ApocaDocuments (11) for the "Biology Breach" scenario from this week
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Sun, May 4, 2008
from London Daily Telegraph:
Pollution sends men bald
"Men living in polluted areas are more likely to go bald than those breathing cleaner air, a new study suggests. The ground breaking research, by academics at the University of London, has linked the onset of male pattern baldness, to environmental factors, such as air pollution and smoking." ...
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Bet those academics at the University of London are bald themselves!
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Sun, May 4, 2008
from The Charleston Gazette via Environmental Science and Technology:
Breast milk contains C8, study concludes
"C8 and related chemicals used in nonstick pans and stain-resistant fabrics have been found in human breast milk, according to the first major U.S. study to examine breast-feeding as a possible exposure route. Perfluorinated compounds, or PFCs, were found in all of the 45 human breast milk samples tested in the new study." ...
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Perhaps that'll help the milk slip smoothly down the infant's throats.
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Sat, May 3, 2008
from Time Magazine:
Lowe Eyes the Everglades
"Lowe's, the home improvement chain, wants to move the border [of Miami-Dade County's Urban Development Boundary (UBD] so it can erect a new store on more than 20 acres of the wetlands; further south, developers want to hop the line to build a commercial park and thousands of new homes. Protesters, including Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez, gathered to denounce the plans last week -- but on Thursday the Miami-Dade County Commission approved the Lowe's and the office developments." ...
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No doubt the wetlands will be nourished by the tears shed over this development.
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Sat, May 3, 2008
from Georgia Institute of Technology, via EurekAlert:
Environmental fate of nanoparticles depends on properties of water carrying them
The fate of carbon-based nanoparticles spilled into groundwater -- and the ability of municipal filtration systems to remove the nanoparticles from drinking water -- depend on subtle differences in the solution properties of the water carrying the particles, a new study has found.
In slightly salty water, for example, clusters of Carbon 60 (C60) would tend to adhere tightly to soil or filtration system particles. But where natural organic compounds or chemical surfactants serve as stabilizers in water, the C60 fullerene particles would tend to flow as easily as the water carrying them.
"In some cases, the nanoparticles move very little and you would get complete retention in the soil," said Kurt Pennell, a professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. "But in different solution conditions or in the presence of a stabilizing agent, they can travel just like water. The movement of these nanoparticles is very sensitive to the solution conditions." ...
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Hmm. I think I'm made of "slightly salty water." But then, I'm also "natural organic compounds."
Will it nanostay or will it nanogo?
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Fri, May 2, 2008
from AP, via CNN:
Pharmaceuticals in reservoir causing troubling problems to fish, wildlife
A five-month Associated Press investigation has determined that trace amounts of many of the pharmaceuticals we take to stay healthy are seeping into drinking water supplies, and a growing body of research indicates that this could harm humans. But people aren't the only ones who consume that water. There is more and more evidence that some animals that live in or drink from streams and lakes are seriously affected.... Pharmaceuticals in the water are being blamed for severe reproductive problems in many types of fish: The endangered razorback sucker and male fathead minnow have been found with lower sperm counts and damaged sperm; some walleyes and male carp have become what are called feminized fish, producing egg yolk proteins typically made only by females. Meanwhile, female fish have developed male genital organs. Also, there are skewed sex ratios in some aquatic populations, and sexually abnormal bass that produce cells for both sperm and eggs. ...
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No doubt those fish throw some wild parties!
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Fri, May 2, 2008
from LA Times:
Antibiotics in our livestock
Not just a cure for infection anymore, antibiotics are routinely given to livestock to prevent disease in crowded pens and stockyards and to promote growth. The report says farms can buy these drugs without a prescription or veterinary permission, so it's no surprise that half of all the antibiotics worldwide are used in food production. The ubiquitous use of animal antibiotics saves consumers $5 to $10 a year on their meat and poultry bill, the National Academy of Sciences estimated in 1999. Even that relative pittance is a pseudo-saving, though, because the United States spends more than $4 billion a year to combat [antibiotic-]resistant infections, which kill 90,000 people a year in this country.
Experience elsewhere shows that meat producers can use far less medication. In 1998, Denmark banned antibiotic use in livestock except to treat illness. Four years later, a World Health Organization study found that the ban was already helping to reduce the potential for resistant bacteria, at minimal cost to meat producers and without significantly affecting the health of the livestock. Two years ago, the European Union banned the use of all growth-enhancing antibiotics. ...
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Big Farma may have a case of hoof in mouth disease.
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Thu, May 1, 2008
from Environmental Science & Technology:
DDT levels in Antarctic penguins present a complex mystery
"The use of DDT peaked several decades ago at more than 36,000 metric tons per year (t/yr). Today, less than 1000 t of the organochlorine pesticide -- banned in most countries since the 1980s -- is applied annually for mosquito control and farming, mainly in the Southern Hemisphere. Despite this drop, Adelie penguins in the Antarctic continue to have the same levels of total DDT in their bodies as they did 30 years ago. New research published in ES&T (DOI: 10.1021/es702919n) identifies Antarctic meltwater as the continued source of total DDT, and possibly other pollutants, in the southern continent's ecosystems." ...
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Those penguin feet get less and less happy all the time.
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Wed, Apr 30, 2008
from University of Missouri-Columbia, via EurekAlert:
Too much technology may be killing beneficial bacteria
For years, scientists have known about silver's ability to kill harmful bacteria and, recently, have used this knowledge to create consumer products containing silver nanoparticles. Now, a University of Missouri researcher has found that silver nanoparticles also may destroy benign bacteria that are used to remove ammonia from wastewater treatment systems.... Several products containing silver nanoparticles already are on the market, including socks containing silver nanoparticles designed to inhibit odor-causing bacteria and high-tech, energy-efficient washing machines that disinfect clothes by generating the tiny particles. The positive effects of that technology may be overshadowed by the potential negative environmental impact... "We found that silver nanoparticles are extremely toxic. The nanoparticles destroy the benign species of bacteria that are used for wastewater treatment. It basically halts the reproduction activity of the good bacteria." ...
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This might be viewed as a nanocosm of our current situation.
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Wed, Apr 30, 2008
from Africa Science News:
Egypt allows for commercialisation of GM maize
Egypt's Minister of Agriculture has approved the decisions made by the National Biosafety Committee (NBC) and Seed Registration Committee allowing the commercialization of a Bt corn variety.
This marks the first genetically modified (GM) crop approved for domestic planting in the country.
The approval is highlighted in a recent Global Agriculture Information Network (GAIN) report by the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS).
During last year's growing season, field trials were conducted and assessed. A local seed company, acting as an agent of a multi-national life science company, plans to import GM seeds for propagation and production from South Africa.
The GM corn will be planted in 10 governates throughout Egypt. ...
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I know -- let's use open fields as a petrie dish to experiment with a historically brand-new phenemenon -- artificially created life forms -- with unknown consequences. Great idea!
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Tue, Apr 29, 2008
from Uro Today:
Human Exposure to Endocrine Disrupters and Semen Quality
We propose that environmental factors, including exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals, may be represented in this idiopathic category of diagnosis. Endocrine disrupters are proposed to modulate or dysregulate the endogenous endocrine system via competitive or non-competitive binding at steroid hormone receptors, changes to synthesis, metabolism or transport of hormones or by changes in gene expression. Significant laboratory evidence supports endocrine disruption as a mechanism of action for several types of chemicals including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), bisphenol A (BPA), 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), p,p’-DDE (p,p'-dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethylene)- the major breakdown product of DDT and mixtures such as pesticides. Though there is a relative paucity of population-based studies examining the effects of exposure to endocrine disrupters on human semen quality, it may be cautiously interpreted that endocrine disruption due to organochlorine exposures may be manifested as reduced sperm motility and morphology. ...
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If exposure caused impotence, then we'd really see political action.
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Mon, Apr 28, 2008
from PERI, University of Massachussetts, Amherst:
The Toxic 100: The Top Corporate Air Polluters in the U.S.
The Toxic 100 index identifies the top U.S. air polluters among the world's largest corporations. The index relies on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Risk Screening Environmental Indicators (RSEI) project. The starting point for the RSEI is the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), which reports on releases of toxic chemicals at facilities across the United States.... [Toxic 100 Top Ten:] E. I. Du Pont de Nemours & Co., Nissan Motor, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Bayer Group, Dow Chemical, Eastman Kodak, General Electric, Arcelor Mittal, U.S. Steel, ExxonMobil. [And 90 others.] ...
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A big "smokestacks up!" for the top ten!
You guys rule! (with impunity).
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