Healthy Children Project Monthly e-News

Feel free to let your friends, family and colleagues know about this valuable new resource. Instructions to subscribe or unsubscribe are at the end of this e-newsletter. MI Healthy Children's e-newsletter is part of a collaborative effort with the Learning Disabilities Association of America's Healthy Children Project and the Institute for Children's Environmental Health with support from the Beldon Fund. 

Air More Stinky, Kids Less Thinky
http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/69293.htm
Children exposed to high levels of city air pollution while in the womb are nearly three times more likely to have mental deficiencies than other kids, an explosive Columbia University study has found.

Plastics Chemical Alters Female Brains
http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2006/jun/science/pt_plastics.html
A chemical that leaches out of plastics has been discovered to modify the developing brains of female mice, who later behave much more like their brethren. This latest study builds on a growing body of literature about the toxicity of bisphenol A (BPA) and raises questions about its effects in humans.

LDDI Practice Prevention Column: Plastics

http://www.iceh.org/pdfs/LDDI/PracPrevention/plastics.pdf

Exposures to certain plastics may have harmful health effects, but the good news is that you have options for protecting yourself and your family. You don’t have to understand all the technical aspects of the make-up and manufacturing of plastics to help minimize the negative impacts in your home. Learn to read the code on plastic containers. Select those known to be safest. When there is a choice, learn what brands or what alternative products have been shown to be safest. When possible, try to use alternatives to plastics.

States Consider Testing Residents For Toxins
http://www.wpxi.com/health/9463759/detail.html
Toxic chemicals are everywhere: in the air, the water, even in your body. Now some states are considering testing residents for toxins. It’s called bio-monitoring and it's pitting the chemical industry against health activists.

Study Links TiO2 Nanoparticles with Potential for Brain-cell Damage
http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2006/jun/tech/lt_nanoparticles.html
In a new study posted to ES&T's Research ASAP website, researchers report that titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles can trigger rapid and long-lasting defensive responses in mouse microglia, specialized cells that protect the brain from harmful external stimuli. The study is the first to examine the potential neurotoxicity of nanoscale TiO2, which is widely used in consumer products like sunscreen and cosmetics.
 

Lead-free Circuit Boards Force Tech Overhaul
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/articles/060606/6leadfree.htm
Beginning July 1, the European Union will enforce a set of "green" mandates requiring all new computers, appliances, and telecommunication devices sold in the EU to be free of hazardous substances including lead, mercury, and cadmium. The EU move is meant to promote recycling and slow the buildup of hazardous substances in landfills. For electronics manufacturers and supply chains in the United States, China, and Japan, however, the change presents serious problems.
 

Announcing the New and Improved CHE Toxicants and Disease Database
The newly enhanced and updated CHE Toxicants and Disease Database, available at http://database.healthandenvironment.org. This is a scientifically based, web-interactive database summarizing the evidence of exposure to chemical contaminants and over 180 associated human diseases or conditions. It is a useful tool for researchers, health professionals, health-affected groups and others interested in reviewing the weight of evidence between associated toxicants and diseases. Another new feature of the database is that it is now searchable by Chemical Abstract Service (CAS) number as well as by disease, disease category and toxicant. The database also features a new and extensive list of links to other useful databases and resources.
 

US, Others Press EU to Re-Think Chemicals Bill
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/36730/story.htm
Thirteen of the European Union's top trading partners, including the United States, Australia and Japan, urged the EU to re-think legislation designed to protect people from toxic chemicals. The law requires properties of roughly 30,000 chemicals produced or imported in the EU to be registered with a central agency. Those of highest concern, like carcinogens, would require testing and authorization to be used.

Making Power from Pollutants: Ford Turns Fumes into Fuel
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060618/BUSINESS01/606180599
Most consumers probably never stop to think about all the earthly problems being created by their Screaming Yellow Mustang or a Silver Birch Clearcoat Metallic Expedition. But priming, painting and clear coating millions of new cars and trucks every year is a stinky, complicated process that creates millions of pounds of dirty waste at assembly plants around the world.

Bacteria May Break Down Popular Flame Retardant to Produce Toxics
http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2006/jun/science/kb_deca.html
Research published today on ES&T's ASAP website documents that microbes can break down the large molecules of the widely used Deca PBDE (polybrominated diphenyl ether) flame retardant. The paper raises concerns about the Deca flame retardant's safety by showing that various bacteria can work in concert to remove the bromine atoms from the Deca compound to produce the smaller PBDE compounds that have been banned in the EU and discontinued in the U.S.

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Study Links Air Pollutants With Autism
http://www.ehponline.org/members/2006/9120/9120.pdf
Children with autism disorders in the San Francisco Bay Area were 50% more likely to be born in neighborhoods with high amounts of several toxic air contaminants, particularly mercury, according to a first-of-its-kind study by the California Department of Health Services.

Lead Exposure on the Job Tied to Brain Damage
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?from=rss_SciTech&set_id=1&click_id=31&art_id=qw

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The cumulative exposure to lead can cause degeneration of the brain's white matter, which may explain the previously reported progressive decline in brain function in these individuals, the results of a study of organic lead workers shows.

Doctors Fear Drug Pollution Poses Risk to Fish, People
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-ama12.html
Doctors are drawing attention to an emerging environmental worry -- pollution of lakes and rivers by drugs flushed down toilets. A Baylor University study found trace amounts of Prozac in fish downstream from a sewage treatment plant in Texas. And the U.S. Geological Survey found pharmaceuticals and other organic chemicals in 80 percent of 139 streams sampled in 30 states. The American Medical Association, now meeting in Chicago, is considering resolutions calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to conduct comprehensive studies on the topic.

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Playing it Safe: Service Provider Strategies to Reduce Environmental Risks to Preconception, Prenatal and Child Health

http://www.beststart.org/resources/env_action/pdf/envirostrategies.pdf
This manual, produced by the Best Start Resource Centre, in collaboration with the Canadian Partnership for Children's Health and Environment (CPCHE), will guide service providers to promising strategies to address environmental risks to preconception, prenatal and child health.

What is Your Environmental IQ?

http://www.epa.gov/epahome/eqanswer-archive.html

Take this quiz to find out how much you know about the environment.

Environmental Kids Club: You & Your Environment
http://www.epa.gov/kids/you.htm
Do you want to make the earth a cleaner place to live? How can you help to protect the air, water, and land? Find out here!
 

Tracing the Origins of Autism: A Spectrum of New Studies
http://www.ehponline.org/members/2006/114-7/focus.html
The etiology of a medical condition might seem an unlikely subject to arouse intense feelings. Yet few medical disorders have stirred up as much passion and divisiveness among scientists and the general public as autism has in recent years. The heat of the controversy has even attracted attention from periodicals such as The Wall Street Journal, the Columbia Journalism Review, and Wired magazine—seemingly improbable forums for a medical debate. Why all the furor?
 

Child Health and the Environment - A Primer

http://www.healthyenvironmentforkids.ca/img_upload/13297cd6a147585a24c1c

6233d8d96d8/Primer.pdf
This booklet has a specific focus on chemical and toxic exposures and explains why children are more vulnerable to contaminants than adults; the major health effects of concern to children in Canada; the toxic exposures of greatest concern; what is being done internationally and in Canada; and practical childproofing actions that people can take to protect their children.

Doctors Want to Screen Out Embryos with Autism
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2230764,00.html
A team of doctors at one of Britain's leading hospitals wants to create the country's first "designer babies" free from autism. They are preparing an application to the fertility watchdog that would allow them to screen out male embryos to reduce significantly the chance of a couple having an autistic child. As boys are four times more likely to be born with autism than girls, couples with a family history of the condition want to ensure they have only girls. Such sex selection is not at present permitted.

Almost a Quarter of All Disease Caused by Environmental Exposure
http://www.who.int/quantifying_ehimpacts/publications/preventingdisease/en/
As much as 24% of global disease is caused by environmental exposures which can be averted. Well-targeted interventions can prevent much of this environmental risk, the World Health Organization (WHO) demonstrates in a report issued today. The report further estimates that more than 33% of disease in children under the age of 5 is caused by environmental exposures. Preventing environmental risk could save as many as four million lives a year, mostly in developing countries.

Ann Arbor Company Receives Small Business Contract for New Environmental Technology

http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/81dfbf1a0b671f3b85257018004ce441/1e43c

9f93255925a8525718c006db790!OpenDocument
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 recently announced that IA Inc. of Ann Arbor, Mich., has been awarded a $70,000 contract for its technology to monitor perchlorate in the field. The company is one of ten in Region 5 that in total received more than $1 million in funding from the 2006 Small Business Innovation Research program.
 

Michigan: No Action on CAFO Bills (MIRS, June 22, 2006)
The Michigan House did not take action on the so-called CAFO (Concentrated Animal Farm Operations) package. Movement of these bills had been expected to be the top story of today's session. But Matt Resch, spokesman for House Speaker Craig DeRoche (R-Novi), told MIRS that the reason bills weren't taken up today was simply a time factor. Clearly if the bills had been taken up the session would have been lengthened considerably with various amendments and statements. The package (HB 5711, HB 5712, HB 5713, HB 5714, HB 5715, HB 5716 and HB 6220) would transfer authority over CAFO regulation from the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to the Department of Agriculture (MDA). The key issue of dispute, which pits environmentalist groups against farm groups, is the question of permits versus a voluntary system. Under the bills, CAFOs would be subject to the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program (MAEAP), a program put together by MDA, DEQ and other agencies, under which farms voluntarily follow sets of guidelines to reduce pollution and comply with environmental standards. Only if it could be shown that a CAFO had not complied with the program, would it be subject to the DEQ's permit process.

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Information for Flood Recovery and Cleanup

http://www.epa.gov/naturalevents/flooding.html

Flooding can bring serious problems such as mold, contaminated water and food, and debris.

Hybrid Technology Takes Giant Leap into Commercial Vehicles - EPA Unveils UPS Delivery Truck with 60 to 70 Percent Higher Fuel Economy
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/a8f952395381d3968525701c005e65b5/

b0d28b11a01cbdf9852571a0005f3401!OpenDocument
The world’s first hydraulic hybrid commercial truck came to visit Vermont today in the form of a brown UPS delivery truck. EPA and UPS partnered to develop a first-of-its-kind delivery truck using EPA-patented hydraulic hybrid technology. With the breakthrough technology onboard, the UPS truck can increase fuel efficiency by 60 to70 percent in urban driving. It also lowers greenhouse gas emissions by reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) by 40 percent compared to the conventional UPS diesel delivery trucks.
 

Upcoming CHE National Partnership Call: CHE’s Discussion Group on Asthma and the Environment (CHE Asthma)

Date/Time: Wednesday, July 19, at 10:00 am Pacific / 1:00 pm Eastern time
Contact: For more information about this call and to RSVP, please email CHE Program Associate, Julia Varshavsky at: Julia@HealthandEnvironment.org.

Upcoming CHE National Partnership Call: Diabetes and Metabolic Issues

Date/Time: Thursday, July 20, at 9:00 am Pacific / Noon Eastern time
Description: Featured Presentations: Dr. Ted Schettler, MD, MPH, Director, Science and Environmental Health Network, Dr. David Carpenter, MD, Professor, Environmental Health and Toxicology, Institute for Health & the Environment, University at Albany, SUNY, and Dr. Greg Ferguson, Wellness Coordinator, Eastern Aleutian Tribes.

Contact: For more information on this call, please visit the CHE website, at  http://www.healthandenvironment.org/articles/partnership_calls/615. To RSVP and receive dial-in information and live streaming access for this call, please email Julia Varshavsky, CHE Program Associate, at: Julia@HealthandEnvironment.org.

Important Note: The June CHE National Partnership Call - Green Chemistry: Making It Real in the World is now available as an MP3 recording on the CHE website at  http://www.healthandenvironment.org/articles/partnership_calls/580.

Upcoming Event: 2006 National Environmental Public Health Conference

Dates/Location: December 4 - 6, 2006 in Atlanta, Georgia
Description: The National Center for Environmental Health and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (NCEH/ATSDR), CDC, will host its seventh National Environmental Public Health Conference. The theme of the conference is “Advancing Environmental Public Health: Science, Practice, New Frontiers.”  The conference will bring together a cross-section of federal, state, tribal, and local, and international colleagues within the field of environmental public health and its allied professions.

Contact: For more information, visit http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/conference/index.htm

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The Learning Disabilities Association of Michigan is pleased to offer grants to 501(C) 3 non-profit organizations located in Michigan for educational programs/events/materials which will help inform key stakeholders of the existing and emerging science linking certain chemical exposures to learning, behavioral, and developmental disabilities. Priority will be given projects which target families and disability groups and/or promote action towards creating a healthier environment for all children. Grantees will be responsible for submitting a final project report, documentation of all expenditures, and copies of materials produced. Maximum award $400. Click here to download an application (PDF).

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Call toll free at 888-597-7809 or 517-485-8160
 

Email us at info@ldaofmichigan.org
 

Write to us at 200 Museum Dr. Ste. 101, Lansing, Michigan 48933

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For more information on The Learning Disabilities Association of Michigan's Healthy Children Project visit http://www.ldaofmichigan.org/healthychild.htm.

 
For more information on The Healthy Children Project visit http://www.healthychildrenproject.org/index.html.

 
For more information on the Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative, coordinated by the Institute for Children’s Environmental Health visit http://www.iceh.org/LDDI.html. To join the the Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative (LDDI), please complete the form at http://www.iceh.org/LDDImembers.html.

 
For more information on The Beldon Fund visit http://www.beldon.org/.

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