UMass Amherst scientist will investigate role of estrogen-mimicking chemicals
July 22, 2015
A lot of attention has been paid to genetics in breast cancer as disease rates rise, but most women have no family history of the disease, suggesting that there is an environmental risk we don’t yet understand, says environmental health scientist Laura Vandenberg in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Americans consume too much sodium. In fact, the average daily intake among individuals aged 2 years and older in the U.S. is 3,500 mg per day, significantly higher than the recommended daily maximum of 2,300 mg – and that doesn’t even include salt at the table. However, according to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than half of Americans now report watching or reducing the amount of sodium in their diets.
Five leading U.S. public health organizations are calling on members of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors to withdraw from the Chamber unless it stops fighting measures to reduce tobacco use around the world.
The American Industrial Hygiene Association® (AIHA) has released two new educational materials focused on formaldehyde, specifically formaldehyde emissions from laminate flooring. The two documents, Laminate Flooring Outgassing: Technical Guidance and Formaldehyde: Is It a Problem in My Home?, were created by AIHA’s Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) Committee Task Force on laminate flooring formaldehyde outgassing.
The numbers are staggering. The Ebola epidemic that began in West Africa in early 2014 has so far claimed more than 11,000 lives out of 27,000 reported cases. Battling this scourge: more than 1,200 experts in various disciplines, dispatched to Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and surrounding countries by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its partners.
Restaurants, movie theatres and big box stores that serve food like Costco and Target will get an extra year to add calorie information to their menus. In announcing the extension – to December, 2016, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said the extra time is necessary “for the agency to provide further clarifying guidance to help facilitate efficient compliance across all covered businesses and for covered establishments to come into compliance with the final rule.”
CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden says the nation’s alarming heroin epidemic – which spans nearly all demographic groups and is causing a dramatic rise in overdose deaths, is largely due to two factors.
Asbestos has been found in several brands of children’s crayons and fingerprint kits made in China and sold in the U.S., according to tests commissioned by an environmental group. The findings are detailed in a report being released today by the Environmental Working Group Action Fund. It marks the third time in 15 years that the cancer-causing substance has been detected in crayons or fingerprint toys marketed to children—apparently, due to the use of asbestos-contaminated talc.
A move to raise the legal age at which tobacco can be purchased to 21 across the U.S. appears to be gaining momentum. A new national survey from the Centers for Disease Control finds that more than three quarters of adults support the change – including seven out of ten smokers.
Summer is in full swing – that means high temperatures that not only encourage people to head outdoors for barbeques and getting active, but that heat can also be harmful to your heart health. This summer, the American Heart Association wants to encourage you to protect your heart by eating healthy seasonal foods, staying hydrated, and making sure that you dress properly for the hot weather.