Study finds some of the highest levels of flame retardants ever measured in dust, including carcinogens
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First comprehensive analysis finds more than two dozen toxic highly fluorinated chemicals, including a phased-out substance.
Many Americans, with the start of the New Year, will resolve to cut back on fast food to avoid an overload of fat and calories. Yet, there is another reason to resist the temptation to indulge in fast food. The greaseproof packaging holding your burger and fries may...
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New study reveals top 10 consumer product chemicals in dust that could harm human health
Household dust exposes people to a wide range of toxic chemicals from everyday consumer products, according to a new study. These are chemicals found in consumer products and building materials and have been associated with numerous health effects including cancer, hormone disruption, and development and...
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Researchers trace possible sources to fire training areas, airports, industrial sites, and wastewater treatment plants.
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Findings could inform revisions to the Common Rule
In the first systemic investigation of participants’ views on open consent in the Personal Genome Project, researchers found that greater transparency and full disclosure of the risks involved in public sharing of genetic and health data could encourage, rather than deter, participation in human research.
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Septic systems likely source of contamination, study finds
Recent news about tainted water in Flint, Michigan, and other parts of the country have called into question the safety of the nation’s drinking water supply. Adding to this, a new study finds that pollutants from household wastewater—pharmaceuticals and consumer product chemicals—can make their way into people’s private wells, and that...
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Estrogen-mimicking chemicals called parabens, which are commonly found in an array of personal care products, may be more dangerous at lower doses than previously thought, according to a new study. The findings, published online October 27 in Environmental Health Perspectives, could have implications for the development of breast cancer and other diseases that are influenced by estrogens. The...
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For the first time in decades, furniture free of toxic flame retardants is becoming widely available to consumers. That’s because what’s become the de facto national standard for flame resistance in furniture has changed after a public outcry.
Still, consumers will need to request furniture that’s completely free of chemical flame retardants at the many retailers offering it, such as IKEA and...
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To find out how chemical contaminants affect health, scientists measure them in people’s blood, urine, breast milk and other tissues, and in household air and dust. With these new technologies, pollution isn’t just from an industrial smoke stack or waste dump any more--it’s personal, especially for the people who volunteer to be tested in environmental exposure studies.
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Every woman in America has been exposed to chemicals that are linked to breast cancer. Yet little is being done to tackle this problem. And only a small fraction of the suspect chemicals have ever been tested in people.
The Silent Spring Institute conducted a study to change this that has been published in a National Institutes of Health (NIH) journal, Environmental Health Perspectives.
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Citing 11 Silent Spring Institute studies, a major federal interagency report issued February 12, 2013, calls for greater investment in research on breast cancer prevention. The report highlights the scientific evidence about potential environmental causes of breast cancer, and shines a light on the fact that currently only a small fraction of the government’s breast cancer funding is spent on...
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Flame retardants sound like a good idea to prevent our couches and computers and carpets from combusting. Yet these chemicals also accumulate and linger in our homes, sometimes winding up in household dust at levels of health concern. That was one of the central findings of a recent Silent Spring Institute study, the first to test for a wide range of flame retardants in homes.
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Health conscious consumers often pore over product labels trying to avoid certain ingredients. But those labels can be incomplete. A new Silent Spring Institute study shows that everyday products contain a wide range of potentially harmful chemicals, including many that are not listed on product labels.
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There are plenty of reasons to avoid processed food and to include more fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet. That list just got a little longer.
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A study published in Environmental Science & Technology provides the most comprehensive information to date on the mixtures of hormone disrupting chemicals people are commonly exposed to in their homes. It also confirms that indoor uses of consumer products are the primary sources of endocrine disrupting exposures in indoor air, and shows that indoor levels are higher than those outdoors.
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Women who report greater use of cleaning products may be at higher breast cancer risk than those who say they use them sparingly. Silent Spring Institute researchers carried out telephone interviews with 787 women diagnosed with breast cancer and 721 comparison women. “Women who reported the highest combined cleaning product use had a doubled risk of breast cancer compared to those with the...
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Tests of 20 wells and two distributions systems supplying drinking water on Cape Cod found that 75 percent of the wells and both distribution systems had detectable levels of emerging contaminants such as pharmaceuticals and consumer product chemicals, primarily coming from septic systems. Nine water districts on Cape Cod voluntarily participated in the study. The study provides some of the first...
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On May 6th, the President's Cancer Panel—a watchdog group of advisors charged with monitoring the National Cancer Program—released a groundbreaking report, Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk, What We Can Do Now.
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Biologists, toxicologists, risk assessors, and regulators came together November 16-17, 2009, in Oakland, CA for a scientific workshop, organized by Silent Spring Institute Research Director Ruthann Rudel and Dr. Suzanne Fenton from NIEHS, to advance research on how early life exposure to EDCs influences mammary gland development and susceptibility to cancer.
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Despite information campaigns that warn consumers about chemical risks from household and personal care products, people often fail to make the connection between those products and their personal exposure to chemicals that could harm their health, according to research based on Silent Spring Institute’s Household Exposure Study.
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