Science Daily Research re: Solvents & Organic

ORGANIC
Pesticides Exposure Associated With Parkinson's Disease (June 26, 2006) — A large-scale, prospective study has shown links between chronic, low-dose exposure to pesticides and Parkinson's disease. > full story

Organic Diet Makes Rats Healthier (March 29, 2005) — A team of European scientists, including one from Newcastle University, has found in an experiment that rats that ate organic food were much healthier than those that ate conventional diets. > full story

Organic Is Healthier: Kiwis Prove That Green Is Good (March 26, 2007) — Scientists have proven that organically grown kiwifruit contain significantly increased levels of health-promoting polyphenols. They also had a higher overall antioxidant activity, as well as higher levels of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and important minerals compared with their conventionally grown counterparts. Also, compounds in grapefruit and oranges have been shown to lower blood cholesterol, which could help prevent heart disease. > full story

Organically Grown Foods Higher In Cancer-fighting Chemicals Than Conventionally Grown Foods (March 4, 2003) — Fruits and veggies grown organically show significantly higher levels of cancer-fighting antioxidants than conventionally grown foods, according to a new study of corn, strawberries and marionberries. The research suggests that pesticides and herbicides actually thwart the production of phenolics — chemicals that act as a plant's natural defense and also happen to be good for our health. > full story

Organic Diets Lower Children's Exposure To Two Common Pesticides (February 21, 2006) — Organic diets lower children's dietary exposure to two common pesticides used in US agricultural production, according to a study by Emory University researcher Chensheng Alex Lu, PhD. The substitution of organic food items for children's normal diets substantially decreased the pesticide concentration to non-detectable levels. > full story

Organic Farming Beats No-Till? (July 24, 2007) — Organic farming can build up soil organic matter better than conventional no-till farming can, according to a long-term study. Organic farming, despite its emphasis on building organic matter, was thought to actually endanger soil because it relies on tillage and cultivation--instead of herbicides--to kill weeds. But the study showed that organic farming's addition of organic matter in manure and cover crops more than offset losses from tillage. > full story

Healthful Compounds In Tomatoes Increase Over Time In Organic Fields (July 16, 2007) — Levels of flavonoids increase over time in crops grown in organically farmed fields, according to a rare long-term study scheduled for publication in the July 18 issue of ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a bi-weekly publication. Other research has suggested that consumption of flavonoids may protect against cancer, heart disease, and other age-related diseases. > full story

Organic Farming Produces Smaller Crops, Healthier Soils, Swiss Researchers Report In Science (May 31, 2002) — Organic farming methods produced crop yields that were, on average, 20 percent smaller than conventional crops, during a 21-year comparison of the two methods. But, the organic approach more than made up the difference in ecological benefits, according to Swiss scientists who conducted the study. Their results appear in the journal Science, published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. > full story

Organic Farming Has Little, If Any, Effect On Nutritional Content Of Wheat, Study Concludes (October 16, 2006) — Organically grown wheat may have different labeling and a higher price in stores, but it contains essentially the same profile of amino acids, sugars and other metabolic substances as wheat grown with conventional farming. That's the conclusion of a German study, which produced perhaps the most comprehensive metabolic profile of wheat from organic and conventional agriculture. > full story

Research At Great Lakes Meeting Shows More Vitamin C In Organic Oranges Than Conventional Oranges (June 3, 2002) — Organically-grown oranges contain up to 30% more vitamin C than those grown conventionally, it was reported at a Great Lakes Regional meeting of the American Chemical Society. > full story

Organic Farming Can Feed The World, Study Suggests (July 13, 2007) — Organic farming can yield up to three times as much food as conventional farming on the same amount of land -- according to new findings which refute the long-standing assumption that organic farming methods cannot produce enough food to feed the global population. > full story

Organic Food Miles Take Toll On Environment (June 7, 2007) — Organic fruit and vegetables may be healthier for the dinner table, but not necessarily for the environment, a University of Alberta study shows. > full story

Get 'Two Steps' Ahead Of Fire Ants With Organic Control (May 12, 2004) — Red imported fire ants love wet, rainy, cool days like the ones that ushered in spring. That's why so many of their mounds have been popping up all over Texas this year. But help is only two steps away. > full story

Offspring At Risk From Maternal Occupational Exposure To Solvents (October 4, 2004) — Researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children (Sick Kids) and the University of Toronto (U of T) have linked maternal exposure to organic solvents in the workplace with poorer performance on measures of neurocognitive function, language, and behaviour in offspring. > full story

SOVENTS
Many Cleaners, Air Fresheners May Pose Health Risks When Used Indoors (May 24, 2006) — A new study from UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory finds that many common household cleaners and air fresheners, when used indoors under certain conditions, emit toxic pollutants at levels that may lead to health risks. > full story

Solvent Exposure Linked To Birth Defects In Babies Of Male Painters (September 27, 2006) — Men who paint for a living may be placing their unborn children at increased risk of birth defects and low birth weight. > full story

Workplace Solvents May Intensify Parkinson's Disease (September 12, 2000) — Jobs involving the use of common solvents can put people at risk for developing symptoms of Parkinson's disease earlier in life and more severe disease symptoms throughout its course, according to a study in the September 12 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology. > full story

OHSU Researchers Discover Toxicity Risks For Widely Used Chemicals (September 17, 2002) — Research at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) has revealed that certain chemical ingredients of gasoline, jet fuel and other solvents may pose a greater health hazard than first thought. Scientists at the OHSU Center for Research on Occupational and Environmental Toxicology (CROET) have shown that a benzene derivative damages the nervous system. In fact, the substance is much more active than non-benzene analogs already known to cause peripheral nerve damage (loss of limb sensation and muscle weakness) in solvent-exposed workers. > full story

Increased Suicide Rate Is Possibly Linked To Chemicals Released From Nearby Asphalt Plants, Study Suggests (December 28, 2004) — Exposure to low levels of hydrogen sulfide and possibly other airborne chemicals from nearby asphalt plants may have contributed to an increased suicide rate in a North Carolina community, a study suggests for the first time. > full story

Ozone Levels May Raise Risk Of Underweight Births: Common Pollutants Linked To Fetal Growth Retardation (November 16, 2005) — Babies born to women exposed to high ozone levels during pregnancy are at heightened risk for being significantly underweight, according to researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. > full story