BackgroundDepleted uranium is being used increasingly often as a component of munitions in military conflicts. Military personnel, civilians and the DU munitions producers are being exposed to the DU aerosols that are generated.MethodsWe reviewed toxicological data on both natural and depleted uranium. We included peer reviewed studies and gray literature on birth malformations due to natural and depleted uranium. Our approach was to assess the "weight of evidence" with respect to teratogenicity of depleted uranium.ResultsAnimal studies firmly support the possibility that DU is a teratogen. While the detailed pathways by which environmental DU can be internalized and reach reproductive cells are not yet fully elucidated, again, the evidence supports plausibility. To date, human epidemiological data include case examples, disease registry records, a case-control study and prospective longitudinal studies.DiscussionThe two most significant challenges to establishing a causal pathway between (human) parental DU exposure and the birth of offspring with defects are: i) distinguishing the role of DU from that of exposure to other potential teratogens; ii) documentation on the individual level of extent of parental DU exposure. Studies that use biomarkers, none yet reported, can help address the latter challenge. Thoughtful triangulation of the results of multiple studies (epidemiological and other) of DU teratogenicity contributes to disentangling the roles of various potentially teratogenic parental exposures. This paper is just such an endeavor.ConclusionIn aggregate the human epidemiological evidence is consistent with increased risk of birth defects in offspring of persons exposed to DU.

This article identifies, and offers several ways to address, a serious, persistent issue in conservation: low levels of diversity in thought and action. We first describe the lack of diversity and highlight the continued separation of the environmental conservation and environmental justice movements. We then offer-based on previous research and our collective experience-two suggestions for how to increase inclusivity (a step farther than increasing diversity) in holistic ways. We suggest that embracing narrative, including historical narrative that can be profound and painful, may be essential to addressing this deeply rooted issue. We also suggest the need to redefine "environment" to more closely align with the diversity of perspectives that different people and disciplines bring to the topic. We support our suggestions with selected data from empirical research and provide examples of initiatives that embody them.

We found significant variability in risks among different low wage immigrant occupations. The type of occupation independently contributed to varying levels of risks among these jobs. We believe our findings to be conservative and recommend additional inquiry aimed at assuring the representativeness of our findings.

Climate change driven food insecurity has emerged as a topic of special concern in the Canadian Arctic. Inuit communities in this region rely heavily on subsistence; however, access to traditional food sources may have been compromised due to climate change. Drawing from a total of 25 interviews among Inuit elders and experienced hunters from Cambridge Bay and Kugluktuk in Nunavut, Canada, this research examines how climate change is impacting food sovereignty and health. Our results show that reports of food insecurity were more pronounced in Kugluktuk than Cambridge Bay. Participants in Kugluktuk consistently noted declining availability of preferred fish and game species (e.g., caribou, Arctic char), a decline in participation of sharing networks, and overall increased difficulty accessing traditional foods. Respondents in both communities presented a consistent picture of climate change compounding existing socio-economic (e.g., poverty, disconnect between elders and youth) and health stressors affecting multiple aspects of food sovereignty. This article presents a situated understanding of how climate change as well as other sociocultural factors are eroding food sovereignty at the community-scale in the Arctic. We argue that a communal focus is required to address resilience and adaptation at the local level through programs that protect the local cultural knowledge, traditional ways of life, and indigenous sovereignty to reduce the severities of food insecurity in the Arctic stemming from climate change.

This study explores the organization of work and occupational health risk as elicited from recently immigrated women (n = 8) who have been in the US for less than three years and employed in informal work sectors such as cleaning and factory work in the greater Boston area in Massachusetts. Additional interviews (n = 8) with Community Key Informants with knowledge of this sector and representatives of temporary employment agencies in the area provides further context to the interviews conducted with recent immigrant women. These results were also compared with our immigrant occupational health survey, a large project that spawned this study. Responses from the study participants suggest health outcomes consistent with being a day-laborer scholarship, new immigrant women are especially at higher risk within these low wage informal work sectors. A difference in health experiences based on ethnicity and occupation was also observed. Low skilled temporary jobs are fashioned around meeting the job performance expectations of the employer; the worker’s needs are hardly addressed, resulting in low work standards, little worker protection and poor health outcomes. The rising prevalence of non-standard employment or informal labor sector requires that policies or labor market legislation be revised to meet the needs presented by these marginalized workers.