From The Human Ecologist 1995 to 2001
HEAL:Reviews of New Medical Information by Luke Curtis, MS, CIH
" Luke Curtis is currently a 3rd year medical student
at the University of Illinois at Rockford. He has a masters degree
in environmental/occupational health science from University of
Illinois at Chicago and a masters in biology from Loyola University
of Chicago. He has worked 10
years as an industrial hygienist and is a CIH= certified industrial
hygienist. Luke has published 14 research papers on indoor/ outdoor
air quality, fungi and control of TB and Aspergillus infections.
He has written articles and medical research columns for the Human
Ecologist for the past 11 years. He has given several dozen presentations
to various groups and will teach 3 courses on indoor/ outdoor
air quality,fungi and toxicology at the American Academy of Environmental
Medicine meeting in St. Louis, Missouri on February 16-17,2002.
In 1995, he received a Centers for Disease Control (CIH) commendation
for his work on a lung hemorrhage project. After graduation, Luke
is planning on a combined clinical/ research career in allergy
and/or occupational medicine."
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has an excellent site
on leaf
and trash burning at www.iowaclean.com.
*PET DOGS AND INDOOR CANCER RISK- Home use of kerosene heaters and/or wood stoves, storage of solvents/pesticides in house, and use of flea sprays were all associated with significantly greater risk of nasal cancer in the dogs.- John Bukowski Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health 1
998 Part A; 54:579-591. A case-control study of 240 dogs with sinus cancers and 329 controls was conducted to determine association between home environment and cancerrisk. All of these dogs spent most of their time indoors at home. Home use ofkerosene heaters and/or wood stoves, storage of solvents/pesticides in house, anduse of flea sprays were all associated with significantly greater risk of nasalcancer in the dogs.- John Bukowski et al. Environmental causes for sinonasal cancers in petdogs, and their usefulness as sentinels of indoor cancer risk. Journal ofToxicology and Environmental Health 1998 Part A; 54:579-591.
*(Wood smoke contains Toluene)LOW LEVEL TOLUENE EXPOSURE, POORER MEMORY AND MENTAL FUNCTION, AND SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER LEVELS OF T-CELL ANTIGEN BINDING MOLECULESAn Australian study exposed 20 solvent-sensitive patients to 15 partsper million (ppm) toluene for 20 minutes. This concentration of toluene is wellbelow the OSHA PEL (Permissible Exposure Limit) of 50 ppm toluene over 8 hours. Followingexposure to the low concentrations of toluene, the solvent-exposed patients didsignificantly poorer on several tests of long and short term memory and had significantly slowerreaction time as compared to similar tests taken before the toluene exposure. The 20solvent-sensitive subjects also had significantly higher concentrations of T-cell antibody bindingmolecules (TABMs) to benzoic acid as compared to 16 controls. Toluene is a metaboliteof benzene and higher levels of TABMs to benzene may increase a persons sensitivityto toluene and other aromatic solvents.- Colin Little et al. Clinical and immunological responses in subjectssensitive to solvents. Archives of Environmental Health 1999;54(1):6-14.