#niehs

[occhygiene]

Top Toxicologist Banned From Saying PFAS Causes Disease

Linda Birnbaum, former head of National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, says she was barred from saying PFAS is a cause of human disease.

“Thousands of scholarly articles have linked the PFASs to at least 800 health effects. Some of the health problems found in humans — including elevated cholesterol levels, liver dysfunction, weight gain, reproductive problems and kidney cancer — have been shown to increase along with the levels of the chemicals in blood. Extensive research also shows that children with higher levels of PFAS have weakened immune responses.Yet while she (Linda Birnbaum, former director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program) was leading the NIEHS, a division of the National Institutes of Health, whose mission is “to discover how the environment affects people, in order to promote healthier lives,” Birnbaum was not allowed to use the word “cause” when referring to the health effects from PFAS or other chemicals.”“Birnbaum has been targeted by the chemical industry and politicians beholden to it on several occasions during her nearly 40-year career as a federal scientist, which included 19 years at the Environmental Protection Agency. In 2012, Republicans on the House Science Committee went after Birnbaum for writing that endocrine-disrupting chemicals in the environment were responsible for “a staggering increase in several diseases.”

utm_source=google&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=pfasfacts%20initial&utm_content=0004

[ships-sailing-in-the-night]

Officially employed for the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences!!

[mariebenz]

Lavender Oil Linked to Abnormal Breast Development in Girls and Boys

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Kenneth Korach Kenneth S. Korach, Ph.D. Senior Principal Investigator Chief, Receptor Biology Section Reproductive and Developmental Biology Laboratory NIEHS/NIH MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Lavender oil is among the most popular essential oils used today. Our society deems essential oils and other homeopathic remedies as safe alternatives for medical treatment, personal hygiene commodities, aromatherapy, and cleaning products; however, there are many natural products that have effects on the human body, similar to potent synthetic drugs. MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?  Response: In a previous study, my team and I have shown that exposure to lavender oil and tea tree oil is linked to abnormal breast development in males, known as prepubertal gynecomastia. Building on these findings in the new study, our team in collaboration with clinical colleagues, discovered that exposure to lavender fragrance products is also associated with a condition called premature thelarche. This condition causes breast development — without other signs of puberty — in girls younger than eight years of age. This study is the first to report this association. We also found that breast growth in young girls and boys resolved after discontinuing lavender-containing fragranced products. Our findings also suggest that certain components of essential oils can mimic estrogen and block testosterone, indicating that essential oils could be a source for the breast growth observed in these cases.  MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report? Response: Lavender oil poses potential health concerns and should be researched further, especially because these oils are available without a written prescription from medical professionals and they are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration The public should be aware of these findings and consider all evidence before deciding when to use essential oils, especially on children. It’s also important that physicians are also aware that lavender oil contains endocrine-disrupting chemicals and although the effects we saw are very rare, such oils should be considered in evaluating unexplained early breast development in girls and gynecomastia in boys and adult men.  MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this work? Response: It is still unknown why a small portion of these children experience abnormal, early breast growth and others are unaffected. Another aspect is the potential of certain individuals having a genetic predisposition of sensitivity to the action of components in the lavender fragrances.   Citation: J Tyler Ramsey, Yin Li, Yukitomo Arao, Ajanta Naidu, Laurel A Coons, Alejandro Diaz, Kenneth S Korach, Lavender products associated with premature thelarche and prepubertal gynecomastia: Case reports and EDC activities, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2018-01880  Last Modified:   The information on MedicalResearch.com is provided for educational purposes only, and is in no way intended to diagnose, cure, or treat any medical or other condition. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health and ask your doctor any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. In addition to all other limitations and disclaimers in this agreement, service provider and its third party providers disclaim any liability or loss in connection with the content provided on this website.   Read the full article

[greedforher]

Group Seeks Details Over EPA’s Decision To Kill Funding for Children’s Health Centers

The EPA has so far refused to give a public answer for its decision to eliminate funding for the program.

United States (EWG) – Environmental Working Group has filed a public records request seeking internal records that could help shed light on the EPA’s decision to jettison funding for a network of research centers that focus on the risks to children of toxic chemicals and industrial pollution.

The decision would end a 20-year collaboration between the EPA and the National Institute of…

View On WordPress

[mariebenz]

Breast Cancer Risk Remains Elevated 20-30 years After Childbirth

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Sandler Dale P. Sandler, Ph.D. Chief, Epidemiology Branch National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences NIH MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Not having children is a well-established risk factor for breast cancer, but most of this evidence comes from studies of postmenopausal women since breast cancer before menopause is relatively uncommon. There is growing evidence that some risk factors differ for premenopausal and postmenopausal breast cancer – for example obesity which increases risk for breast cancer after menopause but appears to be protective before menopause. There was some evidence that breast cancer risk increased shortly after pregnancy. It was thought that this risk lasted for 5 to ten years. Studies were unable to fully characterize the duration of this increase in risk or evaluate factors such as breast feeding, age at birth, or family history of breast cancer that could modify the relationship between recent pregnancy and breast cancer risk. Breast cancer before menopause or age 55 is relatively rare, and few individual studies are large enough to answer these questions. To answer these questions, we formed the Breast Cancer Collaborative Group, a pooling project involving 20 prospective cohort studies. We included 890,000 women from 15 of these long-term studies across three continents, including over 18,000 incident breast cancer cases.  MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?  Response: We found that compared to women who never had a child, women who gave birth had an increased risk for breast cancer that peaked at 80% approximately 5 years after pregnancy, but lasted for, on average, 24 years before pregnancy became protective. The association between recent pregnancy and breast cancer was stronger for women who were older at first birth, had more births, or had a family history of breast cancer. The risk pattern was the same whether or not women breastfed.  MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?  Response: Information from this study should help women have discussions with their doctors about when to start breast cancer screening. For example, women who were older at first birth, gave birth after age 40, and have a family history of breast cancer may want to start screening before the currently recommended age of 50. MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this work?  Response: Recent pregnancy is another example of a risk factor that is different for younger or older women. There is a need to develop risk prediction tools that are specific to young women. MedicalResearch.com: Is there anything else you would like to add? Response: Women and doctors should keep these findings in perspective. We studied the relative risk – comparing the rate of breast cancer in women who did or did not have a recent birth. But, breast cancer is rare in women under the age of 55. The absolute difference in risk – that is, the number of additional cases due to pregnancy, is actually very small. Citation: Hazel B. Nichols et al. Breast Cancer Risk After Recent Childbirth: A Pooled Analysis of 15 Prospective Studies. Annals of Internal Medicine, 2018 DOI: 10.7326/M18-1323   The information on MedicalResearch.com is provided for educational purposes only, and is in no way intended to diagnose, cure, or treat any medical or other condition. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health and ask your doctor any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. In addition to all other limitations and disclaimers in this agreement, service provider and its third party providers disclaim any liability or loss in connection with the content provided on this website.   Read the full article

[environmentguru]

Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health Receives Five-year Funding from NSF and NIEHS

The National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), one of the National Institutes of Health, have announced that the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) will receive funding to continue oper https://www.environmentguru.com/pages/elements/element.aspx?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=tumblr&id=7858698

[environmentguru]

Maintenance of Thermo Equipment

REQUEST FOR QUOTATIONFOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS R.F.Q. # CF20180202 ISSUE DATE: 2/2/2018 FOR: Maintenance of Thermo Equipment Issued By: Christopher Fisher, Contracting Officeremail: [email protected] NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SCI https://www.environmentguru.com/pages/bids/opportunity.aspx?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=tumblr&id=6080205

[environmentguru]

Agricultural Health Study Phase V

THIS IS A NOTICE OF INTENT, NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. A SOLICITATION WILL BE ISSUED ON A LATER DATE. The Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch (OEEB), Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG), of the National Cancer Institut https://www.environmentguru.com/pages/bids/opportunity.aspx?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=tumblr&id=6070002