Air pollution causes 200,000 early deaths each year in the U.S.

Researchers from MIT’s Laboratory for Aviation and the Environment have come out with some sobering new data on air pollution’s impact on Americans’ health.

The group tracked ground-level emissions from sources such as industrial smokestacks, vehicle tailpipes, marine and rail operations, and commercial and residential heating throughout the United States, and found that such air pollution causes about 200,000 early deaths each year.

Emissions from road transportation are the most significant contributor, causing 53,000 premature deaths, followed closely by power generation, with 52,000.

In a state-by-state analysis, the researchers found that California suffers the worst health impacts from air pollution, with about 21,000 early deaths annually, mostly attributed to road transportation and to commercial and residential emissions from heating and cooking.

The researchers also mapped local emissions in 5,695 U.S. cities, finding the highest emissions-related mortality rate in Baltimore, where 130 out of every 100,000 residents likely die in a given year due to long-term exposure to air pollution.

“In the past five to 10 years, the evidence linking air-pollution exposure to risk of early death has really solidified and gained scientific and political traction,” says Steven Barrett, an assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT. “There’s a realization that air pollution is a major problem in any city, and there’s a desire to do something about it.”

Barrett and his colleagues have published their results in the journal Atmospheric Environment.

Barrett says that a person who dies from an air pollution-related cause typically dies about a decade earlier than he or she otherwise might have. To determine the number of early deaths from air pollution, the team first obtained emissions data from the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Emissions Inventory, a catalog of emissions sources nationwide. The researchers collected data from the year 2005, the most recent data available at the time of the study.

They then divided the data into six emissions sectors: electric power generation; industry; commercial and residential sources; road transportation; marine transportation; and rail transportation. Barrett’s team fed the emissions data from all six sources into an air-quality simulation of the impact of emissions on particles and gases in the atmosphere.

To see where emissions had the greatest impact, they removed each sector of interest from the simulation and observed the difference in pollutant concentrations. The team then overlaid the resulting pollutant data on population-density maps of the United States to observe which populations were most exposed to pollution from each source.

Health impacts sector by sector

The greatest number of emissions-related premature deaths came from road transportation, with 53,000 early deaths per year attributed to exhaust from the tailpipes of cars and trucks.

“It was surprising to me just how significant road transportation was,” Barrett observes, “especially when you imagine [that] coal-fired power stations are burning relatively dirty fuel.”

One explanation may be that vehicles tend to travel in populated areas, increasing large populations’ pollution exposure, whereas power plants are generally located far from most populations and their emissions are deposited at a higher altitude.

Pollution from electricity generation still accounted for 52,000 premature deaths annually. The largest impact was seen in the east-central United States and in the Midwest: Eastern power plants tend to use coal with higher sulfur content than Western plants.

Unsurprisingly, most premature deaths due to commercial and residential pollution sources, such as heating and cooking emissions, occurred in densely populated regions along the East and West coasts. Pollution from industrial activities was highest in the Midwest, roughly between Chicago and Detroit, as well as around Philadelphia, Atlanta and Los Angeles. Industrial emissions also peaked along the Gulf Coast region, possibly due to the proximity of the largest oil refineries in the United States.

Southern California saw the largest health impact from marine-derived pollution, such as from shipping and port activities, with 3,500 related early deaths. Emissions-related deaths from rail activities were comparatively slight, and spread uniformly across the east-central part of the country and the Midwest.

While the study is based on data from 2005, Barrett says the results are likely representative of today’s pollution-related health risks.

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Lifelong exposure to low levels of pollution may have long-term health consequences

If you're eating better and exercising regularly, but still aren't seeing improvements in your health, there might be a reason: pollution. According to a new research report published in the September issue of The FASEB Journal, what you are eating and doing may not be the problem, but what's in what you are eating could be the culprit.

"This study adds evidences for rethinking the way of addressing risk assessment especially when considering that the human population is widely exposed to low levels of thousands of chemicals, and that the health impact of realistic mixtures of pollutants will have to be tested as well," said Brigitte Le Magueresse-Battistoni, a researcher involved in the work from the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM).

"Indeed, one pollutant could have a different effect when in mixture with other pollutants. Thus, our study may have strong implications in terms of recommendations for food security. Our data also bring new light to the understanding of the impact of environmental food contaminants in the development of metabolic diseases."

To make this discovery, scientists used two groups of obese mice. Both were fed a high-fat, high-sucrose enriched diet, with one group receiving a cocktail of pollutants added to its diet at a very low dosage. These pollutants were given to the mice throughout—from pre-conception to adulthood. Although the researchers did not observe toxicity or excess of weight gain in the group having received the cocktail of pollutants, they did see a deterioration of glucose tolerance in females, suggesting a defect in insulin signaling. Study results suggest that the mixture of pollutants reduced estrogen activity in the liver through enhancing an enzyme in charge of estrogen elimination. In contrast to females, glucose tolerance was not impacted in males exposed to the cocktail of pollutants. However, males did show some changes in liver related to cholesterol synthesis and transport. This study fuels the concept that pollutants may contribute to the current prevalence of chronic diseases including metabolic diseases and diabetes.

"This report that confirms something we've known for a long time: pollution is bad for us," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal. "But, what's equally important, it shows that evaluating food contaminants and pollutants on an individual basis may be too simplistic. We can see that when "safe" levels of contaminants and pollutants act together, they have significant impact on public health."

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Environmental Exposures in Utero? Researchers discover a potential cause of autism

Problems with a key group of enzymes called topoisomerases can have profound effects on the genetic machinery behind brain development and potentially lead to autism spectrum disorder (ASD), according to research announced today in the journal Nature.

Scientists at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine have described a finding that represents a significant advance in the hunt for environmental factors behind autism and lends new insights into the disorder's genetic causes.

"Our study shows the magnitude of what can happen if topoisomerases are impaired," said senior study author Mark Zylka, PhD, associate professor in the Neuroscience Center and the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology at UNC. "Inhibiting these enzymes has the potential to profoundly affect neurodevelopment -- perhaps even more so than having a mutation in any one of the genes that have been linked to autism."

The study could have important implications for ASD detection and prevention.

"This could point to an environmental component to autism," said Zylka. "A temporary exposure to a topoisomerase inhibitor in utero has the potential to have a long-lasting effect on the brain, by affecting critical periods of brain development. "

This study could also explain why some people with mutations in topoisomerases develop autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders.

Topiosomerases are enzymes found in all human cells. Their main function is to untangle DNA when it becomes overwound, a common occurrence that can interfere with key biological processes.

Most of the known topoisomerase-inhibiting chemicals are used as chemotherapy drugs. Zylka said his team is searching for other compounds that have similar effects in nerve cells. "If there are additional compounds like this in the environment, then it becomes important to identify them," said Zylka. "That's really motivating us to move quickly to identify other drugs or environmental compounds that have similar effects -- so that pregnant women can avoid being exposed to these compounds."

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Skin and food allergies can be result of skin cell 'glue' defeciency

Scientists say that they've found that a structural defect in skin cells that may contribute to allergy development, including skin and food allergies, traditionally thought to be related to a dysfunction of the immune system.

The finding is related to the team's identification of a new rare genetic disease, called "severe dermatitis, multiple allergies, and metabolic wasting," or SAM, caused by mutations in the molecule desmoglein 1.

"Desmoglein 1 is best understood as the 'glue' that holds the outer layer of human skin together," said Kathleen Green, Joseph L. Mayberry, Sr., Professor of Pathology and Toxicology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

"Historically, the molecule was mainly believed to have a structural role: this adhesion between cells contributes to the physical barrier that regulates water loss and also acts as the body's major defense against environmental elements. But there are a large number of molecules that form this barrier, distributed in a highly-patterned manner, prompting our team to hypothesize that they do more than just mediate adhesion."

Green's group at Northwestern worked with an international team that analyzed clinical data from two families, combined with genetic analysis including next-generation DNA sequencing and light and electron microscopy, among other techniques. They found that when desmoglein 1 does not properly function or does not exist, the resulting barrier disruption can affect the immune response, and consequences can be severe.

"This work is also significant because it suggests that in addition to impairing the physical barrier, loss of desmoglein 1 may more directly regulate expression of genes that control the immune response and contribute to allergy," says Green. "Conceptually, it allows us to build on previous studies and make conclusions about the importance of other structural proteins in the skin barrier."

Green notes that the finding, combined with recent published data, could eventually lead investigators to discover further connections between defects in structural molecules and less severe allergies such as atopic dermatitis, eczema and more common food allergies.
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Dangerous Mold Count in the U.S. Mid-West Triggers Air Quality Alert

The Midwest is experiencing dangerous levels of mold in the air. triggering the first "dangerous air" alert  for the 2013 allergy reporting season. The Gottlieb Allergy Count, the official allergy count for the Midwest, reports the mold count as 53,000, a high for 2013, and well over the 50,000 threshold that signals a dangerous air quality warning.

“The 90 degree heat, the humidity and the noxious levels of mold combined with the high levels of weed and ragweed pollen spell health hazards for many in the Midwest,” said Dr. Joseph Leija, allergist, who performs the Gottlieb Allergy Count, the only consistent allergy count for the Midwest. “Children are going back to school....and many may have their first sick day of the year due to breathing problems."

High mold counts may cause headaches, congestion, fatigue and runny noses to those with sensitive respiratory systems.

The Gottlieb Allergy Count is available free to the public at www.GottliebHospital.org

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High BPA Levels in Children Associated with Higher Risk of Obesity

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Children who have higher levels of Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical previously used in many products for kids, like baby bottle and plastic toys, had a higher odds of obesity and adverse levels of body fat, according to a new study from University of Michigan researchers.

The U-M team studied the levels of BPA found in children’s urine and then measured body fat, waist circumference, and cardiovascular and diabetes risk factors, in a study published today in Pediatrics.

BPA was previously widely used in the manufacturing of polycarbonate and epoxy resins used in a variety of products for children, including baby bottles, protective coatings on metal food containers, plastic toys, and dental sealants.

“Studies in adults had shown an association between high BPA levels and obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, but little was known about its effects in children,” says Donna Eng, M.D., lead author of the study and recent graduate of the Pediatric Endocrinology Fellowship at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital.

The study found that higher odds of obesity, defined as a BMI above the 95th percentile on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention growth curves, was associated with higher levels of urinary BPA. Researchers also found that children with higher BPA levels also were more likely to have an abnormal waist circumference-to-height ratio.

The study did not find significant associations of BPA with any other chronic disease factors, including abnormal levels of cholesterol, insulin or glucose levels.

“Our study suggests a possible link between BPA exposure and childhood obesity. We therefore need more longitudinal studies to determine if there is a causal link between BPA and excess body fat.” says Eng.

Manufacturers have been voluntarily recalling BPA products due to suspicion about the toxic effects on children and other vulnerable populations. Many countries, including Canada and members of the European Union, as well as several U.S. states, have banned BPA use in products frequently used by infants and young children.

In July 2012, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that baby bottles and children’s drinking cups could no longer contain BPA; however, this restriction does not apply to other BPA containing products.

“We were surprised that our study did not find an association between BPA and measures of cardiovascular and diabetes risk, which has been established among adults,” says Joyce Lee, M.D., M.P.H, associate professor of Pediatrics at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital.

“Based on these results, BPA may not have adverse effects on cardiovascular and diabetes risk, but it’s certainly possible that the adverse effects of BPA could compound over time, with health effects that only later manifest in adulthood,” says Lee, an investigator in U-M’s Child Health Evaluation and Research Unit and assistant professor of Environmental Health Sciences in the U-M School of Public Health.

Investigators hope the study will prompt more research into BPA’s effects that can inform future policy regulating children’s consumer products.

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Study: If you're asthmatic and live on a busy street, it's time to move

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Asthma sufferers frequently exposed to traffic pollution or smoke from wood-stoves or fireplaces, experienced a significant worsening of symptoms, according to a new study.

The results revealed adult asthmatics who were exposed to heavy traffic pollution experienced an 80 per cent increase in symptoms and those exposed to wood smoke from wood fires experienced an 11 per cent increase in symptoms.

Asthma affects more than 300 million people worldwide and is one of the most chronic health conditions.

Dr John Burgess of the School of Population Health at the University of Melbourne and a co-author on the study said that it is now recommended that adults who suffer asthma should not live on busy roads and that the use of old wood heaters should be upgraded to newer heaters, to ensure their health does not worsen.

Traffic exhaust is thought to exacerbate asthma through airway inflammation. Particles from heavy vehicles exhaust have been shown to enhance allergic inflammatory responses in sensitised people who suffer asthma.

“Our study also revealed a connection between the inhalation of wood smoke exposure and asthma severity and that the use of wood for heating is detrimental to health in communities...where use of wood burning is common,” Dr Burgess said.

"Clean burning practices and the replacement of old polluting wood stoves by new ones are likely to minimise both indoor and outdoor wood smoke pollution and improve people's health," he said.

The study revealed no association between traffic pollution and wood smoke and the onset of asthma.

It was published in the journal Respirology.

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Video: Environmental Exposures and Autism

Prof. Irva Hertz-Picciotto discusses possible causes of autism, a pervasive developmental disorder defined by lack of social reciprocity and communications skills combined with repetitive behavior.  In the U.S., 1 in 88 children have autism. In California, autism prevalence increased 600% from 1990 - 2001, partly by better detection.  Both genes and environment contribute to autism.  Exposures of concern include environmental chemicals, microbes such as rubella, fertility treatments, and medications.



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Must See Video: 3 minute peek at the harm of plastic pollution from @midwayjourney

"Do we have the courage to face the realities of our time...?"

A beautiful, heartbreaking and shocking film...




For more about the film visit http://www.midwayfilm.com/about.html
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Video: Impacts of chemicals on the young brain; presentation

Professor Deborah Cory-Slechta of the University of Rochester School of Medicine shows how environmental contaminants such as lead and mercury and social stressors share the same pathways to causing neurodevelopmental effects on children's brains and learning abilities.



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Children with allergy, asthma, milk intolerance may be at higher risk for ADHD

The number of children being diagnosed with attention-deficit disorder (ADHD), allergy and asthma is increasing in the United States. And according to a new study, there might be a link between the growth of these three conditions.

The study, published in the August issue of Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the scientific journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), found there is an increased risk of ADHD in boys that have a history of allergy or asthma.

"ADHD, a chronic mental health disorder, is most commonly found in males, while asthma is also more common in young boys than girls," said Eelko Hak, lead study author. "We found there is an increased risk of ADHD in boys with a history of asthma and an even stronger risk associated with milk intolerance."

Researchers in the Netherlands and Boston studied 884 boys with ADHD and 3,536 boys without the disorder. Of the children with ADHD, 34 percent had asthma and 35 percent had an allergic disorder. The study suggests medications used to treat these conditions may be associated with an increased ADHD risk.

"Further research is needed to understand why there appears to be an increased risk of developing ADHD in children with allergy and asthma," said Gailen Marshall, MD, editor-in-chief of Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. "Medications for these conditions far outweigh the risks, and can be life-saving in some conditions. Treatment should not be stopped, unless advised by a board-certified allergist."

According to the ACAAI, allergy and asthma often run in families. If both parents have an allergy a child has a 75 percent chance of being allergic. If neither parent has allergy, the chance of a child developing an allergy is only 10 to 15 percent. Allergists also know allergies and asthma are linked. An estimated 60 to 80 percent of children with asthma also have an allergy. While the cause of ADHD is unknown, this disorder is also thought to run in families.
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Video: Presentation on air pollution and pre-term birth

Dr. Amy Padula of Stanford University discusses how women who are exposed to traffic-related air pollution during pregnancy tend to have pre-term birth babies, especially for those exposed in the second trimester.  

 

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Use a night light? Use a red bulb or risk mood changes

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When it comes to some of the health hazards of light at night, a new study suggests that the color of the light can make a big difference.

In a study involving hamsters, researchers found that blue light had the worst effects on mood-related measures, followed closely by white light.

But hamsters exposed to red light at night had significantly less evidence of depressive-like symptoms and changes in the brain linked to depression, compared to those that experienced blue or white light.

The only hamsters that fared better than those exposed to red light were those that had total darkness at night.

The findings may have important implications for humans, particularly those whose work on night shifts makes them susceptible to mood disorders, said Randy Nelson, co-author of the study and professor of neuroscience and psychology at The Ohio State University.

“Our findings suggest that if we could use red light when appropriate for night-shift workers, it may not have some of the negative effects on their health that white light does,” Nelson said.

The research examined the role of specialized photosensitive cells in the retina -- called ipRGCs -- that don’t have a major role in vision, but detect light and send messages to a part of the brain that helps regulate the body’s circadian clock. This is the body’s master clock that helps determine when people feel sleepy and awake.

Other research suggests these light-sensitive cells also send messages to parts of the brain that play a role in mood and emotion.

“Light at night may result in parts of the brain regulating mood receiving signals during times of the day when they shouldn’t,” said co-author Tracy Bedrosian, a former graduate student at Ohio State who is now a postdoctoral researcher at the Salk Institute. “This may be why light at night seems to be linked to depression in some people.”

What people experience as different colors of light are actually lights of different wavelengths. The ipRGCs don’t appear to react to light of different wavelengths in the same way.

“These cells are most sensitive to blue wavelengths and least sensitive to red wavelengths,” Nelson said. “We wanted to see how exposure to these different color wavelengths affected the hamsters.”

In one experiment, the researchers exposed adult female Siberian hamsters to four weeks each of nighttime conditions with no light, dim red light, dim white light (similar to that found in normal light bulbs) or dim blue light.

They then did several tests with the hamsters that are used to check for depressive-like symptoms. For example, if the hamsters drink less-than-normal amounts of sugar water -- a treat they normally enjoy -- that is seen as evidence of a mood problem.

Results showed that hamsters that were kept in the dark at night drank the most sugar water, followed closely by those exposed to red light. Those that lived with dim white or blue light at night drank significantly less of the sugar water than the others.

After the testing, the researchers then examined the hippocampus regions of the brains of the hamsters.

Hamsters that spent the night in dim blue or white light had a significantly reduced density of dendritic spines compared to those that lived in total darkness or that were exposed to only red light. Dendritic spines are hairlike growths on brain cells that are used to send chemical messages from one cell to another.

A lowered density of these dendritic spines has been linked to depression, Nelson said.

“The behavior tests and changes in brain structure in hamsters both suggest that the color of lights may play a key role in mood,” he said.

“In nearly every measure we had, hamsters exposed to blue light were the worst off, followed by those exposed to white light,” he said. “While total darkness was best, red light was not nearly as bad as the other wavelengths we studied.”

Nelson and Bedrosian said they believe these results may be applicable to humans.

In addition to shift workers, others may benefit from limiting their light at night from computers, televisions and other electronic devices, they said. And, if light is needed, the color may matter.

“If you need a night light in the bathroom or bedroom, it may be better to have one that gives off red light rather than white light,” Bedrosian said.

The study appears in the The Journal of Neuroscience.

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Video: Exhaust Causes Asthma 2013 Presentation from USC

We have known for some time that regional air pollution exacerbates asthma. Now Dr. Rob S. McConnell, Professor of Preventive Medicine at the University of Southern California presents emerging evidence from the Southern California Children's Environmental Health Center http://hydra.usc.edu/cehc/ showing that the air pollution mixture near roadways from vehicles also causes childhood asthma.



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Great-grandma's cigarette habit could be the cause of child's asthma

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With some 300 million people around the world living with asthma, a study by Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (LA BioMed) found for the first time that maternal smoking can cause the third generation of offspring to suffer from the chronic lung disease.

The study, published online by the American Journal of Physiology - Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology, reported that maternal nicotine exposure during pregnancy is linked to asthma in the third generation in disease models. This is known as a "transgenerational" linkage because the third generation was never directly exposed to nicotine or smoking. Previous research had found nicotine exposure was linked to asthma in the second generation, or was a "multigenerational" cause of asthma.

"Even though there are multiple causes for childhood asthma, research linking this serious chronic condition to maternal nicotine exposure during pregnancy for up to three generations should give mothers-to-be even more reasons to reconsider smoking," said Virender K. Rehan, MD, an LA BioMed lead researcher and the corresponding author of the study. "Eliminating the use of tobacco during pregnancy could help halt the rise in childhood asthma and ensure healthier children for generations to come."

Worldwide, approximately 250 million women smoke daily, and the number of people living with asthma is expected to grow by about a third by 2025, reaching approximately 400 million. Twelve percent of women in the U.S. continue to smoke during pregnancy, resulting in the birth of at least 400,000 smoke-exposed infants per year in the U.S. alone.

In previous studies, the researchers have concluded that the cause of the second generation's asthma was epigenetic modification (an environmental factor causing a genetic change). Nicotine was affecting both the lung cells and the sex cells in ways that caused the lungs that developed from those cells to develop abnormally, causing asthma. The current study "paves the way for determining the epigenetic mechanisms" behind smoking and the transmission of asthma to future generations, the researchers concluded.

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A greener plastic? Try one made from vegetable oil...

ACS Publications

A new process can convert a wide variety of vegetable and animal fats and oils -- ranging from lard to waste cooking oil -- into a key ingredient for making plastics that currently comes from petroleum, scientists say. Their report on the first-of-its-kind process appears in the journal ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering.

Douglas Neckers and Maria Muro-Small explain that many of the plastics found in hundreds of everyday products begin with a group of chemical raw materials termed olefins that come from petroleum. They include ethylene, propylene and butadiene, which are building blocks for familiar plastics like polyethylene, polyester, polyvinyl chloride and polystyrene. The scientists sought a more sustainable alternative source of olefins.

Their report describes use of "UV-C" light -- used in sanitizing wands to kill bacteria and viruses around the house -- to change lard, tallow, olive oil, canola oil and waste canola cooking oil into olefins. Neckers and Muro-Small say that this is the first report on use of this photochemical process to make olefins.

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Pollutants from incense causes lung inflammation

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Burning incense generates indoor air pollutants that may cause inflammation in human lung cells, say researchers in the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Previous studies have associated incense smoke with a number of health problems, including eye, nose, throat and skin irritation; respiratory symptoms, including asthma; headaches; exacerbation of cardiovascular disease; and changes in lung-cell structure.

Indoor air pollution is an international health concern. The World Health Organization estimates that more than 1 million people a year die from chronic obstructive respiratory disease (COPD), primarily a result of exposure to pollutants from cook stoves and open hearths. Burning incense releases similar pollutants, including carbon monoxide.

In the current study, the authors identified and measured the particles and gases emitted from two kinds of common incense. The testing was done over three hours, the typical timeframe during which incense is burned, in a specially designed indoor environmental chamber.

The researchers analyzed both particulate concentrations and levels of gases such as carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen and formaldehyde.

Human lung cells were placed in the chamber to expose them to the smoke, then incubated for 24 hours to allow particulates to settle and the cells to respond. The resulting inflammatory response, a hallmark of asthma and other respiratory problems, was similar to that of lung cells exposed to cigarette smoke.

Incense is burned weekly in about 94 percent of households in the United Arab Emirates as a cultural practice to perfume clothing and air and to remove cooking odors. Since people there spend more than 90 percent of their time indoors, researchers said, indoor air pollution has become a source of increasing concern.

Adding to the concern is that charcoal briquettes frequently are used to ignite and burn the incense. That adds significantly to potentially harmful levels of carbon monoxide and other pollutants, they noted.

Two types of incense (Oudh and Bahkoor) are most often used. Both are made with agarwood, which is taken from trees that develop an aromatic smell in response to fungal infection. Bahkoor has a number of additives, including sandalwood tree resin, essential oils and other substances.

Researchers found that both types of incense emitted significant amounts of particles, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, and oxides of nitrogen, resulting in the cellular inflammatory response.

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Inflammatory on and off switch identified for allergic asthma and COPD

Japanese researchers have made a new step toward understanding why—and how to stop—runaway inflammation for both chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) and allergic asthma.

In a new report appearing in the August 2013 issue of The FASEB Journal scientists show that two receptors of an inflammatory molecule, called "leukotriene B4," play opposing roles in turning inflammation on and off for allergic asthma and COPD. The first receptor, called "BLT1," promotes inflammation, while the second receptor, called "BLT2," has a potential to weaken inflammation during an allergic reaction. This discovery also is important because until now, BLT2 was believed to increase inflammatory reaction.

"Leukotriene B4 levels are elevated in the airways of the patients with asthma and COPD, and the opposite role of BLT1 and BLT2 in allergic inflammation implies that drug development should target BLT1 and BLT2 differently," said Hiromasa Inoue, M.D., study author from the Department of Pulmonary Medicine at the Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences at Kagoshima University in Kagoshima, Japan. "We hope that better anti-asthma drugs or anti-COPD drugs will be produced in the future to treat millions of patients who suffer from severe asthma and COPD."

To make this discovery, scientists compared the allergic reactions in BLT2-gene deleted mice to those in normal mice. Then an allergic asthma reaction was provoked by inhalation of allergens. BLT2-gene deleted mice showed more inflammatory cells in the lung compared to normal mice. Without the BLT2 gene, lung allergic inflammation was stronger than that of normal mice. The production of interleukin-13, an important mediator of allergic inflammation from T lymphocytes, was increased in the group without the BLT2 gene. Results suggest that targeting these two receptors differently and/or separately could achieve vastly different outcomes. Conventional anti-leukotriene B4 drugs block both of the pathways induced by BLT1 and BLT2. By manipulating the specific target, it may be possible to develop more effective anti-leukotriene B4 drugs.

"This is one case where BLT isn't a sandwich! Distinguishing between BLT1 and BLT2 is an important step forward to developing more effective drugs for lung inflammation," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal. "Understanding the specific roles of these and other receptors allow researchers to identify new drug targets, which in turn can lead to new and more effective drugs."

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New analysis sheds light on the links between chemicals in our body and income

A new study published this week has found that the build-up of harmful chemicals in the body is affecting people of all social standings -- not just those from economically deprived backgrounds as previously thought.

The research has been led by Dr Jessica Tyrrell from the University of Exeter Medical School's European Centre for Environment & Human Health, in Truro, Cornwall.



Using data from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the team analysed possible links between a person's socioeconomic status and the prevalence of chemicals in their body.

They found that people across the poverty spectrum were accumulating chemicals in their bodies but, importantly, that it was the type of toxicant that was dependent upon economic status.

Dr Tyrrell and the team were not expecting their findings to contradict the conventional thinking that lower socioeconomic status will lead to a greater prevalence of harmful elements in the body:

"We've found that as people become better off, changes in their lifestyle alter the types of chemicals in their bodies, rather than reducing the overall amount. This realisation has a profound impact on the way we treat chemical build ups, suggesting we should move to dealing with groups based on lifestyle, rather than earnings."

By comparing the results from 6 separate populations, the researchers have been able to show strong associations between 18 different chemicals and poverty ratings.

Individuals with higher incomes had larger amounts of several toxicants, including urinary mercury, arsenic, caesium and thallium, with diet likely to play a key role in their accumulation.

"The age old adage of 'you are what you eat' seems to be true when explaining some of the trends we're seeing in the data. It's certainly very likely that fish and shellfish consumption is partially responsible for build-ups in mercury, arsenic and thallium" says Dr Tyrrell.

The use of sunscreen was also found to be an important factor in the accumulation of benzophenone-3, with people from higher socioeconomic groups more likely to use products containing the chemical.

Those with lower incomes were more likely to have build-ups of urinary lead, cadmium, antimony and bisphenol A. Cigarette smoking and a poor diet were amongst the factors likely to lead to the build-up of both lead and cadmium in these groups.

"Long term exposure to chemicals, even in very small quantities, can lead to a number of adverse health effects such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. This study has produced a robust analysis of how the accumulation of these chemicals relates to socioeconomic status, giving us an important understanding that will help to inform strategies aimed at improving health" Dr Tyrrell concludes.

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Higher cancer incidences found in regions near refineries and plants that release benzene

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The incidence of a particular type of blood cancer is significantly higher in regions near facilities that release the chemical benzene into the environment. That is the conclusion of a new study published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. This and other studies like it will be critical to identifying and enacting public health policies to decrease or prevent cancer.

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma has been on the rise over the past few decades as industrial production in the United States has expanded. Benzene is one chemical carcinogen linked to blood cancers. Working with Dr. Christopher Flowers and colleagues in the Lymphoma Program at Emory University in Atlanta, Catherine Bulka, MPH, used publicly available data from the Environmental Protection Agency and the US Census Bureau to analyse the geographic patterns of non-Hodgkin lymphoma cases in the state of Georgia between 1999 and 2008. This group examined the associations between new cases of lymphoma and the locations of facilities—such as petroleum refineries and manufacturing plants—that released benzene into the surrounding air or water.

The investigators found that the metro-Atlanta region, Augusta, and Savannah had the highest incidences of non-Hodgkin lymphoma even when controlling for population size as well as for age, sex, and race demographics of the local region. Also, the incidence of non-Hodgkin lymphoma was significantly greater than expected surrounding benzene release sites located in the metro-Atlanta area and surrounding one benzene release site in Savannah. For every mile the average distance to benzene release sites increased, there was a 0.31 percent decrease in the risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

"Our study is the first to examine the relationship between passive benzene exposure and the incidence of non-Hodgkin lymphoma at the state population level," said Bulka. "Our findings are limited without similar studies to corroborate our results, but we hope that our research will inform readers of the potential risks of living near facilities that release carcinogens into the air, groundwater, or soil," she added.