In a sobering study published in the journal Environmental Health, researchers at UC Davis and UCLA measured food-borne toxin exposure in children and adults by pinpointing foods with high levels of toxic compounds and determining how much of these foods were consumed.
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Children exposed in the womb to the widely used pesticide additive piperonyl butoxide (PBO) have heightened risk of noninfectious cough at ages 5 and 6, according to researchers at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH) at the Mailman School of Public Health and of Columbia University Medical Center.
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This past year's mild winter and wet spring could be contributing to the worst West Nile virus outbreak since the disease was first detected in the United States in 1999. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been more cases of the virus so far this year than any year. As of August 14, almost 700 cases had been reported across the nation, including 26 deaths. This year also marks the earliest reported case of West Nile virus in New Jersey.
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For more than 250,000 Americans, the bite of a deer tick meant the start of a life changing disease. With record warm temperatures and the start of May's National Lyme Disease Awareness Month, Mosquito Squad is on watch and has six tips to help homeowners tick-proof their yards.
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A Washington State University researcher has demonstrated that a variety of environmental toxicants can have negative effects on not just an exposed animal but the next three generations of its offspring.
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Indoor spraying with the insecticide bendiocarb has dramatically decreased malaria transmission in many parts of Benin, new evidence that insecticides remain a potent weapon for fighting malaria in Africa despite the rapid rise of resistance to an entire class of mosquito-killing compounds, according to a study published today in the October edition of The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
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The common head louse has been seen to be resistant to time-tested treatments. However a new Food and Drug Administration-approved hair rinse, Natroba, could put an end to that.
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In a study sponsored by Topaz Pharmaceuticals Inc., a privately held specialty pharmaceutical company, scientists from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst presented data showing that a 0.5% ivermectin (IVM) cream formulation was active against lice eggs from permethrin resistant head lice.
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A pilot study shows clothes treated with long-lasting insect repellant appear to offer outdoor workers significant protection against tick bites.
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When the EPA phased out the widespread residential use of chlorpyrifos and other organophosphorus (OP) insecticides in 2000-2001 because of risks to child neurodevelopment, these compounds were largely replaced with pyrethroid insecticides. But the safety of these replacement insecticides remained unclear, as they had never been evaluated for long-term neurotoxic effects after low-level exposure.
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ParaPRO, LLC announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Natroba Topical Suspension, 0.9% to eliminate head lice. Natroba received approval as a prescription medication and is indicated for the topical treatment of head lice infestations in patients four years of age and older.
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"You don't have to go out into the woods anymore," says tick expert Brian F. Allan, PhD, who just completed a postdoctoral appointment at Washington University in St. Louis. "The deer are bringing tick-borne disease to us."
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A combination of fungal spores and chemical insecticides are an effective way of combating insecticide-resistant malaria mosquitoes. Researchers at Wageningen UR and from Benin, West Africa, have shown that fungi and insecticides reinforce each other´s efficacy, and that the effect of using a combination of both is greater than the sum of using the two methods separately. Their article in the August edition of PLoS One (Public Library of Science) claims that biological and chemical methods of fighting malaria can and should be used together.
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Babesiosis, a rare and occasionally fatal tick-borne disease caused by microscopic parasites known as Babesia which infect red blood cells, is on the rise in the Lower Hudson Valley according to the NYS DOH, including the counties of Westchester, Putnam, Orange, Dutchess, Ulster, Sullivan and Rockland.
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If simply the thought of bedbugs, scabies and head lice makes you feel a little itchy, imagine how those affected by these common infestations feel when they learn what has been creeping around them and causing symptoms such as intense itching, red bite marks or irritated scalps.
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PendoPharm, a division of Pharmascience Inc., is pleased to announce the availability in Canada of Zap(R), an all-natural treatment for head lice.
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ParaPRO, LLC announced today the results of two Phase III clinical studies published online this month in the journal Pediatrics (Pediatrics 2009; 124:e389-e395) which concluded that a spinosad suspension was significantly more effective in eliminating head lice (pediculosis capitis) than permethrin.
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In areas where malaria mosquitoes have become resistant to chemical pesticides, mosquito-killing fungi can be an effective tool. Fungal spores can effectively infect and kill malaria mosquitoes, even those that are resistant to pesticides.
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Individuals whose occupation involves contact with pesticides appear to have an increased risk of having Parkinson's disease, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
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Australia's leading consumer advocacy organisation CHOICE says an investigation has revealed that many chemicals freely available in Australia are no longer registered in Europe because of safety concerns.
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