Why the Federal Government Finally Acted on Chemical Safety
Our chemical safety system is an outdated mess — and for years, the failure of the government to act on formaldehyde was proof positive of that fact.
Articles from Contributor
Dengue Fever Creeps Back Into the U.S. — and Climate Change Isn’t Helping
Dengue fever is nasty. Transmitted by the bite of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, dengue infects an estimated 220 million people a year — 2 million of whom develop a severe form called dengue haemorrhagic fever, which has no known …
Arsenic, Chicken and Old Regulatory Standards
Now, before, I get started on this post, I want everyone to take a deep breath. O.K.? So it turns out that a common drug given to chickens — 3-Nitro, also known as Roxarsone — contains arsenic. You know, arsenic, that popular …
No Decline in Sperm Counts After All, Danish Data Show
In the dystopian book and film Children of Men, human beings suddenly stop being able to have children. There’s no real explanation given for the change — though there’s talk of a precipitous decline in sperm count quality — but the loss of the ability to reproduce essentially robs humanity of its future, and leads to the utter …
Watch Out for the Cows. They Might Be Carrying a New Strain of MRSA
The medical news this week has been dominated by the possible carcinogenicity of cell phones and the virulent E. coli outbreak in Europe. But I hope your closet of fear isn’t full yet — I’ve got one more bit of medical worry to …
Why Health Authorities Are So Worried About Europe’s Mutant E. Coli Outbreak
Health officials were worried enough about an unusually virulent outbreak of food-borne illness from the E. coli bacteria, which has infected more than 1,500 people in Germany and killed at least 17. But the concern jumped to …
Cell Phones: How Precautionary Should Our Principles Be?
TIME is endeavoring to give you every angle you need on the possible connection between cell-phone use and brain cancer. (Speaking of which: five ways to reduce your exposure to cell-phone radiation.) But as I’ve followed the …
WHO Says Cell Phone Radiation Is “Possibly Carcinogenic.” Now What?
Using a mobile phone may increase your risk for certain kinds of brain cancers. That was the scientific conclusion relayed today by a working group of 31 scientists from 14 countries meeting at the World Health Organization’s …
Babies: They’re Smarter Than You Think
Every parent thinks they’re baby is exceptionally smart — and cute, too. But while it can’t be true that every infant is above average, Lake Wobegon-style, it turns out that babies become able to reason surprisingly well at a …
In Southern China, a Mixing Bowl of Swine Flu
Pigs may seem cute, but from a virological perspective, they’re oinking time bombs. That’s because swine can become infected with both avian and human flu viruses, making them influenza mixing bowls.
Happy Clean Your Hands Day!
You should listen to your mother: always wash your hands. That’s especially true if you work in health care, where poor hand hygiene can be matter of life and death.
Environmental Toxins Cost Billions in Childhood Disease
Back in 2002, Philip Landrigan and a team of other researchers at Mount Sinai Medical School estimated the annual cost of four childhood conditions — lead poisoning, cancer, developmental disabilities and asthma — that could …
Why Frequent Business Travelers Are Fatter and Less Healthy
Like a lot of reporters, I spare a fair amount of a time on the road, maybe eight to 10 days a month on average. I like traveling — I wouldn’t have gotten into this line of work if I didn’t — and as TIME’s environment …