Human development, in large part, is controlled by the endocrine system.  Glands and organs such as the thyroid, pituitary, and ovaries initiate and regulate a variety of developmental milestones by secreting specific hormones during different stages throughout life.  If any of these crucial chemicals are in the wrong place at the wrong time, profound physical deformations can occur.  

Enter Bisphenol A (BPA).  BPA is a chemical that makes plastics stronger and more sanitary, but may also disrupt normal endocrine functioning.  The ubiquitous compound is in food and drink packaging, water bottles, baby bottles, Tupperware containers…even inside the lining of most canned foods.  BPA leaches into much of what we eat and drink, and at any given moment about 90% of Americans have detectable levels in their urine.  So the obvious question is “Is this stuff dangerous?” 

For the first time in the United States, researchers are reporting in a peer-reviewed scientific journal today detection of Bisphenol A (BPA) in fresh and canned food as well as food wrapped in plastic packaging. The amounts in the limited sample, however, were almost 1,000 times lower than the “tolerable daily intake” levels set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Their report appears online in the American Chemical Society journal, Environmental Science & Technology.

 
Arnold J. Schecter and colleagues note that BPA is used in lining metal cans and in polycarbonate plastics such as baby bottles, although some manufacturers are switching to BPA-free products. “In humans, BPA is associated with cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and male sexual dysfunction in exposed workers,” they state. “Food is a major exposure source. We know of no studies reporting BPA in U.S. fresh food, canned food, and food in plastic packaging in peer reviewed journals.”
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This is a great video about Mt. Saint Helens 30 years later.  Check it out below.

 

Green gasoline is plants in your tank, motor vehicle fuel made from corn, cornstalks, sugarcane, and other crops. It also is gasoline made with recipes that reduce the need for harsh, potentially toxic ingredients like hydrofluoric acid or sulfuric acid that are used at about 210 oil refineries  worldwide. Now scientists have found an answer to a half-century quest for a way to make gasoline in exactly that kind of greener, more environmentally-friendly way.
 
That advance highlights the second episode of a new video series, Prized Science: How the Science Behind ACS Awards Impacts Your Life, from the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world’s largest scientific society. Rich with high-definition graphics and animations, and commentary suitable for classroom use and other audiences of students and non-scientists, the videos are available without charge at the ...

This is from a recent blog post by Energy Secretary Steven Chu.

 

The Washington Post is reporting that Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has reissued his subpoena to the University of Virginia regarding documents related to the work of Michael Mann.  More information on this story can be found here.

Just a FYI--The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has published a brief compilation reported to it by United States representatives of developments concerning the research and regulation of the health and environmental impacts of manufactured nanomaterials.

 

 

 

Government and academic scientists continue to search for oil and evaluate impacts to the Gulf from the Deepwater Horizon spill.  According to this news story, University of Georgia researchers have found several inches of oil at the bottom of the Gulf, which they believe is from the BP spill.  Further tests will help pin this down.  As panelists at a July 29 congressional briefing noted, the use of dispersants caused the oil to break into small droplets and disperse in the water rather than rise to the surface and reach the shore, but there is still much to be learned about the impacts on marine life and the fate and behavior of the oil at subsea depths....