Environment & ecology.Drinking safely New low-cost, at-home treatments for microbe-contaminated drinking water drinking water supply of water available to animals for drinking supplied via nipples, in troughs, dams, ponds and larger natural water sources; an insufficient supply leads to dehydration; it can be the source of infection, e.g. leptospirosis, salmonellosis, or of poisoning, e.g. could save millions of lives in developing countries (163: 136, 403 *). Air sickness air sickness A permutation of motion sickness, which occurs during ascent and/or descent in an airplane. See Airline food. Studies of outwardly healthy people showed harmful effects from their regularly breathing hazy air (164: 72 *). Toxics treaty Countries must reduce or eliminate the production and use of 16 persistent pollutants, under a United Nations treaty that went into effect (164: 301). Puberty hang-up Even low concentrations of lead in a girl's body may delay her reproductive maturation (163: 408). Flaming out After studies linked a ubiquitous family of flame retardants to toxic effects in animals (164: 266 *, 269), the U.S. manufacturer of one of the chemicals volunteered to phase out its production next year (164: 275 *, 294). Nonstick non·stick adj. Permitting easy removal of adherent food particles: a frying pan with a nonstick surface. nonstick Adjective risks A pollutant shed by nonstick coatings and surfactants was shown to kill birds and rats and impair development in rodents (163: 355; 164: 142). Quicksilver skies Certain pollutants can foster the localized fallout of mercury, a toxic heavy metal (163: 72 *). Fished out In less than a generation, modern industrial-scale fishing can exhaust the edible bounty of a plot of ocean (164: 59 *). Wrong number The primary chemical in some plastics caused female mice to produce eggs with abnormal numbers of chromosomes (163: 213). Count down Scientists linked reduced fertility in men with exposure to chemicals called phthalates Phthalates, or phthalate esters, are a group of chemical compounds that are mainly used as plasticizers (substances added to plastics to increase their flexibility). They are chiefly used to turn polyvinyl chloride from a hard plastic into a flexible plastic. , but not the phthalates anticipated to cause problems (163: 339 *). Choke hold Oxygen deprivation altered sex hormones in carp and it might underlie declines in some other fresh-water fish and amphibians amphibians members of the animal class Amphibia. Includes frogs, toads, newts, salamanders and cecilians all capable of living on land or in water. (163: 132). Cottoning to Bt Yields from small farms in India and industrial fields in Arizona showed the bright side of genetically engineered genetically engineered adjective Recombinant, see there cotton (163: 85 *). Night shift Women who had worked at least a few nights a month for many years appeared to face an increased risk of colorectal cancer colorectal cancer Malignant tumour of the large intestine (colon) or rectum. Risk factors include age (after age 50), family history of colorectal cancer, chronic inflammatory bowel diseases, benign polyps, physical inactivity, and a diet high in fat. (164: 13). Mixed results Tests of genes that might escape from sunflowers engineered to resist white mold found little probable impact on wild plants, but similar tests with sunflowers that make Bt pesticide predicted a significant impact (164: 232 *). Cleaned out Trace amounts of the chemicals used to battle bacteria in kitchens and bathrooms may kill off algae algae (ăl`jē) [plural of Lat. alga=seaweed], a large and diverse group of primarily aquatic plantlike organisms. These organisms were previously classified as a primitive subkingdom of the plant kingdom, the thallophytes (plants that in streams, with potentially far-reaching consequences, studies found (163: 196 *). ECOBULLIES U.S. scientists are looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. means to contain invasive environmental threats, including tiny greenhouse frogs, normative garden plants, and Asian termites (163: 11 *, 232 *; 164: 344 *). [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] * An asterisk indicates that the text of the item is available free on SCIENCE NEWS ONLINE (http://sciencenews.org). |
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