A recent two-part study from Tel Aviv University on the music-listening habits of teenagers currently aged 13 to 17 predicts that one out of every four teens will suffer from early hearing loss in their adult lives. The increased prevalence is largely due to the misusage of portable listening devices (PLDs) such as iPods and other MP3 players at high volume and for extended periods of time. While the study did not appear to correlate the prevalence of early hearing loss with other risk factors such as genetic predisposition, lead author Chava Muchnik cautions that “in 10 or 20 years it will be too late to realize that an entire generation of young people is suffering from hearing problems much earlier than expected from natural aging.” The results are published in the International Journal of Audiology.

Scientists' discovery of new form of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome offers clues to treatments for infants who don't respond to steroid drugs

Numerous studies are beginning to suggest that excessive exposure to white light emitting diodes (LEDs), especially at night, may have adverse effects on our brain’s circadian rhythms. Specifically, these perturbations to our biological clocks can disrupt sleep patterns and reduce the production of hormones such as melatonin, an antioxidant compound that protects DNA from damage, by as much as 25% according to model-based calculations headed by Mark Rea, director of the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y.

Lab Combines Public-Private Expertise to Make Global Food Supplies Safer

Our graphic designer was inspired by an M.D. Anderson press release that came out yesterday offering age specific tips for men to manage their cancer risk. The graphic highlights these recommendations and we have republished the press release including detailed links to studies and resources for those wanting to understand more.

Men: Cancer Prevention Tips By Age

According to a recent study published in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology, scientists from the University of New York at Albany have shown that paper currency worldwide contains traces of bisphenol A (BPA), an industrial and commercial toxin.

The harmful effects of BPA are the result of the compound’s ability to disrupt endocrine signaling, specifically by binding to the estrogen receptor. Numerous studies since the 1930s when BPA was first demonstrated to mimic endogenous hormones have shown that the toxin has adverse developmental effects when exposed pre-natally and is potentially carcinogenic to many organs. Therefore, smelling your money likely results in exposing yourself to undue amounts of BPA and puts you at risk for a variety of health problems.

Mining processes, runoff from farms, and industrial wastes can all put heavy metals such as lead and copper into waterways. Heavy metals can have adverse health and environmental effects. Current methods of removing heavy metals from water are expensive and some substances used in the process are toxic themselves. Previous work has shown that some plant wastes, such as coconut fibers and peanut shells, can remove these potential toxins from water. Gustavo Castro, and colleagues at São Paulo State University in Brazil, wanted to find out whether minced banana peels could also act as water purifiers.

Coming to a grocery store near you: transgenic salmon? That’s been on AquaBounty Technologies' wishlist since the company genetically engineered a salmon for human consumption more than 15 year ago.

A formal application for the so-called AquAdvantage (AA) salmon was first submitted in 1995 to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an investigative new animal drug. AA salmon contain a transgene that encodes for a Chinook salmon growth hormone which results in faster fish growth and consequently increases food production. However, the FDA approval process to market the genetically engineered salmon has been log-jammed over safety and efficacy issues.

The next time you decide to take a plunge into a swimming pool you might want to think about whats in the water you're about to be bathed in. Aside from saliva, urine, and other bodily discharges, Maria Jose Cardador and Mercedes Gallego, researchers from Department of Analytical Chemistry at the University of Córdoba in Córdoba, Spain, recently published a study that for the first time quantified the exposure of humans to potentially harmful haloacetic acids (HAA). The paper appears in a recent issue of the American Chemical Society journal Environmental Science & Technology.

Here's another reason to hold your breath while driving through a tunnel: you could be saving yourself from inhaling erionite, a natural rock mineral fiber present in road gravel that, like asbestos, can accumulate in lung tissue over time and cause malignant mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a rare cancer that affects the protective lining of internal bodily organs, most commonly the lungs due to asbestos exposure. Currently, the World Health Organization estimates that 125 million people are occupationally exposed to asbestos and over 107,000 deaths each year are attributed to asbestos-related mesothelioma.