A DECADE after retiring from his job as a research scientist at Agriculture Canada, Dr. Thierry Vrain, a former promoter of genetically modified organisms (GMO), has warned that eating biotech crops is essentially risky. In an article on PreventDisease.com on May 6, Vrain cites Russian and European studies in saying that “diets containing engineered corn or soy cause serious health problems in laboratory mice and rats.” He adds that studies have also questioned the efficacy of proteins produced by engineered plants. Read more

I don't know if I was passionate about it but I was knowledgeable. I defended the side of technological advance, of science and progress.

I have in the last 10 years changed my position. I started paying attention to the flow of published studies coming from Europe, some from prestigious labs and published in prestigious scientific journals, that questioned the impact and safety of engineered food. Read more

Conor Jackson had a big bat and a bright future. But after he contracted a rare illness in 2009 while playing with the Arizona Diamondbacks he was never quite the same. Last year another major league baseball player – Ike Davis of the New York Mets – was diagnosed with the same thing. Valley Fever is on the rise in Arizona. Read more

Lyn Barrington assumed that her cough was just a chest infection. But when, after several months, it didn’t improve, she finally went to her GP.

‘It was more of an irritation than a chesty cough and it was getting on my nerves,’ says the 52-year-old nurse from Stafford. Read more

A metallic-green beetle has arrived, posing a threat to ash trees — and the people who live near them.
That is the conclusion drawn by scientists studying the devastating effects of the emerald ash borer (EAB) in the United States. The exotic invasive beetle, first detected in Michigan in 2002, has laid waste to more than 100 million ash trees in at least 15 states, including Maryland and Virginia. Read more

The best way to feed the 9 billion people expected to be alive by 2050 could be to rear billions of common houseflies on a diet of human faeces and abattoir blood and grind them up to use as animal feed, a UN reportpublished on Monday suggests. Doing so would reduce the pressure on the Earth's forests and seas as food sources. Read more

Air pollution and chemicals found in common household- and personal care goods are major sources of exposure that can lead to an accumulation of toxins in your body. Read more

Parabens, widely used as preservatives in cosmetics, plastics and foods, showed up in dozens of children's products, including baby skin care lotions and wipes. Read more

Yep, it’s time for yet another pandemic flu drill... “WHO says new bird strain is "one of most lethal" flu viruses,” Reuters¹ recently declared.
Every few years, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and related agencies drum up another flu emergency; each promised to be worse than the last, and this year you’re likely to start hearing a lot more about “lethal bird flu” again. Read more

Almost a decade after manufacturers stopped using certain chemical flame retardants in furniture foam and carpet padding, many of the compounds still lurk in homes. New work to be presented today reaffirms that the chemicals may also still be hurting young children who were exposed before they were born. Read more

Yscloskey, Louisiana (CNN) -- On his dock along the banks of Bayou Yscloskey, Darren Stander makes the pelicans dance.

More than a dozen of the birds have landed or hopped onto the dock, where Stander takes in crabs and oysters from the fishermen who work the bayou and Lake Borgne at its mouth. The pelicans rock back and forth, beaks rising and falling, as he waves a bait fish over their heads. Read more

MANTOLOKING, N.J. - The 9-year-old girl who got New Jersey's tough-guy governor to shed a tear as he comforted her after her home was destroyed is bummed because she now lives far from her best friend and has nowhere to hang her One Direction posters. Read more

LOGAN, Utah (AP) — A Utah man is trying to use his recognition as this year's national beekeeper of the year to focus attention on a major threat to the industry: colony collapse disorder. Read more

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — A mysterious malady that has been killing honeybees en masse for several years appears to have expanded drastically in the last year, commercial beekeepers say, wiping out 40 percent or even 50 percent of the hives needed to pollinate many of the nation’s fruits and vegetables.  Read more 

Autism Awareness Day kicks-off the start of an annual month-long effort to increase global awareness of autism spectrum disorders.  With US parents now reporting that 1-in-50 of their children are affected, and 1-in-33 boys. Read more

By the time your newborn is 12 hours old, federal health officials recommend administering the first dose of hepatitis B vaccine. TWELVE HOURS! If you want to avoid it you must make it VERY clear to all hospital staff well before the delivery and monitor your baby closely until you leave the hospital. Read more

Nothing sends more kids to the hospital than asthma.

So when doctors at Children's Hospitalin Boston noticed they kept seeing an unusually high number of asthmatic kids from certain low-income neighborhoods, they wondered if they could do something about the environment these kids were living in. Read more

Friday, March 15, 2013. The February 13, 2013 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association reported the findings of researchers at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health of a protective benefit for supplementing with folic acid early in pregnancy against the risk of giving birth to a child with autism. The vitamin is routinely recommended to women who are pregnant or trying to conceive, to help prevent neural tube defects in their offspring. Read more

Bisphenol A at levels commonly found in people may slow fetal growth, according to a Dutch study. Babies whose mothers had higher levels of BPA had smaller heads and weighed 20 percent less at birth compared with babies born to women with the lowest BPA levels. BPA is used to make polycarbonate plastic and is found in the lining of metal food cans and some thermal receipts. California recently announced it intends to list BPA as a reproductive hazard. Read more

In the US, women are still urged to get an annual mammogram starting at the age of 40, despite the fact that updated guidelines set forth by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force in 2009 urge women to wait until the age of 50, and to only get bi-annual screening thereafter. Read more

BPA is back in the news, now that a new study has linked the controversial chemical to potentially dangerous effects on a child's developing nervous system.
The study only looked at mice, but the researchers are concerned the findings may apply to humans as well.
"Our study found that BPA may impair the development of the central nervous system, and raises the question as to whether exposure could predispose animals and humans to neurodevelopmental disorders. Read more

The European Commission has proposed that member states restrict the use of certain classes of pesticide that are believed to be harmful to bees. Sprays that use neonicotinoid chemicals should only be used on crops that are not attractive to the insects they said.  The sale of seeds treated with these chemicals should also be prohibited.  Bayer, one of the companies who make the pesticides, says they are convinced they can be used without harm to bees. Read more

 WASHINGTON* – EPA today released “America’s Children and the Environment, Third Edition,” a comprehensive compilation of information from a variety of sources on children’s health and the environment. The report shows trends for contaminants in air, water, food, and soil that may affect children; concentrations of contaminants in the bodies of children and women of child-bearing age; and childhood illnesses and health conditions. The report incorporates revisions to address peer review and public comments on draft materials released in 2011. Read more

More than 1.66 million new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in 2013, while more than 580,000 Americans are expected to die of the disease, according to the annual statistics report of the American Cancer Society.  The report, released Monday, notes that the overall death rate for cancer in the United States has declined significantly since 1991, primarily because of reductions in smoking and improved cancer screening. Read more

We know that mercury is a toxin. We know that it was removed from most vaccines more than a decade ago. End of story, right? Wrong. The debate has resurfaced. If the AAP and the WHO have their way and can successfully influence the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), some vaccines will still contain thimerosal. Read more

Flooding and blackouts caused by super storm Sandy have had a devastating impact on scores of scientists in the Big Apple, with one research center losing thousands of lab mice as well as precious reagents—a situation that could set some researchers back years. Read more

Children exposed to higher levels of mercury or lead are three to five times more likely to be identified by teachers as having problems associated with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, according to a scientific study published today. Read more

Cancer may be the Harry Houdini of diseases--it often finds devious ways to escape treatment. Because cancer disables our cellular quality control mechanisms, rampant mutations that cause tumor cells to grow uncontrollably can also generate resistance to anticancer drugs. Even if 99 percent of the tumor is destroyed, that 1 percent can come roaring back. How do we knock out that 1 percent? By attacking the cancer from multiple angles, using multiple treatments and strategies. Read more

The nation's largest agribusiness and biotech companies are pouring millions of dollars into California to stop the first-ever initiative to require special labels on foods made with genetically modified ingredients, a sign of their determination to keep the measure from sparking a nationwide movement.  So far, farming giants such as Monsanto, Dupont Pioneer and Cargill have contributed nearly $25 million to defeat the proposal, with much of that cash coming in the past week. It's nearly 10 times the amount raised by backers of the ballot measure who say California's health-conscious shoppers want more information about the food they eat.  Read more

The rising number of mothers dying during childbirth in California and the steep increase in child obesity may originate in the environment. That is the contention of obstetrician and Roseville Kaiser assistant physician-in-chief Jeanne Conry, who has made it her mission to spread the word that the health of any baby - and that of its mother during delivery - begins with awareness about environmental issues. Optimally, that awareness should begin months before conception, said Conry.  Read more

A chemical commonly used in lipsticks, face washes and toothpaste may cause heart and muscle problems, according to scientists.
They found triclosan, which is in hundreds of household products, can hinder the process by which  muscles, including the heart, receive signals from the brain. Read more