Toxins are increasingly proving to be attractive sources of potentially life-saving drugs
toxins
How a Deadly Snake’s Venom Could Mean Pain Relief
The black mamba snake is one of the deadliest reptiles in the world — but it may just have become a pain patient’s best friend
Arsenic and Old Rice: Should We Worry About a Toxic Chemical in a Popular Food?
Arsenic is nasty stuff. Concentrated doses of the chemical can be fatal — one reason it’s long been a popular poison for assassins and unhappy widows. And chronic high exposure has been linked to skin lesions, certain cancers …
Why Pregnant Women in California Have High Levels of Toxic Chemicals
Unintended consequences are a pain. California has long had some of the strictest flammability regulations in the country for furniture and other household items. As a result, in the 1970s flame retardant chemicals called …
5 Easy Ways to Reduce Toxins in Your Home
Take a tip from the Canadians. In a new report, the Canadian Partnership for Children’s Health and Environment recommends five actions that can help parents reduce the most common sources of toxic exposure in their kids. These …
House Watch: When Luck Takes Over
House M.D. is usually obsessed with lying, but last night it reached for a lesson in luck. What happens if you win the lottery but also develop three different types of cancer at once?
EPA Warns of High Mercury Levels in Skin-Lightening Creams
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is warning against skin-lightening creams that may contain dangerous levels of mercury.
Flame Retardants in Everyday Products May Be a Health Hazard, Scientists Say
Here’s a fact to brighten your Thursday: you have a much smaller chance than your grandparents of bursting into flames.
Canada Declares BPA Toxic. Is the U.S. Next?
Yesterday Canada—with very little fanfare—declared the endocrine-disrupting chemical bisphenol-A (BPA) a toxic substance, both to the environment and to public health.
Hazardous chemicals in soaps, sanitizers?
New research suggesting that triclosan, an antibacterial chemical found in common household soaps and detergents, may cause adverse health effects has prompted the Food and Drug Administration to take a closer look at the chemical, the Washington Post reports. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control, triclosan is so common
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