For information on new studies, updates, conferences, and other events related to various environmental factors and the development of diabetes, focusing on the potential contribution of environmental contaminants to the development of diabetes:

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I will be speaking on "Type 1 diabetes and chemicals: Is there a link?" at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Capitol Chapter's 2nd Annual Type 1 Diabetes Research Summit at the Bethesda North Mariott, (Maryland) on Feb. 18, 2012, 9 AM- 4 PM. The program is available here. Registration is free; email capitol@jdrf.org for more info.

The Collaborative on Health and the Environment Alaska Working Group is hosting a call on the Role of Environmental Chemicals in the Development of Diabetes and Obesity on Wed. Dec. 14, 2011 at 1 pm EST (10 AM PST). Speakers include Dr. David Carpenter and Dr. Bruce Blumberg. To join the call, email diana@akaction.org.

A conference on Chemicals, Obesity and Diabetes was held on Oct. 14, 2011, in Waterville, Maine at Colby College. Powerpoint slides from the presentations are online here, and podcasts are available at the following links: Morning plenaries (all together or specific talks: Bruce Blumberg on obesogens, Jerry Heindel on developmental origins of disease, Elizabeth Hatch on epidemiological evidence of prenatal obesogens, and Michael Dedekian on the obesity epidemic) and afternoon talks: Mark Mitchell on impacts on minority communities, and Richard Denison and Michael Belliveau on policy strategies.

The Collaborative on Health and the Environment hosted a partnership call on May 12, 2011 on Diabetes and Obesity: Evaluating the Science on Chemical Contributors. A podcast and resources are available online.

The U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) conducted a "state of the science" evaluation on the Role of Environmental Chemicals in the Development of Diabetes and Obesity. They held a workshop on Jan. 11-13, 2011, that I was able to attend. They are also developing a literature review document, available on the website. According to Dr. Michael Gallo, workshop Chair, "some of these associations are pretty strong … these data really show us that there is biological plausibility to some of these or all of these chemical groups." I requested more study on type 1 diabetes and environmental contaminants, and was able to talk to many scientists about this possibility. Many agree that there could be a connection, and it is an area worthy of future research (most of the science currently focuses on type 2 diabetes and chemicals).

 

The U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) is hosting an on-going National Conversation on Public Health and Chemical Exposures with the vision that "the United States will use and manage chemicals in ways that are safe and healthy for all people."

In the U.S., chemicals are regulated under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), a law that does not require that chemicals are shown to be safe before they can be used. The Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families Campaign provides information on toxic chemical reform at the federal level, and works to support federal policy to protect us from toxic chemicals.

New legislation was just introduced to revise TSCA, called the "Safe Chemicals Act." Here are some articles and blogs about the Safe Chemicals Act of 2011: Press release from Senator Lautenberg (D-NJ); Safe Chemicals Act of 2011 introduced today (from Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families); TSCA Reform 2.0 (from the Environmental Defense Fund); and Chemical 'warfare': Who's who and what's at stake (about the 2010 bill), on Politics Daily by Sheila Kaplan.

States are also considering toxic chemical regulations. See Toxic chemical rules are on Brown's agenda (Los Angeles Times, Jan. 31, 2011) regarding proposed regulations in California.

 

The European Union (EU), meanwhile, has begun to implement its new REACH law, which stands for Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical substances. According to the EU, "one of the main reasons for developing and adopting the REACH Regulation was that a large number of substances have been manufactured and placed on the market in Europe for many years, sometimes in very high amounts, and yet there is insufficient information on the hazards that they pose to human health and the environment."

CHE has started a new Diabetes-Obesity Spectrum working group. I am the National Coordinator of this group, and anyone is welcome to join. We have a listserv and will be conducting projects related to this topic.

 

 

Moms Rising 

For books, articles, blogs, and more information on diabetes and contaminants, see the articles in the popular press page.

 

If you know of any more resources, please let me know: sarah@diabetesandenvironment.org.