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Report: Environmental chemicals a pregnancy risk

Washington-From mercury to pesticides, Americans are exposed daily to environmental chemicals that could harm reproductive health, the nation's largest groups of obstetricians and fertility specialists said Monday.  

According to Associated Press Medical Writer,Lauran Neergaard in Washington DC,USA.The report urges doctors to push for stricter environmental policies to better identify and reduce exposure to chemicals that prove truly risky. But it's likely to scare pregnant women in the meantime.

That's because during the first prenatal visit, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists wants doctors to ask mothers-to-be about their exposure to different chemicals. They're also supposed to teach women how to avoid some considered most worrisome during pregnancy.

"What we're trying to get is the balance between awareness and alarmist," said Dr. Jeanne Conry, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Specialists with ACOG and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine examined research about industrial chemicals and pollutants that people can absorb from the air, water, food and everyday products. Few chemicals hit the market with good information about safe levels — something the groups hope to change. But certain chemicals are linked to infertility, miscarriages, birth defects and other problems, the committee said.

Risks are greatest for women with high on-the-job exposure. So doctors should ask about workplaces during that first prenatal visit, the committee advised.

But the report also cited research suggesting virtually every pregnant woman is exposed to at least 43 different chemicals. It's unclear how many matter, but some can reach the fetus. For example, mercury pollution builds up in certain fish, and when eaten by a mother-to-be, can damage her unborn baby's developing brain. Prenatal exposure to certain pesticides can increase the risk of childhood cancer, the report found.

Poor and minority populations are disproportionately exposed to various pollutants, urging doctors to be aware of concerns unique to where they live, the committee said.

It's not just about pregnancy. High enough pesticide exposure in adult men has been linked to sterility and prostate cancer, the report noted.

But the report also raises some controversial examples. For example, most Americans have traces of BPA, or bisphenol-A, in their urine because it's so widely used in plastics, consumer goods and to line metal food cans to prevent contamination and spoiling. Makers of baby bottles and sippy cups stopped using BPA several years ago because of consumer concern that it might harm young children's development, and the Food and Drug Administration won't let it return to those baby products. But the FDA has maintained that BPA's use in other food containers is safe.

For now, Conry said the consumer advice is common-sense: Choose fresh fruits and vegetables over processed foods when possible and thoroughly wash produce. Pregnant women and young children should eat certain seafood to get the nutritional benefits without the mercury risk. That means avoiding shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish. Low-mercury examples are shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon and catfish. (The FDA advises pregnant women to eat no more than 6 ounces a week of white or albacore tuna, which has more mercury than the canned light kind.)

"There's only so much people can do as individuals and families to limit chemical exposures," said University of Washington public health dean Dr. Howard Frumkin, an environmental health specialist not involved in the report. But he called the statement "a very balanced, reasonable and evidence-based contribution."

The industry's American Chemistry Council said current environmental regulations offer enough consumer protection, and that the new report will create "confusion and alarm among expectant mothers" and distract them from proven steps for a healthy pregnancy.

AFRICAN LEADERS MUST REVIEW PESTICIDES REGULATIONS

Dangerous use of Pesticides in most African Countries

African countries need stronger pesticide regulation and a better understanding of how pesticides behave in tropical climates, according to experts behind a series of articles published in Science today. They also need an international body to carry out regular pesticide safety assessments - ensuring they are used properly by farmers who are given thorough training in their use - and to monitor the safety of chemical levels in food, the experts say.

In most villages in rural Africa, poor farmers wash even wash seedlings treated with pesticides and consume them for food.

In the face of projections that the global population will reach nine billion by 2050, scientists must develop new technologies to make pesticides safer, and continue research into crops that will not require pesticides at all, according to the special section in Science.

Millions of tones of pesticides are used each year in agriculture, sometimes with poor oversight and knowledge regarding their environmental impact, particularly in developing countries.

A review article by a team led by Kathrin Fenner, a senior scientist at the Eawag aquatic research institute in Switzerland, looks at pesticide degradation. It also identifies knowledge gaps in what happens to pesticides once they are applied in the field.

According to Fenner, the biggest challenge is relating what is measured in laboratory studies to what is observed long-term in the environment. One example is what happens to pesticides that have been in the soil for a long time and what products they leave behind as they degrade.

"There are situations that are not covered, or not fully covered, by laboratory studies, especially situations in low concentrations in groundwater," Fenner says.

Furthermore, laboratory studies carried out for pesticide regulation in the United States or Europe look at factors specific to those regions, such as climate and soil type, and not at the warmer climate zones where many developing countries lie.

"How relevant that really is to more tropical settings, where you have more organic, carbon-rich soils and higher temperatures, is also somewhat of a knowledge gap," says Fenner.

MERCURY EXPOSURE TO ILLEGAL MINERS ON THE RISE IN SOUTH AFRICA

A recent survey by CSIR reveals: Small-scale illegal gold miners are at risk of inhaling mercury vapors when the gold/mercury amalgams heated, often in open containers, when they attempt to extract the gold.

According to CSIR senior researcher Riëtha Oosthuizen,the inhalation of mercury vapors is a significant threat to human health: “Although the miners handle mercury directly, it can also affect the environment. Exposure of people living in close proximity to mine sites is primarily via mercury vapors from amalgam burning or gold-melting, or via consumption of contaminated water or fish.” However, samples of the water and edible fish from the specific river showed normal levels.

20,000 illegal small scale miners targeted in a rural community close to a river and gold-mining operations in Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. Nearly half of the people tested had urine and blood mercury levels that may cause symptoms such as fever, insomnia, mood swings and tremors.

“If exposure is via inhalation of mercury vapor, about 80% of the mercury may enter the bloodstream and is distributed to other organs, including the brain where it affects the central Nervous system. These effects may be irreversible. Metallic mercury may also cross the placenta of pregnant women,” she explains. The study was complicated by the fact that most of these mining operations are taking place illegally, without mining permits or the permission of the owners. In addition the miners are mostly illiterate and therefore generally unaware of the danger associated with the use of mercury in the amalgamation process. After completion of the survey those individuals with elevated mercury levels in their urine and blood were referred to a local occupational outpatient clinic specializing in mercury poisoning.

BREAKING NEWS: RHINO POACHING KINGPIN ARRESTED IN SOUTH AFRICA

South African national park officials claimed a significant victory in the battle against rhino poaching Thursday, saying they have arrested a man described as a "kingpin" in the illicit trade.

"So far we have arrested a large number of foot soldiers, we believe this guy is the mastermind," said South African National Parks spokesman Ike Phaahla.

The man, whose identity has not yet been released, was nabbed in a village outside South Africa's Kruger National Park.

"The man was arrested on Tuesday and is suspected to be one of the kingpins," said Phaahla.

Police are conducting further investigation, but he is expected to appear in court soon.

During the arrest, police recovered a rifle, two pistols, hunting equipment, ammunition, field rangers uniforms and suspected rhino remains.

Most of the 618 rhino killed this year were from the world-renowned Kruger, which borders Mozambique.

Government has beefed up patrols inside the park, with the army deployed in 2011 to fight poachers.

Some 191 suspected poachers have been arrested this year.

The lucrative Asian market for rhino horn drives poaching in South Africa, which has the largest rhino population on the continent.

Asian consumers falsely believe the horns, the same material as fingernails, have powerful healing properties.

South Africa is home to around 80 percent of the world's rhino population, estimated at more than 25,000.

RHINOS ENJOYING AT KRUGER NATIONAL PARK

NELSON MANDELA DISCHARGED AFTER THREE MONTHS OF HOSPITALISATION

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Anti-apartheid leader and former South African President Nelson Mandela returned to his home on Sunday where he will continue to receive intensive care after three months in hospital with a lung ailment.

Mandela, 95, had spent 87 days in a Pretoria hospital after he was rushed there in early June suffering from a recurring infection of the lungs, a legacy of the nearly three decades he spent in jail under apartheid.

"Madiba's condition remains critical and is at times unstable. Nevertheless, his team of doctors are convinced that he will receive the same level of intensive care at his Houghton home that he received in Pretoria," South Africa's presidency said in a statement. It referred to Mandela by the traditional clan name by which he is affectionately known.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate's latest hospitalisation in June had attracted a wave of attention and sympathy at home and across the world.

His home in Johannesburg's Houghton suburb had been "reconfigured" to allow him to receive special care there, the presidency added. Police blocked off a section of the street in the upscale neighbourhood, where a crowd of reporters and camera crews had gathered.

"The health care personnel providing care at his home are the very same who provided care to him in hospital. If there are health conditions that warrant another admission to hospital in future, this will be done," the presidency added.

Thousands of well-wishers had visited the Pretoria medical facility during his stay there to leave flowers, cards and gifts.

Mandela made his last public appearance waving to fans from the back of a golf cart before the Soccer World Cup final in Johannesburg in 2010. In April state broadcaster aired a clip of the thin and frail statesman being visited by President Jacob Zuma and top officials from the African National Congress.

The ruling party said he was "in good shape" but the footage showed a weak old man sitting expressionless in an armchair.

"He is out of hospital, that alone is good news for us. We don't want to be thinking negative. We just want to remain optimistic. He is alive and kicking and a part of us, that's good enough," Motemi Tinashe said outside the Mandela Family House Museum in Soweto, south of Johannesburg, where he lived before his imprisonment.

MORALS

For more than a decade Mandela has been out of politics, dividing his time in retirement between his home in Houghton and Qunu, the village in the impoverished Eastern Cape province where he was born.

His admission to hospital four times in six months has reminded the nation of the mortality of the father of the post-apartheid "Rainbow Nation" and the morals he stood for.

"I often wonder how much Mr Mandela knows about what is going on in South Africa and the state of politics. The ANC is a disappointment and I pray he doesn't know that," said Thomas Mkhize, a Johannesburg taxi driver.

"The current leaders care more about themselves and their pockets than the people," he said. Many analysts and critics accuse the century-old ANC of having lost its moral compass.

The anti-apartheid leader was elected South Africa's first black president in multi-racial elections in 1994 that ended white minority rule.

Mandela's imprisonment included 18 years on the notorious Robben Island penal colony, when he and other prisoners were forced to work in a limestone quarry and he first suffered the lung infections that were to dog him for years.

The presidency requested that Mandela and his family be given "the necessary private space so that his continuing care can proceed with dignity and without unnecessary intrusion."

AFRICANAS OPPOSES REGISTRATION OF JULIUS MALAEMA'S POLITICAL PARTY

Registration of Julius Malema’s political party will give hate speech a platform, says FF+ chairman Pieter Groenewald.

Pretoria - Hate speech, a policy based on racism, and an economic policy of nationalisation clash with the letter and spirit of the Constitution. In the light of this, the Freedom Front Plus has lodged its strong objection with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to the registration of Julius Malema’s political party, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

A strongly worded letter has been sent to the IEC requesting it decline the application of Malema on constitutional grounds.

Individuals and parties had until the end of last week to object to the registration.

The EFF propagates the nationalisation of land, mines, banks and other assets without compensation and, in particular, on a racial basis. It is unconstitutional.

Malema has already been found guilty in the high court of hate speech by singing Shoot The Boer, which has subsequently been declared to be hate speech.

By singing the song, Malema created racial polarisation and incited emotions against a specific ethnic group, which is unconstitutional. To date, Malema has not shown any remorse.

The FF+ believes he will continue his unconstitutional actions and that he will abuse his party as a vehicle for similar discriminating actions and policy directions. In addition, the word “fighters” is not suitable for a democratic system where political parties compete in elections in an orderly and democratic fashion.

Section 16 of the Electoral Commission Act states clearly that any name or abbreviation which portrays the propagation or incitement of violence or hatred is not acceptable.

We also object to the English abbreviations of the name of the EFF, as it could lead to confusion among the public.

The FF+ has already discovered that there is confusion on, among others, social media networks. The FF+ will in this regard be submitting the necessary proof to the IEC should it be necessary. About the issue of the name, we expect a thorough explanation from the IEC about its decision.

To date, the FF+ is the only party which is opposing the registration of Malema’s party.

We do not doubt for one minute that it is unconstitutional and the IEC will indeed neglect its mandate if the registration of the EFF is approved.

* Pieter Groenewald is the chairman of FF+. This is the text of a statement he issued.