Pesticide News and Research

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Daily Trust/allAfrica.com, GlobalPost examine agricultural production, food insecurity in Nigeria, Iraq

The Daily Trust/allAfrica.com examines food security in Nigeria. Despite its agricultural potential, the "food crisis" in Nigeria "poses a big question as to what is responsible for the insecurity in food production, preservation and storage," according to the newspaper. A government committee recently toured the country in an effort to address some of the problems involved with agricultural production and food insecurity.

16 Jul 2009

Pesticide levels in blood linked to Parkinson's disease

People with Parkinson's disease have significantly higher blood levels of a particular pesticide than healthy people or those with Alzheimer's disease, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

13 Jul 2009

WSJ examines project aimed at delivering drinking water to populations in India, China

The Wall Street Journal examines how a "rainwater harvesting project," called Aakash Ganga is delivering water to India's northern state of Rajasthan - one of the driest states in India - and expanding into China's Guiyang Municipality. The original project, supported by the World Bank, is set to expand from six villages in Rajasthan to "70 villages, to provide water security to 200,000 people," the newspaper writes.

8 Jul 2009

Newsweek, Boston Globe examine ways to combat mosquito-borne illness

Newsweek examines the genetic modification of mosquitoes in an effort to stem the spread of dengue fever and malaria. Dengue fever, which is transmitted by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, "is spreading fast," according to the magazine, with more than 100 million people afflicted yearly. "There is no vaccine, no cure and no solution," it reports.

30 Jun 2009

Mouse model of Parkinson's reproduces non-motor symptoms

The classic symptoms of Parkinson's disease involve tremor, stiffness and slow movements. Over the last decade, neurologists have been paying greater attention to non-motor symptoms, such as digestive and sleep problems, loss of sense of smell and depression.

23 Jun 2009

Certain pesticides double the risk of blood disorder

A study involving 678 individuals who apply pesticides, culled from a U.S. Agricultural Health Study of over 50,000 farmers, recently found that exposure to certain pesticides doubles one's risk of developing an abnormal blood condition called MGUS (monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance) compared with individuals in the general population.

13 Jun 2009

Low antioxidant intake is associated with low reproductive capacity in semen

Low antioxidant intake is associated with low reproductive capacity in semen. This is the finding of a new study carried out in two infertility centres in Alicante and Murcia, and which has been published online in the journal Fertility and Sterility.

2 Jun 2009

Researchers gain ground in efforts to fight parasite infection

New findings by researchers UT Southwestern Medical Center are accelerating efforts to eradicate worm infections that afflict a third of the world's population.

26 May 2009

Banned toxic chemicals in Australian everyday products

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.

13 May 2009

Countries move toward more sustainable ways to roll back malaria

The United Nations Environment Programme and the World Health Organization, in partnership with the Global Environment Facility, today announced a rejuvenated international effort to combat malaria with an incremental reduction of reliance on the synthetic pesticide DDT.

6 May 2009

Certain ecologic factors increase bladder cancer risks

Persons drinking well water (as opposed to public supply) may be at an increased risk of bladder cancer, according to new research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

26 Apr 2009

Exposure to combination of two pesticides increase risk of Parkinson's by 75 percent

The fertile soil of California's Central Valley has long made it famous as one of the nation's prime crop-growing regions.

22 Apr 2009

Exposure to Agent Orange increases risk of aggressive recurrence of prostate cancer

Veterans exposed to Agent Orange are at increased risk of aggressive recurrence of prostate cancer, researchers report.

20 Apr 2009

Researchers show how PCBs may alter in utero, neonatal brain development

In three new studies - including one appearing online in the Public Library of Science - Biology (PLoS - Biology) - UC Davis researchers provide compelling evidence of how low levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) alter the way brain cells develop.

13 Apr 2009

Killing older mosquitoes is a more sustainable way to control malaria

Killing only older mosquitoes could be a more sustainable way of controlling malaria, and has the potential to lead to evolution-proof insecticides that never become obsolete, according to an article in this week's issue of PLoS Biology.

6 Apr 2009

Researchers examine medical effects of bed bugs and control and eradication strategies

A review of previously published articles indicates there is little evidence supporting an effective treatment of bites from bed bugs, that these insects do not appear to transmit disease, and control and eradication of bed bugs is challenging, according to an article in the April 1 issue of JAMA .

1 Apr 2009

Time of conception linked to birth defects in U.S.

A study published in the April 2009 issue of the medical journal Acta Paediatrica is the first to report that birth defect rates in the United States were highest for women conceiving in the spring and summer. The researchers also found that this period of increase risk correlated with increased levels of pesticides in surface water across the United States.

30 Mar 2009

Gulf War veterans display abnormal brain response to specific chemicals

A new study by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers is the first to pinpoint damage inside the brains of veterans suffering from Gulf War syndrome - a finding that links the illness to chemical exposures and may lead to diagnostic tests and treatments.

22 Mar 2009

World experts meet in Australia to find ways to wipe out malaria

Australia is host to a meeting of World health experts which aims to find ways of eradicating malaria, one of the world's most dangerous killer diseases.

9 Feb 2009

Climate changes in Australia will increase dengue fever

As global warming raises concerns about potential spread of infectious diseases, a team of researchers has demonstrated a way to predict the expanding range of human disease vectors in a changing world.

29 Jan 2009