Tuesday, February 11, 2025

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Chemical levels vary widely among Swedish youth

Published 27 January 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Chemicals are found in products such as makeup and skincare.

Levels of chemicals in Swedish youth vary widely, according to a doctoral thesis from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). Factors such as gender, place of birth and place of residence have a major impact on levels.

Chemicals are becoming increasingly common in our environment and accumulate in the human body through constant exposure. Despite their ubiquity, knowledge of their health effects is still limited.

In his doctoral thesis, Sebastian Pineda investigated chemical levels in Swedish adolescents, their exposure to these substances and potential health risks. The samples were collected via the Swedish National Food Agency’s project Riksmaten Ungdom.

Pineda’s research focused on long-lived chemicals that can stay in the body for years, including harmful metals and organic pollutants such as chlorinated, brominated or fluorinated substances, such as PFAS chemicals. He also studied short-lived chemicals that leave the body quickly but are found in everyday products such as makeup, skincare and plastics.

Country of birth can influence

The results show that Swedish adolescents are exposed to a “chemical cocktail” similar to that observed in other highly industrialized countries, such as the United States. However, factors such as gender and place of birth play a crucial role in the levels of different substances.

Young people born in Sweden or other industrialized countries had higher levels of persistent chemicals compared to young people born in developing countries.

– More surprisingly, country of birth also had a clear impact on levels of substances that are excreted from the body quite quickly. However, in our data, there is no information on possible sources of exposure that could help us explain this, said Pineda in a press release.

At the same time, some exceptions were noted, such as a breakdown product of DDT and a component of lindane two insecticides banned in Sweden. Young people born in developing countries had significantly higher levels of these substances compared to Swedish adolescents.

Different for girls and boys

The study revealed clear gender differences. For example, boys had higher levels of chromium, mercury and lead than girls. One possible explanation is that boys generally eat larger amounts of food and thus ingest more metals. Another explanation could be that older girls lose some chemicals through menstrual blood.

Girls generally had higher levels of chemicals found in makeup and skincare products, as well as higher levels of cadmium. In addition, the results showed that exposure to certain substances differs between northern and southern Sweden.

– Levels of these flame retardants and plastic chemicals were higher in young people in the north. We suspect that this is related to living conditions, as we know that the indoor environment is an important pathway for these substances, says Sebastian Pineda.

Chemical mixtures and the immune system

Pineda and his colleagues also investigated the potential impact of chemical mixtures on the immune system of adolescents in the context of vaccination. The study analyzed the link between exposure and antibody levels in the blood after vaccination against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (DTP), and measles and rubella (MR). However, the associations were considered weak and uncertain.

– The mixture exposures did not seem to be high enough to have a clear impact on the levels of antibodies against DTP and MMR, but my thesis is only a first investigation of possible chemical mixture effects on the complex immune system in adolescents, says Pineda.

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Sweden’s government offices are to be “gender mainstreamed”

Published today 11:49
– By Editorial Staff
Like his Red-Green predecessors, Ulf Kristersson is passionate about “equality” and “diversity initiatives” of various kinds.

Ulf Kristersson’s government is continuing with its much-criticized left-liberal initiatives this time it has decided that the Government Offices of Sweden must be “gender mainstreamed”.

All government ministers are responsible for ensuring that gender equality and the gender perspective have an impact in their respective areas of responsibility”, it states.

The government seems to be aware that “gender mainstreaming” is an unfamiliar concept to many ordinary Swedes, and therefore clarifies that it is based on the Council of Europe’s definition, which means the following:

(Re)organizing, improving, developing and evaluating decision-making processes so that a gender perspective is incorporated into all decision-making, at all levels and at all stages of the process, by the actors normally involved in decision-making”.

The goal of gender equality policy is for women and men to have equal power to shape society and their own lives. The Government’s main strategy for achieving the goals of gender equality policy is gender mainstreaming”, it states.

Female dominance

For example, the “gender perspective” must be taken into account in the budget process as well as in the management of public authorities and legislative work, in addition to EU and other international work, and gender equality work must be evaluated annually.

A first step in applying gender mainstreaming is to assess whether gender equality is relevant to the issue under consideration. When an issue is deemed to be relevant to gender equality, a gender equality perspective is applied in the preparation of the matter”, the Government writes.

However, many people have doubts about this initiative, its vague wording and question what the actual purpose is.

In the past, similar initiatives have been used to increase female representation in various positions of power. However, social media users argue that women are already a majority in all government departments, and wonder whether the idea is now to increase the proportion of men in the Cabinet Office.

Tuna to be made less toxic with new packaging method

Published yesterday 14:56
– By Editorial Staff
Tuna's high mercury levels have negative health effects for humans.

A new packaging containing the amino acid cysteine can reduce mercury levels in tuna, according to researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg. In the study, levels of the toxic substance dropped by up to 35%.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mercury is one of the ten most dangerous chemicals for humans. Seafood often contains mercury, and predatory fish such as tuna have particularly high levels. Exposure can damage the central nervous system, where children and fetuses are particularly vulnerable.

The Chalmers researchers investigated whether mercury levels in fish could be reduced by using “active packaging”. This means that the packaging material, such as a liquid in a can, interacts with the food. The technique has been used in the past to extend shelf life, but never to improve food safety.

Binding amino acid

In a previous study, researchers tested coating the inside of packaging with a layer of thiolated silica, a material with sulfur groups that bind strongly to mercury. However, the experiments failed because the mercury was too tightly bound in the fish tissue. So the researchers decided to add the amino acid cysteine instead.

– Knowing this, we decided to add an amino acid, cysteine, to an aqueous solution in which the fish meat can be stored. Our theory was that this would cause some of the mercury to be released from the meat and instead be bound in the solution and discarded. Further research on how to deal with the removed mercury is required in the future, says Przemysław Strachowski, a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Life Sciences at Chalmers at the time of the study, in a press release.

No extra production steps would be required with the new method. Photo: Towfiqu barbhuiya/Pexels

Reduced by 35 percent

The study, published in Global Challenges, shows that the amount of mercury removed increased as the surface area of the fish meat in contact with the cysteine solution increased. When the researchers tested ground tuna meat from ordinary cans, levels fell by 35%.

– The beauty of this type of packaging is that it is active while the product is on the shelf. No extra production steps would be needed if a method like this was used industrially, and the application of our results could increase the safety margin for fish consumption, says Strachowski.

Labeled a “global terrorist” and fired – now the man is suing Northvolt

Published 9 February 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Northvolt does not want to answer questions about its actions against Eklund.

Robert Eklund was one of three people linked to the national socialist organization Nordiska Motståndsrörelsen (Nordic Resistance Movement) who were labelled “global terrorists” by the US last summer.

As a result, he was fired from his job at Northvolt, which also stopped all salary payments – so Robert is now suing the struggling battery manufacturer.

During the summer, the US government designated the national socialist organization as a terrorist organization and three individuals, identified as leaders of the organization, were also designated as terrorists and thus subject to US sanctions.

The decision means, among other things, that US companies and individuals as well as companies subject to US laws and licenses are not allowed to have any financial dealings with the designated men and Eklund, who is no longer a member of the organization, was fired from his job as a maintenance technician.

The lawsuit also states that Northvolt stopped paying the man his salary and other benefits after the US announcement and he is therefore demanding more than SEK 600,000 (€52 000) in lost wages, benefits and damages.

Northvolt will not answer any questions about whether the US pressured the company to fire the man or why it suddenly stopped paying his salary. In a comment to the Bonnier newspaper Expressen, however, the communications department writes that it “does not comment on individual personnel matters”.

Since November 2024, the battery manufacturer has been involved in a so-called Chapter 11 process in the US, which can be compared to a reconstruction.

Drones monitor Stockholm – to protect “Israeli interests”

Published 9 February 2025
– By Editorial Staff
There is reportedly an increased threat to Israeli interests in Sweden.

There is an increased threat to Jewish and Israeli interests in Sweden, according to the police, who are therefore monitoring parts of Stockholm by drone for three months.

The surveillance areas and the timing mean that many people will be affected by it“, the police confirm.

Kungsträdgården, Blasieholmen, Östermalm and Diplomatstaden are some of the areas that will be under mass surveillance around the clock until the end of April – and the material recorded will be saved.

Due to recent events and the current international situation, the Police Authority has decided to increase the supervision of Israeli and Jewish interests in Sweden”, the decision states, and the area under surveillance includes the Great Synagogue and the Israeli Embassy.

The police also refer to a “sharp object” found at the embassy in January last year, a shooting that took place near the embassy in May and the alleged shooting of an Israeli company in Gothenburg in October.

Armed Israelis guard the synagogue

However, the police authority does not want to tell the public how extensive the drone surveillance is, as this is “covered by confidentiality”.

In December, it was reported that armed Israeli citizens are now guarding the Stockholm synagogue.

Despite not having undergone mandatory Swedish personal security training, the militia-like group is allowed to carry weapons on Swedish soil – and the police refuse to disclose information on the grounds that this “would disrupt relations with other countries”.