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Just in time for the holidays, an industrywide shortage of canned whipped topping, such as Reddi-wip, appears to be looming after a fatal explosion at a Florida nitrous oxide plant in late August stunted the supply chain. Conagra Brands, the Chicago-based food manufacturer that makes Reddi-wip, confirmed Monday that its supply of nitrous oxide — a propellant for aerosol toppings — was affected by the blast. Spokeswoman Lanie Friedman said stores still have the product in stock, but supplies may be limited in the peak holiday season, when consumers are indulging in pies, hot chocolate and other desserts that call...

Imagine that I’m a mad scientist (or perhaps just a geneticist who doesn’t blink an eye while fiddling with nature’s design) and I want to see what happens when I introduce substantial genetic changes into a chimpanzee.In my experimentation, I double the chimp’s height, change it’s hair color to yellow, induce mutations to change eye color, give it the ability to see better at night, increase muscle strength in its lower body so that it can jump long distances, and several dozen other changes. The end result looks different, acts different, has changes in physiology, its capacity to tolerate heat,...

Freakish green snow blanketed the Russian Ural Mountains today - caused by pollution at a chrome factory. The disturbing emerald scene was caused by an 'accident' at a plant in Pervouralsk, in the industrial Chelyabinsk region, said officials. They insisted there was no danger to the health of locals. 'The accident today happened on a pipe between a pump and a cleaning station,' said a spokesman at Russian Chrome company. 'Some of the water pumped from under the ground went on the surface.'

The Environmental Protection Agency has released a list of toxic chemicals that will be the first reviewed under a recently enacted law that gives regulators increased authority to ban substances shown to endanger human health. […] The list includes such common chemicals as asbestos and trichloroethylene that have for decades been known to be hazardous, yet EPA lacked the legal authority necessary to ban their manufacture or use. …

A new study about aloe vera gel, used to treat sunburns and other skin issues, might make some consumers feel even more burned, especially those partial to store brand products. Bloomberg hired a lab to test various store brands, and it found the aloe gel sold at stores like Walmart, Target and CVS is lacking one important ingredient — aloe vera. The report said all of the brands listed aloe vera juice as a prominent ingredient but the three specific chemical markers that would indicate the presence of aloe were missing. The four gels Bloomberg tested were Walmart's 'Equate Aloe...

I am frankly shocked this information is not making front page news right now. Monsanto will do anything to bury this story… and as of right now, it’s working. Not a single mainstream media outlet has covered this appalling new report that shows millions of people being poisoned by a chemical that does not belong in our food. This chemical is ending up in processed foods like Cheerios, Ritz Crackers, and Oreos and being consumed by humans across the world. The health of millions of people is on the line and this news must go mainstream! That’s why I’m calling on every single one of you...

Classified documents obtained by the Al Arabiya network and released Thursday have revealed that the Syrian regime moved a chemical weapons stockpile with the help of Iran and knowledge of Russia. Furthermore, additional documents also reveal that Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad has also sought cross border cooperation with the State of Israel. The confidential files were acquired by Al Arabiya with the assistance of members of the Syrian opposition who refused to elaborate on how they got hold of the documents. Al Arabiya said it verified and authenticated hundreds of these documents and that it has decided to disclose the...

Chemotherapy warning as hundreds die from cancer-fighting drugs (cancer drugs may kill up to 50 % patients) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/08/30/chemotherapy-warning-as-hundreds-die-from-cancer-fighting-drugs/ Sarah Knapton, Science Editor 30 August 2016 Patients should be warned about the dangers of chemotherapy after research showed that cancer drugs are killing up to 50 per cent of patients in some hospitals. For the first time researchers looked at the numbers of cancer patients who died within 30 days of starting chemotherapy, which indicates that the medication is the cause of death, rather than the cancer. In Milton Keynes the death rate for lung cancer treatment was 50.9 per cent,...

Pollution, pesticides and fast food is killing our children, with new government statistics revealing that the number of youngsters diagnosed with cancer has risen by 40% over the past 16 years. Analysis compiled by researchers from the charity Children with Cancer UK found new cases of cancer in young people rose by 1,300 every year since statistics were last compiled in 1998. The charity found this is most evident in colon cancer, which has increased by 200%, and thyroid cancer, which has seen its cases doubled during the 18 years since the last report was released. […] Alasdair Philips, science...

On Sunday morning, the South Carolina honey bees began to die in massive numbers. Death came suddenly to Dorchester County, S.C. Stressed insects tried to flee their nests, only to surrender in little clumps at hive entrances. The dead worker bees littering the farms suggested that colony collapse disorder was not the culprit — in that odd phenomenon, workers vanish as though raptured, leaving a living queen and young bees behind. Instead, the dead heaps signaled the killer was less mysterious, but no less devastating. The pattern matched acute pesticide poisoning. By one estimate, at a single apiary — Flowertown...

The researchers studied acetaminophen use in nearly 7,800 women living in Bristol, England, and then surveyed these women seven years later about their child’s behavior. They found that compared to women who did not take the drug during pregnancy, acetaminophen use during pregnancy was associated with a variety of behavioral issues in children. Compared to the children of women who did not take the drug, children of women who did take acetaminophen had a 42 percent increased risk of conduct problems, a 31 percent increased risk in hyperactivity disorders and a 29 percent increased risk in emotional problems in their...

RIO DE JANEIRO — Olympics officials on Saturday gave what they said was a definitive explanation why the water in two competition pools turned green this week. Someone, the officials said, mistakenly added 160 liters of hydrogen peroxide on Aug. 5, neutralizing the chlorine and allowing the growth of “organic compounds” that might have included algae. On Saturday, the water in the diving pool was still a murky bottle-green color, while the water in the second pool, used for water polo and synchronized swimming, had begun to look a bit lighter and a bit bluer. Athletes have been complaining that...

Areas of Miami, Florida, are now being sprayed with the insecticide naled in an attempt to eradicate the Aedes aegypti mosquito — carrier of the zika virus. Naled, a potent neurotoxin that kills mosquitoes on contact, is perfectly safe, or so the Environmental Protection Agency insists, despite Puerto Rico’s rejection of its use to combat the spread of zika there — due to concerns about its safety.To keep naled airborne where it would be most effective, the agent is sprayed in very fine aerosol droplets — about two tablespoons can be dispersed to cover an area the equivalent of...

The fly bait companies opposed that solution, however, and instead reached a compromise with EPA in April 2015. By early 2017, the agreement calls for the companies to stop distributing methomyl fly baits to general retailers such as hardware stores, and to stop making small containers. Farm supply stores will still be able to sell larger 4.5- and 18-kilogram containers, which will come with new warning labels and explanatory pamphlets. The companies and EPA plan to monitor reports of misuse through 2020, and further restrict use to licensed applicators if incidents aren’t “significantly reduced.” The maker of one of the...

ecretary of State John Kerry said in Vienna on Friday that air conditioners and refrigerators are as big of a threat to life as the threat of terrorism posed by groups like the Islamic State. ADVERTISEMENT The Washington Examiner reported that Kerry was in Vienna to amend the 1987 Montreal Protocol that would phase out hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, from basic household and commercial appliances like air conditioners, refrigerators, and inhalers. “As we were working together on the challenge of [ISIS] and terrorism,” Kerry said. “It’s hard for some people to grasp it, but what we–you–are doing here right now is...

Air conditioners and refrigerators pose as big a threat to "life on the planet" as the threat of terrorism, Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday. Kerry was in Vienna negotiating a global climate deal to phase out chemicals used as refrigerants in basic household and commercial appliances such as air conditioning and refrigerators, called hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs. The chemicals are a potent source of greenhouse gas emissions that many scientists blame for contributing to global warming.

Kerry: Air Conditioners as Big a Threat as ISIS BY: Alyssa Canobbio July 22, 2016 4:10 pm Secretary of State John Kerry said in Vienna on Friday that air conditioners and refrigerators are as big of a threat to life as the threat of terrorism posed by groups like the Islamic State. The Washington Examiner reported that Kerry was in Vienna to amend the 1987 Montreal Protocol that would phase out hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, from basic household and commercial appliances like air conditioners, refrigerators, and inhalers. “As we were working together on the challenge of [ISIS] and terrorism,” Kerry said....

Air conditioners and refrigerators pose as big a threat to "life on the planet" as the threat of terrorism, Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday. Kerry was in Vienna negotiating a global climate deal to phase out chemicals used as refrigerants in basic household and commercial appliances such as air conditioning and refrigerators, called hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs. The chemicals are a potent source of greenhouse gas emissions that many scientists blame for contributing to global warming. Kerry made the remarks as part of a pep talk for negotiators working through the weekend to amend a 1987 treaty called the...

President Obama signed a bill into law Wednesday that places stronger regulations on chemicals present in nearly every product Americans use, including detergents, clothing, paint thinners, cleansers and automobiles. The Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act passed by Congress early this month in a rare bipartisan vote. It updates the Toxic Substances Control Act, which had not been reauthorized since the Ford administration in the mid-1970s. The new law gives the Environmental Protection Agency more oversight and stronger tools to monitor chemicals that in some cases could cause cancer and other health problems in adults and...

Toxic chemicals used in everyday products such as household cleaners, clothing and furniture have been linked to serious illnesses, including cancer, infertility, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease. Under current law, only a small fraction of chemicals used in these products have been reviewed for safety. A bill that Congress sent President Barack Obama on Tuesday would set new safety standards for asbestos and other dangerous chemicals, including formaldehyde, styrene and BPA, that have gone unregulated for decades. The bill would update the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act to require the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to evaluate new and existing chemicals against...