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While all links worked when entries were posted to the database, different publishers
have different policies about retaining articles and providing access to archived material.
Thus some of the links, particularly older ones, may no longer be functional.
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The herbicide atrazine lowers the production of androgen hormones in male rats by altering the genes responsible for making them.
This is the first study to show that atrazine directly affects the genes responsible for hormone production in testicular cells. 27 July 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...
A new study reveals that by interfering with thyroid hormone, exposure to low levels of bisphenol A (BPA) slows the rate at which tadpoles develop into frogs.
Thyroid signals are necessary both for normal frog metamorphosis and for fetal development in people. In these experiments, exposure to levels similar to those found in human infants prevented key genes from turning on, thus delaying tadpole development. 12 May 2009. More...
A genetic trigger in the cell, long studied for its role in responding to some of the most toxic compounds known, appears to have newly discovered important functions in directing development.
The findings show that a receptor long-known to be responsive to dioxins can trigger different genes in the presence of pollutants than it does when no pollutants are around. The results point toward mechanisms that could help explain dioxin's impacts on fetal development. 29 April 2009. More...
Lead released from a woman's bones during pregnancy can affect her developing baby's DNA in ways that can alter gene expression and possibly increase the child's lifelong susceptibility to disease.
This is the first study to show that lead can influence genetic programming in human cells, and hence, gene expression, throughout life. 21 April 2009. More...
Little is known conclusively about what causes brain cancer in children, but research studies are consistently finding links to prebirth pesticide exposure.
A new study finds that children who live in homes where their parents use pesticides are twice as likely to develop brain cancer versus those that live in residences in which no pesticides are used. Herbicide use appeared to cause a particularly elevated risk for a certain type of cancer. 7 April 2009. More...
Results of a study that exposed pregnant rats to nicotine levels similar to those found in the blood of women who smoke has isolated how the drug alters genes that govern fat and insulin in the offspring. The permanent changes can lead to life-threatening diseases as the animals age.
This is the first study to convincingly show that mothers who smoke, or use nicotine replacement during pregnancy, could be increasing their children's chances of developing diabetes and obesity later in life. 9 February 2009. More...
People living in agricultural areas of Belgium have higher blood levels of certain markers that identify chemical exposure than people living in nonagricultural areas.
Knowing who has been exposed and which populations are most at risk may help better monitor and predict diseases that are related to the chemical exposures. 17 December 2008. More...
In a unique study, researchers show that exposure to PCBs in rats interferes with learning by stopping the brain from forming complex nerve networks essential for memory and intellect.
This effect could underpin some of the impacts that PCBs have on children's ability to learn. 7 November 2008. More...
In a novel study of factory workers in Italy, scientists demonstrate for the first time that a normal chemical change of DNA, called methylation, is decreased on work days but not off days.
The authors think the decrease in methylation is caused by regular, elevated exposure to particulate matter in the air. The impacts on workers' health of these specific changes are not known, but changes in methylation are linked to many different diseases. 22 October 2008. More...
In the first prospective study exploring how fetal exposures may affect the risk of childhood obesity, scientists from Spain report that children born to mothers with higher levels of the pesticide hexachlorobenzene in cord blood were significantly more likely to be overweight and obese by the age of six.
These results add to growing evidence that fetal exposure to contaminants can interfere with hormonal mechanisms that control weight later in life, thereby contributing to the world-wide epidemic of metabolic disorder. 22 August 2008. More...
In human fat tissues, bisphenol A suppresses levels of a key hormone, adiponectin, that protects people from heart attacks and Type II diabetes.
These results implicate BPA as a potential cause of metabolic syndrome, one of the most serious and costly public health problems in the US. 18 August 2008. More...
A review of health risks of bisphenol A is flawed by errors of omission, commission, misrepresentation and misinterpretation.
The review, carried out by a scientist at the California Dept. of Toxic Substance Control 'working on his own time' and thus not representing the agency's position, ignores a large body of literature on low-dose effects of BPA, uses criteria that would, if accepted, invalidate 30 years of well-established research on diethylstilbestrol (DES) and employs a statistical method that violates basic statistical principles. 6 April 2008. More...
New research by scientists at the Centers for Disease Control indicates that the analysis the CDC has used to estimate human exposure to atrazine and atrazine-related breakdown products has strongly underestimated its extent.
By assaying for more than one atrazine metabolite, the new method finds exposures more consistent with the widespread use of the herbicide than indicated by the old approach. 27 November 2007. More...
New experiments reveal that the synthetic estrogen used by women for birth control causes wide ranging health effects in minnows, but that the effects differed when the drug was tested alone compared with when it was mixed with wastewater effluent.
The estrogen caused feminization of male fish, and altered DNA integrity, immune cell number, and ability to breakdown pollutants. The study highlights the need for more research on the potential health effects of exposure to complex mixtures. 7 September 2007. More...
Thirty-eight of the world's leading scientific experts on bisphenol A have warned policymakers of potential adverse health effects of exposure to the widespread molecule used to make plastic and food can lining.
They conclude that average levels in people are above those that cause harm to animals in laboratory experiments. And they calculate that average serum levels in people can only be explained by assuming that exposures today are already above the level that EPA considers safe. 13 August 2007. More...
Exposure to bisphenol A during development changes gene behavior in mice, causing genetically identical animals to develop differently.
BPA exposure reduces DNA methylation, thereby increasing the expression of genes that would have been silenced. The results can be counteracting by supplementing the maternal diet during pregnancy and lactation with nutrients that increase methylation, such as genistein, a phytoestrogen found in soy. 30 July 2007. More...
New research exposing mice to a chemical used to make polyurethane foam and paints provides the first experimental confirmation that the compound causes respiratory tract disease.
The findings corroborate epidemiological studies showing links between on-the-job exposure to toluene diisocyanate and both nasal inflammations, diseases that affect at least half the industrial workers in the US. The results help understand how breathing even small amounts of a chemical can lead to debilitating respiratory diseases. 20 July 2007. More...
The widely-used synthetic insecticide permethrin dramatically reduces testosterone levels and sperm counts in adult male mice exposed for six weeks.
Permethrin causes reproductive damage by altering the beginning steps of testosterone synthesis in the testes, lowering testosterone production. Permethrin is used in homes and agriculture and it can be found in dust and food. Doses used in the experiment were higher than those people would encounter regularly, but effects were seen at both doses tested. 3 July 2007. More...
Could lead poisoning contribute to asthma and other allergic diseases?
Experiments with cells in the immune system of mice--which are hypersensitized by lead-- provide support for this hypothesis. 25 June 2007. More...
Very low doses of bisphenol A increase the expression of genes in fetal mice responsible for directing production of hormone receptors in prostate tissue.
The effect is seen at concentrations observed in human serum. The effect helps explain why this exposure increases sensitivity to hormones throughout the life of mice exposed in the womb, as well as why BPA causes enlarged prostates in adulthood. 8 June 2007. More...
An international scientific conference has forged a new consensus statement on the importance of fetal exposures for adult health.
Chemical exposures during prenatal and early postnatal life can bring about important effects on gene expression. New research on rodent models shows that developmental exposures to toxic chemicals, such as the hormonally active substances, diethylstilbestrol, tributyl tin, bisphenol A, genistein, can increase the incidence of reproductive abnormalities, metabolic disorders, including obesity and diabetes, and cancer. 25 May 2007. More...
Concentrations of arsenic considered safe in public drinking water impair the ability of zebrafish to fight off bacterial and viral infections when the exposure takes place during early development.
One day after being experimentally infected, embryos exposed to 2 parts per billion of arsenic had viral levels 57 times greater than controls and bacterial levels 20 times greater. The results raise questions about the adequacy of current public health standards for arsenic. 23 May 2007. More...
Genes involved in estrogen signaling and the making of steroid hormones were reprogrammed in developing mice exposed to arsenic through their mothers.
The altered gene patterns increased the risk of liver cancer in adult male mice. The finding highlights the need to reduce pregnant women's arsenic exposure through skin, food, drink and air. 19 April 2007. More...
A common plastic molecule to which virtually all Americans are exposed may interfere with the standard medical treatment for prostate cancer, according to new experiments with human prostate tumors implanted into mice.
The doses of the plastic molecule, bisphenol A, were chosen specifically to be within the range of common human exposures. Tumor sizes and PSA levels were significantly greater in exposed animals just one month after treatment. 9 April 2007. More...
Arsenic interferes with the ability of human fat cells to regulate their blood sugar, according to new research.
The effect is evident at exposure levels below what is necessary for overt toxicity. This result may help explain how the heavy metal contributes to type II diabetes, a chronic, life-changing disease. 6 April 2007. More...
Scientists report in a new study that six environmental contaminants which act like the hormone estrogen increase the speed and intensity of immune reactions in human and mouse cells.
The doses used were selected to be well within the range of human exposures. Intermediate doses had stronger impacts than higher doses. The results suggest that these contaminants may be contributing to the epidemic of asthma. 3 April 2007. More...
Prenatal exposures to PCBs, DDE and organophosphate pesticides are associated with decreased birth weight and head circumference.
In this multi-ethnic cohort of New York City women, higher DDE levels were associated with lower birth weight and circumference. Women with slow-type genetic variations in PON1, the enzyme that detoxifies organophosphates, had lower birth weight babies. No associations were found with PCBs for this study. Pediatric Research 1 February 2007. More...
Several genes are often methylated in four types of epithelial tumors, including lung, breast, colon and prostate cancers.
These findings suggest, but do not prove, that loss of expression of the proteins that these genes produce helps convert normal cells to cancer cells. The results may be important for developing new tools for screening and treatment, and might yield clues about cancer prevention. PLoS Medicine. 27 December 2006. More...
At environmentally- relevant levels, the anti-bacterial agent triclosan interferes with thyroid control of metamorphosis in frogs.
This is the first demonstration of low-level impacts of triclosan on thyroid hormone function. Exposure to as little as 0.15 micrograms/L triclosan caused an earlier metamorphosis than normal, with effects on the tadpole brain and tail. The study raises new questions about human health risks from triclosan. Aquatic Toxicology. 15 October 2006. More...
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