MSNBC does a nice job rounding up some of the big topics in health from 2006, including:
- What happened to the bird flu?
- Breast cancer cases dropped
Topics to watch out for in 2007 include:
I would add these as top stories for 2006:
- Vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV). The vaccine is designed to immunize women against infection by two strains of HPV, which are believed to cause some 70 percent of cervical cancers.
- Embryonic stem cells became a front-and-center issue in the elections. President Bush vetoed legislation that would have allowed federal funding of stem cell research.
- The war on trans fat, which took on anti-smoking proportions
Are Toys Toxic?
Next month, a judge will hear evidence in the case of a new law, a ban that was to have taken effect this month in San Francisco. The ban -- the nation's first -- would prohibit the sale, distribution and manufacture of baby products that have any level of bisphenol A and certain levels of phthalates. Plastics manufacturers sued to stop the law. If the courts uphold it, most companies say they'll abide by the law even though they think it isn't needed. The American Plastics Council has taken on media reporting about bisphenol before.
Here are a number of industry-backed articles that pooh-pooh the bisphenol scare:
Time magazine explains the background to the story:
Parents shopping for their babies can be forgiven if they assume that everything on those shelves is 100 percent child safe. So why did the city of San Francisco issue a ban last week on the sale of certain plastic toys aimed at children under 3? And why are activists warning holiday shoppers in the most alarming terms against buying them? "Sucking on some of these teethers and toys," says Rachel Gibson of
Environment California, a nonprofit, "is like sucking on a toxic lollipop."
At issue are contaminants in plastics used to make the toys. Environmentalists have long argued that some of these chemicals can leach out and harm children, pointing to animal studies that link the substances to birth defects, cancer and developmental abnormalities. Those warnings are hotly disputed by the chemical industry and toy manufacturers, which cite stacks of scientific studies that have found the plastics to be safe at federally approved levels. But the issue has gained traction on the strength of new evidence from independent and university-sponsored studies. The European Union has banned some chemicals in toys since 1999, and now half a dozen state legislatures are considering similar laws.
Environment California says:
Environment California Research and Policy Center released a report, which found that products designed for babies and young children contain chemicals that have been linked to adverse health effects, including early onset puberty, impaired learning development and immune system, reproductive defects, and cancer. The study involved the testing of soft plastic teethers, bath accessories and other children's toys for phthalates (pronounced THA-LATES), and changing pads, mattresses, and other sleep accessories for toxic flame retardants. These chemicals were found in most of the baby products tested. Unfortunately, since manufacturers do not have to label their products as containing phthalates or toxic flame retardants, parents have no way of knowing whether or not a product poses a hidden hazard. More.
Consumer guides from Environment California:
Worrying About the Wrong Things
Did you see Time magazine's cover story two weeks ago? It is worth your time. The story said we worry too much about overhyped threats and ignore the things that really put us at risk.
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.
Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends upon the accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. Errors and inaccuracies found will be corrected.
