A weekly roundup of public health news
Large majority of Americans want stronger regulation of chemicals
Eighty-four percent of Americans are worried about being exposed to potentially harmful chemicals in their food, water and consumer products and want the government to help protect them, a new poll says.
Released Feb. 26 by the Pew Charitable Trusts, the poll found concern about chemical toxicity is widespread. More than 70% of adults said they were uneasy about chemicals they or their families may encounter in their food or drinks. Concerns were also high about being exposed to chemicals in baby products, food packaging, children’s toys and personal care products, according to the poll, which was conducted in October.
Public demand for stronger government oversight was also high. Eighty-four percent of respondents said federal officials should take a larger role in identifying and regulating hazardous chemicals used in consumer goods. They also supported clearer information from companies about what ingredients are in products. Only 17% of respondents said chemical companies could be trusted to ensure product safety on their own.
Consumers also said they want companies to address the environmental contamination they create. Chemical contamination in the U.S. includes industrial and agricultural pollutants, including “forever chemicals,” pesticides and pharmaceuticals. The chemicals can show up in drinking water, soil, food and the air.
When asked who should pay to clean up contamination, 77% of people in the poll said the primary responsibility should fall on polluters, while 23% said the government should carry most of the burden.
The findings come even as the Trump administration works to roll back regulations that protect Americans from chemical exposure. Last year, for example, the U.S. Environmental Agency put the brakes on new national, drinking water standards for six types of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, delaying implementation for some of the chemicals and announcing its intent to revise the standards.
This week, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to “protect” production of glyphosate, an herbicide that has long raised concerns about harms to human health. And on Feb. 6, EPA reapproved the use of dicamba, an herbicide used on crops such as corn, cotton and soybeans, despite evidence it has a tendency to drift away from where it has been sprayed and possible links to cancer.
Cancer death rates higher in counties closest to nuclear plants
People who live close to nuclear power plants have higher rates of cancer deaths than those who live farther away, a new study finds.
The research, led by scientists at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, looked at cancer deaths from 2000 to 2018. They found that cancer death rates were up to about 20% higher in counties closer to nuclear power plants than in those farther away.
The strongest links were among older adults. Men ages 65 to 74 and women ages 55 to 64 had some of the highest increases in cancer death rates associated with living closer to a plant, according to the research published Feb. 23 in Nature Communications.
Over the study period, the researchers estimated that nearly 116,000 cancer deaths nationwide were linked to living nearer to nuclear power plants, or roughly 6,400 deaths a year.
The researchers said their findings do not prove that nuclear power plants cause cancer, but rather show a connection.
Nuclear power plants generate electricity without burning fossil fuels, but they release small amounts of radioactive materials that can be inhaled, ingested or encountered through direct contact.
Ionizing radiation is known to cause cancer at high levels of exposure. The study did not measure how much radiation residents were exposed to.
Researchers said more detailed research is needed to better understand long-term exposure to nuclear plant emissions, especially as there is renewed interested in nuclear power as a low-carbon energy source in the face of fossil fuel pollution and climate change.
As of August 2023, more than 90 commercial nuclear reactors were active in 28 states. More than a third of the U.S. population lives or works within 50 miles of a nuclear power plant, according to Columbia University’s National Center for Disaster Preparedness.
Study finds widening gap in health care visits by education level
Less-educated Americans are increasingly more likely to skip doctor visits than college graduates, and the gap in preventable deaths is widening, new research finds.
Adults without a bachelor’s degree are now far more likely to go a full year without seeing a medical provider, and they are dying at higher rates from causes that doctors can often treat or manage, according to the study, which was published Feb. 19 in the American Journal of Public Health.
In 1996, about 26% of adults without a four-year college degree failed to visit a health provider that year, compared with about 20% of college graduates. By 2022, the gap had nearly doubled — about 29% of adults without a degree had no provider visits, compared with about 16% of those with a degree.
Deaths from conditions considered treatable with timely medical care have risen among less-educated adults, widening the gap. In 2001, the death rate from “health care-amenable” causes — such as heart attacks, pneumonia and certain types of cancer — was 71% higher among adults without a degree than among those with one. By 2019, the rate among adults without a degree was 128% higher than among college graduates.
Researchers have long known that access to medical care can shape health, raising concerns that the growing gaps in care could be contributing to the widening gap in life expectancy between people with and without college degrees.
In the decade before the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, U.S. life expectancy stopped improving even as it rose in other countries, fueled in part by higher death rates among younger and middle-aged adults. Research has found Americans without college degrees face rising death rates from multiple causes, deepening the divide in longevity.
Other recent public health news of note:
• So-called “forever chemicals” may speed up biological aging in middle-aged men, according to a new study in Frontiers in Aging. Researchers found higher blood levels of perfluorononanoic acid and perfluorooctanesulfonamide, also known as PFNA and PFOSA, were linked to accelerated biological aging in men ages 50 to 64, but not women. The two chemicals are commonly used as water, grease and stain repellents.
• Hurricanes and other tropical cyclones can increase drug-related deaths up to three months after a storm, according to new findings in JAMA Network Open. Researchers found each additional storm day per month was tied to a nearly 4% rise in drug-related deaths. People may use substances to cope with the stress of storms, which can also disrupt access to care and treatment, researchers said.
• When homes burn, they release a mix of harmful air pollutants — some of which are even worse than those released by wildfires, new research in Environmental Science & Technology finds. Scientists burned common building materials, finding high levels of volatile organic compounds, including cancer-linked benzene and styrene, when plastics and insulation burned.
The Watch is written by Michele Late, who has more than two decades of experience as a public health journalist.