Maybe, but you should certainly avoid deli meats for the listeria (If you follow through that link and read you'll know why). This isn't an abstract risk, Listeria out breaks are happening all the time (just ask a Canuck how their year went). Let's not go down that road and get back to the nitrates. Nitrates can convert to nitrites in your gut if you have high pH. If you're normal almost all of the nitrates are not converted or absorbed into your body. Now, there's no good way to tell if you have a high pH gut so you're going to have to assume that you do. So, these converted nitrites get…

The evidence BPA (bisphenol A) is having toxic effects on humans is becoming more and more solid. Just recently a paper in JAMA found BPA may be associated heart disease and other probelms in humans. Other research has shown possible association with metabolic disorders (one thing I didn't note in the second post is that the two studies reinforce each other with the metabolic findings like diabetes). Furthermore, the FDA's own panel called FDA's okey-dokie/industry-studies-only assessment of BPA flawed and it was announced yesterday that the FDA has called a do-over. Therefore, it may…

Don't go to the ER. So yesterday I was excersizing relatively strenously and after about 40 minutes I started to have some chest pain on the left side along with tightness in my neck and shoulder. Hmmm...good time to stop. It wasn't really severe so I took a shower but the tightness and some pain remained but decided to head home as it was likely just some pectoral strain. Then I realized that if I heard about me, I'd call me stupid so I thought I should go to the hospital just in case. Well, that was the dumb idea. I was directed to an urgent care: "You'll get seen right away, but in ER,…

Back in March in Toxicological Sciences there was a great LTE from Dr David Basketter regarding an in vitro sensitization assay. The part I thought most on the money was this: Overall, a prediction accuracy of about 82% was achieved, which is only a little lower than was obtained during the validation of the local lymph node assay (LLNA) (NIH, 1999), although some might be concerned by the failure of this in vitro system to detect almost 20% of the sensitizers. The authors address this issue by invoking the conduct of complementary assays, such as peptide binding or in silico methods. For…

You've probably heard that a F/A-18D jet crashed in San Diego on approach to Miramar, killing 3 on the ground (the pilot ejected and is fine). A lot of the news reports noted that ~20 homes were evacuated due to 'toxic chemicals'. What sort of chemicals would you be worried about? First Responders and Bystanders Beyond the physical hazards (things under pressure like hydraulics, O2 canisters,...etc), there's all kinds of stuff to worry about like fuel, oils, hydraulic fluids, beryllium, lithium, chromium, mercury, and possibly radioactive compounds. But the biggest hazard is simply the…

The EPA held a "Public Workshop to Discuss Management of Underground Injection of Carbon Dioxide for Geologic Sequestration Under the Safe Drinking Water Act" last week. I've talked about this issue before here. This process continues to not get the attention it deserves as it may drastically effect drinking water quality. The workshop is a decent look at part of the 'sausage making' process so here are some random thoughts (the quotes aren't quotes, they're paraphrased but I blockquoted them for clarity). EPA: We can regulate the injection but can't use the Safe Drinking Water Act to…

Give us our Daylight! I was discussing with some friends last night what I think is the most important item on Obama's adgena. Getting working on the Daylight bailout. We were saving daylight hours all summer long. I presume all those hours went into some daylight bank. But now, we find ourselves in a daylight credit crisis; the winter solstice being very stingy with it's daylight. However, it seems that all the hours we saved are nowhere to be found - likely a daylight bank failure. I propose that the government bail us dark-dwelling denizens out and then make sure it never happens again by…

NRC (part of the NAS) released a report saying that EPA's risk assessment is bogged down with all the details they don't know and burdened with assumptions that aren't helpful. Since they were piling on the agency, they threw in the fact that it was silly to look at chemicals in isolation as opposed to a mixture. Well, they were right. As to the issue of always wanting more information, I've wrote about that before, this, I think, is a huge issue for public health today (Science: the enemy of public health). They are right about the other stuff too. If you're interested, you can go read the…

Well, if MacGuire was talking about getting into toxicology research on plastics, he was right on. EHP has published a study showing that the additive BPA can cause cells to suppress adiponectin. That would cause insensitivity to insulin and may be behind "metabolic syndrome". Let's pause for a moment and think about that name. That's got to be the worst name for a syndrome ever. It could only be more vague by being called 'syndrome'. I prefer something that creates a nice visual, like bronchiolitis obliterans. Nothing like an obliterated lung to get your attention. I propose…

Cutting to chase for those of you who want a quick answer: we don't know, there aren't enough people to study yet. There are hints, though. Ezetimibe is commonly used in combination with a statin as Vytorin to reduce heart disease in patients. It doesn't work all that well. I should say, it decreases cholesterol fine but whether that leads to less overall heart disease isn't conclusive (latest study released today says maybe a little). Of course that study found an increase in cancer in those taking the drug. However, another analysis released today found that cancer deaths were increased but…

There's a story in the WashPost today about how spicy marinades decrease the heterocyclic amine (HCA) content in grilled meat. They think you should care because HCAs are likely carcinogens. There are many things about this that get my back up so lets make a list: 1) Nobody knows how much cancer HCAs may be causing. As far as I can tell (I'd be glad to be e-mailed some reasearch that disputes this), there isn't any study that directly links HCAs to human cancer, qualitatively or quantitatively. I'm not saying they're not carcinogens, I'm pretty certian they are, but the only studies that I…

Terry Box wrote an piece in the WP the other day about how despite the melting glaciers and rising gas prices, he's not giving up his muscle cars. Terry, I have to admit that I love cars. I always have and always will. The thrill of a powerful car or truck can get your adrenaline going and put a smile on your face. For those of a mechanical bent, it's also a source of wonder. That said, I'll also have to admit that, Terry, you're a complete jerk. Juliet Eilperin wrote a response to Terry in yesterday's WP, but I think it only partially hits the mark by only focusing on the selfish part. There…

A reader (thanks Jen) alerted me to this article on Forbes, The FDA's Black Box. The basics of the article are that the FDA can't say anything about drug approvals or non-approvals (or anything else relating to a drug for that matter) if it deals with information that the drug company submitted, since that information is confidential by law. The article thinks Congress should give FDA the ability to release this to the public. Here's why Forbes thinks this is a good idea: 1) Companies fool Wall Street all the time into thinking a drug is the next best thing only to find out all of a sudden…

Read some background on PFOA and Teflon here. A couple of years ago DuPont and other perfluorochemical industries were dismissing evidence of PFOA-caused cancer in rats, saying it was due to peroxisome proliferation in rats, which some argue isn't relevant to humans. However, PFOA may have other mechanisms of action (disrupting thyroid hormones, gap junctions, and estradiol among them). You can read more about the evidence in this EWG submission to the EPA. Well, EPA must not have payed too much attention to those other mechanisms because they basically ignored them and wanted to discount the…

And our divided country will produce the worst of both worlds. The LA city council has passed a resolution that bans fast food restaurants in poor neighborhoods (via Slate - worth moseying over for). This is so paternalistic it's disgusting. Do poor people make bad food choices? Yes. Should we thus deprive them of choosing all food we consider bad? Don't make me answer that. If you want more health choices, put incentives in for a decent grocery to move in or a farmers market (although you are still left with the issue that healthy foods are more expensive). Beyond that, you can eat…

Let's just put it in a hole CO2 sequestration has been going forward but only approved as research class wells. The EPA is proposing regulations on how to do it full scale and correctly. This is necessary because the CO2 may have nasty impurities, can move around, is corrosive with water, and is a weak acid. In other words, mixing with water supplies is bad. You mean if I screw up, I've got to fix it? That's un-American! The main contentious issue here is what are industries' responsibilities after the well is filled and capped. How much should they have to put up for financial assurances in…

Oops! In case you didn't know, the Boulder, CO site of the National Institute of Sandards and Technology (NIST) had an accidental spill of plutonium-239 on June 9 and the initial actions taken would have an industrial hygenist pulling her hair out (read more at C&EN). Basically, a guest researcher* cracked a bottle, didn't realize it, and when he did here's what he did: He locked up the sample, moved some of his materials, and washed his hands in the sink. As you might have guessed, he wasn't trained to work with radioactive substances, which is required by the Nuclear Regulatory…

Every party needs a pooper, that's why Scienceblogs invited me. Enemy? Really? Yes, it can be. Read on; It doesn't have to be. A commentary in Nature Nanotechnology discusses the European Environment Agency report, Late Lessons from Early Warnings. The basic idea is to make recommendations so that nanotech can grow with the idea that if you ignore risks and get dealt a nasty surprise, the public backlash will doom the whole field. They came up with a list of 12 lesssons: some are as old as the hills and probably won't followed; all would be welcome if they were followed. Among the lessons…

How to lose respect and relevance in three easy (dance) steps Can this really be happening? Congress in public group therapy with Richard 'cartoon of myself' Simmons? Crawl back into your protective bubble and weep my friends, becasue it really happened. Do they know they have 14% approval rating? Obesity is a problem, and Congress' approach to this is to hold a hearing with Mr "Yankee Doodle DAAAAN-DEEEEE" and talked about their traumatic childhoods and self-esteem issues with statements like: I'm still waiting to get picked for the congressional basketball team Next week, they'll be looking…

A couple of readers have asked bout the NYTimes article about sunscreens so I thought I'd weigh in. 80 lbs. Okay, with the lame humor over, let's get to the particulars. The most common question has been 1) What do I think is best/do I agree with the NYTimes? 3Answer: the advice they gave stunk. They said most doctors suggested a combination of "avobenzone and oxybenzone". Good Lord, I hope not. Micronized zinc or titanium products are best. Excellent protection, no exposure (absorption), no problem, go enjoy the beach. Question 2) is there a problem with oxybenzone? Answer: Maybe. I think…