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Nuke

Uranium's Effect On DNA Established

Kate Melville
scienceagogo.com
Fri, 07 Apr 2006 19:27 UTC
Image
© unknown
The use of depleted uranium in munitions and weaponry is likely to come under intense scrutiny now that new research that found that uranium can bind to human DNA. The finding will likely have far-reaching implications for returned soldiers, civilians living in what were once war-zones and people who might live near uranium mines or processing facilities.

Uranium - when manifested as a radioactive metal - has profound and debilitating effects on human DNA. These radioactive effects have been well understood for decades, but there has been considerable debate and little agreement concerning the possible health risks associated with low-grade uranium ore (yellowcake) and depleted uranium.
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Question

Nanotech in Our Food: Should We Be Afraid?

Marion Nestle
Alternet
Sun, 18 Jul 2010 18:48 UTC
Image
© Friends of the Earth
The effects of nanotechnology on the environment are regulated by the EPA - but when it comes to nano in food, shouldn't the FDA be involved?

Nanotechnology involves the ability to control matter at the scale of a nanometer - one billionth of a meter. The world market for products that contain nanomaterials is expected to reach $2.6 trillion by 2015.

So says a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO): Nanotechnology: Nanomaterials Are Widely Used in Commerce, but EPA Faces Challenges in Regulating Risk. (GAO-10-549, May 25, 2010)
GAO identified a variety of products that currently incorporate nanomaterials already available in commerce ... [in] food and agriculture ...The extent to which nanomaterials present a risk to human health and the environment depends on a combination of the toxicity of specific nanomaterials and the route and level of exposure to these materials. Although the body of research related to nanomaterials is growing, the current understanding of the risks posed by these materials is limited.

Comment: Read the following articles carried on SOTT about the "specific uncertainties" of nano materials, especially in food:

Food Industry 'Too Secretive' Over Nanotechnology

Alert over the march of the 'grey goo' in nanotechnology Frankenfoods

Nanotechnology - the new threat to food - from the article:
The food and agriculture industries have been investing billions of dollars into nanotechnology research, with an unknown number of unlabeled nano food products already on the market. In the absence of mandatory product labeling anywhere in the world, it is impossible to tell how many commercial food products now contain nano ingredients. The Helmut Kaiser Consultancy Group, a pro-nanotechnology analyst, suggests that there are now over 300 nano food products available on the market worldwide. It estimates that the global nano food market was worth US$5.3 billion in 2005 and will rise to US$20.4 billion by 2010. It predicts that nanotechnology will be used in 40% of the food industries by 2015...

Concerns about the use of nanotechnology in agriculture and food production relate to the further automation and alienation of food production, serious new toxicity risks for humans and the environment, and the further loss of privacy as nano surveillance tracks each step in the food chain. The failure of governments to introduce laws to protect the public and the environment from nanotechnology's risks is a most serious concern.
On the subject of 'further loss of privacy as nano surveillance tracks each step in the food chain' read the following:

Big Pharma Nanotechnology Encodes Pills with Tracking Data That You Swallow

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Magnify

Household Cleaners May Double Risk of Breast Cancer

Richard Alleyne
Telegraph.co.uk
Tue, 20 Jul 2010 18:10 UTC
Household cleaners and air fresheners could be bad for women's health, new research suggests.

Women who regularly use household cleaners and air fresheners are at double the risk of developing breast cancer than those who never use the products.

The study of more than 1,500 women found that solid slow-release air fresheners and anti-mould products had the biggest effect.

Insect repellents, oven and surface cleaners also produced a slight increase.

"Women who reported the highest combined cleaning product use had a doubled risk of breast cancer compared to those with the lowest reported use," said Dr Julia Brody, from the Silent Spring Institute in the United States,

"Use of air fresheners and products for mold and mildew control were associated with increased risk."
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Info

Foreign accents make speakers seem less truthful to listeners

William Harms
University of Chicago
Mon, 19 Jul 2010 06:35 UTC
A foreign accent undermines a person's credibility in ways that the speaker and the listener don't consciously realize, new research at the University of Chicago shows.

Because an accent makes a person harder to understand, listeners are less likely to find what the person says as truthful, researchers found. The problem of credibility increases with the severity of the accent.

"The results have important implications for how people perceive non-native speakers of a language, particularly as mobility increases in the modern world, leading millions of people to be non-native speakers of the language they use daily," said Boaz Keysar, a Professor of Psychology at the University of Chicago and an expert on communication.

"Accent might reduce the credibility of non-native job seekers, eyewitnesses, reporters or people taking calls in foreign call centers," said Shiri Lev-Ari, lead author of "Why Don't We Believe Non-native Speakers? The Influence of Accent on Credibility," written with Keysar and published in the current issue of the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Levi-Ari is a post-doctoral researcher at the University whose work focuses on the interactions between native and non-native speakers.
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Cell Phone

Prolonged Mobile Phone Use May Be Linked to Tinnitus


Physorg.com
Mon, 19 Jul 2010 19:29 UTC
Image
© unknown
Regularly using a mobile phone for at least four years seems to be associated with a doubling in the risk of developing chronic tinnitus (persistent ringing/roaring/hissing in the ear), indicates a small study published online in Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

The prevalence of chronic tinnitus is increasing, and is currently around 10 to 15% in the developed world, say the authors. There are currently few treatment options.

And while there are some obvious triggers, such as ear disorders and head trauma, there are few known risk factors or clear explanations for this trend. The high microwave energy produced by mobile phones during use has been suggested as a possible culprit, but there has been no hard evidence to date.


Comment: No hard evidence?! The following articles carried on SOTT suggest otherwise:

The BioInitiative Report - The Dangerous Health Impacts of Microwave Radiation
Electromagnetic radiation and its effect on the brain: an insider speaks out
Is 'Electrosmog' Harming Our Health?

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Arrow Down

Marine Toxicologist Dr. Riki Ott: A Message to BP Workers and Residents in the Gulf

James C. Fox
YouTube
Fri, 16 Jul 2010 00:00 UTC
This interview was done for the residents and BP workers in the Gulf; what chemicals you're most likely being exposed to and what you can do to protect your children and yourself from the toxins in the air, water and beaches.

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Sherlock

Leaked Internal Memo Shows How VA Systematically Screws Over Wounded Vets to Maintain Performance Grades

Nora Eisenberg
Alternet
Wed, 30 Jun 2010 19:04 UTC
Image
© Image via Wikipedia
Veterans Day 2007 poster from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs: "HONORING ALL WHO SERVED - VETERANS DAY"
A newly surfaced internal memo shows that VA health facilities get good grades by delaying and denying care.

The Veterans Health Administration systematically delays and denies sick veterans medical care and masks it with bogus documentation. That's what the VA Inspector General and a number of veterans' advocates have been claiming since the early days of the Iraq War, when soldiers returning from Operation Enduring Freedom began flooding VA facilities. Now an internal department memo, posted Wednesday on a watchdog Web site, confirms these charges.

The April 26 memo from William Schoenhard, Deputy Undersecretary for Health Operations and Management, alerts supervisors overseeing scheduling in the nation's largest health care system that he has learned of unacceptable practices. VA facilities have adopted what he calls "gaming strategies" in order to "improve scores on various access measures" by diminishing patient access to treatment.
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Info

Food Safety News: Antibiotics, Salsa, and More

Marion Nestle
The Atlantic
Mon, 19 Jul 2010 18:36 UTC
Image
© SeeMidTN.com (aka Brent)/flickr
I've been collecting items on food safety for the last week or two. Here's a roundup:

Antibiotics in animal agriculture

USA Today does great editorial point/counterpoints and here is one from July 12 on use of antibiotics as growth promoters or as prophylactics in farm animals and poultry. This selects for antibiotic-resistant bacteria. If we get infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, too bad for us.
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Arrow Up

Meat with Antibiotics off the Menu at Some Hospitals

Monica Eng
Chicago Tribune
Sun, 18 Jul 2010 18:14 UTC
Concerned about drug-resistant pathogens, medical professionals push to limit antibiotic use in animal farming

The evening's menu featured grass-fed, antibiotic-free beef over pasta, fresh seasonal vegetables and fresh organic peaches - items right at home in the city's finest restaurants.

Instead, the dishes were prepared for visitors, staff and bed-bound patients at Swedish Covenant Hospital.

The Northwest Side hospital is one of 300 across the nation that have pledged to improve the quality and sustainability of the food they serve, not just for the health of their patients but, they say, the health of the environment and the U.S. population.

For many of these institutions, the initiative includes buying antibiotic-free meats. Administrators say they hope increased demand for those products will reduce the use of antibiotics to treat cattle and other animals, which scientists believe helps pathogens become more resistant to drugs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that antibiotic-resistant infections kill 60,000 Americans a year.
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Health

Patch heralds new era in battle against pandemics

Steve Connor
Theindependent.co.uk
Mon, 19 Jul 2010 03:01 UTC
Image
© PA
The patch consists of microneedles coated in flu vaccine which then dissolve

Scientists unveil an innovative and cheap method of delivering vaccines without the need for needles or medical experts

A revolutionary way of vaccinating against infectious diseases has been invented by scientists who have developed a skin patch containing an influenza vaccine.

The patch does away with needles and syringes and could transform the battle against future pandemics by painlessly inoculating patients with vaccines that could be sent out in the post and self-administered in the home by somebody with no medical experience.

In the developing world, the skin patches could eliminate the need for the costly medical infrastructure of mass-vaccination campaigns, which require trained medical personnel to inject vaccines, and expensive storage equipment. Skin patches also bypass the hazards of dirty needles.

The skin patch is "armed" with an array of microscopic needles made of biodegradable plastic that painlessly scratch the surface of the skin and dissolve harmlessly without trace after delivering the vaccine safely inside the body.

Tests have shown that the patch works just as well and possibly even better than conventional vaccines injected into the body with needles and syringes. The skin patches are biodegradable and, unlike dirty needles, there is no risk of accidental skin pricks and cross-contamination.

Comment: More about pandemics here.

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