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51% Show #1308

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On this week’s 51%, we’ll hear about how a program for girls learning about science and technology is faring. Then, we’ll return to a forum on women’s health and the environment. Plus, who is doing a better job of recycling a certain product?

Massachusetts U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren recently was in the western portion of her state where she offered words of encouragement to teenage girls taking part in a summer science and technology education program. 51%’s Paul Tuthill reports.  

Credit Ed Uthman
Metastatic Breast Cancer in Pleural Fluid

Next, we return to a presentation on women’s health and the environment. Dr. LindaBirnbaum became director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in 2009, the first woman to lead NIEHS and the National Toxicology Program. NIEHS is an institute of the National Institutes of Health.  Birnbaum notes that the World Health Organization estimates there are at least 13 million deaths every year that could be prevented by improving the environment. New York Congresswoman NitaLoweyrecently hosted a forum at Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, New York entitled “Silent Dangers: Environmental Impacts on Women’s Health.” The following is a part two of Dr. Birnbaum’s presentation, where she talks about Parkinson’s disease, uterine fibroids, and begins with autism and the latest statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Dr. Birnbaum also talked breast cancer, referencing NIEHS’ Sister to Sister breast cancer study, a ten-year effort involving 50,000 women whose sisters have breast cancer. In general, she says NIEHS last year invested more than $31 million in breast cancer research. We pick up her presentation where she talks about how it has been known for some time that lifetime exposure to estrogen is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer – the more exposure to estrogen the higher the risk, including the early onset of puberty. 

Dr. Birnbaum wraps up her presentation with a little more on breast cancer research, monitoring environmental impacts, and herbal and botanical remedies. 

That was part two of Dr. Linda Birnbaum’s presentation “Silent Dangers: Environmental Impacts on Women’s Health”. Dr. Birnbaum is director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences We brought you part one last week, in show #1307.  

For a different take on environmental impact, here’s a look at a study out of a university in Spain.

And that’s our show for this week. Thanks to Katie Britton for production assistance.  Our executive producer is Dr. Alan Chartock. Our theme music is Glow in the Dark by Kevin Bartlett. 

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