• Reduced incidence of fever by 53% with a single strand probiotic and 73% with a double strand.
• Reduced incidence of coughing by 41.4% with a single strand probiotic and 62.1% with a double strand.
• Fever coughing and rhinorrea (runny nose) duration was decreased significantly
• Antibiotic use was reduced
• Subjects receiving probiotic products had significant reductions in days absent from group child care

Probiotic effects on cold and influenza-like symptom incidence and duration in children.
Leyer GJ, Li S, Mubasher ME, Reifer C, Ouwehand AC.

Department of Research and Development, Danisco, Madison, Wisconsin, USA. greg.leyer@danisco.com

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Probiotic consumption effects on cold and influenza-like symptom incidence and duration were evaluated in healthy children during the winter season. METHODS: In this double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 326 eligible children (3-5 years of age) were assigned randomly to receive placebo (N = 104), Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM (N = 110), or L acidophilus NCFM in combination with Bifidobacterium animalis subsp lactis Bi-07 (N = 112). Children were treated twice daily for 6 months.

RESULTS: Relative to the placebo group, single and combination probiotics reduced fever incidence by 53.0% (P = .0085) and 72.7% (P = .0009), coughing incidence by 41.4% (P = .027) and 62.1% (P = .005), and rhinorrhea incidence by 28.2% (P = .68) and 58.8% (P = .03), respectively. Fever, coughing, and rhinorrhea duration was decreased significantly, relative to placebo, by 32% (single strain; P = .0023) and 48% (strain combination; P < .001). Antibiotic use incidence was reduced, relative to placebo, by 68.4% (single strain; P = .0002) and 84.2% (strain combination; P < .0001). Subjects receiving probiotic products had significant reductions in days absent from group child care, by 31.8% (single strain; P = .002) and 27.7% (strain combination; P < .001), compared with subjects receiving placebo treatment.

CONCLUSION: Daily dietary probiotic supplementation for 6 months was a safe effective way to reduce fever, rhinorrhea, and cough incidence and duration and antibiotic prescription incidence, as well as the number of missed school days attributable to illness, for children 3 to 5 years of age.

Males exposed to high doses in the womb went on to be less likely to play with boys’ toys like cars or to join in rough and tumble games, they found.

The University of Rochester team’s latest work adds to concerns about the safety of phthalates, found in vinyl flooring and PVC shower curtains.
The findings are reported in the International Journal of Andrology.

Plastic furniture
Phthalates have the ability to disrupt hormones, and have been banned in toys in the EU for some years.

However, they are still widely used in many different household items, including plastic furniture and packaging.

There are many different types and some mimic the female hormone oestrogen.
The same researchers have already shown that this can mean boys are born with genital abnormalities.

Now they say certain phthalates also impact on the developing brain, by knocking out the action of the male hormone testosterone.

Dr Shanna Swan and her team tested urine samples from mothers over midway through pregnancy for traces of phthalates.

The women, who gave birth to 74 boys and 71 girls, were followed up when their children were aged four to seven and asked about the toys the youngsters played with and the games they enjoyed.

This feminising capacity of phthalates makes them true ‘gender benders Elizabeth Salter-Green, director of CHEM Trust

Girls’ play
They found that two phthalates DEHP and DBP can affect play behaviour.
Boys exposed to high levels of these in the womb were less likely than other boys to play with cars, trains and guns or engage in “rougher” games like playfighting.
Elizabeth Salter-Green, director of the chemicals campaign group CHEM Trust, said the results were worrying.

“We now know that phthalates, to which we are all constantly exposed, are extremely worrying from a health perspective, leading to disruption of male reproduction health and, it appears, male behaviour too.

“This feminising capacity of phthalates makes them true ‘gender benders’.”
She acknowledged that the boys who have been studied were still young, but she said reduced masculine play at this age might lead to other feminised developments in later life.

But Tim Edgar, of the European Council for Plasticisers and Intermediates, said: “We need to get some scientific experts to look at this study in more detail before we can make a proper judgement.”

He said there were many different phthalates in use and the study concerned two of the less commonly used types that were on the EU candidate list as potentially hazardous and needing authorisation for use.

DBP has been banned from use in cosmetics, such as nail varnish, since 2005 in the EU.
The British Plastics Federation said: “Chemical safety is of paramount importance to the plastics industry which has invested heavily in researching the substances it uses.

“Moreover, the new European Chemical Regulation, REACH, will ensure further rigorous evaluation and testing or chemical substances and their uses.”

Indy Star Newspaper
May 13, 2008

Purging plastics

Amid conflicting studies, some consumers try to protect their health by limiting exposure to chemicals

By Shari Rudavsky
shari.rudavsky@indystar.com

You won’t find plastic cups in the kitchen cabinets of Kelly Huff’s Northside home. Nor does she keep food in plastic storage containers; it’s glass for her leftovers. Her toddler daughter and infant son have no plastic toys. And when Huff drinks water, she chugs it from a reusable aluminum thermos.

“Why have them around if you don’t have to?” Huff, 30, asks about plastics.

Eradicating plastics from one’s life completely would require taking a large leap. Plastics comprise thousands of products in our daily lives.

Increasingly, however, people have begun to question just how safe plastics are, especially when it comes to storing the food and water we ingest. Others say that any plastic panic is unfounded, and that multiple studies have shown the material is perfectly safe.

In recent weeks, the anti-plastics camp has welcomed two reports — one from the Canadian government and a draft report from the National Institutes of Health’s National Toxicology Program — that acknowledge that a chemical commonly found in plastic may affect the health of fetuses and infants.

Studies suggest that the compound bisphenol A (BPA), which is found in reusable water bottles, the lining of canned goods and baby bottles, could cause neural behavioral changes and affect the mammary and prostate glands. In girls, it could cause earlier puberty. While reports showed no link between BPA and the health of adults, many believe it poses unknown danger.

“This chemical has no place in consumer products that we come in contact with, especially those that contain water or food,” says Michael Schade of the Center for Health Environment and Justice, an advocacy group in Virginia.

Another class of chemicals, the phthalates (the “ph” is silent) that are used in plastics, is also coming under scrutiny for its effects on human health.

Much of the research here focused on the health risks to animals in utero or very young children. Still, there’s no telling whether risks extend to adults, some caution.

“There aren’t a lot of studies done in adults with these,” says Dr. Anila Jacob, a senior scientist with the Environmental Working Group, which is advocating to remove BPA from the market. “That doesn’t mean we discount the possibility of adverse health effects in adults.”

What does science say?

But some say science has proved these chemicals are safe.

“We think that the products that we have do meet the safety requirements for their uses and based on the science, there isn’t a reason for consumers to be concerned,” says Steven Hentges, who manages the polycarbonate/BPA global group at the American Chemistry Council, which represents the leading chemical companies.

The Food and Drug Administration, which approves these materials for use in the United States, agrees. At the end of April, the agency released a statement saying it saw no reason to recommend that anyone discontinue using products that contain BPA.

The National Toxicology Program draft report found there was “neglible concern” that people who have been swigging from water bottles made with BPA should stop.

“There’s nothing in there to cause alarm or panic,” says Dr. Michael D. Shelby, director of the Program’s Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction, which produced the report.

The report concluded there was “some concern” — ranking approximately 3 on a 5-point scale — that the compound has an impact on the very young.

Others think it deserves more attention. A group of U.S. senators, including Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), introduced a bill last month proposing to ban BPA from infant and children’s products.

Companies, too, are taking note. Nalgene recently promised to phase out BPA from all of its water bottles. Target and Toys ‘R Us also have plans in place to phase out the sale of products with polyvinyl chloride, which contain phthalates.

This year, corporate shareholders filed a record 21 resolutions on toxic chemicals, about half of which involved polyvinyl chloride, according to the Investor Environmental Health Network.

“Investors and businesses are waking up to the fact that the risks caused by toxic chemicals . . . jeopardize a company’s bottom line,” Richard Liroff, the Network’s founder, says. “The increased pressure is paying off.”

Plastic alternatives that don’t rely on BPA or phthalates could be both more expensive and less safe than better-studied compounds, Hentges warns.

Concern over levels

What we do know, however, gives some people pause.

Almost 93 percent of all American adults have BPA residue in their urine, according to a 2007 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Women had higher levels than men, and children’s levels were highest of all.

Those wary of plastics point to studies that suggest that a link might exist between BPA and breast and prostate cancer, early infertility, recurrent miscarriage and thyroid disease.

Research suggests that phthalates — used in many products including toys, floor tiles, cosmetic containers and shower curtains — may have myriad health effects. They have been linked to lower sperm counts, genital birth defects and abdominal obesity in men. Other studies suggest phthalates may have toxic kidney effects.

These studies, however, have mostly been done on animals, making it unclear how, if at all, results translate to humans. Conducting large-scale studies on humans on one chemical’s risk profile are very difficult, scientists note, since we are exposed to thousands of substances simultaneously.

“While a certain compound studied in a controlled environment at high levels may give you a toxic response, it does not necessarily indicate that at low levels in our environment we’re going to see that same response in humans,” says Gregory Knipp, an associate professor of industrial and physical pharmacy at Purdue University.

“The key thing we need to realize is that more research needs to be done.

“As this technology develops, we start to begin to understand more and we have to balance that ‘Chicken Little, the sky is falling’ response with reasonable risk assessments,” says Knipp.

Northeastside resident Diane Slomka figures it can’t hurt to err on the side of caution. After her younger child, now 3, was born, she began having doubts about the plastic materials in her home and kitchen.

She now uses stainless steel sippy cups and never stores food in plastic, including plastic bags. If she needs to freeze leftovers, she does so in Pyrex.

“You can read 100 different opinions on things, but if you store something in a Ziploc bag and eat it, you can taste it. That was enough to really convince me,” says Slomka, 38. “It’s a matter of limiting the exposure as best you can without completely making yourself crazy.”

Buy the items with the highest pesticide ranking first.