Climate Change Is Already A Public Health Crisis, Top Medical Journal Says

In an article from the Huffington Post, “Climate change is already taking a major toll on public health and threatening to reverse progress made over the past century in combatting infectious diseases, according to one of the world’s oldest and most respected medical journals.”

In a recent news report, the Lancet found that heatwaves have been hotter and lasted longer in the past 2 decades. Vector-borne diseases increased as warmer temperatures spread insects. Allergies worsened as unseasonable weather prolonged exposure to pollen. This report was the first to chronicle the existing impacts as opposed to the potential health effects of climate change.

“Global warming has become increasingly undeniable over the past decade, with the past two years being the hottest successive years on record, a title 2017 is now on track to surpass.” Heatwaves are the most tangible effect of temperature rise. The average length of heatwaves was 0.37 days longer between 2000 and 2016. Over 125 million more people were exposed to annual heatwaves as opposed to the period between 1986 and 2008. In 2015 alone, 175 million people were exposed to 627 heatwaves.

In the United States, the average temperature to which Americans were exposed increased by 1.1 degrees Fahrenheit. Disease carrying insects that thrive in warm temperatures are seeing an increase and in particular 2 species of mosquito that carry Dengue increased their ability to spread globally by 9.4% and 11.1% since the 1950’s. Dengue is a tropical virus that causes high fever, headache, vomiting and skin rashes. Warming temperatures helped the West Nile virus become the most common mosquito borne disease over the past 18 years. The number of Lyme disease cases in the U.S. has tripled over the past 2 decades as well, as warmer winters expand the area where ticks can survive.

Plant pollen is yet another outdoor menace already made worse by climate change. Americans faced significantly longer exposure to ragweed pollen in 2016 compared to 1990. Ragweed season lasted 17 days longer in Bellevue, Nebraska; three weeks longer in Minneapolis, Minnesota; and exactly 23 additional days in Kansas City, Missouri. Allergy sufferers cost the U.S. $6.2 billion each year, and it’s not limited to hay fever. Indoor molds and fungi also risk becoming a bigger threat.

Temperature increases alone are also causing economic ripples. Since 2000, labor productivity around the world plummeted 5.3 percent in rural areas, where people tend to work outside, including a dramatic 2 percent drop between 2015 and 2016. That equates to more than 920,000 people leaving the workforce, with more than 418,000 in India alone, the report noted.

The total cost of climate-related events hit $129 billion 2016, with 99 percent of those losses in low-income countries with little or no insurance policies. The recent wave of hurricanes that wreaked havoc in the Atlantic ― devastating Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Barbuda, as well as mainland U.S. cities like Houston and Miami ― offered what scientists described as examples of the kinds of storms that climate change will make more frequent.

The report concludes that shifting to renewable energy and dramatically reducing greenhouse gas emissions are key to preventing heat- and climate-related maladies. On that front, the report offered some hopeful statistics. Renewable electricity generation capacity increased by 20 percent from 1990 to 2013, exceeding new energy capacity added by fossil fuels for the first time in 2015. In places where renewables replaced fossil fuels ― particularly coal, which worsens air quality and is associated with asthma and other respiratory illnesses ― morbidity and mortality decreased.

But 1.2 billion people still lack access to electricity, and 2.7 billion rely on burning unsustainable or inefficient solid fuels, such as coal. In the U.S., shifting to wind or solar energy from coal resulted in between 3,000 and 12,700 avoided premature deaths from 2007 to 2015, the report found.

Alaska's Permafrost isn't so Permanent

           

             A recent article from the New York Times described the growing concern for the amount of Alaska’s permafrost that is thawing. Over the past few decades the temperature in Alaska has gradually increased, causing more of the permafrost to thaw. Permafrost is ancient organic material, which had absorbed CO₂, that froze before it could be completely decomposed. There is so much carbon in the permafrost that, “worldwide, permafrost is thought to contain about twice as much carbon as is currently in the atmosphere.”

            A group of scientists went to take readings about the severity of the situation by placing temperature probes deep in the ground. The thawing is allowing microbes to convert the organic material into CO₂ and CH₄, which go into the atmosphere causing more warming. This temperature change is not only occurring at the ground close to the surface, but has seen an increase of 3° C as deep as 65 feet. This may not seem like that large of an increase but every degree is very detrimental. Currently there is debate between scientists on how much, and when the permafrost will thaw. The near-surface temperatures are expected to be greater than freezing around the middle of the century.

            During the winter the ground is fully frozen, and thaws from the top down as the temperature rises in the spring. Every year the depth of the thawed ground is gradually getting deeper, allowing more CO₂ and CH₄ to be released into the atmosphere. There is also another problem of geographical changes from the change in volume from ice to liquid water. The changes in volume cause the ground to shift which is causing problems for the infrastructure of Alaska.

            “The amount of carbon released from permafrost worldwide is 1.5 billion tons a year, averaged over the remainder of the century, is about the same as current annual emissions from fossil-fuel burning in the United States.” This thawing of permafrost is being seen not just Alaska but other subarctic areas such as northern Canada and Siberia. Dr. Holmes, senior scientist and deputy director of the research center, describes the situation as “It’s been in a freezer, and that freezer is now turning into a refrigerator.”
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/23/climate/alaska-permafrost-thawing.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fclimate

New method for modifying cotton

“Research yields naturally glowing cotton” featured in www.just-style.com on September 20^th briefly describes a recent study that proves cotton could be grown to incorporate fluorescent and magnetic properties into its structure without genetic modification. This method would produce a stronger permanent effect here as current methods of using various dyes eventually wash out.

They base the research on the theory of using custom glucose molecules with attached functionality to be the source of the cellulose monomer and that this will covalently incorporate such features as the overmentioned fluorescence and magnetism. A follow up article in the New York Times “A Glowing Study ThatMight Have Deserved Less Glowing Reviews” describes the vagueness of the study and lack of proof and questions the actual commercial viability. Inparticular the wonder if the cells actually incorperate the new glucose of mealy take in to the cell. 

For this to work they are taking the fetal plant and prevent it from forming its own glucose molecules for development and culturing it in the presence of their custom glucose with an attached fluorescent tagged functional group. 

Cellulose it synthesized in the plasma membrane by rosette terminal complexes in two steps. First the chain initiation step where glucosyltransferase and the elongation step by cellulose synthase. subsequent polymer strands are further stabilized and strengthened by hydrogen boning between the strands. Enzymes are very selective to the shape and polarity of its substrates so I would wonder if there would be some steric hindrance that would prevent binding and or weakening the hydrogen bonds between strands. both articles do note a weaker product than natural type.


Is this method going to revolutionize the textile industry. Probably not anytime soon. 

Making A Murderer...Or an Effective EDTA Detection Test

On a cold December day in 2015, many Netflix subscribers cuddled up with their hot chocolate and blankets and watched a documentary series which would eventually become a national outcry. This series is called "Making A Murderer", and it follows the story of Steven Avery - a man whose innocence is questioned based on many different factors. One of these factors is the result of a blood EDTA test, and that's what  Dave Mosher, of Business Insider, wanted to shed some light on in his article.

For those who haven't watched the show: please do. I'll try to not give away any spoilers, but in short, Steven Avery was accused of murdering Teresa Halbach, and one of the major incriminating evidences was that her car was found on Avery's property. Beyond that, a dried blood sample was taken from the car and found to be Steven Avery's through DNA testing. Seems like a closed case, right? Well, this is where the conspiracy starts. Steven Avery had been convicted before for a sexual assault crime that he would later be deemed innocent for after DNA tests. However, they had collected a blood sample from him in 2002. The documentary explores the idea that the blood was planted by the police, which doesn't seem too far-fetched as you watch the series. However, how could someone prove that the blood was planted or naturally? It boils down to concentrations of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, or EDTA, in the blood samples found. 

Chemical Structure of EDTA, Wikipedia

This compound is used in blood samples as a preservative, and will keep the blood from coagulating, as in it keeps the blood liquid. EDTA is not naturally found in the blood, because if it were, when you got a cut you would keep bleeding and die. So seems simple right? Collect the blood sample from the car and test it for EDTA. However, at the time, there was no standard for EDTA testing, and the FBI used a new method to determine that there was no EDTA in the blood, therefore concluding that Avery was at the crime scene. Also, the FBI tested 3 of the 6 blood stains, yet drew the conclusion, "within a reasonable degree of scientific certainty", that all of the blood in Halbach's car was EDTA free, and therefore linking Avery directly to the crime. Many people are concerned with the accuracy of the new method of determining the EDTA detection, as well as only testing half of the blood samples.

Trial Exhibit 435 - FBI EDTA Test, the conclusions that helped incriminate Avery, Business Insider

This case, along with many others, relies on scientific evidence to determine innocence and guilt. However, in this unusual case, the science is highly questioned. I believe this is a call to action to make sure that all scientists work professionally and not for the benefit of any side other than the truth. Also, it calls for a standardized test to determine EDTA accurately to help further forensic science and help in the criminal justice system, instead of creating confusion and controversy. 

Reversal of EPA regulations may lead to further chemical contaminants

Perfluorooctanic acid, also known as PFOA, can be linked to the cause of “kidney cancer, birth defects, immune system disorders, and other serious health problems,” and has a real possibility of contaminating drinking water. The New York Times asserts while the EPA has been fighting to keep it out of drinking water supplies, current lobbying efforts and new administration changes has decreased regulation on what are being called “phantom risks.” Other scientists such as Wendy Cleland-Hamnett, the former official overseeing pesticides and toxic chemicals, insist that the threat of exposure to harmful chemicals is real. She sites the push backs as an attempt to maximize the industry profits despite public health risk. 

While chemical regulation was not originally in the E.P.A.’s job description, several disasters in 1970s prompted Ford to sign the “Toxic Substances Control Act.” These disasters included:

“Industrial waste, including highly toxic PCBs, led to fish kills in the Hudson River. Chemicals from flame retardants were detected in livestock in Michigan, contaminating food across the state. And residents in Niagara Falls, N.Y., first started to notice a black, oily liquid in their basements, early hints of one of the worst environmental disasters in United States history: Love Canal.”

"The geologists Brenda Buck, left, and Rodney Metcalf have found asbestos on rocks and soil near Las Vegas." -photo from New York Times

A chemical safety law was passed last year in a bipartisan effort to realize the threat of toxic chemicals, with leading industry officials saying the threat was “so severe that they undermined consumer confidence e in products on the market.” However, many companies are now praising the regulation draw backs resulting in faster review processes for new chemicals and a less “dogmatic approach” to determining the risks current chemicals pose. Chemical companies such as Dow who previously showed interest in phasing out harmful pesticides, suddenly seem to have reversed their decision with the new policy changes.

"Farm workers in a field picking berries. Chlorpyrifos, a pesticide blamed for developmental disabilities in children, is still widely used in agriculture. In March, Mr. Pruitt overrode agency scientists’ recommendation to ban it." - photo from New York Times

Many fears arise from the fact that the current head of the E.P.A., Dr. Beck, spent years lobbying for the American Chemistry Council which is made up of industry big shots including Dow and DuPont. Many divisions including Waste and Chemical Enforcement Division, the Office of Water and the Office of General Counsel, expressed concern over Dr. Beck “rewriting the rule herself.” 

Further reading on the top 10 chemicals being reviewed this year can be found in an article for the New York Times. Among the top that the chemical industry are attempting to deregulate are Asbestos, 1-Bromopropane, and Carbon Tetrachloride.