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Pesticide-related illnesses to cost up to $90B between 2005-2020 in sub-Saharan Africa, UNEP report says

"The potential cost of pesticide-related illnesses in sub-Saharan African between 2005 and 2020 could reach $90 billion, according to a U.N. report released on Wednesday highlighting the growing health and environmental hazards from chemicals," the Associated Press/Guardian reports.

7 Sep 2012

Nutritional benefits of organic foods questioned

Strong evidence to support the supposed nutritional benefits of eating organic over conventional foods is lacking in the scientific literature, show results from a systematic review.

6 Sep 2012

Prenatal exposure to piperonyl butoxide increases risk of noninfectious cough in children

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.

6 Sep 2012

Tips to deal with bed bugs when traveling

As VIPs come to Charlotte, N.C., for the Democratic National Convention, some are being greeted by undesirable guests in their hotels. No, not protesters. Bed bugs. Reports of the little blood-suckers have been on the uptick in Charlotte, and they are a growing problem in the lodging industry throughout the country. The good news: Delegates, and anyone who travels, can take precautions against bed bugs—small insects that feed on human blood and are usually active at night when people are sleeping.

6 Sep 2012

Study finds little significant difference in health benefits between organic and conventional foods

You're in the supermarket eyeing a basket of sweet, juicy plums. You reach for the conventionally grown stone fruit, then decide to spring the extra $1/pound for its organic cousin. You figure you've just made the healthier decision by choosing the organic product - but new findings from Stanford University cast some doubt on your thinking.

4 Sep 2012

Exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls could increase risk of asthma symptoms in children

Children who are exposed to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which were commonly used in a range of industrial products, could be at risk of an increase in asthma symptoms, according to new research.

1 Sep 2012

PD risk factors for potential clinical screening identified

A meta-analysis has identified 19 risk factors that significantly impact a person’s risk for Parkinson’s disease and could be of potential value for clinical screening, say the authors.

20 Aug 2012

Global alliance aims to protect those at risk from toxic pollutants

"A global alliance to protect the world's people from toxic lead, chromium, mercury, pesticides and other pollution has been formed by the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, U.N. agencies, donor countries, foundations and non-government experts in July," freelance journalist Ben Barber reports in this post in Huffington Post's "Green" blog.

13 Aug 2012

Improve investment in agriculture to meet growing demands

Extreme weather is forcing grain and meat prices to rise, and food production will have to increase about 60 percent over the next 40 years to meet a growing world population, but "there are solutions to these daunting problems," Catherine Bertini, former director of the U.N. World Food Programme and the 2003 World Food Prize laureate, and Dan Glickman, former secretary of agriculture, write in a Politico opinion piece.

8 Aug 2012

No 'quick fix' for eradicating the malaria mosquito

The fact that the global death toll from malaria has dropped by 25 percent over the last ten years would suggest that efforts to control the malaria mosquito are succeeding. But control methods are still largely based on chemical insecticides. A risky business, according to entomologists and experts in biological pesticides from America and Wageningen.

27 Jul 2012

Arsenic exposure impairs semen quality

Environmental exposure to arsenic significantly reduces semen quality in Chinese men, research shows.

18 Jul 2012

Promising path to Parkinson’s disease treatment

Using adult stem cells, Johns Hopkins researchers and a consortium of colleagues nationwide say they have generated the type of human neuron specifically damaged by Parkinson’s disease (PD) and used various drugs to stop the damage.

17 Jul 2012

Physicians need to know how chemical intolerance affects people: Study

Chemical intolerance contributes to the illnesses of 1 in 5 patients but the condition seldom figures in their diagnosis, according to clinical research directed by a UT Medicine San Antonio physician.

11 Jul 2012

Enlightening risk factor findings for REM sleep behavior disorder

Cigarette smoking, head injury, farming, pesticide exposure, and a lower level of education may be risk factors for idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, researchers report.

29 Jun 2012

Potential risk factors for disorder that causes people to kick or punch during sleep

Smoking, head injury, pesticide exposure, farming and less education may be risk factors for a rare sleep disorder that causes people to kick or punch during sleep, according to a study published in the June 27, 2012, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

28 Jun 2012

New approved pesticide active ingredients have roots in natural substances

Scientists who search for new pesticides for use in humanity's battle of the bugs and other threats to the food supply have been learning lessons from Mother Nature, according to a new analysis. It concludes that more than two out of every three new pesticide active ingredients approved in recent years had roots in natural substances produced in plants or animals. The article appears in ACS' Journal of Natural Products.

28 Jun 2012

OOM women in mid-pregnancy have reduced levels of EDCs than general population

A lifestyle that features fresh foods and limited use of products likely to contain environmental chemicals has been shown to reduce exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), such as BPA and phthalates, in a small population study. EDCs are linked to a number of adverse health complications including neuro-developmental delays, behavioral issues and fertility problems.

27 Jun 2012

Biological filter to remove estrogens from waste water and drinking water

A biological filter to remove estrogens from waste water and drinking water. The 15 Bielefeld students submitting this project to the 'international Genetically Engineered Machine competition' (iGEM) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston, USA are setting their sights high.

26 Jun 2012

Suicide leading cause of death among young people in India

Suicide has become the second-leading cause of death of young people in India, which has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, according to an Article published as part of the Lancet Series on suicide.

25 Jun 2012

Suicides could be prevented by means restriction

In the third Series paper, Means restriction for suicide prevention, Professor Paul Yip of the Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, University of Hong Kong, China, and colleagues review the evidence for means restriction in preventing suicides. Despite the fact that some suicide methods are difficult to restrict, the researchers highlight the fact that means restriction remains one of the most effective ways to reduce suicide rates.

25 Jun 2012