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Hydrazine not prevalent in smokeless tobacco products

After many years of speculation, it has finally been established that hydrazine is not a prevalent contaminant in contemporary smokeless tobacco products (STPs).

18 Mar 2015

Repeatedly exposing children to secondhand smoke is child abuse, argues Adam Goldstein

Purposefully and repeatedly exposing children to secondhand smoke — a known human carcinogen — is child abuse, according to an opinion piece written by Adam Goldstein, MD, MPH, a professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.

11 Mar 2015

Soft drink consumers exposed to unnecessary cancer risk

Public health researchers have analyzed soda consumption data in order to characterize people's exposure to a potentially carcinogenic byproduct of some types of caramel color. Caramel color is a common ingredient in colas and other dark soft drinks. The results show that between 44 and 58 percent of people over the age of six typically have at least one can of soda per day, possibly more, potentially exposing them to 4-methylimidazole (4-MEI), a possible human carcinogen formed during the manufacture of some kinds of caramel color.

19 Feb 2015

New NIEHS grants to support independent biomedical research

New grants totaling $3 million will go to six outstanding early-career scientists, bridging a funding gap to independent biomedical research. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health, created the award to encourage early stage researchers who want to discover how our environment influences human health.

6 Feb 2015

PKC enzymes categorized as cancer promoters are actually tumor suppressors

Upending decades-old dogma, a team of scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine say enzymes long categorized as promoting cancer are, in fact, tumor suppressors and that current clinical efforts to develop inhibitor-based drugs should instead focus on restoring the enzymes' activities.

23 Jan 2015

Using breath tests to diagnose liver diseases: an interview with Larry Cohen

It was back in the 1960s that scientists first started to understand that breath could be used to find out different things about diseases and other factors. I’m sure you’re familiar with alcohol breath testing, which was patented back in the ‘50s and has been used since the ‘60s.

19 Jan 2015

Atmospheric oxygen may play role in lung carcinogenesis, new study suggests

The ancient physician/alchemist, Paracelsus, said: "The dose makes the poison." According to a new study published in PeerJ, even oxygen may fall prey to the above adage. While essential to human life, aspects of oxygen metabolism may promote cancer. Capitalizing on the inverse relationship of oxygen concentration with elevation, researchers found lower rates of lung cancer at higher elevations, a trend that did not extend to non-respiratory cancers, suggesting that carcinogen exposure occurs via inhalation.

14 Jan 2015

It's too early to know health effects of e-cigarettes

Cigarettes have been convicted of many crimes over the years. But the jury's still out on whether their younger, more fashionable cousins - electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes - will meet the same fate.

24 Dec 2014

Researchers develop new method to track movement of carcinogenic PAHs in the human body

Researchers for the first time have developed a method to track through the human body the movement of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, as extraordinarily tiny amounts of these potential carcinogens are biologically processed and eliminated.

11 Dec 2014

Resveratrol in red wine may prevent cancer

Alcohol use is a major risk factor for head and neck cancer. But an article published in the November issue of the journal Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology shows that the chemical resveratrol found in grape skins and in red wine may prevent cancer as well.

4 Dec 2014

Epigem challenges students to come up with solutions to improve quality, safety of milk

Epigem, a high-tech British micro-engineering company, has challenged 15 students from the Durham University-led SOFI CDT (Centre for Doctoral Training in Soft Matter and Functional Interfaces), to come up with solutions to prevent a dangerous carcinogen from contaminating milk.

2 Dec 2014

Scientists discover ways to detect several toxic flame retardants in people's bodies

A new peer-reviewed study found that people are contaminated with several toxic flame retardants rarely studied in the US, including one that has never before been detected in Americans called TCEP. Scientists tested urine samples of California residents for biomarkers of six chemicals, all of which were present.

13 Nov 2014

Genetically diverse mouse model can predict human response to chemical exposures

A genetically diverse mouse model is able to predict the range of response to chemical exposures that might be observed in human populations, researchers from the National Institutes of Health have found. Like humans, each Diversity Outbred mouse is genetically unique, and the extent of genetic variability among these mice is similar to the genetic variation seen among humans.

7 Nov 2014

Hand blenders can emit chlorinated paraffins during normal household use

Eight out of twelve tested models of hand blenders are leaking chlorinated paraffins when used according to the suppliers' instructions.

24 Oct 2014

Routine gasoline spills can potentially impact public health

A new study suggests that drops of fuel spilled at gas stations — which occur frequently with fill-ups — could cumulatively be causing long-term environmental damage to soil and groundwater in residential areas in close proximity to the stations.

8 Oct 2014

Testosterone therapy raises risk of prostate tumors in rats

A researcher who found that testosterone raised the risk of prostate tumors and exacerbated the effects of carcinogenic chemical exposure in rats is urging caution in prescribing testosterone therapy to men who have not been diagnosed with hypogonadism, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society's journal Endocrinology.

7 Oct 2014

Sequencing the Asian liver fluke genome: an interview with Dr Neil Young

Opisthorchis viverrini is a parasitic flatworm (or liver fluke) endemic throughout Thailand, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Vietnam and Cambodia. Humans are infected with this parasite when they eat a fluke encysted in inadequately cooked/preserved freshwater fish.

21 Sep 2014

Scientists crack genetic code of liver fluke parasite

Singapore-An international team of scientists from Singapore, Thailand, China and Australia has cracked the genetic code of the liver fluke parasite, Opisthorchis viverrini, using a unique DNA analysis technique developed at A*STAR's Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS).

11 Sep 2014

Viewpoints: Va. GOP's 'Medicaid charade'; Paul Ryan's health Rx for poverty; giving the sick unapproved drugs

Virginia lawmakers will convene in a special session next month to address the question of expanding Medicaid and, more broadly, the fact that hundreds of thousands of poor and disabled people in the state have no health insurance coverage. Democrats and some moderate Republicans have advanced a variety of ideas to tackle that problem. Conservative Republicans, who control the legislature in Richmond, have rejected those solutions while proposing no alternative. Does the GOP intend for the special session to be anything more than a charade at taxpayers' expense? (8/15).

19 Aug 2014

Nicotine, cotinine can potentially inhibit DNA damage caused by NNK in tobacco smoke

A new in vitro study has revealed that nicotine and cotinine, a metabolite of nicotine, can potentially inhibit DNA damage caused by a certain carcinogen in smoke.

28 Jul 2014