Tag: journal

Chemicals and Breast Cancer

New research is helping identify chemicals in the environment that
might increase the risk of getting breast cancer. Mark Brush has more:

Transcript

New research is helping identify chemicals in the environment that
might increase the risk of getting breast cancer. Mark Brush has more:


Breast cancer is the leading cause of death for US women in their late
30s to their early 50s. A new study points to 216 chemicals that might
be increasing the risks of getting the disease.


The researchers compiled data from hundreds of animal studies that have
linked environmental pollutants to increases in breast tumors. The
research is published in the journal Cancer.


Julia Brody is with the Silent Spring Institute. She’s the principal
investigator of the new study:


“There really hasn’t been adequate attention to possible environmental
factors in breast cancer. This is a relatively new field of study, so
it’s an area where there’s an enormous knowledge gap.”


Breast cancer rates have been dropping in last several years. And
Brody thinks the rates could drop even more as potential environmental
risks are identified.


For the Environment Report, I’m Mark Brush.

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Common Pesticide Linked to Health Problems

A new report indicates a commonly used pesticide is linked to public health problems. The GLRC’s Lester Graham reports the findings contradict government assessments in the U.S and Canada:

Transcript

A new report indicates a commonly used pesticide is linked to public
health problems. The GLRC’s Lester Graham reports the findings
contradict government assessments in the U.S and Canada:


The herbicide 2,4-D is found in hundreds of pesticide mixes for lawns
and crops. For 60 years it’s been the most widely used herbicide in the
world. It’s cheap and it’s effective.


Its impact on human health has been studied again and again. While
there have been suspicions about its affects on health, the US and
Canadian governments have maintained that 2,4-D can be used safely on
lawns and crops if the label directions are followed. But a report in the
journal, Pediatrics and Child Health, contradicts the governments’
assessments.


The Canadian authors of the report say 2,4-D is “persuasively linked” to
cancer, neurological damage and reproductive problems. The report
specifically points at Canadian government studies on animals. They say
those animal studies miss the problems that physicians are finding among
children who play on lawns and other people exposed to 2,4-D.


For the GLRC, this is Lester Graham.

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Study: Epa Ozone Standards Harmful

A new federal study finds ground level ozone in the air can cause lung damage and lead to premature death at levels the Environmental Protection Agency considers safe. The new study was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the EPA itself. The GLRC’s Rebecca Williams reports:

Transcript

A new federal study finds ground level ozone in the air can cause lung
damage and lead to premature death at levels the Environmental
Protection Agency considers safe. The new study was funded by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the EPA itself. The
GLRC’s Rebecca Williams reports:


Ozone is the major ingredient of smog. Ground level ozone can make
asthma worse and can even cause permanent lung damage.


A new study in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives says the
EPA’s current standards aren’t good enough. The authors say breathing
ozone at levels the EPA considers safe can increase the risk of premature
death. The authors say if there is a safe level of ozone, it’s at very low
concentrations… far below current EPA standards.


But there’s a problem. Cities already have trouble meeting the current
EPA standards. The EPA says more than 100 million Americans live in
areas that exceed what the EPA considers safe.


The EPA is reviewing the scientific evidence on ozone to decide whether
to revise its standards further.


For the GLRC, I’m Rebecca Williams.

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Bait and Switch in the Seafood Section?

You might not be getting what you paid for in the seafood section of your grocery store. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports… a new study has found some fish are being sold in the guise of others:

Transcript

You might not be getting what you paid for in the seafood section of your
grocery store. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports a new
study has found some fish are being sold in the guise of others:


A new study finds cheaper fish are being sold as ‘red snapper.’ Amy Moran at
the University of North Carolina is a co-author of the study published in
Nature . She says DNA tests showed three-fourths of the ‘red snapper’
filets they tested from grocery stores were actually other species. Moran says
consumers are being deceived a couple of ways:


“The public perception of how common these species are is obviously influenced
by how common they appear to be on the marketplace. And if you go to the
grocery store and see Red Snapper everywhere and it’s $6.95 a pound, you can
rightly assume that it’s fairly common. But if what you’re getting is something
different, it’s going to lead to some public misapprehension of how common these
species are and that may at some level affect policy.”


Because less valuable fish are being reported as ‘red snapper’ catches,
fisheries managers are fooled into overestimating the population of the fish,
contributing to over-harvesting.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Lester Graham.

Study: Invasive Plants Lack Microbial Controls

  • Spotted Knapweed seed heads - Land managers work hard to control or prevent invasive plants like this one from taking root. New research may help their efforts. (Photo by Barry Rice/The Nature Conservancy)

New research indicates that some invasive plants spread rapidly because they don’t have natural enemies to keep them in check. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush explains:

Transcript

New research indicates that some invasive plants spread rapidly because they
don’t have natural enemies to keep them in check. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Mark Brush explains:


The research found that some foreign plants thrive in North America because
they’ve escaped their natural enemies. In a study published in the journal
Nature, researchers found some of the enemies the plants escaped were
in the soil. They looked at the invasive plant spotted knapweed. They found the
plants are not only free from microbes that might eat their roots, but they
also found microbes in the areas the plants invaded that actually help them
grow.


Ray Callaway is one of the researchers at the University of Montana.
He says regulations are needed to stop these kinds of invasions:


“I think we ought to have much stronger restrictions on the movement of
horticultural plants and so on from across continents. I think we’re
playing with fire.”


The majority of plant invasions come from the horticultural trade. Policymakers are now
working on a protocol to monitor the importation and sale of non-native plants.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Mark
Brush.

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City Pollution Hurts Rural Trees

A recently published study indicates that trees in cities are growing better than trees in rural areas downwind of the cities. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham has more:

Transcript

A recently published study indicates that trees in cities are growing better than trees in
rural areas downwind of the cities. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham
has more:


This study, published in the journal Nature, found that trees grown in many
different conditions grow twice as fast in the city than trees in the country. Jillian Gregg
at Cornell University is the lead author of the study. She says lots of factors affected the
trees…


“But, in the end, the most important factor was ground level ozone which was higher in
rural environments.”


Ground level ozone develops when pollution in the city stews in the sun for a while. As
the chemicals drift out of the city, ozone develops downwind in the rural areas where the
impact on the trees is greater.


“So, in the rural environments, the ozone stays around for longer so you have a longer
exposure period.”



During three growing seasons at eight sites in eleven different types of soils, the results
were the same. The city trees did much better than the trees in the country exposed to
ground level ozone longer.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Lester Graham.

Climate Change Affecting Backyard Wildlife

A recent study in the scientific journal Nature suggests the effects of global warming can be seen in people’s backyards. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Erin Toner reports:

Transcript

A recent study in the scientific journal Nature suggests the effects of global warming
can be seen in people’s backyards. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Erin Toner reports:


The study compiles data from scientific papers on climate change and from personal
nature recordings from people all over the world. It finds that plants and animals
appear to be changing their behavior in response to increases in the average global
temperature over the past century.


Michigan State University researcher Kim Hall contributed to the report. She says
for many species, spring events are happening about five days earlier every ten years.


“Those include things like the first arrival dates of birds when they’re migrating into
their summer habitat. Also, sounds, like the first calls of frogs and toads when they
begin the breeding season in the spring. And there’s a lot of different things
related to the timing of plants, such as the first time they bloom in
the spring or when fruits arrive.”


Hall says it isn’t known how earlier springs will affect the environment. But she says they
could spell trouble for many species if food supplies and habitats are not protected.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Erin Toner.