ApocaDocuments (9) for the "Biology Breach" scenario from this week
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Sun, Jun 8, 2008
from Detroit Free Press:
Mercury fillings are now said to pose risk for some
After years of asserting that mercury in fillings was safe, the Food and Drug Administration now says it may be harmful to pregnant women, children, fetuses and people who are sensitive to mercury exposure.... The American Dental Association said the settlement "in no way changes the federal agency's approach to or position on dental amalgam."
Amalgam is "a safe, affordable and durable material that has been used in the teeth of more than 100 million Americans," the ADA said in a statement. ...
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Maybe they should just simplify that list to "anyone with teeth."
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Sat, Jun 7, 2008
from Sydney Morning Herald (Australia):
Putting sea life to the acid test
"A new report by the Antarctic research centre, released at the Hobart meeting, says that about half the fossil fuel carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by humans has now dissolved into the oceans. If we keep pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere at the current projections, by 2100 the ocean acidification will be three times that experienced at the end of the glacial period, 15,000 years ago." ...
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Whoa, dude, where's the other half?
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Fri, Jun 6, 2008
from NIH, via EurekAlert:
Long-term pesticide exposure may increase risk of diabetes
Licensed pesticide applicators who used chlorinated pesticides on more than 100 days in their lifetime were at greater risk of diabetes, according to researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The associations between specific pesticides and incident diabetes ranged from a 20 percent to a 200 percent increase in risk.... "Although the amount of diabetes explained by pesticides is small, these new findings may extend beyond the pesticide applicators in the study," Sandler said. ...
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Those organochlorides are a bit too sweet.
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Thu, Jun 5, 2008
from Environmental Research Web:
Geoengineering could lead to droughts
Geoengineering schemes to cut the amount of sunlight reaching the earth have been proposed as a measure to reduce temperature rises brought about by increased levels of greenhouse gases. But now a team of researchers in the US has shown that such a move would decrease mean global precipitation, potentially leading to drought.
"Global mean rainfall changes are more sensitive to solar forcing than to carbon dioxide forcing," Govindasamy Bala of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, US, told environmentalresearchweb. "Therefore, if you turn down the sun to counter carbon dioxide effects, you will end up with less rainfall and droughts." ...
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Drat! I was so looking forward to seeing the sun through a planetary umbrella, darkly.
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Wed, Jun 4, 2008
from Telegraph.co.uk:
UN report: Coastal communities face disaster
Entire marine ecosystems are threatened because of human mismanagement, according to the UN academic study. It warns of a looming, potentially "terminal" disaster in several coastal areas unless they are given better care.... In the past 50 years bays and estuaries, sea grasses, and mangroves and wetlands have all suffered dramatically because of human activity, the report states. Shorelines have hardened, channels and harbours have been dredged, soil dumped, submerged and emergent land moved, and patterns of water flow changed. ...
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But we are the masters of nature. Aren't we?
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Wed, Jun 4, 2008
from Stabroek News (Guyana):
Quartz Hill mining highlights environment threat
Breaches of the mining regulations were evident during a recent visit to Quartz Hill and nearby areas, resulting in pollution and fouling of waterways even as the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) strives to enforce the rules and advocate self-regulation.... Meanwhile, unsafe use of mercury, breached tailings ponds and mining activities close to water courses were some of the infringements....
As a result of the breached tailings ponds, a section of the Omai Creek was heavily discoloured with a yellow sludge, which made its way to the Essequibo River. ...
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We've noticed that when the profit motive is involved, self-regulation is appealing only to the profiteers.
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Tue, Jun 3, 2008
from Daily Galaxy:
Is There a Solution to the "Continent of Plastic" that Pollutes the Pacific?
Are there really 'continents', or massive floating garbage patches residing in the Pacific? [T]hese unsightly patches are reportedly killing marine life and releasing poisons that enter the human food chain, as well. [T]hese plastic patches certainly aren't solid surfaced islands that you could build a house on... Ocean currents have collected massive amounts of garbage into a sort of plastic "soup" where countless bits of discarded plastic float intertwined just beneath the surface.... The enormous Texas-sized plastic patch is estimated to weigh over 3 million tons. ...
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I wonder where Crawford is, in this Texas-sized gyre?
"Henh-hehn. Time to clear me some brush."
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Tue, Jun 3, 2008
from NewsInferno:
BPA Found in Canned Foods
According to recent testing, canned foods sold in Canada have been found to contain BPA concentrations as high as double the levels that prompted many to stop using BPA-laced plastic baby and water bottles. Less than half a cup of tomato sauce or a cup of chicken noodle soup would exceed the lowest dose found in recent research to have an adverse effect on animals.
Bisphenol-A�or BPA�is a fairly ubiquitous chemical that mimics the hormone, estrogen, and is used in polycarbonate plastic products, including baby bottles and metal can coatings and could be linked to a range of hormonal problems. In the lab, BPA is linked to sex-hormone-imbalances, including breast and prostate cancer, early puberty, miscarriage, low sperm count, and immune-system changes. ...
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Wait, Popeye always had a can of spinach, and it made him more manly....
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Mon, Jun 2, 2008
from Annals of Neurology, via Science Daily:
Even Low Levels Of Air Pollution May Pose Stroke Risk
These findings support the hypotheses that recent exposure to fine particulate matter may increase the risk of ischemic cerebrovascular events specifically. There is experimental evidence that particulate air pollution is associated with acute artery vasoconstriction and with increases in plasma viscosity (thickening of the blood) which may enhance the potential for blood clots, although this requires further study. ...
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So thickening the air thickens the blood... and sickens the brain.
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