PFCs may be more toxic to the immune system than current dioxin exposures

Boston, MA—A new study finds that perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), widely used in manufactured products such as non-stick cookware, waterproof clothing, and fast-food packaging, were associated with lowered immune response to vaccinations in children. It is the first study to document how PFCs, which can be transferred to children prenatally (via the mother) and postnatally from exposure in the environment, can adversely affect vaccine response.

The study appears in the January 25, 2012 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

“Routine childhood immunizations are a mainstay of modern disease prevention. The negative impact on childhood vaccinations from PFCs should be viewed as a potential threat to public health,” said study lead author Philippe Grandjean, adjunct professor of environmental health at Harvard School of Public Health.

PFCs have thousands of industrial and manufacturing uses. Most Americans have the chemical compounds in their bodies. Prior studies have shown that PFC concentrations in mice similar to those found in people suppressed immune response, but the adverse effects on people had been poorly documented.

The researchers analyzed data on children recruited at birth at National Hospital in Torshavn, Faroe Islands during 1999-2001. A total of 587 participated in follow-up examinations. Children were tested for immune response to tetanus and diphtheria vaccinations at ages 5 and 7 years. PFCs were measured in maternal pregnancy serum and in the serum of children at age 5 to determine prenatal and postnatal exposure.

The results showed that PFC exposure was associated with lower antibody responses to immunizations and an increased risk of antibody levels in children lower than those needed to provide long-term protection. (Antibody concentrations in serum are a good indicator of overall immune functions in children.) A two-fold greater concentration of three major PFCs was associated with a 49% lower level of serum antibodies in children at age 7 years.

“We were surprised by the steep negative associations, which suggest that PFCs may be more toxic to the immune system than current dioxin exposures,” said Grandjean.

The PFC concentrations are similar to or slightly below those reported in U.S. women, and most serum PFC levels in Faroese children at age 5 were lower than those measured in U.S. children aged 3 to 5 years in 2001-2002.

Literature:

Harvard School of Public Health, PFCs, chemicals in environment, linked to lowered immune response to childhood vaccinations, Jan, 24, 2012

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Why do smells make some people sick?

Do you get a headache from the perfume of the lady next to you at the table? Do cleaning solutions at work make your nose itch? If you have symptoms prompted by everyday smells, it does not necessarily mean you are allergic but rather that you suffer from chemical intolerance. According to Linus Andersson at Umeå University, this hypersensitivity can be the result of an inability to get used to smells.

Normally your smell perceptions diminish rapidly, as when you enter a friend’s apartment. Even though you clearly notice smells just inside the door, you don’t think about them for long. For people with chemical intolerance, on the other hand, smells seem always to be present. Psychology researcher Linus Andersson has exposed both intolerant and non-intolerant individuals to smells and compared their reactions.

“The hypersensitive individuals felt that the smell was getting stronger even though its concentration had not changed. Their brain activity images also differed from those in the other group,” he says.

The results were observed using methods based on both electroencephalography (EEG) and functional brain imaging technology (fMRI). The EEG method involved placing electrodes on the heads of trial subjects and registering the minute changes in tension in the brain that arise following exposure to smells. Unlike the people in the normal group, Linus Andersson explains, the intolerant people did not evince a lessening of brain activity during the period of more than an hour they were exposed to a smell. The inability to grow accustomed to smells is thus matched by unchanging brain activity over time.

“These individuals also have a different pattern in the blood flow in their brains, compared with those who perceive that a smell diminishes. A similar change can be found in patients with pain disorders, for example.”

Sensitivity to smell impacts the entire body. A further finding in the dissertation is that chemical intolerant people also react strongly to substances that irritate the mucous linings of their nose and mouth. People who cough more when they inhale capsaicin, the hot compound in chili peppers, also have heightened reactions in the brain to other smells. Besides the fact that intolerant individuals perceive that smells grow stronger, effects are also seen in mucous linings and in the brain.

Chemical intolerance is surprisingly common – up to ten percent of the Swedish population report they are bothered by everyday smells, whereas roughly two percent experience severe symptoms. Yet, in contrast to the situation regarding allergies and asthma, there is very little research about what causes this condition. Linus Andersson maintains that if it were possible to identify what characterizes this hypersensitivity then it would be possible to develop methods for diagnosis and treatment. But research can also provide new knowledge about how we should think about our work and everyday environments.

“Some co-workers are bothered more than others by the smell of the printer — what should we do to make our working conditions acceptable to as many people as possible?”

Author:

UMEA University, Why do smells make some people sick?, 20. Januar 2012 Expertanswer (Expertsvar in Swedish

Linus Andersson, Sick of smells: Empirical findings and a theoretical framework for chemical intolerance, Umeå, 2011-12-02

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For three decades Mary has dedicated herself to promoting the public health and improving the lives of people sick or disabled by environmental exposures. She has served on dozens of federal and state advisory committees including the recently concluded CDC National Conversation on Public Health and Chemical Exposures. She is a member of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences’ Public Interest Partners and HUD’s Disability Task Force.

Mary was nominated for the Freedom Medal by Diane Reibel, Assistant Professor of Physiology at Thomas Jefferson Medical School in Philadelphia. In nominating Mary, Dr. Reibel noted that “I met Mary twenty-five years ago when I became ill from chemicals in my research laboratory. Mary’s knowledge, support, and advocacy were a life saver for me. What Mary did for me, she has done for thousands of people across New Jersey and tens of thousands nationwide.”

Mary was recently honored with the 2011 New Jersey Governor’s Jefferson Award for Public Service, PSEG Environmental Stewardship Award, and a 2010 US EPA Region 2 Environmental Quality Award, the highest civilian award given by the EPA.

The Camden County Freedom Medal award was created in 2001 to honor the ideals indicative of the slain civil rights leader. According to Camden County Freeholder Director Louis Cappelli Jr., “This is Camden County’s way of honoring Dr. King.”

Medals will be presented during an evening ceremony at the Camden County Boathouse at Cooper River on January 20.

Author: National Center for Environmental Health Strategies, Press Release, January 2012

Congratulation Mary, this is so, so well deserved!

In the amoral milieu of the corporate bottom line, you can’t blame Tokyo Electric Power Co. for trying.

Tepco owns the six-reactor Fukushima complex that was wrecked by Japan’s March 11 earthquake and smashed by the resulting tsunami. It faces more than $350 billion in compensation and clean-up costs, as well as likely prosecution for withholding crucial information that may have prevented some radiation exposures and for operating the giant station after being warned about the inadequacy of its protections against disasters.

So, when the company was hauled into Tokyo District Court October 31 by the Sunfield Golf Club, which was demanding decontamination of the golf course, Tepco lawyers tried something novel. They claimed the company isn’t liable because it no longer “owned” the radioactive poisons that were spewed from its destroyed reactors.

“Radioactive materials that scattered and fell from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant belong to individual landowners there, not Tepco,” the company said. This stunned the court, the plaintiffs and the press. An attorney for the golf club said, “We are flabbergasted….”

The court rejected Tepco’s notion that its cancer-causing pollution is owned by the areas it contaminated. But you have to hand it to Tepco. For brash balderdash, there’s hardly a match in the world.

Even Union Carbide, whose toxic gas in Bhopal, India, killed 15,000 people in 1984, hasn’t tried that one. Dow Chemical, which bought Union Carbide in 2001, is still fighting India’s demand for $1.7 billion in compensation. Perhaps Dow could try Tepco’s dodge: “The gas belongs to the breather now, since possession is nine-tenths of the law.”

Meanwhile, babies in Japan may be in for a life of debilitation and disease because radioactive cesium-137 and cesium-134 was recently found in infant milk powder. A December 6 announcement by the Meiji Holdings Company, Inc. said it was recalling 400,000 cans of its “Meiji Step,” powdered milk for babies older than nine months. The powder was packaged in April – at the height of Fukushima’s largest radiation releases – distributed mostly in May and has an October 2012 expiration date.

The amount of cesium in one serving of the milk powder was about 8 percent of the total contamination allowed by the government. But no one knows how much formula individual babies may have consumed prior to the recall. It is well known that fetuses, infants, children and women are harmed by doses of radiation below officially allowed exposures. Most exposure standards have been established in view of radiation’s projected effect on “Reference Man,” a hypothetical 20- to 30-year-old white male, rather than women and children, the most vulnerable.

Even tiny amounts of internal radioactive contamination can damage DNA, cause cancer and weaken the immune system. Fukushima’s meltdowns dispersed radioactive contamination found in vegetables, milk, seafood, water, grain, animal feed and beef. Green tea grown 250 miles from Fukushima was found contaminated. Rice harvested this fall from 154 farms in Fukushima Prefecture was found in November to be poisoned with cesium 25 percent above the allowable limit. Shipments of rice from those farms were banned, but not before many tons had been sold. Presumably, that radiation is now the property of each consumer under the inventive assertion of Tepco’s corporate attorneys.

This work by Truthout is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.

Source:
John LaForge, Truthout, Fukushima’s Owner Adds Insult to Injury – Claims Radioactive Fallout Isn’t Theirs, Monday 16 January 2012

Related Environmental Medicine Matters articles:

• The Hanford Nuclear Reservation becomes an American Pop-Icon Amusement Park?
• Expert discovers simple method of dealing with harmful radioactive iodine
• People may eventually develop cancer as a result of the radiation exposure

Scent marketing alarms the trade supervision and labor unions

Businesses that use fragrances in order to encourage customers to linger and buy, are becoming increasingly common. The scent marketing industry promotes the retail branch strongly. The fragrances that one finds in the shops are mixtures of different natural essential oils or chemical compositions. Neither is harmless for employees or customers. In Denmark, the trade supervision and labor unions are keeping their eye on the American fashion chain, “Abercrombie & Fitch”. The fashion chain is known for using the fragrance Citronellol, an aromatic oil that is classified as questionable because it can be harmful to one’s health and it can trigger allergies. The Danish trade supervision is currently committed to putting an end to the scenting in order to protect the employees and customers of the fashion chain.

Authorities and labor unions are going up against scented store environments

In Denmark, labor unions are paying close attention to the authorities’ course of action against the American fashion company “Abercrombie & Fitch”. In their shops, it smells strongly of perfume. The significant fragrance is supposed to bind the customer to the brand and increase sales. The newspaper “Politiken DK” reports that so-called scent marketing has extremely increased in Denmark in the past three years. Anyone who visits certain stores frequently or is employed there, can develop allergies. It is an unnecessary burden on the employees, because many of the fragrances can cause allergic reactions – the newspaper quoted the head of the trade supervision.

Contamination of indoor air with chemicals and allergenic fragrance oils

The perfumes for a scented environment are often led directly into the store through the air conditioning and ventilation system. Smaller shops set up bottles with aromatic oils, containing wooden sticks which release the fragrance into the room. Both are questionable, not only for people who already suffer from perfume allergies, but also for asthmatics and chemically sensitive people (MCS). Even healthy people may sensitize over time and develop allergies.

The trade supervision wants to protect employees and customers

We are most likely dealing with allergens, which are injected into the stores, is what the head of the trade supervision told the newspaper “Politiken DK”. That’s why the authorities tried to contact “Abercrombie & Fitch” at the end of last year. The authorities tried to make it clear to them that they wanted to protect employees against the high concentration of perfume in the shops, because it is an unnecessary burden.

Labor unions are receiving more and more complaints

Danish labor unions report that they receive more and more complaints from union members about the scenting of their workplace. Therefore, the actions of the trade supervision in the case of “Abercrombie & Fitch” are being closely observed. It is a major health problem for the employees in those stores, but also for the customers, said a union spokesperson to “Politiken DK”. The customers, unlike the employees have the choice and can simply stay away from the scented store. The employee unfortunately does not have this choice, especially in times when everyone is happy to even have a job.

It remains to be seen how the American company will behave, what measures the Danish trade supervision will take, and how much pressure the Danish labor unions will make. If the Abercrombie & Fitch” management is smart, they will stop exposing their employees and customers to substances that can cause illness. Sick employees cost a company money, and when customers realize why they don’t feel well in a shop and stay away, they too, can cost the company a lot of money.

The German Federal Environmental Agency has been warning against the use of fragrances for this purpose for years – through several press releases and it’s own published background paper which writes about this issue, „Fragrances: When something pleasant becomes a burden.” (german) An increase of scented shops has also been reported in Germany. So far, there is no authority or union which is really trying to prevent it.

Autor: Silvia K. Müller, CSN – Chemical Sensitivity Network, 17. Januar 2012

Literatur:

Politiken.DK, Duftende butikker er farlige for ansattes og kunders helbred, 13. Januar 2012

Related Articles:

• Aromatherapy Can Produce Harmful Indoor Air Pollutants
• Scented laundry products emit hazardous chemicals through dryer vents
• Reckless Self-Interest Of The Fragrance Industry
• Scented consumer products shown to emit many unlisted chemicals

Contaminant-free living area designed for the environmentally ill

Europe’s one-of-a-kind housing project is designed for Switzerland. The planned start for construction is spring 2012 and the project is estimated at costing 5.8 million Swiss francs. The small to medium sized ecologically built apartments meet the strict health requirements of chemically sensitive people. The Swiss housing cooperative “Healthy Living MCS” was founded three years ago and since then has been working toward the realization of an MCS housing project. The city of Zurich agreed and sees enormous potential in the MCS residential project. The knowledge won through this project can be very useful for future ecologically built residential projects in the city.

Construction begins in spring

The news came at exactly the right time. Christian Schifferle (video) sent an email from Switzerland just in time for Christmas stating the following:

“There’s good news: A few days ago, we finally received the building permit from the city of Zurich for our Zurich MCS-housing project. All our planning in the last two years is on track. In January, the City of Zurich will begin with the development work (access, water, electricity) and April /May is the official start of construction.”

Contaminant-free housing

In Switzerland, there were, as in Germany and Italy, already cases of suicide, because the appropriate living space for chemically sensitive people has not been available. When no one offers help, the despair and helplessness is tremendous if the apartments are uninhabitable due to a hypersensitivity to pollutants and nothing adequate is available. Christian Schifferle, the initiator of the housing project knows about the catastrophic housing situation through his consulting work and from his own personal experience. He spent years searching for a suitable, pollutant-free apartment and camped in a caravan in the country. Often he had to sleep in the forest, regardless of weather or temperature. A long time ordeal finally comes to an end for him and other environmentally ill. But Christian Schifferle is already thinking ahead and would like to develop pollution-free housing projects for the environmentally ill all across Europe in cooperation with the MCS housing cooperative.

Author: Silvia K.Müller, CSN – Chemical Sensitivity Network, 02.01.2011

Related Articles:

• Scientifically guided MCS-housing project is in the making
• Zurich targets first MCS Housing Project in Europe and issues an invitation to tender
• New Housing Non-Profit Forming with Focus on Environmental Sensitivities

New Research Shows Two of the Leading Killers in America Might be Linked

“We know there’s a link,” says Heather Snyder, senior associate director of Medical and Scientific Relations for the Alzheimer’s Association. “What we’re trying to find out is the why.”

Snyder is speaking of two of this country’s worst scourges: Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes. Both are major killers. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, they are, respectively, the sixth and seventh leading causes of death in the U.S.

Now, research has begun to suggest that they share something else besides a capacity for death—namely, a common organic thread. For that reason, research into one may lead to successful means of dealing with the other.

To begin with, 26 million people in the U.S. have diabetes, 7 million of whom don’t even know they are affected, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease. But regardless of awareness, diabetes remains a condition whereby too much sugar builds up in the bloodstream because the body cannot use insulin effectively. That is, the body stops producing sufficient insulin to help cells absorb sugar and turn it into energy.

Certain segments of the population have a disproportionate rate of diabetes, including Hispanic, African, Asian and Native Americans. According to the National Institutes of Health, 8.3 percent of the U.S. population have diabetes, but more than 16.1 percent of the adult population of American Indians and Alaska Natives have been diagnosed with it. The rates of diabetes vary by region, with American Indians in southern Arizona suffering the highest rates in the country at 33.5 percent.

Diabetes and Alzheimer’s have several links. For example, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes increase the risk of both heart disease and stroke. Damaged blood vessels can result from either of these conditions, and researchers believe that damaged vessels in the brain may well contribute to Alzheimer’s.

Further, our brain cells use a high level of energy, which can be affected by diabetes because the disease retards the body’s ability to absorb sugar to generate the necessary energy. Healthy brain function also depends on a symphony of many different chemicals working in concert. Too much insulin can throw off the balance of these chemicals and potentially trigger Alzheimer’s. Finally, high blood sugar causes inflammation, which could damage brain cells and help Alzheimer’s develop.

Tackling the connection between diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease may ultimately involve a better understanding of vascular dementia, a disease with the same symptoms as Alzheimer’s. But as Snyder puts it, “Of the top 10 causes of death in the United States, Alzheimer’s is the only one without any way to prevent, cure or slow its progression.” Vascular dementia, by contrast, can be prevented or managed through many of the same healthy habits that can also reduce the risk of diabetes.

“[Vascular dementia] results from hypertension, a high-fat diet, smoking and uncontrolled diabetes,” says Carson Henderson, associate director of Two Hawk Institute, an Indian-owned and -operated corporation focused on health education, training and research in Indian country. “If you exercise, eat right, and don’t smoke, you might be able to prevent vascular dementia as you age.”

Vascular dementia is caused by low blood flow to the brain, often as the result of a stroke or series of strokes. “With vascular dementia, your brain cells are dying, because small, tiny blood vessels in the brain are being blocked, and the cells below are not receiving blood or oxygen,” explains Carson Henderson’s husband, Neil Henderson, Oklahoma Choctaw, who directs the American Indian Diabetes Prevention Center at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center’s College of Public Health. “Vascular dementia looks a lot like Alzheimer’s disease, but it is not the same causation. You still get memory loss and confused thinking.”

The latest link between diabetes and dementia was established by a recent study undertaken by Kyushu University in Japan. Researchers analyzed “1,017 community-dwelling dementia-free subjects” over the course of 15 years and found that Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia “were significantly higher in subjects with diabetes then in those with normal glucose tolerance.”

Snyder puts the significance of the finding this way: “Diabetes affects your heart, and there are links between cardiovascular health and brain health. The brain uses 25 percent of the oxygen in blood for its functions, if the heart isn’t healthy, the brain won’t be healthy, either.”

So the ties between diabetes and heart disease and stroke continue to be uncovered. Now, with the possibility that diabetes might be among the causes of one of America’s most lethal diseases, organizations like the Alzheimer’s Association are doing everything they can to spread awareness—and prevention.

Source: A Deadly Duo: New Research Shows Two of the Leading Killers in America Might be Linked
By ICTMN Staff December 14, 2011

“We know there’s a link,” says Heather Snyder, senior associate director of Medical and Scientific Relations for the Alzheimer’s Association. “What we’re trying to find out is the why.”

Snyder is speaking of two of this country’s worst scourges: Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes. Both are major killers. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, they are, respectively, the sixth and seventh leading causes of death in the U.S.

Now, research has begun to suggest that they share something else besides a capacity for death—namely, a common organic thread. For that reason, research into one may lead to successful means of dealing with the other.

To begin with, 26 million people in the U.S. have diabetes, 7 million of whom don’t even know they are affected, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease. But regardless of awareness, diabetes remains a condition whereby too much sugar builds up in the bloodstream because the body cannot use insulin effectively. That is, the body stops producing sufficient insulin to help cells absorb sugar and turn it into energy.

Certain segments of the population have a disproportionate rate of diabetes, including Hispanic, African, Asian and Native Americans. According to the National Institutes of Health, 8.3 percent of the U.S. population have diabetes, but more than 16.1 percent of the adult population of American Indians and Alaska Natives have been diagnosed with it. The rates of diabetes vary by region, with American Indians in southern Arizona suffering the highest rates in the country at 33.5 percent.

Diabetes and Alzheimer’s have several links. For example, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes increase the risk of both heart disease and stroke. Damaged blood vessels can result from either of these conditions, and researchers believe that damaged vessels in the brain may well contribute to Alzheimer’s.

Further, our brain cells use a high level of energy, which can be affected by diabetes because the disease retards the body’s ability to absorb sugar to generate the necessary energy. Healthy brain function also depends on a symphony of many different chemicals working in concert. Too much insulin can throw off the balance of these chemicals and potentially trigger Alzheimer’s. Finally, high blood sugar causes inflammation, which could damage brain cells and help Alzheimer’s develop.

Tackling the connection between diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease may ultimately involve a better understanding of vascular dementia, a disease with the same symptoms as Alzheimer’s. But as Snyder puts it, “Of the top 10 causes of death in the United States, Alzheimer’s is the only one without any way to prevent, cure or slow its progression.” Vascular dementia, by contrast, can be prevented or managed through many of the same healthy habits that can also reduce the risk of diabetes.

“[Vascular dementia] results from hypertension, a high-fat diet, smoking and uncontrolled diabetes,” says Carson Henderson, associate director of Two Hawk Institute, an Indian-owned and -operated corporation focused on health education, training and research in Indian country. “If you exercise, eat right, and don’t smoke, you might be able to prevent vascular dementia as you age.”

Vascular dementia is caused by low blood flow to the brain, often as the result of a stroke or series of strokes. “With vascular dementia, your brain cells are dying, because small, tiny blood vessels in the brain are being blocked, and the cells below are not receiving blood or oxygen,” explains Carson Henderson’s husband, Neil Henderson, Oklahoma Choctaw, who directs the American Indian Diabetes Prevention Center at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center’s College of Public Health. “Vascular dementia looks a lot like Alzheimer’s disease, but it is not the same causation. You still get memory loss and confused thinking.”

The latest link between diabetes and dementia was established by a recent study undertaken by Kyushu University in Japan. Researchers analyzed “1,017 community-dwelling dementia-free subjects” over the course of 15 years and found that Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia “were significantly higher in subjects with diabetes then in those with normal glucose tolerance.”

Snyder puts the significance of the finding this way: “Diabetes affects your heart, and there are links between cardiovascular health and brain health. The brain uses 25 percent of the oxygen in blood for its functions, if the heart isn’t healthy, the brain won’t be healthy, either.”

So the ties between diabetes and heart disease and stroke continue to be uncovered. Now, with the possibility that diabetes might be among the causes of one of America’s most lethal diseases, organizations like the Alzheimer’s Association are doing everything they can to spread awareness—and prevention.

Authors: ICTMN Staff December 14, 2011

Republished by courtesy of Indian Country Today Media Network
Original Source: A Deadly Duo: New Research Shows Two of the Leading Killers in America Might be Linked
Twitter: Indian Country

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• Computers analyze environmental factors in diabetes
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UCLA reported about a patient with severe bromine intoxication from drinking orange soda

Patented as a flame retardant for plastics, and banned in food throughout Europe and Japan, a brominated chemical called BVO has been added to sodas for decades in North America. Now some scientists have a renewed interest in this little-known ingredient, found in 10 percent of sodas in the United States. Research on its toxicity dates back to the 1970s, and some experts now urge a reassessment. After a few extreme soda binges – not too far from what many video gamers regularly consume – a few patients have needed medical attention for skin lesions, memory loss and nerve disorders, all symptoms of overexposure to bromine. Other studies suggest that BVO could be building up in human tissues. In mouse studies, big doses caused reproductive and behavioral problems.

By Brett Israel, Environmental Health News, Dec. 12, 2011

MARIETTA, Ga. – It’s Monday night at the Battle & Brew, a gamer hangout in this Atlanta suburb. The crowd is slumping in chairs, ears entombed in headphones, eyes locked on flat-screen monitors and minds lost in tonight’s video game of choice: “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.”

To help stay alert all night, each man has an open can of “gamer fuel” inches from his keyboard. “I’ve seen some of these dudes plow through six sodas in six hours,” said Brian Smawley, a regular at the gamer bar.

Gamers say they chug their fuel for the sugar and caffeine, but drinkers of Mountain Dew and some other citrus-flavored drinks are also getting a dose of a synthetic chemical called brominated vegetable oil, or BVO.

Patented by chemical companies as a flame retardant, and banned in food throughout Europe and Japan, BVO has been added to sodas for decades in North America. Now some scientists have a renewed interest in this little-known ingredient, found in 10 percent of sodas in the United States.

After a few extreme soda binges — not too far from what many gamers regularly consume – a few patients have needed medical attention for skin lesions, memory loss and nerve disorders, all symptoms of overexposure to bromine. Other studies suggest that BVO could be building up in human tissues, just like other brominated compounds such as flame retardants. In mouse studies, big doses caused reproductive and behavioral problems.

Reports from an industry group helped the U.S. Food and Drug Administration establish in 1977 what it considers a safe limit for BVO in sodas. But some scientists say that limit is based on thin, outdated data, so they insist that the chemical deserves a fresh look.

“Aside from these reports, the scientific data is scarce,” said Walter Vetter, a food chemist at Germany’s University of Hohenheim and author of a recent, but unpublished, study on BVO in European soda imports.

Flame retardant soda?

The next time you grab a Mountain Dew, Squirt, Fanta Orange, Sunkist Pineapple, Gatorade Thirst Quencher Orange, Powerade Strawberry Lemonade or Fresca Original Citrus, take a look at the drink’s ingredients. In Mountain Dew, brominated vegetable oil is listed next-to-last, between disodium EDTA and Yellow 5. These are just a sampling of drinks with BVO listed in their ingredients, which is required by the FDA. The most popular sodas – Coca-Cola and Pepsi – do not contain BVO.

You don’t have to be a gamer to drink these fruit-flavored sodas. In the United States, 85 percent of kids drink a beverage containing sugar or artificial sweetener at least once per week, according to a study published last month. Sodas are the largest source of calories for teenagers between the ages of 14 to 18, according to a National Cancer Institute study. For adults, soda, energy and sports drinks are the fourth largest (PDF) source of calories, a federal study found.

Hold a bottle of Mountain Dew to a light. It’s cloudy. Brominated vegetable oil creates the cloudy look by keeping the fruity flavor mixed into the drink. Without an emulsifier such as BVO, the flavoring would float to the surface. The FDA limits the use of BVO to 15 parts per million in fruit-flavored beverages.

Brominated vegetable oil, which is derived from soybean or corn, contains bromine atoms, which weigh down the citrus flavoring (PDF) so it mixes with sugar water, or in the case of flame retardants, slows down chemical reactions that cause a fire.

Brominated flame retardants lately are under intense scrutiny because research has shown that they are building up in people’s bodies, including breast milk, around the world. Designed to slow the spread of flames, they are added to polystyrene foam cushions used in upholstered furniture and children’s products, as well as plastics used in electronics. Research in animals as well as some human studies have found links to impaired neurological development, reduced fertility, early onset of puberty and altered thyroid hormones.

BVO may not be in use today as a flame retardant in furniture foam, but patents in Europe — granted earlier this year to Dow Global Technologies — and in the United States — granted in 1967 to Koppers Inc. — keep that possibility alive.

“There are some concerns [about BVO] because people are worried that maybe it has the behavior, [and] potential health effects similar to brominated flame retardants,” said Heather Stapleton, an environmental chemist at Duke University who specializes in studying brominated compounds.

Soda makers and industry groups say they are not concerned about the safety of brominated vegetable oil, saying their products meet all government standards.

“This is a safe ingredient approved by the FDA, which is used in some citrus-based beverages,” said Christopher Gindlesperger of the American Beverage Association, which represents PepsiCo, maker of Mountain Dew. “Importantly, consumers can rest assured that our products are safe and our industry adheres to all government regulations.”

Chris Barnes of the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, makers of Squirt and other drinks that contain BVO, echoed that response.

“All ingredients in Dr. Pepper Snapple Group products meet FDA and other regulator requirements,” Barnes said.

Dated data

Some experts are unconvinced, saying that the FDA standards are based on decades-old data.

“Compounds like these that are in widespread use probably should be reexamined periodically with newer technologies to ensure that there aren’t effects that would have been missed by prior methods,” said Charles Vorhees, a toxicologist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, who studied BVO’s neurological effects in the early 1980s. “I think BVO is the kind of compound that probably warrants some reexamination.”

Toxicity testing has changed dramatically in the past few decades. Multiple generations of animals now can be tested for neurodevelopmental, hormonal and reproductive changes that weren’t imagined in the 1970s and early 1980s.

“I am no toxicologist, but I think that the toxic evaluation of chemicals has been improved since then,” Vetter added.food chemist.

In 1970, scientists in England found that rats on a six-week diet containing 0.8 percent brominated maize oil had stockpiles of bromine in their fat tissue. The bromine stayed there even after the rats returned to a control diet for two weeks.

Around the same time, a study confirmed that bromine was building up in humans. Researchers measured the serum levels of people in the United Kingdom – where BVO was in use – and in their counterparts in the Netherlands and Germany, where BVO was not used.

“During this time UK citizens had higher bromine serum levels compared to the inhabitants of Germany and the Netherlands,” Vetter said. The largest amounts of lipid-bound bromine were found in tissues from children in the UK, according to the study.

The study authors wrote that “it seems highly probable that the intake of brominated vegetable oil is the cause of the tissue bromine residues in children.”

Data in rats show that BVO could be toxic. A 1971 study by Canadian researchers found that rats fed a diet containing 0.5 percent brominated oils grew heavy hearts and developed lesions in their heart muscle. In a later study, in 1983, rats fed the same oils had behavioral problems, and those fed 1 percent BVO had trouble conceiving. At 2 percent, they were unable to reproduce.

The diets in that study had “whopping doses” of BVO, about 100-times higher than today’s allowable limit, said Vorhees, lead author of the 1983 study.

But two case studies in the past 15 years show that whopping doses also can occur in people – with unhealthy consequences.

Epic binges

On MMO nights at the Battle & Brew, some gamers play 12 straight hours. In these Massively Multiplayer Online games, thousands of players from around the world compete. During these epic battles, a soda every hour is not uncommon. A gamer chugging a 20-ounce bottle of soda every hour will finish 3.5 liters in six hours.

“They’re just sitting for 12 hours, just pounding sodas,” Smawley said.

Virtually every teen in America plays video games, according to the Pew Research Center. The $110-billion-a-year soft drink industry and the $74-billion-a-year video game industry have noticed. Activision, the makers of “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3,” the latest edition in this popular video game series, paired with Mountain Dew in a promotion that rewards gamers with bonus points for drinking more Mountain Dew.

In 1997, emergency room doctors at University of California, Davis reported a patient with severe bromine intoxication from drinking two to four liters of orange soda every day. He developed headaches, fatigue, ataxia (loss of muscle coordination) and memory loss.

In a 2003 case reported in Ohio, a 63-year-old man developed ulcers on his swollen hands after drinking eight liters of Red Rudy Squirt every day for several months. The man was diagnosed with bromoderma, a rare skin hypersensitivity to bromine exposure. The patient quit drinking the brominated soft drink and months later recovered.

Reactions this severe may not be a concern in the general population, the study’s doctors said.

“Any normal level of consumption of BVO would not cause any health problems — except the risk of diabetes and obesity from drinking that much sugar water,” said Zane Horowitz, medical director of the Oregon Poison Center and author of the 1997 case study.

But in the gamer scene, a normal level of consumption is not normal. Everyone, it seems, knows someone habitually needing a fuel fix, and consuming enough to up his or her risk.

“I’ve seen hard core guys, after every game they’ll just grab another one,” said Sean Hyatt, the assistant manager at the Battle & Brew.

And it’s not just the “stinkies” – Smawley’s derogatory term for the stereotypical gamer slobs – who pound gamer fuel. Vorhees, of the Cincinnati children’s hospital, said his son stays up all night when playing a new game with his friends.

“They use Mountain Dew specifically as a beverage to keep them awake – and they hardly eat anything,” Vorhees said.

When a person doesn’t eat during one of these binges, his or her body is absorbing the entire beverage. It’s even worse in kids, Vorhees said, because they have less body mass.

“In kids, the total dosage effect tends to be greater,” Vorhees said. “I actually think there are people that get these high exposures.”

Banned bromine returns

Based on data from the early studies, the FDA yanked brominated vegetable oil from its Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) list for flavor additives in 1970, said Douglas Karas, a spokesman for the FDA. BVO bounced back after studies from an industry group from 1971 to 1974 demonstrated a level of safety.

The Flavor Extract Manufacturers’ Association petitioned the FDA to get BVO back in fruit-flavored beverages, this time as a stabilizer, which is its role today. After evaluating the petition and other data, the FDA in 1977 approved the interim use of BVO at 15 ppm in fruit-flavored beverages, pending the outcome of additional studies.

“This decision was based on the highest No Observed Effect Levels from the existing safety studies and the estimated daily intake,” Karas said in an email. “Although there were doses that showed adverse effects in the animal studies, there also were lower doses in which there were no adverse effects observed.”

As a condition of interim approval, the industry group submitted additional safety studies to the FDA.

The FDA determined that a 2-year feeding study in pigs established a no-effect level of 1,200 ppm. A 2-year feeding study in beagle dogs also was conducted. Although there were concerns about quality control with that particular study, Karas said, no cardiovascular effects were observed in the dogs fed BVO at levels as high as 3,600 ppm for two years. After an independent audit of the data to address the quality concerns, the FDA decided to allow BVO in fruit-flavored beverages.

“The findings from these studies supported the safety of BVO in beverages at a level of 15 ppm in fruit-flavored beverages,” Karas said. “Its use as a flame retardant does not preclude its use as a food ingredient so long as the food use is safe.”

More than 30 years later, brominated vegetable oil’s approval status is still listed as interim. Changing the status would be costly and “is not a public health priority for the agency at this time,” Karas said.

Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, was involved with the petition to remove BVO from the “safe” list in 1970. He said it’s time for the FDA to make a decision, one way or the other.

“Is it harmful at the amounts consumed? Probably not,” Jacobson said. “But it would be nice if the FDA did a thorough review of the literature and finalized an approval or a ban.”

A safer switch?

BVO has seeped into Europe, mostly forbidden territory for this additive, according to an analysis (PDF) of imported sodas presented at an international symposium on halogenated persistent organic pollutants in 2010.

“We found products with no label although BVO was present in the soda,” said Vetter, lead author of the study.

He said soda makers in North America could easily replace BVO with alternatives such as hydrocolloids – chemicals that are used in many sodas in Europe. Natural hydrocolloids form small droplets on water into which non-water soluble compounds can be stored and stabilized for as long as necessary. They are almost exclusively natural products, Vetter said.

Barnes, of the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, said that BVO and hydrocolloids “do not provide the same functionality and cannot be substituted for one another.”

Vetter disagreed, saying that countries in Europe and elsewhere have used natural hydrocolloids for decades in the soda brands that rely on BVO in North America.

“There are many options to substitute BVO with safe chemicals,” Vetter said. “I am not aware of significant disadvantages of BVO over hydrocolloids or vice versa.”

With natural alternatives already in use in other countries, why not switch in North America too?

Wim Thielemans, a chemical engineer at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom, said since the alternatives are already used in Europe “their performance must be acceptable, if not comparable, to the U.S.-used brominated systems.” That means “the main driver for not replacing them may be cost,” he said.

“It is a North American problem,” Vetter added. “In the E.U., BVO will never be permitted.”

Source: EHN, Brominated Battle in Sodas, Dec. 12, 2011

CC: by-nc-nd

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THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH IN SPAIN PRESENTS THE CONSENSUS DOCUMENT ON MULTIPLE CHEMICAL SENSITIVITY (MCS) – NOVEMBER 30, 2011

On November 30, the Ministry of Health in Spain has finally submitted the consensus document on Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (pdf).

Two years ago, José Luís Aparicio, a MCS sufferer, and I were interviewed at the Spanish radio program Carne Cruda. They were so shocked by MCS that decided to contact the Ministry of Health because they wanted to interview them in their show to explain to them the terrible situation of the MCS sufferers.

After a lot of calls to the Ministry of Health without receiving any response, they did a live phone call during the radio show and the Ministry had finally to accept. On January 2010, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Health, was interviewed on “Carne Cruda”, in a special show devoted to Multiple Chemical Sensitivity with Miguel Jara, Dr. Pablo Arnold, José Luís Aparicio and David Palma on behalf of me. He made the public commitment to meet with associations that deal with MCS. On February 2010 was held the meeting with Ministry of Health to state the situation of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity sufferers in Spain and they committed to create a Scientific Committee to elaborate the consensus document on MCS that has now finally been released. The document, that has 128 pages, will be translated into English by Ministry of Health and it will be reviewed within two years to include the new scientific knowledge.

David and I want to thank everyone who has been part of this long process. From the doctors members of the Scientific Committee to the 13 MCS associations that set up the “Comité para el Reconocimiento de la Sensibilidad Química Múltiple” (committee for the recognition of MCS in Spain) to have an unanimous voice for this process, including Jaume Cortés, lawyer of the Colectivo Ronda, because his disinterested participation has been crucial for this achievement. And we want to specially thank to Javier Gallego, the director of Carne Cruda, and all his team because without their courageous attitude this day would have never come.

David has remained as observer during the process and we greatly appreciate it to the Committee, and from now he split with the Committee because we don’t belong to any MCS association and we believe that our work is complete.

Today is a great day for all the MCS sufferers in Spain. The consensus document on MCS, albeit imperfect, lays the foundation for future recognition of this disease and it finally does recognize that the MCS patients exist.

Author: Eva Caballé, No Fun Blog, The Ministry of Health in Spain presents the Consensus Document on Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) – November 30, 2011

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Multiple Chemical Sensitivity: Reflections by Dr. L. Christine Oliver and Alison Johnson

Dr. Oliver and Alison Johnson present an excellent overview of the multi-symptom disease known as Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, or MCS. During Dr. Oliver’s twenty years of experience, she can attest to MCS being a physiological disease with clear visual manifestations, such as flushing of skin, increased heart rate, and blood pressure problems in patients exposed to chemicals.

As MCS is ever increasing, Dr. Oliver (Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Co-Director of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Massacsetts General Hospital) advocates for more research dollars dedicated to finding modalities to treat MCS. Medical students and physicians are still not trained about MCS even though it affects the respiratory, neurological, gastrointestinal systems, and even the skin. Pulmonologists, gastroenterologists, and allergists, just to name a few, are the physicians who must receive appropriate training.

Currently, most physicians cannot give a correct diagnosis which leaves patients feeling more isolated and thus many chemically injured seek alternative treatments, some which may do more harm than good. According to Dr. Oliver there are no miracle cures for MCS and currently the most reliable treatment is avoidance of exposures.

The disabling symptoms do much to interfere with a MCS person’s life. It interferes with using public transportation, living in multi-housing units, and gaining/keeping employment. Dr. Oliver advocates for every workplace to maintain perfume free environments. Public health policies are needed to accommodate people with MCS so they are not forced to turn to social security disability for a reduced income.

Housing is a big issue for the chemically injured. Multi-family housing is a problem due to the neighbors using scented chemical products. Many people with MCS can no longer work and thus don’t have the finances to rent or buy single family housing.

The lack of safe housing, lack of safe workplaces, and medical issues can be overwhelming for those with chemical injury. The despair associated with lack of the above, plus the disbelief that the illness is real, leads many to contemplate and actually commit suicide.

Alison Johnson has witnessed the real devastation of this disease which has destroyed far too many lives. So many MCS people have seen their former lives slip away. This is hardly a “rare” condition with an estimated seven million Americans suffering from MCS. More accurate educating of the public is needed.

The tobacco industry succeeded for years in their funding attempts to keep the public in the dark regarding the negative health risks of tobacco. The chemical industry is also doing a good job preventing the public from realizing the harm from the chemically laden products on the market. In the meantime people on every continent are suffering great devastation, isolation, and compromised lives due to the chemical injuries they have suffered and must endure.

Have a look at this excellent film overview…

For further information vistit: The Chemical Sensitivity Foundation

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