Tag: chemical industry and chemicals

Blueberries have joined green beans in this year’s Dirty Dozen list | CNN

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CNN
 — 

Blueberries, beloved by nutritionists for their anti-inflammatory properties, have joined fiber-rich green beans in this year’s Dirty Dozen of nonorganic produce with the most pesticides, according to the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit environmental health organization.

In the 2023 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce, researchers analyzed testing data on 46,569 samples of 46 fruits and vegetables conducted by the US Department of Agriculture. Each year, a rotating list of produce is tested by USDA staffers who wash, peel or scrub fruits and vegetables as consumers would before the food is examined for 251 different pesticides.

As in 2022, strawberries and spinach continued to hold the top two spots on the Dirty Dozen, followed by three greens — kale, collard and mustard. Listed next were peaches, pears, nectarines, apples, grapes, bell and hot peppers, and cherries. Blueberries and green beans were 11th and 12th on the list.

A total of 210 pesticides were found on the 12 foods, the report said. Kale, collard and mustard greens contained the largest number of different pesticides — 103 types — followed by hot and bell peppers at 101.

Dirty Dozen 2023

2023 Dirty Dozen (most to least contaminated)

  • Strawberries
  • Spinach
  • Kale, collard and mustard greens
  • Peaches
  • Pears
  • Nectarines
  • Apples
  • Grapes
  • Bell and hot peppers
  • Cherries
  • Blueberries
  • Green beans

    • “Some of the USDA’s tests show traces of pesticides long since banned by the Environmental Protection Agency. Much stricter federal regulation and oversight of these chemicals is needed,” the report said.

    “Pesticides are toxic by design,” said Jane Houlihan, former senior vice president of research for EWG. She was not involved in the report.

    “They are intended to harm living organisms, and this inherent toxicity has implications for children’s health, including potential risk for hormone dysfunction, cancer, and harm to the developing brain and nervous system,” said Houlihan, who is now research director for Healthy Babies, Bright Futures, an organization dedicated to reducing babies’ exposures to neurotoxic chemicals.

    There is good news, though. Concerned consumers can consider choosing conventionally grown vegetables and fruits from the EWG’s Clean 15, a list of crops that tested lowest in pesticides, the report said. Nearly 65% of the foods on the list had no detectable levels of pesticide.

    2023 Clean 15

    2023 Clean 15 (least to most contaminated)

  • Avocados
  • Sweet corn
  • Pineapple
  • Onions
  • Papaya
  • Frozen sweet peas
  • Asparagus
  • Honeydew melon
  • Kiwi
  • Cabbage
  • Mushrooms
  • Mangoes
  • Sweet potatoes
  • Watermelon
  • Carrots

    • Avocados topped 2023’s list of least contaminated produce again this year, followed by sweet corn in second place. Pineapple, onions and papaya, frozen sweet peas, asparagus, honeydew melon, kiwi, cabbage, mushrooms, mangoes, sweet potatoes, watermelon, and carrots made up the rest of the list.

    Being exposed to a variety of foods without pesticides is especially important during pregnancy and throughout childhood, experts say. Developing children need the combined nutrients but are also harder hit by contaminants such as pesticides.

    “Pesticide exposure during pregnancy may lead to an increased risk of birth defects, low birth weight, and fetal death,” the American Academy of Pediatrics noted. “Exposure in childhood has been linked to attention and learning problems, as well as cancer.”

    The AAP suggests parents and caregivers consult the shopper’s guide if they are concerned about their child’s exposure to pesticides.

    Houlihan, director of Healthy Babies, Bright Futures, agreed: “Every choice to reduce pesticides in the diet is a good choice for a child.”

    Nearly 90% of blueberry and green bean samples had concerning findings, the report said.

    In 2016, the last time green beans were inspected, samples contained 51 different pesticides, according to the report. The latest round of testing found 84 different pest killers, and 6% of samples tested positive for acephate, an insecticide banned from use in the vegetable in 2011 by the EPA.

    “One sample of non-organic green beans had acephate at a level 500 times greater than the limit set by the EPA,” said Alexis Temkin, a senior toxicologist at the EWG with expertise in toxic chemicals and pesticides.

    When last tested in 2014, blueberries contained over 50 different pesticides. Testing in 2020 and 2021 found 54 different pesticides — about the same amount. Two insecticides, phosmet and malathion, were found on nearly 10% of blueberry samples, though the levels decreased over the past decade.

    Acephate, phosmet and malathion are organophosphates, which interfere with the normal function of the nervous system, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    A high dose of these chemicals can cause difficulty breathing, nausea, a lower heart rate, vomiting, weakness, paralysis and seizures, the CDC said. If exposed over an extended time to smaller amounts, people may “feel tired or weak, irritable, depressed, or forgetful.”

    Why would levels of some pesticides be higher today than in the past?

    “We do see drops in some pesticides since the early ’90s when the Food Quality Protection Act was put into place,” Temkin said. “But we’re also seeing increases of other pesticides that have been substituted in their place which may not be any safer. That’s why there’s a push towards overall reduction in pesticide use.”

    Chris Novak, president and CEO of CropLife America, an industry association, told CNN the report “willfully misrepresented” the USDA data.

    “Farmers use pesticides to control insects and fungal diseases that threaten the healthfulness and safety of fruits and vegetables,” Novak said via email. “Misinformation about pesticides and various growing methods breeds hesitancy and confusion, resulting in many consumers opting to skip fresh produce altogether.”

    The Institute of Food Technologists, an industry association, told CNN that emphasis should be placed on meeting the legal limits of pesticides established by significant scientific consensus.

    “We all agree that the best-case scenario of pesticide residues would be as close to zero as possible and there should be continued science-based efforts to further reduce residual pesticides,” said Bryan Hitchcock, IFT’s chief science and technology officer.

    Many fruits and veggies with higher levels of pesticides are critical to a balanced diet, so don’t give them up, experts say. Instead, avoid most pesticides by choosing to eat organic versions of the most contaminated crops. While organic foods are not more nutritious, the majority have little to no pesticide residue, Temkin said.

    “If a person switches to an organic diet, the levels of pesticides in their urine rapidly decrease,” Temkin told CNN. “We see it time and time again.”

    If organic isn’t available or too pricey, “I would definitely recommend peeling and washing thoroughly with water,” Temkin said. “Steer away from detergents or other advertised items. Rinsing with water will reduce pesticide levels.”

    Additional tips on washing produce, provided by the US Food and Drug Administration, include:

    • Handwashing with warm water and soap for 20 seconds before and after preparing fresh produce.
    • Rinsing produce before peeling, so dirt and bacteria aren’t transferred from the knife onto the fruit or vegetable.
    • Using a clean vegetable brush to scrub firm produce like apples and melons.
    • Drying the produce with a clean cloth or paper towel to further reduce bacteria that may be present.

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    EPA proposes new regulations on toxic gas used to sterilize spices and medical equipment | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The US Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday proposed a set of new restrictions on facilities that use the cancer-causing chemical ethylene oxide, a colorless, odorless gas that is used to sterilize medical devices and spices.

    The agency said the new rules, which have not been finalized, would help to reduce ethylene oxide gas that these facilities release by 80%, bringing emissions below a Clean Air Act standard for elevated cancer risk.

    Communities exposed to ethylene oxide gas have been pushing the EPA to put tighter controls on plants that use ethylene oxide gas.

    In 2018, an EPA report found that dozens of communities across the nation faced elevated cancer risks because of trace of amounts of ethylene oxide released into air as part of the sterilization process.

    The EPA issued the report on the new risks without issuing a news release, as it had done for the same report in years past. Some affected communities learned of the risk through a health assessment conducted by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a division of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and media reports. A report from the EPA’s Office of the Inspector General found that some communities weren’t alerted to their risk by EPA at all.

    The elevated risk became apparent after a two-decade long review of the toxicity of ethylene oxide by scientists in EPA’s Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) program.

    While the EPA acknowledged that ethylene oxide was more dangerous that had been previously understood, it continued to use an older set of rules to regulate facilities that released ethylene oxide as well as companies that manufacture it.

    The proposed rules aim to better align regulations on the producers and users of ethylene oxide with the cancer risk posed by the chemical. They follow a set of proposed rules issued by EPA last week that would put new controls on facilities that manufacture ethylene oxide.

    Taken together, the two sets of rules would remove 77 tons of ethylene oxide emissions a year, an 84% reduction compared with 2020 levels, EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe said in a call with reporters on Tuesday.

    Environmental watchdog groups applauded the proposed restrictions, but noted that they don’t go far enough to protect vulnerable communities, where residents are often low-income and disproportionately people of color.

    “These regulations are long overdue, by almost a decade. I’m relieved and pleased that the EPA has finally issued proposed standards that are based on their own scientists’ recommendations on an updated, higher cancer risk value. If enacted, these updated regulations would reduce emissions in fenceline communities,” said Darya Minovi, a senior researcher scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

    “When the EPA issues the final rule, they should throw the net wider. The standard should cover a larger range of facilities to include off-site warehouses that often store recently sterilized equipment that continue to release ethylene oxide, but aren’t regulated for their air emissions.”

    Minovi also said the EPA should require fenceline monitors – devices that constantly read the air outside of facilities to make sure that toxic gas isn’t drifting into neighborhoods.

    Jaime Rukstales, a member of the Illinois grassroots advocacy group Stop EtO in Lake County – one of the communities impacted by ethylene oxide pollution – says the EPA needs to impose tougher restrictions on “all types of facilities that impact the health of our communities … including sterilizers, manufacturers and warehouses near our homes, schools and businesses.”

    Some off-site warehouses used to store newly sterilized products have registered high levels of ethylene oxide due to off-gassing of the products.

    Meanwhile, chemical manufacturers sued the EPA in February over its updated hazard assessment for ethylene oxide. The industry wants the agency to use a less protective standard developed by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

    AdvaMed, a group that lobbies for the interests of medical device manufacturers, warned that more regulations could pose problems for patients.

    “If new EPA regulations force sterilization facilities to close, patients could face treatment delays as sterile technology supplies, such as pacemakers and surgical equipment, fall short,” Scott Whitaker, president and CEO of AdvaMed, said in a comment posted on the group’s website.

    The EPA said some commercial sterilizers have already made the planned changes.

    “Many sterilization and health care facilities are already taking the steps outlined in the proposal and have seen emissions drop significantly,” McCabe said.

    Most facilities have taken action to control ethylene oxide blown out of sterilization chambers through exhaust vents known as “back vents” but only 25% to 33% of sterilizers are controlling so-called fugitive emissions, ethylene oxide that escapes or leaks into room air, said Jonathan Witt, an environmental engineer and technical lead on EPA’s review of the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants.

    “So we think it’s a good sizable chunk of the industry, but still a little ways to go,” Witt said on a call with reporters.

    If the rules go into effect, sterilizers would have 18 months to make the changes, which the EPA said is an accelerated time frame under the Clean Air Act.

    AdvaMed’s Whitaker says that’s not enough time.

    “It could take many months for abatement equipment to arrive. Supply chains and manufacturing are still recovering from the pandemic,” he noted in the statement.

    In issuing the proposed rules, the EPA said it aimed to strike a balance between lowing cancer risks for impacted communities and workers who use ethylene oxide while preserving “critical sterilization capabilities.”

    The proposed rules would apply to 86 commercial sterilization facilities in the United States that use ethylene oxide gas to fumigate spices and medical devices.

    The EPA says 20 billion medical devices – mostly single-use, disposable items used in health care such as catheters, gloves and surgical gowns – are sterilized using ethylene oxide.

    The US Food and Drug Administration is actively exploring alternatives to the use of the gas, the EPA said on Tuesday, but some devices still can’t be sterilized any other way.

    In proposing the new rules, EPA said its new analysis found that exposure to ethylene oxide, or EtO, on the job significantly increased cancer risks for workers in sterilization facilities and those who apply ethylene oxide in health care facilities.

    “Now, a new EPA analysis shows that there may also be significant risks to workers who handle [ethylene oxide] and people who live, work or go to school near places where EtO is used in sterilization. And failing to take action to address these risks is simply unacceptable,” EPA Administrator Janet McCabe said on a call with reporters.

    The additional lifetime cancer risk for a worker exposed to ethylene oxide for eight hours a day, 240 days a year for 35 years was between 1 in 10 and 1 in 36 for workers in sterilization facilities; and between 1 in 12 and 1 in 25 for workers exposed to ethylene oxide in health care facilities.

    To help lower those risks, the proposed rules require greater use of personal protective equipment for workers and new controls to decrease the amount of ethylene oxide in indoor air.

    Whitaker from AdvaMed, the medical device industry group, said the cancer risk for employees exposed to ethylene oxide on the job is overstated and disregards “the strong employee protections already in practice.”

    Companies will also be required to use new real-time monitoring methods to confirm that these pollution controls are working inside facilities. These controls can measure ethylene oxide in indoor air down to 10 parts per billion. If ethylene oxide levels climb above this threshold, everyone in the workplace would be required to wear protective equipment.

    They will also lower the amount of ethylene oxide that can be used for each sterilization cycle. The EPA is proposing to limit the application rate for ethylene oxide to no more than 500 milligrams per liter of air.

    The rules would eliminate some niche uses of ethylene oxide where alternatives exist, including its use in museums, archival settings, beekeeping, some cosmetics, and in musical instruments.

    The EPA will take public comment on the new rules for 60 days. The agency will also host a virtual public webinar on May 1 to discuss its proposed rules and new risk assessment.

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    Let your pantry work for you with these easy kitchen organization tweaks | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Home organization shows can be simultaneously uplifting and deflating with rows of matching containers on every shelf of the pantry and cabinets. Typically they’re in a gleaming white kitchen, no less.

    Let’s leave the aesthetics aside for a moment, because I will be honest and tell you that I do not own a gorgeous kitchen. It is downright ugly in many respects, but it is functional. And function is the reason I’m making the argument that you should store your pantry ingredients in containers.

    Even if you’re not using matched sets of brand-new modular storage or bins (and I’m not suggesting that you do), decanting ingredients from their bags and other packaging into containers is a smart move. Here’s why I do it and why I believe everyone should start containing their ingredients.

    There’s no one-size-fits-all solution for pantry storage because every kitchen layout has its own specific challenges. However, a general rule of thumb is that containers are simpler to store in cupboards and on shelves than bags.

    Instead of piling bags and digging through the stack to find what you’re looking for, containers are stackable and easily movable. One wrong grab can send a cascade of snack bags or granola bars crashing to the floor, but containers keep food in check.

    Both glass and plastic are durable, though families with kids frequently prefer plastic containers because of the weight and breakability factor. As for round versus square containers, “round ones don’t maximize the space in between” as effectively as square or rectangular containers do, said Shara Kay, a Los Angeles-based certified professional organizer and owner of SK Organizing.

    My pantry storage situation includes a mix of airtight plastic rectangular containers, glass mason jars, larger restaurant-style food storage bins and repurposed containers — all from various brands in various sizes. Some are ingredient-specific, such as those for my brown sugar and granulated sugar, and others are generic containers.

    For those with deep pantry shelves, a hybrid solution — aka “containers for your containers” — might be necessary. Open-top or open-front pantry storage bins can help group similar items together and allow you to pull out one large container rather than a lot of small jars or canisters. This works well for keeping ingredients such as baking soda, baking powder, vanilla extract and other baking-related items together.

    If your shelves are less than 12 inches deep, according to Kay, you may not want to double up on bins. But if you have a deeper reach-in pantry, “you probably do, because things will get lost in the back.”

    In my pantry, I have a mix of purchased bins and repurposed open box-style containers, including a few old letter trays from my office that hold small mason jars of my granola, dried fruit and other breakfast snacks.

    Clear containers can help people visualize what they have immediately, Kay said, making it easy to see if there’s enough penne in the pantry for tonight’s dinner or if it’s time to restock the black bean stash. If you always end up buying an extra box of pasta because you can’t remember what you have on hand, containers may help with overbuying.

    Airtight containers also keep snacks and other loose items from losing their crunch too quickly. “If you’re taking a long time to consume things and they’re going stale,” Kay said, “that’s a good instance to decant.” Bag clips can’t maintain an airtight seal, but if you store your half-open bags of Cheez-Its in a sealable container, you’re winning the war.

    Clear containers can help people keep track visually of what ingredients they have on hand.

    However, you’ll still need to do routine pantry maintenance to make sure you’re not leaving foods in bins for too long. It’s smart to use the first-in, first-out rule with your ingredients, whether they’re in the pantry, fridge or freezer.

    I personally don’t buy so much food that I won’t use it before it goes stale or past its expiration date, but if that’s an issue in your house, keep track with writable stickers on your containers and bins. And if you have a few handfuls of ingredients left, Kay said, “when you’re decanting, use up the stuff at the bottom before adding to the top.”

    No one wants to believe they could get pests in their pantry, but it’s better to think about this situation before it happens. And as someone who lives in a century-old home, I’m here to give you the news firsthand: The pests will take the smallest opportunity to invade every single time.

    Whether plastic or glass, sealed containers are the best line of defense against rodents and insects. Kay’s rule is “the more airtight, the better,” but I’ll go one further. Containers beat bags every time because I have yet to meet a mouse, ant or moth that can penetrate a rigid container. And I unfortunately can’t say the same for store packaging — even sealed cardboard boxes.

    As convincing as my argument for containers may be, it doesn’t mean you have to buy out your local home goods store immediately. Start with the containers you have on hand, such as mason jars or plastic bins. Or if you need to buy a set of containers, “start with five and see how it goes,” Kay said. “If it’s working for you, then acquire more.”

    Brand-new containers aren't necessary. Start with what you have, such as mason jars or plastic bins.

    Similarly, “don’t go decanting every single snack in your pantry on the first go-round,” Kay added. She recommends starting with baking staples such as flour and sugar as well as other items that are usually scooped and measured incrementally rather than all at once. Rice or grains and dried beans are ideal candidates, as are nuts and dried fruit.

    For those who still want to keep ingredients in their bagged packaging, you have two options. One is to store your open bags of snacks in larger sealable containers, as mentioned earlier, and the second is to stack your bags in open-top bins.

    “My family won’t eat some food if it’s not in the original packaging because they’re drawn to the original packaging,” Kay admitted. As you start transitioning to the container method of pantry storage, you’ll find the right balance for your family as well.

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    Many firefighters who responded to Ohio train derailment didn’t have the needed training, equipment | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Many of the first responders who helped fight the fire that erupted after the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, last month were ill-equipped and untrained to fight the massive chemical blaze that some now call “the hell fire.”

    In testimony Wednesday before the US Senate’s Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, lawmakers heard about myriad issues that snarled the response and that put firefighters who rushed to the scene at greater immediate risk – and may raise risks to their health throughout their lives.

    About 300 firefighters from 50 departments dashed to the scene of the derailment in East Palestine on the night of February 3. Many of them were volunteers without hazmat training or specialized equipment.

    Officials investigating the derailment testified that these first responders weren’t able to access information about the chemicals that were in 11 overturned cars carrying hazardous materials.

    Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, the agency investigating the crash, urged senators to consider meaningful changes to help inform exposed communities and first responders.

    “People deserve to know what chemicals are moving through their communities and how to stay safe in an emergency, That includes responders who risk their lives for each of us every single day. They deserve to be prepared,” Homendy said.

    Studies have shown that firefighters have a higher rates of cancer compared with members of the general population because of toxic chemicals they’re exposed to on the job. These cancers include digestive, oral, lung and bladder cancers. A rare type of cancer called malignant mesothelioma is about twice as common in firefighters than in the general population, probably due to exposure to asbestos in burning buildings, for example.

    Cancer is now the leading cause of death for working firefighters, according to the International Association of Fire Fighters.

    Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Wednesday that he is very concerned about the long-term health of the firefighters who responded to the derailment.

    “They all need to be assessed,” he said. “There needs to be established a baseline, and they need to be assured that in five years or 10 years, there’s still a place where they could go.”

    “We look to the railroad to establish that fund,” DeWine said in testimony before the committee.

    The derailment occurred about 9 p.m. February 3, and the night air quickly filled with smoke. Visibility was poor, and some of the placards on overturned railcars had burned away, leaving responders clueless about what chemicals were spilling and catching fire around them.

    There’s an app, AskRail, meant to give users more information about the what’s on trains involved in accidents, but none of the first responders to the derailment in East Palestine had access to it, Homendy said.

    Even if they had been able to use it, the app lists what is in cars by their order on the train, and its information may have been of limited help to firefighters on the scene who were looking at cars that were “bunched up” and not in their normal order, said David Comstock, chief of the Ohio Western Reserve Fire District.

    There are better ways of getting urgent information to first responders, he told the senators.

    After auto accidents, for example, some telematic systems in cars transmit information about the crash to emergency dispatchers who can then send it to crews responding to the scene.

    “So en route to a motor vehicle accident, I know the car has flipped three times, airbags gone out, and it has information about that car – whether it’s an electric car, things I have to worry about,” Comstock said.

    No information like that was available to crews responding to the derailed train.

    “They didn’t have the information for quite a long time on what was on the train,” Homendy said.

    Facing criticism over its role in the response, the company that owns and operates the train, Norfolk Southern, has announced that it will create a new regional training center for first responders. CEO Alan Shaw repeated that pledge in his testimony Wednesday before the committee.

    The company also intends to expand its Operation Awareness & Response program, which travels its 22-state network to teach first responders how to stay safe after train accidents.

    Comstock testified that more training is important, but so is more gear. He said most fire stations in the area are lucky if they can supply each member of their crew with a single set of turnout gear: the protective coat, pants, boots, gloves and helmets firefighters wear.

    “When I have to wash that, I’m out of service,” he said. “In response to the derailment, I had three firefighters who were exposed. Their gear is contaminated. I can’t use it.”

    It takes six months to order replacement gear, he said.

    “That means I have three firefighters who are out of service for six months who can’t respond to auto accidents or structure fires,” he said.

    Even then, that basic gear isn’t designed to stand up to hazardous materials like the chemicals on the Norfolk Southern train.

    For that kind of incident, firefighters need hazmat suits, which can cost $15,000 each, Comstock testified, along with specialized monitoring equipment.

    “It’s unrealistic for the federal government to provide that to every department, but we do need to look at a regional approach so we can call in those teams that can supplement what we’re trying to do,” he said.

    Comstock said he hopes the committee will consider the needs of firefighters as it drafts legislation to right the wrongs of the East Palestine incident.

    “This incident has emphasized the need to better train and equip firefighters to respond to hazardous material incidents, specifically to derailments in rural areas, which are mostly served by volunteer fire departments that often lack sufficient resources, tax base and manpower,” he said.

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    High levels of chemicals could pose long-term risks at Ohio train derailment site, researchers say | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    An analysis of data from the US Environmental Protection Agency’s measurements of pollutants released from the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, suggests that nine of the dozens of chemicals that the EPA has been monitoring are higher than would normally be found in the area, according to a group of scientists from Texas A&M and Carnegie Mellon University.

    If the levels of some of these chemicals remain high, it could be a problem for residents’ health in the long term, the scientists say. Temperature changes or high winds might stir up the chemicals and release them into the atmosphere.

    The highest levels found in East Palestine were of a chemical called acrolein, the analysis says.

    Acrolein is used to control plants, algae, rodents and microorganisms. It is a clear liquid at room temperature, and it is toxic. It can cause inflammation and irritation of the skin, respiratory tract and mucous membranes, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    “It’s not elevated to the point where it’s necessarily like an immediate ‘evacuate the building’ health concern,” said Dr. Albert Presto, an associate research professor of mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mellon’s Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation, who is working on the university’s chemical monitoring effort in East Palestine. “But, you know, we don’t know necessarily what the long-term risk is or how long that concentration that causes that risk will persist.”

    Much of what scientists know about chemical exposure comes from people’s contact with chemicals at work, Preston said, which generally means exposure for about eight hours a day. People now living in East Palestine are in constant contact with the chemicals, he said, and the impact of that kind of exposure on the human body is not fully understood.

    The EPA and local government officials have repeatedly said that their tests show the air quality in the area is safe and that the chemicals should dissipate. As of Sunday, officials have tested air in 578 homes, and they say chemical pollution levels have not exceeded residential air quality standards.

    EPA’s air monitoring data shows that levels of monitored chemicals “are below levels of concern for adverse health impacts from short-term exposures,” an agency spokesperson told CNN on Monday. “The long-term risks referenced by this analysis assume a lifetime of exposure, which is constant exposure over approximately 70 years. EPA does not anticipate levels of these chemicals will stay high for anywhere near that. We are committed to staying in East Palestine and will continue to monitor the air inside and outside of homes to ensure that these levels remain safe over time.”

    However, residents have reported rashes and trouble breathing, sometimes even in their own homes, Presto said.

    “When someone says to them then, ‘everything is fine everywhere,’ if I were that person, I wouldn’t believe that statement,” he said.

    So who’s right? The scientists say it’s not a black-and-white issue.

    “I think it’s important for the public to understand that all sides are right. No one’s lying to them,” said Dr. Ivan Rusyn, director of the Texas A&M University Superfund Research Center and part of the team that did the analysis. “It’s just that every time you’re sharing information, whether it’s Administrator of EPA Michael Regan or Governor [Mike] DeWine or someone from Ohio EPA, when they say certain things are ‘safe,’ they really need to explain what they mean.”

    Rusyn says the EPA and local officials need to do a better job of communicating with the public about the risk to residents when they are exposed to chemicals released in the crash.

    Communication struggles have been a consistent pattern over the years and over numerous environmental disasters, he said. Officials will often do a good job of collecting and releasing data but then fail to give the proper context that the public will understand.

    “That’s what I would like to encourage all parties to do rather than to point fingers,” Rusyn said. “The general public has to trust authorities. Cleanup is continuing. They are doing monitoring. We just need to do a better job communicating the results.”

    Government communication about residents’ real level of risk has been a significant source of frustration in East Palestine, Presto said.

    “People are furious. They feel like they’re getting this black-and-white answer – things are safe or not safe – when it’s not a black-and-white sort of situation,” Presto said.

    The EPA says it will continue to monitor the air quality in the area and in residents’ homes. It is also setting up a community center so residents and business owners can ask questions about agency activity there.

    The agency said it is collecting outdoor air samples for contaminants of concern, including vinyl chloride, a hard plastic resin used to make plastic products like pipes or packaging material that can be a cancer concern; n-butyl acrylate a clear liquid used to make resins and paint products that can cause eye, throat, nose and lung irritation or damage as well as a skin allergy; and ethylhexyl acrylate, another colorless liquid used to make paints, plastics and adhesives that can cause skin and eye irritation.

    The EPA also collected field measurements for hydrogen sulfide, benzene, hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen chloride, phosgene and particulate matter.

    Scientists from Texas A&M and Carnegie Mellon are monitoring the chemicals in the area using a mobile lab that they’ve used for the past decade to measure air pollution in real time in cities across the country. They expect to release data from their own tests in East Palestine on Tuesday.

    The mobile lab has extremely sensitive equipment that can measure pollution in the parts per trillion. Scientists would then be able to plot them on a graph to show, in real time, where the concentrations of chemicals may be and at what level, Presto said.

    Mobile lab workers will try to determine whether there are chemicals in the air that the EPA isn’t monitoring. They are also looking at pollution levels in places where the agency did not set up monitoring stations.

    “The situation has to be monitored, and the EPA should continue measurements, and they should also communicate to the general public as to what they’re seeing and put this into context of risk, rather than use the numbers and expect people to figure it out for themselves,” Rusyn said.

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    Beware the budget butt lift, regulators warn amid social media-inspired boom | CNN

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    In hindsight, Nikki Ruston said, she should have recognized the red flags.

    The office in Miami where she scheduled what’s known as a Brazilian butt lift had closed and transferred her records to a different facility, she said. The price she was quoted – and paid upfront – increased the day of the procedure, and she said she did not meet her surgeon until she was about to be placed under general anesthesia.

    “I was ready to walk out,” said Ruston, 44, of Lake Alfred in Central Florida. “But I had paid everything.”

    A few days after the July procedure, Ruston was hospitalized due to infection, blood loss, and nausea, her medical records show.

    “I went cheap. That’s what I did,” Ruston recalled recently. “I looked for the lowest price, and I found him on Instagram.”

    People like Ruston are commonly lured to office-based surgery centers in South Florida through social media marketing that makes Brazilian butt lifts and other cosmetic surgery look deceptively painless, safe, and affordable, say researchers, patient advocates, and surgeon groups.

    Unlike ambulatory surgery centers and hospitals, where a patient might stay overnight for observation after treatment, office-based surgery centers offer procedures that don’t typically require an inpatient stay and are regulated as an extension of a doctor’s private practice.

    But such surgical offices are often owned by corporations that can offer discount prices by contracting with surgeons who are incentivized to work on as many patients per day as possible, in as little time as possible, according to state regulators and physicians critical of the facilities.

    Ruston said she now lives with constant pain, but for other patients a Brazilian butt lift cost them their lives. After a rash of deaths, and in the absence of national standards, Florida regulators were the first in the nation to enact rules in 2019 meant to make the procedures safer. More than three years later, data shows deaths still occur.

    Patient advocates and some surgeons – including those who perform the procedure themselves – anticipate the problem will only get worse. Emergency restrictions imposed by the state’s medical board in June expired in September, and the corporate business model popularized in Miami is spreading to other cities.

    “We’re seeing entities that have a strong footprint in low-cost, high-volume cosmetic surgery, based in South Florida, manifesting in other parts of the country,” said Dr. Bob Basu, a vice president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and a practicing physician in Houston.

    During a Brazilian butt lift, fat is taken via liposuction from other areas of the body – such as the torso, back, or thighs – and injected into the buttocks. More than 61,000 buttock augmentation procedures, both butt lifts and implants, were performed nationwide in 2021, a 37% increase from the previous year, according to data from the Aesthetic Society, a trade group of plastic surgeons.

    As with all surgery, complications can occur. Miami-Dade County’s medical examiner has documented nearly three dozen cosmetic surgery patient deaths since 2009, of which 26 resulted from a Brazilian butt lift. In each case, the person died from a pulmonary fat embolism, when fat entered the bloodstream through veins in the gluteal muscles and stopped blood from flowing to the lungs.

    No national reporting system nor insurance code tracks outcomes and patient demographics for a Brazilian butt lift. About 3% of surgeons worldwide had a patient die as a result of the procedure, according to a 2017 report from an Aesthetic Surgery Education and Research Foundation task force.

    Medical experts said the problem is driven, in part, by having medical professionals like physician assistants and nurse practitioners perform key parts of the butt lift instead of doctors. It’s also driven by a business model that is motivated by profit, not safety, and incentivizes surgeons to exceed the number of surgeries outlined in their contracts.

    In May, after a fifth patient in as many months died of complications in Miami-Dade County, Dr. Kevin Cairns proposed the state’s emergency rule to limit the number of butt lifts a surgeon could perform each day.

    “I was getting sick of reading about women dying and seeing cases come before the board,” said Cairns, a physician and former member of the Florida Board of Medicine.

    Some doctors performed as many as seven, according to disciplinary cases against surgeons prosecuted by the Florida Department of Health. The emergency rule limited them to no more than three, and required the use of an ultrasound to help surgeons lower the risk of a pulmonary fat clot.

    But a group of physicians who perform Brazilian butt lifts in South Florida clapped back and formed Surgeons for Safety. They argued the new requirements would make the situation worse. Qualified doctors would have to do fewer procedures, they said, thus driving patients to dangerous medical professionals who don’t follow rules.

    The group has since donated more than $350,000 to the state’s Republican Party, Republican candidates, and Republican political action committees, according to campaign contribution data from the Florida Department of State.

    Surgeons for Safety declined KHN’s repeated interview requests. Although the group’s president, Dr. Constantino Mendieta, wrote in an August editorial that he agreed not all surgeons have followed the standard of care, he called the limits put on surgeons “arbitrary.” The rule sets “a historic precedent of controlling surgeons,” he said during a meeting with Florida’s medical board.

    In January, Florida state Sen. Ileana Garcia, a Republican, filed a draft bill with the state legislature that proposes no limit on the number of Brazilian butt lifts a surgeon can perform in a day. Instead, it requires office surgery centers where the procedures are performed to staff one physician per patient and prohibits surgeons from working on more than one person at a time.

    The bill would also allow surgeons to delegate some parts of the procedure to other clinicians under their direct supervision, and the surgeon must use an ultrasound.

    Florida’s legislature convenes on March 7.

    Consumers considering cosmetic procedures are urged to be cautious. Like Ruston, many people base their expectations on before-and-after photos and marketing videos posted on social media platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram.

    “That’s very dangerous,” said Basu, of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. “They’re excited about a low price and they forget about doing their homework,” he said.

    The average price of a buttocks augmentation in 2021 was $4,000, according to data from the Aesthetic Society. But that’s only for the physician’s fee and does not cover anesthesia, operating room fees, prescriptions, or other expenses. A “safe” Brazilian butt lift, performed in an accredited facility and with proper aftercare, costs between $12,000 and $18,000, according to a recent article on the American Society of Plastic Surgeons’ website.

    Although Florida requires a physician’s license to perform liposuction on patients who are under general anesthesia, it’s common in the medical field for midlevel medical practitioners, such as physician assistants and nurse practitioners, to do the procedure in office settings, according to Dr. Mark Mofid, who co-authored the 2017 Aesthetic Surgery Education and Research Foundation task force study.

    By relying on staffers who don’t have the same specialty training and get paid less, office-based surgeons can complete more butt lifts per day and charge a lower price.

    “They’re doing all of them simultaneously in three or four different rooms, and it’s being staffed by one surgeon,” said Mofid, a plastic surgeon in San Diego, who added that he does not perform more than one Brazilian butt lift in a day. “The surgeon isn’t doing the actual case. It’s assistants.”

    Basu said patients should ask whether their doctor holds privileges to perform the same procedure at a hospital or ambulatory surgery center, which have stricter rules than office surgery centers in terms of who can perform butt lifts and how they should be done.

    People in search of bargains are reminded that cosmetic surgery can have other serious risks beyond the deadly fat clots, such as infection and organ puncture, plus problems with the kidneys, heart, and lungs.

    Ruston’s surgery was performed by a board-certified plastic surgeon she said she found on Instagram. She was originally quoted $4,995, which she said she paid in full before surgery. But when she arrived in Miami, she said, the clinic tacked on fees for liposuction and for post-surgical garments and devices.

    “I ended up having to pay, like, $8,000,” Ruston said. A few days after Ruston returned home to Lake Alfred, she said, she started to feel dizzy and weak and called 911.

    Paramedics took her to an emergency room, where doctors diagnosed her with anemia due to blood loss, and blood and abdominal infections, her medical records show.

    “If I could go back in time,” she said, “I wouldn’t have had it done.”

    KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

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    Common kinds of air pollution led to changes in teens’ blood pressure, study says | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Scientists know that air pollution can make it difficult to breathe and may ultimately cause serious health problems like cancer, but a new study shows that it might also have a negative impact on teens’ blood pressure.

    Exposure to higher levels of nitrogen dioxide was associated with lower blood pressure in teens, according to the study, published Wednesday in the journal PLOS One. Exposure to particulate matter 2.5, also known as particle pollution, was associated with higher blood pressure.

    The researchers say the impact is “considerable.”

    Other studies have found a connection between blood pressure changes and pollution, but much of that work focuses on adults. Some research has also found negative associations with pollution exposure and younger children, but little has focused on teens.

    Generally, low blood pressure can cause immediate problems like confusion, tiredness, blurred vision and dizziness. High blood pressure in adolescence can lead to a lifetime of health problems including a higher risk of stroke or heart attack. It’s a leading risk factor for premature death worldwide.

    The study did not look at whether the teens had symptoms or health effects from the change in blood pressure.

    The scientists saw this association between pollution and blood pressure in data from the Determinants of Adolescent Social Well-Being and Health study, which tracks the health of a large and ethnically diverse group of children in London over time.

    The researchers took data from more than 3,200 teens and compared their records to their exposures to pollution based on annual pollution levels where they lived.

    Nitrogen dioxide pollution is most commonly associated with traffic-related combustion byproducts. Nitrogen may help plants grow, but it can impair a person’s ability to breathe and may cause damage to the human respiratory tract. In this study, the nitrogen was thought to be coming predominantly from diesel traffic.

    The particle pollution in the study is so tiny – 1/20th of a width of a human hair – that it can travel past the body’s usual defenses. Instead of being carried out when a person exhales, it can get stuck in the lungs or go into the bloodstream. The particles cause irritation and inflammation and may lead to a whole host of health problems.

    Particle pollution can come from forest fires, wood stoves, power plants and coal fires. It can also come from traffic and construction sites.

    In this study, the link between pollution exposure and changes in blood pressure was stronger in girls than in boys. The researchers can’t determine why there is a gender difference, but they found that 30% of the female participants got the least amount of exercise among the group and noted that that can have an effect on blood pressure.

    “It is thus imperative that air pollution is improved in London to maximise the health benefits of physical exercise in young people,” the study says.

    Although the study also can’t pinpoint why teens’ blood pressure changed with pollution exposure, others have found that exposure to air pollution may affect the central nervous system, causing inflammation and damage to the body’s cells. Additionally, exposure to particle pollution can disrupt a person’s circadian rhythms, which could affect blood pressure. Particle pollution exposure may also reduce the kidneys’ ability to excrete sodium during the day, leading to a higher nighttime blood pressure level, the study says.

    When it came to nitrogen dioxide pollution, the researchers had previously done a crossover study that involved the blood pressure of 12 healthy teen participants who were exposed to nitrogen oxide from a domestic gas cooker with lit burners. Their blood pressure fell compared with participants exposed to only room air.

    In the new study, the associations between pollution and blood pressure were consistent. Body size, socieoecomonic status and ethnicity didn’t change the results.

    However, it looks only at teens in London, and only 8% of them were people of color. Those children were exposed to higher levels of pollution than White children, the study found.

    Levels of pollution in London are also well above what World Health Organization guidelines suggest is safe for humans. However, the same could be said for most any area in the world. In 2019, 99% of the world’s population lived in places that did not meet WHO’s recommended air quality levels.

    Earlier work has shown that pollution can damage a young person’s health and may put them at a higher risk for chronic diseases like heart problems later in life. Studies in adults found that exposure to air pollution can affect blood pressure even within hours of exposure.

    Pollution caused 1 in 6 deaths worldwide in 2019 alone, another study found.

    Some experts suggest that one way to reduce a teen’s risk of pollution-related health problems is to invest in portable air cleaners with HEPA filters that are highly effective at reducing indoor air pollution. However, the filters can’t remove all of the problem, and experts say communitywide solutions through public policy are what’s needed.

    Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos, an assistant professor in pulmonary and critical care medicine at Johns Hopkins Medicine, said research like this is important to generate a hypothesis about what these pollutants are doing to people. Galiatsatos, a volunteer medical spokesperson with the American Lung Association, was not involved with the new study.

    “A lot of these air pollutions tend to cluster in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, so it’s one of the big reasons we want to always keep a close eye on this, as it disproportionately impacts certain populations more than others,” he said.

    Blood pressure is an important marker to track for health because it is a surrogate to understand the more complex processes that might be happening in the body.

    “My big takeaway is that these toxins clearly seem to have some physiological impact on the cardiovascular system, and any manipulation should be taken into the context of a concern,” Galiatsatos said.

    Study co-author Dr. Seeromanie Harding, a professor of social epidemiology at King’s College London, said she hopes it will lead to more research on the topic.

    “Given that more than 1 million under 18s live in [London] neighborhoods where air pollution is higher than the recommended health standards,” she said in a news release, “there is an urgent need for more of these studies to gain an in-depth understanding of the threats and opportunities to young people’s development.”

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    FDA proposes new levels for lead in baby food, but critics say more action is needed | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The allowable levels of lead in certain baby and toddler foods should be set at 20 parts per billion or less, according to new draft guidance issued Tuesday by the US Food and Drug Administration.

    “For babies and young children who eat the foods covered in today’s draft guidance, the FDA estimates that these action levels could result in as much as a 24-27% reduction in exposure to lead from these foods,” said FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf in a statement.

    The

    Baby foods covered by the new proposal – which is seeking public comment – include processed baby foods sold in boxes, jars, pouches and tubs for babies and young children younger than 2 years old, the agency said.

    While any action on the part of the FDA is welcome, the suggested levels of lead are not low enough to move the needle, said Jane Houlihan, the national director of science and health for Healthy Babies Bright Futures, a coalition of advocates committed to reducing babies’ exposures to neurotoxic chemicals.

    “Nearly all baby foods on the market already comply with what they have proposed,” said Houlihan, who authored a 2019 report that found dangerous levels of lead and other heavy metals in 95% of manufactured baby food.

    That report triggered a 2021 congressional investigation, which found leading baby food manufacturers knowingly sold products with high levels of toxic metals.

    “The FDA hasn’t done enough with these proposed lead limits to protect babies and young children from lead’s harmful effects. There is no known safe level of lead exposure, and children are particularly vulnerable,” Houlihan said.

    The director of food policy for Consumers Reports, Brian Ronholm, also expressed concerns. In 2018, Consumer Reports analyzed 50 baby foods and found “concerning” levels of lead and other heavy metals. In fact, “15 of them would pose a risk to a child who ate one serving or less per day,” according to Consumer Reports.

    “The FDA should be encouraging industry to work harder to reduce hazardous lead and other heavy metals in baby food given how vulnerable young children are to toxic exposure,” Ronholm said in a statement.

    Exposure to toxic heavy metals can be harmful to the developing brain of infants and children. “It’s been linked with problems with learning, cognition, and behavior,” according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

    Lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury are in the World Health Organization’s top 10 chemicals of concern for infants and children.

    As natural elements, they are in the soil in which crops are grown and thus can’t be avoided. Some crop fields and regions, however, contain more toxic levels than others, partly due to the overuse of metal-containing pesticides and ongoing industrial pollution.

    The new FDA guidance suggests manufactured baby food custards, fruits, food mixtures — including grain and meat-based blends — puddings, vegetables, yogurts, and single-ingredient meats and vegetables contain no more than 10 parts per billion of lead.

    The exception to that limit is for single-ingredient root vegetables, such as carrots and sweet potatoes, which should contain no more than 20 parts per billion, according to the new guidance.

    Dry cereals marketed to babies and toddlers should also not contain more than 20 parts per billion of lead, the new FDA guidance said.

    However, the FDA didn’t propose any lead limit for cereal puffs and teething biscuits, Houlihan said, even though the products account for “7 of the 10 highest lead levels we’ve found in over 1,000 baby food tests we have assessed.”

    The limit set for root vegetables will be helpful, Houlihan added. Because they grow underground, root vegetables can easily absorb heavy metals. For example, sweet potatoes often exceed the 20 parts per billion limit the FDA has proposed, she said.

    Prior to this announcement, the FDA had only set limits for heavy metals in one baby food — infant rice cereal, Houlihan said. In 2021, the agency set a limit of 100 parts per billion for arsenic, which has been linked to adverse pregnancy outcomes and neurodevelopmental toxicity.

    There is much more that can be done, according to Scott Faber, senior vice president of government affairs for the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit environmental health organization.

    “We can change where we farm and how we farm to reduce toxic metals absorbed by plants,” Faber said. “We also urge baby food manufacturers to conduct continuous testing of heavy metals in all their products and make all testing results publicly available.”

    Companies can require suppliers and growers to test the soil and the foods they produce, and choose to purchase from those with the lowest levels of heavy metals, Houlihan added.

    “Growers can use soil additives, different growing methods and crop varieties known to reduce lead in their products,” she said.

    What can parents do to lessen their child’s exposure to toxic metals? Unfortunately, buying organic or making baby food at home isn’t going to solve the problem, as the produce purchased at the grocery store can also contain high levels of contaminants, experts say.

    A 2022 report by Healthy Babies, Bright Futures found lead in 80% of homemade purees or store-bought family foods. Arsenic was found in 72% of family food either purchased or prepared at home.

    The best way to lessen your child’s exposure to heavy metals, experts say, is to vary the foods eaten on a daily basis and choose mostly from foods which are likely to have the least contamination. Healthy Babies, Bright Futures created a chart of less to most contaminated foods based on their testing.

    Fresh bananas, with heavy metal levels of 1.8 parts per billion, were the least contaminated of foods tested for the report. After bananas, the least contaminated foods were grits, manufactured baby food meats, butternut squash, lamb, apples, pork, eggs, oranges and watermelon, in that order.

    Other foods with lower levels of contamination included green beans, peas, cucumbers and soft or pureed home-cooked meats, the report found.

    The most heavily contaminated foods eaten by babies were all rice-based, the report said. Rice cakes, rice puffs, crisped rice cereals and brown rice with no cooking water removed were heavily contaminated with inorganic arsenic, the more toxic form of arsenic.

    After rice-based foods, the analysis found the highest levels of heavy metals in raisins, non-rice teething crackers, granola bars with raisins and oat-ring cereals. But those were not the only foods of concern: Dried fruit, grape juice, arrowroot teething crackers and sunflower seed butter all contained high amounts of at least one toxic metal, according to the report.

    While buying organic cannot reduce the levels of heavy metals in infant food, it can help avoid other toxins such as herbicides and pesticides, Dr. Leonardo Trasande, director of environmental pediatrics at NYU Langone Health told CNN previously.

    “There are other benefits to eating organic food, including a reduction in synthetic pesticides that are known to be as bad for babies, if not even more problematic,” Trasande said.

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