EHP: The Researcher's Perspective

The International Agency for Research on Cancer, the National Toxicology Program, and the Environmental Protection Agency all declared asbestos a known human carcinogen decades ago. Yet U.S. imports of crude chrysotile asbestos fibers rose by 235% between 2009 and 2010, and use is also on the rise in many industrializing, developing countries. Richard Lemen tells host Ashley Ahearn what's driving this growth and how asbestos is currently used worldwide. Visit the podcast webpage to download a full transcript of this podcast.

In honor of its fiftieth anniversary the Society of Toxicology teamed up with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the National Toxicology Program, and Environmental Health Perspectives to produce a poster celebrating some of the foremost "benchmarks" of the field. In this podcast Peter Goering tells host Ashley Ahearn how he and other members of the evaluation group chose from centuries' worth of accomplishments to select the people and events that best illustrate the promise and achievements of toxicology. Visit the podcast webpage to download a full transcript of this podcast.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is used in a wide variety of consumer products, and biomonitoring studies indicate widespread exposure to the compound. Much of the hesitation to regulate BPA up to now has stemmed from uncertainty about whether health effects reported in laboratory animals—which include heart disease, obesity, diabetes, reproductive health problems, and several types of cancer—can be extrapolated to humans. In this podcast, Frederick vom Saal discusses recent findings that suggest mice, rhesus monkeys, and humans metabolize BPA at similar rates, raising the possibility that effects observed in animal models may be relevant to humans as well. vom Saal is a Curator’s Professor of biology at the University of Missouri. Visit the podcast webpage to download a full transcript of this podcast.

Brominated and chlorinated flame retardants are widely used in upholstered furniture and foam products. These compounds have been found to accumulate in the bodies of humans, and although more information is needed on health effects, the available toxicity data are troubling. In this podcast, Åke Bergman discusses the San Antonio Statement on Brominated and Chlorinated Flame Retardants, drafted in September 2010, in which an international group of scientists calls for greater awareness of and responsibility for this group of chemicals, including better life-cycle management. Bergman is a professor of environmental chemistry at Stockholm University in Sweden. Visit the podcast webpage to download a full transcript of this podcast.

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is one of the most frequently diagnosed neurobehavioral problems in children and is thought to be largely hereditary. But only a small number of cases have been linked to specific genes, leading many researchers to explore the impact of environmental exposures. In this podcast, Susan Schantz discusses how the neurologic effects of lead and polychlorinated biphenyls compare with symptoms of ADHD and what environmental health researchers can learn from those similarities and differences. Schantz is a professor of veterinary biosciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. Visit the podcast webpage to download a full transcript of this podcast.

Chlorine is one of the most common disinfectants used to kill microbes in water and make it safe for humans to swim in and drink. But when chlorine and other disinfectants combine with organic matter in pools such as sweat, urine, and skin cells, the results are disinfection by-products (DBPs), which have been linked with adverse health effects in animals and humans. In this podcast, Manolis Kogevinas discusses recent research on the carcinogenic and genotoxic potential of DBPs, but he also explains why people don't necessarily need to stop swimming in pools. Kogevinas is a professor and co-director of the Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology in Barcelona, Spain. Visit the podcast webpage to download a full transcript of this podcast.

In the past several decades there has been a sharp increase in the amount of artificial dyes and flavorings children encounter daily in foods, beverages, medicines, and toiletries such as toothpaste. Over the same period there has been a marked increase in the number of diagnoses of neurobehavioral disorders such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Bernard Weiss began studying potential links between artificial food dyes and neurobehavioral effects in children in the late 1970s. In this podcast he discusses some of his earliest research and tells why he remains convinced the two are connected. Weiss is a professor in the Department of Environmental Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Visit the podcast webpage to download a full transcript of this podcast.

The collapse of the World Trade Center buildings on 11 September 2001 created a massive cloud of dust that blanketed lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn. That dust comprised a complex mixture of building materials, office equipment, jet fuel, and combustion by-products. In this podcast, Paul Lioy discusses how this dust differs from other particulate matter and how these differences may have affected the health of those who were exposed to the dust. Lioy is the deputy director of the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Rutgers University. He is also the author of the book Dust: The Inside Story of Its Role in the September 11th Aftermath. Visit the podcast webpage to download a full transcript of this podcast.

As many as 70,000 volunteers and rescue workers responded to the 11 September 2001 World Trade Center (WTC) attacks, many toiling for months to clear mountains of debris containing a range of toxic compounds. Health effects seen since that time in WTC responders include respiratory, gastrointestinal, chemosensory, and mental health problems; many of these effects have persisted for years. In this podcast, Philip Landrigan discusses his work with WTC responders as a physician and an epidemiologist and how lessons learned from the WTC cleanup may be applied to other disasters. Landrigan is the chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine and dean for Global Health at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. Visit the podcast webpage to download a full transcript of this podcast.

Although dispersants have been used to help clean up oil spills since the 1960s, it wasn't until the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico that these chemicals made their way into the public consciousness. Use of dispersants always involves an environmental tradeoff, but the Deepwater Horizon situation presents special considerations because the chemicals are being used a mile underwater for the first time ever. In this podcast, Dana Wetzel discusses the dispersants used in the Deepwater Horizon spill and research needs regarding how these chemicals may affect aquatic species. Wetzel is a senior scientist and program manager at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida. Visit the podcast webpage to download a full transcript of this podcast.