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Environmental Health News

28 Jan California investigates skin-lighteners for dangerous mercury. There could be a dark side to skin-lightening creams often found in stores that cater to ethnic communities. Starting next week, California health officials will collect and test a sampling of skin-lightening products in the Bay Area for possible mercury contamination. New America Media.

28 Jan Autism: Brainwaves 'show risk from age of six months.' It may be possible to detect autism at a much earlier age than previously thought, according to an international team of researchers. A study published in Current Biology identified differences in infants' brainwaves from as early as six months. BBC.

28 Jan Concern over town's risky blood lead levels. Despite public education programs, state licensing provisions and initiatives to reduce emissions from the world's largest smelter, nearly a quarter of Port Pirie's children have worryingly high levels of lead in their blood. Sydney Australian.

28 Jan First attempts to limit farm chemicals. Use of highly toxic pesticides and other farming chemicals in Chile is rampant, posing serious health risks and damages for the farmers who use them. In response, on Dec. 19, the Agriculture Ministry banned the import, export and sale of several of these substances that could cause cancer among other diseases. But dozens of other dangerous chemicals are still on the market. Latin America Press.

28 Jan Fetal armor: How the placenta shapes brain development. The placenta has been vastly underappreciated. Scientists are taking a closer look and finding that it is much more than a simple conduit: it actively protects the fetus and shapes neurological development. Scientific American.

Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative Working Group (LDDI)

LDDI is an international partnership fostering collaboration among learning and developmental disability organizations, researchers, health professionals and environmental health groups to address concerns about the impact environmental pollutants may have on neurological health. LDDI currently has over 400 organizational and individual participants engaged in educational and policy efforts.

If you are interested in joining this group, please sign on as a CHE Partner, and indicate your interest in your application. If you are already a CHE Partner and would like to join the listserv for this group send an email request to LDDI's listserv.

LDDI WORKING GROUP NEWS

9/13/11: CHE LDDI/ASA Workshops
Two workshops in November 2011 and one in January 2012 will feature national experts from diverse sectors highlighting the latest research on associations between environmental exposures and early neurodevelopment as well as the implications for prevention-based public health policy. Visit the workshops page

5/10/11: PAH Column Published 
A new Practice Prevention column on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) has been published in English and Spanish. See our webpage with columns and fact sheets.

3/28/11: Practice Prevention Column Updates and Translations
With the assistance of intern Kelly Quinn, several of LDDI's Practice Prevention columns have been updated and translated into Spanish. 

2/9/11: LDAA Forum
On January 24th, the Learning Disabilities Association of America, with support from the John Merck Fund, Kaiser Family Foundation and the Ceres Foundation, convened a forum to present the state-of-the-science on toxic chemicals and health as well as related policy updates and training. Read more »

11/17/10: AAIDD Environmental Health Initiative Aging, Environmental Health, and IDD Teleconference Series 
The American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD)'s Environmental Health Initiative (EHI) organized a distinguished panel of guest speakers to present a groundbreaking series of webinars on aging and environmental health with a focus on disability. This series was sponsored by the John Merck Fund and organized in conjunction with the Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) of Greater Boston, and supported by LDDI and the new Healthy Aging and the Environment Initiative and of the Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE).

The series included five webinars that approached aging from an ecological health perspective and addressed the food, chemical, built, and psychosocial environments. An audio and visual archive of the seminars is now available. We encourage you to access these free resources on the AAIDD web site, share this information with your colleagues, and disseminate through your networks. For more information, please visit the EHI Teleconference webpage

 

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