EU bans bisphenol A chemical from babies' bottles

The European Commission has announced a ban on the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in plastic baby bottles from next year.The commission cited fears that the compound could affect development and immune response in young children.There has been concern over the use of BPA for some time, with six US manufacturers removing it in 2009 from bottles they sold in the US, although not other markets.But a UK expert said he thought the move was "an over-reaction".BPA is widely used in making hard, clear plastic and is commonly found in food and drink containers.A European Commission spokesman said the proposal had been approved after being presented to a committee of national government experts on Thursday - months earlier than scheduled - and approved.The European parliament had called for the ban in June.

Areas of uncertainty

John Dalli, Commissioner in charge of Health and Consumer Policy, said the ban was good news for European parents."There were areas of uncertainty, deriving from new studies, which showed that BPA might have an effect on development, immune response and tumour promotion," Mr Dalli said in a statement.

EU states will outlaw the manufacture of polycarbonate feeding bottles containing the compound from March 2011, and ban their import and sale from June 2011, the Commission said.But Professor Richard Sharpe, of the Medical Research Council's Human Reproductive Sciences Unit at the University of Edinburgh, said the commission's decision must have been made on political, rather than scientific, grounds."I do not know of any convincing evidence that bisphenol A exposure, in the amounts used in polycarbonate bottles, can cause any harm to babies as not only are the amounts so minuscule but they are rapidly broken down in the gut and liver.

"Babies have the necessary enzymes and are able to metabolise bisphenol A just as effectively as adults."

He added: "Personally I think this is an overreaction, but if satisfactory replacements chemicals are available then this can be done to placate those calling for action, but scientifically it's a retrograde step."I would be happy for a baby of mine to be fed from a polycarbonate bottle containing bisphenol A."

And Professor Warren Foster of the department of obstetrics and gynaecology at Canada's McMaster University, said the EU had acted with "extreme caution".

Mimicking

The National Childbirth Trust is a British charity which has campaigned for the ban.Its chief executive Belinda Phipps told the BBC: "When you put liquids into a bottle - particularly hot liquids or liquids containing fatty liquids - it leaches out of the plastic. And particularly as the bottle gets older and it gets more scratched, more and more leaches out and into the liquid."Ms Phipps said that when a baby drinks from a bottle which contains BPA, the baby absorbs the leached chemical into its fat."It's a chemical that mimics oestrogens, but not in a good way," she said. "It interferes with oestrogens getting into the receptors, and it can have some very unpleasant effects - and animal studies have shown significant effects."Canada was the first country to declare bisphenol A toxic in October, after it was concluded that the chemical might have harmful effects on humans, as well as the environment and "its biological diversity".The Canadian decision was strongly opposed by the chemical industry.

Passive smoking 'kills 600,000' worldwide

The first global study into the effects of passive smoking has found it causes 600,000 deaths every year.One-third of those killed are children, often exposed to smoke at home, the World Health Organization (WHO) found.The study, in 192 countries, found that passive smoking is particularly dangerous for children, said to be at higher risk of sudden infant death syndrome, pneumonia and asthma.Passive smoking causes heart disease, respiratory illness and lung cancer."This helps us understand the real toll of tobacco," said Armando Peruga, of the WHO's Tobacco-Free Initiative, who led the study.

'Deadly combination'

The study used estimates of the incidence of specific diseases and of the number of people exposed to second-hand smoke in particular areas.The global health body said it was particularly concerned about the estimated 165,000 children who die of smoke-related respiratory infections, mostly in South East Asia and in Africa.

It said that this group was more exposed to passive smoking than any other group, principally in their own homes."The mix of infectious diseases and second-hand smoke is a deadly combination," Mr Peruga said.

As well as being at increased risk of a series of respiratory conditions, the lungs of children who breathe in passive smoke may also develop more slowly than children who grow up in smoke-free homes.Worldwide, as many as 40% of children, 33% of non-smoking men and 35% non-smoking women were exposed to second-hand smoke in 2004, researchers found.This exposure was estimated to have caused 379,000 deaths from heart disease, 165,000 from lower respiratory infections, 36,900 from asthma and 21,400 from lung cancer.According to the study, the highest numbers of people exposed to second-hand smoke are in Europe and Asia and the lowest rates of exposure were in the Americas, the Eastern Mediterranean and Africa.

The research also revealed that passive smoking had a large impact on women, killing about 281,000 worldwide. This is due to the fact that in many parts of the world, the study suggests, women are at least 50% more likely to be exposed to second-hand smoke than men.However, the researchers said were limitations to the study, including uncertainties about the underlying health data and gaps in the data relating to exposure to second-hand smoke.Writing in the Lancet, Dr Heather Wipfli of the University of Southern California and colleagues, said: "There are well acknowledged uncertainties in estimates of disease burden.

"However, there can be no question that the 1.2bn smokers in the world are exposing billions of non-smokers to second-hand smoke, a disease-causing indoor air pollutant."

Weather check 'could predict' A&E injury rates

Taking the temperature outside A&E could give staff an accurate way to predict number of injuries and who will suffer them.Experts know that extreme weather can affect A&E patient numbers.Warwick University researchers found that even 5C falls or rises could make a difference to injury rates.Rates for children were up to 70% higher in summer compared with winter, the Emergency Medicine Journal reported.Many trusts plan ahead for winter, when the arrival of frost, snow and ice, as well as flu and pneumonia, is traditionally linked to busier shifts.The study of 60,000 patients found that each 5C drop in minimum temperature during the day meant a three per cent rise in serious accidents to adults.Heat of summerThe arrival of snow and ice led to an eight per cent rise, as the number of slips, trips and car accidents rose.However, the study found other increases linked to the heat of the summer, often viewed as a slightly calmer period in emergency departments.

Even among adults, every five degree centigrade rise in maximum temperature during the day, and additional two hours of sunshine, meant a 2% rise in the rate of serious injury.This effect was particularly noticeable in children, who are more likely to get injured while playing outside during the warmer months.For them, a 5C rise meant a 10% increase in injury cases, and two hours of extra sunshine boosted cases by six per cent.While these connections were made by comparing records of hospital admissions with historical weather data, the researchers are convinced that the principle could be used to help emergency teams plan ahead for days when their workload is likely to be higher.They wrote: "This model could clearly be used to provide predictions of daily admissions, with clear implications for the scheduling of staff and other resources at UK trauma-receiving hospitals.

"The challenge for the future is to improve forecast accuracy further in order to provide sufficient time for the detailed planning and allocation of resources that would be necessary to implement these models."

Professor John Heyworth, president of the College of Emergency Medicine, agreed that the detailed study could help clinical teams know what to expect on any particular day, although he questioned whether the current accuracy of medium-term weather forecasts was good enough to justify staffing changes.

He said: "We've always known that there is increased activity in emergency departments during winter, but in recent years, we've noticed that this doesn't really diminish during the summer months - we remain busy all year round."If you have your emergency department set up to deal with this expected load, then you can deal with extra cases due to weather conditions.

Gene therapy 'memory boost hope'

A gene therapy technique which aims to ease memory problems linked to Alzheimer's Disease has been successfully tested in mice.US scientists used it to increase levels of a chemical which helps brain cells signal to each other.This signalling is hindered in Alzheimer's Disease, the journal Nature reported.

The Alzheimer's Research Trust said the study suggested a way to keep nerve cells in the brain communicating,Ageing populations in many countries around the world mean that Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia are set to increase.Researchers at the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease in San Francisco believe that boosting the brain chemical, a neurotransmitter called EphB2, could help reduce or even prevent some of the worst effects of the condition.Their research suggests that the chemical plays an important role in memory, and is depleted in Alzheimer's patients.One of the most noticeable features about the brains of Alzheimer's patients is the build-up of "plaques" of a toxic protein called amyloid. Over time this leads to the death of brain cells.

'Thrilled'

However, another characteristic of amyloid is its apparent ability to bind directly to EphB2, reducing the amount available to brain cells, which could in part explain the memory symptoms involved.To test this idea, they used gene therapy experiments to artificially reduce and increase the amount of available EphB2 in the brains of mice.When levels of the chemical were reduced, healthy mice developed memory symptoms similar to those seen in mice bred to have a condition similar to Alzheimer's.

Conversely, when the "Alzheimer's" mice were given gene therapy which boosted levels of EphB2, their memory symptoms disappeared.Dr Lennart Mucke, who led the study, said that his team had been "thrilled" to find this."We think that blocking amyloid proteins from binding to EphB2, and enhancing EphB2 levels or functions with drugs might be of benefit in Alzheimer's Disease."However UK researchers said that the find, while interesting, did not offer a swift answer to Alzheimer's patients.Rebecca Wood, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Research Trust, said: "Our brains are hugely complex and understanding how they work and become damaged by diseases like Alzheimer's is a massive task."This research adds a piece to the Alzheimer's puzzle and provides new leads for researchers."It suggests a way to keep nerve cells in the brain communicating, which is vital for thinking and memory."But she added: "We don't know yet if these findings will lead to a new treatment for Alzheimer's - that's some way off."

Too many lessons 'dull and uninspiring', Ofsted says

Pupils at school in England are facing too many "dull and uninspiring lessons", say Ofsted inspectors.The quality of teaching is too "variable", says the education watchdog as it publishes its annual report."The weakest area and the area I'm most concerned about is teaching," says chief inspector Christine Gilbert.The National Union of Teachers said teachers did an "amazing job" and inadequate teaching was the exception rather than the rule.In schools, Ofsted found that teaching in 50% of secondary schools inspected in the past year and 43% of primary schools was no better than satisfactory."Too much teaching is still not good enough and does not deliver what we now expect of it," said Ms Gilbert."It is true that we expect more from schools and colleges today and more from our teachers. But we also know a lot more about how to deliver good, inspiring lessons that motivate and engage children, young people and adult learners."It's vital that teachers are supported to provide them as a matter of course."She said that too many schools, even those rated good, "tolerate pockets of poor teaching".

The report also noted that teaching was often weak in schools where behaviour was poor.'Sensationalist spin'It comes a day before the government is due to publish a White Paper on schools reform, including a shake-up of teacher training.The Ofsted report called for more work to disseminate best practice on teaching within and between schools.Education Secretary Michael Gove said the report was "a ringing endorsement" of government plans to allow senior staff to observe more lessons"Too much teacher training involves... teachers being told how to comply with government criteria... teachers need to learn from other teachers," said Mr Gove.However, Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said government targets contributed to dull lessons."When you look beyond the sensationalist spin on the quality of teaching on our schools, 'inadequate teaching' is the exception rather than the rule," she said.

"If there is anything that is 'dull and uninspiring' in our schools it is a curriculum that is narrowed by the series of hoops that schools have to jump through in order to satisfy arbitrary targets which can change with alarming regularity," she said.Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said judgements about the quality of teaching and learning were still too often based on "snap-shot impressions of excerpts of lessons".

Tougher inspections

Overall across England, including schools inspected in previous years, Ofsted said 68% of schools were now rated either good or outstanding.This year, Ofsted has toughened its inspections and has targeted them more on schools rated inadequate and adequate than in previous years.This means this year's figures are not directly comparable to previous years.Schools previously rated good or outstanding were given limited checks, rather than full inspections.When these schools were included, Ofsted said that the overall profile of schools' quality remained similar to last year - with 18% classed as outstanding, 47% as good, 29% satisfactory and 6% inadequate.However, the number of schools in special measures has risen from 193 to 300, while the number given "notice to improve" has risen from 167 to 276.

Mr Gove said this was "simply unacceptable", even given the new inspection regime.

However, Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), said: "Once again Ofsted seems to enjoy denigrating the standard of schools in England regardless of the reality and its own findings... we should be celebrating that so many schools are doing so well."The report also points out that schools in poorer areas still lag behind those in wealthier ones, with 71% of schools serving the most advantaged pupils classed as good or outstanding, compared to 46% serving the least advantaged.