Researchers from the University of Montreal, including Sabrina Greivel, conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of scientific publications on this issue. They concluded that occupational exposure to pesticides is associated with an increased probability of developing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
A search was carried out in several major databases, such as BIOSIS Toxicology, CAB Abstracts, Current Contents Search, Embase, ISST, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global, PubMed, and Scopus, to conduct the analysis. Eight case-control studies covering a total of 1734 cases were included in the final analysis.
The quality of these studies was assessed using the WHO RoB methodology. Subsequently, the collected data were combined using random-effects models with restricted maximum likelihood. The results of this study were officially published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
Milk is a daily consumption product used in household life from morning till evening—from making tea to producing yogurt, cheese, and sweets. It is also included in children's diet to replenish calcium deficiency. However, there is a danger that the milk consumed daily may pose a threat to health due to the presence of various harmful chemical substances.
Recently, Tukaram Mundhe, Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration of Maharashtra (FDA), made several shocking statements in a podcast about synthetic milk. He reported that some individuals prepare fake milk at a lower cost and mix it with real milk for sale.
Tukaram Mundhe stated that since taking office on May 25, the Maharashtra FDA has been conducting continuous inspections. The department inspects more than twenty locations daily, and so far, over 1131 inspections have been carried out. During these checks, food raw materials worth about 49.57 crore rupees were seized, and approximately 1.6 lakh liters of suspicious milk with additives were discovered.
In the podcast, Tukaram Mundhe revealed that during inspections, officials uncovered an entire parallel network producing synthetic milk from chemicals and counterfeit materials, in addition to real milk. This indicates that the counterfeit milk was prepared not due to a minor error, but as part of a large-scale illegal business.
According to him, some people use skimmed milk powder, chemicals, emulsifiers, caustic soda, and even substances like shampoo to create a mixture that is externally indistinguishable from real milk. Milk prepared this way costs significantly less than natural milk. Synthetic milk resembling cow's milk can cost around 15 rupees per liter, and goat-milk imitating milk can cost around 30 rupees per liter, whereas real cow's milk is sold in the market for a price of 40 to 50 rupees per liter. Thus, some try to make extra profit by mixing adulterants with real milk, which is an absolutely illegal and shameful act.
Possibility of additives at different levels
He also noted that such contamination does not occur in just one place; inspections showed that additives can be introduced at various stages—from the farmer level to milk collection and cooling centers. Only after this does the counterfeit milk reach dairy plants, from where other dairy products are then produced.
FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe believes that the most effective way to curb the trade of fake milk is by implementing a traceability system, i.e., keeping track of the source of every drop of milk. Until it is established which farmer and which animal the milk came from, completely stopping counterfeiting will be difficult.
He added that milk collection centers already have records of how many cattle (cows or buffaloes) each farmer owns and what the total volume of milk collected was. These records are now being applied more strictly in Maharashtra. Digital technologies can greatly assist in combating milk adulteration, as they simplify the record-keeping of the number of cows and buffaloes in villages, as well as their average yields. This will allow for easy tracking of daily milk collection, and if the registered volume is exceeded, an inspection can be immediately conducted. Furthermore, he mentioned digital tagging of animals under the National Mission on Digital Livestock, which can largely prevent counterfeit milk from entering the market.
The French Ministry of Health reported that the Pasteur Institute's National Center for Hantavirus Control confirmed a new case of hantavirus infection that may be transmissible between humans.
A man who initially presented with minor symptoms and is now asymptomatic was isolated with his family in Spain following a tourist trip to France. Authorities are reconstructing the patient's movements to identify possible contacts and determine necessary public health measures.
The Ministry specified that a group of scientific experts, together with the French General Directorate of Health and Public Health, met today to decide on the actions and management measures to be taken regarding this imported case. Furthermore, French authorities announced coordination at the European level.
The Ministry has not yet established a link between this new case, found in a traveler from France and Argentina, and the hantavirus outbreak registered in the spring on the cruise ship MV Hondius, which departed from Argentina in April, resulting in three deaths and at least 13 infections. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared this outbreak over in early July after the last affected person was discharged from quarantine.
Hantaviruses are usually transmitted to humans through contact with infected rodents or their secretions; the Andean variant is being closely monitored by health authorities due to its potential for human-to-human transmission. Currently, there is no vaccine or specific antiviral treatment, so cases are treated primarily with supportive care.
Today, the French Ministry of Health also announced that a French citizen who contracted the virus during the MV Hondius outbreak was discharged from the intensive care unit of a Paris hospital after nearly three months. This retired woman was repatriated in May in serious condition along with four other French citizens who did not fall ill and has now been moved to a recovery ward.
French authorities emphasized that currently, no connection has been found between the new case identified in the traveler from France and Argentina and the outbreak that occurred on the ship.
