the most deadly compounds on Earth. Spike a rat’s water with 10 parts per billion—the equivalent of 7 teaspoons of dioxin dissolved in an Olympic-sized swimming pool—and there’s a 50/50 chance that the rat will die of liver cancer. Yet even tinier concentrations of dioxins fed to rats inhibit tumors. The seemingly paradoxical findings have some scientists suggesting what would have been unthink...

Snake bites are frequently reported in both rural and suburban areas worldwide (1). They are especially common in areas with climate and ecological conditions suitable for poisonous snake species. Among the victims of poisonous snakebites, lactating women are no exception. In such cases, one of the most important questions facing a clinical toxicologist is ‘when can a lactating patient restart ...

of EHP, researchers suggest that altered lipid transport from the maternal organism to the egg by a known obesogen may be responsible for reproductive problems in Daphnia magna, a tiny freshwater crustacean. In the study, the researchers exposed Daphnia to 0.1 μg/L or 1.0 μg/L of the organometallic pollutant tributyltin (TBT). Once used widely as a biocide in paints designed to keep marine inve...

Impaired insulin resistance (IR) is a precursor of type 2 diabetes, which is on the rise. A review of 23 studies in this issue of EHP investigates the effects of exposure to pollutants on IR. Based on methods described in the 23 papers, the researchers constructed a four-level protocol for IR toxicity testing, a streamlined scheme that offers a starting point for future IR–pollutant research. T...

With more than 84,000 chemicals currently listed in the Toxic Substances Control Act inventory and many of them lacking significant toxicologic data, it’s no easy task to pick out potential endocrinedisrupting compounds. In this issue of EHP, researchers describe a new in vivo screen they believe will improve efforts to identify highpriority chemicals for further study. High-throughput in vitro...

From a size standpoint, engineered nanoparticles are identical to ultrafine particles (UFPs) in ambient air—both measure 100 nm or less in diameter—but differences in the origin and potential chemistry of the two groups of particles have sent investigators down separate paths of inquiry. In a new workshop report in EHP, researchers outline knowledge-sharing opportunities that may help bolster u...

grounds because of “disturbing” levels of arsenic in the soil beneath play structures made from pressure-treated wood. Connecticut is warning children not to play under them, and Minnesota has considered banning the wood. In Ottawa, the chief medical officer says playground soil should be tested for contamination. The culprit? Arsenic that leaches from pressure-treated wood into soil (see page ...

On behalf of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), three scientists who 1 work for the California Department of Health Services (DHS) were asked to review 2 the studies about possible health problems from electric and magnetic fields (EMFs) 3 from power lines, wiring in buildings, some jobs, and appliances. The CPUC request 4 for review did not include radio frequency EMFs from cel...

Peruvians Sick of El Nifio As Peruvian officials braced for the effects of El Ninio in 1997, they suspected they might be hit with a rash of diarrhea cases. They were correct, as the diarrhea caseload in children doubled during the worst stretches of a 16-month period of above-average temperatures. An international team of researchers led by William Checkley, a researcher in the Department of I...