Environmental Health

"U.S. researchers have discovered a genetic mutation unique to African Americans that could help explain why blacks are so susceptible to asthma."

"New studies in California and Wisconsin reveal a dirty little secret: Out of sight, many urban sewer pipes are failing and germ-ridden filth is bleeding out."

"It is the nation's first public health goal for hexavalent chromium, made infamous in 'Erin Brockovich.' The goal isn't an enforceable standard but will help develop one, an official says."

"Mossville Louisiana sits in the shadow of 14 petrochemical refineries. When residents felt the US Government wasn’t protecting their right to a healthy environment, they reached past the American regulators, legislators and courts to take their case to the highest human rights court in the western hemisphere."

"The results of an unprecedented study published yesterday in the Journal of The National Cancer Institute have been rocketing around the Internet: 'Study Sees No Cellphone-Cancer Ties' .... [But] at least two prominent environmental health groups believe the study is fundamentally flawed... [and] 'actually quite troubling.'" The study was funded in part by a cell phone industry group."

"The food-safety world knows there are a half-dozen or more lethal forms of E. coli ending up in our meat or on our leafy greens that are so virulent they can send people to the hospital and even kill them. But in the United States only one, E. coli O157:H7, is officially termed an adulterant, meaning any raw ground beef that tests positive for it cannot be sold for human consumption."

"Health and environmental groups have mounted a campaign against Bath & Body Works, urging the retailer to stop selling its line of 'Summertime Scent' soaps that contain triclosan, a chemical categorized as a pesticide."

As cash-strapped local governments in Florida cut their mosquito-control budgets, the fight against a surge in mosquito populations is getting ugly -- and mosquitos may be threatening both health and economic well-being.