You stand in line with your latte, your tube of toothpaste or your cart of groceries, you hand over your cash or credit card to the cashier, and he hands you back the receipt. You check that the amount looks right, then stuff it in your pocket or purse. Maybe you pull it out later to make a record of...

Earlier this week, I joined a wide array of public health advocates to thank and honor Maryland Delegate James Hubbard and Senator Brian Frosh for their leadership in the successful effort to ban the plastics chemical BPA from drinking containers statewide.  The lawmakers received the “Children’s...

If the consequences weren’t so serious, it would be entertaining to watch the chemical industry’s top lobbyists scramble to defend the signature toxic chemical of the new millennium, bisphenol-A (BPA).  This is a chemical with some serious toxic muscle.  It’s not just that BPA is a clear and...

There’s a lot to like about Coca-Cola’s bid for green cred at the 2010 Winter Olympics.  A key sponsor of the Vancouver games, the multinational maker of more than 3,000 beverages  is boasting a no-waste, carbon-neutral presence, with coolers that don’t emit greenhouse gases, staff uniforms and...

Researchers in Canada have given the FDA something new to think about as it takes a fresh look at the risks of the ubiquitous plastics chemical bisphenol A, or BPA. Their small lab study is quite different from any that’s been done before, because they tested the chemical directly on cells from human...

The federal Food and Drug Administration hasn’t forced the plastic chemical bisphenol A (BPA) out of food packaging – yet.   But as things now stand, it’s just a matter of time. On Friday, in a dramatic about-face, FDA officials announced they would “support” – meaning jawbone — the...

As a physician, I’m careful to ask my patients for a complete list of their medications  before prescribing another pharmaceutical because drugs that may not have any important side effects when taken individually can cause significant toxicity when mixed in the body. As a scientist specializing in...

Here’s one measure of how much the issue of toxic contaminants’ effects on health and development — especially in children – has gained traction: A continuing education program aimed mostly at psychotherapists is devoting a day-long course to the subject this weekend in Boston. It’s...

When people ask whether modern synthetics are damaging their health and endangering future generations, Topic A is nearly always bisphenol A (BPA), a synthetic estrogen, an integral component of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins and one of the highest volume industrial chemicals in existence. Now...

As a key deadline approaches, scientists and environmental health advocates are ramping up pressure on the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to rein in food contamination from bisphenol A (BPA), a plastic component and synthetic estrogen  detected in the bodies of 93 percent of Americans tested. During...