Exposure to environmental metals linked to pre-term birth
Women exposed to high levels of a mix of environmental metals, such as through water or soil, are almost three times more likely to give birth pre-term, a new study finds.
The research involved pregnant women in the Navajo Nation, who wereare exposed to mine waste through groundwater, contaminated dust and locally grown food.
Women with a mixture of arsenic, cadmium, lead and uranium at high concentrations in their blood or urine had a 2.9 times higher risk of giving birth before 37 weeks of gestation as compared to women with low levels of the metals, said the Environmental Health Perspectives study.
There are more than 160,000 abandoned hard rock mines across the U.S., including at least 500 uranium mines on Navajo Nation land alone. Prior to the 1970s, U.S. companies were allowed to mine for valuable minerals and then abandon the land.
About 600,000 tribal community residents in the U.S. live within 6.2 miles of abandoned hard rock mines, putting them at risk for exposure. Previous research has found uranium, arsenic and other metals in soil and water in the Navajo community.
American Indian and Alaska Native women overall experience higher rates of pre-term birth than the U.S. average. In 2021, the pre-term birth rate for the population was 11.8% of live births, compared to 9.3% for white women and 10.5% of total U.S. births.
The new study used data collected from pregnant women in the Navajo Birth Cohort Study, which was initiated in 2010 to examine the risks of environmental metals to people living in the Navajo Nation.
Antibiotic can’t be used on citrus crops, court tells EPA
Farmworker and public health advocates are applauding a recent court ruling that blocks the use of streptomycin — an antibiotic used to treat human illnesses — on citrus crops.
The ruling, filed Dec. 13 by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, overturns a decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that allowed streptomycin sulfate to be used as a pesticide against citrus diseases.
The court ruled that the EPA’s 2021 decision was unlawful under federal regulations that protect people, the environment and pollinators from potential risks of pesticides.
Widespread use of streptomycin in agriculture could promote antibiotic resistance in humans and harm animal and plant life, according to a group of health and environmental organizations that sued the EPA.
Streptomycin is used in humans to treat diseases such as tuberculosis, pneumonia and plague. At least 2.8 million people are sickened by an antibiotic-resistant infection each year in the U.S., with 35,000 related deaths.
Antibiotic resistance has grown significantly in humans in recent decades. The number of newly developed antibiotics that can be used to treat serious bacterial infections has not kept pace, prompting calls from public health authorities to restrict the drugs to human use.
In citrus, streptomycin is used to counter insect-spread bacteria that make fruit green, hard and bitter. The bacteria have devastated millions of acres of citrus crops in the U.S., including Florida.
In their ruling, the San Francisco circuit judges directed the EPA to further assess whether streptomycin is effective for preventing disease in citrus crops and to examine its risk to bees.
Petitioners in the lawsuit included the Natural Resources Defense Council, Beyond Pesticides, Farmworker Justice, Migrant Clinicians Network and the Center for Biological Diversity.
Black patients more likely to miss out on home health care referrals
Black Medicare patients are less likely to be referred for home health care when they are released from the hospital, though they often may be more in need, new science shows.
In a study published in Medical Care, researchers found that overall, 22.4% of Black patients were referred to home health care at time of discharge, compared to 26.7% of white patients.
When compared by how ready patients were for discharge, that gap increased even more: When patients had a score of 6 or less out of 10 for discharge readiness — indicating they might have higher likelihood of needing home health care — referral rates were 26.8% for Black patients and 32.6% for white patients.
On average, the Black Medicare patients had more chronic conditions, were less likely to be married and more likely to live alone than the white patients. They were also more likely to be younger, said the study, which looked at data from 31 U.S. hospitals.
Previous research has found that people of color are less likely to receive home health care, which can reduce the risks of adverse health outcomes and being readmitted to a hospital.
EPA moves to evaluate five toxic chemicals, including PVC component
The EPA is flexing its authority to protect Americans from toxic exposures by moving toward review of five currently-in-use chemicals, the agency announced Dec. 14.
The five chemicals were selected from the EPA’s 2014 Toxic Substances Control Act work plan, which names chemicals up for risk assessment by the agency. The EPA has already completed evaluation of about a dozen chemicals on the list, proposing final rules this year to limit the use of four of them.
The new action would prioritize five additional chemicals for evaluation, including .
Among the new chemicals up for prioritization is vinyl chloride, a known human carcinogen that is used to create polyvinyl chloride, better known as PVC. PVC is used in a wide range of building and consumer plastic products, including pipes, wire coatings and packaging materials.
While PVC itself is not toxic, vinyl chloride has been linked to liver and central nervous system damage, particularly among workers exposed to it. The chemical was released in the February 2023 Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, prompting health concerns for first responders and community residents.
The other four chemicals that would be prioritized for EPA review, all of which are probable human carcinogens and are used to manufacture and process other chemicals, are:
• acetaldehyde, used in adhesives and petrochemicals;
• acrylonitrile, used in plastic materials, paints and petrochemicals;
• benzenamine, used in dyes, pigments, petrochemicals, plastics and resins; and
• 4,4’-Methylene bis(2-chloroaniline), also known as MBCOA, used in rubbers, plastics and resins.
EPA’s evaluation of the chemicals would include a look at exposure potential, environmental buildup, susceptible subpopulations, drinking water risk and usage. Comments on the EPA prioritization are being accepted through March 18.
Going ahead, the EPA plans to begin prioritization of an additional five chemicals every year, the agency said.
The Watch is written by Michele Late, who has more than two decades of experience as a public-health journalist.
