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Flame Retardants in Honey?
By Roberta Attanasio When the bees feast on flowers, we enjoy honey, the increasingly popular nature’s sweetener and bearer of many health benefits. The “foodie” boom has generated not only appreciation for the aroma, texture and flavor profiles of different types of honey, but also demand for cosmetics and fragrances that contain it. Not everything about honey is as good as it seems, though – there are things like frauds and unexpected chemicals. Pesticides are a known problem for bees and honey, but now there is something else here – flame retardants. These toxic chemicals are widespread throughout the globe and contaminate the food chain, including human milk, as they are present in…
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Preterm Birth and Exposure to Environmental Pollutants
By Roberta Attanasio “Being born too soon is an unrecognized killer” – these are the words of Professor Joy Lawn, Director of the MARCH Centre at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a Senior Health Advisor to Save the Children. Professor Lawn is one of the co-editors of a 2012 seminal report entitled “Born too soon: the global action report on preterm birth.” Globally, more than 15 million babies are born prematurely (before 37 completed weeks of gestation) each year, with over a million neonatal deaths from complications of preterm birth. To reduce the global staggering numbers of preterm births, it is necessary to find ways to help…
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Skin Lightening Cosmetics and Mercury Toxicity
By Roberta Attanasio Skin lightening cosmetics are popular in many regions of the world — they’re used to lighten darker skin because of their ability to inhibit production of melanin, the substance that gives the skin its color. The active ingredients in some of these cosmetics often include toxic chemicals, as for example hydroquinone, fluorinated corticosteroid and inorganic mercury. The World Health Organization (WHO) provides interesting facts about the global use of skin lightening cosmetics. In India, 61% of the dermatological market consists of skin lightening products. In Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Togo, 25%, 77%, 27%, 35% and 59% of women, respectively, are reported to use skin lightening products on a…
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Global Pollution: Top Ten Toxic Threats in 2013
By The Editors A report released in 2012 by the Blacksmith Institute and Green Cross Switzerland pointed out that the disease burden of pollution is comparable in scope to that of more well-known public health threats, such as malaria or tuberculosis. The burden of disease measures the relative impact of different diseases and injuries on populations. As comparison, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), globally, there were about 219 million cases of malaria in 2010 and an estimated 660 000 deaths due to the disease, whereas in 2012 an estimated 8.6 million people developed tuberculosis and 1.3 million died from it. Yesterday (November 4, 2013), the Blacksmith Institute and Green Cross Switzerland published the 2013 report of…
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Breast Cancer: Prevention is Better than Cure
By The Editors The Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) is a leading European not-for-profit organization addressing how the environment affects health in the European Union. With the support of more than 65 member organizations, HEAL brings independent expertise and evidence from the health community to different decision-making processes. According to HEAL, “the role that environmental factors play in cancer causation, specifically carcinogenic substances and other cancer-related chemicals, is increasingly recognized. Consequently, reducing exposure to hazardous substances is gaining prominence as a key approach to cancer prevention.” On October 23, 2013, HEAL member Breast Cancer UK (BCUK) launched its Manifesto ‘Prevention is better than cure: 5 pledges for 2015 and beyond’ calling on the…
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Arsenic Contamination of Drinking Water in India Impairs Kala-Azar Treatment
By Roberta Attanasio Visceral leishmaniasis, known in India as kala-azar or black fever, is a parasitic disease that kills an estimated 500,000 people a year, 90 percent of them in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Brazil and Sudan. In India, the disease is endemic in the northeastern Indian State of Bihar – the epicenter of kala-azar in the region – and in Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. It manifests with irregular bouts of fever, substantial weight loss, swelling of the spleen and liver, and anemia. Left untreated, kala-azar is almost always fatal, especially in children, According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “Leishmaniasis is a poverty-related disease. It affects the poorest…
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Sentinel Bottlenose Dolphins: Exposure to Toxic Chemicals
By Roberta Attanasio Bottlenose dolphins – the playful, intelligent and sleek swimmers frequently seen in warm and shallow waters along coastlines – are important biological indicators or sentinels. As coastal dwellers, they are exposed to pollutants deriving from human activities and, as predators at the top of the food web, they can help evaluate the overall health status of their ecosystems. In 2011, two teams of researchers published results from their studies on bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncates) as indicators of persistent organic pollutants in coastal ecosystems. Persistent organic pollutants are toxic chemicals recognized as a global threat to human health and the environment. Because they can be transported by wind…
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Air Pollution: The Most Widespread Environmental Carcinogen
By Roberta Attanasio Exposure to outdoor air pollution causes lung cancer in humans – this is the conclusion drawn by leading experts after thoroughly reviewing the latest available scientific literature. The same experts evaluated particulate matter separately and reached a similar conclusion. Therefore, particulate matter is now classified as carcinogenic to humans. These conclusions apply to all regions of the world as they are based on findings from large epidemiologic studies that include millions of people living in different continents. The experts were convened by the IARC Monographs Programme. IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer) is the specialized cancer agency of the World Health Organization (WHO). The IARC Monographs…
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Fine Particulate Matter: The Global Toll
By The Editors Particulate matter, also known as particle pollution or PM, is a complex mixture of very tiny solid and liquid particles made up of several components, including acids (such as nitrates and sulfates), organic chemicals, metals, and soil or dust particles. Fine particles (PM2.5) are found in smoke and haze and are 2.5 micrometers in diameter and smaller. Sources of fine particles include all types of combustion — motor vehicles, power plants, residential wood burning, forest fires, agricultural burning, and some industrial processes. Fine particles cause serious health problems such as heart disease, lung cancer and asthma attacks as they can get deep into the lungs — some may even get into the…
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Cosmetics: A Full Ban on Animal Testing in the European Union Encourages Research on Alternative Methods
By The Editors On March 11, 2013, a full ban of animal testing for cosmetics entered into force in the European Union. In addition, as of March 11, 2013, cosmetics tested on animals cannot be marketed in the European Union. The day of the announcement, the European Commissioner in charge of Health & Consumer Policy, Tonio Borg, stated: “Today’s entry into force of the full marketing ban gives an important signal on the value that Europe attaches to animal welfare. The Commission is committed to continue supporting the development of alternative methods and to engage with third countries to follow our European approach. This is a great opportunity for Europe to set an example of responsible…
