The state of California is suing several companies for their role in manufacturing “forever chemicals.” The lawsuit filed Thursday also claims that the companies, including 3M and DuPont, covered up the harm their products, commonly known as PFAS, were causing to the state’s environment and to people. “PFAS are as ubiquitous in California as they are harmful,” State Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a news release. “As a result of a decades-long campaign of deception, PFAS are in our waters, our clothing, our houses and even our bodies,” Bonta said. “The damage caused by 3M, DuPont and other manufacturers of PFAS is nothing short of staggering, and without drastic action, California will be dealing with the harms of these toxic chemicals for generations. Today’s lawsuit is the result of a years-long investigation that found that the manufacturers of PFAS knowingly violated state consumer protection and environmental laws. We won’t let them off the hook for the pernicious damage done to our state.” In addition to 3M and DuPont, the state is suing 16 smaller companies for their work with compounds used in firefighting foam, nonstick frying pans, cleaning sprays, water-repellent sports gear, stain-resistant rugs, cosmetics and more. Both DuPont and 3M responded to the lawsuit. Minnesota-based 3M said in a statement that it “acted responsibly in connection with products containing PFAS and will defend…  read on >  read on >

Only one day after California voters approved allowing a state law banning flavored tobacco products to take effect, a tobacco giant has sued to prevent it. R.J. Reynolds on Wednesday filed a federal lawsuit challenging Proposition 31 and the law originally signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom two years ago. The law would ban the sale of all flavored tobacco and vaping products, and could happen within weeks. “Time and time again, Big Tobacco has attempted to steam roll state efforts to protect our youngest residents from the damaging effects of tobacco use,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. “While we have not yet been formally served with the lawsuit, we look forward to vigorously defending this important law in court.” Reynolds, which makes Newport menthol cigarettes and also owns the vaping brand Vuse, is seeking an injunction of the ballot initiative. But the ban’s supporters cried foul. “This is a corporation that sells deadly products trying desperately to overcome the will of the people of the state of California — manipulating the legal system in an attempt to undo democracy,” Desmond Jenson, a senior lawyer in tobacco control programs at the Public Health Law Center, told the New York Times. Tobacco companies had first turned to the ballot initiative to try to delay the ban and put the issue to a statewide…  read on >  read on >

It’s a potentially deadly issue: Some U.S. school administrators don’t keep life-saving albuterol asthma inhalers on hand because they’re afraid of getting sued for misuse. That’s true even in states like Illinois, where strong “stock albuterol” laws are on the books, researchers say. Kids with asthma don’t always carry their inhalers, and some may not even know they have asthma until they have an attack, experts note. But stock inhaler programs in some states are designed to make sure schools do have an asthma reliever, such as albuterol, on hand in case of emergency. “Stock inhaler laws improve access to asthma reliever inhaler medications in schools for children who experience respiratory symptoms,” said study author Dr. Andrea Pappalardo. She’s assistant professor of medicine and pediatrics at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago and an American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (ACAAI) member. “This simple policy solution allows for a fail-safe method to having medicine when a child needs it readily available [and] is critical to keeping our children in class where they belong,” Pappalardo said. As it stands, 16 states (Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and Virginia) have laws or guidelines in place that aim to increase access to timely asthma treatment for kids when they are in…  read on >  read on >

Despite continued efforts by health advocates and U.S. public health officials, a huge number of middle and high school students are still using addictive tobacco products, most often vaping products. A new study released by two federal agencies on Thursday estimated a total of 3.08 million U.S. middle and high school students using some form of tobacco product within the previous 30 days in 2022. “Commercial tobacco product use continues to threaten the health of our nation’s youth, and disparities in youth tobacco product use persist,” said Deirdre Lawrence Kittner, who directs the Office on Smoking and Health at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “By addressing the factors that lead to youth tobacco product use and helping youth to quit, we can give our nation’s young people the best opportunity to live their healthiest lives,” she said in a CDC news release. In total, just over 11% of all students in middle and high school now vape or use cigars, cigarettes or some form of tobacco product, according to the new report issued jointly by the CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Rates were higher at the high school level, with 16.5% of kids in that age group using a tobacco product. About 4.5% of middle school students used tobacco products. By far the most commonly used tobacco product among…  read on >  read on >

Lead is known to damage young children’s brains, and a new study suggests the effects may still be apparent in old age. Researchers found that among nearly 1,100 older U.S. adults, those who grew up in cities with lead-contaminated drinking water generally scored worse on tests of memory and thinking skills. The findings, experts said, suggest that older adults who were exposed to lead decades ago could be at relatively higher risk of dementia — since their cognitive starting point is typically lower. Lead is a naturally occurring metal that can cause serious health effects if it accumulates in the blood. Children younger than 6 are particularly vulnerable, as lead can damage their developing brains and cause learning or behavioral problems. Yet little has been known about whether early life lead exposure has consequences for the aging brain, said John Robert Warren, a professor at the University of Minnesota who worked on the new study. “You can count on one hand the number of studies,” he said. The new findings — published online Nov. 9 in the journal Science Advances — show only a link between childhood lead exposure and cognition later in life. They do not prove cause and effect. But Warren said there are various ways that childhood exposure could have long-range effects, including indirect means. For example, children with high blood lead…  read on >  read on >

When it comes to pollen allergies, there are not only bad days and bad seasons, experts with the right technology can now break down pollen counts by the hour. Specifically, pollen counts are lower between 4 a.m. and noon, a new study done in Georgia found. They’re higher between 2 p.m. and 9 p.m. While experts have been monitoring pollen levels for many years to better understand them and advise patients, they typically measure counts for a 24-hour period, said lead author Dr. Stanley Fineman, an allergist with Atlanta Allergy and Asthma. For the new study, his team and researchers at Emory University in Atlanta used imaging technology to measure pollen in real time. The investigators found that higher counts seemed to align with rising temperatures. “Now we’ve got some real-time data and can tell patients if they’re allergic and they want to do outdoor activities, they should really do it early in the morning,” Fineman said. The research team monitored hourly pollen levels in three areas of Atlanta for a week in March 2021. They averaged pollen concentrations during the week to reduce day-to-day fluctuations caused by weather changes. Warming trends in the United States due to climate change have caused pollen counts to rise earlier in the year than they used to. Plants tend to release more pollen when the temperature is warmer.…  read on >  read on >

Much like intense exercise, vigorous sex can trigger an asthma attack in folks with the chronic lung disease, according to new research. “There is a lack of current literature available on the prevalence of sexual intercourse presenting as exercise-induced asthma,” said study author Dr. Ariel Leung, chief internal medicine resident at Saint Agnes Medical Center in Fresno, Calif. This could be because sex isn’t always the easiest topic to broach with your doctor. “When sexual intercourse-induced asthma is properly identified and treated, allergists are placed in a position where they can improve their patients’ quality of life and even their marriages,” Leung said. When it comes to the risk of having an asthma attack, vigorous sex is akin to walking up two flights of stairs, she noted. The same measures that keep asthma at bay during exercise can also help stave off a sex-induced asthma attack. “We recommend that patients take their short-acting beta agonist inhaler 30 minutes prior to sexual intercourse to prevent an asthma attack,” Leung said. “Some patients might think it takes away from the romance, but nothing is more romantic than taking care of yourself and not having your partner observe an asthma attack.” The wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath and chest tightness that are hallmarks of an asthma attack are caused by inflammation that narrows airways. It can’t be cured…  read on >  read on >

In a finding that challenges the notion that immigrants are freeloaders in the American health care system, a new study shows they are paying a lot more through health care premiums and related taxes than they actually use in care. In fact, the amount that immigrants pay in makes up for some of the amount of health care that non-immigrants use in excess of what they pay. “Some politicians and pundits tell Americans that immigrants are a burden to society, and particularly to our health care system,” senior study author Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, a distinguished professor at City University of New York’s (CUNY) Hunter College and lecturer at Harvard Medical School, said in a CUNY news release. “But the opposite is true. Immigrants subsidize the care of other Americans, to the tune of tens of billions of dollars each year,” she explained. The study found that immigrants paid about $58.3 billion more in health insurance premiums and taxes than insurers and federal, state and local governments paid for their care in 2017. About 89% of immigrants’ total surplus contributions were made by undocumented immigrants. Conversely, Americans born in the United States received $67.2 billion more in care than they actually paid, according to the study authors. To arrive at that unexpected finding, researchers analyzed detailed data from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey, the American…  read on >  read on >

Equipping offices with “healthier” furnishings could reduce human exposure to risky PFAS chemicals, new research suggests. To look at indoor PFAS levels, a team led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, in Boston, analyzed building dust in classrooms and common campus spaces. “Our findings provide desperately needed scientific evidence for the success of healthier materials — which don’t have to be more expensive or perform less well — as a real-world solution to reduce indoor exposure to forever chemicals as a whole,” said Anna Young, lead author of the study. She’s a research associate in the department of environmental health and associate director of Harvard’s Healthy Buildings program. PFAS — or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — are called “forever chemicals” because they persist in the environment. Used for stain and water resistance, at least 12,000 types of PFAS are found in products such as furniture, carpet, textiles, food packaging, nonstick cookware, cosmetics and firefighting foam. Linked to thyroid disease, stunted development, weakened immune systems, high cholesterol, testicular cancer, obesity and diabetes, these chemicals have been detected in the blood of more than 98% of Americans. For this study, the researchers wanted to expand on an earlier investigation that looked at 15 types of PFAS in buildings. It’s difficult because most of the thousands of PFAS chemicals are unknown or can’t be measured with…  read on >  read on >