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Cancer-immune, naturally

FOR generations scientists have tirelessly been looking for a cure to what appears to be the enemy from within—cancer. Though tremendous progress has been made and multiple avenues of treatment made available, it is apparent that there is never going to be a single golden bullet to cure cancer because …

Pesticides raise dementia risk

Long-term exposure to pesticides dulls the human brain. In fact it can even be linked to onset of dementia. Scientists at Victor Segalen University, Bordeaux, France studied 614 vineyard workers from the region. The intellectual capacity was monitored for six years as part of PHYTONER study. The team categorised the …

Endosulfan sufferers don't count

NARAYANA Vokalliga from Belur village in Kasaragod breathed his last on November 20 just as his son was explaining how his father had suffered from exposure to endosulfan for 30 years. The former employee of the Plantation Corporation of Kerala used to spray the toxic pesticide manually in the corporation’s …

Lung function decline in cotton textile workers

Long-term occupational exposure to cotton dust containing endotoxin is associated with chronic respiratory symptoms and a more rapid decline in forced expiratory volume in 1 sec (FEV1), but the mechanisms of endotoxin-related effects remain unclear. Shi et al. examined associations between recent and past airborne endotoxin exposures, longitudinal change in …

A brush with cancer

PAINTERS and those working in the construction industry are at a risk of developing bladder cancer, according to a report that reviewed the case studies of 3,000 painters with bladder cancer. Bladder cancer is the ninth most common form of cancer that claims 130,000 lives a year worldwide, according to …

Fire from the faucet

Images of people setting fire to water from faucets in their homes sets the tone for a new documentary purporting to expose the hazards of onshore natural gas drilling. Gasland has fuelled the debate over the extraction process known as hydraulic fracturing, which involves blasting millions of litres of water, …

Pesticide use and cutaneous melanoma in pesticide applicators in the agricultural heath study

The incidence of cutaneous melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer, tripled over the last 30 years in the United States. The reasons for this increase are not clear, although sun sensitivity and ultraviolet radiation are known risk factors. Farmers have been found to have an excess risk of …

Safety first? Kaiga and other nuclear stories

The November 2009 exposure of employees at the Kaiga nuclear power plant to tritiated water is not the first instance of high radiation exposures to workers. Over the years, many nuclear reactors and other facilities associated with the nuclear fuel cycle operated by the Department of Atomic Energy have had …

Swine CAFOs and novel H1N1 flu: Separating facts from fears

Hypotheses about the genesis of novel H1N1 influenza (the pandemic strain of swine flu) range far and wide. Some public health and epidemiology experts are taking a fresh look at concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) , which they say provide ideal conditions that facilitate the mutation of viral pathogens into …

Names of 2,167 facilities that handled asbestos published

The health ministry on Friday published the names of 2,167 out of the 2,514 businesses with records of having handled asbestos at the workplace, which is known to cause a range of health problems, notably a rare form of cancer called mesothelioma. The 2,514 businesses each had among their current …

Effect of vehicular pollution on health of auto men in Kurnool town, India

A survey was conducted at major traffic points in Kurnool town to investigate the effect of vehicular emissions on the health of 63 auto men. It was found that these personnel were directly exposed to vehicular emissions for nearly 10 hours per day. (2007)

Three die inhaling poisonous gas

Three labourers died and another fell sick after inhaling poisonous gas after they entered into a septic tank of an under-construction building in Nagolkot Upazila town yesterday morning. Police said labourers Habibur Rahman, 19, and Abdullah, 20, fell sick when they entered into the septic tank of Nasiruddin for repairing. …

Radiation exposure linked to heart disease

If a link with cancer wasn't bad enough, radiation may be bad for your heart too. A review of 65,000 staff who worked in the UK's nuclear industry between 1946 and 2002 has discovered a link between circulatory disease and staff who worked in high-exposure jobs. The increased risk is …

Solving a massive worker health puzzle

The largest workplace health study ever conducted is applying cutting edge techniques to investigating an apparent cancer cluster-and highlighting the reasons why science doesn't always protect us at work. March 2008

85% of local gov'ts keep no tabs on asbestos victims

Some 85% of 151 surveyed local governments including Japan's 47 prefectures do not keep taps on the conditions of people who have developed mesothelial tumors due to asbestos exposure, a parliamentary research office said in a survey report Thursday. Of the 151 local governments, 76% were found to have not …

Occupational hazards kill 435 workers in 2007

At least 435 workers including 61 women were killed and 1,176 injured in different types of occupational accidents and violence in workplaces across the country in 2007, said the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies in Dhaka on Thursday. Of them, 291 workers were killed and 550 injured, mostly in occupational …

International Ergonomics Conference (HWWE 2014) Conference 3rd to 5th December 2014 Guwahati, Assam, India

The theme is to address issues applicable to “user centered design and occupational wellbeing”. Focus areas of HWWE 2014 would cover appropriate ergonomics application in every sphere of our lives.

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