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Latest News | News Archive ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] Ponds on Cape tainted
by pharmaceuticals Active ingredients in prescription drugs and over-the-counter remedies are finding their way into Cape ponds as well as drinking supplies across the nation, according to scientists. But county labs don't yet test for pharmaceutical traces in drinking water, and scientists are just beginning to study what their presence means and how to filter them out. "We're at the tip of the iceberg on this whole issue," said Tom Cambareri, water resources manager for the Cape Cod Commission. for more: http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080311/NEWS/803110317/-1/NEWSLETTER100 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] Two Mass. Groups Selected for $54K in EPA Environmental Education Grants Contact Information: Laura Poirier, (617) 918-1079 Kristen Conroy, (617)
918- 1069 “Education is a central tool in raising awareness about our environment,” said Robert Varney, regional administrator for EPA's New England Office. “By helping students learn more about our environment, we help develop citizen awareness about how to address needs for a clean and healthy environment.” for more: http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/224829fb7febe2df852573fb0054c6b2?OpenDocument ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] Is Your Furniture Making You Sick? Toxins can hide in bookcases, shower curtains, and ol clocks. Scary, but protecting yourself is simple. The Oprah Magazine, February 2008 not available online ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] by Carly Weeks
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] By Meaghan O'Neill Sure, big ideas like generating electricity from ocean waves or legal limits on carbon emissions are important to slowing global warming. But the little things count, too. Here are some ways that you can make a difference. For more: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/magazine/articles/2007/11/18/84_ways_you_can_help_the_planet/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] By Robin Lord Want to know what pesticides were used in your neighborhood and when, or where the highest incidence of prostate cancer, or other types of cancer are on Cape Cod? The Silent Spring Institute's Massachusetts Health and Environment Information System is an interactive Web mapping service that brings together health, environmental and demographic data. It allows people in the state to investigate links between the environment and health. For more: http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071117/NEWS/711170317 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] By Robin Lord BARNSTABLE — A number of Cape homes studied by the Silent Spring Institute six years ago had high levels of dangerous chemicals lingering in the dust and air, many of which are known carcinogens. But the Newton-based research group that is looking into environmental causes of breast cancer had never compared those levels with homes elsewhere in the state — until now. For more: http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071115/NEWS/711150322 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] Sun staff report LOWELL -- UMass Lowell Chancellor Marty Meehan said that $250,000 in state money will establish research that hopefully will provide answers between the possible links of breast cancer and environmental exposures. The research will be conducted at UMass Lowell and done in conjunction with the Silent Spring Institute and the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] Kelley Tuthill BOSTON -- Women in the United State face a greater lifetime risk of breast cancer than any previous generation, but only about 5 percent have a genetic link, so most people will never know why they developed this disease. NewsCenter 5's Kelley Tuthill reported that there are serious questions about whether chemicals we are exposed to everyday play a role. for more: http://www.thebostonchannel.com/health/14291871/detail.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] I'm Radioactive By Rachael Combe Even if most breast cancer is caused by the envionment and lifestyle, it may be preventable. (not available online) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] A climate for
cancer: What effect does the environment have on the rise in breast cancer? By Mary Anne Dunkin Looking back, Cheryl Osimo isn't surprised that she developed breast cancer. As a teenager she worked alongside her younger brother - who has since died of colorectal cancer - at the dry cleaning business her parents owned. (not available online) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] Breast Cancer and
Your Environment: What can you do to protect yourself from breast cancer? By Francesca Lyman There may be no two scarier words for women than breast cancer. The most common invasive malignancy among women around the world, breast cancer’s rates during the last several decades have nearly tripled in the United States. Today, this cancer is the leading cause of death in U.S. women in the prime of their lives—between their late 30s and early 50s. for more: http://health.msn.com/health-topics/breast-cancer/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100170477 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] Ponds checked for cancer link By Amanda Lehmert FALMOUTH — Silent Spring Institute researchers were out on three Cape ponds this week to test whether the waters have been tainted by hormone-disrupting chemicals leaching from area septic systems. The research follows an institute study published last year that showed the chemicals, as well as natural estrogen, could leach from septic systems into groundwater, Cape Cod's main source of drinking water. The work is part of Silent Spring's long-term study of potential environmental causes of breast cancer. for more: http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070802/NEWS/708020308 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] Wading
in Hormones By Andrea Anderson Male fish taking on female characteristics. A community plagued by high breast cancer rates. Waterways polluted by manure from animal feedlots. These phenomena may seem unrelated, but some researchers suspect they share a common link: hormone pollution. for more: http://scienceline.org/2007/08/01/environment-anderson-water_hormones/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] Against the Tide: Chase
stays focused on ‘the wake-up call' Third in a series leading up to the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition’s Cape fund-raiser Against the Tide in August. Fighting cancer is a difficult battle at any age. Seventy-two-year-old
Jane Chase of Harwich doesn’t show any scars after winning her fight – twice. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] Cancer-Causing Chemicals A recent meta-study published by the American Cancer Society suggests that over 200 chemicals found in everyday products cause breast cancer in animals. Devra Lee Davis is director of the Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. Dr. Davis tells Living on Earth's Steve Curwood about the evidence that links environmental factors to breast cancer and how reducing exposure can help prevent women from getting the disease. For more: http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.htm?programID=07-P13-00023&segmentID=3 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] NETWATCH:
The Breast Cancer List French fries, car exhaust, and shampoo have one thing in common: They can contain breast cancer-causing compounds. To find out more about suspect chemicals and lifestyle factors, including obesity, implicated in breast cancer, check out this new two-part database from the Silent Spring Institute, a women's health nonprofit based in Newton, Massachusetts. For more: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/vol316/issue5829/r-samples.dtl#316/5829/1261c ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] Ruthann Rudel, Senior Scientist, talks with Pacifica Radio about the 'Environmental Factors in Breast Cancer' published in Cancer (no longer available online) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] Common chemicals
linked to breast cancer; Of the 216 compounds, many are in the air,
food or everyday items By Marla Cone "Overall, exposure to mammary gland carcinogens is widespread," the researchers wrote in a special supplement to the journal Cancer. "These compounds are widely detected in human tissues and in environments, such as homes, where women spend time." "Animal models are the primary means of understanding and anticipating effects of chemicals in humans," they wrote. "All known human carcinogens ... are also carcinogenic in animals." "When you look at their list of chemicals, we are exposed to all of it," [Ana Soto] said. "We know humans are exposed to mixtures, and studying mixtures is very difficult. We will never have the whole picture, and it will take many, many years to collect epidemiological evidence, so we should take some preventive measures now." For more: visit Los Angeles Times online ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] Osimo a 'new environmentalist' By SEN. JOHN KERRY and TERESA HEINZ KERRY For anyone who has ever dismissed environmentalists as "out-of-touch elitists," it's time to meet the "new environmentalists—" people like Cheryl Osimo of Cape Cod. A former elementary school teacher with two children, Osimo helped create the Silent Spring Institute — an environmental organization that has made stunning discoveries about the links between toxic chemicals and cancer on Cape Cod. For more: http://www.johnkerry.com/2007/5/5/a-tribute-to-cheryl-osimo ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] Cleaning agent tied to abnormalities By Delthia Ricks Scientists are suggesting a common cause for two seemingly unrelated events, the feminization of fish in Jamaica Bay, where the former 50-50 male-to-female ratio has all but disappeared, and enlarged breast in young boys. The common facto: endocrine disruptors, chemicals found in detergents, cosmetics and other products of daily living that increasing numbers of scientists now believe play havoc with normal hormone activity. (no longer available online) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] ECOStates: The Journal of the Environmental Council of the States The Massachusetts Health and Environmental Information System (MassHEIS) is an example of how mapping can enhance access at the community as well as research level. This web-based tool, developed by Silent Spring Institute in cooperation with the National Library of Medicine, assembles data pertaining to the Institute’s Cape Cod Breast Cancer and Environment Study as well as other sources. Users can view preassembled maps or explore relationships of data of their own choosing. MassHEIS is a model for building environmental health mapping and data integration systems. For more: http://www.ecos.org/files/2645_file_ECOStates_Winter_2007.pdf ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] INSIDE
SCIENCE: Mapping environmental health and justice By Autumn Spanne Julia Brody is executive director of the Silent Spring Institute, a research and advocacy organization founded to investigate links between the environment and women's health. The institute recently launched an online computer mapping program called the Massachusetts Health and Environmental Information System (MassHEIS). This high-tech tool gives the public access to a range of information about polluting industries in every Massachusetts community. Dr. Brody talks about how, with a few clicks of the mouse, anyone can use the program to explore and take action on local environmental health problems. For more: http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/01-07/01-08-07/02opinion.htm ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] Non-Scientists
Report on Biomonitoring BOSTON, Mass. - December 12, 2006 - An unusual group of Boston residents is calling for more monitoring of the chemicals in our bodies. Their report, released yesterday, is an attempt to dig through the entrenched positions of environmentalists, scientists and the chemical industry -- and give a voice directly to lay people. WBUR's Health and Science reporter Allan Coukell explains. For more: http://www.wbur.org/news/2006/63062_20061212.asp ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] National
Geographic features Silent Spring Institute's California partners as
leaders in efforts to understand health effects of pollution Chemicals Within Us By David Ewing Duncan Modern chemistry keeps insects from ravaging crops, lifts stains from carpets, and saves lives. But the ubiquity of chemicals is taking a toll. Many of the compounds absorbed by the body stay there for years—and fears about their health effects are growing. http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0610/feature4/index.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] No 'smoking gun' ID'd by breast cancer study By Kathleen Manwaring There is no identifiable single cause of elevated breast cancer levels on Cape Cod, but the cause of fighting the disease with information and activism continues. (no longer available online) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] By ROBIN LORD Chemicals known to cause tumors in animals or disrupt the hormone activity of humans persisted in levels higher than what is reccomended by the Environmental Protection Agency in some of the 120 Cape homes studied by Silent Spring Institute of Newton. (no longer available online) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] Forum reveals breast
cancer study results By ROBIN LORD (no longer available online) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] Cape Cod Breast Cancer
and Environment Study GIS data available through ArcWeb Services Technical users may now download or interactively access the Silent Spring Institute Cape Cod Breast Cancer and the Environment Study geographic information systems (GIS) data via ArcIMS web services. The Cape Cod Breast Cancer and Environment Study examines an area of elevated breast cancer incidence and investigates the links between increased breast cancer risk and exposures to mixtures of target environmental pollutants in wastewater and pesticides. Follow this link for instructions: http://library.silentspring.org/heis/help/faqs_connect.asp#ESRI ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] "Clearing
the Air: How To Avoid Indoor Air Pollutants" -- The Green
Guide features Silent Spring Institute's research by Emily Main When the weather outside is frightful and the fire inside delightful, it's so tempting to curl up on the couch and avoid the nasty winter air. But after a few hours, you may feel the beginnings of a dull headache, perhaps a raspy throat or a stuffy nose, maybe a little nausea. You might think it's just another bout of flu or common cold, but if the symptoms persist, they may actually be due to allergens, irritants or toxins you're inhaling indoors. ... http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc.mhtml?i=112&s=air ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] Silent Spring Institute
researchers quoted in the Green Guide article: 10 Ways to Avoid Reproductive
Hazards (article no longer available without subscription) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] New emission rule for Bay Area
refineries (no longer available online) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] Silent Spring to
continue interviews Cape news in brief (no longer available online) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] The Other Side of Pink Wear a pink ribbon. Clip your rose bushes with pink-handled pruners, sip coffee that comes in a pink package, slip on a pink T-shirt and run in a race, and you feel good. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] Advocates want state
to adopt European beauty standards (no longer available online) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] Local projects labeled 'pork' Restoring a pond, providing services for disabled students and alleviating traffic congestion may not seem like inappropriate spending to some, but a watchdog group yesterday labeled these federally funded MetroWest projects as pork-barrel spending. The 15th edition of the ... http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=95139 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] 10
ways to reduce your exposure to chemicals Silent Spring Institute's Cape Cod Breast Cancer and Environment study is featured in this report on many common household products containing potentially hazardous ingredients and how to cut your risk..."One ominous finding, Dr. Spengler reports, is that chemicals such as phthalates, disinfectants, adhesives, and pesticides can pervade the home. He and investigators at the Silent Spring Institute, a nonprofit environmental research group, identified 66 such chemical compounds in the dust and 52 in the air inside 120 homes in Cape Cod, Mass. The detected concentrations exceeded government health-based guidelines for 15 of 39 compounds. No guidelines were available for the other compounds, the team reported in an October 2003 issue of Environmental Science and Technology." (not available online) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] Dust study shows toxins
are right under our noses (no longer available online) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] Chemical
concerns, editorial (no longer available online) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] Female scientists take on claims The controversy surrounding a Harvard University official's comments about the obstacles women face in math and science professions set off a firestorm last week, but the issue is hardly new for women who work in those fields. Although his exact words at a recent academic c... http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/health/view.bg?articleid=88498
PBDEs in dust and dryer lint - Science News Research recently posted to ES&T’s Research ASAP website provides the strongest hypothesis to date for the source of the very high levels of brominated flame retardants being found in the blood and breast milk of U.S. residents. Heather Stapleton of the National Institute of Standards and Technology says the study also shows that young children in the most contaminated homes may be ingesting enough polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), which are suspected to be endocrine disrupters, from dust to raise public health concerns. http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2005/jan/science/kb_dust.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] Testing
the limits: Four years after samples were drawn, results from local homes
show reasons to be concerned By Robin Lord When the cancer came back in 2000, she became even more vigilant about what she let into her house, and her body. So she was shocked to learn last month that some scary chemicals are still lurking in her marshside home in South Harwich. Results from Silent Spring Institute's Household Exposure Study flagged a higher than expected level of a chemical so toxic it was banned for use in textile flame retardants in the 1970s. (no longer available online) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] Silent Spring receives $350,000 federal grant Silent Spring Institute has received $350,000 in federal funds to continue its work in linking environmental pollutants to human health, particularly breast cancer. The grant was announced last week by Senators Edward Kennedy and John Kerry and Congressman William Delahunt, who supported the funding measure. more at http://www2.townonline.com/brewster/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=139508 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] Tests find toxins in Cape homes' air By Thomas Caywood SURVIVOR: [Jane Chase] of South Harwich, who has battled breast cancer twice, received a scary letter yesterday from the Silent Spring Institute that described the results of scientific tests for toxic chemicals in her home. Herald photo by Julia Cumes "We found DDT in two-thirds of the homes," said Julia Brody, principal investigator of the Cape Cod Breast Cancer and Environment Study. "DDT was banned in 1972 so it's been there for 30 years. That's a real lesson to us about putting chemicals into use before we understand the ramifications." (no longer available online) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] Cape women to
see toxin study results By Robin Lord The information comes two years after the institute's Household Exposure Study, which collected air, dust and urine samples in an equal number of homes of women who had been diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in their life, and those who had not. (no longer available online) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] Massachusetts
local newspapers report on testing for pollutants in house dust (no longer available online) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] How
sick is your home? - Indoor air
pollution -- from mold to radon -- presents health risks By Stephanie Anderson Forest http://www.businessweek.com/print/magazine/content/04_32/b3895118_mz070.htm ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] Keeping
Chemicals out of the Home - SSI's Senior Scientist, Ruthann
Rudel, writes
to the editor of The Boston Globe THANKS FOR putting PBDEs, the flame retardants suspected of causing learning and reproductive effects, on the front page where this critical health issue belongs ("Fire retardants' effects arouse safety debate," June 14). In the only comprehensive study of exposure to PBDEs in US homes, the Silent Spring Institute found levels in Cape Cod homes 10 times higher than in European homes, where these chemicals are being phased out. ... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] Breast cancer rate increasing By Robin Lord The crowd had gathered to hear the first public update in two years from the only research group in the country that is focusing on the environmental health of women, Silent Spring Institute. (no
longer available online) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] AROUND THE HOUSE: Homes may be hazardous to your health. Frying chicken at the stove, spraying ants with insecticide, taking a hot shower, plugging in a room freshener, or sudsing the rug with detergent -- all these release chemicals that swirl around rooms like invisible dust devils. Household products, furnishings and cosmetics release vapors and particles
that people can inhale or absorb through the skin. Then there are the pollutants
that are tracked into the house from outside or allowed to waft through
open windows that add to the hazard. Plunking down on a sofa, vacuuming
the rug or making the bed stirs up the chemical-laden dust. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/05/19/HOGDC6LU141.DTL ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] Prevention Is Basis for Julia Brodys
Work in Breast Cancer Research Julia Brody became Silent Spring Institutes executive director when the Newton nonprofit and its Cape Cod Breast Cancer and Environment Study were new, and in the next eight years shes led its prevention-oriented research to groundbreak-ing national renown. From getting the study on solid footing to moving it forward, the principal investigator has helped pioneer uncharted connections between the environment and womens health. Far from done, shes both excited and frustrated by the pace of progress in preventing disease through new research methods and increased aware-ness. http://library.silentspring.org/news/bostonwomensbusiness.pdf ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] 'Pervasive chemicals' editorial from the
Cape Cod Times "Few of the 87,000 manmade chemicals found in the United States have been tested for health effects. Ever since the publication of Rachel Carson's watershed book, "Silent Spring," in 1962, Americans have been asking tough questions about the possible long-term health effects of manmade chemicals... But what about thousands of other chemicals that surround us everyday, in everything from cosmetics to furniture? ...[C]hemicals known to cause tumors in animals or disrupt the hormone activity of humans were found in all of the 120 Cape homes studied by the Silent Spring Institute of Newton and Cape Cod. In a two-year household exposure study, researchers found that 67 of the 89 toxic chemicals they were looking for were present in varying amounts in the Cape homes." To read more... (no longer available online) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] SSI's Dr. Julia Brody writes to the editor
of The New York Times regarding 'Hair Dyes and Cancer' To the Editor: In response to a Yale study showing an association between the older dark hair dyes and cancer (news article, Jan. 24), the vice president for science at the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association dismisses the research because it is observational rather than clinical. A clinical study would select a representative group of women, randomly assign half to use the dyes and half to abstain, and wait more than 20 years to see how many get cancer. If that is the industry's standard of proof, it should do that study before it markets its products. JULIA G. BRODY http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F02E3DB1538F93BA15752C0A9629C8B63 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [top] |
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