Â鶹ŮÓÅ

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says consumers should avoid eating shellfish from Oregon and Washington state as they may be contaminated with toxins that cause paralytic shellfish poisoning. At least 31 people have been sickened in Oregon so far, according to state health officials. (Rush, 6/10)

At least eight people in four states have fallen ill after eating Diamond Shruumz-brand Microdosing Chocolate Bars, including several who had seizures or lost consciousness and needed to be placed on ventilators. People also developed high blood pressure and abnormal heart rates. The Food and Drug Administration has warned people against consuming the bars, which are sold online and in smoke shops across the country and come in flavors like birthday cake and cookies and cream. (Blum, 6/10)

In the first three months of 2024, there were 323 active drug shortages, the highest number since 2001, according to research by the University of Utah Drug Information Service. The drug shortage data, collected quarterly, is generated from reports from health-care professionals, most of them pharmacists at hospitals and health systems, said Erin Fox, the lead researcher and the Drug Information Service’s director. (McMahan, 6/10)

New surveillance data released today by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) shows dramatically rising antimicrobial resistance (AMR) amid a substantial increase in gonorrhea infections. Of the 4,396 Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates submitted by 23 European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) countries to the European Gonococcal Antimicrobial Surveillance Programme in 2022, 25.6% were resistant to azithromycin, compared with 14.2% in 2021. (Dall, 6/10)

If you have heard of titanium dioxide at all, you probably know it as an ingredient in sunscreen. But it is also used in lots of foods, from pizza and salsa to frosting and candy—and now, there is growing concern about the potential health risks of eating it. The ingredient helps block the sun’s rays when we slather it on our skin at the beach. Food makers use it to brighten up colors. ... Some research, mainly in animals, has suggested that eating it might be linked to immune system problems, inflammation and DNA damage that could lead to cancer. (Petersen, 6/10)

A large number of electric vehicles could worsen air quality in historically disadvantaged parts of Los Angeles, even though such broad adoption would have the opposite effect in other large U.S. cities, according to a new study. The peer-reviewed study, published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, examined how local air quality would change if the country’s most populous cities — New York, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles — adopted large numbers of EVs by 2035. (Ferris, 6/10)

For years, scientists on the hunt for microplastics have found them almost everywhere. First, they spotted tiny pieces of plastic in the ocean, in the bodies of fish and mussels. ... Now researchers are discovering that microplastics are floating around us. They are suspended in the air on city streets and inside homes. One study found that people inhale or ingest on average 74,000 to 121,000 microplastic particles per year through breathing, eating and drinking. (Ducroquet and Osaka, 6/10)

Â鶹ŮÓÅ Health News: Bird Flu Tests Are Hard To Get. So How Will We Know When To Sound The Pandemic Alarm? 

Stanford University infectious disease doctor Abraar Karan has seen a lot of patients with runny noses, fevers, and irritated eyes lately. Such symptoms could signal allergies, covid, or a cold. This year, there’s another suspect, bird flu — but there’s no way for most doctors to know. If the government doesn’t prepare to ramp up H5N1 bird flu testing, he and other researchers warn, the United States could be caught off guard again by a pandemic. (Maxmen and Allen, 6/11)