The Canary Report

Canary’s Cry for Wednesday, January 21

Posted on Jan 21, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, News

There’s a lot to cry about today.

News Inferno reports that OSHA—the Occupational Safety and Health Administration—is finally seeking public comment on the health standard for Diacetyl, the chemical linked to the sometimes fatal disease commonly known as Popcorn Lung. OMB Watch, a nonprofit advocacy group explained that factory workers, and likely consumers—who are exposed to Diacetyl are at an increased risk for developing Popcorn Lung, known medically as Bronchiolitis obliterans. Bronchiolitis obliterans is a serious and life-threatening disease that destroys the small airways of the lungs.  Diacetyl, a chemical that gives foods like popcorn, candy, and baked goods that creamy, buttery taste, is linked to the disease, which has attacked popcorn factory employees and was also discovered in a man who ate at least two bags of buttery microwave popcorn daily for several years and reportedly enjoyed inhaling the fumes released when the popcorn was heated.  It was found that the man’s lung problems were linked to breathing Diacetyl vapors.

Physorg reports on research that shows the chemicals added to medicines to improve their taste, absorption and to prolong their shelf-life could be potentially harmful to very small babies. The chemicals generally used are ethanol, sorbitol and Ponceaau 4R (a colouring agent). The study revealed that premature babies are exposed to these potentially harmful excipients in amounts equivalent to over three pints of beer per week. Dr Pandya said, “This study documents a worldwide problem. It shows that the collection of medicines given to babies may ultimately lead to them being exposed to harmful chemicals with the potential for short and long-term toxic effects. Our research highlighted this, and we are planning further studies on the chemicals to understand exactly what these effects might be. What our study hasn’t done is find any direct evidence on the cause and effect of these chemicals and the medical problems that these babies might be being treated for.”

The Independent reports that river pollutants are linked to surge in infertility for men. The rise in male infertility and the decline in human sperm counts could be linked with chemicals in the environment known as anti-androgens which block the action of the male sex-hormone testosterone, a study has found. Scientists do not know where the chemicals are coming from. Until now, it was thought another class of chemicals, which mimic the effect of the female sex-hormone oestrogen, were responsible for sex-changed fish. However, the latest study indicates that the cause may be the result of a rather more complicated interaction taking place between different pollutants. Dr Susan Jobling said that there are several chemicals in widely used pharmaceuticals and pesticides that are known to have anti-androgenic activity. They included flutamide and cyproterone, used to treat prostate cancer, and several compounds found in agricultural pesticides.

The Union Democrat reports Sierra Pacific Industries is defending its use of chemicals on forested land after a report from the San Francisco-based environmental group ForestEthics claimed their use is affecting wildlife and drinking water. The report said SPI, which owns about 1.7 million acres in the state, has used more than 770,000 pounds of pesticides from 1995 to 2007 on its land — which SPI doesn’t deny. Those chemicals are affecting wildlife adversely, like the sexual development and immune systems of male frogs, said Tyrone Hayes, a professor in the department of integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley. “It’s causing male frogs to grow ovaries,” said Josh Buswell, the Sierra campaigner with ForestEthics. “That seems a little questionable.” One of the chemicals used by SPI is atrazine, which is the second most detected pesticide in drinking water wells, according to an U.S. Environmental Protection Agency national survey. Another is imazapyr, which has been shown to increase brain and thyroid cancers in male rats. “Scientific work has shown that even trace amounts of common herbicides such as atrazine have harmful effects when present in streams and lakes,” said Don Erman, professor emeritus at the University of California, Davis.

Reuters reports that a chemical commonly used to make rubber products may cause cancer in people exposed to fumes during the manufacturing process, British researchers said on Tuesday. Workers exposed to 2-mercaptobenzothiazole, or MBT, at a rubber chemicals plant in North Wales were twice as likely to develop colon cancer and four times as likely to get bone marrow cancer compared to the general population, they said. “Perhaps MBT should be handled with increased care as it may be a human carcinogen,” Tom Sorahan of the University of Birmingham and colleagues said in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine. The risk is probably limited to factory workers exposed to MBT when added to a mixture of chemicals eventually used as a component to make rubber products, he added. “People using rubber goods wouldn’t be exposed because MBT wouldn’t be given off,” Sorahan said. “The problem is for people manufacturing the MBT in industry.”

The Telegraph reports researchers in America found chemicals in wards run by nurses which could irritate the lungs including cleansers and antiseptics used on patients’ skin, chemicals used in the sterilisation of equipment and all purpose cleaners such as bleach. Using powdered latex gloves, before they were phased out, and administering medicines in aerosol form also increased the risk of asthma, the study found. There are 5.4m people in the UK currently receiving treatment for asthma and cleaning products and irritants in the workplace are known to be one of the causes of the disease. The findings are based on a sample of 3650 healthcare workers including 941 nurses in Texas, America. Cleaning instruments was associated with a 67 per cent increased chance of being diagnosed with asthma and nurses who were exposed to general cleaning products were 72 per cent more likely to have asthma.

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Tags: Asthma, Chemicals, Children's Health, Environment, Food, Health, Indoor Pollution, Pesticides, Policy, Research, Stink, Toxic, Work