Blogs

Instead of completed research, this week, we found a number of announcements of SOT member research just getting off the ground—always happy news!

SOT Member Research
Last month, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) gave a greenlight to a number of new research proposals. Vicki Sutherland will be studying BPA replacement chemicals, like BPS. Brian Sayers will be conducting inhalation studies of C9 alkylbenzenes. Matthew Stout will be characterizing the toxicity and carcinogenicity of xylenes. Andrew Rooney will be using a two–pronged approach for a literature–based evaluation—a systematic review and the development of an adverse outcome pathway.

Brenda A. Jensen of Hawaii Pacific University and research colleagues at the National Institute of Standards and Technology measured pollutant levels in plasma samples from 53 Hawaiian green turtles to determine whether or not manmade pollutants are causing fibropapillomatosis (pictured at right, credit: Peter Bennett & Ursula Keuper-Bennett/Wikimedia Commons) in green sea turtles. As discussed in the resultant Environmental Science & Technology paper, the scientists found that persistent organic pollutants are not a major cofactor in the turtle disease.

This week, University at Buffalo researchers, including Jim Olson, announced their plans for the $11 million, 10-year study into the health of residents of Tonawanda in upstate New York. The town has lived in the shadow of emissions from the Tonawanda Coke Corp. plant. A federal court convicted the company of violating environmental laws and ordered it to support research into the health effects of its emissions. The university is waiting on the decision of an appeals court to begin work.

SOT Members in the News
Last week, the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Chemical Assessment Advisory Committee held a peer review of the agency’s draft Integrated Risk Information System assessment of ammonia. In the Bloomberg BNA report of the meeting, the thoughts and contributions of Abby Li, Jill Ryer-Powder, and Michael Dourson are mentioned.

Sarah Vose is quoted in a My Champlain Valley article about E. coli levels in Vermont waterways. Dr. Vose explains why certain swimming spots are temporarily closed and how the state determines safety levels.

Science News

• Is organic food healthier? Many scientists are still skeptical. (Vox)
• Testimony of Kenneth Olden at the Hearing on Status of Reforms to EPA’s Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) Process before the US House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology (US Committee on Science, Space, and Technology)
• Workplace Exposures and the National Action Plan for Infertility (NIOSH Science Blog)
• NIH system to monitor emerging drug trends (National Institutes of Health)
• Cholesterol-lowering Drugs May Reduce Cardiovascular Death in Type 2 Diabetes (Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center)
• EPA Introduces New Graphic to Help Consumers Make Informed Choices about Insect Repellents (US Environmental Protection Agency)
• Drug Improves Birth Rates for Women with Ovary Disorder (National Institutes of Health)
• Researchers create vaccine for dust-mite allergies (The University of Iowa)
• Northwest Wildlife Refuges to Phase Out Pesticide (Associated Press)
• Don't let the bedbugs bite: Research finds parasites can be killed with lower dosage of chemical (Kansas State University)
• Families sick from fracking turn to scientists (The Center for Public Integrity)
• FEDERAL REGISTER: Scientific Information Request on Behavioral Programs for Diabetes Mellitus

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