Chlorophyllin reduces risk of breast cancer

Metastasis Gene May Be Useful for Diagnosis and Treatment of Liver Cancer

Hope for Liver Sufferers

Deadly Food born Illnesses

Bill Gates wants cures for poor

Drug Cuts Breast Cancer Risk

Williams uses his illness as chance to educate

Prevention of liver cancer

Erin Brockovich-Ellis continues

Chlorophyll Derivative May Cut Liver Cancer

Toxin in Indiana Corn

CH&RC endorsed GAIN

WHO calls for limits on additives to processed food

Alcohol, diet among top global health risks

Iowa to Test Milk for Aflatoxin

Amity's sick school syndrome

Mold Attacks Another School

Testing, blending are key in managing corn molds

Fumonisin found in corn samples

Chlorophyllin: Effective Order Control

Chlorophyllin Reduces Aflatoxin

• Chlorophyllin reduces risk of breast cancer
   

  In human breast cell studies, chlorophyllin was one of the most effective compounds protecting against DNA adduct formation. Chlorophyllin inhibited adduct formation 65% at 30 micromolar concentrations, and it was also a very effective inhibitor at 15 micromoles, a level obtainable in vivo in the tissues of humans (Smith et al. 2001).

  In vitro studies with chlorophyllin show it to be an inhibitor of the cytochrome P-450 liver enzymes (Tachino et al. 1994). All in vivo [whole animal] studies where cytochrome P-450 enzyme activity is reduced resulted in lower cancer rates and longer lifespan (Guengerich et al. 1991). In Stage 2 liver detoxification, enzymes called glutathione transferases cause glutathione to react with the carcinogens formed from cytochrome P-450 activity to produce harmless additional products, but this process is not very efficient (Finch et al. 1997). Chlorophyllin, however, makes this conversion more efficient by lowering cytochrome P-450 enzyme activity in the first place and by reacting with carcinogens to produce harmless complexes, just as the glutathione transferases do. Thus, chlorophyllin is not an inducer of glutathione transferases but mimics glutathione transferase activity.

• Metastasis Gene May Be Useful for Diagnosis and Treatment of Liver Cancer
  
   
  By analyzing the genes that are active in tumor cells, scientists may be able to predict whether the most common form of liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, is likely to spread from its original site. Researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), in collaboration with surgeons at the Liver Cancer Institute of Fudan University in Shanghai, report in a study published in Nature Medicine* that they have identified a pattern of gene activity that is unique to hepatocellular carcinoma cells that spread, or metastasize. Knowing whether a tumor is likely to metastasize can help physicians decide on the best treatment strategy for a patient.
  
  Additionally, researchers have identified a specific gene required for metastasis. The gene, known as osteopontin, may be a useful diagnostic marker for metastasis. The protein it produces is a potential target for therapeutic agents for metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma.
  
  Hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the most common and aggressive malignant tumors worldwide. Although incidence rates are relatively low in the United States, they are higher in Asia and Africa, where liver cancer risk factors such as hepatitis infection and contamination of food by aflatoxin (a known cancer-causing substance) are more prevalent. Recent studies indicate that the incidence of liver cancer in the United States is rising, while rates of most other cancers are declining. Poor survival among patients with hepatocellular carcinoma is attributed primarily to the high rate of metastasis after treatment, usually spreading to other parts of the liver.
  
  The initial goal of the study was to identify genes that allow researchers to discriminate hepatocellular carcinoma patients' original tumors from metastastic tumors. Surprisingly, researchers found that the genes expressed in metastatic tumors were identical to those in the original tumor, a finding that challenges the current model of metastasis progression. Differences became apparent, instead, between the activity of genes in tumors that went on to metastasize and genes in tumors that did not spread.
  
  "The fact that gene activity in metastatic tumors is identical to that in the tumors from which they originated, but metastasis-free tumors are distinct, suggests that changes favoring metastasis occur in the original tumor," said Xin Wei Wang, Ph.D., of NCI's Center for Cancer Research, the lead investigator on the study. "If we can identify in advance patients whose tumors are likely to metastasize, it will improve our ability to individualize treatment of their disease."
  
  To reveal key differences between liver tumors that were likely to metastasize and those that were not, researchers compared gene activity in tumor samples. All of the tumor samples were from patients' original tumors, whether or not those tumors had eventually metastasized.
  
  To measure gene activity, researchers used DNA microarray technology. Microarrays, also known as gene chips, are glass slides that have been coated with thousands of spots of DNA, each representing a different gene. When a gene is active in a cell, it produces RNA copies known as transcripts. To measure the activity of genes, researchers tag the RNA transcripts in the tumor cell with a fluorescent marker. When the tagged RNA transcripts are allowed to bind to their corresponding DNA spots on the gene chip, those spots on the chip light up. Scientists use the pattern and intensity of light emitted to determine the activity of each of the chip's thousands of genes.
  
  After analyzing the activity of more than 9,000 genes within the tumor cells, a computer algorithm determined that a group of 153 of these genes could be used to distinguish between the two groups of tumors. The activity of these 153 genes differed significantly depending on whether or not a tumor had the potential to spread.
  
  Once scientists had identified the set of genes that could discriminate between hepatocellular tumors with and without metastases, they used these genes to see if they could correctly identify 40 tumor samples. The clinical outcome of these patients was known, but not to the scientists. Of the 40 samples, the test correctly identified 82 percent of the tumors with metastatic potential, and 67 percent of the tumors from patients free of metastasis.
  
  Researchers next examined the set of key genes more closely and identified one gene whose activity was particularly high in tumors with metastatic potential. The gene produces a protein known as osteopontin, which, researchers found, plays an important role in metastasis. Increased activity of the gene leads to an abnormally high level of osteopontin protein in tumor cells, which appears to promote metastasis.
  
  Researchers found that high levels of osteopontin protein made cancer cells grown in the laboratory more likely to invade neighboring tissue. Furthermore, blocking the activity of the protein prevented tumor cells from spreading, in both mice and cells grown in the laboratory. Thus, osteopontin may be useful not only for predicting which cancers are likely to metastasize, but also as a potential therapeutic target for hepatocellular carcinoma.
  
  "Osteopontin can be found in all body fluids, which makes it an excellent diagnostic marker," said Wang. Also, because osteopontin protein is located on the outside of cells, it may be more easily reached by pharmaceutical agents than drug targets inside the cell, making researchers optimistic about its potential role in treatment.
  
   

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  Hope for liver sufferers?

  Two new studies may one day offer hope for the millions of people suffering from liver conditions such as cirrhosis, liver cancer and chronic hepatitis. Both reports appear in the February 7th issue of Science. The first study, conducted by researchers at Genentech Inc., unfolds almost as a love story between two types of cells: certain liver cells and the endothelial cells that line the blood vessels. Liver's unique ability The liver has a unique ability to regenerate. "It's really a marvel," says Dr Adrian Di Bisceglie, medical director of the American Liver Foundation. "You can take three-quarters of somebody's liver, and within two weeks it grows back to its original size." Needless to say, scientists have studied this phenomenon with great interest and have, in fact, identified various growth factors that contribute to the process. Now, the Genentech researchers have discovered an additional pathway that plays a part in liver growth. Growth factors After injecting toxin into laboratory mice to damage their livers, the researchers observed that the liver cells released a certain growth factor - vascular endothelial growth factor A, or VEGF-A - that sent commands to nearby endothelial cells. The endothelial cells then responded by releasing growth factors which, in turn, caused the liver cells to multiply, thus helping the liver to regenerate. "It's an intimate communication between the cell populations," says Dr Leonard Zon, author of an accompanying editorial and a professor of paediatrics at Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston. "Here I am the injured hepatocyte [liver cell]. I start making growth hormones that stimulate the endothelial cells to make me better." Scientists had known that liver cells could tell endothelial cells to multiply. This new relationship is a surprise, Zon says. Second experiment In a second experiment, the researchers neutralized the growth factor and then induced liver damage. They found that neutralizing the growth factor either before or after inducing damage greatly increased liver cell death. This strongly suggests that the growth factor has a role in protecting the liver. "Our idea is that, by taking advantage of endogenous mechanisms, we can increase this mechanism to have a protective [or growth-stimulating] effect," says Dr Napoleone Ferrara, senior author of the study and a senior investigator at Genentech in San Francisco. "It's just initial clinical data, but this could have beneficial effects in liver damage whether due to drugs, alcohol or perhaps viral hepatitis." Sometime in the distant future, this could be used not only to prevent liver disease - say, immediately after someone has been exposed to a toxin - but to try to rejuvenate the liver after damage has already occurred, Zon says. New class of compounds attack Hepatitis B The second Science article, written by researchers in Germany, details the discovery of a new class of compounds that attack the hepatitis B virus in an entirely new way. Hepatitis B, which is transmitted via bodily fluids, is a leading cause of cirrhosis and liver cancer. "It's a new class of compounds, but it's also acting in a novel way as well," Di Bisceglie says. "It interferes with a new part of the hepatitis B life cycle." The discoveries are exciting but aren't likely to translate into tangible gains anytime soon. "These are both very important discoveries of the mechanisms of how things happen and they have potential implications for treatment but, in both instances, there's a big gap between this and actual real treatment," Di Bisceglie notes. (HealthScout News)

   

• Deadly foodborne illnesses
   

  More people may be dying of foodborne illnesses than originally thought, says a new study.

  Infections with several different bacteria were associated not only with increases in the short-term risk of death, but also with longer-term risks of up to one year.

  Excess mortality
  "It's possible that those people who get foodborne infections are also people with severe underlying illness or who have a generally poor health status than most people, but we accounted for this problem and we still observed this excess mortality," says Dr Kare Mølbak, the senior author of the study and a senior medical officer with the department of epidemiology at Statens Serum Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark.

  "To our surprise, for some of the agents, the mortality risk was up to one year after the acute phase of the infection," Mølbak adds.

  The study is published in the February 15 issue of the British Medical Journal.

  The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that foodborne diseases cause 76 million illnesses, 325 000 hospitalisations and 5 200 deaths each year.

  More than 250 foodborne diseases have been described, most of them caused by viruses, bacteria, or parasites.

  Four types of bacteria
  This study looked specifically at four bacteria -- Salmonella, Campylobacter, Yersinia enterocolitica, and Shigella in 48 857 Danish people. This group was compared with 487 138 controls from the general population.

  More than half (55,2 percent) of the patients in the foodborne-illness group were infected with Salmonella, one-third (33,1 percent) with Campylobacter, 8,3 percent with Yersinia enterocolitica, and 3,4 percent with Shigella.

  Each of the four bacteria listed can cause diarrhoea, cramping, abdominal pain, and fever. Most cases resolve on their own but some patients need further care and even hospitalisation.

  As a group, the people with a foodborne bacterial infection had a 3,1 times higher mortality than the controls. In total, 2,2 percent of the people who got gastrointestinal infections from the bacteria died within one year, compared with only 0,7 percent of the controls.

  The mortality rate among those who contracted a specific strain called Salmonella dublin was 12 times higher than for the controls. For the other types of Salmonella, Campylobacter, and Yersinia enterocolitica, mortality was 1,86 to 2,88 times higher.

  Higher than existing mortality records
  According to the study authors, the findings are more or less in line with existing fatality records for Yersinia but are higher than those previously reported for Salmonella, Campylobacter, and Shigella.

  "There are a number of possible explanations," Mølbak says. Some of the patients may have had a relapse of the infection, even though it appeared to have cleared. Patients who had surgery may have had complications arising from the procedure.

  "It makes perfect sense to me," says Dr Philip Tierno, the director of clinical microbiology and immunology at New York University Medical Centre and the author of "The Secret Life of Germs and Protect Yourself Against Bio terrorism".

  "When you understand how these agents cause disease in an individual, you realize that the lymph system is involved, your immune system obviously is involved. Maybe an allergic reaction might even occur," he says.

  Doubts
  Dr James Nataro, a professor of paediatrics, medicine and microbiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, is not so sure.

  "Is it plausible that if you get diarrhoea due to one of these organisms that there is an increased risk of death for six months to a year? Yes, it's plausible," he says. "That negative impact could make you susceptible to other unrelated diseases. But are we ready to accept the conclusions based on these data? I think we're very far from it."

  It's possible that one underlying factor contributed both to the person contracting a foodborne bacteria and later dying, Nataro says.

  Mølbak advises people who think they have a foodborne infection to seek medical attention. He also calls on food producers to use antibiotics sensibly, because the misuse of antibiotics can contribute to bacteria that are resistant to available drugs. (HealthScout News)

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• New Gates Fund Seeks better Cures for World's Ills
   

  By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent

  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saying that medical science has solved the "easy" problems of the rich world, Microsoft founder Bill Gates (news - web sites) on Sunday announced a $200 million fund aimed at luring researchers into finding original cures for the poor world's ailments.

  The $200 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will be used to set up the Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative, which will dole out money in grants of up to $20 million each to scientists around the world.

  "By accelerating research to overcome scientific obstacles in AIDS (news - web sites), malaria, and other diseases, millions of lives could be saved," Gates told reporters in a telephone interview.

  "Of the, say, 1,500 new medicines that have been approved in the last 25 years, only 20 of those have related to the diseases of the developing countries," added Gates, who was to announce the new fund at a meeting of the World Economic Forum (news - web sites) in Davos, Switzerland.

  
  "Rich world diseases we've gotten. All the easy ones have been done ... If you look at the focus of the research activity, it's either focused specifically on rich world diseases or it's at a basic level that doesn't directly apply to those problems."

  According to the Global Forum on Health Research, only 10 percent of medical research centers on the diseases that cause 90 percent of the health burden in the world.

  The program will be administered by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (news - web sites) Foundation and the new fund is heavy on big names in U.S. science. It will be headed by Dr. Harold Varmus, a former NIH director who is now President of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

  Current NIH director Dr. Elias Zerhouni is also going to help decide who gets the grants, as will Dr. Richard Klausner, former head of the National Cancer Institute (news - web sites) who is now Executive Director of the Global Health Program at Gates Foundation.

  The board will also include Francis Nkrumah, Director of the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research at the University of Ghana and leading British scientists.

  RESEARCH FOLLOWS MONEY

  Scientists often say that research follows the money -- researchers tend to choose fields they know are well-funded.

  Klausner said the new fund will act as a carrot to lure researchers into less-sexy projects. As with most medical research, the scientists will have to propose the idea and present it to the fund, which will then decide whether to issue the grant.

  The first job will be to make a list of the kind of things the fund will seek to encourage research in.

  Some possibilities include finding new ways to protect children from diarrhea and respiratory infections, which kills millions every year, and finding better ways to nourish children, providing key vitamins that millions now lack.

  "Is there an Achilles' heel for latent tuberculosis?" asked Klausner. "Using the new genomes, can we figure out novel approaches for making mosquitoes inhospitable for malaria and other diseases? Then this fund will be used to move the science and technology community."

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• Drug Cuts Breast Cancer Risk
   

  Scientists say they now have conclusive proof that Tamoxifen can prevent breast cancer in healthy high-risk women.

  Researchers say the next challenge is to minimize the side-effects of tamoxifen so that it can fulfill its potential as a frontline preventative drug.

  Professor Cuzick said: "In our analysis we combined all the available evidence from studies using tamoxifen for breast cancer prevention collectively involving over 40,000 women - and it is clear to us now that the drug can reduce the chance of high-risk women developing the disease."

  The team, involving scientists from Australia, Italy and the UK, combined and re-analyzed the results of 14 trials.

  In trials using tamoxifen after an initial tumor had been removed, scientists found that the number of new cancers in the opposite breast dropped by 46%.

  Limitations

  However, tamoxifen was only able to prevent breast cancers that carry receptors for the hormone oestrogen.

  There was no reduction in incidence for women with oestrogen receptor negative breast tumours.

  Researchers also calculated that women taking tamoxifen were more than twice as likely to develop blood-clotting disorders, and endometrial (lining of the womb) cancer.

  Professor Cuzick said: "The evidence to date clearly shows that tamoxifen can reduce the risk of breast cancers stimulated by the hormone oestrogen.

  "However, it is crucial that we follow all the trials to their conclusions and find ways to reduce the side-effects of tamoxifen before we can recommend that high-risk women take the drug to prevent breast cancer.

  "It may be possible to reduce side-effects of tamoxifen by using a lower dose or adding low dose aspirin.

  "Carefully selecting women to exclude those already at risk of blood clotting disorders or endometrial cancer may also be a way of making the use of tamoxifen more viable."

  Dr Michelle Barclay, of the charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said: "This data does look very promising. However, we are concerned about the side effects of using tamoxifen in healthy women.

  "Clearly more research is needed into tamoxifen and other drugs when used for the prevention of breast cancer."

  ---

   

• Williams uses his illness as chance to educate others
   

  Black Expo leader shines spotlight on fight with cancer.

   By Diana Penner diana.penner@indystar.com

  Charles Williams is in a fight with an elusive enemy -- cancer -- that could end in death.

  He knows that's a possibility, but he doesn't dwell on it or assume he'll lose this battle

  The focus of the longtime president of Indiana Black Expo, diagnosed last summer with prostate cancer that already had spread to his bones, is on living and on being useful to himself, his family and his community.

  He is shooting more public service announcements this month, in conjunction with the Marion County Health Department, to use his personal fight as a public challenge to other black men to get screened for the disease. Television, radio and newspaper spots are expected to be rolled out early next year. And he's working on a book, which he hopes to have ready for Expo's Summer Celebration in July.

  "I always felt like there was a purpose and that, through tragedy, you can find some good," Williams, 54, said last week after finishing a daily radiation treatment.

  For six months, Williams was on two forms of hormone therapy, and although the treatment showed some benefits, it did not have the results doctors had hoped for. His cancer has appeared on more spots on his bones.

  Through Christmas Eve, he is undergoing daily radiation treatments aimed at the most painful spot -- his right hip -- to alleviate some of that discomfort.

  In about a month, he'll start another course of treatment: a combination drug that sends radiation intravenously to fight the cancer spots in his bones, piggybacking on a drug designed to spur bone growth.

  Down the road, he might have chemotherapy treatments or try other drugs that have shown signs of promise with prostate cancer.

  But he knows he faces steep odds. Each year, prostate cancer claims the lives of about 32,000 American men.

  Williams and his doctor say the worst-case scenario -- if the remaining treatment options don't work -- is that he has at least a year, perhaps two, left in his life.

  Rethinking priorities

  Williams is not frantic but is being deliberate in making some changes -- having father-son talks with 17-year-old Charles Jr., who lives with him, and passing along insights and wisdom to his staff at Expo.

  "I feel a certain urgency to tell my son things that I might have waited longer to tell him," Williams acknowledged.

  The same holds true for his staff.

  "He is on a mission to ensure that no matter where things end up, that Expo is going to be fine," said Joyce Rogers, Expo's chief operating officer.

  State Rep. William Crawford of Indianapolis, chairman of Expo's board, said his friend continues to work toward the future he plans to be part of but also is preparing others to shoulder more of the workload.

  "He's trying to ensure there's that continuity," Crawford said.

  A healthier diet

  Williams is facing his new realities with determination. A man who has always enjoyed food -- he once weighed 373 pounds -- Williams now follows a completely organic and vegetarian regimen, downing a quart of carrot juice a day plus a chlorophyll cocktail and seven kinds of herbs.

  The diet change is guided by an Amish health practitioner, but Williams consulted with Dr. Irene Minor, his radiation oncologist with Central Indiana Cancer Centers.

  "Anything that makes him healthier is good," said Minor. Alternative medicine can be directly effective in some cases, or it can improve the overall health of patients, allowing them to better withstand conventional medical approaches, she said.

  Williams had been pursuing his organic regimen for about a week when Expo's Christmas party was held this month. For the first time in two decades -- he has been president of the organization since 1983 and was involved even before that -- he didn't attend the party because he didn't want his resolve tempted by tasty, sugary morsels.

  But he phoned in several times, just to see how things were going.

  So far, the diet has given him a physical boost, and Williams said he feels it's his responsibility to do all he can to improve his odds.

  "I want to live," he said. "I don't care how hard you pray to God; you have to do your part."

  ---

   
• Prevention of liver cancer
   
  
  Guyton KZ, Kensler TW.
  
  Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, 615 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205-2179, USA. tkensler@jhsph.edu
  
  Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is among the most prevalent and deadly cancers worldwide. Prominent risk factors for HCC include viral hepatitis infection; dietary exposure to hepatotoxic contaminants such as aflatoxins; alcoholism; smoking; and male gender. This review highlights ongoing efforts in HCC prevention. Strategies include vaccination against, and treatment of, viral hepatitis infection. In addition to interferon alpha, an acyclic retinoid (all-trans-3,7,11, 15-tetramethyl-2,4,6,10,14-hexadecapentanoic acid), glycyrrhizin and ginseng are currently under clinical investigation for HCC prevention in Japanese hepatitis C patients. Several recent clinical studies in a Chinese region of pervasive aflatoxin contamination also support the approach of favorably altering aflatoxin metabolism and excretion using the chemopreventive agents oltipraz or chlorophyllin. Agents exhibiting chemopreventive efficacy in preclinical HCC models include vitamins A, D, and E, herbal extracts, a 5alpha-reductase inhibitor, green tea, and D-limonene. Efforts to elucidate the molecular lesions and processes underlying HCC development have identified several putative molecular targets for preventive interventions. These include genes and gene products controlling viral replication, carcinogen metabolism, signal transduction, cell-cycle arrest, apoptosis, proliferation, and oxidative stress.
   
• Toxic mold in her $1 million Agoura Hills home

  Erin Brockovich-Ellis continues to roll up her sleeves and fight for environmental issues.

  The Agoura Hills, Calif., resident and investigator for a law firm says she will reveal more details early next year about Pacific Gas and Electric.

  She and her boss at the law firm, Thousand Oaks Mayor Ed Masry, are taking on PG&E next year in a suit concerning water contamination in Kettleman City, in central California.

  The case that made her famous, the $333 million victory over PG&E in a suit regarding chromium 6 in Hinkley, Calif., is the story of "Erin Brockovich," which airs at 8 p.m. EST Monday (Nov. 25) on NBC.

  The 2000 movie had originally been scheduled to air on Sunday, Nov. 24, but NBC moved it, so it wouldn't be up against two other docudramas. Sunday, CBS airs "Martin and Lewis" about the comedy team of Dean and Jerry, and ABC presents "The Pennsylvania Miners' Story," dramatizing the real-life rescue of trapped coal miners.)

  "Erin Brockovich" is a joint production by Danny DeVito's Jersey Films, Universal Studios and Columbia Pictures. Julia Roberts won the Oscar for playing the title character; Albert Finney plays Masry.

  "I'm not going to watch it," said Brockovich-Ellis, 42, who's already seen it on the big screen. "It makes me feel uncomfortable to watch my life.

  "I think they did a really good job," she said. "They were very accurate about Pacific Gas and Electric. But I wasn't banking on my personal life being in the movie. And it's all true, my wardrobe (low-cut blouses and short skirts), my relationship with Ed, my children, PG&E ..."

  And yes, she said, she does swear some too, although her husband, actor Eric Ellis, said she's much classier than the way she's portrayed in the film.

  "You're supposed to look back on your life when you die," Brockovich-Ellis reflected, "but here's my story, being divorced twice, not having a great education ..."

  The former Erin L.E. Pattee said that her parents, a retired mechanical engineer and a retired journalist, had taught her the importance of honesty while she was growing up in Lawrence, Kan. That's why she felt compelled to help the residents of Hinkley.

  "I saw firsthand what a lie can do," she said.

  On a recent day at her office at the law firm of Masry and Vititoe, Brockovich-Ellis looked outside her huge window; in an hour or so, a spectacular sunset would paint the sky. It was one of the rare days she was in her corner office. Since the film, Brockovich-Ellis has been busy on a national lecture tour and working on environmental cases.

  The issues became personal for her when she discovered toxic mold in her $1 million Agoura Hills home, just north of Los Angeles. That led her to work with state Sen. Deborah Ortiz, D-Sacramento, on passing a new state law requiring the Department of Health Services to adopt standards to identify mold infestations and water damage in buildings.

  The law also requires standards for ridding buildings of mold.

  "You pull up your sleeves and you fight," she said.

  Photos and modest-sized posters of "Erin Brockovich" hang discreetly in her office. She doesn't seem to loudly toot her own horn, but neither does she sit quietly in the background.

  "I'm uncomfortable with all the attention or credit," she said, adding, "It was also Ed and other lawyers."

  She said she wishes the Julia Roberts movie had said more about the people in Hinkley.

  But she credits "Erin Brockovich" for helping to build more awareness of environmental cases. "We're not talking about a drop of oil; we're talking about corporate conceit. More often than not, they (corporations) get away with it."

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• Chlorophyll Derivative May Cut Liver Cancer Risk
   

  (Reuters Health) - An over-the-counter medication that is also used as a green food coloring may help lower the risk of liver cancer caused by aflatoxins, US and Chinese researchers report.

  Aflatoxins are carcinogens produced by fungus that are found in soybeans, peanuts, corn and grains.

  The new study found that chlorophyllin given to healthy adults reduced their levels of a marker of aflatoxin-DNA damage. High levels of this marker are associated with increased liver cancer risk.

  Chlorophyllin is marketed as a drug (Derifil) to control body and fecal odor in geriatric patients. Previous studies have shown that chlorophyllin blocked the action of cancer-causing agents in the liver of rodents.

  To test whether the compound had the same effect in humans, the researchers assigned 180 healthy adults in China to consume 100 milligrams (mg) of chlorophyllin or an inactive placebo pill three times a day for 4 months. Levels of the aflatoxin-DNA damage marker were measured in urine samples taken 3 months into the study.

  According to results, adults who had consumed chlorophyllin experienced a 55% reduction in levels of this marker compared with adults who had taken the placebo.

  The findings, published in the December 4th issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggest that taking chlorophyllin as a preventive measure may help lower the risk of liver cancer.

  ``Prophylactic interventions with chlorophyllin or supplementation of diets with foods rich in chlorophylls may represent practical means to prevent the development of (liver cancer) or other environmentally induced cancers,'' according to Dr. Patricia A. Egner from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and colleagues.

  Previous research indicates that natural chlorophylls in green plants may also lower the risk of cancer in animals. These compounds have been shown to alter the toxic effects of certain cancer-causing compounds on genes.

  ``Thus, supplementation of diets with foods rich in chlorophylls may be an effective approach to chemoprevention and yet even simpler to implement in many regions of the world,'' they conclude.

  In Qidong, People's Republic of China, consumption of foods contaminated by aflatoxin raises the risk of liver cancer, which is among the most common cancers in developing nations.

  In the US, the rate liver cancer is increasing. About 16,200 new cases will be diagnosed in the United States during 2001, and an estimated 14,100 people will die of the disease, according to the American Cancer Society.

  ---

   
• Toxin in Indiana Corn, Agronomist Warns
   

  This year's Indiana corn crop is one of the worst in years, and it's harboring a toxin that is potentially fatal to some animals, according to one Purdue University expert. "The quality of the ears is the poorest that I have seen in years," said Charles Woloshuk, an Extension specialist in mycotoxins. "Many of the samples contained small ears with less than 300 kernels per ear. There were also many barren ears. However, the major concern in Indiana will be from fumonisins." Fumonisins are mycotoxins produced by the fungus Fusarium verticillioides. They can be toxic to horses and pigs and have been linked to health problems in humans, Woloshuk said. Woloshuk conducts an annual survey of Indiana cornfields to determine the extent of preharvest ear rots and mycotoxins. He said fumonisins have been in a five-year decline, but this year they appeared in 13 of the samples he sent to Purdue's Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory. Nine of the samples had fumonisin levels of 1.6 parts per million or less. Four others contained more disconcerting levels. Those levels ranged from 4.2 ppm to 21 ppm. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, horse feed should contain less than 1 ppm of fumonisin and swine feed should have less than 10 ppm. The FDA set thresholds because fumonisins can cause leukoencephalomalacia in horses, donkeys and mules, and pulmonary edema in swine. Woloshuk said there also is evidence that links fumonisin to cancer and fetal neural tube defects in humans. Mark Russell, an Extension horse specialist, said leukoencephalomalacia is usually fatal because it causes brain lesions that turn the brain to mush. Symptoms can include, but aren't limited to, loss of motor control, stumbling, circling, head pressing and seizures. Russell said it would be easy to confuse fumonisin poisoning symptoms with those of West Nile virus. Because of the risk to horses Woloshuk is urging caution. "We recommend that horse owners limit the amount of corn in their feed or have their feed tested for fumonisin," he said. Russell added that removing fumonisins from contaminated corn is not really possible, but cleaning, especially after drying and before delivery and storage, should remove the damaged kernels and chips that contain most of the mycotoxin. Woloshuk said that proper storage of this year's corn crop is crucial. Nearly one-third of the ears he examined had insect damage and a striking amount of channeling, a form of insect damage. He recommends that producers dry their grain to less than 14 percent moisture and cool it to below 50 degrees Fahrenheit as soon as possible. "Drying the grain to 15 percent moisture will stop further growth of the molds that produce aflatoxin, zearalenone, deoxynivalenol and fumonisin," he said. "However, the widespread insect damage will result in a lot of broken kernels and small corn particles in the stored grain. Storage molds, such as Aspergillus glaucus which can grow at 14 to 15 percent moisture, will find it easy to invade the kernels and cause further spoilage. "No corn with a lot of damage should be held into next summer." Woloshuk blamed heat, drought and insect damage for the increase in fumonisin levels. He said those factors stressed the corn crop, and the conditions were ideal for the growth of the mold that produces fumonisins. In this year's survey Woloshuk examined corn from approximately 160 fields throughout Indiana. He examined 1,530 individual ears from 306 samples. He tests ears for mycotoxins if the severity of disease in a five-ear sample is 10 percent or greater. Of the 306 samples he examined, 29 have been sent in for mycotoxin tests. Fifteen of those samples had no mycotoxins. One ear, with severe Gibberella ear rot, contained 40 ppm deoxynivalenal (vomitoxin) and 1 ppm zearalenone. The remaining 13 contained fumonisin.

• Purlife Health & Research Company endorses The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) in its quest to end disease and malnutrition.

  Ontario, Canada – Purlife Health & Research Company today announced its endorsement of The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN). GAIN is an alliance of international public, private and civic organizations committed to improving health, cognitive development and productivity in developing countries through the elimination of vitamin and mineral deficiencies - especially deficiencies of vitamin A, iodine, folic acid and iron. 

  Purlife Health has pioneered the use of alfalfa and its derivatives as a primary food source for the world.  CH&R products division Purlife recently introduced “The New Food” - Alfalfa in powdered form as a complete food source, not just a supplement. Alfalfa occupies more than 60,000,000 acres and is the most studied plant in the world. Until now, it has been primarily grown as feedstock for animals although its health benefits as an herb have been known for centuries.

  "More than two billion people - mostly women and children - still suffer from micronutrient deficiencies," said Anne Peterson, Assistant Administrator, USAID Bureau for Global Health. "Yet, experience proves that well-designed food fortification programs can not only dramatically improve health, they can reduce stifling national healthcare costs and boost intellectual potential and domestic productivity."

  “We look forward to sharing our knowledge about Alfalfa,“ says Tamara Ferrari of Purlife, “Once we were certain that Alfalfa could be the primary food source for people, we became very excited. Alfalfa provides all the essential nutrients necessary for optimum health. It only takes about one (1) pound of alfalfa powder to sustain a person for one week at a retail cost of just over $2.00 US per day.

  Purlife Health & Research continues to study the health benefits of Chlorophyllins, a chlorophyll derivative extracted from Alfalfa. One of the most recent discoveries is Chlorophyllin’s ability to drastically reduce the damaging effects of mutagens and carcinogens, particularly AflatoxinB1, a toxic mold byproduct that can contaminate grains such as corn, peanuts and soybeans. “AFB1 is one of the most potent cancer-causing chemicals, or carcinogens, ever discovered.” says George S. Bailey, Professor of Food Toxicology, “and it's the third leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide."

  Along with “The New Food”, Purlife has also introduced Chlorophyllin Liquid employing the most sophisticated methods of extraction from chemical free Alfalfa. "The risk of liver, colon, stomach, and lung cancer which include the leading causes of cancer death in the US and the world, may easily be cut in half by appropriate daily intake of simple, safe, inexpensive chlorophyll derivatives." - Dr. Richard C. Heimsch, University of Idaho.

  Additional information can be obtained at www.purlife.com

  ---

   

• WHO calls for limits on additives to processed food
   
  LONDON - The World Health Organization has called on governments to consider legislation to reduce the proportion of salt, fat, sugar and other unhealthy components in manufactured foods.
  
  The recommendation is part of a package of suggestions in this year's annual World Health Report which, for the first time tries, to rank the major threats to health worldwide and examines ways to reduce them. The report describes the amount of disease, disability and death in the world which can be attributed to 20 of the most important risks to human health.

  It estimates that if the threats are tackled properly, at least an extra decade of healthy life could be achieved in even the poorest countries while people in the rich nations could gain another five years of healthy life. Food and drink play a central role in many of the health risks examined.

  'Salt has been done in England. And I am sure with sugar it could be the same,' said WHO director-general Gro Brundtland. 'You could obviously get a code of conduct where certain products should not have a sugar level over X.'

  Detailed, accurate and easily understandable labels about fat content were also needed, she said.

  The report, one of largest research projects ever undertaken by the UN health agency, also concluded that alcohol was responsible for much more death and disease than previously thought.

  Malnutrition is still the worst health problem in the world, accounting for one in 14 deaths.

  The top 10 health hazards worldwide are, in order of danger: being underweight, unsafe sex, high blood pressure, tobacco, alcohol, contaminated water, sanitation and hygiene, iron deficiency, indoor pollution, high cholesterol and obesity.

  They were responsible for 40 per cent of global deaths.

  The report also ranks the hazards separately for three groups: the poorest regions in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of South Asia, other developing countries and the developed world.

  Malnutrition was by far the worst health hazard in the poorest nations, followed by unsafe sex - which reflects the massive HIV/Aids burden in those areas.

  In the other developing countries, alcohol was the biggest menace to health.

  Tobacco was the biggest peril in rich nations, followed closely by the entangled bevy of blood pressure, alcohol, cholesterol, being overweight, a diet low in fruit and vegetables and insufficient exercise. -- AP

  ---

   

• Alcohol, diet among top global health risks
   
  
  The world's population is "living dangerously" because of an increasing addiction to unhealthy diets -- that cause obesity -- and to alcohol and tobacco, according to a major new international report released Wednesday.

  Other top risks to global health include underweight children and poor sanitation in the developing world, the World Health Organization (WHO) report said

  The agency urged countries to implement a variety of "cost-effective" measures -- ranging from tobacco taxes to salt-content reduction in processed foods -- that could save millions of lives.

  It said if the measures are established, average life spans worldwide could be significantly longer. In particular, it estimated Purlifes and Americans, on average, could live 6.5 years longer, western Europeans could live another 5.5 years, and people in eastern and southern Africa could live an extra 16 years.

  The report, one of the largest projects ever undertaken by the United Nations agency, identified the top 10 "risk factors" that lead to poor health.

  They are: underweight children; unsafe sex (resulting in HIV/AIDS); high blood pressure; tobacco consumption; alcohol consumption; unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene; iron deficiency; indoor smoke from solid fuels such as wood used to cook food and high cholesterol and obesity.

  Together, those risks account for more than one-third of the 56 million annual deaths worldwide.

  In an alarming discovery, the report warned health risks traditionally associated with western countries -- high "consumption" of fatty foods and dangerous use of alcohol and tobacco -- are spreading to the developing world.

  The shift in consumption is associated with a rise in cancers, heart disease, stroke, mental illness and diabetes and other conditions linked to obesity, the report said.

  Two of the report's major findings stand in sharp contrast.

  One is that in poor countries today, there are 170 million underweight children -- of whom six million will die this year as a result.

  Meanwhile, more than one billion adults worldwide are overweight -- of whom at least 300 million are clinically obese. Among these, about half a million people in North America and Western Europe will die this year from obesity-related diseases.

  ---

• Iowa to Test Milk for Aflatoxin
   
  
  Dairy processors are being ordered to start screening milk November 4 for aflatoxin, a mycotoxin produced by mold typically during drought years. Ron Rowland, director of consumer protection and regulatory affairs with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship said the tests are to ensure that no aflatoxin is being fed to dairy cows and getting into the milk supply.

  "We're probably looking for something were not going to find," explains Rowland. "But if we don't look, we certainly won't find it, and we feel we owe it to both the industry and the public to look."

  Aflatoxin is a potential carcinogen produced by two types of mold occurring naturally in corn grown under stressful conditions. Aflatoxin was detected in corn raised in drought-stricken southwest Iowa this year. The majority of Iowa's dairy industry is located in northeast Iowa, however, which did not experience drought conditions.

  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says corn fed to immature animals and dairy cows cannot exceed 20 parts per billion (ppb) of aflatoxin; 100 ppb for breeding beef cattle, breeding swine and mature poultry; and 200 ppb for finishing swine greater than 100 pounds.

  Aflatoxin levels in milk cannot exceed one-half of one ppb (0.5ppb), according to Rowland.

  Milk haulers will collect milk samples from each farm on two consecutive days each week for four weeks. Before milk tank trucks are unloaded, the co-mingled load will be tested. Contaminated loads will be dumped and officials will trace the milk back to the farm of origin with the producer held liable.

  ---

   

• Amity's sick school syndrome
  10/29/02

  Symonds technically died in the high school on Oct. 3, 1998 after an asthma attack, but was resuscitated with CPR.

  Now, at age 48, Symonds must take early retirement because the school she came to love is making her sick. She will retire tomorrow.

  "I have lost the love of my life," Symonds said. "I love teaching and now it's gone."

  Studies show that sick school syndrome is a wide-ranging problem across the country. Amity residents certainly are familiar with it, since the presence of mold at Amity High School and the breathing problems it causes are no secret. However, now reports of cancer cases among Amity students and staff have come to light.

  Symonds said she is not surprised by the most recent revelation of 31 cancer cases associated with the high school in Woodbridge and the two junior high schools in Orange and Bethany.

  "There are a lot of things at Amity that people don't know about," Symonds said.

  Bethany resident Lorrie Cavaliere has been a school watchdog for several years. Her focus on the mold spore problem at Amity schools took a turn when she discovered that at least 31 people connected with the schools have been diagnosed with cancer or treated for the illness since 1996.

  The previous year, Amity High School underwent major renovations that have since proven flawed.

  Cavaliere forwarded her statistics to Dr. John Santilli, director of St. Vincent's Medical Center Division of Allergy and Immunology in Bridgeport. He sent them to the state Department of Public Health.

  According to Cavaliere's information, Amity High School and Amity Junior High, Bethany campus, both had 15 documented cases of cancer among students and staff. Amity Junior High in Orange had one case.

  The breakdown shows eight students and 23 faculty members with cancer. Six are male and 25 are female. The strains range from Hodgkin's disease to breast and prostate cancer.

  Report strikes fear

  The recent report has struck a chord in the Amity community. Fear of the unknown and dismay over a continuing problem were discussed throughout the three towns on Monday.

  Statistics show that, on average, one in four people has cancer. So, how many of the thousands of students and hundreds of teachers who've passed through the Amity school system would have been diagnosed with cancer anyway, regardless of their connection with the schools?

  Last Tuesday evening, the BEST Committee (Better Environment for Students and Teachers) was to host a talk by Dr. Santilli at the Case Memorial Library in Orange. Santilli was a no-show. He was to address residents' concerns about allergies, asthma, respiratory illness and the connection between cancer and people with compromised immune systems.

  State Sen. Joseph Crisco co-chairs the BEST Committee with Cavaliere. He said Cavaliere added four more names to the list of Amity cancer cases on Monday.

  "I am very concerned," Crisco said. "I have contacted the Commissioner of Public Health, and we will see what the appropriate procedures are to handle this situation.

  "I'm concerned that we may have a cluster in Amity and I will do everything in my power to work with everyone to resolve this," he said.

  Crisco explained that a "cluster" is where the number of cancer cases surpasses the norm.

  Santilli said there is a definite problem at Amity that must be addressed immediately.

  "We need someone to come look at this problem and then let us know what they think," he said.

  Orange First Selectman Mitchell Goldblatt said the air quality and effect it has on the public is serious and cannot be ignored.

  "This needs to be studied," Goldblatt said. "I hope a full investigation is done, but no one should panic or jump to conclusions until the facts are in.

  "On the other hand, health concerns, especially at the high school have been talked about for years," he said. "[It is disturbing] that about three-quarters of a million dollars from a bond issued to take care of remediation of health concerns, mold issues and reconstruction to make the building safe for health reasons, was used to pay attorneys' fees. It was not spent properly."

  Goldblatt said an official at the state Department of Public Health assured him that an investigation would be conducted.

  "The investigation is predicated on receiving more detailed information from Amity, and I'm sure that this is forthcoming," he said.

  Amity School Supt. Dr. Helene Skrzyniarz is planning to work in conjunction with state investigators.

  "I'm waiting for word from the state," Skrzyniarz said, "because the request was sent there and if they are going to do a full investigation, and I believe they are, I don't want to start a competing one at this point.

  "I want to see what the scope of their work is so we can either cooperate with a study that goes along with it, or take direction from them on the type of protocol we need to have in place to help them with the study," she said.

  Skrzyniarz said she has not yet received a copy of the information Santilli sent to the state, and doesn't know what his specific request was.

  "From what I understand, the state Department of Health will look into the incidence of cancer and see if what we have here is cancer clusters," she said.

  Discussions with health professionals have been ongoing as the district works on a reliable study to address the current health concerns.

  "I'm concerned about the health of the students and staff," Skrzyniarz said. "Something needs to be done, but until we are waiting to receive some direction from the state."

  The ill effects of mold

  Crisco said mold forms through moisture and water leaks, such as in the Amity High School auditorium. He said evaluation and remediation could help protect people from illness.

  "An early warning sign of illness is breathing difficulty that clears up when you leave the school," he said. "Mold breaks down the immune system, so people who never suffered from allergies before become ill."

  Such is the case with Kathy Symonds, who said she had no health problems until 1996, when the addition was completed on the high school.

  Since then, she said, she suffered from breathing difficulties and developed asthma. Fifteen times, someone had to call 911 to assist her. She was brought to the hospital eight times, and four times the symptoms were so bad that she was rendered unconscious.

  Doctors said her lungs have been compromised. Symonds wanted to work, so she was transferred to Orange Junior High School, but she never recovered from the ill effects of the previous school.

  Symonds believes the worst areas of the high school are the main office, auditorium and back sections.

  Now that she is retiring, Symonds said she might sell her house and move to southern Oregon, where her parents live. The dryer air may help improve her health, so she can once again take on a teaching job.

  Is there a connection?

  Does the mold lurking in the Amity schools cause cancer? Crisco said studies have to be done to investigate the problem, but currently there is no proof that it does.

  Recent research has revealed that there are several types of mold that can cause illness, including stachybotrys atra, aspergillus, chaetomium and penicillum.

  Stachybotrys atra, also known as black mold, has been linked to several conditions, including asthma, sinus infections, and brain damage.

  One report stated that exposure to black mold can cause difficulties with memory, learning and concentration.

  Another report stated that certain strains of aspergillus mold release toxins that can cause cancer.

  Skrzyniarz said mold can depress the immune system and make people more susceptible to illnesses, but it is not a direct cause of cancer.

  ---

   

• Mold Attacks Another School
   
  Another school district in Central Texas has to close one of its buildings because of mold. In Johnson city, school officials acted quickly after air quality tests came back with undesirable results.

  At LBJ High School, students and staff recently lost a building called the Eagle's Nest in September because of two kinds of airborne mold. Because of swift action by the staff, classes didn't seem to miss a beat.

  It's not just students in Johnson City who are studying valuable lessons.

  The school district recently took a misfortune of another area school district and used it to their advantage.

  "In light of Dripping Springs and other places, it was the safety of our children. That's why we jumped on it so quick," school board president Randy Brodbeck said.

  At LBJ High School, mold forced officials to close the building used for computer instruction and in school suspension. Environmental Technicians of Austin tested the air and found questionable levels of aspergillus and penicillin.

  It's not the toxic black mold, but still a potential health hazard for sensitive people.

  "It puts a little fear into a parent, wondering what if but the school handled it well. I think they were taken out early enough and I'm not concerned with any effects," parent Bonnie Meurer said.

  Officials say they watched closely what happened to districts such as Dripping Springs ISD. That district just completed a multi-million dollar mold cleanup over the summer.

  "I called Mary Ward at Dripping Springs and said, 'This is my situation. Can you help me out?'" Johnson City ISD Superintendent Paul Smithson said.

  Johnson City officials opted to close the Eagle's Nest for good and relocate the computer room to the main building.

  ISS moved to a newly cleared out school tax office.

  "We can do something in the summer, where if we move the building or tear down the building, it won't be happening during school and interrupting instruction," Smithson said.

  Officials say no matter what they do with this building, they'll end up spending between $35,000 and $50,000.

  ---

   

• Testing, blending are key in managing corn molds
   

  Testing is the only way to determine aflatoxin and fumonisin levels in corn, says Jim Stack, plant pathologist at University of Nebraska's South Central Research and Extension Center. Molds and fungi on corn can produce mycotoxins, such as aflatoxin and fumonisin. These toxins reduce grain quality and can be toxic to farm animals, wildlife and people, Stack says.
  
  "It's not enough just to know if you have a grain mold or a fungus," he says. "Only a laboratory analysis can establish the occurrence and concentration of mycotoxins which will determine how the grain should be managed and its implications of marketing the grain."
  
  The level of contamination is key in determining how the grain can be used. For example, corn that would not be safe for human consumption could be fed to finishing beef cattle.
  
  FDA tolerances for aflatoxin are as follows:  

  • 0.5 parts per billion for milk
  • 20 parts per billion humans, immature animals and for dairy
  • 100 parts per billion for mature breeding cattle, swine and poultry
  • 200 parts per billion for finishing swine weighing over 100 pound and
  • 300 parts per billion for finishing beef

  The FDA tolerances for fumonisins are:  

  • 5 parts per million for horses
  • 10 parts per million for swine
  • 50 parts per million for cattle

  In Nebraska, grain molds occur every year to varying degrees in corn, Stack said, but this season's drought stress coupled with rains in parts of Nebraska created ideal growing conditions for the fungi.
  
  Even irrigated corn may have the potential for contamination because many farmers had trouble keeping up with the their crop's water needs.
  
  Since mycotoxins are not evenly distributed in fields, a representative sample of no less than 5 pounds of corn in a paper bag should be delivered or mailed to a laboratory for testing. Moldy grain can be tested at a private toxicology lab or the Veterinary Diagnostic Center at UNL.
  
  The Nebraska Department of Agriculture's b lending policy and intrastate commerce regulations do not object to blending corn with higher levels of aflatoxin with corn containing little or no aflatoxins if the corn is intended as animal feed for finishing beef cattle or finishing swine weighing more than 100 pounds, said Ken Jackson, program manager for the feed and fertilizer section at the department.
  
  The department's interstate commerce blending policy also does not object to blending corn with aflatoxin levels above 300 parts per billion and corn with little or no aflatoxin if the corn is intended for beef finishing feed.
  
  The producer or user is required to test the finished blend to verify the aflatoxin levels in the blended corn do not exceed 300 parts per billion for finishing beef cattle or 200 parts per billion for finishing swine weighing more than 100 pounds. Test results should be kept for at least a year, Jackson said.
  
  Shippers and sellers also must provide a label or invoice stating the level of aflatoxin in the blend, designate on the invoice or label what livestock species will be fed the product and have some assurance that the buyer is aware of the level and will use it accordingly, he said.
  
  Grain handlers should use caution and wear dust masks when moving or processing grains, Stack said. It is recommended that workers wear a respirator when working in silos or other enclosed areas containing grain.
  
  Breathing grain molds can cause acute allergic responses or chronic allergic response. Mold can cause serious disease in people with lowered immune systems. Symptoms in humans include: suppression of the immune system, reproductive dysfunction, cancer and death. Animals symptoms include: feed refusal, short-term illness, reproductive dysfunction and death.

  ---

• Fumonisin found in corn samples
   

  Deer hunters and wildlife enthusiasts are urged to use caution this fall when feeding corn to wildlife, paying special attention to product labeling. Failing to do so could pose a potential health threat to Texas wildlife.

  Fumonisin, a mycotoxin that is produced almost exclusively in corn and can be harmful or fatal to some wildlife species, has been found in samples from the 2002 corn crop harvested in certain portions of Texas. The Office of the Texas State Chemist and the Texas Feed and Fertilizer Control Service found high concentrations of fumonisin in excess of 5 parts per million (ppm) in samples of new crop corn.

  Grain containing fumonisin above these levels can cause health problems in horses and rabbits, and it is likely that they also can affect wildlife, says Dr. Neal Wilkins, Texas Cooperative Extension wildlife specialist.

  “Because of their complex ruminant digestive system, deer may not be as susceptible to the effects of fumonisin as other animals. In particular, quail, turkeys and other birds that tend to consume wildlife corn may be at higher risk,” Wilkins said. “In addition, this toxin may impact squirrels, rabbits and feral hogs that consume corn at wildlife feeders. Corn having concentrations greater than 5 parts per million of fumonisin should not be fed to wildlife.”

  Fumonisin is produced in corn by the mold Fusarium verticillioides (formerly F. moniliforme).

  “The fungus can infect kernels that are damaged by insects or drought stress,” said Dr. Tom Isakeit, Extension plant pathologist. “The fungus can also grow into the ear via the silks and this is favored by rain. Infection of corn does not automatically result in toxin production, and visual examination cannot detect corn containing fumonisin. In most cases corn containing unacceptable levels of the toxin may not exhibit any external mold damage. The corn will look good. Factors affecting the production of toxin in corn are not well understood.”

  Fumonisin should not be confused with aflatoxin, which is another toxin produced by several molds of the genera of Aspergillus and Penicillium that can occur in corn and also in whole cottonseed, peanuts, grain screenings and the meals made from the oil extracted seed. Aflatoxin contamination is favored by drought conditions and occurs primarily in corn kernels damaged by insects and drought.

  When buying deer corn for feeding to wildlife, buyers should find out if the corn has been tested for fumonisin and aflatoxin.

  The Office of the Texas State Chemist is continuing to survey new crop corn. For updates and further information, contact the Office of the Texas State Chemist/Feed and Fertilizer Control Service at (979) 845-1121 or at http://otsc.tamu.edu. For specific questions about wildlife, contact Wilkins at 845-7726 or by e-mail at nwilkins@tamu.edu.

  ---

   

• Chlorophyllin: Is it Effective Odor Control?
  By: Richard Nelson, MD, University of Illinois Hospital and Clinics, Chicago, Illinois

  Odor is what informs those around you that you have a problem with your bowel or bladder control. It is what forces the incontinent person to become recluse. This was also the case with patients with colostomies before good stoma appliances became available, which was about twenty to twenty-five years ago. Since the output could not be directly controlled, attention was turned to control of the odor.

  There were several ways in which odor was addressed; changes in diet and medication. The medications used were charcoal in various forms, which is still used commonly today, and a product that is seldom seen today, chlorophyllin. With the appearance of enterostomal therapy as a nursing specialty and the subsequent rapid improvement in stoma care and supplies, chlorophyllin has all but been forgotten. Should it have been? Chlorophyllin is very closely related to chlorophyll, the green pigment found in most plants that converts the suns energy and carbon dioxide to sugar and oxygen. Without chlorophyll there would be no oxygen, no food, no people and no incontinence. By adding sodium and copper to chlorophyll the pigment can be dissolved in water and becomes chlorophyllin.

  Chlorophyllin has interested scientists and physicians for many years. It has been used to cleanse and accelerate the healing of open wounds, to decrease the inflammation in radiation burns and, principally, to decrease odor in patients with colostomies or who were incontinent of urine or feces. Scientists have felt that chlorophyllin was capable of killing a number of bacteria and could also detoxify a number of mutagens, chemicals that could cause the sort of genetic change that is characteristic of cancer. Like all potential wonder drugs, there is also evidence that it may not be quite as much a cure all as was originally hoped.

  Yet chlorophyllin has been all but forgotten by physicians in this country, but not in the former Soviet Union, where annually clinical studies are still published concerning the effectiveness of chlorophyllin in the treatment of a number of disorders from gonorrhea to tuberculosis to leukemia. Since many of these publications are not available in the United States, only Western literature can be evaluated for the purpose of determining the real benefits of chlorophyllin.

  In this Western literature there are older reports as described above that are purely descriptive. For instance, some describe several patients who apparently derived symptomatic relief using chlorophyllin to decrease urine odor due to incontinence, or decrease skin pain that resulted from radiation burns after pelvic radiotherapy. Objective measures of improvement were seldom described and the observers of alleged improvement, though unintentionally, were subject to several biases in forming their observations. Strict observance of scientific method, though tedious and arcane, would have assisted all interested readers of this article in judging whether chlorophyllin would truly help them.

  In the absence of such needed scientific proof, it can at least be said that chlorophyllin, taken as a tablet, has been extensively used in the past for the treatment of fecal and urinary odor. In cream form it has been used for a number of wound related problems including nonhealing or severely irritated radiation therapy burns. Chlorophyllin might be effective in both forms. The color green will pop up in all sorts of strange places as a result of such therapy, and that may be why this drug is not seen as much any more. Urine and feces will turn green. Green pigment in clothing is extremely hard to wash out (like grass stains). Aside from that, there seems little if any evidence that chlorophyllin can cause any harm.

  So chlorophyllin may be worth a try. It is certainly a drug that needs to be rigorously investigated by the medical community for all of its proposed benefits.
   

  ---

  
   

•  Chlorophyllin Reduces Aflatoxin Indicators Among People At Risk For Liver Cancer

  A study conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health shows that taking chlorophyllin greatly reduces the levels of aflatoxin-DNA damage byproducts in the body, which are indicators of exposure to carcinogenic aflatoxins and increased risk of liver cancer. Chlorophyllin is a derivative of chlorophyll and is used as an over-the-counter diet supplement and as a food colorant. The results appear in the November 27, 2001 edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

  “Our study shows that taking chlorophyllin three times a day reduced the amounts of aflatoxin-DNA damage by 55 percent, compared with taking a placebo,” says Thomas Kensler, PhD, professor of environmental health sciences at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “Taking chlorophyllin or eating green vegetables, like spinach, that are rich in chlorophyll may be a practical way of reducing the risk of liver cancer and other cancers caused by environmental triggers,” explains Dr. Kensler.

  Dr. Kensler and his colleagues conducted a double-blind study among residents of Qidong, China. The people of the region have an extraordinarily high rate of liver cancer, which is due in part from routinely eating foods contaminated with carcinogenic aflatoxins. The aflatoxin is produced by molds found in foods like corn, peanuts, soy sauce, and fermented soybeans.

  For the study, researchers recruited 180 healthy adults. Half of the group was given 100 mg tablets of chlorophyllin to take three times a day with meals for four months. The other half was given a placebo. Urine and blood samples were taken over four months to determine the effects of chlorophyllin on excretion of aflatoxin-DNA damage products.

  According to the study’s results, the people who took chlorophyllin showed a 55 percent reduction in aflatoxin-DNA damage, compared to the placebo group.

  “Studies conducted by our co-author, George Bailey of Oregon State University, have suggested that chlorophyllin acts as an ‘interceptor molecule’ to block the absorption of aflatoxins and carcinogens in the diet,” explains John Groopman, PhD, professor and chairman of the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “Our study shows that chlorophyllin can effectively reduce aflatoxin levels, which should reduce the risk of liver cancer. Since chlorophyllin is found in many foods or can be easily added to the diet, it could be a safe and effective prevention method. The study adds to the evidence that green vegetables contain effective anticarcinogens,” adds Dr. Groopman.

  Follow up studies are planned to determine whether this early protective action of chlorophyllin extends to either delay the onset or reduce the incidence of liver cancer.

  Patricia Egner, Jin-Bing Wang, Yuan-Rong Zhu, Bao-Chu Zhang, Geng-Sun Qian, Shuang-Yuan Kuang, Stephen J. Gange, Lisa P. Jacobson, Kathy J. Helzlsouer, George S. Bailey, John D. Groopman, and Thomas W. Kensler assisted in the research and writing of the article “Chlorophyllin intervention reduces aflatoxin-DNA adducts in individuals at high risk for liver cancer.”

  The study was funded by grants from the U.S. Public Health Service, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

  Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued for journalists and other members of the public. If you wish to quote any part of this story, please credit Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School Of Public Health as the original source.

   
• At the 85th annual meeting of The American Association for Cancer Research in San Francisco, 1994, researchers presented their findings that chlorophyllin has protective capabilities against various cancer causing agents including benzopyrene, which is associated with tobacco smoke.
• The Food Chemical News reported "At the Environmental Mutagen Society's annual scientific meeting in May 1994, during a related discussion, a member of the audience commented on a study which examined the mutagenicity of urine of people eating cooked ground beef. The speaker said, the mutagenicity of the subject's urine increased for the next couple of days after ingestion of the hamburgers. But when they took a pill used in Japan to combat the effects of alcohol, their urine's mutagenicity was considerably lower. The main ingredient of the pill the speaker added, was chlorophyllin."

Research from Yale University and
Yonsei University in Korea

• In 1994, researchers found that Chlorophyllin has protective properties against vinyl carbamate (certain carbamates are used in insecticides-they can be poisonous and cause convulsions and death when eaten) and p-nitrophenyl vinyl ether. Mice received an oral administration of chlorophyllin prior to a topical application of each of the carcinogen. The researchers found that there was a "significant reduction in both incidence and multiplicity of skin tumors." ₁₅
• September 1995, supported by a grant from the American Cancer Society, researchers from Yale and Seoul Korea, conducted a study of chlorophyllin's effects against certain carcinogens.The carcinogens were applied to the skin of the mice and the incidence of skin tumors and pappilomas (non-cancerous tumors with branches or stalks) were measured. While all mice in the control group ( did not receive chlorophyllin pre-treatments) formed skin tumors, the mice pretreated with chlorophyllin had an decreased incidence of tumors and pappilomas-70%, incidence of skin tumors decreased by 42% . The researchers also stated that "the initiation of skin tumors by the other epoxides was also significantly inhibited by oral administration of chlorophyllin." ₃₂
• April 1996, the same group of researchers published a study, in Cancer Letters, in which chlorophyllin was administered 30 minutes prior to a topical application of benzopyrene resulting in a "significant reduction in both incidence and multiplicity of skin tumors initiated by the carcinogen." It was also noted that "chlorophyllin was rapidly distributed in the skin and other tissues of mice after oral administration." ₃₈

The Research at Oregon State University and
the University of Hawaii

• In 1994, Dashwood et al., from the University of Hawaii, found that chlorophyll and chlorophyllin fed to laboratory rats reduced the absorption of several cancer causing agents common in cooked meat, barbecued and smoked food. According to the results, chlorophyll was most effective when administered with the cancer causing substance. The January 4, 1995 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute also noted this study in an article about Dashwood and his chlorophyll research . ₁₃
• January 1995, Cancer Research Journal, researchers from Oregon State University reported that chlorophyllin (CHL) was a potent inhibitor of the carcinogen aflatoxin B1, measured by the presence of cancer tumors of the liver (malignant hepatoma) in rainbow trout and concluded their findings may have "important implications in intervention and dietary management of human cancer risks." The report stated that chlorophyllin bears close resemblance to chlorophyll upon digestion (magnesium is replaced by other metals, such as copper) suggesting that the cancer fighting ability may occur during the digestion process. Chlorophyllin was found to be 70 to 80% effective at levels well within the range of chlorophyll content found in foods. The researchers point out that it is not clear that effective intake could be achieved by balanced diet alone, suggesting the possible necessity for chlorophyll supplements. ₁₂
• Researchers from both Universities authored a study published in Chemical Research Toxicology, August 1995, determining the mechanisms of chlorophyllin that result in its anticarcinogenic effect on aflatoxin B1. ₃₉
• In December 1995, Carcinogenisis, researchers from both institutions report on chlorophyllin's effect on an amine in fried beef, which is linked to mammary and colon cancer. The results indicated that chlorophyllin suppresses the effects of the amine during the post initiation phase, but did not show strong effect when given before the carcinogen. The researchers suggest that a study in which chlorophyllin is administered at the same as the carcinogen may be necessary to demonstrate its "anti-initiation" mechanism (where it bonds with and inhibits the carcinogen). ₃₇

Other Research From Around the World

• In July 1996, Carcinogenisis, published a study by researchers from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India. Chlorophyllin's ability to protect and detoxify the skin and liver of mice was studied. The researchers concluded that chlorophyllin was a potential chemoprotective agent against environmental toxins. ₄₆
• Researchers from Korea, in a study published in Carcinogenesis, have determined that chlorophyll inhibits formation of mutation by forming a chemical bonding with the cancer causing substance (aflatoxin B1,benzopyrene or carcinogens in cooked meat) as well as the inhibition of a specific enzyme "P450." ₃₀
  In September 1995, Carcinogenisis, a study from Japan focused on the relationship between mammary and intestinal cancers and the western diet (high fat, high meat and low fiber). The researchers found that chlorophyllin reduced the incidence of mammary carcinogenesis in mice. The researchers stated that "chlorophyllin is an effective chemopreventor when ingested simultaneously with the carcinogen". ₃₁
• A study published 1994, in Teratogenesis, Carcinogenesis and Mutagenesis, confirmed that Chlorophyllin reduced the number of cells genetically mutated under the presence of cancer causing elements including tobacco snuff and chewing tobacco. The researchers believe that chlorophyll may have an anti-oxidant effect.

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