Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
That Store Receipt Might Contain Toxic Chemicals
About 80% of receipts from 144 major chain stores in 22 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., contained bisphenols, the analysis from the Ecology Center, a nonprofit environmental health organization. BPA, a chemical used in the production of polycarbonate plastics, as well as bisphenol S, or BPS, were detected on receipts from retailers such as Walmart and restaurants including McDonald's, the study found. (Pichhi, 3/24)
In other environmental health news —
Chemicals that spew from vehicle exhaust and are used to make a variety of common products — from spandex to memory foam mattresses — could cause eczema in infancy, according to research from the National Institutes of Health. (Edwards, 3/26)
Philadelphia officials on Sunday evening stepped back from a suggestion earlier in the day that residents consider using bottled water rather than tap water for drinking and cooking after a chemical leaked into a tributary of the Delaware River, a source of drinking water for about 14 million people across four states. The previous advisory, issued on Sunday morning, came after a pipe ruptured at Trinseo PLC, a chemical plant, late on Friday, sending about 8,100 gallons of a water-soluble acrylic polymer solution into Otter Creek in Bucks County, north of Philadelphia, officials said. (Schmall, 3/26)
Four sea otters in California died from toxoplasmosis through a rare strain of the Toxoplasma gondii parasite, and researchers warn that the strain could pose a threat to humans. The unusual strain of Toxoplasma gondii that was studied had not been detected in California before. The findings of a study, which was conducted by scientists at California Department of Fish and Wildlife and University of California, Davis, was published in the Frontiers in Marine Science journal this week. (Vacchiano, 3/25)
