Highlight HEALTH

• Blogger Outed In Court » Universal Health

  N=1 over at Universal Health discusses a medical blogger’s malpractice case settlement and the bigger picture of social responsiblity.

• Dr. Jim Watson’s Genome Sequenced for 2 Million Dollars » Eye on DNA

  Hsien-Hsien Lei at Eye on DNA congratulates Dr. James Watson, co-discoverer of the structure of DNA. He’s the first human to have his genome sequenced.

• 10 Tips for How to Acquire a Disease » ScienceRoll

  Berci over at ScienceRoll gives us 10 tips on how to aquire a disease. A must read!

• How To Lower Your Cooling Costs And Go Green This Summer » The Good Human

  David at The Good Human offers some suggestions on how to lower cooling costs and go green this summer. Save some money and save the planet!

Ethanol is produced biologically by fermenting sugar with Saccharomyces yeasts. Under anaerobic (meaning in the absence of oxygen) conditions, when yeast metabolize sugar, they produce ethanol and carbon dioxide. Bioethanol (meaning ethanol production derived from crops) is the most common renewable fuel today and is derived from corn grain (starch) and sugar cane (sucrose) [1]. Thus, ethanol is an inherently renewable eco-friendly resource, contributing nothing in itself to greenhouse gases. However, a study published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T) concludes that if every vehicle in the U.S. ran on ethanol-based fuel, the number of respiratory-related deaths and hospitalizations would likely increase.

You read that right, widespread use of E85 would likely result in an increase in respiratory-related deaths and hospitalizations.

Stanford University atmospheric chemist Mark Z. Jacobson, author of the study said [2]:

“Ethanol is being promoted as a clean and renewable fuel that will reduce global warming and air pollution, but our results show that a high blend of ethanol poses an equal or greater risk to public health than gasoline, which already causes significant health damage.”

Jacobson used a sophisticated 3-D atmospheric computer model that accounted for the transport of tailpipe emissions across the U.S. along with chemical and radiative transformations in the atmosphere - key components that have been neglected in previous studies. He combined the ambient concentrations with health effects and population data to simulate air quality in the year 2020, when ethanol-powered vehicles are expected to be widely available in the U.S. He then determined the health risks due to gasoline and ethanol, and analyzed the results at high resolution in Los Angeles and at lower resolution in the entire U.S.

Jacobson explained that:

“… chemicals that come out of a tailpipe are affected by a variety of factors, including chemical reactions, temperatures, sunlight, clouds, wind and precipitation. In addition, overall health effects depend on exposure to these airborne chemicals, which varies from region to region. Ours is the first ethanol study that takes into account population distribution and the complex environmental interactions.”

The results

The study results show that converting to E85 (85% ethanol, 15% gasoline) could result in higher ozone-related asthma, hospitalization and mortality. The death rate increases about 9% in Los Angeles and 4% in the U.S. over projected death rates with gasoline vehicles.

E85 vehicles reduced atmospheric levels of two carcinogens, benzene and butadiene, but increased two others, acetaldehyde and formaldehyde. As a result, cancer rates for E85 are likely to be similar to those for gasoline. In some parts of the country (Los Angeles and the Northeast), E85 use was projected in increase ozone levels. The oxidant ozone is a well-known air pollutant. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), ozone inhalation is associated with respiratory tract inflammation and functional alterations of the lung [3]. The increased levels of ozone were partially offset by decreased levels in the Southeast. Nonetheless, future E85 use may be a greater overall public health risk than gasoline. Jacobson concludes that E85 is unlikely to improve air quality over future gasoline vehicles and that unburned ethanol emissions from E85 may result in a global-scale source of acetaldehyde larger than that of direct emissions.

Brazil

Brazil is the only country in the world where a large-scale ethanol fuel program, introduced in 1979, has been implemented. By 1997, approximately 4 million Brazilian automobiles ran on neat ethanol (100% ethanol) and another 9 million ran on an ethanol-gasoline blend (22% ethanol) [4]. Since the introduction of ethanol fuel in Brazil, several studies on air quality have been conducted that confirm Jacobson’s recent projections.

In 1990, the concentration of ambient acetaldehyde was determined to be the most abundant carbonyl in three major cities of Brazil [5]. Indeed, acetaldehyde concentrations in urban areas of Brazil were substantially higher than concentrations measured elsewhere in the world, and was thought to be the result of large-scale ethanol fuel use. A more recent study measuring the ambient concentrations of up to 61 carbonyls in Rio de Janeiro found that the most abundant were formaldehyde and acetaldehyde [6]. The authors ranked measured carbonyls with respect to ozone formation potential and reaction with OH and found that ozone formation is dominated by formaldehyde (43% of total) followed by acetaldehyde (32%).

Health effects

In children, repeated short-term exposure to ozone may damage developing lungs and may lead to permanent reductions in lung function [7]. Indeed, time spent outside in areas of high ozone is associated with a higher incidence of asthma than areas of low ozone. Adults exposed to ozone exhibit impaired lung function and irritative lower airway symptoms [8]. Ozone exposure has been associated with an increased number of hospital admissions [9-12]

Alternative alternatives

E85 clearly has it’s advantages: in addition to the potential carbon savings and reduced impact on global warming, E85 can be distributed and dispensed like conventional liquid fuel and can be used in vehicles that cost automakers very little in terms of additional cost. However, although I am all for decreased dependence on fossil energy, it shouldn’t come at the expense of our health.

There are alternatives, including hybrid technology and biodiesel.

In a recent interview with NPR, former Chrysler chairman Lee Iacocca said that the Big Three American automakers (General Motors Corporation, Ford Motor Company and Chrysler) lost their dominance because they failed to “follow-the-market”.

At the end of the interview, he said:

” … I’ve become real fan in the past year of plug-in hybrids. That’s the wave of the future.”

Plug-in hybrids - a third alternative. You can listen to Iacocca’s interview with NPR here.

References

1. Gray et al. Bioethanol. Curr Opin Chem Biol. 2006 Apr;10(2):141-6. Epub 2006 Mar 7.
   View abstract
2. Ethanol Vehicles Pose Significant Risk to Health, New Study Finds. Stanford Report. 2007 Apr 18.
3. Ozone and Your Patient’s Health, Course Summary & Key Points. Air Pollution Training Institute, Environmental Protection Agency.
4. Grosjean D. Atmospheric Chemistry of Alcohols. J. Braz. Chem. Soc. 1997; 8(4): 433-42.
5. Grosjean et al. Urban Air Pollution in Brazil: Acetaldehyde and Other Carbonyls. Atmospheric Environment 1990 24B: 101-106.
6. Grosjean et al. Speciated ambient carbonyls in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Environ Sci Technol. 2002 Apr 1;36(7):1389-95.
   View abstract
7. McConnell et al. Asthma in exercising children exposed to ozone: a cohort study. Lancet. 2002 Feb 2;359(9304):386-91.
   View abstract
8. Bromberg and Koren. Ozone-induced human respiratory dysfunction and disease. Toxicol Lett. 1995 Dec;82-83:307-16.
   View abstract
9. Medina-Ramon et al. The effect of ozone and PM10 on hospital admissions for pneumonia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a national multicity study. Am J Epidemiol. 2006 Mar 15;163(6):579-88. Epub 2006 Jan 27.
   View abstract
10. Lee et al. Association between air pollution and asthma admission among children in Hong Kong. Clin Exp Allergy. 2006 Sep;36(9):1138-46.
    View abstract
11. Chang et al. Air pollution and hospital admissions for cardiovascular disease in Taipei, Taiwan. Environ Res. 2005 May;98(1):114-9.
    View abstract
12. Yang et al. Association between ozone and respiratory admissions among children and the elderly in Vancouver, Canada. Inhal Toxicol. 2003 Nov;15(13):1297-308.
    View abstract

Today is the 38th annual Earth Day. This year, the Earth Day Network has called on lighting manufactuers and policy makers to encourage the transition to energy efficient lighting by 2016.

Earth Day Network Project Switch is dedicated to switching out inefficient incandescent light bulbs [1]. Today, the project will reach out to over 500 million people worldwide who participate in Earth Day civic activities, and challenge them to pledge to do:

• Switch out old incandescent bulbs for high-efficiency bulbs.
• Call on elected officials to support a mandatory 2016 phase-out of low efficiency incandescent lighting.

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) projects an electric bill savings of $18 billion annually if energy-efficient lighting was adopted across the U.S. [2]. Annual energy demand would be reduced by the equivalent of 80 coal burning power plants, eliminating more than 158 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions by 2016.

Climate change solutions - what you can do today

The Earth Day Network has compiled a list of the top 10 actions for individuals, orgnaizations and businesses to take as an initial step in reducing your contribution to global warming.

1. Project Switch - replace your incadesent light bulbs with energy efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs).

   Turn off unneeded lights, dim lights when possible and let natural sunlight into your home.

2. Drive your car differently or replace it with a fuel-efficient car.

   Drive less, keep your car tuned up to improve fuel efficiency and slow down.

3. Manage household heating and cooling costs.

   Replace older heating and cooling systems with new efficient models (or tune up your existing system), buy a programmable thermostat, add two degrees to the AC thermostat in the summer and two degrees in the winter, make sure windows and doors are sealed, and avoid air conditioners and use ceiling fans whenever possible.

4. Make your refrigerator efficient.

   Replace older refridgerators with new energy efficient models, don’t set the thermostat too high, clean the condensor coil, and make sure the doors seal properly.

5. Manage other household appliances.

   Set your hot water heater at 120 degrees, insulate your hot water heater and pipes, install a timer on your water heater to turn off at night and on just before you wake in the morning, wash more dishes by hand, wait until you have a full load of dishes to run the dishwasher, wash clothes in warm, not hot water, and don’t over-dry your clothes.

6. Green plants with less water, more trees to provide shade.

   Plant trees to provide shade, choose hardier plants in your yard that require less water, and water your lawn sparingly.

7. Buy Green Energy and invest in green energy stocks.

Many utilities give consumers the option to buy “green power”, producing electricity from renewable energy sources such as solar, geothermal and wind. Ask for it! Invest in socially responsible funds.

8. Go organic.

   Eat locally grown food, eat fruits and vegetables in season, and plant your own vegetable garden.

9. Buy recycled products.

   Manufacturers use recycle products, including aluminum and tin cans, glass containers and pulp cardboard.

10. Be a minimalist. Simply use and buy less.

    Buy in bulk and buy quality products that last longer.

Earth Day was created in 1970 to spark a revolution against environmental abuse. The Earth Day Network seeks to grow and diversify the environmental movement worldwide, pursuing it’s goals for a healthy and sustainable planet through education, politics, cultural events and consumer activism. More than 500 million people participate in Earth Day civic activities, making it the largest secular civic event in the world.

References

1. Earth Day Network Launches 2007 Campaign to Phase-out the Inefficient Incandescent Light Bulb. Earth Day Network. March 14, 2007.
2. Four Billion Points of Light: ACEEE Joins Lighting Market Transformation Initiative. ACEEE. March 14, 2007.