Gas stoves could face new emissions standards or even be banned because of their link to indoor air pollutants and childhood asthma, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The federal agency will open public comment on gas cooking stoves and their hazards sometime this winter, Bloomberg News reported. “This is a hidden hazard,” agency commissioner Richard Trumka Jr., said in an interview. “Any option is on the table. Products that can’t be made safe can be banned.” About 12% of childhood asthma cases can be linked to gas stove use, according to a recent study in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. “There is about 50 years of health studies showing that gas stoves are bad for our health, and the strongest evidence is on children and children’s asthma,” said study co-author Brady Seals, a manager in the carbon-free buildings program at RMI, a nonprofit clean energy group. “By having a gas connection, we are polluting the insides of our homes.” About 40% of Americans have natural gas stoves in their homes. The stoves emit nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and fine particulate matter at levels deemed unsafe by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the World Health Organization (WHO), according to Bloomberg News. In October, Consumer Reports urged readers to buy electric after tests on gas ranges found…  read on >  read on >

Sperm donation is apparently a grueling and exacting process through which not many men emerge. Fewer than four out of every 100 men who apply to be sperm donors actually wind up providing a sample that’s used in fertility treatment, a new study reports. The rest either give up or wash out, according to findings reported Jan. 9 in the journal Human Reproduction. For the study, researchers tracked the outcomes of more than 11,700 Danish and American men who applied to be donors to Cryos International, one of the world’s largest sperm banks. “The study with Cryos highlights how hard it is to become a sperm donor,” said lead researcher Allan Pacey, head of oncology and metabolism with the University of Sheffield in the UK. “It’s not like blood donation, where once it’s done you can have a cup of tea and go home. Sperm donation is a regular commitment with lots of screening and regular testing as well as lifelong implications for the donor if any children are born from their sample.” Nearly 55% of potential donors were lost during recruitment, researchers found. They either withdrew their application, failed to respond, or stopped showing up to appointments. Nearly a fifth (17%) were rejected on medical grounds. They either had a health issue, carried a genetic disease or had an infectious disease that could not…  read on >  read on >

Older women who don’t stick to a set sleep and wake schedule may be more likely to struggle with feelings of depression and anxiety — even if they get a normal amount of zzzs. What’s more, a postmenopausal woman who goes to bed very early and wakes up very early (an “early bird”) or goes to bed late and wakes up later (a “night owl”) is 70% more likely to experience significant depressive symptoms — even with a normal amount of sleep, a new study suggests. The study wasn’t designed to say whether sleep is the chicken, the egg, or both when it comes to mood. “It could definitely be the case that the women in our study who had depressive symptoms had a different type of sleep schedule because they were depressed, or that their depression was causing them to have more irregular sleep-wake patterns,” said study co-author Leslie Swanson. She is an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor. More research is needed to tease out the cause and effect between sleep and mood, particularly in postmenopausal women, Swanson said. “Women might be more prone to more irregular sleep patterns as they get older due to factors such as retirement from work or aging of the parts of the brain that control the timing of sleep,” she suggested.…  read on >  read on >

For the first time in a decade, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed strengthening standards on fine soot in the air, a known contributor to serious health issues. Under the new proposal, standards for fine particulate pollution, known as PM 2.5, would change from a level of 12 micrograms per cubic meter to a level between nine and 10 micrograms per cubic meter. The standards haven’t been altered since 2012. The EPA estimates that with a standard of 9 micrograms per cubic meter, there would be up to 4,200 fewer premature deaths a year, 270,000 fewer lost workdays and as much as $43 billion in net health benefits in 2032. The agency will take comment on the full range of recommendations on soot standards included in the latest report from the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, which is between eight and 11 micrograms per cubic meter. These fine pollution particles can penetrate deep into the lungs, triggering asthma attacks, heart attacks and premature death. Children, older adults, those with heart and lung conditions, and minority communities are most affected, the EPA said. “Our work to deliver clean, breathable air for everyone is a top priority at EPA, and this proposal will help ensure that all communities, especially the most vulnerable among us, are protected from exposure to harmful pollution,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said…  read on >  read on >

A new way of allocating donor lungs that eliminates geographical restrictions could save more lives, new research suggests. In early 2023, the current U.S. system, which looks for compatible candidates within a fixed radius, will be replaced by the Composite Allocation Score. The new score will prioritize a candidate’s medical needs. “The importance of removing the geographical barrier can’t be overstated here,” said study author Dr. Maryam Valapour, senior investigator for lung transplantation at the U.S. Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR). “The Composite Allocation Score system’s goal of making access to lung transplant more equitable for all candidates in the United States will help reduce waitlist [death rates] and we hope will even improve post-transplant survival over time.” The current system gauges donor and recipient compatibility, geographical restrictions and prioritizes calculated survival after transplant, according to a study led by Valapour and colleagues at the SRTR and the Cleveland Clinic, where she is director of lung transplant outcomes. That system first looks at compatibility within a 250-mile radius. But someone who needs the lungs more quickly may live just outside that boundary. The new system is meant to improve equity in organ allocation by prioritizing a patient’s medical needs and eliminating geographical boundaries. To investigate the potential impact of the change, Valapour’s team tested six alternate scenarios in 10 simulations. They used data from…  read on >  read on >

For teens who are obese, weight-loss surgery can be life-changing — but not always in a good way. A new study finds a troubling downside to weight-loss surgery among 13- to 19-year-olds: They’re at increased risk of alcohol use disorders. And their risk stays higher for up to eight years after their surgery. “We have to be honest about both the risks and benefits of these procedures,” said study co-author Dr. Thomas Inge, director of adolescent bariatric surgery at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. About 200,000 weight-loss (or “bariatric”) surgeries were performed in the United States in 2020, according to the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS). And while these procedures have benefited many teens, some have gone on to develop heart problems or had trouble getting adequate nutrition after their surgery. Now, Inge and other researchers report that teens who have had weight-loss surgery are also more likely to develop alcohol use disorder. That’s based on tracking 217 teens for eight years and comparing their alcohol use before and after their surgery. The study found they had eight times the odds for hazardous drinking, a pattern of alcohol use with a risk for harmful consequences; and five times the odds of showing symptoms of alcohol-related harm. They were also 13 times more likely to have alcohol-related legal, domestic,…  read on >  read on >

People should test for the naturally occurring radioactive gas radon in their homes to help prevent ill health, the American Lung Association urges. In some areas, like the state of Connecticut, radon was found to be present at high levels in a quarter (26%) of all homes. Radon is emitted from the ground and can enter a house through floor cracks, basement walls and foundations. Exposure to radon is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the United States and it is the leading cause in people who’ve never smoked. It’s responsible for an estimated 21,000 U.S. lung cancer deaths each year, the ALA said. “Since radon is odorless, tasteless and colorless, the only way to detect radon in your home is to test the air,” said Ruth Canovi, director of advocacy for the lung association. “Radon Action Month is the perfect time to learn more about this dangerous gas and take action to protect yourself and your loved ones,” Canovi said in an association news release. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets an action level of 4 picoCuries per liter or pCi/L for radon. Anyone with a radon level that high should have a professional install a mitigation system in their home, according to the EPA. Both the EPA and the lung association recommend doing so if levels are greater than 2 pCi/L.…  read on >  read on >