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    Swine CAFOs and Novel H1N1 Flu: Separating Facts from Fears

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    Hypotheses about the genesis of novel H1N1 influenza (the pandemic strain of swine flu) range far and wide. Some public health and epidemiology experts are taking a fresh look at concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) , which they say provide ideal conditions that facilitate the mutation of viral pathogens into novel strains. Evidence to date suggests zoonotic disease strains routinely pass from livestock to farm workers and veterinarians, who can then infect others in the community. No such events have been definitively linked with human disease outbreaks, and the agriculture industry insists a suite of biosecurity measures adequately protect the health of both workers and animals. However, a lack of coordinated surveillance of CAFO workers hampers the ability of health agencies to track events with the potential for a broad public health impact.

    image: STRINGER SHANGHAI/Reuters/Corbis

     

    Spheres of Influence

    The New USDA: Cultivating Change

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    Since the Obama administration took office, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has sent signals that suggest a heightened focus on sustainability and community gardening. For some observers, the changes signal an institutional awareness of agriculture?s broader importance beyond crops and commodities. Others want more aggressive change, including strong regulation of concentrated animal feeding operations and genetically modified crops, whereas some industry groups believe proposed changes could unfairly penalize farmers.

    image: Photodisc, Matthew Ray/EHP

     

    Featured Research

    Arsenic Alters H1N1 Response in Mice

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    One of the puzzles of the 2009 pandemic of novel H1N1 influenza virus is why some populations are being hit harder than others?a reminder that known susceptibility factors cannot always explain why otherwise healthy people succumb to diseases that others survive. A team of researchers from Dartmouth Medical School may have uncovered a potential previously unrecognized susceptibility factor, demonstrating that exposure to arsenic significantly weakened mice?s immune response to a mouse-adapted subtype of H1N1 flu.

    image: AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini

     

    Polycarbonate Plastics and Human BPA Exposure

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    Public and scientific concerns about exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) have risen in the last few years, with Canada and some U.S. states and cities banning BPA from polycarbonate baby bottles and other products sold for use by infants and children. Despite these concerns, little is known about whether the use of polycarbonate food or beverage containers actually contributes to BPA body burden in people. A new study of human exposure to BPA from drinking containers now shows that study participants? urinary concentrations of the molecule increased by two-thirds after they used polycarbonate drinking bottles for 1 week.

    image: Getty Images

     

    Contaminated Sea Turtle Eggs Pose a Potential Health Threat

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    The eggs of the green turtle (Chelonia mydas) and other sea turtle species are a popular food in areas such as Peninsular Malaysia?so popular, in fact, that nesting populations in the region have declined by more than 80% since the 1950s, largely because of their eggs being collected for human consumption. Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and heavy metals have been reported in the eggs of a number of C. mydas populations. Now a team of Australian and Malaysian scientists reports that the concentrations of POPs found in C. mydas eggs from markets in Peninsular Malaysia could pose a considerable threat to human health.

    image: Christian Amodeo

     

    Psychosocial Stress, Pollution, and Health

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    In recent years, a growing body of work has shown that psychosocial stress may exacerbate susceptibility to the adverse effects of pollutants such as lead, polychlorinated biphenyls, and combustion emissions. To accurately measure and evaluate the effects of stress on people?s susceptibility to pollutants, researchers need to rely on the tools and findings of both social epidemiology and environmental health science, according to a review of the research to date. The authors offer specific recommendations for how researchers can combine techniques from these fields to investigate the links between stress, pollution, and health.

     

    On The Cover | A pig from a farm operated by Granjas Carroll de México on the outskirts of Xicaltepec, Veracruz, Mexico, 27 April 2009.

    image credit: AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini

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    Publication of articles in EHP does not mean that the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) condones, endorses, approves, or recommends the use of any products, services, materials, methodology, or policies stated therein. Conclusions and opinions are those of the individual authors and advertisers only and do not reflect the policies or views of the NIEHS.