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Silver nanoparticles in dietary supplements, cosmetics and food packaging can cause damage to cells

Endocrine disrupters are not the only worrying chemicals that ordinary consumers are exposed to in everyday life. Also nanoparticles of silver, found in e.g. dietary supplements, cosmetics and food packaging, now worry scientists.

28 Feb 2014

Scientists develop new way to detect threatening nanoparticles in food

Over the last few years, the use of nanomaterials for water treatment, food packaging, pesticides, cosmetics and other industries has increased. For example, farmers have used silver nanoparticles as a pesticide because of their capability to suppress the growth of harmful organisms. However, a growing concern is that these particles could pose a potential health risk to humans and the environment.

23 Aug 2013

Perfluoroalkyl substances are crossing blood brain barrier of polar bears

PerFluoroAlkyl Substances (PFASs) and precursor compounds have been used in a wide variety of commercial and industrial products over the past six decades. Applications include water and oil repellent coatings, e.g. for textiles, paper products, carpets and food packaging, pharmaceuticals and surfactants in cleaning products and fire-fighting foams.

25 Jul 2013

New smartphone app helps monitor food intake, exercise and set weight loss target

Their study is the first to evaluate a smartphone app as the sole method for monitoring weight loss, with researchers creating My Meal Mate to trial against similar products for monitoring food intake, an online food diary and the traditional paper version.

16 Apr 2013

Method used in aeronautics may help improve safety of plastic food packaging

To prevent molecules migrating from plastic packaging into the food they contain, scientists are identifying each critical point where this phenomenon can occur, using a method inspired from aeronautics.

11 Apr 2013

A new method to kill pathogenic bacteria

Engineering researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new method to kill deadly pathogenic bacteria, including listeria, in food handling and packaging. This innovation represents an alternative to the use of antibiotics or chemical decontamination in food supply systems.

3 Apr 2013

Green calorie labels may mislead people about nutrition-poor foods

A Cornell researcher says in the current issue of the journal Health Communication that consumers are more likely to perceive a candy bar as more healthful when it has a green calorie label compared with when it had a red one - even though the number of calories are the same.

14 Mar 2013

New records of fraudulent food products added to USP Food Fraud Database

Nearly 800 new records of "food fraud" added to the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention's (USP) Food Fraud Database present new information about foods that are vulnerable to fraudulent manipulation in today's food supply.

25 Jan 2013

Couples with high PCB levels and other pollutants take longer to achieve pregnancy

Couples with high levels of PCBs and similar environmental pollutants take longer to achieve pregnancy in comparison to other couples with lower levels of the pollutants, according to a preliminary study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions.

14 Nov 2012

Researchers show how ingesting too much silver can cause argyria

Researchers from Brown University have shown for the first time how ingesting too much silver can cause argyria, a rare condition in which patients' skin turns a striking shade of grayish blue.

31 Oct 2012

Health Canada's announcement confirms safety of BPA use in food-contact materials

In response to the release of Health Canada's Updated Assessment of Bisphenol A (BPA) Exposure from Food Sources, which found that that BPA is safe for use in food-contact materials, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) has issued the following statement: "Health Canada's announcement today once again confirms that BPA is safe for use in food-contact materials," said Steven G. Hentges, Ph.D. of ACC's Polycarbonate/BPA Global Group.

28 Sep 2012

Bisphenol A may contribute to childhood obesity

Research published in JAMA demonstrates strong evidence of a link between childhood obesity and bisphenol A exposure.

20 Sep 2012

Children and adolescents with high BPA levels more likely to have obesity

In a nationally representative sample of nearly 3,000 children and adolescents, those who had higher concentrations of urinary bisphenol A (BPA), a manufactured chemical found in consumer products, had significantly increased odds of being obese, according to a study in the September 19 issue of JAMA, and theme issue on obesity.

19 Sep 2012

Exposure to household chemical may raise cardiac risk

Exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid may be associated with cardiovascular disease and peripheral arterial disease, say researchers.

7 Sep 2012

Exposure to household chemical may raise cardiac risk

Exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid may be associated with cardiovascular disease and peripheral arterial disease, say researchers.

5 Sep 2012

Exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid appears to increase risk of CVD and peripheral arterial disease

Exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a manmade chemical used in the manufacture of some common household products, appears to be associated with cardiovascular disease and peripheral arterial disease in a study of 1,216 individuals, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.

4 Sep 2012

FDA partial ban of bisphenol A raises questions

The US Food and Drug Administration has banned the use of polycarbonate resins, including bisphenol A, in the manufacture of infant feeding bottles and spill-proof or “sippy” cups.

31 Jul 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

FDA won’t ban bisphenol A from food packaging

In a long drawn decision the U.S. government announced Friday that it will not ban bisphenol A, an industrial chemical believed to disrupt the reproductive and nervous systems, from food and drink packaging.

1 Apr 2012

FDA responds to bisphenol A petition from NRDC

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to respond by March 31 to a petition from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to ban the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) from food-contact materials. Shatter-resistant polycarbonate plastic and durable epoxy resins, both made from BPA, are approved by the FDA and commonly used in reusable containers and food packaging.

31 Mar 2012