Attention, chocolate lovers: You may not be able to help yourselves. Swiss and British scientists have linked the widespread love of chocolate to a chemical "signature" that may be programmed into our metabolic systems.
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New Orleans Floodwaters Loaded With Sewage
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 7 (HealthDay News) -- The first federal testing of floodwaters in New Orleans has revealed dangerously high levels of sewage, with 10 times the safe levels of E. coli and other potentially harmful bacteria, federal officials announced Wednesday. In light of these findings, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared the water unsafe for human contact. CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding warned in a teleconference Wednesday that those people remaining in the beleaguered city need to evacuate now, and rescue workers must take precautions to minimize contact with the polluted water. "Our initial findings indicate that counts for E. coli and coliform bacteria greatly exceed EPA''s recommended levels for contact," EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson said at the teleconference. "Human contact with the floodwater should be avoided as much as possible." "Emergency response personnel and the public should avoid direct contact with the floodwater," Johnson added. For people who do come in contact with the water, he recommended washing exposed areas with clean water and soap. The EPA also tested the water for some 100 chemicals, including pesticides and metals. "Our testing found that lead concentrations in the floodwater exceed what EPA considers safe for drinking water levels," Johnson said. "No one should drink the floodwater, especially children."
Johnson noted that the situation in the hurricane-ravaged city is changing quickly, and water quality may change as the floodwaters recede. So far testing has been confined to residential areas. There has been no testing of industrialized areas, Johnson said. The Army Corps of Engineers has begun pumping out water that had inundated 80 percent of the below-sea-level city, after two broken levees released huge amounts of water from Lake Pontchartrain in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Water levels were dropping noticeably across the city as of late Tuesday. But the health hazards posed by the floodwater are very real, Gerberding said. "The results from the EPA indicate that the water is full of sewage," she said. "We know that there are many common intestinal illnesses that can be transmitted by ingesting the sewage and, in some cases, by being in the water without protective clothing." Gerberding pleaded with those remaining in the city to evacuate. "This water is not going away anytime soon, and we have a lot to do to get back to a state of safe drinking water in a safe community," she said. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has already ordered the forced evacuation of the estimated 10,000 residents who remain in the city, where the threat of disease is a growing concern. Nagin authorized the police and military to use force to remove all but essential personnel involved in rescue and relief efforts. The mayor said that the acrid floodwater could carry disease and that natural gas was leaking throughout the city, according to The Times-Picayune of New Orleans. In addition to petrochemicals and human waste, the water undoubtedly contained other pollutants, such as industrial solvents, officials told the newspaper. "This is not a safe environment," Nagin told the Associated Press. "I understand the spirit that''s basically, ''I don''t want to abandon my city.'' It''s OK. Leave for a little while. Let us get you to a better place. Let us clean the city up." The latest effort to clean up the city came amid independent reports that the toxicity of the water was becoming a growing threat. ABC News reported that microbiologist Paul Pearce found sewage bacteria in a water sample from the Ninth Ward, one of the hardest-hit neighborhoods, to be 45,000 times what would be considered safe for swimming in a pond or a lake. "In terms of total microorganisms in floodwater, this is about as bad as it can get," Pearce told ABC News. Pearce also found 2.2 million parts per unit of human waste bacteria in the floodwater, way higher than what is considered safe. Meanwhile, top U.S. health officials said Tuesday they were doing everything possible to meet the mounting medical needs of victims of Hurricane Katrina. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, who had just finished touring evacuation centers as well as the Gulf Coast destruction zone, said during a teleconference Tuesday that the health-care response to the disaster had been "massive." But one of the major public health challenges was to prevent and manage any outbreaks of infectious diseases along the entire Gulf Coast. Conditions are ripe at crowded shelters for the spread of infectious disease, officials said. Reports of diarrheal illness were under "active investigation," the CDC''s Gerberding, who had also been touring the affected areas, said at the earlier teleconference. Noroviruses, like those that plague cruise ships, are a big concern. "They are so easily transmitted. It almost requires perfection in personal hygiene to be completely safe," Gerberding said. And hygiene at the overwhelmed evacuation centers is a major challenge. In addition, people who have already been diagnosed with tuberculosis were being provided with medication, while potential new cases were being investigated and "appropriate containment steps taken," she said. Health-care workers were also making sure that routine childhood immunizations are up-to-date, especially given that "many of the people in shelters are those that already experience health disparities," Gerberding said. For adults, workers are focusing on tetanus and, when it becomes available, flu shots. Then there''s the additional challenge of maintaining chronic-care services for people who had pre-existing conditions and, Gerberding said, "to provide a sense of hope." The New York Times reported Tuesday that officials now estimate 140,000 to 160,000 homes had been submerged or destroyed; 60 to 90 million tons of solid waste must be cleaned up, and 530 sewage treatment plants were inoperable. As of Tuesday, the AP reported, 182,000 people were housed in shelters. Mayor Nagin has warned that the death toll in New Orleans could reach 10,000 as water levels fall and the full extent of damage becomes visible. More information The American Cancer Society has more on relief efforts.
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