Archive: Environmental Toxins
FDA Rules Mercury Amalgam Fillings Safe
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's long-awaited final regulation on the use of mercury amalgam for dental fillings issued Tuesday deems the material safe, while at the same time moving the material from the Class I (low risk) medical-device category to Class II (moderate risk). This allows for tighter control...
By Jennifer LaRue Huget | July 29, 2009; 01:00 PM ET | Comments (15)
Perspective: Mercury in High-Fructose Corn Syrup
I don't want mercury in any food I feed my family. But the news that two studies have found mercury in high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is a good headline-grabber -- but perhaps more alarmist than need be. In one study, published in the journal Environmental Health, a hunch-following team...
By Jennifer LaRue Huget | January 28, 2009; 09:29 AM ET | Comments (3)
Testing Children's Books for Lead
A federal law requiring all products for kids 12 and under to be tested for lead content has publishers of children's books on high alert, Publisher's Weekly reports. The law was enacted last August, and the first deadline for demonstrating conformity to new standards comes on February 10 -- even...
By Jennifer LaRue Huget | January 26, 2009; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (7)
Mercury Fillings Revisited
With little fanfare, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration earlier this week acknowledged on its Web site that mercury amalgam fillings -- the silvery material used for decades to plug cavities -- could be harmful. This admission, which came after the FDA settled a lawsuit with several consumer advocacy groups,...
By Jennifer LaRue Huget | June 6, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (7)
Breathe At Your Own Risk
Spring is in the air. And so, apparently, is a lot of soot. As was reported yesterday, the D.C./Baltimore/Northern Virginia area again has scored a spot in the American Lung Association's annual list of the top-10 cities with the filthiest air. Here's the full assessment. On the bright side, the...
By Jennifer LaRue Huget | May 2, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (0)
Know Your Poisons -- And How to Get Rid of Them
Last month's worries about contaminated tap water and this week's concerns about bisphenol A (BPA) leaching out of the everyday plastic items we use have prompted understandable hand-wringing online. Are we being poisoned by our environment? Worse still, are we poisoning our babies? Thinking about those questions raised others: Isn't...
By Jennifer LaRue Huget | April 18, 2008; 07:05 AM ET | Comments (0)
First Baby Bottles, Now the Furniture?
First a new report raises "some concern" about the safety of BPA, a chemical found in many plastic products, including food containers and baby bottles. Now new research might make you want to throw out your furniture, toss your shampoo and tear the insulation out of your walls. It's...
By Rob Stein | April 17, 2008; 07:10 AM ET | Comments (0)
