PCBs were a hot topic this week, as multiple SOT members published new research on the subject.
SOT Member Research
Environmental Health Perspectives features a report on a recent Health and Environmental Sciences Institute (HESI) workshop on the use of epidemiologic data in human health risk assessments. Jennifer B. Pierson, Leonard Ritter, James E. Klaunig, and Kun Don Yi are co-authors of the report, which concludes that there are a number of practical steps that could be implemented in the scientific community to ensure epidemiological data is part of risk assessments.
In another Environmental Health Perspectives paper, Marc-André Verner and colleagues studied the pre- and postnatal PCB concentrations in relation to cochlear status. They found that “postnatal, rather than maternal or cord PCB concentrations were associated with poorer performance on otoacoustic tests at age 45 months.”
Last month, the Chronic Hazard Advisory Panel on Phthlates issued its final report to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission on the use of specific phthalates’ use in children’s toys and childcare items. The panel, including Chris Gennings, recommended adding five new phthalates to the permanent ban list.
An advanced publication paper in Environmental Health Perspectives features the research of Ellen K. Silbergeld and colleagues. The researchers conducted a cross-sectional study of more than 500 Mexican youth to evaluate the association between blood levels of lead, cadmium, molybdenum, thallium, and uranium with vitamin D metabolism. They did not find a negative effect of the metal exposures on markers of vitamin D metabolism.
SOT Members in the News
Student member William Klaren recently won a 2014 K.C. Donnelly Externship Award Supplement from NIEHS. With the award, he will be working at the US Department of Energy Argonne National Laboratory to determine changes in distribution of metals in the body following exposure to PCBs.
New research on the effect of pre- and post-natal exposure to DDT was featured in a Los Angeles Times article. The study by Michele La Merrill, which appeared in PLoS ONE, found that mice exposed to DDT in utero or soon after birth experienced changes to their metabolic processes, which led to higher risk of diabetes and obesity in adulthood.
Science News
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