Mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants, including three in southwestern Pennsylvania that are among the top 10 emitters in the nation, pose a serious threat to public health and the environment, according to a new report by PennEnvironment. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pennsylvania. Read more by clicking on the link above.
Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
This is an important observation made by the Finnish health authorities: “For the past three weeks, Germany has been in turmoil over dioxin-contaminated eggs and pork. But the toxic content of Baltic Sea fish sold to Finnish consumers far exceeds those of the much-talked-about German products. And dioxins are not the only harmful contaminants collecting in the bodies of the Finns.”
Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Recent study on rodents showed that co-exposure to mercury and trichloroethylene (an environmental pollutant) increases immunotoxicity of the trichloroethylene.
TEC is an environmental pollutant. The study showed that chronic exposure (of about 32 weeks) to occupationally relevant concentrations of the environmental pollutant trichloroethylene (TCE) induces autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) in autoimmune-prone mice.
In real-life, individuals are never exposed to only one chemical but a mixture of them and very little is known about the effects of chemical mixtures on the immune system.
Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Just came across this: “West Africa’s toxic problem: Researchers cruising off the western coast of Africa have confirmed the presence of mysteriously high levels of airborne toxic PCBs. The production and use of these chemicals is now largely banned. The levels detected off the West African coast are a surprise since PCBs were not sold or used there, according to global inventories of PCBs.”
There is need for governments of countries off the coast of west Africa to do something about it before it gets out of hand.
Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Mercury cancels brain benefits of fish oil, study confirms: Prenatal mercury exposure from a mother’s fish-rich diet can reduce the beneficial effects fish oil has on brain development, report an international group of researchers. The babies exposed in the womb to higher methyl mercury levels scored lower on skills tests as infants and toddlers than those exposed to lower levels of the pollutant. Of five nutrients tested, only the benefits of the fish oil DHA were affected by the mercury. DHA is one type of healthy oil found in fish. Careful selection of which fish to eat during pregnancy is recommended following this recent analysis.
Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
“Tuna and swordfish collected from some California grocery stores and sushi restaurants contained mercury levels as much as three times the threshold that authorizes federal food regulators to pull seafood from shelves, according to a study by an environmental health group.”
San Francisco Chronicle, California.
http://bit.ly/fu8Oxi
Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
I came across this interesting piece in the wake of the German dioxin crisis: “The European Commission has given its strongest signal yet that legislation tightening up the monitoring of dioxins in the food and feed chain will follow in the wake of the German crisis.”
Readers may wish to refer back to some of my earlier postings on PCBs and dioxins which I made couple of days before the issue of dioxin contamination of German poultry products hit the media outlets.
Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
I read this interesting U.S. consumer report released in January 2011: “Younger women and children should limit the amount of tuna they eat and pregnant women should not eat tuna at all, because of mercury levels found in the canned and packaged fish”. The consumer report is a non-profit publication of the Consumers Union of the U.S.A.
The report observed that white tuna (albacore) contains far more mercury than light tuna and canned tuna is the most common source of mercury in our diet. It cautiously advised women of childbearing age, pregnant mothers and children to avoid canned and package tuna or go for sea food that contains low mercury but also rich in healthful omega-3 fatty acids e.g. shrimp, crab and cod.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines currently in operation in the United States advises young children and women of childbearing age to eat up to 12 ounces a week of light tuna or other lower-mercury containing seafood of up to 6 ounces per week of white tuna. This recently released consumer report, which is in conflict with the FDA and EPA, believes that the guidelines presently in operation means too much mercury for pregnant mothers thus predisposing their fetuses and youngsters (who are still developing their nervous systems) to the risks of methyl mercury’s neurotoxicity which includes birth defects of the nervous system.
In response to this report, the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) criticized the consumer report which further limited pregnant mothers as well as growing children from eating tuna. The NFI mentioned a peer-reviewed science which shows that pregnant mothers who limit or avoid seafood may actually be introducing risks from omega-3 deficiency which has adverse consequences on their growing fetuses as well.
In situations like this, where there are uncertainties, public health physicians always suggests the need to apply precautionary principle to be able to play it safe.
In comparison to Nigeria and other low-income economies, reports like this always makes me feel sad. There is no doubt that most of these low-income countries equally have similar agencies entrusted with the task of guiding their governments as well as educating their consumers on environmental and health issues. It is unfortunate to say that these agencies are either ignorant of their responsibilities or there is lack of government commitment towards financing them to effectively discharge their duties for the good of its citizens. Furthermore, because of the level of poverty and poor literacy level in these low income countries where people live in less than a dollar a day, people hardly afford three square meals in a day not talk of selecting which meal is polluted or contaminated with carcinogens and which one is not; a pathetic situation.
I hope those at the helm of affairs of these low-income countries would learn from the high-income ones where the health of its populace takes precedence and not their pockets.
Further readings: Town sees mercury spikes
Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
I have two important updates on PCBs based on new researches which I read earlier today and feel it is important to share it with readers on my blog. It could be recalled that I made a post on PCBs, January 1st 2011. Enjoy!
1. Salmon farms contaminate wild fish: Salmon farms may be contaminating local wild fish but how much depends on the species, finds a new study that raises another concern about the environmental impacts of salmon farming. The contaminants, including PCBs, DDT and PBDEs, apparently come from pellets fed the farmed fish. Wild fish eat pellets that escape from the salmon pens. The results suggest that eating wild fish that live near salmon farms may also be a concern for human exposure to these contaminants.
2. Link between PCBs and blood pressure broader than suspected: High levels of PCBs in people’s blood may contribute to elevated blood pressures – but not just in those at the high end of exposures, as was previously thought. New findings show that PCBs at low levels could increase blood pressure in healthy people, too. The associations between hypertension and PCBs persisted even after accounting for important risk factors such as age, body mass index (BMI), gender, race, smoking and exercise.
Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
This is an update on the lead poisoning in Zamfara which I read earlier today.
The environmental health disaster that was apparently contained is about resurfacing again. A report was released by the UN Environmental Protection earlier today which it referred the crisis as: “a neglected, underfunded emergency”. The UNEP and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs released the report which says officials of the UNEP conducted field research in September and October 2010 and found that the 5 villages that were decontaminated before rains arrived some well water contained 10 times the recommended limit of lead, the soil had as much as 150 times the limit of lead and air samples contained as much as 500 times the acceptable limit. They also pointed other concerns that include livestock ingesting contaminated water and vegetables which are subsequently consumed by the locals.
There is a need for government at both Federal, State and Local levels to join heads with the UNEP, WHO, CDC and other International agencies to avert this looming disaster once more.
Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
