CHICAGO — A new analysis of government data is the first to link low-level arsenic exposure, possibly from drinking water, with type 2 diabetes, researchers say.
The study’s limitations make more research necessary. And public water systems were on their way to meeting tougher U.S. arsenic standards as the data were collected.
Still, the analysis of 788 adults’ medical tests found a nearly fourfold increase in the risk of diabetes in people with low arsenic concentrations in their urine compared with people with even lower levels.
Previous research outside the United States has linked high levels of arsenic in drinking water with diabetes. It’s the link at low levels that’s new. The findings appear in today’s Journal of the American Medical Association.
Arsenic can get into drinking water naturally when minerals dissolve. It is also an industrial pollutant from coal burning and copper smelting. Utilities use filtration systems to get it out of drinking water.
Arizona: ‘Virtual’ border fence delayed
Construction on “virtual fence” projects scheduled along Arizona’s border with Mexico is on hold indefinitely because the Interior Department hasn’t signed off on use of its lands, federal officials said Tuesday. Interior officials have not accepted a proposed finding in an environmental assessment that putting up towers with radar, cameras and communications equipment would have no significant effect, said a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Boeing Co., the prime contractor on the projects for the Department of Homeland Security, has suspended work, with no resumption date set.
Michigan: Shoplifting suspect crushed
Michigan authorities say a shoplifting suspect died after being crushed in a trash compactor where she was hiding. The Eaton County sheriff’s department said two women fled a Lansing-area TJ Maxx discount store after spraying a security guard with Mace. Shortly afterward, authorities got a call about a woman trapped in the trash compactor. Tyree Monique Tate of Delta Township was pulled from the machine by rescuers and taken to a hospital, where the 26-year-old later died.
Texas: Floods recede in south
Flooding receded Tuesday in southern Texas and main highways were reopened following a deluge of up to 13 inches of rain, as the drenching weather shifted to the northern end of the state and Oklahoma. Torrential rain flooded an estimated 750 homes Monday in Starr County.
Thailand: Rocker Gary Glitter out of Vietnamese prison but in limbo
Vietnam freed British glam rocker Gary Glitter, 64, from prison Tuesday, sending the convicted child molester into an uncertain future after nearly three years of confinement. Glitter flew into Bangkok but was refused entry into Thailand after he failed to board a flight to London, an official said Wednesday. Glitter was confined to an airport transit lounge before being flown out of the country, police Maj. Gen. Phongdej Chaiprawat said, adding he did not known Glitter’s next destination. Glitter, whose real name is Paul Francis Gadd, was convicted in March 2006 of committing “obscene acts with children,” involving two girls, ages 10 and 11. His most successful song, the crowd-pleasing anthem “Rock and Roll (Part 2)” cracked the top 10 in the United States, where it continues to bring sports fans to their feet with its rousing one-word chorus: “Hey!”
China: American activists detained
Police detained five American activists Tuesday after they unfurled a “free Tibet” banner near a key Olympics venue in Beijing, according to a pro-Tibet group. American graffiti artist James Powderly, who planned to use laser beams to flash the same message on buildings in the Chinese capital, was also detained, according to a colleague and Students for a Free Tibet.
Zambia: President Mwanawasa dies
Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, who broke the African tradition of silence and solidarity among leaders to denounce neighboring Zimbabwe’s economic ruin, died in a French military hospital Tuesday. He was 59. Mwanawasa had suffered a stroke and collapsed at an African Union summit in Egypt in June, which cost Zimbabweans the voice of one of their few champions on the continent.
India: ‘Condom! Condom!’ ringtone
A cell phone ring tone that sings “Condom, condom!” has been launched to promote safe sex in India, where condoms carry a strong social stigma and HIV and AIDS are growing problems, health experts said Tuesday. The a cappella ring tone features a professional singer chanting the word condom more than 50 times, an approach that public health activists hope will spark discussion and make condoms more socially acceptable.
From Herald news services
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