Chemicals

Conclusions This study demonstrated that natural immunity confers longer lasting and stronger protection against infection, symptomatic disease and hospitalization caused by the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, compared to the BNT162b2 two-dose vaccine-induced immunity. Individuals who were both previously infected with SARS-CoV-2 and given a single dose of the vaccine gained additional protection against the Delta variant.

• Article
• Open Access
• Published: 14 June 2021

Naturally enhanced neutralizing breadth against SARS-CoV-2 one year after infection

• Zijun Wang, 
• Frauke Muecksch, 
• […]
• Michel C. Nussenzweig 

Nature volume 595, pages426–431 (2021)Cite this article

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Abstract

More than one year after its inception, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) remains difficult to control despite the availability of several working vaccines. Progress in controlling the pandemic is slowed by the emergence of variants that appear to be more transmissible and more resistant to antibodies^1,2. Here we report on a cohort of 63 individuals who have recovered from COVID-19 assessed at 1.3, 6.2 and 12 months after SARS-CoV-2 infection, 41% of whom also received mRNA vaccines^3,4. In the absence of vaccination, antibody reactivity to the receptor binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2, neutralizing activity and the number of RBD-specific memory B cells remain relatively stable between 6 and 12 months after infection. Vaccination increases all components of the humoral response and, as expected, results in serum neutralizing activities against variants of concern similar to or greater than the neutralizing activity against the original Wuhan Hu-1 strain achieved by vaccination of naive individuals^2,5,6,7,8. The mechanism underlying these broad-based responses involves ongoing antibody somatic mutation, memory B cell clonal turnover and development of monoclonal antibodies that are exceptionally resistant to SARS-CoV-2 RBD mutations, including those found in the variants of concern^4,9. In addition, B cell clones expressing broad and potent antibodies are selectively retained in the repertoire over time and expand markedly after vaccination. The data suggest that immunity in convalescent individuals will be very long lasting and that convalescent individuals who receive available mRNA vaccines will produce antibodies and memory B cells that should be protective against circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Junked food! Toxic compounds used to make industrial tubing and rubber gloves are found in 80% of McDonald’s, Burger King and Pizza Hut food: Dangerous chemicals are linked to asthma, infertility and smaller testicles, study finds

• Researchers tested 64 top menu items from McDonald’s, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Domino’s, Taco Bell, and Chipotle
• Almost tested positive for phthalates, compounds that make plastic more pliable
• Eighty percent contained a phthalate linked to a heightened risk for asthma, and 70 percent to one tied to reduced fertility
• Items made with meat had higher levels of phthalates, while French fries and cheese pizza had the lowest 

By DAN AVERY FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 18:14 GMT, 27 October 2021 | UPDATED: 18:17 GMT, 27 October 2021 People are exposed to phthalates by ingesting foods and beverages that have contacted products containing phthalates or by breathing phthalate particles in the air directly, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Phthalates Factsheet

Phthalates are a group of chemicals used to make plastics more durable. They are often called plasticizers. Some phthalates are used to help dissolve other materials. Phthalates are in hundreds of products, such as vinyl flooring, lubricating oils, and personal-care products (soaps, shampoos, hair sprays).

Some phthalates are in polyvinyl chloride plastics, which are used to make products such as plastic packaging, garden hoses, and medical tubing.

How People Are Exposed to Phthalates

People are exposed to phthalates by eating and drinking foods that have contacted products containing phthalates. Some exposure can occur from breathing phthalate particles in the air. Children crawl around and touch many things, then put their hands in their mouths. Because of that hand-to-mouth behavior, phthalate particles in dust might be a greater risk for children than for adults. Inside a person’s body, phthalates are converted into breakdown products (metabolites) that quickly leave the body in urine.

How Phthalates Affect People’s Health

Some types of phthalates have affected the reproductive system in animals. Human health effects from exposure to low levels of phthalates are not as clear. More research is needed to assess the human health effects of exposure to phthalates.

Levels of Phthalate Metabolites in the U.S. Population

By measuring phthalate metabolites in urine, scientists can estimate the amount of phthalates that have entered people’s bodies. CDC scientists measured 13 phthalate metabolites in the urine of 2,636 or more people aged 6 years and older who took part in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) during 2003–2004. CDC published these findings in the Fourth National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals.

• CDC researchers found measurable levels of many phthalate metabolites in the general population. This finding indicates that phthalate exposure is widespread in the U.S. population.
• Adult women have higher levels of metabolites measured in urine than do men for those phthalates that are used in soaps, body washes, shampoos, cosmetics, and similar personal care products.
• Non-Hispanic Blacks have higher levels of exposure for several phthalates and phthalate alternative metabolites than do Non-Hispanic Whites.

Finding a detectable amount of phthalate metabolites in urine does not mean the levels will cause harmful health effects. Biomonitoring studies measure levels of chemicals, such as phthalate metabolites, that people have in their bodies. Levels that are not likely to cause harm are called reference values. Physicians and public health officials use reference values to decide if people have been exposed to higher levels of these chemicals than are found in the general population. Biomonitoring data can help scientists plan and conduct research on exposure and health effects.

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Items made with meat had higher levels of phthalates, while French fries and cheese pizza had the lowest, according to their findings, published in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology. 

• Article
• Open Access
• Published: 27 October 2021

Phthalate and novel plasticizer concentrations in food items from U.S. fast food chains: a preliminary analysis

• Lariah Edwards, 
• Nathan L. McCray, 
• Brianna N. VanNoy, 
• Alice Yau, 
• Ruth J. Geller, 
• Gary Adamkiewicz & 
• Ami R. Zota 

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology (2021)Cite this article

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Abstract

Background

Fast food consumption is associated with biomarkers of ortho-phthalates exposures. However, the chemical content of fast food is unknown; certain ortho-phthalates (i.e., di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP) and di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP)) have been phased out and replaced with other plasticizers (e.g., dioctyl terephthalate (DEHT)).

Objective

We conducted a preliminary study to examine ortho-phthalate and replacement plasticizer concentrations in foods and food handling gloves from U.S. fast food restaurants.

Methods

We obtained hamburgers, fries, chicken nuggets, chicken burritos, cheese pizza (n = 64 food samples) and gloves (n = 3) from restaurants and analyzed them for 11 chemicals using gas chromatography mass spectrometry.

Results

We found DEHT at the highest concentrations in both foods (n = 19; median = 2510 µg/kg; max = 12,400 µg/kg) and gloves (n = 3; range: 28–37% by weight). We detected DnBP and DEHP in 81% and 70% of food samples, respectively. Median DEHT concentrations were significantly higher in burritos than hamburgers (6000 µg/kg vs. 2200 µg/kg; p < 0.0001); DEHT was not detected in fries. Cheese pizza had the lowest levels of most chemicals.

Significance

To our knowledge, these are the first measurements of DEHT in food. Our preliminary findings suggest that ortho-phthalates remain ubiquitous and replacement plasticizers may be abundant in fast food meals.

Impact statement

A selection of popular fast food items sampled in this study contain detectable levels of replacement plasticizers and concerning ortho-phthalates. In addition, food handling gloves contain replacement plasticizers, which may be a source of food contamination. These results, if confirmed, may inform individual and regulatory exposure reduction strategies.

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‘Disadvantaged neighborhoods often have plenty of fast-food outlets but limited access to healthier foods like fruits and vegetables,’ Zota told The Washington Post. ‘Additional research needs to be done to find out whether people living in such food deserts are at higher risk of exposure to these harmful chemicals.’

Some fast-food items contain plastics linked to serious health problems, new report shows

Chemicals that research has shown to be linked to reproductive harm and learning problems in children were found in popular menu items Listen to article5 min

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A 2019 CDC report found non-Latino blacks have higher levels of exposure to several phthalates and phthalate alternatives than whites.

The FDA doesn’t set limits for phthalates in food, according to the Post, but the levels detected in the 64 fast-food items purchased from franchises around San Antonio, Texas, were all below the EPA’s current acceptable thresholds.

Last week, the EPA said it was moving to regulate certain forever chemicals — known as Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS — in U.S. drinking water after they have repeatedly appeared in water supplies across the country.

The agency said it would also designate some as hazardous chemicals.

PFAs are used to make cookware, rainwear, carpet and other items water- and stain-resistant, but have also been tied to health issues, including higher cholesterol, an increased risk of kidney and testicular cancer, and damage to the immune system, as well as  birth defects, smaller birth weights, and decreased vaccine response in children.

What are the health effects of PFAS? A large number of studies have examined possible relationships between levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in blood and harmful health effects in people. However, not all of these studies involved the same groups of people, the same type of exposure, or the same PFAS. These different studies therefore reported a variety of health outcomes.

Toxic ‘forever chemicals’ being leaked from nearly 42,000 sources like treatment plants and landfills could be polluting drinking water across the US, survey finds

• The Environmental Working Group analyzed the EPA’s database of PFAS, manmade chemicals often added to common household products
• PFAS never break down and, in some cases, are linked to health problems
• Water sources most at risk of contamination were near landfills, wastewater treatment plants and petroleum refineries
• The group argues no level of PFAS above 1 part per trillion is safe
• It’s urging the EPA to take a stronger stance to limit these chemicals

By DAN AVERY FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 22:01 GMT, 13 October 2021 | UPDATED: 16:45 GMT, 27 October 2021

La Venecia de Pacífico En la isla de Pophei, en Micronesia, se encuentra uno de los lugares más misteriosos del planeta: las ruinas de Nan Madol (en la foto), que ocultan bajo las aguas una ciudad sumergida de, según algunos, 12.000 años de antigüedad. Bautizada como la Venecia del Pacífico, el complejo arqueológico se extiende más de 18 kilómetros cuadrados, con arquitectura megalítica y casi cien islotes artificiales (de piedra y coral) rodeados por canales.

Racchi (quechua: Raqchi) es un sitio arqueológico incaico ubicado en el distrito de San Pedro de Cachas en la provincia de Canchis (Cuzco, Perú). El sitio arqueológico también es conocido como el templo de Viracocha debido a una de sus construcciones emblemáticas. Se encuentra cercano al pueblo de Raqchi y al río Vilcanota.

Conrad Haas (1509–1576) was an Austrian or a Transylvanian Saxon military engineer from the Kingdom of Hungary, Transylvania. He was a pioneer of rocket propulsion. His designs include a three-stage rocket and a manned rocket.

An illustration and description in the 14th century ChineseHuolongjing by Jiao Yu and Liu Bowen shows the oldest known multistage rocket; this was the “fire-dragon issuing from the water” (火龙出水, huǒ lóng chū shuǐ), used mostly by the Chinese navy.^[7][8] It was a two-stage rocket that had booster rockets that would eventually burn out, yet before they did they automatically ignited a number of smaller rocket arrows that were shot out of the front end of the missile, which was shaped like a dragon’s head with an open mouth.^[8] This multi-stage rocket may be considered the ancestor to the modern YingJi-62ASCM.^[8][9] The British scientist and historian Joseph Needham points out that the written material and depicted illustration of this rocket come from the oldest stratum of the Huolongjing, which can be dated roughly 1300–1350 AD (from the book’s part 1, chapter 3, page 23).^[8]

1.  “火龙出水（明）简介”. 星辰在线. 2003-12-26. Archived from the original on March 3, 2009. Retrieved July 17, 2008.
2. ^ ^a b c d Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 510.
3. ^ “中国YJ-62新型远程反舰导弹”. 大旗网. 2007-09-30. Retrieved July 17, 2008.^{[permanent dead link]}

Jiao Yu (Chinese: 焦玉; pinyin: Jiāo Yù; Wade–Giles: Chiao Yü) was a Chinese military general, philosopher, and writer of the Ming dynasty under Zhu Yuanzhang, who founded the dynasty and became known as the Hongwu Emperor. He was entrusted by Zhu as a leading artillery officer for the rebel army that overthrew the MongolYuan dynasty, and established the Ming Dynasty.^[1] As a senior adviser and general, he was later appointed to the venerable and noble status of the Count of Dongning.^[2] He edited and wrote a famous military treatise that outlined the use of Chinese military technology during the mid 14th century based on his military campaign of 1355 AD.^[1] However, descriptions of some gunpowder weapons in his treatise derive from Song Dynasty (960–1279 AD) materials on battles against the Khitans, Jurchens and Mongols. His Huolongjing, translated as the Fire Drake Manual, contains descriptions of fire arrows, fire lances, grenades, firearms, bombards, cannons, exploding cannonballs, land mines, naval mines, rockets, rocket launchers, two-stage rockets, and various gunpowder solutions including poisonous concoctions.

^[1] Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 26. ^[2] Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 31.

Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 7, Military Technology; the Gunpowder Epic. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd.

Las mejoras en la tecnología militar ayudaron a la dinastía Song a defenderse de sus vecinos hostiles del norte. El lanzallamas tuvo sus orígenes hacia el siglo VII en la Greciabizantina, y su función era arrojar fuego griego (un fluido a base de petróleo con fórmula química compleja y altamente inflamable) mediante una manguera de sifón.^[48]

Needham, vol. 5, 7ª parte, 77.

Beam-powered propulsion, also known as directed energy propulsion, is a class of aircraft or spacecraft propulsion that uses energy beamed to the spacecraft from a remote power plant to provide energy. The beam is typically either a microwave or a laser beam and it is either pulsed or continuous.