Stroke rates for Black Americans dangerously high
Even though U.S. stroke rates have decreased overall, Black Americans still have significantly higher rates than white people, new science shows.
Researchers examined data on stroke cases from 1993 to 2015 in southern Ohio and northern Kentucky, finding an 18% population-wide drop in rates. But wide disparities among racial and ethnic groups persisted, according to the Jan. 10 study in Neurology.
For white people, stroke rates declined almost 21%, from 215 cases per 100,000 people in 1993 to 170 in 2015. The Black population experienced an 11% decrease, and had much higher rates to fall from: In 1993, Black residents had a stroke rate of 349 per 100,000 people, compared to 311 in 2015.
Disparities persisted across the study period, with stroke rates consistently 50% to 80% higher for Black people than white people.
Researchers also found that strokes were occurring at younger ages, particularly for Black Americans. For white people, the average age at time of stroke was 72 at the beginning of the study and 71 two decades later. Black people averaged age 66 at time of stroke at the start of the study versus 62 by the end.
Black Americans have the nation’s highest stroke rates among all racial and ethnic groups and are less likely to be treated for related complications. Stroke risk factors such as high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes are also more common in Black Americans.
Ohio has some of the nation’s highest death rates for stroke, ranking sixth among U.S. states in 2021, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Kentucky, which was long considered part of the nation’s high-risk southern “stroke belt,” was ranked 14th. Mississippi has the highest stroke death rate in the U.S., with nearly 2,000 fatalities in 2021.
Researchers link hundreds of chemicals to breast cancer risk
More than 900 chemicals, many of which are present in common consumer products, have the potential to increase breast cancer risks, a new study concludes.
Researchers at the Silent Spring Institute examined chemicals listed in major reference databases, including those from the International Agency for Research on Cancer and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. They then classified chemicals based on their toxicity and ability to interfere with key human hormones associated with breast cancer.
Based on that analysis, the researchers identified 921 chemicals that can promote breast cancer, including those used in food, drinks and medications. Chemicals on the list include permethrin, which is used to control mosquitoes; profenofos, which is used to kill bugs on cotton crops; and trifluralin, which is used to control weeds.
About a third of the chemicals on the list have been linked to mammary tumors in rodents, according to the study, which was published Jan. 10 in Environmental Health Perspectives.
Chemicals associated with mammary tumors included 30 pesticides and herbicides approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, such as malathion. In August, the EPA limited application of malathion — used as an insecticide in both food agriculture and residential gardening — to protect birds, fish and other wildlife from harm.
About 240,000 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed each year in the U.S., with more than 42,000 annual deaths. While about 10% of breast cancer cases are associated with genetics, most are linked to lifestyle and environmental factors. About 13% of U.S. women are estimated to develop breast cancer in their lifetimes.
Severe black lung disease sickening US miners
Nearly 1,200 cases of progressive massive fibrosis, a severe and debilitating form of black lung disease that affects coal miners, have been identified at U.S. health clinics in recent years, new research finds.
Published Jan. 4 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the study adds to the growing science showing that PMF, an occupational illness once considered to have been nearly eradicated, is resurging among U.S. miners.
Study researchers identified 1,177 cases of PMF among patients at 11 Black Lung Clinics over six years. Located primarily in the Appalachian region of the U.S., the clinics provide screening, medical care and education to coal miners and their families.
Most of the miners with PMF said they had worked underground for all or part of their careers. The patients were overwhelmingly male and had an average age of 65, though 6% of them were under age 50. The majority worked in Kentucky, Virginia or West Virginia, home to much of the U.S. mining industry.
Upon screening, more than a third of the workers had small, rounded dense or hazy areas in their lungs known as r-type opacities, implicating silica dust exposure as a key risk factor, the researchers said. In June, the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration proposed new measures to strengthen silica dust protections for the 50,000 miners who work in the industry.
Although U.S. PMF rates reached historic lows in the 1990s, cases in some states have since resurged at rates not seen since the 1970s, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Today’s coal miners are more likely than workers from past decades to die from black lung disease, particularly those working in Central Appalachia, another study found last year.
High levels of plastics, related chemicals found in food and water
Two new studies are raising concerns about the amount of plastics and related chemicals found in food and drink that is regularly consumed by Americans.
A Jan. 8 study in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences found that a single bottle of water can contain hundreds of thousands of nanosized plastic particles.
Led by researchers at Columbia University, the study found that an average liter of commercially bottled water has about 240,000 plastic fragments. While previous studies have detected lower numbers of particles, the new research used technology that can detect nanoplastics that are small enough to pass directly into the bloodstream from the intestines.
The researchers examined three popular brands of pre-packaged water. One of the most common types of plastic particles they detected was polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, which many water bottles and food containers are made of. But some of the plastic particles could not be identified.
Environmental health scientists have raised concerns about the impact of microplastics on human health — an issue that the new study did not address. Recent reviews by the World Health Organization have concluded there is limited evidence that microplastics cause significant harm.
Just days before the bottled water study was released, Consumer Reports shared new findings on plastic-related chemicals in the food most people eat every day.
In tests of 85 foods, researchers found phthalates — chemicals that are used to make plastics more durable — in almost every sample. Phthalate-laden food ranged from low-fat yogurt and baby food to fast food burgers and frozen pizza. No single type of food or packaging was found to be at higher risk than others.
While the U.S. has banned several phthalates in toys for children, regulations on plastic-related chemicals in food packaging are limited. In 2022, the Food and Drug Administration issued a request for information on food contact uses, dietary exposure and more for the eight phthalates authorized for use in food packaging. The agency says it is reviewing the almost 24,000 comments it received with an eye toward possibly updating safety assessments for food contact uses of phthalates.
The Watch is written by Michele Late, who has more than two decades of experience as a public-health journalist.
