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Tuesday, April 4, 2023
Message from Rep. Tina Spears
Turn off porch light to aid caterpillars
Safeguard backyard ecosystems
Cornell University
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This ecological impact was demonstrated in
a new Cornell University study published in the Proceedings of the
Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.
The scientists placed more than 550
lifelike caterpillar replicas made of soft clay in a forest, setting to
ascertain how the mockups were attacked and hunted by predators compared to a
control group.
Get phthalates, parabens out of the bathroom drawer to reduce breast cancer risk
Women who switched to paraben- and phthalate- free shampoos, lotions, soaps and deodorants had fewer cancer-associated changes to breast tissue cells.
Ashley James for the Environmental Health News
It's well established that high estrogen exposure is a major breast cancer risk factor.
Endocrine-disrupting chemicals that mimic estrogen, also known as xenoestrogens, have been associated with increased breast cancer risk, even at low doses.
The two most common xenoestrogens, phthalates and parabens, are used widely in personal care products such as shampoo, deodorant, lotion, nail polish, fragrances and more.
While most toxicology cancer research uses animal models or cancer cell lines,
the new study,
published in Chemosphere, aimed to
understand how reducing real-world exposure to these toxics affects early
markers of breast cancer in people’s bodies.
Breast cancer survivors and researchers partnered to recruit cancer-free women who used personal care products with parabens and phthalates daily. Randomly assigning some women as controls, they collected blood, urine and breast tissue cells from participants at the start and end of a 28-day intervention period, where non-control participants switched to phthalate- and paraben-free products.
They observed significant
reversal of known cancer-associated cell signaling pathways, significant shifts
of known cancer-associated genes to a ‘normal’ profile, and significant
reduction in phthalate and paraben urine levels post-intervention.
South Kingstown gets URI help to figure out housing problems
URI researchers help R.I. town to chart new directions in public housing
Research by a team of University of Rhode Island faculty and students is helping the South Kingstown Housing Authority to chart a new course for its public housing program.
At the request of the housing authority, the research
team of economists, political scientists, and historians spent more than two
years developing a survey to help better understand the needs of
public housing residents, compiling an oral history of public housing in South
Kingstown, and producing a research paper exploring best practices in public
housing across the U.S. and beyond.
The goal of the project was to provide practical,
evidence-based guidance for the housing authority as it begins the process of
rethinking its approach to public housing.
Monday, April 3, 2023
MAGA push on education in the General Assembly stalls
Controversial Education Bills Spark Heated Debate in Rhode Island
By Steve Ahlquist, Uprise RI |
| patimes.org |
Paiva was the first of 36 people who spoke out against four bills, submitted by Rhode Island State Representative Patricia Morgan (Republican, District 26, West Warwick), that represent, in the written testimony of Providence resident Jackie Goldman, “a violent and regressive attempt to vilify LGBTQI+, and Black and Brown Communities.”
All four bills submitted by Representative Morgan on Wednesday were held for further study and are unlikely to advance. No one testified, in person, in favor of any of Morgan’s bills.
