Last in a series of guest blogs by best-selling author Dan Goleman A friend who helped start a line of shampoos for a famous hairdresser confides that, truth to tell, every shampoo is built around just four basic types of chemicals. The first is surfactants, cleaning agents that strip dirt off hair....

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...

Phosgene, a widely used chemical that can be lethal at concentrations of less than 2 parts per million, killed a DuPont employee who died Sunday (Jan. 24) after inhaling the gas one day earlier in an accident at a West Virginia plant. The chemical is used in the production of various pesticides and herbicides...

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...

It’s good to see the issue of reforming toxic chemicals regulation getting widespread coverage in a variety of media. Just this week (Jan. 11), Scientific American magazine published on its website a good account by author Lizzie Grossman of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) year-end decision...

Sure, it’s an act, but it beats watching a bunch of suits standing at a lectern in the Congressional press gallery. In a video he posted recently on YouTube, Rep. Steve Israel gets down and dirty – actually, he gets down and cleans. Wearing a yellow tie and the sleeves of his blue shirt rolled up,...

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...