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Published on Leave a comment on Eat More Berries, Less Erectile Dysfunction?

This study showed an association of eating lots of flavonoid rich foods (strawberries, blueberries, cherries, blackberries, red wine, apples, pears, and citrus products) and lower rates of erectile dysfunction. A higher intake of several flavonoids also reduces diabetes and cardiovascular disease risk. Keep in mind that erectile dysfunction is thought to be of vascular etiology (the cause) and so shares risk factors (such as hypertension, obesity, and smoking) with cardiovascular disease. Studies have shown that lifestyle factors such as plenty of exercise, being of normal weight, and a Mediterranean style diet rich in whole grains, fruit, vegetables, nuts, legumes, and olive oil was associated with both lower rates of erectile dysfunction and an improvement in erectile function in men. So don't focus just on the flavonoids, but on the whole lifestyle package. From Science Daily:

Blueberries, citrus fruits, red wine associated with reduced erectile dysfunction

Flavonoid-rich foods are associated with a reduced risk of erectile dysfunction -- according to a new collaborative study from the University of East Anglia (UEA) and Harvard University. Research published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reveals that eating foods rich in certain flavonoids is associated with a reduced risk of erectile dysfunction in men, with the greatest benefit in those under 70. Of all the different flavonoids, Anthocyanins (found in blueberries, cherries, blackberries, radishes and blackcurrant), flavanones and flavones (found in citrus fruits) were found to offer the greatest benefits in preventing the condition.

It is already known that increased exercise can improve erectile function, but this research shows that eating a flavonoid-rich diet is as good for erectile function as briskly walking for up to five hours a week. The study also showed that a higher total fruit intake was associated with a 14 per cent reduction in the risk of erectile dysfunction. And that a combination of consuming flavonoid-rich foods with exercise can reduce the risk by 21 per cent.

More than 50,000 middle aged men were included in this large population based study. They were asked about their ability to have and maintain an erection sufficient for intercourse -- dating back to 1986. Data on dietary intake was also collected every four years.....More than one third of the men surveyed reported suffering new onset erectile dysfunction. But those who consumed a diet rich in anthocyanins, flavones and flavanones were less likely to suffer the condition.

Prof Cassidy said: "The top sources of anthocyanins, flavones and flavanones consumed in the US are strawberries, blueberries, red wine, apples, pears, and citrus products.""We also found that the benefits were strongest among younger men," she added. The team also looked at other lifestyle factors and found that men who consumed a high intake of anthocyanins and flavanones and who were also physically active had the lowest risk of erectile dysfunction.

Published on Leave a comment on Microbes Are Circling the Earth in Air Currents and Winds

The following article is interesting because it describes how microbes are high up in the sky riding air currents and winds to circle the earth, and eventually drop down somewhere. This is one way diseases can be spread from one part of the world to another. And the study looking at how antibiotic resistant bacteria are spread in the air from cattle feedlots has implications for how antibiotic resistance is spread. From Smithsonian:

Living Bacteria Are Riding Earth's Air Currents

Considering the prevailing winds, David J. Smith figured the air samples collected atop a dormant volcano in Oregon would be full of DNA signatures from dead microorganisms from Asia and the Pacific Ocean. He didn’t expect anything could survive the journey through the harsh upper atmosphere to the research station at the Mount Bachelor Observatory, at an elevation of 9,000 feet.

But when his team got to the lab with the samples, taken from two large dust plumes in the spring of 2011, they discovered a thriving bunch of hitchhikers. More than 27 percent of the bacterial samples and more than 47 percent of the fungal samples were still alive. Ultimately, the team detected about 2,100 species of microbes, including a type of Archea that had only previously been isolated off the coast of Japan. “In my mind, that was the smoking gun,“ Smith says. Asia, as he likes to say, had sneezed on North America.

 Microbes have been found in the skies since Darwin collected windswept dust aboard the H.M.S. Beagle 1,000 miles west of Africa in the 1830s. But technologies for DNA analysis, high-altitude collection and atmospheric modeling are giving scientists a new look at crowded life high above Earth. For instance, recent research suggests that microbes are hidden players in the atmosphere, making clouds, causing rain, spreading diseases between continents and maybe even changing climates.

"I regard the atmosphere as a highway, in the most literal sense of the term," Smith says. "It enables the exchange of microorganisms between ecosystems thousands of miles apart, and to me that’s a more profound ecological consequence we still have not fully wrapped our heads around."

Airborne microbes potentially have huge impacts on our planet. Some scientists attribute a 2001 foot-and-mouth outbreak in Britain to a giant storm in north Africa that carried dust and possibly spores of the animal disease thousands of miles north only a week before the first reported cases. Bluetongue virus, which infects domestic and wild animals, was once present only in Africa. But it's found now in Great Britain, likely the result of the prevailing winds.

In west Texas, researchers from Texas Tech University collected air samples upwind and downwind of ten cattle feedlots. Antibiotic resistant microbes were 4,000 percent more prevalent in the downwind samples. .... What's clear is there are far more viable microbes in far more inhospitable places than scientists expected.

Published on Leave a comment on Bacterial Communities Vary Between the Sinuses In People With Chronic Sinusitis

New research that found that microbial communities vary between the sinuses in a person with chronic sinusitis. This is a result that many sinusitis sufferers already suspect based on their sinusitis symptoms. The researchers also found that bacterial communities in the sinuses vary between people with chronic sinusitis. It is frustrating though for me to read study after study where the researchers focus on describing the types of bacteria found in chronic sinusitis sufferers (and then just saying that the sinus microbiomes or community of microbes vary from person to person) rather than studies comparing the sinus microbiomes (bacteria and other microbes, such as fungi) between healthy individuals and sinusitis sufferers.

Since research finds that sinusitis sufferers have altered sinus microbiomes, then what would be really helpful now is finding more beneficial or keystone species (besides Lactobacillus sakei) that are needed for healthy sinus microbiomes. This would be an important step towards then adding (perhaps using a nasal spray) these missing microbes to the sinus microbiome. From Frontiers in Microbiology:

Bacterial communities vary between sinuses in chronic rhinosinusitis patients

ABSTRACT: Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a common and potentially debilitating disease characterized by inflammation of the sinus mucosa for longer than 12 weeks. Bacterial colonization of the sinuses and its role in the pathogenesis of this disease is an ongoing area of research. Recent advances in culture-independent molecular techniques for bacterial identification have the potential to provide a more accurate and complete assessment of the sinus microbiome, however there is little concordance in results between studies, possibly due to differences in the sampling location and techniques. This study aimed to determine whether the microbial communities from one sinus could be considered representative of all sinuses, and examine differences between two commonly used methods for sample collection, swabs and tissue biopsies. High-throughput DNA sequencing of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene was applied to both swab and tissue samples from multiple sinuses of 19 patients undergoing surgery for treatment of CRS. Results from swabs and tissue biopsies showed a high degree of similarity, indicating that swabbing is sufficient to recover the microbial community from the sinuses. Microbial communities from different sinuses within individual patients differed to varying degrees, demonstrating that it is possible for distinct microbiomes to exist simultaneously in different sinuses of the same patient. The sequencing results correlated well with culture-based pathogen identification conducted in parallel, although the culturing missed many species detected by sequencing. This finding has implications for future research into the sinus microbiome, which should take this heterogeneity into account by sampling patients from more than one sinus. It may also be of clinical importance, as determination of antibiotic sensitivities using culture of a swab from a single sinus could miss relevant pathogens that are localized to another sinus.

CRS can be a debilitating condition that is recalcitrant to treatment. Bacterial colonization of the sinuses is likely to play an important role in the pathogenesis and perpetuation of the disease; however different studies have yielded contrasting results with respect to which bacterial taxa are characteristic of the disease (ref). We observed bacterial communities dominated by different taxa in CRS patients; for example some have sinuses colonized primarily with Haemophilus, while others are dominated by Corynebacterium and Staphylococcus, or Pseudomonas. Some patients’ sinuses contain anaerobic bacteria such as Anaerococcus, Finegoldia, and Peptoniphilus, while these were absent from others. Indeed, our results have shown, for the first time, that it is possible for a patient to simultaneously have different bacterial communities in different sinuses, pointing to distinct, localized microbiomes within the same patient. Understanding this variation in the sinus microbiome could prove critical to the appropriate selection of treatments for CRS in the future.

The weighted unifrac distances between samples within patients (Figure 1) demonstrate that at least some CRS patients have substantial variation of bacterial communities between sinuses, although it is significantly smaller than the variation observed between different individuals. While this variation was related to abundance rather than the presence or absence of dominant community members, some of these variations were large: for example Corynebacterium sequences dominating the right sinuses of patient 003 (60.7 and 41.7% of all sequences), while the left sinuses had much smaller abundances (9.8 and 6.2%) and were dominated by the anaerobic bacteria Anaerococcus, Finegoldia  and Peptinophillus.

Published on Leave a comment on Beneficial Bacteria In the Nose

Could the bacteria described in this research be another probiotic or beneficial bacteria (besides Lactobacillus sakei) that helps protect against sinusitis? New research found that the harmless bacteria Corynebacterium accolens is "overrepresented" in children free of Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) -  which commonly colonizes in children's noses (and that can live harmlessly as part of a healthy microbiome), but it is also an important infectious agent. Streptococcus pneumoniae is a major cause of pneumonia, septicemia, meningitis, otitis media (ear infections), and sinusitis in children and adults worldwide.

The researchers did an analysis on the microbes in the nasal passages of children and found that the nasopharyngeal (nostrils) microbiome was different in children with and without pneumococcal nasopharyngeal colonization. This revealed that Corynebacterium species and Dolosigranulum were "overrepresented" in children negative for pneumococcal colonization, whereas Streptococcus was "overrepresented" in children positive for Streptococcus  pneumoniae colonization.

The researchers found that higher numbers of  Corynebacterium accolens cells deter and limit S. pneumoniae nostril colonization, which might partly explain why children without S. pneumoniae colonization have higher levels of nasal Corynebacterium species. The researchers write that "there is direct antagonism" between Corynebacterium spp. and S. pneumoniae in the human nose. How do children get this beneficial bacteria? Interestingly, at 6 weeks of age, Corynebacterium species. and Dolosigranulum species are also "overrepresented" in the nasopharyngeal microbiota of breastfed infants compared to formula-fed infants. From Science Daily:

Good bacteria might help prevent middle ear infections, pneumonia

A new study is helping to shed more light on the important connections among the diverse bacteria in our microbiome. According to research published in mBio, scientists at Forsyth, led by Dr. Katherine P. Lemon, along with their collaborator at Vanderbilt University, have demonstrated that a harmless bacterium found in the nose and on skin may negatively impact the growth of a pathogen that commonly causes middle ear infections in children and pneumonia in children and older adults.

This study provides the first evidence that Corynebacterium accolens, a harmless bacterial species that commonly colonizes the nose, can help inhibit Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae) -- a major cause of pneumonia, meningitis, middle ear infection and sinusitis. According to the World Health Organization, S. pneumoniae leads to more than 1 million deaths each year, primarily in young children in developing countries. Although most people that host S. pneumoniae do not develop these infections, colonization greatly increases the risk of, and is a perquisite for, infection and transmission.

The study, titled, "Corynebacterium accolens (C. accolens) Releases Antipneumococcal Free Fatty Acids from Human Nostril and Skin Surface Triacylglycerols," is published on January 5, 2016 in mBio. In this study, first-author Dr. Lindsey Bomar and her colleagues show that C. accolens are overrepresented in the noses of children that are not colonized by S. pneumoniae, which is commonly found in children's noses and can cause infection. In laboratory research, the team further found that C. accolens modifies its local habitat in a manner that inhibits the growth of S. pneumoniae by releasing antibacterial free fatty acids from representative host skin surface triacylglycerols. The team went on to identify the C. accolens enzyme needed for this. These results pave the way for potential future research to determine whether C. accolens might have role as a beneficial bacterium that could be used to control pathogen colonization.

Published on Leave a comment on Rethinking Cancer Screening

A provocative and thought-provoking article in which the title says it all: Cancer screening has not been shown to 'save lives'. The following is from the Medscape analysis/reporting of the original British Medical Journal article and accompanying editorial ( BMJ. January 2016, Article, Editorial), and both the original and Medscape analysis are well worth reading. From Medscape:

Cancer Screening Has Not Been Shown to 'Save Lives'

Debates about cancer screening programs tend to focus on when to start, who to screen, and the frequency of screening. But some investigators are asking a far more provocative question: Do screening programs actually save lives?

We do not know the answer to that question, and would need to conduct massive clinical trials to find out, said Vinay K. Prasad, MD, MPH, assistant professor of medicine at the Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland."Proponents of cancer screening say that screening tests have been shown to save lives. What we're trying to show is that, strictly speaking, that's sort of an overstatement," he told Medscape Medical News.

In an analysis published online January 6 in the BMJ, Dr Prasad and his colleagues argue that although cancer screening might reduce cancer-specific mortality, it has not conclusively been shown to have an effect on overall mortality. The researchers go on to suggest that the harms of screening might actually contribute to overall mortality rates. These potential harms include false-positive results that lead to unnecessary biopsies or therapeutic interventions and overdiagnosis, in which treatment is delivered for a condition that is unlikely to affect patients during their natural lifespans.

"There are two chief reasons why cancer screening might reduce disease-specific mortality without significantly reducing overall mortality," the researchers write. "Firstly, studies may be underpowered to detect a small overall mortality benefit. Secondly, disease-specific mortality reductions may be offset by deaths due to the downstream effects of screening." "The bar to say that screening saves lives should be overall mortality, and we haven't met that bar," Dr Prasad told Medscape Medical News.

The rationale for cancer screening is based on the assumptions that screening will reduce deaths from cancer and that lowering cancer-specific deaths will decrease overall mortality. These assumptions remain unsupported by facts, Dr Prasad's team contends.

They illustrate this point with data from the National Lung Cancer Screening Trial (NLST). Although there was a 20% relative reduction in lung cancer deaths with low-dose CT screening, compared with chest x-ray, and a 6.7% relative reduction in overall mortality, the absolute reduction in risk for overall mortality was just 0.46%....The team also notes that "the benefit in lung cancer mortality of CT screening (estimated to avert over 12,000 lung cancer deaths in the United States annually) must be set against the 27,034 major complications (such as lung collapse, heart attack, stroke, and death) that follow a positive screening test."

The decision to undergo screening should be part of an informed discussion between the patient and clinician that takes into account personal preferences and the risks and benefits of screening. Dr Prasad explained. "Declining screening may be a reasonable and prudent choice for many people," the researchers write. "Doctors should be comfortable with whatever choice people make when they hear about all the potential benefits and the known harms," Dr Prasad added.

However, in an accompanying editorial, Gerd Gigerenzer, PhD, from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, argues that "rather than pouring resources into 'megatrials' with a small chance of detecting a minimal overall mortality reduction, at the additional cost of harming large numbers of patients, we should invest in transparent information in the first place." He explains that information about screening should be presented in a "fact box" that lays out the benefits and risks of mammography with numbers for how many women would be affected."It is time to change communication about cancer screening from dodgy persuasion into something straightforward," he concludes.

Richard L. Schilsky, MD, chief medical officer for the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), said that although, in general, ASCO supports cancer screening, "it's a very imperfect process....The often high variability in the natural history of many cancers has been the source of particular confusion and uncertainty surrounding screening, he noted. For example, there is little value in screening for aggressive cancers for which interventions are unlikely to make a difference in outcomes, no matter how early the disease can be detected. Conversely, "if the cancer is never going to kill you, no matter what the doctors do, then screening won't help either," he said. Additionally, there are some cancers for which treatments are sufficiently effective that they can be successfully managed whether they are diagnosed at an early or later stage. "When you consider all these factors, the number of individuals who will actually benefit from detecting a screen-detected cancer is very small," Dr Schilsky said.

Published on Leave a comment on Oral Contraceptives, Pregnancy, and Birth Defects

This is an issue that a lot of women I've known over the years have wondered about: if a woman gets pregnant while on birth control pills (oral contraceptives) - and many women do - does it mean higher rates of birth defects? This study says NO to higher rates of major birth defects which is very reassuring, but it doesn't answer the issue of more subtle effects (e.g., behavioral effects) from the hormones in the contraceptives. From Medical Xpress:

Oral contraceptive use not associated with increased birth defects risk

Oral contraceptives taken just before or during pregnancy do not increase the risk of birth defects, according to a new study by researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Statens Serum Institut in Denmark. They found that the prevalence of major birth defects was consistent (about 25 per 1,000 live births) across all pregnant women in the study population regardless of contraceptive use.

Even though oral contraceptives are more than 99% effective with perfect use, almost 10% of women become pregnant within their first year of use. Many more women will stop using oral contraceptives when planning a pregnancy and conceive within a few months. Little is known about the potential health effects to children from in utero exposure to the hormones in oral contraceptives.

....Charlton and colleagues were able to tap into a wealth of data collected from multiple Danish health registries between 1997 and 2011 and linked by the unique personal identification number assigned to all Denmark residents. The researchers looked at 880,694 live-born infants, and the health of these children at one-year follow-up. Oral contraceptive use was estimated based on the date of the mother's most recently filled prescription.  Among the women in the study population, a fifth had never used oral contraceptives before becoming pregnant, and more than two-thirds had stopped using oral contraceptives at least three months before becoming pregnant. Eight percent had discontinued use within three months of becoming pregnant, and 1%, or well over 10,000 women, had used oral contraceptives after becoming pregnant.

The prevalence of birth defects was consistent across each category of oral contraceptive use, and remained so when the researchers added in pregnancies that ended as stillbirths or induced abortions.

Published on Leave a comment on Higher Leukemia Risk With Lower Levels of Sunshine and Vitamin D?

 The following research finds a link (it doesn't establish cause) - but these interesting associations with vitamin D keep popping up. The research looked at leukemia rates in 172 countries and found that living closer to the equator (and assumed to have higher levels of vitamin D due to sunlight exposure) is linked to lower levels of leukemia. By far the best source of vitamin D is sunshine (and not food). From Medical Xpress:

Researchers link higher risk of leukemia to low sunlight and vitamin D

Epidemiologists at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that persons residing at higher latitudes, with lower sunlight/ultraviolet B (UVB) exposure and greater prevalence of vitamin D deficiency, are at least two times at greater risk of developing leukemia than equatorial populations.

These results suggest that much of the burden of leukemia worldwide is due to the epidemic of vitamin D deficiency we are experiencing in winter in populations distant from the equator," said Cedric Garland, DrPH, adjunct professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health and member of Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health. "People who live in areas with low solar ultraviolet B exposure tend to have low levels of vitamin D metabolites in their blood," Garland said. "These low levels place them at high risk of certain cancers, including leukemia."

According to the American Cancer Society, 54,270 cases and 24,450 deaths from leukemia occur in the United States alone each year. There is no known way to prevent most types of leukemia, though some types may be prevented by avoiding high doses of ionizing radiation, exposure to the chemical benzene, smoking and certain types of chemotherapy.

The UC San Diego study analyzed age-adjusted incidence rates of leukemia in 172 countries from GLOBOCAN, an international agency for research on cancer that is part of the World Health Organization, comparing that information with cloud cover data from the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project. The study follows similar investigations by Garland and colleagues of other cancers, including breast, colon, pancreas, bladder and multiple myeloma. In each study, they found that reduced UVB radiation exposure and lower vitamin D levels were associated with higher risks of cancer.

Leukemia rates were highest in countries relatively closer to the poles, such as Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Ireland, Canada and the United States. They were lowest in countries closer to the equator, such as Bolivia, Samoa, Madagascar and Nigeria.

Published on Leave a comment on Sugar in Western Diet and Breast Cancer

This study was done in mice, but...it may apply to humans. The researchers found that sugar intake in mice comparable with levels in Western diets (in humans) led to increased breast tumor growth and metastasis.They specifically found that table sugar and high fructose corn syrup "was responsible for facilitating lung metastasis and 12-HETE production in breast tumors" in mice. So, at the very least, think about eliminating high fructose corn syrup from the diet - read labels and definitely eliminate soda (a huge source of added high fructose corn syrup).From Science Daily:

Sugars in Western diets increase risk for breast cancer tumors and metastasis

The high amounts of dietary sugar in the typical Western diet may increase the risk of breast cancer and metastasis to the lungs, according to a study at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.The findings, published in the Jan. 1, 2016 online issue of Cancer Research, demonstrated dietary sugar's effect on an enzymatic signaling pathway known as 12-LOX (12-lipoxygenase).

"We found that sucrose intake in mice comparable to levels of Western diets led to increased tumor growth and metastasis, when compared to a non-sugar starch diet," said Peiying Yang, Ph.D., assistant professor of Palliative, Rehabilitation, and Integrative Medicine. "This was due, in part, to increased expression of 12-LOX and a related fatty acid called 12-HETE." Previous epidemiological studies have shown that dietary sugar intake has an impact on breast cancer development, with inflammation thought to play a role.

"The current study investigated the impact of dietary sugar on mammary gland tumor development in multiple mouse models, along with mechanisms that may be involved," said co-author Lorenzo Cohen, Ph.D., professor of Palliative, Rehabilitation, and Integrative Medicine. "We determined that it was specifically fructose, in table sugar and high-fructose corn syrup, ubiquitous within our food system, which was responsible for facilitating lung metastasis and 12-HETE production in breast tumors." Cohen added that the data suggested that dietary sugar induces 12-LOX signaling to increase risks for breast cancer development and metastasis.

Identifying risk factors for breast cancer is a public health priority, say the authors. The researchers state that moderate sugar consumption is critical, given that the per capita consumption of sugar in the U.S. has surged to over 100 lbs. per year and an increase in consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages has been identified as a significant contributor to an epidemic of obesity, heart disease and cancer worldwide.

The MD Anderson team conducted four different studies in which mice were randomized to different diet groups and fed one of four diets. At six months of age, 30 percent of mice on a starch-control diet had measurable tumors, whereas 50 to 58 percent of the mice on sucrose-enriched diets had developed mammary tumors. The study also showed that numbers of lung metastases were significantly higher in mice on a sucrose- or a fructose-enriched diet, versus mice on a starch-control diet.

Published on Leave a comment on Phthalates, Sperm, and Miscarriages

More and more negative news about phthalates: men with greater exposure to DEHP (a phthalate) have lower sperm motility (how the sperm move or their ability to swim), and pregnant women with higher levels of phthalates have a higher rate of pregnancy loss (miscarriages - mainly between 5 and 13 weeks of pregnancy). Phthalates are found in many plastics, are thought to be endocrine disruptors, and can be measured in urine. From Medical Xpress: Lower sperm motility in men exposed to common chemical

Men with higher exposure to the substance DEHP, a so-called phthalate, have lower sperm motility and may therefore experience more difficulties conceiving children, according to a Lund University study. Phthalates is an umbrella term for a group of substances based on phthalic acid, some of which are suspected to be endocrine disruptors. Many phthalates are found in soft plastics in our daily surroundings.... Since phthalate molecules leak out of plastics, we are exposed to it daily and absorb the chemicals through food, drink, skin contact and inhalation. 

"We have studied metabolite levels of the phthalate DEHP (diethylhexyl phthalate) in urine as an indicator of exposure, as well as the semen quality of 300 men between the ages of 18 and 20. The results show that the higher metabolite levels the men had, the lower their sperm motility was", says Jonatan Axelsson, researcher at the Department of Laboratory Medicine, Lund University. For the one quarter of the men with the lowest levels of exposure, 57 per cent of the sperm cells were moving forward, compared to 46 per cent for the quarter of the men with the highest levels of exposure.

As previous research has reported that there is a linear connection also between sperm motility and chances of becoming pregnant, the findings could indicate that the more exposed one is to DEHP, the smaller the chances are of having children.

From Medical Xpress:  Exposure to phthalates could be linked to pregnancy loss

A new study of more than 300 women suggests that exposure to certain phthalates—substances commonly used in food packaging, personal-care and other everyday products—could be associated with miscarriage, mostly between 5 and 13 weeks of pregnancy. 

Out of concern over the potential health effects of phthalates, the U.S. has banned six of these substances from use in certain products made for young children. But many are still included as ingredients in paints, medical tubes, vinyl flooring, soaps, shampoos and other items. Research on phthalates has shown that long-term exposure to low levels of the some of these compounds harms lab animals' health and can increase their risk for pregnancy loss. Additionally, at least one study found that female factory workers exposed to high levels of phthalates through their work were at a higher risk for miscarriage.

The researchers tested urine samples from 132 women who had miscarriages and 172 healthy pregnant women in China. They found pregnancy loss was associated with higher levels of urinary phthalate metabolites from diethyl phthalate (DEP), di-isobutyl phthalate (DiBP) and di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP). Although this doesn't prove that phthalates cause pregnancy loss, the study suggests an association exists that the researchers say should be studied further.

Published on Leave a comment on We Are Absorbing Some Air Pollutants Through Our Skin

When we think about air pollution, we usually think about pollutants in the air that we breathe in. But there is a growing body of evidence that some pollutants found in the air, including a group of chemicals called phthalates, can be absorbed directly through the skin (dermal absorption or dermal intake). A recent study has found that the skin absorption of certain phthalates (DERP and DnBP) is comparable to that from inhalation.

Phthalates are linked to a number of negative health effects, and so we should try to minimize our exposure to them.(Oct. 8, 2015 post and Sept. 29, 2015 post). The findings of this study is another strong argument against using scented products in the home, because phthalates are found in fragrances - whether air fresheners, scented candles, perfumes, dryer sheets, etc. Just think of them as indoor air pollution. From Environmental Health Perspectives:

Transdermal Uptake of Diethyl Phthalate and Di(n-butyl) Phthalate Directly from Air: Experimental Verification

Fundamental considerations indicate that, for certain phthalate esters, dermal absorption from air is an uptake pathway that is comparable to or greater than inhalation. Yet this pathway has not been experimentally evaluated and has been largely overlooked when assessing uptake of phthalate esters.This study investigated transdermal uptake, directly from air, of diethyl phthalate (DEP) and di(n-butyl) phthalate (DnBP) in humans.  ...continue reading "We Are Absorbing Some Air Pollutants Through Our Skin"