Fw: OPPT-Newsbreak Wednesday, 4 August 1999

[Guest guest]

>OPPT NEWSBREAK Wednesday 4 Aug 1999

>

>

> Today's " Toxic News for the Net "

> Brought to you by the OPPTS Chemical Library

> http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/oppt_nb.txt

>

>[Note: We received a free copy of the Los Angeles Times today, so

>we went ahead and included it in today's edition. This is not a

>new regular addition. OPPT NB Editor-in-chief]

>

>Correction: In the July 29 NB, the article [ " Parkinson's

>Treatment Lessens Side Effect [Findings]. " Washington Post, 28

>July 99, A12] should have read " The popular drug Levadopa can

>produce involuntary body movements as a side effect. " ]

>

> NEWS

>

> " Hormone Study Finds No Firm Answers. Health: Four Years Later,

>Scientists Cannot Agree on Risk to Humans Posed by Chemicals in

>the Environment, and Say It Could Take Another Generation of

>Research. " Los Angeles Times, 4 August 99, A3, A9. " Study

>Inconclusive on Chemicals' Effects. " New York Times, 4 Aug 99,

>A13. " More Clinical Tests of Humans Exposed To Chemicals Are

>Urged in U.S. Study. " Wall Street Journal, 4 Aug 99, A3.

> A report released Tuesday by a committee of the National

> Academy of Sciences concluded that the effects of hormone-

> altering chemicals known as endocrine disrupters on humans

> are still unknown, but pesticides and other pollutants that

> mimic estrogen or block male hormones appear to be

> feminizing fish, birds, and other animals and also appear to

> be suppressing immune systems and causing neurological

> damage in animals. The committee found no evidence of a

> global decline in sperm counts. Committee member Frederick

> vom Saal said, " 'While we don't have a lot of human evidence

> yet, we're seeing wildlife populations affected and animal

> research showing these chemicals can alter development. We

> need a higher level of concern and commitment by the

> government to find out about the relationship of these

> chemicals to human disease.' " The chemical and farm

> industries had no public reaction to the report Tuesday, but

> some environmentalists " were disappointed that the report

> was not worded more strongly. "

>

> " Latest Round In Fuss Over Pesticides And Food [Food Watch]. "

>Washington Times, 4 Aug 99, E3.

> A study by scientists at Texas A & M and Auburn University

> revealed several challenges that the food and chemical

> industries will face if EPA moves to ban the use of

> organophosphates and restrict the use of carbamates. EPA's

> announcement on Monday came after the agency completed

> preliminary assessments on the most dangerous substances

> under the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996. The two

> pesticides, methyl parathion and azinphos methyl, which are

> widely used on fruits and vegetables, have brought consumer

> groups to action over fear that the chemicals could impair

> brain and neurological development in children.

>

> " Anthrax Shots Come Under GOP Fire. " Washington Times, 4 Aug 99,

>A4.

> House Representatives, who argue that the United State's

> military readiness is at stake due to the Defense

> Department's mandatory anthrax vaccination program, have

> proposed 2 bills to eliminate the requirement or make it

> optional. The House wants the National Institutes of Health

> to conduct long-term health studies on potential harmful

> side effects. Since the program began in 1997, some

> military personnel have chosen to resign rather than be

> vaccinated without scientific proof of the vaccine's safety.

> Adverse reactions from personnel who have received the

> vaccine have damaged military morale. A hearing was held

> yesterday to assess whether the risks of many vaccines

> outweigh the benefits to the public.

>

> " Cover Story: Are Vaccines Safe for Our Kids? Now Parents Fear

>Shots. Kids in USA Get 21 Shots Before Start of 1st Grade. " USA

>Today, 3 August 99, 1A-2A.

> This lengthy article discusses the concerns some parents

> have over the number and safety of vaccines their children

> receive. Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) was scheduled to chair a

> hearing yesterday on vaccine policy. Most doctors agree

> that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risk of

> getting the natural disease, but a growing number of reports

> of safety concerns has parents worried. Reports have

> surfaced about a possible link between vaccinations and

> autism; diabetes and the Hib vaccine; and the hepatitis b

> vaccine and multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue syndrome,

> rheumatoid arthritis, and other autoimmune disorders. The

> Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has investigated

> these claims and found them " unwarranted. " Two ways in

> which federal health officials monitor vaccine safety are

> through the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System and the

> Vaccine Safety Data-link Project. Sidebar: " Vaccines of the

> '90s " lists the hepatitis b vaccine; varicella vaccine;

> Haemophilius influenzae type b, or Hib; and rotavirus

> vaccine.

>

> " Israel Cabinet Member Visits Gaza to Clear the Air. " New York

>Times, 4 Aug 99, A3.

> Collaboration efforts regarding environmental cleanup were

> observed yesterday when the Environmental Ministers from

> Israel (Dalia Itzik) and Palestine (Yousef Abu Safieh)

> surveyed the Gaza Strip, visiting overfilled garbage dumps

> and foul-smelling water treatment plants. The article

> reviews the Israeli-Palestinean relationship with regard to

> environmental issues and outlines the transactions between

> the two ministers, which are observed as being an

> encouraging joint effort towards long-term peace. Both

> sides acknowledged each other's garbage and sewage woes,

> thereby planting the

" seeds of

> collegiality " .

>

> " Plant Extracts May Stop Ebola. " Washington Times, 4 Aug 99, A9.

> Scientists believe that two flavonoid compounds found in the

> Garcinia kola plant in Africa halted the spread of the

> deadly Ebola virus in lab tests. Traditional healers in

> Nigeria have for thousands of years prescribed the plant,

> which, in tests, has been effective against some strains of

> the common flu virus. The flavenoids, also found in tea and

> wine, neutralize chemicals that cause cell damage and are

> believed to contain the healing powers that could form the

> basis for drugs in the future. The compounds were nontoxic

> in animal tests.

>

> " Judge Freezes 9 Timber Sales in Northwest. " Los Angeles Times,

>4 August 99, A1, A8.

> U.S. District Judge Dwyer in Seattle halted nine

> federal timber sales in the Pacific Northwest and ordered

> the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to

> conduct detailed wildlife surveys before proceeding to log

> up to 100 million board-feet of timber on federal land.

> Thirteen conservation groups filed the lawsuit to challenge

> the logging plans on the grounds that the Forest Service and

> the BLM failed to conduct detailed surveys of 77 species

> within the old-growth reserves, as required under the

> Clinton administration's Northwest Forest Plan. The judge

> also ruled that no new logging can take place on 100 other

> timber sales in California, Oregon, and Washington without

> the court's consent.

>

> " Where Some See Rusting Factories, Government Sees a Source of

>Solar Energy. " New York Times, 4 Aug 99, A8.

> In a move to make use of contaminated (not toxic) former

> waste sites as well as improve air quality and create jobs,

> the Energy Department announced its " win-win " idea to cover

> the sites with solar panels " to make much-needed electricity

> without disturbing buried contaminants " . Electricity will

> be used to light parks, municipal buildings and transit

> stations. The Energy Department, confident that

> environmental regulators will allow use of the former sites

> if contaminants are not disturbed, is discussing project

> plans for Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, CA., Stamford, CT.,

> and other cities.

>

> ACROSS THE USA, FROM USA TODAY

>

> " Indianapolis, Indiana [Across the USA]. " USA Today, 3 August

>99, 9A.

> A Purdue University survey found that more than 600,000

> people in the state, half of them children, may be

> endangering their health by regularly eating fish

> contaminated with PCBs. Many of the fishermen surveyed were

> either unaware of or ignored fish consumption advisories.

>

> " Trenton, New Jersey [Across the USA]. " USA Today, 3 August 99,

>9A.

> New rules proposed by state environmental officials would

> help slow development in coastal areas by making it easier

> for developers to build in targeted areas and more difficult

> for them to build in environmentally sensitive areas. Some

> environmentalists are concerned that the rules will not stop

> suburban sprawl.

>

> " Spartanburg, South Carolina [Across the USA]. " USA Today, 3

>August 99, 9A.

> Under the 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act, South Carolinians in

> communities with water systems serving more than 25

> customers will now receive information on the source of the

> system's drinking water, the levels and likely source of any

> contaminants, and the source's susceptibility to future

> contamination.

>

> AROUND THE BELTWAY: DC/MD/VA REGIONAL NEWS

>

> " Preservation Group Buys Forests, Wetlands [Regional News:

>land: polis]. " Washington Times, 4 Aug. 99, C2.

> The Conservation Fund, an Arlington-based non-profit land-

> preservation group, has purchased 120 square miles (76,000

> acres) of forests and wetlands on the Delmarva Peninsula,

> comprising portions of Virginia, land and Delaware, in

> order to preserve the land for future generations.

>

> " Dwindling Reserves Press land to Limit Water Use. "

>Washington Times, 4 Aug 99, A1, A18.

> Today Governor Parris N. Glendening will announce strict

> state-wide restrictions on water use as no forecast of

> significant rainfall is in sight. In Virginia, where

> problems are being addressed locally, mandatory restrictions

> on water use have only been imposed on Loudoun County.

>

> GLOBAL WARMING

>

> " Human Role in Fish Deaths [Letters to the Editor]. " Washington

>Post, 4 August 99, A20.

> R. Hare and Ingrid Ann Chapman of Seattle, write in

> response to K. Carlisle's (of the National Center of

> Public Policy Research) July 11 letter. They explain why

> his assertion that global warming has nothing to do with the

> decline of Pacific Northwest salmon population is wrong.

>

> CAR CORNER

>

> " Electric Bus Contracts Shuttle in New Era. " Los Angeles Times, 4

>Aug 99, C1, C10.

> The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) is

> giving out contracts for electric buses and has even bigger

> plans to give an order for full-sized transit buses powered

> by electricity and natural gas in time for the Democratic

> National Convention next year. The production contracts

> provide opportunities to build vehicles that will be cost-

> competitive with today's diesel buses. Ebus, Inc. plans to

> have 18 electric shuttle buses for the DWP ready for

> demonstration by this November.

>

>* All items, unless indicated otherwise, are available at the

>U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

>Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxics Substances (OPPTS)

>Chemical Library

>Northeast Mall, Room B606 (Mailcode 7407)

>Washington, D.C. 20460

>(202) 260-3944; FAX x4659;

>E-mail for comments: library-tsca@....

>(Due to copyright restrictions, the library cannot provide

>photocopies of articles.)

>

>*Viewpoints expressed in the above articles do not necessarily

>reflect EPA policy. Mention of products does not indicate

>endorsement.*

>

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