Winter 2008
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Science for the People

Sport Fish Potentially Linked to Breast Cancer in Premenopausal Women

Compiled by Mary Beth Doyle
March/April Issue, 2004

Number of babies estimated at risk from mercury exposure doubles

According to recently revised estimates, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency now believes that 630,000 newborns are exposed each year to potentially dangerous levels of mercury. The EPA’s revision reflects a newer, more accurate mechanism for predicting mercury exposure in newborns based upon mercury levels in maternal blood.

The primary source of maternal exposure to mercury is fish eating. The Food and Drug Administration advises women who are pregnant, or who plan to become pregnant, to limit the amount of fish they eat, and avoid shark, king mackerel, swordfish, and tilefish completely. They should also limit their intake of albacore (or “white”) tuna. Recent studies have shown that the amount of mercury in canned white tuna is twice as high as past FDA estimates for canned tuna, and three times the levels in light tuna.

The EPA presented the revised estimates at the National Forum on Contaminants in Fish, January 26, 2004. The presentation, by Kate Mahaffey, is available on the EPA’s website: Update on Recent Epidemiological Mercury Studies.

Increased asthma risk associated with early exposure to pesticides

Asthma is now the most common disease in children and results in more sick days and hospital stays than any other chronic illness. Rates of asthma have been steadily increasing, but researchers aren’t sure exactly why.

A recent study may help shed some light on the issue. Day-to-day exposure to certain chemicals and pollutants during the first year of life appears to raise children’s risk of developing asthma, according to researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. Children exposed to weed-killers before turning 1 year old, for example, had more than 4.5 times the risk of developing asthma before age 5 as non-exposed children.

Children exposed to pesticides before age 1 had nearly 2.5 times the risk of developing asthma before age 5 as non-exposed children, while those exposed to cockroaches had just over twice the risk. Other early exposures that contributed to asthma risk include fuel oil, soot, exhaust, farm crops, and dust.

“The main message is that early in life, the first year of life may be a very, very important time for respiratory health, and that children may be uniquely susceptible then,” said Dr. Frank D. Gilliland, lead researcher on the study.

Gilliland, Frank Davis, et al., “Early Life Risk Factors for Asthma: Findings from the Children’s Health Study,” Environmental Health Perspectives on-line, Dec. 9, 2003.

Vinyl flooring source of indoor air problem

A team of researchers determined that vinyl flooring was the likely reason workers in a Finnish office were experiencing a high incidence of bronchial asthma and other respiratory problems. The incidence of adult-onset asthma was approximately 9 times higher than that among Finns employed in similar work. Air tests found elevated levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The degradation of the vinyl flooring is thought to be the source of the VOCs. This hypothesis was further supported when removal of the vinyl flooring resulted in decreases in the level of VOCs detected, as well as decreases in the amount and severity of the workers’ symptoms.

Tuomainen A, et al., “Indoor air quality and health problems associated with damp floor coverings,” International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, Dec. 19, 2003.

Compiled by Mary Beth Doyle, M.P.H.,
Ecology Center Environmental Health Campaign Director

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