~dGossip
~tCAS Registers 50 Millionth Compound
~w2009-10-01
On 7 September, the 50-millionth substance was recorded in the CAS Registry maintained by Chemical Abstracts Service in Columbus, Ohio, a division of the American Chemical Society. The substance is a novel anylmethylidene heterocycle with analgesic properties. According to CAS, reaching the 50 million mark so quickly is an indicator of the accelerating pace of scientific knowledge. CAS registered the 40-millionth substance just nine months ago. In contrast, it took 33 years for CAS to reach the 10 million mark in 1990. "The 50 million substances in CAS Registry have the potential to enable new discoveries in every field of scientific study, from cancer research to the development of new consumer goods, the creation of more effective drugs, or the discovery of faster and smaller computer processors," says Matthew Toussant, senior vice president of editorial operations at CAS. "Scientific discoveries build upon past discoveries, and it is the quality and comprehensiveness of CAS Registry that enable chemistry innovation." The rapid growth of CAS Registry mirrors the breadth and depth of creativity in research labs throughout the world," says Grace Baysinger, head librarian at the Swain Chemistry & Chemical Engineering Library at Stanford University. "CAS Registry is an indispensable resource for users in research, education, and industry.
Chemical & Engineering News, 9 September 2009
<a href="http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news">http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news</a>
~dGossip
~tPFPAs Found in Canadian Surface Water, Effluent
~w2009-10-01
According to a recent study by researchers from the University of Toronto, another contaminant found in Canadian water samples may join the list of environmental substances that could be harmful to humans and the environment.
The new study, by Jessica C. D'eon and colleagues was published in the September 2009 issue of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. The newest potential threat to human health and the environment is fluorochemicals known as perfluorinated phosphoric acids (PFPAs), which were found in water samples taken for study in the past decade from Canadian creeks, rivers and, waste treatment effluents. PFPAs, which were found at 24 of 30 sites used in the research, are used commercially as levelling and wetting agents and to defoam additives in pesticide formulations. Similar fluorochemicals have been used for industrial purposes since the 1950s but until 2001 were not identified as widespread environmental contaminants. In the article, the authors note that PFPAs lack hydrogen atoms and may resist degradation, like other fluorochemicals such as perfluorinated carboxylic and sulfonic acids that once were used commercially and now are regulated in the United States and Canada. “From the analysis of Canadian surface waters, low-level PFPA contamination clearly is widespread,” the authors say. PFPAs had not previously been identified as contaminants of potential concern, although the United States has acted to limit their use in food crop pesticides because of health concerns and a lack of research on their implications. “These regulatory decisions were based on uncertainty regarding the environmental fate of PFPAs,” the authors write. “To our knowledge, no environmental evidence has been available before the present study.” The study indicates that researchers still do not have a clear understanding of the extent and significance of fluorochemical contamination of the environment and the authors conclude that additional research on PFPAs is necessary.
Water & Wastewater News, 17 September 2009
<a href="http://www.wwp-online.com">http://www.wwp-online.com</a>
~dGossip
~tHeavy oil pollution remains in Amazon, despite company claiming clean-up is finished
~w2009-10-01
The findings from a new study have suggested the Corrientes region of the Peruvian Amazon, which suffered decades of toxic contamination by Occidental Petroleum (OXY), is far from being cleaned-up. The survey, conducted by US non-profit E-Tech International, found that heavy metals, volatile organic compounds, and hydrocarbons still exist at levels above the safety limits set by Peru and continue to threaten the Achuar indigenous community, who have long fought against the oil companies. “Pollution from oil-spills still exists in many sites that have not been properly cleaned. When it rains, the oil runs down and contaminates the rivers and streams where the people source their food,” said Guevara Sandi Chimboras, an Achuar leader who has worked as an environmental monitor investigating contamination in the region. However, despite these results, the current oil company in the region, Pluspetrol, and the Peruvian government have claimed that the clean-up is near finished. Argentine-based Pluspetrol inherited OXY's toxic mess byway of an agreement in 2000, which compelled Pluspetrol to clean-up the area. From 1971 to 2000 OXY employed practices long outlawed in the US, including pumping millions of barrels of production waters into the area's rivers and dumping toxic waste in unlined earthen pits. “The report leaves no room for doubt. Oxy’s massive industrial pollution of the region continues to threaten the Achuar people living in block 1-AB and Pluspetrol’s remediation has been entirely inadequate,” said Gregor MacLennan, Program Coordinator for Amazon Watch Peru, a non-profit that works to protect the rainforest and support indigenous groups in Amazon Basin. “The Peruvian Government must withhold its approval on the remediation operation until there is adequate cleanup." In response to the report, the Achuar community's organisation FECONACO has called on the Peruvian government and Pluspetrol to explain why they are stopping the clean-up effort. Even with the long legacy of pollution, Pluspetrol did not upgrade OXY's infrastructure or re-inject production waters, until the Achuar community shut down oil production for 13 days in 2006 through blockades and protests. Atossa Soltani, Executive Director of Amazon Watch, says that their groups calls “upon OXY to face up to their moral and legal responsibility to fund an adequate cleanup of their toxic mess in block 1-AB, to compensate thousands of Achuar who have suffered profound harm, and to ensure the Achuar have access to modern health care to treat any medical conditions which OXY has contributed to or created over the years,” OXY currently face an ongoing lawsuit for harming the health and environment of the Achuar communities.
Mongabay.com, 17 September 2009
<a href="http://news.mongabay.com">http://news.mongabay.com</a>
~dGossip
~tDoes air conditioning blunt pollution's ill effects?
~w2009-10-01
While air conditioning is welcomed during hot summers, could it actually be good for your health? According to a new study, it may. The new study published in the journal Epidemiology suggested that people living in communities where more homes have air conditioning are less likely to suffer ill effects of air pollution. But because air conditioning can also contribute to pollution by using energy, it's not clear whether it provides a net benefit for health, Dr. Michelle L. Bell of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut and her colleagues say. And climate change may mean even more people end up installing air conditioners. The effects of pollution with particulate matter-tiny particles that can be breathed deep into the lungs, causing difficulty breathing or worsening asthma-vary depending on the season, as well as on geographic location, Bell and her team note in their report. Air conditioning could be a factor in this variation, they add, because people who use air conditioning instead of keeping their windows open may be breathing in fewer particles. During the study, the researchers examined whether the percentage of households in a given area with air conditioning affected the relationship between day-to-day levels of particulate matter and risk of death. In addition, they looked at how likely people 65 or older were to be admitted to the hospital for heart or lung problems. Their mortality analysis included 84 US communities from 1987 and 2000, while the hospitalisation data covered 168 US counties between 1999 and 2005. Overall, Bell and her colleagues discovered communities with higher percentages of air-conditioned households showed lower levels of health problems from particulate matter pollution. There was a link between hospitalisations for heart disease and percentage of homes with central air conditioning. For example, for every 20 percent of the population that acquired central air conditioning, a community would see a 17 percent reduction in the number of hospitalisations for heart disease. An accompanying editorial by Dr. Sverre Vedal of the University of Washington School of Public Health, notes that analysing the long-term effects of air conditioning for individuals might be more useful than looking at communities as a whole. The current findings, he notes, could have been muddled by the effects of temperature and humidity on pollutants and health. In an E-mail interview, Bell added: "As scientists study how climate change may affect human health, understanding how air conditioning affects health, both positively and negatively, will be critically important, especially as air conditioning use continues to grow."
Reuters Health, 25 September 2009
a href="http://www.reutershealth.com">http://www.reutershealth.com</a>
~dGossip
~tAcrylamide: Why french fries shouldn't be overheated
~w2009-10-01
Golden brown french fries and crispy potato chips -- aren't just loaded with fat and sodium. Starchy fried foods also can also produce a chemical called acrylamide, which is quietly raising concern as a potential human carcinogen. A natural by-product of cooking high-carbohydrate foods at high temperatures, acrylamide also turns up in a wide variety of roasted and baked foods, including breakfast cereal, baby food, bread and crackers. Previous research has demonstrated that the chemical can cause tumours and neurological problems in lab animals when they are fed unnaturally large doses. However, to date consumers do not seem concerned; surveys in the U.S showing most people have never heard of acrylamide, even though it turns up in about 40 percent of food. But federal governing bodies in the U.S., Canada and Europe are stepping up efforts to deal with the chemical, and food-industry chemists already are aggressively pursuing ways to reduce it in their products. Previously known as a synthetic substance found in plastics, grouts and cigarette smoke; acrylamide was first discovered in food in 2002 by scientists at the Swedish Food Administration when they detected surprisingly high levels of it in high-carbohydrate foods and published evidence linking it to cancer in lab rats. Since then, a worldwide research has yielded hundreds of published studies. So far, there's little evidence that dietary acrylamide harms humans. But widely anticipated research to be released later this year is expected to confirm that megadoses of the chemical are carcinogenic in laboratory animals -- the usual methodology for toxicological studies. Before acrylamide was discovered in food, concerns about the chemical's potential health effects centred on workers who handled it as an industrial substance. Now that it's known everyone likely is exposed through diet, scientists want to know how the body handles dietary acrylamide and whether it can cause cancer. "Everyone realises acrylamide is in so many foods and at such high levels that we can't just sit back and say, 'ho-hum,'" said food safety consultant James Coughlin, a spokesman for the Institute of Food Technologists. "I've never seen such cooperation between countries, industries and government. [Acrylamide] is the biggest thing going on for food toxicologists." Unlike some other chemicals of concern, dietary acrylamide doesn't leach from packaging and is not added to food. Instead, it's the product of a chemical reaction that can occur in cooking. Acrylamide forms when sugars and an amino acid called asparagine are heated together at high temperatures -- more than 248 degrees Fahrenheit. (Boiling occurs at 212 degrees.) This effect, part of what's called the "Maillard reaction," enhances a food's colour, flavour, aroma and texture. Among foods, the highest levels of acrylamide turn up in french fries and potato chips. In addition, it has also been detected in baked goods, coffee, cocoa, roasted asparagus and even canned olives.
The amount of dietary acrylamide, measured in parts per billion (ppb), varies widely depending on the manufacturer, the raw materials used and processing conditions, including cooking time. When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration tested seven batches of McDonald's french fries, it found levels ranging from 193 ppb to 497 ppb. One sample of Krispy Kreme Original Glazed Doughnuts had no detectable levels; a second sample showed 22 ppb. In order to cut the levels in processed foods, food scientists have reduced the levels of sugars and asparagine in the ingredients. The U.S. food industry discovered an enzyme called asparaginase that can chew up asparagine in food products so less acrylamide is formed. Furthermore, food companies have tried altering raw materials or the way the food is processed, including cutting the heating times and temperatures and changing the oils used or the food's acidity. But what works in the lab "doesn't necessarily work in big food laboratory plants," said Coughlin, an expert on the browning process. In addition, governments are taking a closer look. Recently, federal health officials in Canada added acrylamide to their list of chemicals in widespread use to be reviewed for safety. The European Chemicals Agency recently proposed adding acrylamide to its own list in order to possibly regulate its use. In the U.S., the FDA announced it may issue industry guidelines on how to reduce acrylamide levels in food. The move comes in anticipation of emerging research, including studies conducted at the FDA's lab at the National Centre for Toxicological Research. Though the agency regulates the amount of residual acrylamide in materials that come in contact with food, there are no guidelines governing the presence of acrylamide in food itself. Instead, the FDA's advice is to eat a healthy, balanced diet that is low in fat, cholesterol, salt and added sugar and rich in high-fibre grains, fruits and vegetables. In other words, consume less fast and processed food. "It's always a balance, said the FDA's Mike Bolger, chief of the chemical hazards assessment team at the Centre for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.”We're not trying to minimise the issue, but we also don't want people overly concerned about something that has been part of the diet for a long time. When we look at human epidemiology, the exposures are not inconsequential. But studies aren't showing anything." Food also has plenty of natural carcinogens, Joe Schwarcz pointed out in his book, "An Apple a Day: The Myths, Misconceptions and Truths About the Foods We Eat." "Aflatoxins in peanuts, ethanol in wine, urethane in sherry, styrene in cinnamon and heterocyclic aromatic amines in beef bouillon are as carcinogenic to rodents as is acrylamide," wrote Schwarcz, director of McGill University's Office for Science and Society in Montreal. "But we don't eat isolated chemicals; we eat food. And food also contains a variety of anti-carcinogens." So far, studies have failed to find a link between the consumption of acrylamide-rich foods and the occurrence of colon, kidney or bladder cancers. In May, Dutch researchers concluded that acrylamide had no impact on brain cancer risk. On the other hand, eating too many products rich in acrylamide may put people at risk for heart disease, according to a pilot study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. In 2008, potato chip makers Frito-Lay, Kettle Foods and Lance Inc., as well as french-fry producer Heinz, paid fines and agreed to reduce acrylamide in their products within three years as a result of a lawsuit triggered by California's Proposition 65. That law requires the state to publish a list of substances known to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm. "It's like anything; you should watch it," said Julie Miller Jones, a professor of food and nutrition at the University of St. Catherine's in Minnesota and a member of the Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, an FDA advisory council. "I'm not worried about toasting my bread, but if there's a way to reduce it, why not?"