Like other Januaries, it was a month with a lot of assistential activity. But they also gave us time to upload the statistics of poisoning attending in Sertox during 2007 [See, only available in Spanish]. The increasing trend of cases of scorpionism in recent years was maintained this year: 177 cases, twenty-three more than in 2006 that represented 9.28% of total cases. Also we climb a new monograph on:  Hylesia nigricans (black butterfly) (See: only available in Spanish). See also two new articles in RETEL Nº 14[See then].  In the middle of the campaign launched in Argentina to reduce energy consumption, a dispute about the dangers associated with Low-energy bulb disposal [See]. There is much more to see. Remember: We recommend you to read complete each news bulletin this click the sign ->  at the end of the title (and click on the image if you want to expand it). You can see the bulletin in Spanish, as not all the news is translated to English language (and conversely). Until the next issue. JCP

The Dose Makes the Poison—Or Does It?. By Nancy Trautmann. An ActionBioscience.org original article (Jan.2005).News reports frequently include stories about toxic chemicals in our food, water, and environment. But what does it mean to label a substance either “toxic” or “nontoxic”? Toxicity indicates the degree to which a substance is poisonous to biological organisms, including humans. The traditional way to test toxicity is to count how many laboratory organisms die or suffer impaired health when exposed to various concentrations of a substance. However, in recent years this method of estimating the degree of risk posed by chemical contaminants has come under attack. The controversy focuses on how best to determine the toxicity of selected chemicals in order to set limits designed to protect public health. Two opposing points of view on this issue are presented below. [ Full Text ]

Selective publication of antidepressant trials and its influence on apparent efficacy. Turner EH, Matthews AM, Linardatos E, Tell RA, Rosenthal R. N Engl J Med. 2008 Jan 17;358(3):252-60.Abstract. Full text.

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Farmaceuticonline (Barcelona, Spain) offer: Didactic multimedia units

Ver Imagen Low-energy bulb disposal warning. BBCnews. Jan.5, 2008..The Environment Agency has called for more information to be made available on the health and environmental risks posed by low-energy light bulbs.  It says because the bulbs contain small amounts of mercury, more information about safe recycling is needed. It also wants health warnings printed on packaging and information on how to clear up smashed bulbs in the home. But a toxicologist has played down the risks, saying several bulbs would have to be smashed at once to pose a danger.[ See ]. See also: Recommendations to be implemented by the relevant agencies all over the national territory regarding light bulbs. Brazil. (send by Ana Digon)

Organochlorine pesticide contamination in three bird species of the Embalse La Florida water reservoir in the semiarid midwest of Argentina. Fabricio D Cid, Rosa I Antón, Enrique Caviedes-Vidal. Sci Total Environ. 2007 Oct;385(1-3):86-96 [ Abstract ]Image from http://www.argentinaturismo.com.ar/eltrapiche/

 www.wikitox.org. This is a site where a number of people are donating content from their hard disk such as powerpoint presentations and notes. I would be very grateful for any contributions, joining is free and without obligation, the site has complete open access. We are trying to improve the standard of teaching of toxicology especially in the developing world. You can see also HyperTox Online data base.