News and Issues

In an article this week in the Globe and Mail, Dayna Nadine Scott, director of the National Network on Environments and Women’s Health, calls for a “serious overhaul” of federal regulation of toxic substances in this country. She argues that it is not enough to simply encourage shoppers (most of whom are women) to be ‘smarter shoppers’ so they can avoid the toxic chemicals found in food and common household products - the government should also create tougher regulations that reduce the presence of those chemicals in our midst in the first place.

Read Beyond BPA: We need to get tough on toxics (The Globe and Mail).

Also, read about NNEWH’s recent research on women and chemicals in Sex, Gender & Chemicals: Factoring Women into Canada’s Chemicals Management Plan.

Are we fat because of man-made chemicals?

A new Dreamfilm documentary called Programmed to be Fat? airing on CBC’s The Nature of Things this January is sure to provoke lively debate on this question, as it tackles the possible role of synthetic chemicals in the “obesity epidemic".

“Programmed to be Fat? tells the stories of three scientists whose unexpected findings led them to follow the research of a curious doctor in Scotland, baffled by her inability to lose weight. For three years she pored over existing research on environmental chemicals and finally published a key study in an alternative medicine journal. It linked endocrine-disrupting chemicals to the obesity epidemic. The scientists came across the paper while puzzling over their own research results.  None of their studies were about fat, but they had two things in common – they were all researching endocrine-disrupting chemicals, and they all ended up with unusually heavy lab animals.”

Programmed to be Fat will air on the Nature of Things on:

Thursday, January 12, 2012 8:00 PM on CBC-TV

Thursday January 19 at 10 pm ET/PT on CBC News Network

Read more about it.

Ths month a US Food and Drug Adminstration (FDA) advisory panel voted 15-11 that the benefits of controversial drospirenone-containing oral contraceptives sold under the brand names Yasmin and Yaz, among others, outweigh the risk of venous thromboembolism.

The vote came after a day-long hearing in which patients and relatives of patients made emotional calls for the drugs – sold under the brand names Yasmin and Yaz, among others -- to be pulled from the market.

Read the whole story on Medpage Today.

Health Canada has recently issued warnings about  these same pills because of the risks of blood clots. Read about those warnings here.

A process of extracting natural gas from deep well drilling is raising huge concerns among environmental and health protection groups for its use of highly toxic, cancer causing chemicals.

Hydraulic fracturing or fracking is a means of natural gas extraction employed in deep natural gas well drilling. Once a well is drilled, millions of gallons of water, sand and proprietary chemicals are injected, under high pressure, into a well. The pressure fractures the shale and props open fissures that enable natural gas to flow more freely out of the well. This process uses toxic chemicals that are known to cause cancer, and very small quantities of some fracking chemicals are capable of contaminating millions of gallons of water. 

The Environmental Working Group says that petroleum-based products known as petroleum distillates such as kerosene (also known as hydrotreated light distillates, mineral spirits, and a petroleum distillate blends) are likely to contain benzene, a known human carcinogen that is toxic in water at levels greater than five parts per billion (or 0.005 parts per million).

For more information on fracking, and the health concerns it is raising, visit Hydraulic Fracturing 101. The issue is also raising big worries in Canada. Read the December 19 story by Andrew Nikiforuk, in The Tyee, Fracking Contamination 'Will Get Worse': Alberta Expert.

Signaling a significant development on the issue of Canadian’s missing and murdered Aboriginal women, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women announced this week that it will conduct an inquiry into the murders and disappearances of Aboriginal women and girls across Canada.

The Committee, composed of 23 independent experts from around the world, is the UN’s main authority on women’s human rights. The Committee’s decision was announced this week by Jeannette Corbiere Lavell, President of the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC), and Sharon McIvor of the Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA).

Read the announcement on FAFIA’s website.

The announcement was lauded this week by the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies. Read their comments in the attachment below.

Health Canada has issued safety warnings about the birth control pills Yasmin and Yaz, with respect to the risk of blood clots (venous thromboembolism, or VTE. Their recent review found that these drospirenone-containing birth control pills may be associated with a risk of blood clots that is 1.5 to 3 times higher than other birth control pills.

Read the warning on Health Canada's website.

December 1, 2011 marks the 22nd year since the first World AIDS Day was announced.

The theme of World AIDS Day this year is “Getting to Zero”.

Read about what this means, on the Positive Women’s Network.

Two recent articles in the Toronto Star featured the work of two key researchers with the National Network on Envrionments and Women’s Health (NNEWH). Jim Brophy and Marg Keith talked with women about linking cancer and chemicals in our environment, at an event about cancer prevention co-sponsored by the Toronto Star and the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, as part of the Reduce Your Breast Cancer Risk campaign.

Read the two articles here.

Health Canada is advising Canadians of its decision to suspend authorization of Avastin for use in the treatment of a certain type of breast cancer (metastatic breast cancer).  Based on careful review, Health Canada has concluded that Avastin has not been shown to be safe and effective in this use. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., the manufacturer of Avastin, has been directed to remove the use for metastatic breast cancer from Avastin’s label. The company has indicated it will comply.

Read the Health Canada advisory on their website.

Read more about the story here: Avastin approval for breast cancer pulled (CBC)

CWHN reported on warnings about Avastin earlier this month, Avastin: Cancer treatment linked to ovarian failure.

Two recent articles in the Toronto Star featured the work of two key researchers with the National Network on Envrionments and Women’s Health (NNEWH). Jim Brophy and Marg Keith talked with women about linking cancer and chemicals in our environment, at an event about cancer prevention co-sponsored by the Toronto Star and the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, as part of the Reduce Your Breast Cancer Risk campaign.

Read the two articles here.