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Current query:Type: Scientific Studies
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While all links worked when entries were posted to the database, different publishers
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Thus some of the links, particularly older ones, may no longer be functional.
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Boys exposed to phthalates during pregnancy are less likely to choose “boy typical” toys such as trucks, suggesting that phthalates can alter brain development and gender-specific behaviors.
This is the first study to suggest a link between prenatal phthalate exposure and male behavior. The results indicate that phthalates can interfere with testosterone during development leading to a less masculinized brain. 16 November 2009. More...
Exposure to arsenic causes human stem cells to transform into cancer cells, report researchers who studied the cells in a laboratory.
People in certain regions of the world are exposed to high levels of arsenic through drinking water tainted by the naturally-occurring element. The results of this new study may explain why arsenic is associated with several human cancers, including prostrate cancer in men. 5 November 2009. More...
Persistent pollutants measured in the blood of college students may be the remnants of past exposures instead of current exposures through food and dust, researchers conclude in a recently published study.
While different in structure and use, PCBs and DDT are types of long-lived pollutants that can persist in the environment, concentrate through food chains, and accumulate in fatty tissue of wildlife and people. They are slow to leave the body and are linked to some endocrine effects and cancers. 26 October 2009. More...
New research in Virginia reports that levels of hormones key for growth and controlling stress were skewed in tree swallow nestlings contaminated with mercury.
The study finds some of the highest mercury levels ever measured in wild songbird nestlings. The researchers point to the birds' insect food as the source of contamination. 10 September 2009. More...
Levels of antibiotics measured in streams, lakes and well water near pharmaceutical factories in India are 100,000 to 1,000,000 times higher than levels measured in waters that receive sewage effluent in the US or China.
Much of the world's supply of supply of generic antibiotics are produced in the study area. 9 September 2009. More...
Household dust is an important source of exposure to a lesser known – but ubiquitous and potentially toxic – flame retardant, reports a study from Belgium.
This study is the first to examine the relationship between dust, diet and serum concentrations of hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs). Results are consistent with studies of other better known flame retardants, indicating that indoor sources may contribute most of human exposure to these chemicals. 8 September 2009. More...
Exposure to low to moderate levels of lead before birth and as a child can permanently change the brain's structure in a way that may alter if and how it transmits messages, a new study finds.
More differences in the nerve cells and the thickness of their coverings were found in adults who had higher lead exposure during development and as children. Some areas of the brain developed less robust nerve pathways and other parts had thicker or thinner coverings. 2 September 2009. More...
The common and highly-used herbicide atrazine can act within the brain to disrupt the cascade of hormone signals needed to initiate ovulation, finds a new study.
The results shed new light on the way atrazine affects the female reproductive system and the persistence of these effects when adults are exposed. 20 August 2009. More...
The more perfumes and body lotions that are used, the higher the levels of synthetic fragrances – called polycyclic musks – that are in the blood, reports a new study that examined college students from Austria.
This is one of only a few recent studies that have measured levels of polycyclic musks in human blood, even though they have widespread and increasing use in personal care products. 19 August 2009. More...
Levels of contaminants in breast milk are more complicated than once thought; instead of a constant decline during nursing, levels may fluctuate from beginning to end, finds a new study that contradicts the long-held belief that the pollutants steadily wane.
The pollutants include flame retardants, dioxins and pesticides. Sometimes, concentrations actually increased over the course of breast feeding. 11 August 2009. More...
A recent study links higher blood lead levels with high blood pressure in pregnant women, suggesting that lead exposure may increase the risk of developing hypertension during pregnancy.
All of the women in the study had blood levels below the level considered 'acceptable' by most health agencies, providing additional support for the need to lower the threshold. 10 August 2009. More...
Several long-lived pollutants measured in the blood of Canadian Inuits, including stain repellents, are associated with altered thyroid hormone levels, according to new research.
The study highlights again how long-persisting environmental pollutants can accumulate in people and alter normal hormone levels. It is unique because it included women and is one of the first large-scale studies to look at the stain repellent PFOS's effects on thyroid hormone. 5 August 2009. More...
A study of young children in India has found that higher blood lead levels are associated with a suite of behavioral and thinking problems that can alter attention, abstract thinking and appropriate behavior.
This study is one of the first to pinpoint specific childhood behaviors and cognitive skills affected by lead exposure, most notably anxiety, social problems and overall executive function (planning, problem solving, behavior control). The study found no "safe" level. 4 August 2009. More...
A study with rats suggests that radioactive uranium inhaled by soldiers on the battlefield and by workers in factories may bypass the brain's protective barrier by following nerves from the nose directly to the brain.
This study provides yet another example of how some substances can use the olfactory system to bypass the brain's protective blood barrier and go directly to the brain. Titanium nanoparticles and the metals manganese, nickel, and thallium use the same route. 31 July 2009. More...
People who eat meat and poultry have significantly higher levels of common flame retardants compared to vegetarians.
The findings indicate that food may be a more important source of the contaminants, known as PBDEs, than previously thought. 22 July 2009. More...
A new study finds that young children have significantly lower levels of a key enzyme that protects against the toxic effects of certain pesticides. The youngsters' enzyme levels do not catch up to an adult's until after age seven – far longer than previously thought.
In addition, a person's genes dictate how effective the enzyme is at breaking down the pesticides. This is one reason why some people are more susceptible to the effects of pesticides than others. 21 July 2009. More...
Male rats reach puberty later and have skewed hormone levels after exposure to high concentrations of DEHP, a phthalate.
The researchers tested a wide range of DEHP levels in two different strains of rats and compared when the animals from the differen test groups hit puberty. The doses used – 10, 100, 300 and 900 milligrams per kilogram of rat body weight – are much higher than levels measured in people. 21 July 2009. More...
Researchers report that women with higher DDE blood concentrations were 2.5 times more likely to have high thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH).
Increased concentrations of the long-lived pesticide residue were also associated with reduced thyroxine (T4) levels. Potential effects of chemicals on thyroid function during pregnancy are of concern because thyroid hormones play a crucial role in fetal brain development. 14 July 2009. More...
Women in menopause are more prone to the BPA-associated health effects of inflammation and oxidative stress than either men or women who are still menstruating, according to a study of Korean adults.
This is the first time BPA has been linked to these conditions in people and suggests older women may be more susceptible to the chemical's estrogen-like manner that drives these particular types of cell damage. Oxidative stress can be involved with aging, cancer and other disease states. 13 July 2009. More...
In a study of men and women 55 to 67 years old, higher lead levels were associated with poorer performance on tasks used to assess memory deficits.
Although other studies have found associations between lead exposure and cognitive deficits in older adults, this is the first study to link lead exposure with specific measures of memory impairment that are characteristic of Alzheimer’s Disease. 26 June 2009. More...
First time expectant mothers in the US have much lower blood levels of selected persistent organic pollutants than women did before the chemicals' ban and restrictions on use and emissions.
Levels of a PCB indicator fell drastically, from 140 nanograms per gram in women sampled between 1959-1966 to about 8 nanograms per gram in women from the more recent sample. Still, a metabolite of the insectide DDT, which has not been used in the US for 30 odd years, was detected in all of the women's blood. 23 June 2009. More...
A bacteria-killing chemical widely used in an array of consumer products has made its way down kitchen and bathroom sinks and into dolphins living in US coastal waters.
Researchers report for the first time that a marine mammal--the bottlenose dolphin--is accumulating triclosan from water bodies where treated sewage is released. The study examined animals from rivers, an estuary, a harbor and a lagoon in South Carolina and Florida. 18 June 2009. More...
A detailed analysis of all the available studies comparing work-related, parental pesticide exposure and childhood leukemia finds that the mother’s exposure during pregnancy can double her child’s risk of the disease. The father’s exposure before pregnancy does not.
The study emphasizes the significant contribution of prenatal exposure in developing childhood disease and shows a need for more in-depth studies of the effects of prenatal exposures to environmental factors. 17 June 2009. More...
Some horse estrogens used in hormone replacement therapies make their way from people to wastewater and into fish where they may contribute to the feminization of the animals, reports a study from England.
Laboratory tests showed the hormones – one of which was more potent than human varieties – can turn on estrogen hormone systems in fish at very low concentrations. This is the first time scientists report that HRT-related horse estrogens in water coming into and leaving sewage treatment plants are estrogenic in fish. 9 June 2009. More...
Bacteria in sewage can chemically transform estrogenic compounds, converting them to back to their original chemical form as the sewage travels toward treatment plants after the compounds have been excreted by people.
The findings open the door to exploring new ways in which the estrogens that are more resistant to bacterial modification could be changed at the sewage treatment plant to make them easier to remove from the water. 5 June 2009. More...
Nine years after China banned lead in gasoline, lead levels in children's blood is decreasing.
A new study reports that by 2007, boys' blood lead levels had dropped to 79.3 µg/L from 96.4 µg/L in 2004. 4 June 2009. More...
New animal research suggests that overweight children may be at unique risk for adverse health problems due to exposure to dioxin before they are born.
Overweight mice whose mothers were exposed to dioxin during pregnancy die earlier, tend to have higher blood sugar levels and develop breasts sooner during puberty than those not exposed in the womb. Lean mice under the same circumstances had few of these effects. 21 May 2009. More...
Cigarette smoke can change prebirth development in ways that contribute to cardiovascular disease later in life, according to results of this study using mice.
Smoking exposure altered body weight and cholesterol levels in the offspring. The research is part of a rapidly developing field that examines prenatal environmental exposures which can impact health later in life. 18 May 2009. More...
Researchers report a higher risk of genital anomalies in boys exposed before birth to polybrominated biphenyl flame retardants.
Although no longer used, the effects of exposure to PBBs are of concern due to their similarity to currently used flame retardants, their long half-life and their ability to cross the placenta. The children of mothers who had the highest exposures also had a greater risk for urinary tract or genital problems. 15 May 2009. More...
Exposure to commonly used agricultural pesticides may increase the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, particularly among people who have certain gene types.
The degenerative nerve disease can develop when dopamine levels in the brain are lower than normal. Without pesticide exposures, susceptible gene variants alone were not sufficient to increase risk. The increased risk to Parkinson's required both susceptible genes and pesticide exposure. 14 May 2009. More...
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