contamination

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Treatment Plants May Miss Half the Drugs in Sewage

Antibiotics, herbicide among chemicals found in Great Lakes study

(Newser) - Treatment plants may only be getting rid of about half the drugs and other "chemicals of emerging concern" that turn up in our sewage, a study finds. Officials in a joint US-Canadian study of the Great Lakes assessed 42 of these chemicals using a decade's worth of data,...

Tainted Brain Surgery Tools Exposed 13 to Fatal Disease

But sterilizing wouldn't have eliminated Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

(Newser) - As many as 13 brain surgery patients are being monitored for symptoms of a "rapidly progressive and always fatal" brain disease they may have gotten while under the knife. Instruments contaminated with Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, a rare, incurable disorder similar to mad cow disease, were used on eight patients at...

Free School Lunch Kills 22 Kids in India

Insecticides thought to be the cause

(Newser) - A horrible story out of India: At least 22 children between the ages of 8 and 12 are dead after eating a free school lunch yesterday; more than two dozen others were hospitalized after eating the rice, soybean and potato curry, which is believed to have been tainted with insecticides,...

Arsenic Found in Hundreds of Beer Samples

But experts say not to worry

(Newser) - The filtering process may make your beer look nice and clear—but it may also be adding traces of arsenic to your booze. Researchers found arsenic in hundreds of samples of the stuff; some had more than 25 parts per billion, more than twice the US standard for water, NPR...

Cancer Research Held Back by ... Wrong Labels?

Cell lines used in study are often misidentified: Wall Street Journal

(Newser) - As many as one-third of cancer cell lines used by scientists around the world could be wrongly labeled, undermining huge amounts of medical research, reports the Wall Street Journal . For basic biology research, the problem is probably not so serious. But for the study of specific cancers and treatment, wrongly...

You Don&#39;t Want to Know What&#39;s on Your Cellphone
You Don't Want to Know What's on Your Cellphone
in case you missed it

You Don't Want to Know What's on Your Cellphone

There's a good chance it's fecal matter: study

(Newser) - If you’re reading this on your smartphone, you might want to go wash your hands now: A new study out of London finds that one out of six cellphones has fecal matter on it. UK researchers swabbed 390 mobile phones and the British hands that used them, and found...

Dioxin Scare Shuts German Farms
Dioxin Scare
Shuts German Farms

Dioxin Scare Shuts German Farms

Contaminated egg products exported

(Newser) - Nearly 5,000 farms in Germany have been forced to close after the carcinogen dioxin was found in large amounts of pig and chicken feed. Thousands of hens were culled after a feed manufacturer was found to have used contaminated fats, the BBC reports. Officials are now scrambling to trace...

Beware Salsa, Guacamole: Food Safety Experts

Made in big batches and left sitting out, dips can cause trouble

(Newser) - As guacamole and salsa become more popular, they also account for a rising number of cases of food poisoning, new statistics show. The dips once represented 1.5% of foodborne illness outbreaks in restaurants and delis, but between 1998 and 2008, that fraction climbed to nearly 4%. Part of the...

P&G Recalls Contaminated Vicks Nasal Spray

Lots affected by bacteria were sold in US, UK, Germany

(Newser) - Procter & Gamble has voluntarily recalled batches of its Vicks nasal spray contaminated with bacteria. Though the bacteria are likely harmless to healthy people, CNN reports, the contamination could prove disastrous for those with compromised immune systems. The product is in the Vicks Sinex line in the US and UK,...

Soda Drinker Finds Frog in His Throat

Hopping mad couple want apology, compensation from Pepsi

(Newser) - A Florida man who found a frog in his can of Diet Pepsi wants the company to jump forward with an apology, CNN reports. The man started gagging after taking a swig from the can, his wife says, and found something heavy remained inside the can after he emptied it...

Test Finds Mercury in Every Fish

A quarter contaminated beyond EPA safety limit

(Newser) - Catch a fish in one of America's streams, and there's a good chance it will have at least trace amounts of mercury. The most comprehensive survey to date from the US Geological Survey tested more than 1,000 fish from nearly 300 streams around the nation—and found mercury in...

Chinese Storm Lead Plant in Poison Protest

(Newser) - Chinese furious about a lead smelting plant that has sickened some 600 children stormed the factory yesterday after a suicide attempt by teenager who feared she had been poisoned, reports the Wall Street Journal. Some 150 children have been hospitalized due to lead poisoning near the plant in northwest China's...

85% of Dollars in US Cities Test Positive for Cocaine

95% of DC bills test positive

(Newser) - The US money supply is literally soaked in cocaine, the Guardian reports.Tests performed by the American Chemical Society found that an average of 85% of paper money circulating in big US cities tests positive for traces of the drug. While cross-contamination between bills bundled together is a factor, it...

Roof Leak at Plant Implicated in Outbreak

Earlier Ga. salmonella scare also thought caused by rainwater

(Newser) - A leaky roof at the Peanut Corporation of America’s Georgia plant is seen as a possible culprit for the recent salmonella outbreak, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Not only is water necessary to activate salmonella, but rain could have washed salmonella-carrying bird droppings into the plant. “Allowing water to...

Drugs Found in US Water Supply
Drugs Found in US Water Supply

Drugs Found in US Water Supply

Water drunk by 41M people contaminated

(Newser) - Small amounts of a wide range of prescription and over-the-counter drugs have been found in drinking water used daily by 41 million Americans in 24 major cities. A major AP investigation found pain killers, anti-seizure drugs, angina and cholesterol medications, mood-altering drugs, and other pharmaceuticals in tap water, the water...

Great Lakes Study Mired in Politics: Author

Scientist says feds didn't like pollution report, reassigned him

(Newser) - A report suggesting industrial contamination in the Great Lakes poses health threats to residents is being suppressed by the feds, says study author Chris De Rosa, who also claims he was demoted because of his findings. The study found 230,000 "vulnerable" people are living in polluted areas, but...

Feds Pursue Fewer Polluters
Feds Pursue Fewer Polluters

Feds Pursue Fewer Polluters

EPA cuts down on criminal cases, says focus is on biggest offenders

(Newser) - The EPA has taken a decidedly less aggressive tack in criminal cases, the Washington Post reports, a trend advocates fear will embolden polluters. The number of prosecutions, new investigations, and total convictions have all dropped by more than a third. One ex-official, who resigned in protest, blamed the Bush administration,...

Producer Recalls 68K Pounds of Calif. Spinach

Metz Fresh finds salmonella in sample during routine testing

(Newser) - A California produce company is recalling over 68K pounds of bagged spinach after a sample taken from one of the company's packing plants tested positive for salmonella, the San Jose Mercury News reports. But Metz Fresh has likely averted a repeat of last year's contaminated spinach mess, corralling 90% of...

Chinese Follies Are All Too Familiar

US exhibited capitalist lapses once upon a time

(Newser) - Before Americans get on their high horse about China’s recent lapses into substandard products—not to mention those fake Harry Potter translations—they should look long and hard at their own history, the Boston Globe suggests. In the 19th century, it was the US that was considered the nation...

Fire Probe Focuses on Pipe Failure
Fire Probe Focuses on
Pipe Failure

Fire Probe Focuses on Pipe Failure

Water supply under scrutiny in deadly blaze near Ground Zero

(Newser) - A broken standpipe may have crippled the battle against Saturday's Deutsche Bank tower blaze near Ground Zero. Water filled the basement as flames on higher floors raged, the Times reports, and water from the hose connected to the suspect standpipe apparently didn't reach past the fifth floor. Firefighters spent precious...

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