 |
| Feature Articles |
|
New Mercury Alert; more mercury found in Utah's rivers, streams and reservoirs
By Patty Henetz and Brett Prettyman
The Salt Lake Tribune 04/24/2007
More mercury has been found in the fish that swim in Utah's reservoirs, rivers and streams, including the popular Jordanelle Reservoir. After a two-year study of toxic mercury levels in fish, state officials Monday issued six new consumption advisories, with more expected in the coming months. The Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Wildlife Resources and Department of Health jointly released a 52-page report that advises all adults, pregnant and nursing women and young children to limit eating three species of trout .... "I'm not surprised. I'm concerned," DEQ assistant director John Whitehead said of the report, completed April 11. Utah now has nine mercury-related consumption advisories on nine waterways scattered across the state..... Ed Kent, chairman of Advertisement the Utah Anglers Coalition, said he expects to see more such advisories. "This has been a persistent problem for a long time," he said. "It's like asbestos was 25 years ago and lead-based paint 10 years ago. It is an issue that we are becoming more aware of because more research is being done to find out how expansive and pervasive the problem is."
Click here to read entire story.
|
|
|
Mercury Alert For Store-Bought Fish
by Dr. Joseph Mercola
In a study funded by the environmental group Oceana, University of North Carolina scientists collected samples of tuna and swordfish from more than 20 states and a variety of national supermarket chains, including Safeway, Albertsons, and Whole Foods. 50 Percent Above the Action Limit 50 percent of the swordfish samples tested by researchers exceeded the FDA's action limit of mercury 1 parts per million (ppm). Swordfish bought in Maine and Rhode Island contained more than twice as much mercury than the FDA allows. The samples ranged from 0.41 ppm to 2.33 ppm, with an average mercury concentration of 1.11 ppm.
Click here to read entire story.
Are People Becoming More Aware of Mercury-Laden Vaccines?
by Dr. Joseph Mercola
Despite the work of many to alert people to the dangers of the mercury-based preservative thimerosal in vaccines, the answer to the rhetorical question posed in the headline above remains a resounding No. Many remain dangerously unaware mercury taints vaccines or even realize other options exist -- thimerosal-free vaccines.... So much so, manufacturers are producing far fewer mercury-free vaccines this year. And Sanofi-Pasteur, the only FDA approved drugmaker to offer a mercury-free pediatric flu vaccine, has cut back production from 8 million doses to 6 million, about half as many as the CDC estimates would be needed just to vaccinate American children between ages 6-23 months. ...Just a reminder, most flu shots contain 12.5 micrograms of mercury, about 14 times the daily amount considered safe by the EPA for a baby weighing 20 pounds. Noted biochemist Boyd Haley estimates that kind of exposure to mercury would only be safe, based on EPA standards, for a baby weighing 275 pounds.. Click here to read entire story.
Certain PCB's Causes Developmental Abnormalities In Rat Pups
Scientists suspect that the vulnerability might be greater in genetically susceptible human populations.
Science Daily — Scientists have determined that a specific class of PCB causes significant developmental abnormalities in rat pups whose mothers were exposed to the toxicant in their food during pregnancy and during the early weeks when the pups were nursing. This class of PCB traditionally has not been considered particularly hazardous. The pups were estimated to have levels of the toxicant in their blood that were roughly equivalent to those found in the blood of breast fed babies of mothers exposed to extremely high levels of the toxicant from contaminated fish, soil, water and air in high-risk environments. The study, reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, showed that the toxicant altered the rat pups' auditory cortex, the part of the brain that processes sound. The neural circuitry of this region was disorganized and the nerve cells had a decreased capacity to change, or "learn," in response to sound. The capacity of the brain's cortex to change in response to stimuli contributes to the progressive development of cognitive function.
Click here for entire story.
Autistic Spectrum Disorders: Best Practice Guidelines for Screening, Diagnosis and Assessment
Autistic Spectrum Disorders: Best Practice Guidelines for Screening, Diagnosis and Assessment, published by the California Department of Developmental Services in 2003, is designed to help health care providers and families make informed decisions regarding identification, diagnosis, and assessment of autistic spectrum disorders.
Click here to download "Best Practice Guidelines for Screening, Diagnosis and Assessment," in a PDF format.
TIP of the week - Recognize distractions in and around the clinic.
I spent many nonproductive hours in physician’s waiting rooms. I noticed many distractions at various clinics. Four of these distractions are considerable and demand attention:
1.Lack of physical accommodations for children with special needs. 2.Unfamiliarity of office staff working with autistic children.
3.Fluorescent lighting producing “flickering” that may become a severe distraction to an autistic child.
4.Lengthy and cumbersome physician forms.
(excerpt from "Diagnosis Autism: Now What?" (Step 2)
Click here for more information.
REGISTER NOW for the USAAA 2007 conference
Register now for the US Autism & Asperger Association, Inc. (USAAA) annual International Autism and Asperger Conference in Denver, Colorado, August 8-11, 2007. Thirty-two of the world’s most renowned leading autism experts will present new interventions and new research in both education and medicine. The conference is co-hosted by Autism Society of Boulder County (ASBC) and will be held at the Hyatt Regency Tech Center. The conference is presented in part by International Hyperbarics Association.
Click here for more conference information. To register, click here. For conference partial scholarship information, click here.
Autism centre opened in Dublin
Thursday 26/04/2007
By:Press Association
UTV, Belfast, Ireland
Ireland's first dedicated autism centre has been opened in Dublin by former Boyzone star Keith Duffy. By:Press Association The TV personality`s daughter Mia, six, was diagnosed with the condition some years ago and as patron of Irish Autism Action, he has been a long-standing campaigner for better autism facilities. The Solas Centre in Clontarf will reduce the waiting time for diagnosis from one year to three months, and is expected to wipe out waiting times in the long-term. It comes at a time when the numbers of Irish children living with the condition is on the rise.
Click here for entire story.
Governor launches learning guide for children with autism
Thursday, April 26, 2007
The Hindu, Online edition of India's National Newspaper
CHENNAI: A computer-aided learning guide for autistic children `Advanced Aut-Soft' was launched on Wednesday by Governor Surjit Singh Barnala. Developed by K. Meena, principal, Shrimati Indira Gandhi College in Tiruchi, the guide consists of assessment and remedial tools aimed at making learning interesting and interactive for children with autism. The exercises cover various aspects, including language, word meanings, opposites, shapes, singular and plural usage.
Click here to read entire story.
Inbox Readers' Comments are opinions from our subscribers. USAAA is not responsible for the content, accuracy or opinions expressed in this section.
Send in your comments to INBOX.
|
|
.gif)
