In "The Myth of Pandora's box" (picture from Spanish newsletter), it is said that it contained all the enable evils to pollute the world as well as all kind of misfortunes. In the past month, at least four boxes seem to have been opened in various places of the current global world, releasing toxic hazards: 1) In Argentina: one of the most repeated words appeared in the media was Ephedrine. A triple murder (like a key to open Pandora's Box) showed us that Argentina was one of the world major importers of the chemical. This led us to bring forward a mini-editorial (Spanish) on the topic (See); subsequently expanded with a new monograph (ephedra / ephedrine) and now we close it with the logo of the newsletter (thanks, Julia!).
2) In China: In our editorial of September (65) we did mention the Olympic games in Beijing. While the games were developing, the Pandora’s (Melamine) box was covered, even when a worst outbreak of food poisoning was taking place s because of the addition of this substance to milk used to produce food for babies. (See: Milk for babies with melamine in China). Here we felt obliged to incorporate a little executive summary on the substance, as we realized how hard it was to find data on the Internet at that time. After words, WHO published a FAQs report that is now available on our site (see). 3) In Ivory Coast: Garbage Dumps Toxic outdoors: more than 20,000 Ivorian reported the multinational Trafigura because of a spill that caused so far 17 dead in Abidjan city. 4) Again Argentina. People who live in the area of Rosario (southern Santa Fe) are getting tired both because of the smoke, product of burning grassland in the islands of Entre Rios, and the passivity of governmental decisors, at all levels (see: Smoke or the blind goose). Within SERTOX we had several reasons for joy and satisfaction. The birth of Lucio Plazenzotti, our colleague Marcela Evangelista’s son, may be counted at first place. (Will he became a toxicologist?). What's new in RETEL, such as indexing DOAJ is an accomplished goal as well (See). So we accompany other institutions in remembering the established October 1 as the “National day of Struggle against asbestos”. The global ban is still a goal to achieve (). It is also a good announce to make that one of the two new blogs (thanks, Martin), of two of the most prolific contributors to our site: Javier's Corner (Javier Waksman's Corner, English & Spanish) and contributions of Ana Digón. We hope you find useful both. There is many more news, but this month we were indebted to the section: not only toxics we need to live ... because the toxics overflowed us. Until the next month. JCP

Thallium Poisoning from Eating Contaminated Cake --- Iraq, 2008. cdc.gov.usa. September 19, 2008. Thallium is an odorless, tasteless, heavy metal formerly used in rodenticides and still used in some manufacturing processes (e.g., electronics, pharmaceuticals, and glass). Thallium also has been used for intentional poisonings . Acute thallium poisoning produces gastrointestinal symptoms and signs, such as vomiting and acute abdominal pain, in the first few hours after ingestion, and initially is indistinguishable from other causes of acute gastrointestinal toxicity. [ See ]. See also: CDC: Thallium caused death in four in Iraq.

Ver Imagen Melamine and Cyanuric acid: Toxicity, Preliminary Risk Assessment and Guidance on Levels in Food.25 September 2008. See PDF. See also: Melamine-contamination event, China, September 2008. See previous related notice.

Caffeine Experts Call For Warning Labels For Energy Drinks.ScienceDaily. Sep. 24, 2008. Johns Hopkins scientists who have spent decades researching the effects of caffeine report that a slew of caffeinated energy drinks now on the market should carry prominent labels that note caffeine doses and warn of potential health risks for consumers. [ See ]. Image from notice in Spanish. Read also original paper.

1. Caffeinated energy drinks-A growing problem.Reissig CJ, Strain EC, Griffiths RR.Drug Alcohol Depend. 2008 Sep 20. Since the introduction of Red Bull in Austria in 1987 and in the United States in 1997, the energy drink market has grown exponentially. Hundreds of different brands are now marketed, with caffeine content ranging from a modest 50mg to an alarming 505mg per can or bottle. Regulation of energy drinks, including content labeling and health warnings differs across countries, with some of the most lax regulatory requirements in the U.S. See abstract
2. Safety issues associated with commercially available energy drinks. Kevin A. Clauson A, Kelly M. Shields A, Cydney E. McQueen A, Nikki Persad A. Journal of the American Pharmacists Association. Volume 48, Number 3 / May-June 2008. See abstract.
   
   

Occupational Exposures and Adult Asthma. Susan M. Tarlo. Immunol Allergy Clin N Am 28 (2008) 563–576.  See abstract: There is significant current interest not only in OA but also in the potential of work exposures to exacerbate/aggravate adult asthma. The range of potential triggers for OA and WEA is wide. OA can result in persisting asthma even after removal from exposure to the work agent and for WEA the exacerbation could range from very transient worsening of symptoms to persistent daily worsening at work. OA and WEA can have significant socioeconomic impacts. Underlying host factors, such as asthma severity and medication use, and compliance likely are contributing factors to WEA. It is hoped that epidemiologic studies in the future will help clarify these common conditions. OA is a challenge to definitively identify in epidemiologic studies. Nevertheless, case definitions for epidemiologic studies have been developed and there is a need for greater use of such tools to better identify the prevalence and causes of OA worldwide and prognostic factors and results of preventive measures.

How Are Herbicides Discovered?. A web lesson shows how new "designer herbicides" can be effective yet safe for the environment. Read more in the Journal of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Education.MADISON, WI, September 2, 2008 -- A new interactive web lesson teaches upper-level undergraduate students and graduate students how herbicides are developed. The lesson, developed by William E. Dyer, Montana State University, has the seal of approval by the Journal of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Education and is published in the 2008 issue.[ See ]

Paraben esters: review of recent studies of endocrine toxicity, absorption, esterase and human exposure, and discussion of potential human health risks. Philippa D. Darbre, Philip W. Harvey. Journal of Applied Toxicology.  28(5):561-78, 2008 Jul.Keywords: paraben • oestrogen • androgen • cosmetics • endocrine disruption • breast cancer • melanoma • male reproductive disorders • esterase • skin • absorption • carcinogenesis. Abstract.

Surveillance for Cancers Associated with Tobacco Use --- United States, 1999--2004. Sherri L. Stewart;  Cheryll J. Cardinez;  Lisa C. Richardson;  et al. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 57(8):1-33, 2008 Sep 5. See abstract and full text.

Ver Imagen Current awareness of Clinical Toxicology, has been published monthly since 1997 and gives a selected list of references relevant to clinical toxicology.  It is edited by Sarah Cage and Allister Vale and is produced by the National Poisons Information Service (Birmingham Unit). September 2008. PDF

Final Report.The Sixth Session of the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety (Forum VI) was held 15-19 September 2008 in Dakar, Senegal, hosted by the Government of Senegal. Seventy-one governments participated in the meeting, together with representatives from twelve intergovernmental organizations (IGO) and representatives from thirty-nine non-governmental organizations (NGO). See

October 1^st. Since the enactment of Decree 1444/05, in response to a project initiated by The Ministry of Health, October 1 has been designated Argentina's Day of Struggle Against Asbestos. Even though the country has already banned asbestos, many people are exposed to asbestos installed and hidden within the national infrastructure. Many other people are suffering the ill effects of hazardous exposures to asbestos they experienced in the past.Calling for a global ban on asbestos, the signatories of this text regard October 1 as a national focal point to raise awareness about the asbestos hazard and to disseminate information about the dangers to prevent more human and environmental contamination. Colaboration: Laurie Kazan Allen.Click on image to expand.

[ Ir Arriba ]

Medical Management of Acute Organophosphorus Pesticide Self-Poisoning. Michael Eddleston,Nick A Buckley,Peter Eyer and Andrew H Dawson.Lancet. 2008 February 16; 371(9612): 597–607. Full Text. See abstract in Read more.

Ver Imagen Health Effects Notebook for Hazardous Air Pollutants.
About the Health Effects Fact Sheets

• Introduction
• General Information
• Fact Sheet Organization
• Graph
• Data Sources
• Glossary of Health, Exposure, and Risk Assessment Terms and Definitions of Acronyms
• Acknowledgements