Microplastics can interfere with antibiotics
Nanoplastics may make some of the drugs people take to fight infections work less effectively, a new study says.
Published Oct. 28 in Scientific Reports, the study found antibiotics can bind to pieces of nanoplastic, hindering the drug’s ability to function properly. The finding means microplastics in the human body may make it harder to fight diseases with the life-saving drugs.
Nanoplastics, which are created as plastic products degrade, are extremely tiny pieces of microplastics. Humans regularly ingest microplastics through food, water and even the air they breathe. The average person is estimated to take in thousands of microplastic particles each year from a wide range of sources.
For the new study, researchers focused on particles of polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene — plastics commonly used in food containers, toys, medical supplies, disposable cutlery and more — as well as nylon, which is often used in clothing, carpets, curtains and other textiles. They modeled the effect of the plastic particles on tetracycline, an antibiotic often used to treat respiratory tract and skin infections.
Besides becoming less effective, the study found antibiotics may concentrate on the surface of nanoplastics, promoting the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. And antibiotics that are stuck to microplastics may be transported to unintended parts of the body, causing the drugs to become less targeted on the infections they are intended to fight, researchers said.
Antibiotics are used to treat numerous bacterial diseases, including sepsis, meningitis, bloodstream infections, whooping cough, sexually transmitted diseases and strep throat.
Disparities in well-being remain a reality for many in US
The U.S. continues to experience significant disparities in individual well-being, says a new study in The Lancet.
Released Nov. 7, the research from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation measured well-being based on life expectancy, education and income, finding wide gaps by race, ethnicity and sex. People who have the highest levels of well-being are more likely to have long and healthy lives, be knowledgeable and have a good standard of living.
Black and Hispanic males and American Indian and Alaska Native people of both sexes were most likely to experience the lowest levels of well-being in the U.S. from 2008 to 2021, according to the study, which used U.S. Census Bureau data to examine trends at the individual level.
About 40% of Black and 21% of Hispanic males experienced the lowest levels of well-being. Among American Indian and Alaska Native people, half of males and 25% of females experienced the lowest levels.
On the flip side, white females and Asian American people of both sexes were most likely to experience the highest levels of well-being.
People in the U.S. with the lowest measures of well-being were concentrated in Appalachia, the Deep South and the Rust Belt. In contrast, people living in parts of California, Colorado, Maryland, New York, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., were over-represented in experiencing the highest well-being.
Average years of education increased throughout the study period for people of all races and ethnicities, with the largest gains among Hispanic females and males. By life expectancy, Asian American females had the longest lifespan, while American Indian and Alaska Native men had the shortest.
Wildfire suppressants may contaminate environment
Some suppressants used to put out wildfires may be contaminating the environment they’re working to protect.
New research, published Oct. 30 in Environmental Science & Technology Letters, found fire-suppressing retardants, water enhancers and foams can contain high levels of heavy metals that remain in the environment long after fires are extinguished.
Study researchers sampled 14 fire suppression products, finding they all contained at least one metal at concentrations that were higher than allowed in drinking water. Two of the products contained eight metals — chromium, cadmium, arsenic, lead, vanadium, manganese, antimony and thallium — that significantly exceeded drinking water standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Another retardant contained three metals that exceeded California’s hazardous waste regulations.
Researchers estimated that about 850,000 pounds of toxic metals were released into the environment in the Western U.S. from 2009 to 2021 through fire suppressants, with vanadium and chromium the most common chemicals.
Previous research has found increased concentrations of metals in soil and streams after wildfires. Although the U.S. Forest Service sets buffer zones around surface waters that stipulate where fire suppressants should not be dropped, mistakes occur. About 1 million pounds of retardant entered surface waters after the chemicals were unintentionally released in buffer areas during the study period, researchers said.
While materials used to suppress wildfires need to be approved by the Forest Service, manufacturers are allowed to keep up to 20% of their product composition proprietary.
Pesticides linked to prostate cancer cases, deaths
Nearly two dozen pesticides used in the U.S. are associated with prostate cancer, with some of them also linked to deaths from the disease, research finds.
In a new study published Nov. 4 in Cancer, Stanford University researchers identified 22 pesticides that have consistent, direct associations with prostate cancer incidence, including 19 pesticides that had not previously linked to the disease. The pesticides include herbicides, fungicides, insecticides and a soil fumigant.
Among those on the list were 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, one of the most frequently applied pesticides in the U.S. Used in both agricultural and consumer settings, 2,4-D is used to kill weeds in lawns and aquatic sites as well as to control weeds among crops such as corn and soybeans.
Four pesticides on the list were linked to both prostate cancer incidence and deaths. Three of them — trifluralin, cloransulam-methyl and diflufenzopyr — are herbicides, and one, thiamethoxam, is an insecticide. Of the four, only trifluralin is classified as a possible human carcinogen by EPA, the study noted.
To reach their findings, study researchers compared data on nearly 300 pesticides used at the county level in the U.S. with prostate cancer cases, using a lag of up to 18 years to account for the slow growth of most prostate cancers.
Other recent public health news of note includes:
• Air pollution is linked to poorer cognitive health in kids, a new study in Environmental Health Perspectives finds.
• New findings in Environmental Research show windblown dust from California’s shrinking Salton Sea is threatening the respiratory health of children who live nearby.
• Human-caused temperature warming, not a lack of precipitation, is the main driver of worsening drought in the Western U.S., a study in Science Advances says.
• New EPA guidance shares strategies for protecting against the spread of common airborne respiratory viruses indoors.
• Lead poisoning is still common in the U.S. and around the world, with 5.5 million annual cardiovascular disease deaths attributed to low-level poisoning, a study in the New England Journal of Medicine finds.
• Burnout among nurses is linked to lower health care quality, safety and patient satisfaction, according to new research in JAMA Network Open.
The Watch is written by Michele Late, who has more than two decades of experience as a public health journalist.