Monthly Archives: February 2014

Bristol Bay: The Impact of Potential Large-Scale Mining on Salmon and Wetlands

By Roberta Attanasio, IEAM Blog Editor

In a land of pristine rivers and uncontaminated wilderness, the indigenous people of Bristol Bay have shared bountiful catches of salmon for thousands of years. However, the Pebble Mine—something that has been defined as just an idea—could be changing their way of life. An assessment released last month by the EPA shows the extent of the potential impact that the development of the mine could have on indigenous people and their land. Continue reading

Exposure to Pesticides May Contribute to the Development of Parkinson’s disease

By Roberta Attanasio, IEAM Blog Editor

For the past few years, Parkinson’s disease and its association with exposure to pesticides has been the topic of a hot debate – one after the other, studies have shown a clear epidemiologic link between disease development and pesticide exposure without, however, identifying any related mechanism of action. Finally, in January 2013, in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences pointed out a mechanism of action for the fungicide benomyl, a persistent pesticide that is still present in the environment despite having been banned by the U.S. in 2001. Now, results from in the current issue (February 4, 2014) of the journal Neurology show that several additional pesticides may be involved in the development of Parkinson’s disease, with a mechanism similar to that described for benomyl. Continue reading

Research Animal Guidelines — Are they for the Birds?

By Larry Tannenbaum, Guest Contributor and IEAM Editor

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
George Orwell, Animal Farm

There appears to be a striking incongruity in the requirements governing the ethical and humane treatment of vertebrate animals used in research. Some animals lack proper representation, as discussed in this post. Continue reading