- Tuesday, December 30, 2008 : F.D.A. to reconsider plastic bottle risk.
Weeks after its own advisory board accused the FDA of failing to adequately consider research about the dangers of bisphenol-A in plastic baby bottles, food containers and metal can linings, the agency has agreed to reconsider the issue. New York Times. Registration Required. 12.24.08
- Thursday, December 04, 2008 : Lead, other chemicals remain in many toys.
Holiday toy-shopping stress is sure to ratchet up with a new report on toxic toys issued today. Nearly one-third of the popular toys tested contain medium to high levels of lead, cadmium, mercury or other potentially dangerous chemicals. Minneapolis Star Tribune, Minnesota. 12.04.08
- Tuesday, December 02, 2008 : Media bombardment is linked to ill effects during childhood.
A detailed report of nearly 30 years of research from the National Institutes of Health and Yale University found strong connections between media exposure and problems of childhood obesity and tobacco use. Washington Post [Registration required[ 12.02.08
- Monday, December 01, 2008 : Pregnant women warned off make-up.
Growing concerns over the exposure of pregnant women to chemicals that may lead to birth defects have prompted calls for a new EU-wide cosmetics labelling system which would mark out some products as off-limits to mothers-to-be. London Independent, United Kingdom. 11.29.08
- Monday, November 24, 2008 : A recipe for disaster-how our food gets to the grocery shelf and why we don’t know what is in it.
Getting a single product on a grocery-store shelf may involve a dozen suppliers with uncertain health standards. The story of a Whole Foods chocolate bar shows how consumers are at the mercy of a food chain with little accountability and labels that are not policed for accuracy. Chicago Tribute. 11.24.08
- Monday, November 24, 2008 : Fact or fiction?: Cell phones can cause brain cancer.
Health officials recently clashed during a hearing before the House Subcommittee on Domestic Policy held to determine whether mobile phones are safe. Scientific American. 11.21.08
- Monday, November 24, 2008 : Toxic contamination starts at home.
When women from 120 middle-class homes learned their bodies contained low levels of toxic chemicals, most of them blamed chemical spills, waste dumping or secret military experiments. Canwest News Service, Canada. 11.22.08
- Monday, November 24, 2008 : Stomping through a medical minefield-children’s vaccines, are they safe?
Paul Offit believes passionately in the safety of vaccines; his enemies, many of them parents who blame these shots for their children's autism, do not. Newsweek. 11.21.08
- Wednesday, November 19, 2008 : Some toys with banned plastics will stay on market.
A new federal ban on the use of the controversial chemical phthalate in teethers, pacifiers and other children's products won't apply to goods already in warehouses or on store shelves. Washington Post. Nov. 19, 2008.
- Monday, November 17, 2008 : BPA leaches from ‘safe’ products-baby bottles, other plastics.
Products marketed for infants or billed as "microwave safe" release toxic doses of the chemical bisphenol A when heated, an analysis by the Journal Sentinel has found. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 11.16.08
- Thursday, November 13, 2008 : Experts fear economy may spur sales of unsafe toys.
Federal safety officials worry that the economic downturn will drive discount-seeking parents to buy used toys tainted by lead or with dangerous designs. Associated Press Nov. 13, 2008
- Thursday, November 13, 2008 : Female fetuses are sensitive to hormone disrupters.
A new study indicates that exposure in the womb to chemicals that disrupt the endocrine system may be an important factor in painful and costly reproductive diseases that affect a majority of adult women in the U.S. Environmental Science and Technology. Nov.13, 2008
- Wednesday, November 12, 2008 : Child obesity a strong warning of developing heart disease at an early age.
The thickness of artery walls of children and teenagers who are obese or have high cholesterol resembled the thickness of artery walls of an average 45-year-old. New York Times [registration required] 11.12.08
- Wednesday, November 05, 2008 : Infant formula wars and unregulated plastics in them-BPA.
Scientists dissatisfied with the Food and Drug Administration's role in failing to regulate a plastics hardener, bisphenol A, are going directly to infant formula manufacturers. San Francisco Chronicle. 11.5.08
- Tuesday, November 04, 2008 : Tainted toys get another turn.
More than 20 million toys were recalled last year due to problems ranging from toxic lead paint to magnets lethal when swallowed. Some toy makers abandoned their products, but some just relaunched the toys with new names. Wall Street Journal. Subscription needed-pain in the neck. October 31, 2008
- Tuesday, November 04, 2008 : Conflicting studies on possible health threats send mixed signals to cell phone users.
Almost 80 percent of American teens have a mobile device, mostly provided by a parent with safety in mind. But are they safe? Cleveland Plain Dealer 11/5/08
- Monday, November 03, 2008 : Lead-free? Faucets are anything but.
Commercial and almost all home drinking-water fixtures are made from brass, even if they carry a plated veneer of chrome, nickel or brushed aluminum. In the U.S., that brass can contain up to 8 percent lead — as long as it doesn’t leach more than 11 ppb of the metal into drinking water. Science News. 11.4.08
- Wednesday, October 29, 2008 : Scientific panel criticizes FDA report that labels bisphenol A safe.
The Food and Drug Administration ignored valuable studies when it concluded last summer that bisphenol A is a safe chemical, a panel of scientists said in a report to be released today. Milwaukee Journal. 10.29.08 [The link below is correct, you may have to paste it into your browser.]
- Tuesday, October 14, 2008 : Do food dyes affect kids’ behavior?
New research suggests a link between artificial food coloring and hyperactive behavior in children. Some experts are skeptical. LA Times, registration required, 10.12.08
- Tuesday, October 14, 2008 : Plastic chemical [BPA] may interfere with chemotherapy.
Bisphenol A, a chemical widely used in hard plastic drinking bottles and the lining of food cans, may reduce the effectiveness of chemotherapy treatment, a new study shows. New York Times, 10.12.08, registration required.
