Environmental Health

"Massive legal loophole means companies can add new ingredients to foods with no government safety review".

"At least nine oil workers have died since 2010 from inhaling toxic amounts of vapors while measuring crude oil in storage tanks at well sites, according to new findings by federal researchers."

"HINKLEY, Calif. -- Maneuvering his pickup through this Mojave Desert town, resident Daron Banks pointed at empty lot after empty lot."

"Home improvement chain Lowe's Cos Inc will stop selling a type of pesticide suspected of causing a decline in honeybee populations needed to pollinate key American crops, following a few U.S. retailers who have taken similar steps last year."

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has sounded the alarm on a common foodborne illness that has acquired a new and challenging type of drug resistance—and the discovery betrays the difficulty, not just of finding new treatments, but of tracking resistance as it moves around the world."

"Traceability in the food system is the goal, but questions remain since the E. coli outbreak in spinach nine years ago."

"After thousands of people were sickened by tainted eggs, peanut butter and spinach, Congress passed a sweeping food safety law in 2010 that gave the Food and Drug Administration new powers to prevent additional outbreaks. But lawmakers have not provided enough money for the mission."

"New research from investigators at the University of Alabama at Birmingham suggests that Corexit EC9500A, an oil-dispersal agent widely used in the Gulf of Mexico following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, contributes to damage to epithelium cells within the lungs of humans and gills of marine creatures."

"As the public has learned of health risks tied to chemicals in everyday products, many companies have responded by eliminating, one by one, the suspected cancer causers, brain damagers and hormone disruptors. But even prompt action doesn't entirely appease some health experts, who warn of a problematic pattern."

"James Osborn has just one question: 'Would you drink it?' 'It' being a mysterious brown sludge -- allegedly fracking fluid -- that Osborn brought in a foam cup to a public hearing in Sidney, Nebraska, in front of the state Oil and Gas Conservation Commission on Tuesday."