Facts, not fear: Inside Mexico's pioneering drug harm reduction programs
The initiative, known as 'Checa tu Sustancia' (Check Your Substance), is one of several recent efforts by Mexican civil society to reduce risk among people taking drugs. Spearheaded by the Instituto RIA, a Mexico-based drug policy research and advocacy organization, it aims to address drug use from a public health and social justice perspective, rather than a security one.
In a well-lit corner of the festival, members of the Instituto RIA used reagents and laboratory porcelain plates to test substances that some of the partygoers planned to use and recorded the data. Their analysis uses color changes to indicate what's in the drug: It can reveal the presence of adulterants but not their exact proportion.
They also offered test strips that can detect the presence of fentanyl and nasal sprays of naloxone, a medication designed to rapidly reverse opioid overdose.
Also available were informational flyers detailing the effects of various psychoactive substances and what to do to reduce the risks associated with using them, including simple but critical measures like staying hydrated and eating well.
While some partygoers seemed wary of the initiative, others approached it with curiosity.
'(There is) amazement, but also a little bit of fear, because there is a whole context of criminalization,' said social psychology student Jessica Reyes Moreno, 27, a volunteer with Checa tu Sustancia.
When unexpected substances are detected, users receive detailed information on what they are, about their risks, potential interactions with other substances and dosage adjustments, empowering them to make informed choices.
Harm reduction vs. abstinence
When people understand that the focus is not on prohibiting but on offering information and safe, non-judgmental spaces where they can be heard, trust is built, said Reyes Moreno.
"I think it's information we should have. Because (drug use) is taboo, and if we're uninformed, we can overdose,' said a 34-year-old Mexican partygoer, who requested anonymity due to his use of illicit substances.
He said he feels there isn't enough information about illegal drugs in Mexico, and when there is, it's either confusing or all stigma. "It's just 'Don't do it,' but there's no such thing as 'If you do it, take this precaution.''
The 'don't do it' approach sees abstinence as the solution. In contrast, harm reduction, as defined by Harm Reduction International, aims to minimize the negative health, social and legal effects of substance use by working with people without judgment or requiring them to stop using drugs.
The approach focuses more on people — and their communities— than on the substance.
'We never say, 'you shouldn't consume this,'' said Zara Snapp, a political scientist and director of the Instituto RIA. 'The best way to reduce your risks is not to consume at all. But if you have made the decision to consume, we want you to have as much information as possible so you can take care of yourself.'
'Choose to be happy'
The prohibitionist, hardline approach of the war on drugs in Mexico has led to the perception of the user as someone who is necessarily associated with drug trafficking or criminal activities.
Earlier this year, Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum unveiled her government's latest anti-drug campaign, 'Stay away from drugs. Fentanyl kills,' which centers on the synthetic opioid responsible in its deadliest year for more than 70,000 overdose deaths each year in the U.S. — now down to an estimated 52,000 deaths a year.
Aimed at young Mexicans, the campaign frames drug use as a public health issue, but some of the videos and glowing neon billboards show scenarios in which death and loneliness (drug use) are contrasted with life and family (not using drugs). They read, 'Choose to be happy.'
'It's not that if I use drugs I won't be happy, or if I stop using drugs I'll be happy,' said Lilia Pacheco, operational director of PrevenCasa A.C., a Tijuana-based organization that runs harm-reduction initiatives for opioid users, mostly deportees from the United States who report that they started using in that country.
'How can we say that to someone who is using because they are cold, hungry or in withdrawal?' she said.
Mexico's health department did not immediately respond to inquiries regarding concerns that its latest campaign stigmatizes drug use.
Dr. Carlos Magis, a professor at Mexico's National Autonomous University's medical school and member of a working group on opioids, said that stigma poses serious challenges. He cited examples of health workers refusing treatment without abstinence, limited access to naloxone or the scarcity of public methadone clinics.
Breaking down fear and social isolation
A recent report by the Mexican Observatory of Mental Health and Drug Use, found that between 2013 and 2024, 5,901 people in Mexico were treated for emergencies related to opioid use, with it trending up.
PrevenCasa reduces harm not by asking users to stop using, but by showing that their lives matter by providing them with safe injection equipment, showers, toiletries and social events like Friday movie nights.
'These interventions improve quality of life, unlike a sign that says 'fentanyl kills you,'" said Pacheco. 'The right to health should be universal.'
Both Pacheco and Snapp emphasized that collective care is at the heart of harm reduction efforts. Whether practiced in the facilities of organizations working on the border or at electronic music festivals, the goal is to break down social isolation and fear in concrete ways.
'This is a service that will save lives...it's very forward-thinking,' said a 43-year-old man, who requested anonymity because he is a user of illicit substances, after members of Instituto RIA tested his ecstasy at a recent festival.
He said that drug testing kits are available in the United States, where he's from, but that in his experience so far, it's something people mostly do on their own or behind closed doors.
The visibility and organization of Checa tu Sustancia was a surprise to him.
'I feel good that I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm just here to have fun, but now with peace of mind,' he said with a smile. He then rejoined his friends and disappeared into the dancing crowd.
____
Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Caterina Morbiato, The Associated Press
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Politico
5 hours ago
- Politico
Playbook: A name to remember
Presented by With help from Eli Okun, Bethany Irvine and Ali Bianco Good morning. It's Sunday. This is Zack Stanton. Get in touch. THE CONVERSATION: From restricting food dyes and ultra-processed foods to tackling what he calls the 'child vaping epidemic,' FDA Commissioner Marty Makary wants to 'go bold,' he tells Playbook's Dasha Burns on today's episode of 'The Conversation.' But it's another part of their discussion that may yet prove to be the most consequential if it comes to fruition as government policy: backing research and funding into women's health. 'It does feel like the system just doesn't think specifically about the very particular needs of women's bodies and doesn't do enough research into this,' Makary told Dasha. 'We got hormone replacement therapy [for menopausal and perimenopausal women] wrong for 22 years, scaring women, saying that, you know, 'it increases your risk of dying of breast cancer' when no clinical trial has ever supported that finding,' he said. More from POLITICO's Katherine Long … Subscribe to 'The Conversation' on YouTube, Apple Podcasts or Spotify DRIVING THE DAY A NAME YOU WILL REMEMBER: There can be a temptation in Washington-centric journalism to focus on those people with power. This morning, the most important thing you can read is about someone who had none: Zainab Abu Halib. At the time of her death on Friday in Gaza, the 5-month-old weighed less than 4.4 pounds — two pounds under her birth weight, her eyes sunken, her ankle smaller than an adult's thumb. She was the latest of 85 children in Gaza to die of malnutrition-related causes amid mass starvation, report AP's Samy Magdy and Mariam Dagga. She will not be the last. 'With my daughter's death, many will follow,' her mother, Esraa Abu Halib, told the AP. 'Their names are on a list that no one looks at. They are just names and numbers. We are just numbers. Our children, whom we carried for nine months and then gave birth to, have become just numbers.' 'The expression 'skin and bones' doesn't do it justice,' Nick Maynard, a British surgeon volunteering at the same hospital at which Zainab died, told NYT's Patrick Kingsley and colleagues. He was describing his shock at treating another infant, a skeletal 7-month-old. 'I saw the severity of malnutrition that I would not have thought possible in a civilized world. This is man-made starvation being used as a weapon of war and it will lead to many more deaths unless food and aid is let in immediately.' 'I don't know what you would call it other than mass starvation, and it's man-made, and that's very clear,' World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said this week at a press conference, per WaPo. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu's government repudiates that narrative. 'Israel rejects the false accusations of 'starvation' propaganda initiated by Hamas which manipulates pictures of children suffering from terminal diseases,' the Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement last night. 'It is shameful.' But it's an undeniable reality that, for Gazans, hunger has been drastically more widespread since the expiration of a six-week ceasefire in March, after which Israel reimposed a blockade on the territory. 'Beginning in late May, U.N. humanitarian efforts were replaced by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli- and U.S.-backed aid distribution system,' report WaPo's Ruby Mellen and colleagues. 'Critics have warned that the foundation — which is registered as a nonprofit but is backed by entities hoping to profit from the relief effort — transports inadequate aid to Palestinians under a flawed setup that forces them to risk their lives for provisions.' Since May, Israel has allowed in an average of 69 aid trucks a day, per AP's Wafaa Shurafa and colleagues — 'far below the 500 to 600 trucks a day the U.N. says are needed for Gaza.' Today, at this very moment, we're in a brief 10-hour window during which Israel has paused military operations in parts of Gaza to allow aid into the territory, Reuters' Nidal Al-Mughrabi and colleagues report. After global outcry over the spiraling humanitarian catastrophe, Israel announced this morning that humanitarian pauses will continue on a daily basis until further notice. Key members of Netanyahu's government disagree with that decision. 'This is a capitulation to Hamas' deceitful campaign,' far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said in a statement. He went on to repeat — in Reuters' words — 'his call to choke off all aid to Gaza, conquer the entire territory and encourage its Palestinian population to leave.' But the international pressure on Netanyahu is mounting. And there are key questions that could change the situation substantially: What, if anything, does President Donald Trump want to do? Will he pressure Israel to come to the table and broker a ceasefire? Trump, who is in Scotland, is due to meet tomorrow with British PM Keir Starmer. Their discussion, per the Telegraph's Dominic Penna, will focus on the U.K.-U.S. trade deal, further support for Ukraine and the urgent need for a ceasefire in Gaza. Pressure is mounting within the U.S., too, as the humanitarian disaster has stirred people across the political spectrum. Growing numbers of Democrats — including staunch defenders of Israel — are speaking out, as POLITICO's Gigi Ewing and Ben Johansen report. And conservative Ross Douthat used his influential Sunday NYT column today to write that 'Israel's warmaking at this moment is unjust.' Aid groups have welcomed the news of Israel's daily 10-hour pause during which they can bring food into the territory — the World Food Program says it has enough food en route to Gaza to feed the entire population for three months, per Haaretz — but broadly believe that a ceasefire is 'likely the only way to end the crisis,' NYT's Aaron Boxerman writes. Today, that 10-hour pause will end at 8 p.m. local time, or 1 p.m. Eastern. By then, perhaps, food will have been distributed and medicine delivered to hospitals. It will have come too late for Zainab Abu Halib. But there still may be time for others. 'I don't know what to say anymore,' her mother told CNN yesterday. 'How many innocent babies like Zainab should be starved to death so the world wakes up?' SUNDAY BEST … — Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on the tariff deadline coming up Friday, on 'Fox News Sunday': 'No extensions, no more grace periods. Aug. 1, the tariffs are set. They'll go into place. Customs will start collecting the money, and off we go. Obviously after Aug. 1, people can still talk to President Trump. I mean, he's always willing to listen. And between now and then, I think the president's going to talk to a lot of people. Whether they can make him happy is another question. But the president's definitely willing to negotiate and talk to the big economies, for sure.' — Speaker Mike Johnson on a possible pardon or commutation of Ghislaine Maxwell, on NBC's 'Meet the Press': 'I think 20 years was a pittance. I think she should have a life sentence at least. … Not my decision, but I have great pause about that, as any reasonable person would.' — Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) on Maxwell, on ABC's 'This Week': 'I have skepticism given she was indicted for perjury. Given she has a motive for getting a pardon. I didn't love that Todd Blanche was meeting with her, allegedly, one on one. But I'm for all the evidence coming out.' More from POLITICO's Gregory Svirnovskiy — OMB Director Russ Vought on whether the administration will release NIH funds for cancer and cardiovascular disease research that it has withheld after Congress appropriated them, on CBS' 'Face the Nation': 'The NIH was weaponized against the American people over the last several years … We have an agency that needs dramatic overhaul. Thankfully, we have a great new head of it, but we're going to have to go line by line to make sure the NIH is funded properly. … We're going to continue to go to the same process that we have gone through with regard to the Department of Education … and we will release that funding when we are done with that review.' TOP-EDS: A roundup of the week's must-read opinion pieces. 9 THINGS FOR YOUR RADAR 1. RED-LIGHT REDISTRICT: Democratic plans for emergency gerrymandering — an effort to counter Trump's drive to seize several seats in Texas and Missouri — are gathering speed, with California seen as the leading option, POLITICO's Liz Crampton and colleagues report. In the Golden State, '[l]awmakers and operatives who were initially caught off guard or skeptical of [Gov. Gavin] Newsom's proposal are increasingly becoming convinced California has the authority and the political will.' Dems' next-best option would be New York, with possibly Maryland and New Jersey down the list, while state lawmakers in Colorado, Minnesota and Washington say no. But but but: There remain legal and political hurdles for Democrats to mount a gerrymander anywhere, including in California — and that's putting it mildly. The party's debate over the issue may slam into those realities. But the desperation is real, NBC's Adam Edelman reports from the National Governors Association summer meeting in Colorado Springs. Hawaii Gov. Josh Green says outright that Republicans are trying to steal the election and Dems must 'fight fire with fire.' 2. RACE FOR THE STATES: Republican operatives in Pennsylvania are in panic mode about another potential Doug Mastriano gubernatorial bid — and whether his down-ballot effect could cost the GOP the House, POLITICO's Holly Otterbein reports. Their fear is that the far-right state senator could again win a primary and again get clobbered by Josh Shapiro, who's now the popular incumbent. State Treasurer Stacy Garrity could be the establishment Republican pick. Some Trump advisers are concerned, and local Republicans hope Trump will endorse Garrity. But Mastriano says that's not true: 'I have President Trump's direct line,' he writes. 'And he ain't saying this.' On the left coast: In California, some Democrats are batting about similar — if much less dire — concerns about a potential Kamala Harris gubernatorial bid, CNN's Isaac Dovere reports. Harris has plenty of enthusiastic allies, but her critics worry that she'll be saddled with Joe Biden-era baggage and motivate Republicans to turn out, damaging Democrats in swing House races. 3. THE LEGACY OF DOGE: At the NGA meeting, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. offered a rare candid glimpse into the budgetary tensions that may exist within the Trump administration, POLITICO's Shia Kapos writes in. Kennedy acknowledged he's hardly enthusiastic about the cuts being taken to his agency. 'If it were up to me, I wouldn't cut anything in my department,' he told the governors and attendees during the meeting yesterday. 'With the exception of maybe [Education Secretary] Linda McMahon, there's nobody else in the Cabinet who wants to see any of their budgets cut.' McMahon spoke at the conference Friday. The comment earned the biggest laugh of the day — a light moment in a conference that was otherwise focused on serious stuff. Kennedy also talked about chronic disease, healthful school lunches and the mystery of peanut allergies. What he didn't talk about: his take on vaccines. The summer gathering also featured tech billionaire Mark Cuban, who spoke about artificial intelligence, and Mehmet Oz, now the top official at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, who huddled with governors behind closed doors. Also in the DOGE house: The Department of Government Efficiency is now using an AI tool to rifle through hundreds of thousands of federal regulations — with the goal of cutting half of them outright by determining which rules aren't required by law, WaPo's Hannah Natanson and colleagues scooped. Administration spokespeople say no final decisions have yet been made. Meanwhile, a much-diminished CFPB isn't just trying to cut rules but also retreating from enforcement of existing ones — deregulation by another (easier) name, WSJ's Scott Patterson reports. 4. FOR YOUR RADAR: 'Trump says Thailand, Cambodia agree to hold immediate ceasefire talks,' by Reuters' Shoon Naing and colleagues: 'Thailand's acting prime minister, Phumtham Wechayachai, thanked Trump and said Thailand 'agrees in principle to have a ceasefire in place' but 'would like to see sincere intention from the Cambodian side.' … Trump said he had spoken to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Phumtham and warned them that he would not make trade deals with either if the border conflict continued.' 5. FOR PETE'S SAKE: The turmoil inside the upper echelons of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's paranoid Pentagon is far from over. As Hegseth focused on polygraph tests to root out leakers to the press this spring, the White House ordered his team to stop when Hegseth senior adviser Patrick Weaver (a Stephen Miller ally) told them he was worried about being targeted, WaPo's Dan Lamothe and Ellen Nakashima scooped. And Hegseth has refused to promote Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims — first over suspicion of leaking, of which Sims was cleared, and then over Sims' ties to Mark Milley, NYT's Greg Jaffe and colleagues report. Even an intervention by Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Dan 'Razin' Caine couldn't move Hegseth on Sims, who's now likely to retire. 'Mr. Hegseth's actions could shape the military's top ranks for years to come. His insistence on absolute loyalty, backed with repeated threats of polygraphs, also creates uncertainty and mistrust that threaten to undermine the readiness and effectiveness of the force, officials said.' 6. ABOUT THAT QATAR JET: 'What Will It Cost to Renovate the 'Free' Air Force One? Don't Ask,' by NYT's David Sanger and Eric Schmitt: 'Officially, and conveniently, the price tag has been classified. But even by Washington standards, where 'black budgets' are often used as an excuse to avoid revealing the cost of outdated spy satellites and lavish end-of-year parties, the techniques being used to hide the cost of Mr. Trump's pet project are inventive. Which may explain why no one wants to discuss a mysterious, $934 million transfer of funds from one of the Pentagon's most over-budget, out-of-control projects — the modernization of America's aging, ground-based nuclear missiles.' 7. KNIVES OUT FOR PENNY PRITZKER: The leader of Harvard's Corporation and Democratic former Commerce secretary could be targeted for removal by the Trump administration in an eventual deal between Washington and Harvard, NYT's Anemona Hartocollis reports. And on campus, some professors think having Pritzker step down would be a relatively small and painless concession for Harvard to make, since it wouldn't encroach on academic autonomy. But Pritzker would have to choose to step down, and she has plenty of allies in Cambridge. 'Friends said she was unlikely to give in.' 8. BANNED AID: 'Trump administration to destroy birth control intended as aid,' by WaPo's Maham Javaid and colleagues: 'The family-planning supplies, which include more than 50,000 intrauterine devices, nearly 2 million doses of injectable contraceptives, nearly 900,000 implantable contraceptive devices and more than 2 million packets of oral birth control, are worth about $9.7 million … The government of Belgium, the United Nations and humanitarian groups say they tried to stop the destruction of the contraceptives, which they say are needed in much of the developing world.' 9. SUNDAY READ: 'ICE Took Half Their Work Force. What Do They Do Now?' by NYT's Eli Saslow: 'For more than a decade, Glenn Valley [Foods]'s production reports had told a story of steady ascendance — new hires, new manufacturing lines, new sales records for one of the fastest-growing meatpacking companies in the Midwest. But, in a matter of weeks, production had plummeted by almost 70 percent. Most of the work force was gone. Half of the maintenance crew was in the process of being deported, the director of human resources had stopped coming to work, and more than 50 employees were being held at a detention facility in rural Nebraska.' TALK OF THE TOWN LIFESTYLES OF THE RICH AND POWERFUL — 'Diary of a Foreigner in Rome,' by Air Mail's Mattia Ferraresi: 'Tilman Fertitta, the U.S. ambassador to Italy, is yet to move into Villa Taverna, according to Italian-media reports. The sumptuous Roman villa … is rumored to have been deemed a dump uninhabitable by the Texas multi-billionaire, who insists it needs major renovation. He has allegedly taken up residence on Boardwalk, his 250-foot-long yacht sailing under the flag of the Cayman Islands and moored in the port of Civitavecchia, some 60 miles north of Rome. Fertitta's helicopter commute has quickly become the latest buzz in Rome's power circles.' OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED in owner Mark Ein's box at the Mubadala Citi DC Open quarterfinals Friday at Carter Barron to watch Frances Tiafoe play Ben Shelton: Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), Antony Blinken, Steve Ricchetti, Venus Williams, Gerry Baker, Margaret Carlson, Gene Sperling, Sally Ein, Charlie Ein, Chloe Ein, Alli Andresen and Mary Currie. WHITE HOUSE ARRIVAL LOUNGE — Harry Jung is now senior policy adviser at the President's Council of Advisors on Digital Assets. He most recently was acting chief of staff at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Glenn 'G.T.' Thompson (R-Pa.) … Sean Savett … Priscilla Painton of Simon & Schuster … Katie Wheelbarger … Alex Wirth of Quorum … Andy Spahn … Paul McLeod … Cecilia Muñoz … retired Adm. Craig Faller … Johanna Persing … Jeremy Adler … Prime Policy Group's Stefan Bailey … John Connell of Sen. Todd Young's (R-Ind.) office … Linda Feldmann … Gaurav Parikh … Bobby Cunningham of the Vogel Group … Live Action's Lila Rose … Bobby Saparow … Jeremy Deutsch of Capitol Venture … Anna McCormack of Rep. David Rouzer's (R-N.C.) office … MSNBC's Denis Horgan … Juan Mejia … former Reps. Dave Brat (R-Va.) and Lacy Clay (D-Mo.) … Ashley Gonzalez … former Commerce Secretary Don Evans … CNN's Susan Durrwachter … former CIA Director John Deutch … Seth Waugh … Kate Thompson of the Russell Group … Air Force's Charlie McKell … Susan Phalen … Nicholas Anastácio of National Journal … Brayden Karpinski … POLITICO's Brian Tran-Dac … Andrew Grossman Send Playbookers tips to playbook@ or text us on Signal here. Playbook couldn't happen without our editor Zack Stanton, deputy Garrett Ross and Playbook Podcast producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.


New York Post
8 hours ago
- New York Post
Grow up in the ‘60s or ‘70s? This ‘dangerously high' exposure may have put your brain at risk
Prepare to fume. Leaded gasoline was widely used as car fuel in the US from the 1920s until the 1970s — it was phased out because it was found to be harmful to the environment and human health. It's taken decades for the extent of lead's toxicity to be fully understood. A new study adds to the grim news — if you lived in an area with high levels of atmospheric lead between 1960 and 1974, when leaded gas was at its peak, you're 20% more likely to suffer memory problems later in life. 4 This photo shows cars lining up at a California gas station on Sep. 21, 1973, during peak use of leaded fuel. AP 'Research suggests half the US population — more than 170 million people — were exposed to high lead levels in early childhood,' said Maria C. Carrillo, the Alzheimer's Association's chief science officer and medical affairs lead. 'This research sheds more light on the toxicity of lead related to brain health in older adults today.' Lead was initially added to gas in the early 1920s to improve engine performance and prevent a knocking or rattling sound that occurs when fuel burns unevenly in the engine's cylinders. It was eventually deemed dangerous to the maturing brains and nervous systems of young children, who experienced developmental, learning and behavioral difficulties. 4 Leaded gas was slowly phased out in the US for on-road vehicles before being banned in 1996. This photo is of an NYC gas station circa 1980. Getty Images Adults faced neurological and reproductive issues, and soil and water contamination persisted. The sale of leaded fuel for on-road vehicles was gradually reduced in the US over two decades, with a full ban taking effect in 1996. For the new study, University of Toronto researchers mapped historic atmospheric lead levels in the US. They compared this data to the memory difficulties that more than 600,000 residents 65 and over described from 2012 to 2021. Residents were only included in the analysis if they lived in their birth state. The study authors calculated that 17% to 22% of people in places with moderate, high or extremely high atmospheric lead levels reported memory problems. 'When I was a child in 1976, our blood carried 15 times more lead than children's blood today,' said Esme Fuller-Thomson, senior author of the study and director of the Institute for Life Course and Aging at the University of Toronto. 'An astonishing 88% of us had levels higher than 10 micrograms per deciliter, which are now considered dangerously high.' 4 A new study suggests that if you lived in an area with high levels of atmospheric lead between 1960 and 1974, when leaded gas was at its peak, you're 20% more likely to suffer memory problems later in life. wirojsid – The researchers — who are presenting their work this week at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC) in Toronto — recommend that those concerned about decades-old lead exposure focus on reducing other dementia risk factors, such as high blood pressure, smoking and loneliness. Over 6 million Americans have dementia, which gradually destroys memory, concentration and judgment skills. It's responsible for more than 100,000 deaths each year. Unfortunately, there's no easy way to measure long-term lead exposure. Lead levels in the blood primarily reflect recent or ongoing exposure. Lead is stored in the bones for significantly longer than in the blood — but that marker presents challenges. 'Some research studies have measured lead in the bone,' Dr. Eric Brown, lead study author, told The Post. 'This is done by using a technology called K-X-ray fluorescence, however, it is not available to the general public and is primarily a research tool, not a clinical tool.' What's more, leaded gas is still used in some aircraft and race cars — and lead pipes and paint remain a significant public health concern in many areas. 4 This photo from June 2020 shows lead paint chipping off a wall in Clifton, NJ. Christopher Sadowski A separate study shared at AAIC revealed that lead exposure — even at low levels — can contribute to the accumulation of abnormal tau and amyloid beta, proteins associated with Alzheimer's disease, in brain cells. And finally, another AAIC study found that older adults living about 3 miles from a lead-releasing facility — such as glass, ready-mixed concrete or computer and electronics manufacturers — face greater odds of memory and thinking problems than those living farther away. 'Our results indicate that lead exposure in adulthood could contribute to worse cognitive performance within a few years,' said Kathryn Conlon, senior study author and an associate professor of environmental epidemiology at UC Davis. 'Despite tremendous progress on lead abatement,' she added, 'studies have shown there is no safe level of exposure, and half of US children have detectable levels of lead in their blood.'


The Hill
9 hours ago
- The Hill
Israel begins a limited pause in fighting in 3 Gaza areas as concerns over hunger mount
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Israeli military on Sunday began a limited pause in fighting in three populated areas of Gaza for 10 hours a day, part of a series of steps launched as concerns over surging hunger in the territory mount and as Israel faces a wave of international criticism over its conduct in the 21-month war. The military said it would begin a 'tactical pause' in Gaza City, Deir al-Balah and Muwasi, three areas of the territory with large populations, to 'increase the scale of humanitarian aid' entering the territory. The pause begins every day at 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. local time until further notice, starting Sunday. The military also said that it would put in place secure routes for aid delivery and that it carried out aid airdrops into Gaza, which included packages of aid with flour, sugar and canned food. Food experts have warned for months of the risk of famine in Gaza, where Israel has restricted aid because it says Hamas siphons off goods to help bolster its rule, without providing evidence for that claim. Images emerging from Gaza in recent days of emaciated children have fanned global criticism of Israel, including by close allies, who have called for an end to the war and the humanitarian catastrophe it has spawned. The United Nations' food agency welcomed the steps to ease aid restrictions, but said a broader ceasefire was needed to ensure goods reached everyone in need in Gaza. Israel said the new measures were taking place while it continues its offensive against Hamas in other areas. Ahead of the pause, health officials in Gaza said at least 27 Palestinians were killed in separate strikes. 'This (humanitarian) truce will mean nothing if it doesn't turn into a real opportunity to save lives,' said Dr. Muneer al-Boursh, director general of Gaza's Health Ministry, who called for a flood of medical supplies and other goods to help treat child malnutrition. 'Every delay is measured by another funeral.' Israel has restricted aid to Gaza throughout the war The local pause in fighting came days after ceasefire efforts between Israel and Hamas appeared to be in doubt. On Friday, Israel and the U.S. recalled their negotiating teams, blaming Hamas, and Israel said it was considering 'alternative options' to ceasefire talks with the militant group. Israel says it is prepared to end the war if Hamas surrenders, disarms and goes into exile, something the group has refused to agree to. Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Merdawi said that Israel's change of tack on the humanitarian crisis amounted to an acknowledgement that there were starving Palestinians in Gaza and that the move was meant to improve its international standing and not save lives. He said that Israel 'will not escape punishment and will inevitably pay the price for these criminal practices.' After ending the latest ceasefire in March, Israel cut off the entry of food, medicine, fuel and other supplies completely to Gaza for 2 ½ months, saying it aimed to pressure Hamas to release hostages. Under international pressure, Israel slightly eased the blockade in May. Since then, it has allowed in around 4,500 trucks for the U.N. and other aid groups to distribute. The average of 69 trucks a day, however, is far below the 500 to 600 trucks a day the U.N. says are needed for Gaza. The U.N. says it has been unable to distribute much of the aid because hungry crowds and gangs take most of it from its arriving trucks. As a way to divert aid delivery away from the U.N.'s control, Israel has backed the U.S.-registered Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which in May opened four centers distributing boxes of food supplies. More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since May while trying to get food, mostly near those new aid sites, the U.N. human rights office says. Israel has railed against the U.N. throughout the war, saying that its system allowed Hamas to steal aid. The U.N. denies that claim and says its delivery mechanism was the best way to bring aid to Palestinians. The military said the new steps were made in coordination with the U.N. and other humanitarian groups. Much of Gaza's population, squeezed by fighting into ever tinier patches of land, now relies on aid. The World Food Program said in a statement that a third of Gaza's population of around 2 million were not eating for days and nearly half a million were enduring famine-like conditions. It said it had enough food in or on its way to the region to feed all of Gaza for nearly three months. At least 27 Palestinians killed in latest strikes, health officials say The Awda Hospital in Nuseirat said Israeli forces killed at least 11 people and wounded 101 as they were headed toward a GHF aid distribution site in central Gaza. GHF, which denies involvement in any of the violence near its sites, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The military said it was looking into the report. Elsewhere, a strike hit a tent sheltering a displaced family in the Asdaa area, northwest of the southern city of Khan Younis, killing at least nine people, according to Nasser Hospital. The dead included a father and his two children, and another father and his son, the hospital said. In Gaza City, a strike hit an apartment late Saturday in the city's western side, killing four people, including two women, said the Health Ministry's ambulance and emergency service. In Deir-al-Balah early Sunday, a strike on a tent near a desalination plant killed a couple and another woman, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital. The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the strikes. However, it usually blames Hamas for civilian casualties, saying the Palestinian militant group operates in populated areas. The military announced Sunday that another two soldiers were killed in Gaza, bringing the total number of soldiers killed since Oct. 7, 2023, to 898. The war began with Hamas' October 2023 attack on southern Israel, when militants killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages. Hamas still holds 50 hostages, more than half of them believed to be dead. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 59,700 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Its count doesn't distinguish between militants and civilians, but the ministry says that more than half of the dead are women and children. The ministry operates under the Hamas government. The U.N. and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.