Hidden threat: Elevated pollution levels near regional airports
Scientists are reporting evidence that air pollution — a well-recognized problem at major airports — may pose an important but largely overlooked health concern for people living near smaller regional airports.

People vary widely in ability to eliminate arsenic from the body
Large variations exist in peoples’ ability to eliminate arsenic from the body, according to a new study that questions existing standards for evaluating the human health risks from the potentially toxic substance.

Surprising new health and environmental concerns about tungsten
Surprising new scientific research is raising concerns about the potential health and environmental hazards of tungsten — a metal used in products ranging from bullets to light bulbs to jewelry

Pesticide Concentrations Decreasing
A new USGS study, published in the Journal of Environmental Quality, shows encouraging results in evaluating groundwater contaminants.

Newly approved pesticide stirs controversy over health effects
Regulators in California and other states are taking a closer look at the substance’s potential adverse health effects before allowing the chemical to be used

Pesticides Persist in Ground Water
USGS scientists examine factors influencing pesticide detection in ground water in the May-June issue of Journal of Environmental Quality.

High Cholesterol Levels And Chronic Exposure To Toxigenic Molds In Damp Buildings: A High Risk For Cardiovascular Diseases And Stroke
Epidemiological evidence suggests a possible association between chronic exposures to toxigenic molds in damp water-damaged buildings and high levels of cholesterol abnormalities that may represent a high risk for cardiovascular diseases.

Oral Fluid in Toxicology
This article reviews role of saliva in toxicology.

Urine Phenol Level Among Healthy Subjects In Urban Area
Phenol can be found at high levels in the traffic area, therefore, people living in the urban area of big city are highly exposed to traffic phenol vapor.

An examination of knowledge, attitudes and practices related to lead exposure in South Western Nigeria
In this study, the authors conducted several focus group discussions with adult residents of Ibadan to evaluate their knowledge, attitudes and practices with respect to chronic low-dose domestic lead exposure and its effect on health

Description of industrial pollution in Spain
The aim of this paper is to describe industrial air and water pollution in Spain in 2001, broken down by activity group and specific pollutant, and to plot maps depicting emissions of carcinogenic substances

Evaluation of land farming and chemico-biological stabilization for treatment of heavily contaminated sediments in a tropical environment
Conventional and experimental methods were studied for the remediation of petroleum contaminated
sediments from a dam previously used to collect acid run-off from a sulfur mine.

Radioactive waste – no problem for metal-munching bacteria
A harmless soil bacterium, which can survive high-level exposures to gamma radiation, is being developed to clean up land contaminated with radioactive waste

DDT In Mothers' Blood Predicts Delays In Daughters' Pregnancies (p 2205)
A research letter in this week's issue of THE LANCET reports on the effect of the pesticide DDT and its by-product, DDE, on female reproductive capability

Mopping up mercury - a new solution to an old problem
A pilot plant employing a new type of bioreactor has successfully been used to treat mercury-contaminated wastewater in Germany.

Dartmouth researchers alarmed by levels of mercury and arsenic in Chinese freshwater ecosystem
A team of researchers, led by biologists at Dartmouth, has found potentially dangerous levels of mercury and arsenic in Lake Baiyangdian

'Nanorust' cleans arsenic from drinking water
The technology holds promise for millions of people in India, Bangladesh and other developing countries where thousands of cases of arsenic poisoning each year are linked to poisoned wells.

Arsenic contamination lacks one-size-fits-all remedy
Though a worldwide problem, arsenic contamination of drinking water does not have a universal solution.

Biosensors to probe the metals menace
If the pond life goes star-shaped, you'd be wise not to drink the water.

Sunflowers that love heavy metal
Sunflowers take up uranium twice or even three times better than their maize and soybean counterparts, making them a top 'clean crop' for removing toxic metals from the environment.