eurochlor.org/media/12847/5-1-2-1_white_paper_
methylene_chloride.pdf
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Regulators have been slow to act on paint strippers, other products containing methylene chloride
Common solvent keeps killing workers, consumers2015-09-29Johnathan Welch was 18 and working through lunch when the fumes killed him, stealing oxygen from his brain, stopping his heart. the chemical linked to his death in 1999 wasn’t a newly discovered hazard, nor was it hard to acquire. Methylene chloride, which triggered similar deaths dating as far back as the 1940s, could be bought barely diluted in products on retail shelves. It still can. And it’s still killing people. the solvent is common in paint strippers, widely available products with labels that warn of cancer risks but do not make clear the possibility of rapid death. In areas where the fumes can concentrate, workers and consumers risk asphyxiation or a heart attack while taking care of seemingly routine tasks. that hazard prompted the European Union to pull methylene chloride paint strippers from general use in 2011. For reasons that aren’t clear, regulatory agencies in the United States have not followed suit — or even required better warnings — despite decades of evidence about the dangers, a Centre for Public Integrity investigation found. A Centre analysis identified at least 56 accidental exposure deaths linked to methylene chloride since 1980 in the U.S. thirty-one occurred before Johnathan Welch died, 24 after. the most recent was in July. Many involved paint strippers; in other cases victims used the chemical for tasks such as cleaning and gluing carpet, according to death investigations and autopsy reports the Centre obtained through Freedom of Information Act and state open records requests. teenagers on the job, a mother of four, workers nearing retirement, an 80-year-old man — the toxic vapours took them all. A Colorado resident one year older than Welch was killed his first day at a furniture-stripping shop. three South Carolina workers were felled in a single incident in 1986. Church maintenance employee Steve Duarte, 24, survived the Iraq War only to be killed in 2010 while stripping a baptismal pool in California. “People have died, it poses this cancer threat … and everybody knows it’s a bad chemical, and yet nobody does anything,” said Katy Wolf, who recommends safer alternatives to toxic chemicals as director of the nonprofit Institute for Research and technical Assistance in California. “It’s appalling and irresponsible.” two Medical College of Wisconsin researchers writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association criticised the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency for remaining “mute” on methylene chloride’s ability to trigger a heart attack. Year of publication: 1976. the EPA says it does intend to take action. It is working on a rule — expected to be proposed early next year — that could stiffen warning labels on paint strippers containing the chemical, add certain restrictions or ban the products. But any regulation
Gossip
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Gossipwould come more than 30 years after the agency first considered such possibilities for methylene chloride.
the industry is lobbying against a rule, saying the chemical already is well-regulated and remains the most effective way to remove paint. Faye Graul, executive director of the Halogenated Solvents Industry Alliance, a trade group that includes methylene chloride manufacturers, said the way to stop the string of deaths is simple: “Proper use of the product.” Labels on the cans warn against using in areas that aren’t well ventilated. the Consumer Product Safety Commission, for its part, denied a 1985 petition to ban the chemical in household products, when the issue was cancer, requiring instead a carcinogen warning that appears on cans in fine print. And CPSC staff shrugged off requests by California and Washington state officials in 2012 to consider stiffer regulation in response to the recurring deaths, later contending that the problem is an occupational one — even though consumers have died, too. “to provide information to the public concerning this matter, CPSC has produced a paint stripper pamphlet,” an agency toxicologist wrote to the state officials in letters obtained by the Centre. the Occupational Safety and Health Administration tightened its rules for on-the-job exposures to methylene chloride in 1997. But OSHA standards don’t cover consumers or the self-employed, and many of the recent fatalities happened at sites that are virtually invisible to the agency until there’s a death — inside residential bathrooms where lone workers strip tubs of old, chipped finishes. Methylene chloride offers a case study in how products that pose major risks remain on store shelves. Stuart M. Statler, who helped write the Consumer Product Safety Act and served as a Republican commissioner on the CPSC from 1979 to 1986, said too often companies don’t prioritise safety, seeing it as a needless cost. And agencies are unlikely to force the point with bans. He doesn’t see that changing. “the pendulum has swung so far in the direction of deregulation,” said Statler, now a product safety and regulatory consultant. Methylene chloride, also called dichloromethane, is briskly efficient in all that it does. It softens old paint in minutes, allowing the coating to be scraped off. But if its fumes build up in an enclosed space, it can kill in minutes, too. the California Department of Public Health, in its appeal to the CPSC, said the continuing deaths suggest methylene chloride is “too hazardous to be used outside of engineered industrial environments” — exactly what the European Union concluded about the chemical in paint strippers. While these products can be bought at home-improvement and general retail stores across the U.S., the specialty respirators and polyvinyl-alcohol gloves needed to handle them safely cannot, the Department of Public Health says. Even workers wearing respiratory protection have succumbed.
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GossipLevi Weppler, 30, who left a widow pregnant with their first child, was among those found dead with a respirator on, slumped over the Ohio bathtub he was refinishing in 2011. the cartridge-style device he used to filter the air wasn’t enough: Only a full-face respirator with a separate air supply, or exhaust ventilation to remove the fumes, is sufficient, OSHA and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health say. By 1985, U.S. agencies considered methylene chloride a probable human carcinogen — the Food and Drug Administration banned it in hairspray as a result. But the rapid-death problem was identified even earlier. In 1976, NIOSH noted that reports of such fatalities dated to 1947, when four men using the chemical for hops extraction were “overcome” and one of them died. Dr. Kenneth Rosenman, chief of Michigan State University’s Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, helped identify the more recent trend of bathtub fatalities from methylene chloride in a 2012 paper that has galvanised efforts by public-health officials. “It’s not surprising to the scientists who have studied methylene chloride in paint strippers when used in small spaces, but I think it’s surprising to the worker and consumer who can purchase the product off the shelf,” said Dr. Robert Harrison, chief of the California Department of Public Health’s occupational health surveillance program. Methylene chloride exposure triggers regular calls to the nation’s poison control centres. they handled more than 2,700 such cases in the five years ending in 2013, the most recent data. the number involving inhalation wasn’t recorded, but almost all the exposures were accidental. Hundreds involved children. And about 950 of the exposed people went to the hospital or sought other medical treatment, according to a Centre analysis of American Association of Poison Control Centres reports. the death toll compiled by the Centre, meanwhile, almost certainly is an undercount. Poison control centres don’t hear about all incidents.
OSHA tracks workplace fatalities, but not cases involving the self-employed or consumers. And Rosenman is sure the true cause of death for some methylene chloride victims is missed, given the chemical’s ability to trigger a heart attack. Paint-stripping powerhouse W.M. Barr & Co., an employee-owned company in tennessee that makes several methylene chloride brands, including ones linked to six worker deaths since 2006, sees the safety issue differently. Barr’s founder helped the Navy develop the product during World War II to avoid fire hazards after a deadly incident on a ship involving a flammable paint stripper, according to Barr’s vice president of risk management, Mike Cooley. Methylene chloride is nonflammable. Several million cans of paint stripper containing the chemical are sold in the U.S. each year, Cooley wrote in an email to the
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GossipCentre. “One cannot but help conclude that for the vast, vast majority of consumers, the products were and continue to be safe,” he wrote. “Like many products, there are hazards related to the use of [methylene chloride] paint removers. However when used in the proper setting and as directed, they are not only effective but safe.” Setting aside longer-term health concerns, such as cancer, the danger posed by methylene chloride is its one-two punch when fumes accumulate. Because it turns into carbon monoxide in the body, it can starve the heart of oxygen and prompt an attack. the chemical also acts as an anaesthetic at high doses: Its victim’s slump over, no longer breathing, because the respiratory centres of their brains switch off. An open flame, meanwhile, can transform methylene chloride to phosgene. that’s the poisonous gas used to deadly effect during World War I, responsible for more fatalities than chlorine and mustard gas combined. (Whether methylene chloride became phosgene in any of the deaths the Centre tracked isn’t clear; full records were not available in all cases.) the 1986 triple-fatality shows how swiftly death can come.
Several contracting firms were working on projects at a dam pumping station in Laurens, South Carolina. One had employees applying paint stripper to an underground area, described by OSHA in records as a basement and a pumping pit. those workers managed to evacuate after the fumes built up, but when one man went back in, he was overcome so quickly he couldn’t get out. He died. the emergency medical responder who tried to rescue him had to be hospitalised. two of another contractor’s employees went through the same exercise, one entering the area to turn on the sump pump and passing out, the other felled while checking on him, according to OSHA records. the first man survived; the would-be rescuer did not. to top it off, an electrician working aboveground “heard an unusual noise,” according to OSHA, and died in the basement when he went to see what it was. Four years ago at a California paint company, Gary de la Peña discovered a co-worker lying unconscious in a nine-foot-deep paint-mixing tank. the man had been cleaning it with paint stripper and collapsed. De la Peña rushed in, pulled off his colleague’s useless respirator and put him over one shoulder to carry him out. that’s all he remembers. Already — in just a matter of seconds — the fumes had overcome him, too. the man he was trying to save died. De la Peña, now 49 and living in Mexico City, still doesn’t know how he survived. He was in the tank for at least 45 minutes, green foam flowing from his mouth when he was finally pulled out. He had to be resuscitated and was hospitalised for four days, according to a state investigation. He wasn’t able to finish his medical treatments before his immigration status forced him back to Mexico. His
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Gossiphealth has never been the same. “I guess it attacked my nervous system,” said de la Peña, who knew nothing about methylene chloride until after his brush with it. “It’s a really dangerous chemical.”
Sufficiently concentrated, methylene chloride will kill anyone. But people with heart conditions face higher risks because it doesn’t take as much carbon monoxide to trigger an attack. Smokers can be affected more quickly, too, given their already-elevated carbon monoxide levels. In one incident, detailed in the 1976 Journal of the American Medical Association article, a 66-year-old retiree had three heart attacks — the last one fatal — that each began as he was stripping a large chest of drawers. “Nobody warned him,” said Rosenman, the Michigan State professor. Judy Braiman remembers reading about the heart-attack risk in the 1970s, probably in that same JAMA article. Around 1977, her Empire State Consumer Association in New York petitioned the CPSC to require a warning on methylene chloride paint strippers that “particular care … must be exercised by persons with heart problems or impaired lung function” because carbon monoxide would form in the body from use. the CPSC, alarmed, announced that its staff was drafting a proposed warning. Braiman, a former CPSC advisor and president of the since-renamed Empire State Consumer Project, clearly remembers seeing the carbon monoxide cautions appear on cans afterward — only to disappear a few years later. the CPSC never did require them, the agency says. today, some labels tell customers with heart problems to check with a physician before using paint strippers. the Centre could find none that specifically warned about carbon monoxide or heart attacks. Alex Filip, a spokesman for the CPSC, said by email that he doesn’t have much information on the agency’s methylene chloride work in the 1970s because the staffers involved are all gone. As to why the commission didn’t consider regulation more recently, he suggested that its hands are tied — something that was not communicated to the state officials in the letters responding to their requests for help. “One fact that stands out in our early investigation is that the injury and death information indicates that this is largely a workplace issue, which is outside of our jurisdiction,” Filip wrote. CPSC staff tell him their review of epidemiology data found no people who died as a result of using the products as consumers, and they believe the agency’s stance on warning labels is “still appropriate.” Yet deaths from the solvent that involve consumers, though far harder to track than worker fatalities, have occurred in the U.S. the CPSC, in fact, said in its 1978 announcement of proposed warnings that it was aware of “at least three” heart-attack deaths among people using methylene chloride paint strippers in 1976 alone. In 1990, a coroner blamed the chemical after Julette “Julie” Jenkins, a 28-year-
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The increase in diesel cars in the UK in recent years has contributed to higher levels of air pollution.
Gossipold Ohio woman who had been stripping a desk in her attic, dropped dead on the first floor, teacup in hand. And an 80-year-old man died from unintentionally inhaling methylene chloride in 2013, the poison control centre system reported. As the CPSC notes, another agency is working on the issue now — the EPA. Paint strippers with methylene chloride are a test case, one of a handful of chemical uses the EPA recently assessed in hopes of using the weak toxic Substances Control Act, or tSCA, to actually control toxic substances. “About one person per year over the last dozen years or so has died, usually in an enclosed space like a bathroom,” Jim Jones, assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, said of methylene chloride strippers. “Certainly [that] is what jumped out at us. But when we did the assessment, we also found cancer risks.” the solvent industry opposes the effort. After the EPA identified methylene chloride in 2012 as a chemical it intended to assess, the Halogenated Solvents Industry Alliance told the agency it was “mystified” by the attention. Methylene chloride “is more than adequately regulated” already, wrote Graul, the group’s executive director. Paint stripper warning labels, in Spanish as well as English, all advise against using the products in poorly ventilated areas, she said in a recent interview. Some give bathrooms as an example. “there are precautions on how to use it, how not to use it,” Graul said. “Amateurs were taking it and stripping bathtubs with it, with no ventilation, and there were fatalities as a result.” But a Centre review of products sold at 15 home-improvement stores in the Baltimore-Washington region did not turn up any that explained, on the label, the potentially fatal consequences of using without sufficient airflow. the closest to it: that “intentional misuse” — so-called huffing to get a chemical high — could result in death.
the Centre for Public Integrity, 21 September 2015
http://www.publicintegrity.org/
Concern over hidden diesel pollutant2015-09-29Atmospheric levels of a little known by-product from diesel engines are up 70 times higher than expected according to a study. Researchers found that long-chain hydrocarbons are significantly under-reported in car manufacturers’ data. these hydrocarbons are a key component of two of the worst air pollutants, ozone and particulate matter. the authors believe these “hidden” emissions are having a large impact on air quality in cities like London. the exhaust pipes of diesel-fuelled trucks and cars produce an array of emissions that have different impacts on the air
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Gossipthat people breathe. the nitrogen dioxide and particles that are emitted from burning diesel have a direct impact on human health in cities. But diesel also contains more complex, long-chain hydrocarbons, whose role in air pollution has been little understood until now. they can form dangerous air pollutants, especially ozone and particulate matter, which are emitted into the air as unburned fuel or diesel vapour. Researchers from the University of York have been able to detect these complicated compounds in the London air, using sophisticated measuring technology. “It’s definitely been hidden until now,” lead author Dr Jacqueline Hamilton told BBC News. “What we found is that there’s actually a lot of this unburned material from diesel that we haven’t seen before.” “that might be having a bigger impact on ozone and particle formation than petrol cars are, and historically no one has looked at these emissions at all.” the researchers found that close to 50% of the ozone production potential in London in winter was due to these diesel elements. In summertime, it was around 25%. the authors believe that these hydrocarbons are having a direct effect on health. “I think it is having a large impact on air quality in our cities, the number of deaths associated with particle pollution are much higher than those from nitrogen dioxide, this is a route to increase particle pollution so it could have a major impact on human health.” the study also found that the scale of these hydrocarbons in the air was far in excess of the levels expected by government, which are based on data from car manufacturers’ emissions tests. For some types of these diesel emissions, the real world samples were over 70 times greater during winter compared to the regulatory inventories. the authors say these emissions are “massively under-predicted” but they are uncertain if this is a deliberate attempt by car manufacturers to conceal the scale of the problem or simply an omission through ignorance. “Volkswagen have admitted they have deliberately turned off the emissions controls, and if these controls lower emissions of hydrocarbons, if you just turn that off, you are definitely gaming the system,” said Dr Hamilton. “If you look in the real atmosphere, compared to the test data, there’s a lot of NOx and a lot of these hydrocarbons as well.” Other researchers praised the study as a step forward in scientific understanding. “It is science that has come up with this discovery, but it definitely has public policy implications,” said Prof Paul Monks, from the University of Leicester, who is also the chair of the UK government’s air quality expert group. “It raises yet another question about diesel vehicles. they are implicated heavily in NO2, they are implicated in toxic particulate matter, and this points to another deleterious environmental impact from diesels.” the authors are calling for a review of the way emissions from car and trucks are measured, with much more emphasis on real world testing and increased testing for a
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In a new study, researchers have discovered a “chemi-cal calendar”, which is the body’s way of tracking the passing of the seasons..
Gossipwider spectrum of substances coming out of the tail pipe. “We have a policy in the UK to look at these sorts of hydrocarbons from petrol cars, but we really have to start thinking more seriously about measuring these from diesel cars.” the research has been published in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.
BBC News, 25 September 2015
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health
Body’s ‘chemical calendar’ discovered2015-09-29In a new study, researchers have discovered a “chemical calendar”, which is the body’s way of tracking the passing of the seasons.
the team, reporting in Current Biology, found a cluster of thousands of cells that could exist in either a “summer” or “winter” state. they use the lengthening day to switch more of them into summer mode and the opposite when the nights draw in. the annual clock controls when animals breed and hibernate and in humans may be altering the immune system. A team from the Universities of Manchester and Edinburgh analysed the brains of sheep at different times of the year. they found a cluster of 17,000 “calendar cells” in the pituitary gland, which sits at the base of the brain, and releases hormones that control processes throughout the body. the research team say the cells have a “binary system” like a computer that can exist in one of two states - they can either produce “winter” chemicals or “summer” ones. And the proportion of the calendar cells in each state changes throughout the year to mark the passage of time. “It looks like there’s a short period of the year in the middle of winter and the middle of summer when they are all in one state or the other,” Prof Andrew Loudon from the University of Manchester told the BBC. However, it is still not clear how the body knows it is spring or autumn when some calendar cells are in winter mode and others are in a summer state. this annual clock is known as the circannual rhythm and is the longer-term cousin of the circadian or daily rhythm which keeps us awake at the right time of day. the annual pattern is used to trigger migrations, hibernations and mating seasons and ultimately explains why lambs are born in spring. Both the daily and annual body clocks are controlled by light. More of the sleep hormone melatonin is produced in the winter when the days are darker. Prof Loudon said: “We’ve known for some time that melatonin is critical for these long-term rhythms, but how it works and where it works had not been clear until now.” His colleague Prof Dave Burt, from the University of
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Not so forgetful: the memory of a goldfish lasts longer than 3 seconds.
GossipEdinburgh, added: “the seasonal clock found in sheep is likely to be the same in all vertebrates, or at least contains the same parts. “the next step is to understand how our cells record the passage of time.” Even though people do not have a mating season, there are signs we are still influenced by the seasons. A study earlier this year, led by the University of Cambridge and reported in Nature Communications, showed human genes involved with immunity became more active in the cold. they said it could help fight off winter viruses such as flu but may make some conditions like arthritis worse.
BBC News, 25 September 2015
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health
Science is Golden podcast episode 6: myth busting2015-09-29Ever heard lightning doesn’t strike the same place twice? Wrong! Yes it can. What about the old saying that touching a toad will give you warts? Not true. Neither is that common expression about goldfish having memories that last only three seconds. You can thank Finding Nemo for perpetuating that one. Studies have found goldfish recall information for several months. Myths are everywhere; from the old wives’ tales your grandmother told you (carrots improve your eyesight) to the fibs told by corporate giants (Vitamin C tablets prevent colds). this article busts a few of the most common and annoying scientific misconceptions. One of the most pervasive misconceptions melanoma researcher Nikola Bowden hears is that people with olive skin don’t need to wear sun protection. Despite ongoing public health campaigns, Dr Bowden, from the University of Newcastle, says many people assume their dark skin protects them from developing melanoma. “the sun doesn’t know what colour skin you have, and it damages your skin no matter what,” she says. But why do we continue to believe myths even when we’re told they’re not true? Dr Rod Lamberts from the Australian National University says it has a lot to do with a person’s values and views about the world around them. these values are formed as we grow up and are influenced by our peers, parents and culture. they’re also often deeply entrenched. “We’re pretty resistant to change,” says Dr Lamberts. People can be reluctant to shift their beliefs unless there is a need or motivation to change it, he says. “Facts are only really persuasive if you’re seeking to be persuaded by them.”
the Age, 24 September 2015
http://www.theage.com.au
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Pregnant women with high levels of BPA in their blood during their first trimester were more likely to have baby girls with low birth weights.
GossipBPA linked to low birth weights in baby girls2015-09-29According to the findings of a new study. Girls born to mothers with high levels of BPA in their system during the first trimester of pregnancy weigh less at birth than babies with lower exposure. the study adds to evidence that foetal exposure to the ubiquitous chemical bisphenol-A (BPA) may contribute to foetal developmental problems. Low birth weights are linked to a host of health problems later in life, such as obesity, diabetes, infertility and heart disease. Researchers tested mothers’ blood during their first trimester and at delivery for BPA and also tested umbilical cord blood after delivery. the mothers-to-be were recruited at the University of Michigan Voigtlander Women’s Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan. they tested for both BPA and “conjugated BPA,” the form BPA takes after the body processes it. Bottom line: more BPA in woman’s blood meant babies weighed less. For every doubling in free, or unconjugated, BPA in the mothers’ first-term blood, babies weighed, on average, 6.5 ounces less. the research was published today in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. Similarly, for every doubling of free-BPA in the woman’s blood at birth, babies weighed on average 3 ounces less. “Having small babies at birth is a risk factor for a whole bunch of different things,” said Laura Vandenberg, an assistant professor of environmental health at the University of Massachusetts Amherst who was not involved in the study. A study released this month out of China found BPA levels in mothers’ urine was linked to low birth weights. that study also found a much stronger association with baby girls. Unfortunately for pregnant women, BPA—used to make polycarbonate plastic and found in some food cans and paper receipts—is found in most people. the strong link between the first-term exposure and birth weights makes sense, said Vasantha Padmanabhan, senior author of the study and professor of paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology, molecular and integrative physiology and environmental health sciences at the University of Michigan. “When you think about development, early in the pregnancy is a critical time—when foetuses are most sensitive to insults such as stress, environmental chemicals. that’s why we looked at the first trimester,” she said. About 8 percent of babies born in the United States suffer from low birth weights, considered less than 5.5 pounds, according to the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Other possible contributors to low birth weights include smoking or drinking alcohol during pregnancy, mothers’ lack of weight gain, mothers’ age and stress. the University of Michigan study doesn’t prove BPA caused low birth weights. But it could play a role, as the chemical mimics hormones and can disrupt endocrine systems. Even
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A United Nations group will soon begin investigating whether to include a toxic chemical, linked to a contamination case involving the RAAF Base in Williamtown, on a global list poten-tially banning its use.
Gossipthough BPA clears from the body quickly, scientists suspect it could bind to receptors or could be stored in fat for release later. Proper functioning of these receptors is critical to organ development and function. the American Chemistry Council, which represents chemical manufacturers, said the study provides “no meaningful information on the safety of BPA.” the council has defended BPA as safe as used in food packaging. Steve Hentges, a representative of the council, called into question using blood to measure BPA exposure. He also suggested BPA from another source contaminated the blood samples. Padmanabhan said the study and BPA measurements “represent a true life scenario”, as blood was drawn with a researcher present to ensure no plastic contact. the researchers did not find a link between BPA levels and baby boys’ weights. It’s not clear why the exposure was only linked to lower birth weights in girls, but the work suggests that females might be more susceptible to BPA exposure before birth.
Environmental Health News, 25 September 2015
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/
United Nations to decide on ban for toxic chemical linked to contamination at Williamtown RAAF base2015-09-29A United Nations group will soon begin investigating whether to include a toxic chemical, linked to a contamination case involving the RAAF Base in Williamtown, on a global list potentially banning its use. the chemical perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is a component of firefighting foam which was used at Defence Force and fire service bases around Australia for decades. the New South Wales Government announced two inquiries after it emerged the chemical had turned up in groundwater and fish species in the Williamtown and Fullerton Cove areas surrounding the Williamtown RAAF Base, north of Newcastle. the Stockholm Convention is a global treaty that was set up 10 years ago with the aim of protecting human health and the environment by eradicating toxic chemicals known as Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). If a chemical is added to the convention it can mean a worldwide ban on its use or production, or provisions can be made for countries to gradually fade out its use. Australia is among 30 countries meeting in Italy this October, where a nomination by the European Union for the inclusion of PFOA in the convention will be discussed. Australian Mariann Lloyd Smith is a senior advisor to the National toxic Network and is part of an NGO advising the UN panel. She said PFOA was a dangerous substance. “PFOA now
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Gossipcontaminates all environments, all ecosystems across the globe,” Dr Lloyd-Smith said. “It’s incredibly toxic, you find it in human blood, in breast milk, even in a baby’s umbilical cord blood. A baby is born with PFOA. “It’s shown to alter our endocrine system, affect our sex hormones, it’s a carcinogen, it’s a reproductive toxin and as we say, incredibly persistent and so persistent, that we haven’t actually been able to work out whether it ever breaks down. “So it’s likely what we use today will be with us for all time so it’s a very important chemical to get rid of out of the global trade.” two other similar contamination cases linked to the firefighting foam are ongoing in Australia, including the Oakey Defence Base in Queensland and the Country Fire Association training base in Fiskville in Victoria. the latter has since been closed down and a government-commissioned report released earlier this year pointed to a cancer cluster. Another chemical in the foam called perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) was added to the Stockholm Convention in 2009. “Australia has not ratified that and has not banned that chemical which again is so foolish when we look at what has happened with PFOS [and] now again in firefighting foams and again we’re seeing the PFOS contamination of groundwater right across the country,” she said. “A lot of other countries have taken the step to say ‘we will not use this chemical’, we will not allow it to be introduced into products and bought into our country. “So if you can imagine if you’ve got a lot of other countries already doing that and you have a handful of countries saying we haven’t ratified it, if it gets into our country we’re not going to do anything about it, you can see that the country will become the dumping ground for products with these chemicals in them.” Kim-leeanne King has lived next door to the Williamtown RAAF base on a rural property for most of her life. She is worried about what effect the contamination might have on her and her family’s health. But she has welcomed moves by the UN to look into the toxic substance, and potentially save other communities around the world. “Any outcome that can come out from it going to this board will be wonderful and it only ensures the future safety of the residents in these areas as well as possibly uncovering future health effects that are going to happen to people as a result of being exposed to these products,” Ms King said. It emerged earlier this month that the New South Wales Environment Protection Authority (EPA) knew of the contamination two years ago but did not alert residents. Ms King said that was a disgrace. “the inaction of our government bodies to act on this much earlier, three years and they did nothing,” she said. “they let people carry on with their everyday lives and did nothing about it, they didn’t inform them but secretly they were doing testing of their bores and soil samples and everybody else was just left to be exposed to the environment and where they live and potentially being contaminated.
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Researchers have found that when combined with anticoagulant drugs, antidepressants can slow the growth of aggressive brain tu-mours called gliomas, causing the cancer cells to effectively eat themselves and stem the progression of this particularly deadly disease.
Gossip“It just goes to show what toothless tigers our regulatory bodies are. “they do not act and they just take everything with the ‘she’ll be right’ attitude and that is not acceptable in today’s standards by any means given the potential that these products cause cancer.”
ABC News, 23 September 2015
http://www.abc.net.au/news/
Antidepressants and blood thinners prompt brain cancer cells to eat themselves2015-09-29Researchers have found that when combined with anticoagulant drugs, antidepressants can slow the growth of aggressive brain tumours called gliomas, causing the cancer cells to effectively eat themselves and stem the progression of this particularly deadly disease. Stemming from the brain’s glial cells - which help to support and insulate the neurons - gliomas make up about a third of all brain tumours, and hold the highest mortality rate among brain cancer patients, with little by way of treatment available. While this new drug combination has so far only been tested on mice, it ended up doubling their lifespans, and researchers are now investigating if it could increase the survival period for human glioma patients. “It is exciting to envision that combining two relatively inexpensive and non-toxic classes of generic drugs holds promise to make a difference in the treatment of patients with lethal brain cancer,” one of the researchers, Douglas Hanahan from the Swiss Federal Institute of technology, said in a press release. A specific class of antidepressants called tricyclic antidepressants have shown promise as a possible treatment for gliomas, but it wasn’t until Hanahan and his team thought to combine them with the anticoagulant drug, ticlopidine, that the effects become clear. they gave this “seemingly innocuous combination” to lab mice with gliomas - the antidepressant was taken orally and 10-15 minutes later the anticoagulant was injected - for five consecutive days. the team found that this ‘combination therapy’ messes with a particular pathway in the brain that controls a mechanism in glial cells known as autophagy - which means “to eat oneself”. While this mechanism is usually perfectly harmless, and actually cleans up degraded cell parts to make way for newer, healthier ones, the two drugs put it into overdrive, prompting it to destroy cells in their entirety. While either drug can kick-start the process of autophagy on its own, previous tests have shown that this wasn’t enough to stem the progression of glioma, which occurs when the production of glial cells gets dangerously out of control. Hanahan and his
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According to Professor Davies from Queensland University of Tech-nology’s School of Biomedical Sciences, wattle may be unfairly maligned in the al-lergy blame game.
Gossipteam found that only when they’re used together can they induce such a strong reaction, and the mice that were treated with both drugs ended up living twice as long as those that weren’t. the findings were published in the journal Cancer Cell. the researchers are careful to point out that not only has this not been tested on humans yet, it also didn’t cure gliomas in the mice they worked with. Rather, by slowing down the progression of the disease, it gave the mice a significantly longer lifespan, which is better than nothing when you’re dealing with a lethal disease. “It seems likely that these drugs will need to be combined with other classes of anticancer drugs to have benefit in treating gliblastoma patients,” Hanahan told Hannah Osborne from International Business times. “One can also envision ‘co-clinical trials’ wherein experimental therapeutic trials in the mouse models of glioblastom are linked to analogous small proof-of-concept trials in GBM patients. Such trials may not be far off.”
Science Alert, 25 September 2015
http://www.sciencealert.com.au
Don’t blame the wattle: Allergy expert explains real causes of hayfever and why spring isn’t always the worst time for sufferers2015-09-29Hooray for spring. the mornings are warmer, the days are longer, the birds are singing and the flowers are blooming. But it’s also the time of year for runny noses, itchy eyes and sneezing fits. So while some of us are heading out for picnics to enjoy the gorgeous blossoms and watch those adorable ducklings do laps, hayfever sufferers are racing to their nearest pharmacy to stock up on tissues, antihistamines and nasal spray. Otherwise known as seasonal allergic rhinitis, hayfever affects about 15 per cent of Australians. But is spring really the worst time for hayfever across Australia?
Is it the wattle? Not necessarily, says Associate Professor Janet Davies, from Queensland University of technology’s School of Biomedical Sciences. Many of us associate hayfever with pollen from trees that come into flower in late winter and early spring (we’re looking at you wattle). But wattle may be unfairly maligned in the allergy blame game, Professor Davies says. She says allergy tests rarely confirm wattle is what sets off hayfever for most people. What happens to wattle pollen when it leaves the wattle flowers doesn’t support the notion either - it’s too heavy to travel very far. “We see those beautiful trees in flower and then when you look under those trees you will see a carpet of yellow, because the wattle pollen is very heavy and
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Gossipit just falls down essentially,” she says. On the other hand, grass pollen — our most common outdoor airborne allergen — doesn’t fall straight down; it gets carried on wind and can travel vast differences. And grasses flower at different times of the year in different parts of the country. So what’s pollen?
Pollen is the microscopic grains produced by the male parts of the plant when it flowers. these need to be carried to the female parts of the plant, in order to reproduce. Pollen grains are typically spread by birds, bees or wind. Davies says flowering plants, which are more visually interesting to birds, bees and insects, tend to produce less pollen and the pollen needs to be carried directly from one plant to another. Other plants, including grasses, rely on wind to spread their pollen, and these tend to produce larger amounts of pollen that can travel vast distances. the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy says plants producing windborne pollen are a more significant cause of hayfever, and can affect people who are a long way from the source. “We don’t have a uniform pollen season,” says Professor Davies, whose research focuses on grass pollen allergies. “We have different types of grasses in different places [within Australia] and they have different drivers for production of the pollen in the air.” So if you live in south-eastern parts of the country, you may find you are sneezing at different times of the year to your cousins in Queensland, Northern territory or Western Australia. temperate grasses, especially ryegrass, are the most common causes of hayfever in New South Wales, ACt, Victoria, parts of Western Australia and tasmania, and these tend to pollinate in late spring. “Ryegrass is the predominant grass pollen for patients who have allergies in Melbourne, for instance, but the further south you go, the later the start of the season. tasmania will have a later pollen season, a later start and season peak, than Sydney or Melbourne.” Head to the northern parts of Australia and you’re more likely to find sub-tropical grasses, including Bermuda grass, Bahia grass or Johnson grass, and the peak pollen season for these can vary considerably. In Darwin, pollen peaks during the dry season in May and June, while Brisbane’s peak pollen season starts in January. “they can [create] a prolonged grass pollen season; into January, February, March and April. In fact, in Brisbane for the last three years, February has been the peak [time for] grass pollen in the air.” If you happen to live in a place that has both types of grasses — Adelaide, Canberra and Sydney — then you’re looking at more than one peak in grass pollen. One is when the temperate grasses flower in spring, then other peaks occur when the subtropical grasses have their turn in summer and early autumn. As well, these grasses are all around us in our cities and towns and planted for feed in rural areas. For instance, “Bermuda
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Gossipgrass, which is sometimes called couch grass, is used in courting, ovals and lawns and golf courses”. So while you can reduce the amount of grass pollen you’re exposed to by not letting your lawn go to seed, “you can’t necessarily mow the whole council verge or your neighbours place or the wasteland beside the railway track or stop pollen blown on the wind from other places”.
Professor Davies has been leading a team of researchers who are building the first national Pollen Monitoring Network (AusPollen) which will provide daily pollen counts for several of Australia’s capital cities. (While Melbourne and Sydney have had a long-running pollen count on 1 October, Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney will start counting with the network. Brisbane will also be on board within months.) the purpose of the pollen count is to help those with hayfever be able to identify days when the pollen count is high. “this will allow us to count the pollen in the air and give a short-term forecast of what the likely pollen count will be in the next one to seven days,” Professor Davies says. “[So they may decide] maybe today is the day to be aware and pay attention to how I am feeling and take some preventative action.” Sufferers may for instance choose to remain indoors in the first half of the day, as pollen is released in the morning. But Professors Davies points out pollen can travel vast distances on winds. “the main source of the pollen, we believe, is outside the urban areas. So even if it is released early in the morning, it’s picked up by the wind and delivered to people in cities throughout the day.” taking over-the-counter antihistamines or using a nasal spray is another option for many suffers. “But if you have persistent or severe symptoms, you should see your GP in the first instance and they may send you on to an allergy specialist to try and understand what triggers your symptoms. And [the specialist] may also prescribe additional preventative therapy.” It’s caused by an allergic reaction to pollens (especially wind-born pollens from grasses, weeds and trees) as well as moulds, animal fur and house dust. Pollen and other ‘allergens’, irritate the lining of the sensitive nasal passages, inflaming them and causing them to secret fluids. they cause sneezing and a runny or blocked nose. they can also cause other allergic conditions like watery eyes, itchiness and asthma. An allergy is a very specific immune mediated response involving a particular type of immune factor called IgE antibodies. When people become sensitised to an allergen their immune system makes an IgE antibody that can recognise
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Fish caught off the coasts of California and Indonesia and sold in local markets have been found to have plastics and textile fibres in their guts, raising concerns over food safety.
Gossipthat allergen, priming them to react when they are exposed to that allergen again.
ABC Health News, 23 September 2015
http://www.abc.net.au/news/
Plastic in the food chain: Artificial debris found in fish2015-09-29Fish caught off the coasts of California and Indonesia and sold in local markets have been found to have plastics and textile fibres in their guts, raising concerns over food safety. Chelsea Rochman at the University of California Davis school of veterinary medicine and her team visited a fish market in Half Moon Bay and Princeton in California and in Makassar, Indonesia. In California they sampled 76 fish from 12 species and one shellfish species, and in Indonesia 76 fish from 11 species. All had been caught nearby. the animals were dissected and their guts treated chemically to dissolve body tissue and reveal any plastic and fibre debris they contained. the team found that 55 per cent of the fish species sampled in Indonesia contained human-derived debris. this included Indian mackerel, shortfin scad and silver-stripe round herring. In total, 28 per cent of the fish sampled contained the debris, with one having 21 pieces of plastic inside it. In the US, 67 per cent of the species – including the pacific oyster – contained the debris. the species included Pacific anchovy, striped bass and Chinook salmon. A quarter of the individual fish sampled were affected. textile fibres made up the majority of human-made debris found in fish in the US, while plastic dominated that found in Indonesia’s fish. “I was very surprised to see such a difference in type of debris between locations,” says Rochman. this may reflect the differences in waste management. In the US, the widespread use of waste collection systems that involve plastic recycling may explain the low levels of plastic debris, Rochman says. Indonesia, however, has less advanced waste management and often disposes of plastic waste directly into coastal regions. In contrast, the high levels of textile fibres in the US fish probably come from the widespread use of washing machines, whose effluent is sent to wastewater treatment plants in California. “Fibres are a ubiquitous contaminant in the effluent from wastewater treatment plants due to their small size and abundance in the waste stream. they have been found in several marine habitats and animals,” says Rochman. this isn’t the case in Indonesia. “the location where we sampled in Indonesia does not have the advanced wastewater treatment that is prevalent in California,” says Rochman. “So the wastewater from clothes washing does not enter
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Antibacterial soap does no better than plain soap against 20 strains of bacteria.
Gossipaquatic habitats.” the authors say the fish may still be OK to eat as long as we avoid their guts – though they don’t exclude the possibility that some of the chemicals could move from the plastic into the flesh. there may be other consequences of debris-laden fish, though. “If the plastics are harming fish populations it could affect food security,” Rochman says. “this clearly shows that plastic is in our food chain,” says Pete Davison of Farallon Institute for Advanced Ecosystem Research in California. “there is now quite a bit of literature showing that a wide variety of marine species consume plastic. It is likely to be happening everywhere.”
New Scientist, 25 September 2015
http://www.newscientist.com/
Antibacterial Soap Has Poor Killing Power2015-09-29Washing your hands with antibacterial soap containing triclosan – the most common microbe-killing ingredient used in these soaps – may be no better than ordinary plain soap, according to South Korean researchers. the work adds weight to previous studies, which have reached similar conclusions and could help settle the controversy of triclosan use. triclosan is widely known for its antimicrobial properties, and was first introduced in hospital scrub soap in the 1970s. Currently, 0.3% triclosan is the maximum amount permitted in consumer soaps in most countries and several studies under lab conditions have shown that soaps containing this amount tend to be no more effective at killing bacteria on hands than plain soap. Furthermore, triclosan remains controversial with reports of various adverse effects, including allergies and carcinogenic impurities. In December 2013, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed that manufacturers of antibacterial hand soaps must demonstrate that they are safer and more effective than plain soap. Min-Suk Rhee and colleagues at Korea University, Seoul, say they have found compelling evidence that triclosan-containing soap is no better than plain soap. they believe their study is more accurate than previous work because they only used one variable – the presence or absence of 0.3% triclosan – and fixed all of the other factors, which can affect the results. During the present study, the team exposed 20 bacterial strains to plain and triclosan-containing soaps for 20s at room temperature and then slightly warmer temperatures – conditions that were chosen to simulate home hand washing. they also contaminated the hands of volunteers with Serratia marcescens bacteria to test how well each soap removed bacteria. the results revealed there was no significant difference in bactericidal activity
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Gossipbetween plain soap and antibacterial soap at either test temperature, although after 9 hours the soap containing triclosan showed significantly greater bactericidal effects. ‘Honestly, we expected the results to a certain degree,’ says Rhee. ‘the antiseptic effect of triclosan depends on its exposure concentration and time; however, commercial antibacterial soaps on the market generally contain less than 0.3% triclosan and washing hands takes only a few seconds.’ ‘this adds to the extensive literature suggesting that triclosan does not provide a benefit when used in a “real world” setting compared to plain soap,’ comments epidemiologist Allison Aiello at the University of North Carolina, US, who has published a review of several studies that tested triclosan products in the real world. But not everyone agrees. Don Schaffner at Rutgers University who has conducted meta-analyses and risk modelling studies of triclosan says ‘this work adds minimally to the debate over the use of triclosan in consumer soaps’. He argues his work points to a clear benefit of triclosan. Schaffner thinks the present results are limited because of the very fact the team used only one variable: soap with or without triclosan. ‘While this might seem to be a good idea from the science perspective, it turns out that soap formulation is a tricky business,’ he explains. ‘For antimicrobials to be optimally effective, the formulation might need to be adjusted. I remain convinced that properly formulated antimicrobial soaps have a benefit over bland, non-antimicrobial soaps.’
Scientific American, 24 September 2015
http://www.sciam.com
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ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCHthe synergistic toxicity of the multiple chemical mixtures: Implications for risk assessment in the terrestrial environment
Detoxification of azo dyes by bacterial oxidoreductase enzymes.
Assessment of microplastic toxicity to embryonic development of the sea urchin Lytechinus variegatus (Echinodermata: Echinoidea)
toxic effects of combined stressors on Daphnia pulex: Interactions between diazinon, 4-nonylphenol, and wastewater effluent
Lipid increases in European eel (Anguilla anguilla) in Scotland 1986-2008: an assessment of physical parameters and the influence of organic pollutants
MEDICAL RESEARCHMaternal and infant exposure to environmental phenols as measured in multiple biological matrices
PFOA and PFOS are associated with reduced expression of the parathyroid hormone 2 receptor (PtH2R) gene in women
Methylsulfonylmethane inhibits NLRP3 inflammasome activation
Citrate-stabilised gold nanoparticles as negative controls for measurements of neurite outgrowth
toxic industrial chemicals and chemical weapons: exposure, identification, and management by syndrome
OCCUPATIONAL RESEARCHBiomechanical constraints remain major risk factors for low back pain. Results from a prospective cohort study in French male employees
Working conditions, stress and burnout of Belgian professionals in radiotherapy: Comparative analysis and emotional labour exploration
trends and characteristics of the state and local public health workforce, 2010-2013
Technical Notes
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Technical Notesthe relationship between worker, occupational and workplace characteristics and whether an injury requires time off work: a matched case-control analysis in Ontario, Canada.
Analysis of workplace health promotion and its effect on work ability and health-related quality of life in a medium-sized business
PUBLIC HEALTH RESEARCHIdentification and Prioritisation of Relationships between Environmental Stressors and Adverse Human Health Impacts
Geographic distribution of acute chemical incidents - hazardous substances emergency events surveillance, nine States, 1999-2008
Uses of NHANES Biomarker Data for Chemical Risk Assessment: trends, Challenges, and Opportunities
Olefins and chemical regulation in Europe: REACH.
Public health response to acute chemical incidents - hazardous substances emergency events surveillance, nine States, 1999-2008
