内容摘要：Vega tucked herself away in the back of her two-room home, hoping her daughter and mother — also vaccinated — wouldn’t get sick. She wishes people would think of others when considering vaccination.

Vega tucked herself away in the back of her two-room home, hoping her daughter and mother — also vaccinated — wouldn’t get sick. She wishes people would think of others when considering vaccination.

Recent layoffs also wiped out the staffs collecting data on in vitro fertilizations and abortions.Those cuts are especially surprising given that President Donald Trump said he

IVF access and that the Heritage Foundation’splaybook for his administration called for more abortion surveillance.The CDC eliminated its program on lead poisoning in children, which helped local health departments — through funding and expertise — investigate lead poisoning clusters and find where risk is greatest.

Lead poisoning in kids typically stems from exposure to bits of old paint, contaminated dust or drinking water that passes through lead pipes. But the program’s staff also played an important role in the investigation ofthat affected 500 kids.

Last year, Milwaukee health officials became aware that peeling paint in aging local elementary schools was endangering kids. The city health department began working with CDC to test tens of thousands of students. That assistance stopped last month when the CDC’s lead program staff was terminated.

City officials are particularly concerned about losing expertise to help them track the long-term effects.Research published in 2020 in the journal Environmental Health Insights showed synthetic hair let off volatile organic compounds — chemicals that can easily evaporate into the air — when heated. Synthetic hair is sealed when braided, either by burning it or dipping it in hot water. That study detected many of the same chemicals named in the Consumer Reports study, like the known carcinogen benzene.

Experts can’t answer whether the products are truly safe — but that’s because there’s so little research out there.There’s also little government oversight on the products, which leaves manufacturers to ensure that they’re safe. Consumer Reports is petitioning the Food and Drug Administration to begin regulating synthetic braiding hair.

Jasmine McDonald, a professor of epidemiology at Columbia University who has studied the health impacts of chemical hair straighteners, said the Consumer Reports study shouldn’t invoke fear but awareness about the potential harms of braiding hair, the lack of federal regulations and the minimal research.“I think that in our culture, we sometimes normalize things to the point where we don’t see the harm ... the more that we can raise awareness that some of these cultural routines could potentially provide harm is us having the potential to stop that harm,” McDonald said.