Reasonable Rascal
11-12-02, 11:41
From Waliur Rahman
In Dhaka
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2450717.stm
An international study has found that zinc supplementation during diarrhoea reduces illness and death from the disease in Bangladeshi children.
Researchers, led by Abdullah Baqui, associate professor at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, examined the impact of combining zinc therapy with an oral rehydration solution (ORS) in a study of more than 8,000 children who had diarrhoea.
They found the combination significantly cut rates of death, illness and hospitalisation among the children.
Despite medical advances, diarrhoeal diseases and the resulting dehydration are still responsible for about two million child deaths every year across the world.
Most cases occur in developing, resource-poor countries where children suffer from malnutrition and access to clean water, safe sanitation and health facilities are limited.
The children in the zinc areas received 20 mg zinc daily for seven days during each episode of diarrhoea in addition to ORS.
Antibiotics cut
Not only did zinc therapy help the children, its use led to a signficant cut in the use of antibiotics.
Lead researcher Dr Abdullah Baqui, a Bangladeshi scientist, said: "The lower rates of child morbidity and mortality with zinc therapy represent substantial benefits from a simple and inexpensive intervention that can be incorporated within existing diarrhoeal disease control efforts and which should significantly improve child health and survival."
A recent meeting of the World Health Organisation (WHO) reviewed the findings and concluded that zinc supplements are efficacious in reducing the severity and duration of diarrhoea.
However, it said further research was required to ascertain whether the use of zinc was practical in the developing world.
The research is published in the British Medical Journal.
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts60.html
ToxFAQsTM for Zinc
CAS# 7440-66-6
September 1995
This fact sheet answers the most frequently asked health questions about zinc. For more information, you may call the ATSDR Information Center at 1-888-422-8737. This fact sheet is one in a series of summaries about hazardous substances and their health effects. This information is important because this substance may harm you. The effects of exposure to any hazardous substance depend on the dose, the duration, how you are exposed, personal traits and habits, and whether other chemicals are present.
SUMMARY: Exposure to high levels of zinc occurs mostly from eating food, drinking water, or breathing workplace air that is contaminated. Exposure to large amounts of zinc can be harmful. However, zinc is an essential element for our bodies, so too little zinc can also be harmful. This chemical has been found in at least 801 of 1,416 National Priorities List sites identified by the Environmental Protection Agency.
What is zinc? (Pronounced zingk)
Zinc is one of the most common elements in the earth's crust. It's found in air, soil, and water, and is present in all foods. Pure zinc is a bluish-white shiny metal.
Zinc has many commercial uses as coatings to prevent rust, in dry cell batteries, and mixed with other metals to make alloys like brass and bronze. A zinc and copper alloy is used to make pennies in the United States.
Zinc combines with other elements to form zinc compounds. Common zinc compounds found at hazardous waste sites include zinc chloride, zinc oxide, zinc sulfate, and zinc sulfide. Zinc compounds are widely used in industry to make paint, rubber, dye, wood preservatives, and ointments.
What happens to zinc when it enters the environment?
Some is released into the environment by natural processes, but most comes from activities of people like mining, steel production, coal burning, and burning of waste. It attaches to soil, sediments, and dust particles in the air. Rain and snow remove zinc dust particles from the air. Zinc compounds can move into the groundwater and into lakes, streams, and rivers. Most of the zinc in soil stays bound to soil particles. It builds up in fish and other organisms, but it doesn't build up in plants.
How might I be exposed to zinc?
Ingesting small amounts present in your food and water. Drinking contaminated water near manufacturing or waste sites. Drinking contaminated water or a beverage that has been stored in metal containers or flows through pipes that have been coated with zinc to resist rust. Eating too many dietary supplements that contain zinc. Breathing zinc particles in the air at manufacturing sites.
How can zinc affect my health?
Zinc is an essential element in our diet. Too little zinc can cause health problems, but too much zinc is also harmful.
The recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for zinc is 15 milligrams a day for men (15 mg/day); 12 mg/day for women; 10 mg/day for children; and 5 mg/day for infants. Not enough zinc in your diet can result in a loss of appetite, a decreased sense of taste and smell, slow wound healing and skin sores, or a damaged immune system. Young men who don't get enough zinc may have poorly developed sex organs and slow growth. If a pregnant woman doesn't get enough zinc, her babies may have growth retardation.
Too much zinc, however, can also be damaging to your health. Harmful health effects generally begin at levels from 10-15 times the RDA (in the 100 to 250 mg/day range). Eating large amounts of zinc, even for a short time, can cause stomach cramps, nausea, and vomiting. Taken longer, it can cause anemia, pancreas damage, and lower levels of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (the good form of cholesterol).
Breathing large amounts of zinc (as dust or fumes) can cause a specific short-term disease called metal fume fever. This is believed to be an immune response affecting the lungs and body temperature. We do not know the long-term effects of breathing high levels of zinc.
It is not known if high levels of zinc affect human reproduction or cause birth defects. Rats that were fed large amounts of zinc became infertile or had smaller babies. Irritation was also observed on the skin of rabbits, guinea pigs, and mice when exposed to some zinc compounds. Skin irritation will probably occur in people.
How likely is zinc to cause cancer?
The Department of Health and Human Services, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have not classified zinc for carcinogenicity.
Is there a medical test to show whether I've been exposed to zinc?
Zinc can be measured in your blood or feces. This can tell you how much zinc you have been exposed to. Zinc can also be measured in urine, saliva, and hair. The amount of zinc in your hair tells us something about long-term exposure, but the relationship between levels in your hair and the amount that you were exposed to is not clear. These tests are not routinely performed at doctors' offices, but your doctor can take samples and send them to a testing laboratory.
Has the federal government made recommendations to protect human health?
EPA recommends that there be no more than 5 parts of zinc in 1 million parts of drinking water (5 ppm) because of taste. EPA also requires that releases of more than 1,000 (or in some cases 5,000) pounds of zinc or its compounds into the environment be reported.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set a maximum concentration limit for zinc chloride fumes in workplace air of 1 milligram of zinc per cubic meter of air (1 mg/m3) for an 8-hour workday over a 40-hour work week and 5 mg/m3 for zinc oxide fumes. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has set the same standards for up to a 10-hour workday over a 40-hour workweek.
Glossary
Anemia: A decreased ability of the blood to transport oxygen.
Carcinogenicity: Ability to cause cancer.
Milligram (mg): One thousandth of a gram.
References
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). 1994. Toxicological profile for zinc. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service.
Where can I get more information?
ATSDR can tell you where to find occupational and environmental health clinics. Their specialists can recognize, evaluate, and treat illnesses resulting from exposure to hazardous substances. You can also contact your community or state health or environmental quality department if you have any more questions or concerns.
For more information, contact:
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Division of Toxicology
1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop E-29
Atlanta, GA 30333
Phone: 1-888-422-8737
FAX: (404)498-0057
In Dhaka
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2450717.stm
An international study has found that zinc supplementation during diarrhoea reduces illness and death from the disease in Bangladeshi children.
Researchers, led by Abdullah Baqui, associate professor at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, examined the impact of combining zinc therapy with an oral rehydration solution (ORS) in a study of more than 8,000 children who had diarrhoea.
They found the combination significantly cut rates of death, illness and hospitalisation among the children.
Despite medical advances, diarrhoeal diseases and the resulting dehydration are still responsible for about two million child deaths every year across the world.
Most cases occur in developing, resource-poor countries where children suffer from malnutrition and access to clean water, safe sanitation and health facilities are limited.
The children in the zinc areas received 20 mg zinc daily for seven days during each episode of diarrhoea in addition to ORS.
Antibiotics cut
Not only did zinc therapy help the children, its use led to a signficant cut in the use of antibiotics.
Lead researcher Dr Abdullah Baqui, a Bangladeshi scientist, said: "The lower rates of child morbidity and mortality with zinc therapy represent substantial benefits from a simple and inexpensive intervention that can be incorporated within existing diarrhoeal disease control efforts and which should significantly improve child health and survival."
A recent meeting of the World Health Organisation (WHO) reviewed the findings and concluded that zinc supplements are efficacious in reducing the severity and duration of diarrhoea.
However, it said further research was required to ascertain whether the use of zinc was practical in the developing world.
The research is published in the British Medical Journal.
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts60.html
ToxFAQsTM for Zinc
CAS# 7440-66-6
September 1995
This fact sheet answers the most frequently asked health questions about zinc. For more information, you may call the ATSDR Information Center at 1-888-422-8737. This fact sheet is one in a series of summaries about hazardous substances and their health effects. This information is important because this substance may harm you. The effects of exposure to any hazardous substance depend on the dose, the duration, how you are exposed, personal traits and habits, and whether other chemicals are present.
SUMMARY: Exposure to high levels of zinc occurs mostly from eating food, drinking water, or breathing workplace air that is contaminated. Exposure to large amounts of zinc can be harmful. However, zinc is an essential element for our bodies, so too little zinc can also be harmful. This chemical has been found in at least 801 of 1,416 National Priorities List sites identified by the Environmental Protection Agency.
What is zinc? (Pronounced zingk)
Zinc is one of the most common elements in the earth's crust. It's found in air, soil, and water, and is present in all foods. Pure zinc is a bluish-white shiny metal.
Zinc has many commercial uses as coatings to prevent rust, in dry cell batteries, and mixed with other metals to make alloys like brass and bronze. A zinc and copper alloy is used to make pennies in the United States.
Zinc combines with other elements to form zinc compounds. Common zinc compounds found at hazardous waste sites include zinc chloride, zinc oxide, zinc sulfate, and zinc sulfide. Zinc compounds are widely used in industry to make paint, rubber, dye, wood preservatives, and ointments.
What happens to zinc when it enters the environment?
Some is released into the environment by natural processes, but most comes from activities of people like mining, steel production, coal burning, and burning of waste. It attaches to soil, sediments, and dust particles in the air. Rain and snow remove zinc dust particles from the air. Zinc compounds can move into the groundwater and into lakes, streams, and rivers. Most of the zinc in soil stays bound to soil particles. It builds up in fish and other organisms, but it doesn't build up in plants.
How might I be exposed to zinc?
Ingesting small amounts present in your food and water. Drinking contaminated water near manufacturing or waste sites. Drinking contaminated water or a beverage that has been stored in metal containers or flows through pipes that have been coated with zinc to resist rust. Eating too many dietary supplements that contain zinc. Breathing zinc particles in the air at manufacturing sites.
How can zinc affect my health?
Zinc is an essential element in our diet. Too little zinc can cause health problems, but too much zinc is also harmful.
The recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for zinc is 15 milligrams a day for men (15 mg/day); 12 mg/day for women; 10 mg/day for children; and 5 mg/day for infants. Not enough zinc in your diet can result in a loss of appetite, a decreased sense of taste and smell, slow wound healing and skin sores, or a damaged immune system. Young men who don't get enough zinc may have poorly developed sex organs and slow growth. If a pregnant woman doesn't get enough zinc, her babies may have growth retardation.
Too much zinc, however, can also be damaging to your health. Harmful health effects generally begin at levels from 10-15 times the RDA (in the 100 to 250 mg/day range). Eating large amounts of zinc, even for a short time, can cause stomach cramps, nausea, and vomiting. Taken longer, it can cause anemia, pancreas damage, and lower levels of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (the good form of cholesterol).
Breathing large amounts of zinc (as dust or fumes) can cause a specific short-term disease called metal fume fever. This is believed to be an immune response affecting the lungs and body temperature. We do not know the long-term effects of breathing high levels of zinc.
It is not known if high levels of zinc affect human reproduction or cause birth defects. Rats that were fed large amounts of zinc became infertile or had smaller babies. Irritation was also observed on the skin of rabbits, guinea pigs, and mice when exposed to some zinc compounds. Skin irritation will probably occur in people.
How likely is zinc to cause cancer?
The Department of Health and Human Services, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have not classified zinc for carcinogenicity.
Is there a medical test to show whether I've been exposed to zinc?
Zinc can be measured in your blood or feces. This can tell you how much zinc you have been exposed to. Zinc can also be measured in urine, saliva, and hair. The amount of zinc in your hair tells us something about long-term exposure, but the relationship between levels in your hair and the amount that you were exposed to is not clear. These tests are not routinely performed at doctors' offices, but your doctor can take samples and send them to a testing laboratory.
Has the federal government made recommendations to protect human health?
EPA recommends that there be no more than 5 parts of zinc in 1 million parts of drinking water (5 ppm) because of taste. EPA also requires that releases of more than 1,000 (or in some cases 5,000) pounds of zinc or its compounds into the environment be reported.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set a maximum concentration limit for zinc chloride fumes in workplace air of 1 milligram of zinc per cubic meter of air (1 mg/m3) for an 8-hour workday over a 40-hour work week and 5 mg/m3 for zinc oxide fumes. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has set the same standards for up to a 10-hour workday over a 40-hour workweek.
Glossary
Anemia: A decreased ability of the blood to transport oxygen.
Carcinogenicity: Ability to cause cancer.
Milligram (mg): One thousandth of a gram.
References
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). 1994. Toxicological profile for zinc. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service.
Where can I get more information?
ATSDR can tell you where to find occupational and environmental health clinics. Their specialists can recognize, evaluate, and treat illnesses resulting from exposure to hazardous substances. You can also contact your community or state health or environmental quality department if you have any more questions or concerns.
For more information, contact:
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Division of Toxicology
1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop E-29
Atlanta, GA 30333
Phone: 1-888-422-8737
FAX: (404)498-0057