EPA Expands Dangerous Air Pollutant List For First Time In Over 30 Years
The addition is 1-bromopropane, a dry-cleaning chemical suspected to cause nerve damage and cancer. Also: algorithmic overtreatment for Black heart patients, the "Disney Stress Test", parental quality time with kids, extra food benefits in Texas and questions over end-of-life planning.
The Washington Post:
For The First Time In Over 30 Years, The EPA Adds To Its List Of Hazardous Air Pollutants
It took over three decades, but the federal government finally expanded its list of chemicals too dangerous for Americans to breathe. By one. The Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to add a powerful dry-cleaning solvent, 1-bromopropane, to its list of hazardous air pollutants was long overdue, environmentalists and industry officials say. (Grandoni, 1/5)
And more public health news —
Modern Healthcare:
Cardiovascular Risk Calculator Can Lead To Overtreatment Of Black Patients, Study Finds
A risk calculator from the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association gives Black patients much worse cardiovascular health predictions than white patients, even when their risk profiles are identical apart from race, according to a study published in the Lancet this month. The Boston University School of Medicine authors who conducted the analysis describe these differences as "biologically implausible" in their report. These findings illustrate another way Black patients tend to be treated differently than white patients. Unlike previous analyses showing Black patients are likely to receive insufficient care, this new study provides an example of this population being at risk for too much medical care. (Gillespie, 1/5)
Health News Florida:
Failing The Disney Stress Test: How To Be Heart Healthy On A Theme Park Vacation
It was March 2017, and Larry Fine was on a Disney vacation in Orlando when his heart attacked him. He had a big brunch, and watched The Muppets Present … Great Moments in American History show. After a close family vote, Fine and his family decided to go back to the hotel for a rest. That decision might have saved his life. “So, if we’d stayed in the park, and were running around, I might not have noticed that my heart was attacking me,” Fine said. (Aboraya, 1/5)
AP:
Survey: Parents Increased Quality Time At Pandemic's Start
During the first several months of the pandemic in the U.S., Dina Levy made her young daughter and son go on walks with her three times a day. They kicked a soccer ball around at the nearby high school. The children, then 11 and 8, created an obstacle course out of chalk and the three timed each other running through it. They also ate all their meals together. Levy is among scores of parents who indicated in a new survey from the U.S. Census Bureau that they spent more time eating, reading and playing with their children from March 2020 to June of 2020, when coronavirus-lockdowns were at their most intense, than they had in previous years. (Schneider, 1/6)
Houston Chronicle:
Struggling To Pay As Grocery Prices Rise? $307M In Emergency SNAP Benefits Could Help
As the cost of groceries soars, families struggling to put food on the table will get a temporary reprieve after state officials extended an emergency food assistance benefit program through the end of January. Governor Greg Abbott’s office announced this week that the Texas Health and Human Services Commission is providing $307 million in funding for emergency food benefits that is expected to help 1.5 million Texan households. (Luck, 1/5)
KHN:
A New Paradigm Is Needed: Top Experts Question The Value Of Advance Care Planning
For decades, Americans have been urged to fill out documents specifying their end-of-life wishes before becoming terminally ill — living wills, do-not-resuscitate orders, and other written materials expressing treatment preferences. Now, a group of prominent experts is saying those efforts should stop because they haven’t improved end-of-life care. (Graham, 1/6)
