Food packaging chemicals may be harmful to human health over long term

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~4/orB60MXRS2g

The synthetic chemicals used in the packaging, storage, and processing of foodstuffs might be harmful to human health over the long term, warn environmental scientists in a commentary in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.This is because most of these substances are not inert and can leach into the foods we eat, they say.Despite the fact that some of these chemicals are regulated, people who eat packaged or processed foods are likely to be chronically exposed to low levels of these substances throughout their lives, say the authors.And far too little is known about their long term impact, including at crucial stages of human development, such as in the womb, which is “surely not justified on scientific grounds,” the authors claim.They point out that lifelong exposure to food contact materials or FCMs — substances used in packaging, storage, processing, or preparation equipment — “is a cause for concern for several reasons.”These include the fact that known toxicants, such as formaldehyde, a cancer causing substance, are legally used in these materials. Formaldehyde is widely present, albeit at low levels, in plastic bottles used for fizzy drinks and melamine tableware.Secondly, other chemicals known to disrupt hormone production also crop up in FCMs, including bisphenol A, tributyltin, triclosan, and phthalates.”Whereas the science for some of these substances is being debated and policy makers struggle to satisfy the needs of stakeholders, consumers remain exposed to these chemicals daily, mostly unknowingly,” the authors point out.And, thirdly, the total number of known chemical substances used intentionally in FCMs exceeds 4000.Furthermore, potential cellular changes caused by FCMs, and in particular, those with the capacity to disrupt hormones, are not even being considered in routine toxicology analysis, which prompts the authors to suggest that this “casts serious doubts on the adequacy of chemical regulatory procedures.”They admit that establishing potential cause and effect as a result of lifelong and largely invisible exposure to FCMs will be no easy task, largely because there are no unexposed populations to compare with, and there are likely to be wide differences in exposure levels among individuals and across certain population groups.But some sort of population-based assessment and biomonitoring are urgently needed to tease out any potential links between food contact chemicals and chronic conditions like cancer, obesity, diabetes, neurological and inflammatory disorders, particularly given the known role of environmental pollutants, they argue.”Since most foods are packaged, and the entire population is likely to be exposed, it is of utmost importance that gaps in knowledge are reliably and rapidly filled,” they urge.Story Source:The above story is based on materials provided by BMJ-British Medical Journal. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.


Read More: Food packaging chemicals may be harmful to human health over long term

#Agriculture, #Authors, #Bmj, #British, #Ecology, #Health, #Science, #Storysource

Almost 13 million smoking deaths could be prevented in China by 2050

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~4/ah49r1tx9C0

China is home to about one third of the world’s smokers and reducing smoking in China could have an enormous public health impact, even on a global scale.Even though China raised the tax on tobacco products in 2009, this did not translate to higher retail prices for consumers and the only ban that has been enforced is on public transport. WHO went on to publish a report in 2011 which stated that there were multiple opportunities to improve tobacco control.Using a version of the SimSmoke Tobacco Control Policy model (a model of tobacco smoking prevalence and smoking-related deaths), populated with data from China, researchers from Spain, France and the US estimated the potential health impact of this programme in China from 2015 — 2050.Under current policies, a total of over 50 million deaths due to smoking were estimated from 2012 to 2050.Projecting the status quo scenario forward, the researchers estimate that active smoking in males would fall from 51.3% in 2015 to 46.5% by 2050 — and in females from 2.1% in 2015 to 1.3% in 2050In 2015, the estimated number of deaths from smoking was about one million (932,000 for males and 79,000 for females). In males, annual deaths were expected to peak at 1.5 million in 2040, but then drop to 1.4 million by 2050. In females, annual deaths from smoking were estimated to be 49,000 in 2040 and 42,000 by 2050.Relative to the status quo scenario, increasing cigarette taxes to 75% of the package price was estimated to reduce smoking prevalence by almost 10% for both males and females by 2015. By 2050, smoking prevalence showed a reduction of 13% for males and 12% for females. The researchers estimate that between 2015 and 2050, this tax would save approximately 3.5 million lives.Smoke-free air laws and a well enforced marketing ban also showed “potent and immediate” effects. Comprehensive smoke-free air laws were estimated to show a 9% reduction in smoking rates by 2015, increasing to about a 10% reduction in 2050, potentially averting around 3.4 million deaths. A comprehensive marketing ban would reduce smoking prevalence by about 4% and avert just over two million deaths by 2050.A high intensity tobacco control campaign would lead to a 2.5% relative decline in smoking rates by 2015 and prevent 1.1 million deaths due to smoking by 2050, while stronger health warnings were projected to yield a relative 2.3% reduction in smoking rates by 2050.The researchers estimate that complete implementation of the WHO framework “would lead to as much as a 34% relative reduction in male smoking prevalence by 2020, and a 41% reduction by 2050.” They say, despite the lag time expected between reductions in current smoking and declines in smoking attributable deaths, nearly half a million annual tobacco related deaths could be averted yearly by 2050.These estimates suggest that substantial health gains could be made, say the authors — a 40% relative reduction in smoking prevalence and almost 13 million smoking attributable deaths averted and more than 154 million life years gained by 2050 — by extending effective public health and clinical interventions to reduce active smoking. They add that these policies would be cost effective and say that “without the implementation of the complete set of stronger policies, the death and disability legacy of current smoking will endure for decades in China.”Story Source:The above story is based on materials provided by BMJ-British Medical Journal. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.


Read More: Almost 13 million smoking deaths could be prevented in China by 2050

#Alzheimer, #British, #Britishmedical, #Cancer, #Control, #Cosmetics, #France, #King, #Policy, #Researchers, #Tobacco, #World

London"s bicycle sharing scheme has had positive overall health effect

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/living_well/~4/G4yOX4FQnFo

London’s bicycle sharing scheme has had positive overall health effect, but benefits of cycling in central London are larger for men and older people. The authors say the potential benefits of cycling “may not currently apply to all groups in all settings.”Over 600 cities around the world have implemented bicycle sharing schemes, but there is very little published evidence on the health effects of such schemes.So researchers at the University of Cambridge, University College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine set out to estimate the health impacts of London’s cycle hire scheme on its users.Using registration and usage data collected from April 2011 to March 2012, they modeled the medium term health impacts of the scheme on male and female users of different ages, by estimating changes in physical activity, road traffic injury rates, and exposure to air pollution.The authors used a composite term to describe the impact of ill health and death, known as DALYs, or disability adjusted life years.From April 2011 to March 2012, 578,607 unique cycle hire users made a total of 7.4 million cycle hire trips and thereby generated 2.1 million hours of use.This equates to 12% of the estimated 61.2 million cycle trips made by adults each year that started or ended in the cycle hire zone, and 10% of the estimated 20.8 million hours of cycling duration.Results suggest that the scheme appears to have had a positive overall health effect, with these benefits reflecting reductions in diseases affected by physical inactivity.There was no evidence that cycling on a bicycle sharing scheme was more dangerous than own bicycle cycling; indeed, if anything there was a trend in the opposite direction, further boosting the benefits of the scheme to date. However because the London Cycle Hire scheme hasn’t been operating long enough to get a very precise estimate of the true injury rates on the scheme, the researchers also repeated their analyses using background injury rates for cycling in the hire zone (i.e. injury rates for all cycling, not specifically for cycle hire cycling).When using these background injury rates, the researchers found that the ratio of benefits to harms of cycling in central London vary markedly by age and sex.At older ages (45-59 years), the benefits of cycling were much larger than the harms. But in the youngest age group (15-29 years), the medium term benefits and harms of cycling in central London were both comparatively small and potentially negative.When the researchers analyzed the results by sex, they found smaller benefits among women, largely reflecting higher background fatal injury rates for female cyclists in central London. The authors stress that these results by age and sex relate to cycling in general in central London, not specifically to cycling on the hire bikes.”Our findings indicate that benefits of cycling in central London could be substantially increased both by increasing the share of trips made by older users and by reducing the risks of injury,” say the authors.They point to the Netherlands, where a comprehensive and well maintained system of cycle tracks, physically protected from fast motor traffic, “have helped to make cycling widespread at all ages and reduce the risks of injury.”Providing similar quality infrastructure in London “might help realize the substantial potential health benefits that cycling could offer at population level,” they conclude.Story Source:The above story is based on materials provided by BMJ-British Medical Journal. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.


Read More: London"s bicycle sharing scheme has had positive overall health effect

#Agriculture, #Alzheimer, #Authors, #British, #Cambridge, #Cycle, #Hygiene, #Medical, #Medicine, #Scheme, #Science, #University

South African healthcare workers face greater risk for TB, HIV

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~4/oXX_yfCgZRI

A large-scale survey of South African healthcare workers has revealed major gaps in workplace protection against tuberculosis, HIV and hepatitis, according to a University of British Columbia health researcher.Presenting findings today at the 2014 annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Dr. Annalee Yassi says issues such as confidentiality, stigma, technological capacity and staff training need to be addressed while improving hospital resources and protocols.Preliminary results of the 2012 baseline survey of more than 1,000 healthcare workers in three hospitals show that more than 68 per cent of patient care staff had never been screened for TB; nearly 20 per cent were not vaccinated against hepatitis; and 55 per cent did not wear respiratory protection when needed. Despite South Africa’s high TB and HIV rates — 18 per cent of its adult population is HIV-positive — and risk of hepatitis transmission, recapping of used needles before disposal and washing and reusing of gloves were common, with more than 20 per cent surveyed reporting needlestick injury or unprotected exposure to bodily fluids.Yassi, who is helping South Africa implement occupational health guidelines developed by the World Health Organization (WHO), says healthcare workers in developing countries face greater health challenges while serving significantly more patients.”In addition to massive workloads, healthcare workers in developing countries are more likely to get sick from the workplace,” says Yassi, a professor in UBC’s School of Population and Public Health, noting that healthcare workers in South Africa are at three times the risk of contracting TB than other South Africans, and more than seven times more likely to be hospitalized for drug-resistant TB. A 2013 WHO estimate showed South Africans were almost 300 times more likely to contract TB than Americans.”Considerable progress is being made, including better standard operating procedures and screening,” says Yassi. “But there’s much more we can do to ensure a healthy workplace for the international health care workforce.”Story Source:The above story is based on materials provided by University of British Columbia. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.


Read More: South African healthcare workers face greater risk for TB, HIV

#African, #Africans, #Alzheimer, #British, #Ecology, #Hiv, #Major, #Organization, #Science, #Southafricans

Prostate cancer advance could improve treatment options

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~4/rzDDVTWZBDA

Findings published today in the British Journal of Cancer, and funded by the Association for International Cancer Research (AICR), show how a genetic mutation in untreated patients is linked to aggressive cancer later in life. It was previously thought that the mutation only occurred in response to therapy.The research highlights why relapses could occur in some men following hormone therapy. And it could help identify those patients that will develop fatal prostate cancer much earlier for life-extending therapy.Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK, with more than 40,000 new cases diagnosed every year. Treatment options for patients diagnosed with early stage prostate cancer vary from “watchful waiting” to hormone-withdrawal therapy, radiotherapy or surgery.Additional tests for indicators of aggressive cancer are necessary to help categorise patients so that those with a low-risk of the disease spreading can avoid unnecessary treatment, and those diagnosed with a high-risk can be targeted for more aggressive first line therapy.Hormone-withdrawal therapy often results in a dramatic remission, however the disease invariably relapses with a resistant form of the cancer. A third of these are due to an increase in copy number of a particular gene called the ‘androgen receptor’. The gene is on the X-Chromosome and so there is normally only one copy of this gene present in men. Prostate cancer thrives on male hormones, and one way that they develop to grow better is to increase the number of copies of the androgen receptor gene. This also enables the cancer to resist therapy.Lead researchers Dr Jeremy Clark and Prof Colin Cooper from UEA’s school of Biological Sciences carried out the research at the Institute of Cancer Research, London, and at UEA.Dr Clark said: “By the age of 60, the majority of men will have signs of prostate cancer. However, only a small proportion of men will die of the disease. The question is — which of these cancers are dangerous and which are not? …


Read More: Prostate cancer advance could improve treatment options

#Agriculture, #Alzheimer, #Association, #British, #Discovery, #Gene, #Number, #Prostate, #Research

Invasive "demon shrimp" threaten British marine species

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/earth_climate/ecology/~4/0vNg5ExYESU

A species of shrimp, dubbed the ‘demon shrimp,’ which was previously unknown in British waters, are attacking and eating native shrimp and disrupting the food chain in some of our rivers and lakes. The problem is contributing to the cost of Invasive non-native species (INNS) to the British economy, which is estimated at a total annual cost of approximately 1.7 billion.Dr Alex Ford, a marine scientist from the University of Portsmouth, is investigating the problem with support from the Environment Agency. He said that demon shrimp, so called because of their larger size and aggressive behavior, are currently a more widespread threat than the ‘killer shrimp’ also known to have invaded British waters in 2010. The fear is that some of Britain’s native shrimp are in danger of being completely eradicated from some rivers and lakes, he added.”They are out-eating and out-competing our native shrimps and changing the species dynamic in our rivers and lakes. As soon as one species is depleted it can affect the whole food chain with potentially catastrophic results.”The demon shrimp originates from the region around the Black sea and Caspian sea (known as the Ponto-Caspian region) and found their way into British waters accidently, possibly through shipping in ballast water and are now infiltrating the country via navigable waterwaysDr Ford, from the University’s Institute of Marine Sciences, said: “One of the main reasons why invasive species are successful is the escape from predators, parasites and disease in their native habitats. We are looking at whether these demon shrimp carry ‘demon parasites,’ which could also affect our native species that won’t have any immunity. There is a very real bio-security threat of spreading disease and parasites in native populations without acquired resistance.”The Environment Agency considers the demon shrimp to be a big problem. Tim Johns from the Environment Agency said: “Invasive shrimps such as this species present a major threat to the ecology of our rivers and lakes and we have a real battle on our hands to control their spread.”Dr Ford and colleagues from the University’s Institute of Marine Sciences are now investigating which parasites the demon shrimp are vulnerable to. They are looking at whether they bring with them their own parasites and if they are able to acquire native British parasites, which may result in suppressing population growth over time.One of their findings indicates that a very large proportion of demon shrimp are ‘intersex’ — displaying male and female characteristics, which is caused by parasites which ‘feminize’ the host. Feminizing parasites exist in both British and foreign waters, but in the demon shrimp, the feminizing process has not been fully completed leaving them intersexual. …


Read More: Invasive "demon shrimp" threaten British marine species

#Alzheimer, #British, #Economy, #England, #Marinesciences, #Pregnancy, #Shrimp, #University