Living on Earth: New Studies Link Asthma, Prostate Cancer to Toxic Chemicals

CURWOOD: Dr. Myers I know the study didn’t look at this at all but the asthma epidemic is really big in cities and really big among poor people. What questions would you want to ask as a researcher to link that prevalence of disease in those populations to what is being found in this research?

MYERS: That’s a great question, Steve and all the science isn’t in on the answer yet. But there are a couple of clues that we can take from this. One is that the biggest source of exposure to these things is dietary. Diets that are high in fat are more likely to expose you to some of the persistent contaminants that this study focused on. The other thing that science is pointing toward is the fact that cheaper grade construction materials often contain compounds that the science links to increased immune systemsensitivity.

CURWOOD: In other words your house could be causing you asthma.

MYERS: Your house definitely could be causing you asthma. There have been some very interesting studies looking at the composition of dust in houses and the relationship to risk of asthma and there are significant associations being found.

Living on Earth plays early on Saturday mornings, and sometimes we like to listen to the radio and doze rather than turn off the alarm. This story, however, made me sit up and listen hard. I know that dust is a factor and our bedroom is very much in need of a thorough spring cleaning, and also the carpet is really worn. One of the things we’ve talked about is getting hardwood floors laid down (in the case of the Ugly Room, finished) in the bedrooms.

I’m still coughing my head off and not sleeping. This past week is as bad as it’s been since the beginning. When not coughing, though, I feel fine, I just constantly feel a sense that there’s crud in my chest that I can’t expel. And every now and then, a slight tickle in the center of my chest, below the back of my throat, flares up and forces an epic coughing fit.

I suppose the dietary hints in these studies probably mean my cutting back on the greater part of my beloved dairy foods… darn it. However, when I was avoiding fat in January and February during the office health club offer I had, I felt great.

I’ve been reading one of the linked articles about the asthma/toxic chemicals research to get more information. In the article, the toxic or persistent chemicals are referred to as “environmental estrogens” or EEs because they mimic the action of estrogen, which is involved in the body’s normal immune response. With allergic reactions, the immune system overreacts to various triggers, but the weird thingabout this research is the amounts needed are kind of the opposite the researchers expected. There’s not a lot of information about possible treatments in that article, the research is still just on the root causes. The other article is just the formal abstract. There’s nothing there about cheap building materials or reducing fat in the diet. However, I’ve read and heard about “healthy” vs. “unhealthy” flooring andbuilding materials before, so it makes some sense.

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