Melamine is used to make plastics, fertilizer, and fire retardants and is known to cause kidney stones and can lead to kidney failure.  Melamine-contaminated powdered milk has been blamed for the illnesses of some 54,000 children and the deaths of four infants.

Authorities in northern Hebei province held the 22 following raids on dozens of dairy farms and milk purchasing stations during which they seized nearly 500 pounds of melamine, the China Daily reported, adding that police said 19 of the detainees were managers at dairy pastures, breeding farms, and milk purchasing stations.  "According to the police investigation, melamine was produced in underground plants and then sold to breeding farms and purchasing stations," the newspaper said.

A man surnamed Gao was suspected of producing a "protein powder" containing melamine and a man named Xue likely sold the melamine-tainted powder to the milk purchasing stations, the paper said.  Melamine can make watered-down milk appear to have falsely higher protein levels.

Meanwhile, according to a recent Associated Press report, “cookies from a major Japanese confectioner and Chinese-made baby cereal and crackers” are now included in the ongoing tainted milk scandal originating out of China.  Taiwan also reported three babies with kidney stones in the first cases likely linked to the scandal there.  The AP also reports that the Hong Kong government announced it found traces of melamine in baby cereal and crackers made in mainland China:  Heinz DHA+AA vegetable formula baby cereal and Silang House steamed potato wasabi crackers.  The Chinese government also found melamine levels at 24 times the safety limit in Koala's March cookies and Pizza Hut suspended supplying cheese powder found to be contaminated by melamine in Pizza Hut’s Taiwan branch.  Three Taiwanese children—two three-year-old girls and a one-year-old boy—who consumed Chinese milk formula were diagnosed with kidney stones. The mother of one of the girls also has kidney stones, said Liu Yi-lien, health chief of Ilan County in eastern Taiwan.  "They have all consumed Chinese milk," Liu said.  Five other children have become ill as a result of using melamine-tainted products in the Chinese territories of Hong Kong and Macau.

Because hundreds of international food companies now have operations in China, melamine-tainted products have recently started appearing in increasing numbers in Chinese-made exports abroad, including candies, yogurt, and rice balls.

The European Union, which is comprised of 27 nations, significantly adds to the growing list of countries that have banned or recalled Chinese dairy products over melamine contamination.  In addition to being responsible for killing four Chinese babies and sickening 54,000 children, three zoo babies developed kidney stones after being nursed with tainted milk powder for over a year and a lion cub and two baby orangutans were sickened after drinking infant formula made by the Sanlu Group Co., said Zhang Xu, a veterinarian with the Hangzhou Zhangxu Animal Hospital.  The European Commission is also calling for additional reviews on other Chinese food imports.

• Buy tomato sauce in glass jars.  Canned tomato sauce is likely to have higher levels of BPA because of the tomatoes’ high acidity causing increased amounts of BPA to leach from the can’s lining into the food.  This also applies to any type of canned pasta, included canned ravioli and canned children’s meals.
• Eat frozen or fresh fruits and vegetables instead of their canned counterparts.  Not only do fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables offer BPA-free food options, they are generally richer in nutrients, which are often lost in the canning process.  By the way, Eden Foods offers canned BPA-free beans.
• Purchase beverages in plastic or glass bottles.  Canned soda and juice generally contain some BPA; however, disposable plastic water bottles typically do not contain BPA.  To confirm, disposable water bottles that contain BPA generally bear the number 7 recycling code on the bottom of the bottle.
• Use powdered infant formula instead of the ready-to-serve liquid type.  In a separate assessment from the Environmental Working Group, it found that liquid formulas contain more BPA than powdered brands.
• Think of moderation. Eat less of those foods that are high in BPA.

As we have long been reporting, BPA is a ubiquitous and toxic plastic-hardening chemical found in many consumer products.  Studies confirm BPA is chemically similar to diethylstilbestrol, a synthetic estrogen linked to the development of vaginal cancer in the daughters of women who took DES in the 1950-60s to prevent miscarriage.  Most experts agree BPA disrupts the body’s hormonal system; scientists disagree over what dosage is harmful. Over six billion pounds of BPA are produced in the US annually by Dow Chemical, BASF, Bayer, and others and BPA is now found in the urine of about 93 percent of Americans, confirming that most people living in industrialized societies are exposed to BPA and that BPA is one of the highest volume synthetic chemicals.  Despite this, the American Chemistry Council—a group which represents plastics manufacturers—“stressed that studies from animals provide ‘limited and inconclusive evidence,’” said the AP.  That group has worked over the past year defending BPA over concerns about the chemical’s risks to children.

In this study, researchers from the University of Guelph in Ontario and Yale University in Connecticut, found low-level BPA exposure blocked formation of some types of brain synapses, which can impair remembering thoughts and experiences; such impairments are common in those with depression and brain-related ailments.  The study represents a significant advance over previous rodent-based. "If bisphenol A at these kind of low doses is able to interfere with [monkey synapses] then there has to be concern that continuous exposure to bisphenol A is probably not a good thing," said Neil MacLusky, a biomedical science professor at the University of Guelph and a study author.

The researchers found harmful effects were present with a daily dose of 50 micrograms per kilogram of body weight—the human-exposure limit considered safe by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); one microgram is one millionth of a gram. Health Canada's limit is half that; Dr. MacLusky said standards in both countries are too lax and should be reduced, "If we're getting a complete blockage of the effect" at the U.S. standard, then Canada's standard "is probably not safe."  Steve Hentges, a spokesman for the American Chemistry Council, which represents BPA manufacturers and has long criticized the overwhelming evidence pointing to BPA’s growing list of hazards, criticized the study.

Last month, researchers at the University of Cincinnati linked BPA to heart attacks and adult onset diabetes.  BPA suppresses the production in human fat tissue of a key hormone that protects people against such conditions.  Also, the National Toxicology Program, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, just raised concerns BPA may be able to alter the prostate gland and the brain, and cause behavioral changes, particularly in during fetal development and childhood.

Last month, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal called on the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to immediately remove and revise a report posted on its Website that may be “dangerously and deceptively” misleading consumers into believing artificial turf has been proven safe.  Blumenthal said the CPSC relied on a “grossly inadequate and badly flawed study” in declaring synthetic turf safe to install and play on.  Blumenthal said the study focused narrowly and insufficiently on lead” and also failed to look at several other chemicals and concerns.  Now, despite that the CPSC has declared artificial turf safe, the California Attorney General's office is also taking action.

In Blumenthal’s letter to CPSC Acting Chairman Nancy Ann Nord, he wrote that the CPSC’s claims, which he said are based on such a “crudely cursory study,” may dangerously deceive municipal and state leaders nationwide about the safety of synthetic turf.  Blumenthal also said that the CPSC has a moral and possibly legal obligation to immediately remove and revise its synthetic turf report from its Website; this, for the sake of public health and safety.  “This report and release are as deceptive as some of the advertising and marketing of consumer products prosecuted by the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general….  There is a clear and present danger that municipal and state decision makers—as well as parents and citizens—will rely on this unconscionably deficient report.  It is replete with unsound scientific methodology and conclusions, and unreliable findings.  It may lead to unsupportable and unwise commitments by towns and cities or their boards of education to build or replace athletic fields.  I have personally reached no conclusion on the safety or health issues concerning artificial turf, because no complete or comprehensive study has been done.  This one, far from being complete or comprehensive, is profoundly misleading and misguided and may lead to bad policymaking. Timely corrective action—indeed immediate revision—is essential.”

Also noted were important exclusions, “There is no indication that CPSC considered other important risks, some presented or aggravated by very high temperatures in the summer sun, and exposure to serious infection caused by the more extensive skin burns and abrasions created by falls on this material.  Further, while CPSC staff admits that aging, wear and exposure to sunlight may change the amounts of chemicals released, CPSC has not even attempted to study or quantify the effects of those changes on health and safety.”  Blumenthal also mentioned that the study was incomplete, “Even as to the lead issue, the CSPC study is seriously and reprehensibly flawed. The study evaluated only 14 samples of artificial turf, even though thousands of these fields are in use. Worse, six samples were from portions of turf that was never installed or used, and one sample came from a field that was no longer in use.”

Last month, the Washington Post and Associated Press reported that the FDA said BPA does not pose a health hazard when used in food containers.  In response, the National Toxicology Program repeated its initial findings, which were issued in April.  The group reports that BPA’s “risks to humans cannot be ruled out.” according to a new AP report, stating that there is "some concern" BPA can cause developmental problems in the brain and hormonal systems of infants and children.

BPA is a ubiquitous and toxic chemical that mimics estrogen and is found in polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resin.  Studies confirm BPA is chemically similar to diethylstilbestrol, a synthetic estrogen linked to the development of vaginal cancer in the daughters of women who took DES in the 1950-60s to prevent miscarriage.  A plastic-hardening compound that has been in commercial use since the 1950s, BPA is found in a wide variety of everyday items.  Most experts agree BPA is disruptive to the body’s hormonal system; scientists disagree over what dosage is harmful. Over six billion pounds of BPA are produced in the US annually by Dow Chemical, BASF, Bayer, and others and BPA is now found in the urine of about 93 percent of Americans.  Despite this, the American Chemistry Council—a group which represents plastics manufacturers—“stressed that studies from animals provide ‘limited and inconclusive evidence,’” said the AP.  That group has worked over the past year defending BPA over concerns about the chemical’s risks to children.

The chemical industry and the agencies that regulate BPA use—FDA and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—deemed BPA safe, largely on the strength of two industry-funded studies; the FDA has long maintained BPA’s safety, even in the face of tremendous opposition.  It’s no surprise that critics continue to accuse the FDA of failing to act on BPA concerns and of acquiescing to industry.  "It's ironic FDA would choose to ignore dozens of studies funded by [the NIH]—this country's best scientists—and, instead, rely on flawed studies from industry," said Pete Myers, chief scientist for Environmental Health Sciences.

After more than a year of complaints from consumer and parent groups, the FDA finally looked at BPA again, reports the AP, saying last month that the “trace amounts that leach out of food containers are not a threat to children or adults.”  The toxicology group disagrees saying, "More research is clearly needed to understand exactly how these findings relate to human health and development," said Michael Shelby, who directed the group's report. "But at this point we can't dismiss the possibility that the effects we're seeing in animals may occur in humans."  Over 100 studies performed by government scientists and university laboratories confirm health concerns associated with BPA, including links to prostate and breast cancers, diabetes, behavioral disorders, and reproductive problems.  Experts feel the FDA disregarded NTP’s studies of BPA’s effects, in which that group found even low doses of BPA can cause changes in behavior and the brain and may reduce fetus survival and birth weight.

Incense burning produces particulate matter and is known to contain possible carcinogens such as polyaromatic hyodrcarbons (PAHs), carbonyls and benzene.  Previous studies have shown that indoor concentrations of particulate matter from burning incense has been found to far exceed outdoor air quality standards, and can potentially produce more particulate matter than second-hand tobacco smoke.

A number of studies have looked into the  possible link between incense inhaled into the lungs and lung cancer, but the findings have not been conclusive.  But this is first to follow healthy people over a long period of time.

The incense study followed 60,000 Chinese residents of Singapore who were enrolled as participants between 1993 and 1998. and followed until 2005.  The study participants, who were all cancer-free at the time of enrollment,  were interviewed in detail about their dietary and lifestyle habits, including their exposure to incense.  About 75 percent were regular, frequent incense users.

Over the course of the study, 325 upper respiratory tract cancers and 821 lung cancers were reported. The risk of developing squamous cell upper respiratory tract cancers including nasal/sinus, tongue, mouth and laryngeal was almost doubled by frequent incense exposure. The risk was the same in both smokers and nonsmokers, pointing to an independent effect of incense smoke.

Despite the increased risk of  squamous cell carcinoma of the lung, frequent exposure to incense smoke was not associated with an overall risk of lung cancer.

Though not as dangerous as smoking,  the study has prompted experts to caution that repeated exposure to incense be avoided.  "The American Lung Association is going to add it as a risk factor,"  Dr. Norman Edelman, chief medical officer of the association, told "US News & World Report."