US Babies on the Bottle

It seems that formula, bottle-fed babies, in many parts of the USA, have an additional problem to the hoards of micro and nano-plastics they will consume with their feed. The water, in around 80% of US homes, is said to contain detectable levels of lead (presumably from aging piping). It has long been established that this metal has a profound negative effect on the development of the nervous system in babies (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/20/led-exposure-bottle-fed-babies-black-infants-study). People have long worried about the levels of lead in the water supplies of Flint (Michigan) but the problem has not been solved here for all. New Orleans has 80% of its homes with detectable lead in the drinking water. One half of these have values that exceed the levels to which developing children should be exposed. Unsurprisingly, many of the locations with the highest lead values in tap water, are areas where people from poorer, ethnic minorities have to live. Of course, even if the babies in these locations are breast-fed, they will be picking up lead from the water that their mothers drink. It is decades since they stopped (on health grounds) using lead products as 'anti-knocking' agents in gasoline. It is remarkable that the same attention hasn't been directed to reducing lead in drinking water.

Every Little (Self?) Helps?

The ride-hailing firm Uber is reportedly set to pledge £5m to help provide electricity charging point infrastructure, by 2023, in some of the poorest parts of London (https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/oct/19/uber-pledges-5m-toward-electric-vehicle-charging-points-in-london). They admit that this will be a tiny fraction of the money required to make the Capital more electric car-friendly. They note, however, that many of their drivers come from the poorer areas of the city, like Newham and Tower Hamlets. Those areas currently have very few charging points for electric vehicles (although Uber intends to encourage the use of such cars). Uber don't recruit many drivers from Kensington and Westminster, even though they are relately well provisioned. Any city that hopes to attempt to reduce both air pollution and the emission of greenhouse gases, needs an extensive network of charging points to encourage the transition to electric vehicles.

Dutch Flower Power

In the Netherlands, they take their cycling seriously. One cycle-related bone of contention, however, is the obstructing of views from Amsterdam's canal bridges, by people chaining their parked machines to the railings. The Dutch being Dutch are trying to use Psychology to change such behaviour. Rather than simply putting notices up banning the activity (as would happen in the UK), they are attaching boxes for floral displays to the railings (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/20/amsterdam-canal-views-blighted-by-bikes-say-authorities). This, they hope, will convince people to park their bikes elsewhere. To facilitate that behaviour they are also converting some of the adjacent car parking slots into bicycle stands. It's all good, 'green' stuff!

Cool It!

It seems bizarre but melting of the permafrost is (as well as producing the conditions for tsunamis in Alaska), creating substantial problems for big oil companies in the Arctic. The burning of hydrocarbons is, of course, one of the major sources of 'greenhouse gases' driving global warming and climate change. The melting permafrost is, however, endangering the extraction and piping systems of the big oil companies. The solution? To freeze the ground under their equipment! (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/19/oil-alaska-arctic-global-heating-local-cooling). This is, of course, of no benefit to the people and animals in these locations, who just have to live (or die) with the consequences.

Taking to the Bottle

People have repeatedly emphasised the benefits (in terms of bonding, nutrition quality and immune protection) of breast feeding (wherever possible). There is now, however, an added disincentive to bottle feed a formula. It appears, that the high temperatures specified for sterilising the bottles and preparing the formula, result in numerous micro- and nano-particles of plastic being released and inadvertently being fed to the baby (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/19/bottle-fed-babies-swallow-millions-microplastics-day-study). There would be several feeds per day over a pretty long period of early life, so the intake of plastics would be high. Of course, the particles may be relatively harmless to the baby (although this isn't established as yet). There are, however, growing concerns about the biological impacts of plastic particles in ecological systems. Some white blood cells could certainly phagocytose particles. One should also note that some women have to use donated (or even their own stored) human milk. They may hope to avoid some of the problems of formula feeds but sterilising the bottle would also liberate plastics here.

CAP in Hand?

The EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is the most expensive item on their budget, costing more than 55bn euros per year. The actual money distributed depends purely on the area of land farmed, rather than what one does with it. It is hardly remarkable then, that the dire state of the EU's conservation programmes, seems to be mainly down to intensive farming (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/19/vast-majority-europe-key-habitats-poor-bad-condition-report). Apparently, 80% of key habitats within the eurozone are rated as 'poor' or 'bad' and only 25% of species (limited to animals and plants?) have a good conservation status. There are a few recent success stories (e.g. the reintroduction of the wolf) but achieving a good balance between encouraging food production and maintaining a healthy environment, is still some way off. Perhaps the CAP hand-outs need to reflect conservation actvities carried out by farmers?

Cold-Shock Cure for Dementia?

It has been known, for some time, that most Mammals can produce a protein on being exposed to cold, that protects the brain as the animal hibernates. This protein has been shown, in mice, to even repair some of the damage that is normally associated with dementia. Dementia is, of course, a growing problem in aging human populations. Cold-shock, as one might get with cold water swimming, stimulates the production of the protective protein in mice. A study has now been carried out by Cambridge University on human swimmers at London's Parliament Hill Lido (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-54531075#:~:text=Cold%20water%20swimming%20may%20protect%20the%20brain%20from,like%20dementia%2C%20researchers%20from%20Cambridge%20University%20have%20discovered.). They found that some of the participants showed an increase in the protein after doing cold-water swims. It remains, of course, to show that the protein can actually protect (or even repair) the brains of humans who might be prone to dementia. I gather that, if the protein works, the intention is not to force old folk into cold swimming pools or cold showers. The alternative hope is to find drugs that will stimulate the production of the protein. I suspect that GM techniques could be used to directly produce the protein but it might stimulate immune responses when injected. Still, I now think I understand why Finns go straight from the sauna to an ice-covered lake and why there is this annual enthusiasm, in some parts of the UK, for having a swim (for charity?) on Boxing Day.