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Commercial chemicals' safety unknownBy MICHAEL MCLAUGHLINUPI Correspondent WASHINGTON, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- Thousands of untested industrial chemicals may threaten the public health -- despite a 30-year old law to review and regulate their use. Chemicals in commercial products often reach the market without the government determining their toxicity to humans and the environment, according to the Government Accountability Office. http://www.upi.com/ConsumerHealthDaily/view.php?StoryID=20060808-034510-1446r Allergy link with Parkinson's Adam Cresswell, Health editor August 09, 2006 PATIENTS who suffer from long-term allergies to common

irritants such as house dust, mould and pet hair may be up to three times more likely to develop Parkinson's disease as they get older. A US study suggests people with allergic rhinitis - a common condition where sufferers develop a runny nose and watery eyes, in some cases hindering the ability to think clearly - may be much more likely to develop the degenerative brain condition. The findings, published in the US journal Neurology, add to previous research that has suggested Parkinson's may be linked to inflammatory processes. It is already known that use of anti-inflammatory drugs may reduce the likelihood that a patient will develop the neurological disease, which is caused by the death of brain cells. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20066612-23289,00.html Genetic-test decision raises

call for ethics rules Britain will allow prenatal screening for genes that could pose a risk - but not a certainty - of cancer. By Maria Cheng Associated Press LONDON - The decision in Britain to allow couples to screen embryos for genes that raise the risk of developing cancer has revived calls for a global standard on the issue. In the United States, there is no government regulation of the screening procedure, called preimplantation genetic diagnosis. The decision to use genetic screening is up to doctors, patients and health-care centers. In a commentary published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, Peter Braude, head of the department of women's health at King's College in London, said fresh approaches to the ethics of screening might be necessary in Britain. In May, a British

government regulatory agency decided to add susceptibility to certain cancers to the list of conditions for which genetic screening is permitted. The issue, ethicists say, is that technology has outpaced society's ability to regulate it. http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/15237542.htm Family albums highlight climate change Experts turn to old notebooks and photos to press home global warming message. Michael Hopkin

Before and after: this cemetery is chilly and leafless in May 1868, but warm and green in modern times.©Credit: Am J. Bot. (in press). Climate researchers and

ecologists are usually known for using complex computer simulations to study environmental change. But Boston University researchers are using more humble sources to determine the effects of climate change on local flora and fauna.For the past three years, Richard Primack and Abraham Miller-Rushing have asked Massachusetts residents with long memories and a record-keeping habit to show how rising temperatures over the decades have changed the nature around them.The data they have collected from amateur naturalists, farmers, landscape gardeners and photographers show that trees are sprouting leaves earlier in spring, birds are changing their migratory habits, and the patterns of flowers' blooming is changing."It's a good way to show that something is really happening, to species

that people know," says Primack, who presented the work at the meeting of the Ecological Society of America in Memphis, Tennessee. "It will help us make the argument that global climate change is a reality even more convincing to the public."Interesting timesThe vast majority of scientists are convinced both that global warming is real, and that it is hitting ecosystems in measurable ways. The new initiative is intended to help convince members of the public — and government officials — who are still suspicious of climate predictions.http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060807/full/060807-10.html "Our ideal is

not the spirituality that withdraws from life but the conquest of life by the power of the spirit." - Aurobindo.

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