Thursday, April 30, 2009

Special report about the swine flu

Taking lead from John McCain
I am suspending the topic of my blog this week to address the swine flu.
("While having no impact whatsoever, that's a real McCain," one of you has already told me. Well, maybe I'm not taking the senator's complete lead. There are precautions we need to be discussing here that can help us.)
 
Vice President Joe Biden commented this week that he's advising his family not to use airplanes or subways, as these confined spaces allow statistically higher chances to transfer bacteria and viruses, such as the swine flu. The airline industry is furious by yet another one of Biden's slip-up comments, however I think the V.P. is on to something. (http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=7470281&page=1).
 
How it spreads
The swine flu, or the influenza A virus subtype H1N1. It's a virus transferrable through person-to-person contact and began spreading out of Mexico this spring. Since then, it has reached 11 states in the United States and 12 countries, as of today. Those who had travelled to and from Mexico contracted it and brought it home, then infecting those around them. Thanks alot, honeymooners.
 
We're all familiar with how a flu virus passes on- we get it, have symptoms with fever for about a week, and we're pretty contagious. We avoid the flu by taking a flu vaccine, probably once a year, as new strains appear often and mutate into different strains we're not vaccinated for. So the FDA tests the vaccines and we get them, hoping we won't get in contact with the flu. Even if we don't have the flu vaccine, we're safe from the flu if a certain percentage of those around us are vaccinated. This theory works similarly with any vaccination, but the necessary percentages of those vaccinated around you differ sometimes. So we're safe if some majority of us is vaccinated. A portion of NPR's This American Life episode "Ruining It for the Rest of Us" explains it beautifully. Listen for free (http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=1275).
 
None of us can currently be vaccinated for this flu, however. A vaccination for this probably will not be properly tested and approved for years, as agencies like the FDA did not look out for this. Yet I've already seen antidote-like swine flu vaccine pills online (www.swine-flu-vaccine.org) . What a scam. This type of protection is absolutely not available at this time.

According to the Bloomberg Press:
Flu vaccines generally contain a dead or weakened form of a circulating virus. The vaccine prepares the body’s immune system to fend off a true infection. For the vaccine to work, it must match the circulating, “wild-type” virus relatively closely. There is no vaccine currently that exactly matches the swine flu. The seasonal flu vaccine isn’t effective against swine flu, says Besser, the acting head of the [U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.]

Vaccine makers have contacted the World Health Organization about obtaining samples of the virus needed to make a vaccine. Making flu vaccine can take three to six months. No decision has been made to order a vaccine against swine flu, Besser said. (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aLdy2aZer5fM&refer=home). 

Why it's scary
Sure, the only swine flu-related deaths we've seen so far have been those in Mexico who were already weak, old, or sick. Those people are expected to not handle any flu so well. And the first swine flu death of the United States was a 23 month old baby in Texas that had just travelled from Mexico to the U.S. Sure, a baby could die of the flu. Thousands of people die with the flu every year (See graphs at http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/) (http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/world/11544526.asp?scr=1).
 
Yet the swine flu's ancestor is the great influenza of 1918: the Spanish flu. Wiki this- it was the last pandemic that spread to all parts of the world, which did not have adequate medicines for. It spread across as simple flu-like symptoms, but then mutated into a more deadly strain. When not contained, the swine flu can also easily mutate and become a strain more dangerous to the global population.

PBS reports that the Spanish flu affected over 50% of the world's population at the time, and was most rapidly spread and fatal at a time of war. It also reports:
The influenza commonly called "Spanish flu" killed more people than the guns of World War I. Estimates put the worldwide death toll at 21,642,274. Some one billion people were affected by the disease -- half of the total human population. It came at a time when 19 nations were at war and the disruption, stress, and privation of war certainly aided the flu's transmission. It killed people on every continent except Antarctica, with the most lives lost in Asia and the highest percentage of population killed in India. About 57,000 American soldiers died from influenza while the U.S. was at war; about 53,500 died in battle.

After months of terrorizing people around the world, the "Spanish lady" (called "The Naples Soldier" in Spain, and a variety of other names around the world) seemed to withdraw. It had been the most dire epidemic since the Middle Ages, the third worst in recorded history...And still little is known about the origin or nature of the killer virus. Many believe the modern "swine flu" virus is a descendant of the deadly 1918 flu. Some theorize that its stronger ancestor ganged up with a bacteria to wreak havoc on the human population.  (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/dm18fl.html).

A couple years ago I read The Great Influenza by John M. Barry about the Spanish flu. The book is about 1,000 pages and packed with information about World War I and how a virus like this spreads. Read it and fear it. Buy it below.

What we've been advised
President Obama, in his press conference yesterday, advised the public to be concerned, but not to panic. Wash your hands and cover your mouth, he advised in his most dignified motherly tone.Yet the World Health Organization has raised our alert level to 5, just one below pandemic level. At this alert level, all countries will prepare and mobilize to aid citizens contracting this virus, as well as increase efforts to create a vaccine.

And it's crossing continents. Hurriyet Daily News says:
In France, President Nicolas Sarkozy met with Cabinet ministers to discuss swine flu and Minister of Health Roselyne Bachelot said France will ask the European Union to suspend flights to Mexico. She said flights from Mexico could continue. 
President Obama similarly supported the decision not to block travelling between the United States and Mexico, using a metaphor that points out that we can't contain the virus anymore- it's out and about, and there's not much we can do to stop it from spreading across the nation.

However, travelling isn't really encouraged after all
The U.S., the EU, and other countries discouraged nonessential travel to Mexico, Cuba has banned flights to and from Mexico and Argentina has suspended flights arriving from Mexico. Egypt began slaughtering the roughly 300,000 pigs in the country as a precautionary measure against the spread of flu even though no cases have been reported here yet.

What's going on
Hey, people are already being quarantined, especially students in Texas. For weeks at a time. Just imagine, you could be quarantined if there's an outbreak near you. From work, school, even from leaving your driveway. Again, listen to the This American Life podcast I posted above for the story of an unfortunate New Jersey quarantine.

The Dallas Morning News reports:
130,000 Texas students missing class because of swine flu; UIL suspends events
The Fort Worth school district, one of the largest in the state, announced Wednesday that it is closing all schools to prevent a possible spread of the swine flu. Nearly 80,000 students will be out of school through at least May 8, Fort Worth ISD spokesman Clint Bond said. The closures came at the recommendation of the Tarrant County Health Department, he said.

And schools across areas like Brooklyn and Queens are closing schools left and right, as well- this is not just an issue in Mexico's bordering area. Packed-in spaces are indeed festering the virus, too similar to 1918 wartime's condensed communities festering the virus.

Who to look to
With biases everywhere telling us not to panic here and to fear for human extinction there, it's hard to tell who we should look to for guidance about this issue. My advice: follow the WHO, or the World Health Organization, for reports on what's going on. Of course it will tell us not to panic... NO INSTITUTION like this is actually going to tell us to panic (imagine the Obama administration writing from the White House: "Dear America: ready, set, freak out!") However the WHO will give us accurate accounts of the research and actions taken to prevent the illness from affecting you. Do what the WHO tells you would be the best action to keep from catching the swine flu.

The WHO says:

Asked for advice for ordinary citizens, General Margaret Chan, the WHO chief, said: "Continue with your business but try to pay special attention to personal hygiene."

Dr. Keiji Fukuda, WHO's top flu expert, said vigilance was all important because it was not known how severe the outbreaks would become.

"It really is all of humanity that is under threat during a pandemic," said WHO Director General Margaret Chan. "We do not have all the answers right now but we will get them." (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090429/ap_on_go_pr_wh/med_swine_flu).

I say
I'm alarmed. The WHO recognizes that this swine flu is going to spread exponentially faster as time goes on. As the virus is caught by more individuals across the globe, the strain will mutate, eventually becoming more harmful to those in contact with it. So though people with the flu now are just dealing with flu-like symptoms, in a short while people who catch this virus will have much worse conditions. And in this short amount of time, we will probably not have the proper vaccinations or medicines to prevent or treat these conditions. 

Wash your hands and cover your mouth so you don't get the virus or spread it unknowingly to others. By doing this, you can prevent global chaos.

And for a quick final comment
Hurriyet Daily News also reports:
"We will use the term Mexican flu in order not to have to pronounce the word swine," Deputy Health Minister in Israel said on Monday.

"European Union Commission is calling it ’novel flu virus’ just to avoid the misunderstandings with the animal diseases because it costs a lot to the industry," said spokeswoman Nina Papadoulaki.

What.the.heck. It's the swine flu. Bacon and pork sales will be down for a long, long time no matter what you name this virus. (http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/world/11544526.asp?scr=1).

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

The information about BPA you really should know

Today I found a great great article on Enviroblog, posted on February 13. Here are some facts about Bisphenol A, or BPA that we should get under our belts, whether we knew them before or not:
(
http://www.enviroblog.org/2009/02/bpa-exposure-sources.html)

BPA, a commonly used plastics chemical, leaches into food and beverage from polycarbonate plastic containers, epoxy can linings, and baby bottles.
Okay, we knew this before. After mothers in the 1980's and 1990's were advised to switch over to plastic baby bottles from glass, they switched to use plastic materials full of BPA. This goes for other kid toys and products, as well. Really not good for the kids.

A year ago, scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analyzed the data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and discovered that BPA contaminates the bodies of 93% of Americans tested;
We shouldn't be shocked about this, either. Nearly 40% of beverages consumed by thAmerican public are plastic water bottles. We use tons of plastic products all the time, and have exposure to small amounts of BPA all the time.

Women had higher BPA levels than men, and children and adolescents carried more BPA in their bodies compared to adults.
This is where it starts getting scary. BPA alters hormone growth and production, and if children have more BPA in their systems, their bodily development can be incredibly hampered. We see increases in parents putting their pubescent children on anti-depressants, adderall, or ritalin, whatever. Why don't we consider all the unnatural chemicals these kids have injested since they started using a bottle?

Also, females' having greater amounts surprises and alarms me, especially when BPA can be linked to ovarian cancer.

The chemical industry and FDA have based their claims for BPA's safety to children on the assumption that this chemical has a short half-life in the body and is eliminated within 24 hours. However, when Rochester team re-analyzed the NHANES data in greater depth, they detected a new, startling finding that was previously missed: when a person abstains from food for 8-24 hours and thus avoids any food-based BPA exposure, BPA levels in their body drop off but never disappear.
So the short half-life of BPA doesn't clear it from your system, at all. Don't let statistics fool you.

This persistence of BPA in the body may drive a lot of health risks, including breast cancer, diabetes and heart disease.
Heart disease is a new effect of BPA I hadn't heard of before.

In 2008, Canada banned BPA use in baby bottles and took steps to minimize contamination of baby formula. Many states in the U.S. have been moving along the same path.
Though a federal or state ban of this sort could never be politically feasible, come on.

Aggravated by the FDA's inaction, consumers have taken matters into their own hands, seeking out BPA-free products. Many manufacturers eagerly responded to the consumer demand and started offering BPA-free options.
Washington's legislators need to be pushing the FDA to further fund research on BPA and pressure the agency not to side with the chemical industry.

As reported by the Journal Sentinel, "The research indicates for the first time that people are either constantly being bombarded with bisphenol A from non-food sources, such as receipts and plastic water piping, or they are storing the chemical in fat cells, unable to get rid of it as quickly as scientists have believed."
Well, I didn't expect BPA to be water-soluble.
The reference to receipts is fascinating - it is a little known fact that ordinary shopping receipts contain high levels of BPA, which smears on fingers and may end up being ingested or transferred into the body through the skin.
BPA can be transferred through our skin?? This requires further research***.

An estimated 6 billion pounds of BPA are produced globally annually, generating 
about $6 billion in sales. In addition to food containers, BPA is an additive in many other consumer products, some like plastic water pipes and municipal water storage tanks may also leach BPA directly into the drinking water.
Really, it's everywhere.

BPA accumulates in the freshwater and marine environment, where it could damage wildlife reproduction. In 2007, an interdisciplinary team of scientists from seven different research institutions, found aquatic animals and aquatic ecosystems to be at great risk for BPA-caused endocrine disruption.
Remember that all BPA effect studies have been performed on animals due to humans' already-high amounts of injested BPA. We absolutely do need to worry about how this synthetic material can harm other plants and animals.

Tucked away among long data tables of a recent U.S. Geological Survey report a startling observation that BPA is 1 of the 5 most frequently detected chemical contaminants in groundwater sites analyzed by USGS. 30% of the samples tested by USGS scientists contained BPA. In many communities nationwide, groundwater is the main source of drinking water, and people in some communities might be continuously exposed to BPA simply from the water they drink.
This has convinced me to replace my broken Brita filter. Even if we're filling our metal bottles with tap water, we could be injesting BPA if we don't filter.

Water utilities have not been testing tap water for potential BPA contamination so we don't know how many people may be ingesting BPA with tap water. But with 6 billion pounds of BPA produced every year, the purity of our water supplies may very well be at risk.
Buy a water filter.
H2Ox2.com.

So what...
We need to be amending policy here to keep materials from containing toxins like BPA. Whether acted upon by the FDA or EPA, this issue needs legislators' action as soon as possible. Which means we need to be opening discussions with our congressmen about this as soon as possible. Call your U.S. Rep! It's your civic duty!

***To address this comment about BPA remnants on shopping reciepts:
The Chicago Tribune reports the "Top 10 hidden sources of BPA."
(
http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/features_julieshealthclub/2008/09/hidden-sources.html)
  • Pizza boxes made of recycled cardboard

  • Recycled paper (toilet paper included)

  • Credit card receipts at the gas station and your local restaurant

  • Wine (fermented in BPA-resin lined vats)

  • Beer

  • Rubbermaid polycarbonate-lined baking tins used by Subway

  • Pop cans

  • Organic canned tomatoes

  • Common plastic cups used in college cafeterias

  • Blue-tinted hard plastic 5-gallon drinking water bottles. (Some water filters that store filtered water in polycarbonate containers.)

The article also reports that BPA can be detected in human blood and breast milk, not just in human waste. Urine is most commonly tested for traces of BPA.

THANKS! To Brittany and Chris for taking pictures of their BPA-free plastic water containers. Brittany uses a Thermos Intak plastic bottle and Chris models the Nalgene sold at the Boston University Barnes and Noble. I prefer metal containers, but these bottles are examples of newer, BPA-free plastic materials that boast safety.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

What about the waste already polluting areas?

I’ve mentioned how terrible landfills and air toxin emissions can be, but these have been too vague of references. I want to learn about how waste sites are managed, especially the extreme cases (probably not caused exclusively by disposed plastic bottles.) I’ve researched what’s done with waste sites, by whom, and if this process is effective. The EPA website is most helpful.
(http://www.epa.gov/superfund/index.htm)

Keyword today: SUPERFUND

From EPA: “Superfund is the federal government's program to clean up the nation's uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. We're committed to ensuring that remaining National Priorities List hazardous waste sites are cleaned up to protect the environment and the health of all Americans.”

From BU Professor Rossell:

  • In 1980, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, also dubbed the “hazardous waste superfund,” was created to provide the EPA with the authority and funds to regulate emissions.
  • In 29 years, this superfund has collected over $1.6 billion to clean up waste sites.

From EPA: “This law was enacted in the wake of the discovery of toxic waste dumps such as Love Canal and Times Beach in the 1970s. It allows the EPA to clean up such sites and to compel responsible parties to perform cleanups or reimburse the government for EPA-lead cleanups.”

From me:

Thumbs up:

  • This sounds like a great system. The EPA assesses sites, then places them on a “National Priorities List.” Working down this list, the EPA implements cleanup initiatives, worked by federal, state, tribal, and local staff the EPA has trained.
  • This project removes wastes, enforces against those parties who were “potentially responsible***” works to involve local communities and states, and ensures long-term environmental care.

Thumbs down:

  • I can see how conservatives would not like this Act. It allows the EPA to target locations that need to be cleaned up, by the EPA’s standards, not the area’s standards. The EPA then charges the area’s entities to clean it up. For communities content with waste and low on funding, the EPA could be a misfortune. For example, I could see this dismaying factory managers:

    *** From EPA: “The Superfund Enforcement program gets Superfund sites cleaned up by finding the companies or people responsible for contamination at a site, and negotiating with them to do the clean up themselves, or to pay for the clean up done by another party (i.e., EPA, state, or other responsible parties).”

Yet all in all, if the EPA didn’t step into these areas… most of them probably wouldn’t be cleaned up, and the EPA, a necessary agency in the United States, wouldn’t be funded as well. This Act establishes local community awareness for environmentalism too, something we need to see much more in the U.S. Businesses, which this program would hold responsible for pollution, now have the incentive to cut down on emissions before pollution gets bad – pollution prevention is much more cost effective than pollution cleanup.

So if you don’t want to pay for the EPA to come clean up your area, do it yourself. Stop polluting. 5 points for the Superfund.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Bacteria build up in metal, plastic bottles

Inquiry from my roommates: Don’t reusable metal bottles accumulate huge amounts of bacteria? Do they build up more germs than plastic bottles? Sure we clean our Siggs with soap and water every now and then, but bacteria probably builds up in the lids and mouth pieces.

Good call, homies. Here’s the research.

Metals over Plastics
An Oregon laboratory recently tested used plastic water bottles for bacteria colony counts and discovered “alarming rates” of bacteria, even in the bottles that were recently washed. “A bottle washed the day before the test contained 2,400 colonies. But it was Amy Blue’s bottle that topped the list. While she washed it a few days before the test, the bottle contained 4,100 bacteria colonies.”

According to the Sierra Blogging Post, the best solution would be to cease any use of plastic water bottles.

Use stainless steel water bottles instead — stainless steel is a healthy alternative to plastic and is naturally bacteria resistant. With all we know about plastic - it leaches chemicals, doesn’t break down, and harbors bacteria - why continue using it?”
(http://blog.sierratradingpost.com/in-outdoors-camping-gear-forest-trails/reused-plastic-water-bottles-loaded-with-bacteria/)


What Producers Say
Sigg has long boasted that its aluminum water bottles have special linings that decrease bacterial build up.
Due to the finish of the liner, there is much less chance for bacteria build-up with a SIGG as opposed to plastic containers.”
(http://www.shopwiki.com/search/Sigg+8031.90+(803190)+Swiss+Quality+0.6+Liter+Aluminum+Bottle)

Manufacturers of Santa Fe Aluminum Bottles and Epromo Bottles are now also bragging that aluminum and steel products resist bacteria build up. I think it’s a great point for pushing the product. You got me.
(http://www.empirepromos.com/items/SantaFeAluminumBottle19098.php)

Nalgene containers, though finally BPA-free and still competitive with metal containers, do not feature bacteria-resistant linings. Nalgene's supplementary products include treatments to kill bacteria in your bottle and an "anti-microbial Aquaguard" to help prevent growth in your bottle. Plastic surfaces just don't resist bacteria like metal surfaces do.
(http://www.nalgene-outdoor.com/store/detail.aspx?ID=1217)

Why to Care
Some might think that the intake of some bacteria is safe, but more studies are linking stomach ulcers, dysentery, cholera, typhoid, etc. to unsafe drinking water. Keeping water in an environment that hampers bacteria, strains like E. coli will occur more. (http://www.cyber-nook.com/water/tbl_cont.html)

Plus, I sometimes let my friends drink from my bottle, which is an easy transfer of bacteria and viruses. I hear bronchitis is going around.

My answer: You’re exposed to exponentially more bacteria when you reuse plastic bottles, BPA-free or not. Use metal bottles, which have surfaces that accumulate less bacteria and are more easily cleaned with soap and water.

My own unanswered inquiry: What is this secret formula that Sigg uses to make its linings? The company won’t release this information, so I suspect it’s a plastic (it’s elastic and can safely contain acidic drinks). Disclosing the plastic liner material would be a marketing nightmare for Sigg, but it’s a compromise for the suspicions Sigg is causing its customers.

SIGG has perfected the formula of its proprietary inner liner over decades of scientific research and Swiss engineering. The ingredients (like the formula for Coca-Cola) remain secret and unavailable to 3rd parties so as to ensure SIGG retains its competitive advantage. The key of course is that the SIGG liner is FDA approved and independently tested to be taste and scent inert – and resistant to any leaching (0.0%) so 100% safe.”
(
http://www.mysigg.com/index.asp?ID=5&PageAction=Custom#What%20exactly%20is%20the%20SIGG%20liner%20made%20of?)