A study has found a potential link between the use of household cleaners and air fresheners and breast cancer.

But when about 800 women (400 with breast cancer and an equal number without) were asked about cleaning products, researchers found a potential connection.

Breast-cancer risk was highest among women who reported the most use of cleaning products and air fresheners - it was twice the risk of those who reported low use of the products.

According to The Columbus Dispatch:

"The connection was drawn mostly between mold and mildew cleaners and air fresheners. Surface and oven cleaners were not associated with increased risk. Chemicals of concern include synthetic musks, phthalates, 1,4-dichlorobenzene, terpenes, benzene and styrene and some antimicrobial agents."

Sources:

The Columbus Dispatch July 20, 2010

Environmental Health July 20, 2010; 9(1):40

Britain is in the middle of a new media storm over the safety of beef - but this time it is not about mad cows, but cloned ones.

Earlier this week a Scottish farmer admitted that he had raised cows derived from an American clone. Meat from at least one of the animals was sold to wholesalers and probably ended up in stores.

British government experts say there's no danger. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration says it is legal and safe for meat from the offspring of cloned animals to enter the supply chain, though in reality a relatively small amount has made it to store shelves.

But previous food scandals have left the British public suspicious.

Youth, prison inmates and individuals with multiple tattoos that cover large parts of their bodies are at higher risk of contracting hepatitis C and other blood-borne diseases, according to a University of British Columbia study.

The researchers reviewed and analyzed 124 studies from 30 countries, including Canada, Iran, Italy, Brazil and the United States, and found the incidence of hepatitis C after tattooing is directly linked with the number of tattoos an individual receives. The findings are published in the current issue of the International Journal of Infectious Diseases.

Tattoos have become increasingly popular in recent years. In the U.S., an estimated 36 per cent of people under 30 have tattoos. In Canada, approximately eight per cent of high school students have at least one tattoo and 21 per cent of those who don't have one want one. During tattooing, the skin is punctured 80 to 150 times a second in order to inject color pigments.

"Since tattoo instruments come in contact with blood and bodily fluids, infections may be transmitted if instruments are used on more than one person without being sterilized or without proper hygiene techniques," says lead author Dr. Siavash Jafari, a Community Medicine Resident in the UBC School of Population and Public Health (SPPH).

Discovery that gene mutations can determine whether a person develops meningitis could help in the search for a vaccine

Researchers have found "the strongest evidence so far" that genetic factors can increase the risk of a person developing meningitis. The discovery that gene mutations can determine whether a person develops the disease could help in the search for a vaccine for certain strains.

The findings were made after researchers studied the DNA of 1,500 people with the disease, and 5,000 without, to find anomalies between different groups.

Researchers looked at half a million common genetic variants scattered across each person's genome - which holds information on inheritable traits - and found that some people have differences in their natural defenses that make them more vulnerable to contracting the disease.

The results of the study are published in the journal Nature Genetics.

A natural health supplement classified as dangerous by the US Food and Drug Administration is still being sold online, although a major pharmacy group has pulled it from the shelves.

Earlier this week, the FDA issued a warning that Miracle Mineral Solution is unsafe and people who use it should stop doing so immediately.

Dis-Chem has been selling Miracle Mineral Solution but said it will take action immediately.

Girls in the United States are entering puberty at earlier ages than they have in the past, a new study reports.

More than 10 percent of white 7-year-old girls in the study, which was conducted in the mid-2000s, had reached a stage of breast development marking the start of puberty, compared to just 5 percent in a similar study conducted in the early 1990s.

Black and Hispanic girls continue to mature faster than white girls, on average. Nearly one-quarter of black girls and 15 percent of Hispanic girls had entered puberty by age 7, according to the new study, which appears in the journal Pediatrics.

But the trend toward earlier puberty is not as pronounced among blacks as it is among whites, the researchers say. Although the rate of early puberty among black girls in the study (23 percent) was higher than that observed in the early 1990s (15 percent), the increase was not statistically significant.

DEET may be safe to spray on your skin, but not to swallow in drinking water.

To see how safe or unsafe it is, the Minnesota Department of Health has picked the popular insect repellent ingredient as the first of seven "chemicals of emerging concern" to assess during the next year.


"We shower, it goes down the drain, and it ends up in waste water that goes into rivers," said state toxicologist Helen Goeden.

Like many compounds, there are no state or federal standards for DEET, yet it has been detected in water samples nationwide, including Minnesota.

Introduction

On the 30th of July, I browsed through my e-mail messages to make a startling discovery. We had received a message from none other than Jim "MMS" Humble. After a brief moment of eye rubbing, to ensure that I had not been hallucinating, I eagerly read his message and then shared it with Thomas. Humble was upset about the unflattering findings that our research uncovered about his cash cow, which I chronicled in the article, Another Fraud Of Alternative Medicine: M.M.S..

His message thusly began:

In the left corner, we have Jim Humble, inventor of Miracle Mineral Solution.

Thomas and Sarahlcain,

In looking this site over I find quite a lot of useful information. Thus I wondered if you might be interested in opening a dialogue concerning what I am doing since there is a lot of inaccuracies in you information about my stuff, MMS, that is if you know who I am.

I have no animosity towards those of you who talk as you do. Possibly we could have an amiable dialogue.

up to you

Jim Humble

Thomas replied with:

Mr. Humble,

Yes, we did plenty of research into M.M.S., so we are familiar with you. There are two possibilities that I see here: 1. You really believe in what you are doing or 2. you have real guts. It is possibly both.

© HealthWyze.org
In the right corner, we have weighing in, Sarah Cain of HealthWyze.org

We take our work very seriously. Seeking the truth is one of our highest objectives: just behind 'first do no harm'. We would never print anything that we were not absolutely certain was true. Not only are there moral issues at play; but moreover, our credibility is always on the line.

If you would like a chance to debate us, in order to demonstrate that we have been wrong, then I suggest we do it out in the open. Let's not debate privately in the shadows, because complete openness and honesty are principals that we value, and because this issue has the potential to have a massive impact on the lives of our readers. We normally would not make such an offer to someone who we so strongly feel is harming people, but I get the overwhelming impression that you sincerely believe in what you are doing. Your noble intentions have earned you some karma in my opinion.

If an open and public debate seems agreeable to you, then we will need to agree to some basic rules, like how long our debate should last, and how long the replies may be. I will do no editing on your replies, unless you want me to. Perhaps I could use a picture of us and a picture of you at the top, if that's okay. Readers really like that sort of personal touch, and it draws them into the story.

- Thomas Corriher

1 million pounds of ground beef recalled in Ore., Ariz., Texas, Calif. after 7 sickened by E. coli.

Modesto, California - A meat processor recalled about 1 million pounds of ground beef products Friday after seven people were sickened by E. coli contamination.

Valley Meat Co., of Modesto, sold the potentially contaminated beef patties and ground beef in California, Texas, Oregon, Arizona and internationally, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.

The beef was processed from Oct. 2, 2009, to Jan. 12, 2010. Most of the products were sold frozen and the company was working to remove them from grocery store shelves.