Personal Health & Wellness
These "Your Health" selections from our news feed are chosen because they may be useful to your health or the health of others you care about. These news items and research reports provide information that you can use in making choices about food, consumer products and daily activities.
Also see CHE's fact sheets for brief summaries of specific topics, including steps you can take to protect yourself and your children from environmental hazards.
News Concerning Your Health
Weekly personal ozone exposure and respiratory health in a panel of Greek schoolchildren.
July 24, 2017
The study provides evidence that airway inflammation and the frequency of respiratory symptoms increase, whereas lung function decreases with increased ozone exposure in schoolchildren. Environmental Health Perspectives.
Pesticide use and age-related macular degeneration in the Agricultural Health Study.
July 24, 2017
Age-related macular degeneration was associated with ever use of organochlorine and organophosphate insecticides and phenoxyacetate herbicides. Environmental Health Perspectives.
Pesticide exposure and risk of rheumatoid arthritis among licensed male pesticide applicators in the Agricultural Health Study.
July 24, 2017
Our results provide novel evidence of associations between exposure to some pesticides and RA in male farmers. Environmental Health Perspectives.
Indoor wood-burning stove and fireplace use and breast cancer in a prospective cohort study.
July 24, 2017
In this prospective study, using an indoor wood-burning stove/fireplace in the longest adult residence at least once a week and burning either wood or natural gas/propane was associated with a modestly higher risk of breast cancer. Environmental Health Perspectives.
Rush hour pollution may be more dangerous than you think.
July 24, 2017
A new study has shown that the pollution your car churns out isn't just a problem for people walking outside, but is twice as dangerous for drivers and those inside the car as previously believed. Huffington Post United Kingdom.
[See the study: Oxidative potential of PM2.5 during Atlanta rush hour: Measurements of in-vehicle dithiothreitol (DTT) activity]
Certain antibiotics may increase risk of birth defects.
July 24, 2017
The senior author, Anick Bérard, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Montreal, said that antibiotics in the class called quinolones—ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin and others—are particularly dangerous and should be avoided in pregnancy. New York Times.
How to prevent dementia: managing smoking, hearing loss and depression can ward off condition.
July 20, 2017
An international team of scientists found that up to a third of dementia cases across the globe could be prevented through non-pharmacological interventions, such as exercise, social contact and weight management. Newsweek.
Left-sided cancer: blame your bed and TV?
July 20, 2017
As we sleep on our coil-spring mattresses, we are in effect sleeping on an antenna that amplifies the intensity of the broadcast FM/TV radiation. Scientific American.
Is blue light bad for your health?
July 19, 2017
Last year, the US National Toxicology Program convened a 2-day workshop to explore mounting research linking exposure to artificial light at night not just to sleep problems, but also to weight gain, depression, cancer, and heart disease. Web MD.
Four myths about water fluoridation and why they're wrong.
July 14, 2017
Evidence gathered over 60 years about adding fluoride to drinking water has failed to convince some people this major public health initiative is not only safe but helps to prevent tooth decay. The Conversation.
Influence of radiofrequency-electromagnetic waves from 3rd-generation cellular phones on fertilization and embryo development in mice.
July 14, 2017
Rates of fertilization, embryogenesis, and blastocyst formation did not change significantly across the four groups. Considering that the degree of exposure in the present study was ≥100 times greater than daily exposure of human spermatozoa and even greater than daily exposure of oocytes, the present results indicate safety of RF-EMW exposure in humans. Bioelectromagnetics.
How diet may affect age-related macular degeneration.
July 14, 2017
Switching mice from a high glycemic diet to a low glycemic diet stopped the development of certain signs of age-related macular degeneration. National Institutes of Health Research Matters.
Podcast: Mixed metals exposures in children, with Robert O. Wright.
July 14, 2017
Environmental Health Perspectives Host Ashley Ahearn discusses the neurodevelopmental effects of metals mixtures with researcher Robert O. Wright: the combination of both having a high exposure to manganese and a high exposure to lead was more toxic than having exposure to only one of those two metals.
They said lead was safe. They said smoking was good for you. What are they selling now?
July 13, 2017
A new team of reporters investigates how toxic chemicals are undermining our health and why government is failing to stop it. Modeled after the original 60 Minutes legendary journalists, you can meet the 60 MiNueTs Toxic team and follow their investigations.
Everyday chemicals linked to chronic disease in men.
July 13, 2017
Chemicals [phthalates] found in everyday plastics materials are linked to cardiovascular disease, type-2 diabetes and high blood pressure in men, according to researchers. ScienceDaily.
The chemicals in your mac and cheese.
July 13, 2017
The chemicals, called phthalates, can disrupt male hormones like testosterone and have been linked to genital birth defects in infant boys and learning and behavior problems in older children. The chemicals migrate into food from packaging and equipment used in manufacturing and may pose special risks to pregnant women and young children. New York Times.
Chronic liver inflammation linked to Western diet.
July 13, 2017
Mice fed a Western diet, which is high in fat and sugar, resulted in hepatic inflammation, especially in males. ScienceDaily.
House dust spurs growth of fat cells in lab tests.
July 13, 2017
Small amounts of house dust containing many of these compounds can spur fat cells to accumulate more triglycerides, or fat, in a lab dish. Among the 44 individual common house dust contaminants tested in this model, pyraclostrobin (a pesticide), the flame-retardant TBPDP, and DBP, a commonly used plasticizer, had the strongest fat-producing effects. ScienceDaily.
Maternal intake of sugar during pregnancy and childhood respiratory and atopic outcomes.
July 12, 2017
Our results suggest that a higher maternal intake of free sugar during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of atopy and atopic asthma in the offspring, independently of sugar intake in early childhood. European Respiratory Journal.
We are all lab rats in a massive cell phone study.
July 11, 2017
Many people in the "cell phones can't hurt you" camp have long argued that, because the kind of radiation a phone emits doesn't heat tissues or cells, there's no biological mechanism by which that radiation could cause you harm. Bucher says his group's findings, if they're validated with follow-up research, would kneecap this argument. Tonic.
