Archive for the ‘Respiratory Disease’ Category

Sherwin-Williams Co. Recalls Krylon UV Fabric Protector Due to Respiratory Hazard

Tuesday, February 10th, 2009

From Ingrid Schuetz:

Sherwin-Williams Co. Recalls Krylon UV Fabric Protector Due to Respiratory Hazard

NEWS from CPSC
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Office of Information and Public Affairs
Washington, DC 20207

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 4, 2008
Release #09-036

Firm’s Recall Hotline: (888) 304-3769
CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772
CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908

Sherwin-Williams Co. Recalls Krylon UV Fabric Protector Due to Respiratory Hazard

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Krylon “Outdoor Spaces” UV Fabric Protector

Units: About 75,000

Manufacturer: The Sherwin-Williams Co., of Cleveland, Ohio

Hazard: Overexposure to fumes, vapor or spray mist from the product can pose a serious respiratory hazard to consumers.

Incidents/Injuries: Sherwin-Williams has received one report of an incident involving a consumer who experienced coughing and difficulty breathing requiring overnight hospitalization.

Description: The recall involves Krylon “Outdoor Spaces” UV Fabric Protector, which is an aerosol coating used to protect fabric. The part number (#2900) is printed above the UPC (724504029007) on the side of the can. The front of the 11-ounce aerosol can is tan with a picture of a patio containing outdoor furniture. “UV Fabric Protector” and “Outdoor Spaces” are also printed on the front of the can.

Sold at: Wal-Mart, Ace Hardware and other retail stores nationwide from January 2006 through September 2008 for about $7.

Manufactured in: United States

Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop using the product and return it to the store where purchased for a full refund.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, call Sherwin-Williams toll-free at (888) 304-3769 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or visit the firm’s Web site at www.sherwin-williams.com or www.krylon.com

To see this recall on CPSC’s web site, including pictures of the recalled product, please go to:
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09036.html

Posted in Respiratory Disease | No Comments »

Early life environment and snoring in adulthood

Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009

http://respiratory-research.com/content/9/1/63/abstract

Research

Early life environment and snoring in adulthood

Karl A Franklin , Christer Janson , Thorarinn Gislason , Amund Gulsvik , Maria Gunnbjornsdottir , Birger N Lerum , Eva Lindberg , Eva Norrman , Lennarth Nystrom , Ernst Omenaas , Kjell Toren and Cecilie Svanes

Respiratory Research 2008, 9:63doi:10.1186/1465-9921-9-63
Published: 22 August 2008

Abstract (provisional)

Background
To our knowledge, no studies of the possible association of early life environment with snoring in adulthood have been published. We aimed to investigate whether early life environment is associated with snoring later in life.

Methods
A questionnaire including snoring frequency in adulthood and environmental factors in early life was obtained from 16,190 randomly selected men and women, aged 25-54 years, in Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark and Estonia (response rate 74%).

Results
A total of 15,556 subjects answered the questions on snoring. Habitual snoring, defined as loud and disturbing snoring at least 3 nights a week, was reported by 18%. Being hospitalized for a respiratory infection before the age of two years (adjusted odds ratio (OR)=1.27; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01-1.59), suffering from recurrent otitis as a child (OR=1.18; 95%CI 1.05-1.33), growing up in a large family (OR=1.04; 95%CI 1.002-1.07) and being exposed to a dog at home as a newborn (OR=1.26; 95%CI 1.12-1.42) were independently related to snoring later in life and independent of a number of possible confounders in adulthood. The same childhood environmental factors except household size were also related with snoring and daytime sleepiness combined.

Conclusions
The predisposition for adult snoring may be partly established early in life. Having had severe airway infections or recurrent otitis in childhood, being exposed to a dog as a newborn and growing up in a large family are environmental factors associated with snoring in adulthood.

Tags:
Posted in Respiratory Disease | No Comments »

Repeated waon therapy improves pulmonary hypertension during exercise

Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009

Repeated waon therapy improves pulmonary hypertension during exercise in patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Umehara M, Yamaguchi A, Itakura S, Suenaga M, Sakaki Y, Nakashiki K, Miyata M, Tei C.

Department of Cardiovascular, Respiratory and Metabolic Medicine, Graduated School of Medicine, Kagoshima University, Sakuragaoka 8-35-1, Kagoshima 890-8520, Japan.

J Cardiol. 2008 Apr;51(2):106-13.

OBJECTIVES: Repeated Waon therapy, which uses a far infrared-ray dry sauna system, improved the vascular endothelial function and the cardiac function in patients with chronic heart failure. In patients
with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pulmonary hypertension (PH) is associated with a poor prognosis. We investigated whether repeated Waon therapy improves PH, cardiac function, exercise tolerance, and the quality of life (QOL) in patients with COPD.

METHODS: Consecutive 13 patients with COPD, who met the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease criteria and had breathlessness despite receiving conventional treatments, were
recruited for this study. They underwent Waon therapy at 60 degrees C in sauna for 15 min following 30 min warmth with blankets outside of the sauna room. This therapy was performed once a day, for 4 weeks. Cardiac function, exercise tolerance, and St. George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) were assessed before and 4 weeks after Waon therapy.

RESULTS: Right ventricular positive dP/dt at rest elevated significantly from 397 +/- 266 to 512 +/- 320 mmHg/s (p = 0.024) after the therapy. While the PH at rest did not significantly decrease, the PH during exercise decreased significantly from 64 +/- 18 to 51 +/- 13 mmHg (p = 0.028) after Waon therapy. Furthermore, the therapy prolonged the mean exercise time of the constant load of
cycle ergometer exercise test from 360 +/- 107 to 392 +/- 97 s (p = 0.032). The total scores of SGRQ improved from 59.7 +/- 16.9 to 55.3 +/- 17.2 (p = 0.002). In addition, no adverse effects were observed related to Waon therapy.

CONCLUSIONS: Repeated Waon therapy improved right ventricular positive dP/dt, PH during exercise, exercise tolerance and the QOL in patients with severe COPD.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18522783?dopt=AbstractPlus

PMID: 18522783 [PubMed - in process]

Tags:
Posted in COPD, Cardiovascular, Pulmonary Disease, Respiratory Disease, Sauna Therapy | No Comments »

Respiratory performance offered by N95 respirators and surgical masks: human subject evaluation with NaCl aerosol representing bacterial and viral particle size range.

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18326870?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

Ann Occup Hyg. 2008 Apr;52(3):177-85. Epub 2008 Mar 7.

Respiratory performance offered by N95 respirators and surgical masks: human subject evaluation with NaCl aerosol representing bacterial and viral particle size range.
Lee SA, Grinshpun SA, Reponen T.

Department of Environmental Engineering and Science, Feng Chia University, Taichung, Taiwan, Republic of China.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed at determining the protection factors (PFs) provided by N95 filtering facepiece respirators and surgical masks against particles representing bacterial and viral size ranges (aerodynamic size: 0.04-1.3 mum).
METHODS: The protection levels of N95 filtering facepiece respirators (four models) and surgical masks (three models) were investigated while they were donned by 12 subjects performing the OSHA (US Occupational Safety and Health Administration) fit-testing exercises in a test chamber.
RESULTS: About 29% of N95 respirators and approximately 100% of surgical masks had PFs <10, which is the assigned PF designated for this type of respirator by the OSHA. On average, the PFs of N95 respirators were 8-12 times greater than those of surgical masks. The minimum PFs were observed in the size range of 0.04-0.2 mum. No significant difference in PF results was found between N95 respirators with and without an exhalation valve.
CONCLUSIONS: The study indicates that N95 filtering facepiece respirators may not achieve the expected protection level against bacteria and viruses. An exhalation valve on the N95 respirator does not affect the respiratory protection; it appears to be an appropriate alternative to reduce the breathing resistance.

PMID: 18326870 [PubMed - in process]

Tags:
Posted in N95 respirators, Respiratory Disease, Surgical Masks | No Comments »

The environmental burden of disease in Canada: Respiratory disease,

Monday, January 26th, 2009

Environ Res. 2007 Sep 27; [Epub ahead of print]

The environmental burden of disease in Canada: Respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and congenital affliction.
Boyd DR, Genuis SJ., School of Resource and Environmental Management, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5A 1S6.

BACKGROUND: Exposure to environmental hazards contributes to many chronic diseases, yet the magnitude of their contribution to the total disease burden in Canada is not well understood.
OBJECTIVES: To estimate the environmental burden of disease (EBD) in Canada for respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and congenital affliction. Quantifying the contribution of environmental exposures to the overall burden of disease could play an important role in shaping public
health and environmental policy priorities.
METHODS: The World Health Organization (WHO) recently estimated the environmental burden of disease globally by using a combination of comparative risk assessment data and expert judgment to develop environmentally attributable fractions (EAFs) of mortality and morbidity for 85 categories of disease. We use the EAFs developed by the WHO, EAFs developed by other researchers, and data from Canadian public health institutions to provide an initial estimate of the environmental burden of
disease in Canada for four major categories of disease.
RESULTS: Our results indicate that: 10,000-25,000 deaths; 78,000-194,000 hospitalizations; 600,000-1.5 million days spent in hospital; 1.1 million-1.8 million restricted activity days for asthma sufferers;
8000-24,000 new cases of cancer; 500-2500 low birth weight babies; and between $3.6 billion and $9.1 billion in costs occur in Canada each year due to respiratory disease, cardiovascular illness, cancer, and congenital affliction associated with adverse environmental exposures.
CONCLUSIONS: The burden of illness in Canada resulting from adverse environmental exposures is significant. Stronger efforts to prevent adverse environmental exposures are warranted, including research, education, and regulation.

PMID: 17904543 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=17904543&ordinalpos=1
&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum
or
http://tinyurl.com/2c7hnc

Tags:
Posted in Cancer, Cardiovascular, Congenital Affliction, Respiratory Disease | No Comments »