You might've heard about BPA in the news a few years back. It's a chemical frequently used in production of polycarbonate plastics, which make up nearly all the disposable water bottles, food can linings, and food wrappers we use daily.
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In search of safe replacements for harmful chemicals used in cookware, carpets, clothing, cosmetics and more
When Donald Taves discovered two kinds of fluoride in his blood in the late 1960s, he immediately knew something was wrong. Everyone assumed that blood contained just one type of fluoride, a naturally occurring form that health officials added to drinking water to prevent cavities. But levels in people’s blood didn’t seem to relate to those found in their water…
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How even your clothes may be harming you
You might've read about the adverse health effects of wearing synthetic fabrics and thought to yourself, “It's no problem-- I'll just wear cotton clothing!” Unfortunately, it's not as simple as that.
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Most Americans drink fluoridated water. Is that a good thing?
If you’re like many Americans, you drink fluoridated water without questioning its safety or efficacy. For decades municipalities have been adding fluoride to water supplies to reduce the incidence of tooth decay at the advice of numerous highly credentialed entities, including the World Health Organization, the U.S. Public Health Service, the American Dental Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
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What does the environment have to do with autism?
The search for autism’s causes is a daunting task — but researchers are investigating a variety of factors that might play a role. Written by Liza Gross Republished with permission from Ensia.com. If you look just at the numbers, you might think autism rates are spiraling out of control. The rates seemed high enough at 1 in 150 in 2000,…
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Are hazardous vapors seeping into your home?
When Jane Horton bought her dream 800-square-foot farmhouse in 1975, she thought little of the semiconductor manufacturing plant across the street. Even after the company’s buildings were demolished and a chain-link fence went up around the campus, she still had no knowledge of the toxic dangers lurking beneath her feet — let alone of the fact that they were invading…
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Which diet makes best use of farmland? You might be surprised.
Vegetarian? Omnivore? Vegan? What should we eat if we want to feed a growing population while minimizing the need to farm more land? We know that meat-based meals require more farmland than plant-based ones. But which diet is the best fit for the mix of croplands and grazing land that supports agriculture today? That’s a different question with a potentially…
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The developing world is awash in pesticides. Does it have to be?
In today’s globalized world, it is not inconceivable that one might drink coffee from Colombia in the morning, munch cashews from Vietnam for lunch and gobble grains from Ethiopia for dinner. That we can enjoy these products is thanks, in large part, to expanded pesticide use across the developing world.
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What’s in those new plastic pipes delivering drinking water?
The calls and e-mails arrive as often as several times a week from people with concerns about drinking water. Some of the callers — who include homeowners, architects and builders — want to know why their water smells like gasoline. Others want to know which kinds of pipes to install to minimize risks of exposure to hazardous chemicals.
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How CRISPR works
Back in 2011, Jennifer Doudna, a biochemist and molecular biologist at the University of California, Berkeley, and Emmanuelle Charpentier, now at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Germany, grew intrigued by the way bacteria use a molecular system known as CRISPR-Cas9 to respond to viral attacks. For years, bacteria were assumed to be primitive creatures with rudimentary immune…
![By National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) from Bethesda, MD, USA (CRISPR-Cas9 Editing of the Genome) [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://healthyresearcher.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/CRISPR-Cas9_Editing_of_the_Genome_26453307604-1-1140x760.jpg)