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Healthy World Watch June 12th, 2009
Janelle Sorensen
Friday, June 12, 2009
• Boy discovers microbe that eats plastic. It's not your average science fair when the 16-year-old winner manages to solve a global waste crisis. But such was the case at last month's Canadian Science Fair in Waterloo, Ontario, where Daniel Burd, a high school student at Waterloo Collegiate Institute, presented his research on microorganisms that can rapidly biodegrade plastic.
• EPA Thinks Twice About Recycled Tire Playground Surfaces. EPA scientists have cited gaps in scientific evidence, despite reviews showing little or no health concern, and are urging their superiors to conduct a broader health study. Under examination: concerns about children touching, swallowing or inhaling toxins including lead, metals, benzene, zinc and breathable particles from tire crumb and synthetic materials used in playgrounds and playplaces. Despite the concerns, government officials contain to maintain that tire crumb poses no imminent health threat.
• More Troubling News About BPA. Heart arrhythmias in females and permanent, deleterious modifications of a gene that plays a pivotal role in reproduction are two new problems being linked to bisphenol A. A new study also finds that BPA levels in humans is likely much higher than previously thought.
• Chemical Stops Breasts from Growing Bigger. Dioxin pollution may explain why as many as 6 million women can't breast-feed their babies. Learn how to avoid dioxins in your diet.
• Newborn girls exposed prenatally to phthalate chemicals used in plastics scored poorly on a standard behavior test – and very differently from boys, most likely because the chemicals are endocrine disruptors. The phthalate metabolites found in the mother's urine were associated with the girls' poor performance on tests of attention and alertness. This is the first study to link phthalates to neurological development effects in humans. Previous health studies have linked phthalates to obesity, diabetes risk and poor sperm quality.
