(Press-News.org) Barcelona, Spain: Argan powder, which is used by the cosmetic industry in the production of foundation products, could be linked with occupational asthma.
A small study, presented at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) Annual Congress in Barcelona today (9 September 2013), has found the first evidence of a risk associated with the use of argan powder during the industrial production of cosmetics.
A sample of nine patients from a cosmetic factory in France were analysed in the study. All participants were exposed to the product in three different forms: crude granules, powder or liquid.
Each participant completed a questionnaire about their medical history. Lung function tests and allergy tests were also carried out, along with an inhalation challenge test, which examines the airways specific reaction to a substance (in this case argan).
Out of the nine workers, four displayed asthma or rhinitis symptoms and had a blocked nose when handling argan powder. The results found that three of them had occupational asthma caused by argan powder, proved by specific challenge tests. Two of the four also had a positive allergy skin prick-test to argan powder.
Dr Emmanuelle Penven, lead author of the study, said: "Occupational asthma can be a debilitating condition if it prevents a person from working. This study is very preliminary but does suggest an association between argan powder and occupational asthma. Our initial findings warrant further research to understand any health risks associated with the compound."
###
Notes to editors:
Abstract: Occupational asthma to argan powder: first evidence
Session: Occupational respiratory diseases: asthma, silicosis and asbestosis
Date and time: Monday 9 September, 08:30-10:30
Room: 3.7
Argan powder found in some cosmetics linked with occupational asthma
2013-09-09
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
MERS-CoV treatment effective in monkeys, NIH study finds
2013-09-09
WHAT:
National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists report that a combination of two licensed antiviral drugs reduces virus replication and improves clinical outcome in a recently developed monkey model of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection. Their study, which appears as a letter in the Sept. 8 edition of Nature Medicine, expands on work published in April showing that a combination of ribavirin and interferon-alpha 2b stops MERS-CoV from replicating in cell culture. Both antivirals are routinely used together to treat viral diseases such ...
Climate change will upset vital ocean chemical cycles
2013-09-09
New research from the University of East Anglia shows that rising ocean temperatures will upset natural cycles of carbon dioxide, nitrogen and phosphorous.
Plankton plays an important role in the ocean's carbon cycle by removing half of all CO2 from the atmosphere during photosynthesis and storing it deep under the sea – isolated from the atmosphere for centuries.
Findings published today in the journal Nature Climate Change reveal that water temperature has a direct impact on maintaining the delicate plankton ecosystem of our oceans.
The new research means that ocean ...
Team IDs 2 pathways through which chromosomes are rearranged
2013-09-09
SAN ANTONIO (Sept. 8, 2013) — Biologists reported today in Nature that they have identified two pathways through which chromosomes are rearranged in mammalian cells. These types of changes are associated with some cancers and inherited disorders in people.
"Our finding provides a target to prevent these rearrangements, so we could conceivably prevent cancer in some high-risk people," said senior author Edward P. (Paul) Hasty, D.V.M., of the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Partial funding came from the Cancer Therapy ...
Researchers uncover genetic cause of childhood leukemia
2013-09-09
NEW YORK, September 8, 2013 — For the first time, a genetic link specific to risk of childhood leukemia has been identified, according to a team of researchers from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, University of Washington, and other institutions. The discovery was reported online today in the journal Nature Genetics.
"We're in unchartered territory," said study author Kenneth Offit, MD, MPH, Chief of the Clinical Genetics Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering. "At the very least this discovery gives us a new window into inherited ...
Disparities in lung function found worldwide may impact health
2013-09-09
Hamilton, ON (September 8, 2013) – A global study led by McMaster University researchers has found large differences in lung function between healthy people from different socioeconomic and geographical regions of the world which could impact their health.
The highest lung function was found in individuals from North America and Europe. This was followed by South America, Middle East, China, sub-Saharan Africa, Malaysia and South Asia. South Asians had the lowest lung function, by 30% compared to North Americans and Europeans.
The large differences in lung function ...
Study uncovers value of mammogram screening for younger women
2013-09-09
A new analysis has found that most deaths from breast cancer occur in younger women who do not receive regular mammograms. Published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study indicates that regular screening before age 50 should be encouraged.
The use of mammograms to prevent breast cancer deaths has been controversial, especially after the United States Preventive Services Task Force proposed in 2009 to limit screening to women aged 50 to 74 years. Studies show varying benefits, and advances in treatment may have diminished ...
Is bigger really better when it comes to size of labor wards?
2013-09-09
New research reveals that large labor wards—those handling 3,000 to 3,999 deliveries annually—have better overall approval rates compared to small, intermediate or very large obstetric units. The study, appearing in Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica, a journal published by Wiley on behalf of the Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology, suggests that greater access to in-house obstetricians and auxiliary specialists contributes to the lower obstetric injury claims from patients at large labor wards in Denmark.
Nearly one million children ...
Children referred for chest pain rarely have cardiac disease
2013-09-09
Boston, Mass. —Employing a unique quality improvement methodology, called Standardized Clinical Assessment and Management Plans (SCAMPs), physicians have demonstrated that chest pain in children, rarely caused by heart disease, can be effectively evaluated in the ambulatory setting using minimal resources, even across a diverse patient population. So found a multi-institutional study, led by cardiologists throughout New England and published September 9 in Pediatrics.
"Previous research has shown that children referred for chest pain infrequently leads to a diagnosis ...
Obese teenagers who lose weight at risk for developing eating disorders
2013-09-09
ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Obese teenagers who lose weight are at risk of developing eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, Mayo Clinic researchers imply in a recent Pediatrics article. Eating disorders among these patients are also not being adequately detected because the weight loss is seen as positive by providers and family members.
In the article, Mayo Clinic researchers argue that formerly overweight adolescents tend to have more medical complications from eating disorders and it takes longer to diagnose them than kids who are in a normal weight ...
ACR, SBI on cancer study: More breast cancer screening needed in younger women
2013-09-09
A new analysis published online Sept. 9 in Cancer confirms the need for greater use of annual mammography in women ages 40-49 as recommended by the American Cancer Society, American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), American College of Radiology and Society of Breast Imaging for all women 40 and older. It also confirms that, even with new therapeutics and protocols for treating breast cancer, regular mammography screening is still the best way to significantly reduce breast cancer deaths.
The study, which involved 7,301 patients, found that 71 percent ...