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BEIJING, May 11 (Reuters) - Untreated sewage from factory discharges and urban centres now accounts for 10 percent of the Yellow River's flow, a prominent Chinese non-governmental group said.

Heating releases cookware chemicals Janet Raloff Nonstick coatings on fry pans and microwave-popcorn bags can, when heated, release traces of potentially toxic perfluorinated chemicals into the air and the food being cooked, a new study suggests. Although the chemicals aren't subject to any regulatory restriction and have uncertain toxicity, the researchers conducting the study suggest that people at least run kitchen-exhaust fans when using these products. A 2005 industry study found no such releases. Chemist Kurunthachalam Kannan and his New York State government team, based in Albany, performed the tests on four brands of nonstick fry pans and two brands...

Toxins ban to beat terrorist threat By Laura Clout Last Updated: 2:34am GMT 25/01/2007 Ministers are planning to restrict the use of nearly 60 types of toxins and pathogens amid increasing concern over the biological threat from terrorists. Two months ago the head of MI5, Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, warned that al-Qa’eda terrorists were plotting mass casualty suicide attacks and would unleash chemical or biological attacks given the chance. The Home Office yesterday moved to meet that threat by publishing orders which will ban people from holding samples of viruses such as rabies, polio, influenza and herpes B. They add three...

Building near WTC entombs toxins, remainsBy AMY WESTFELDT, Associated Press Writer 7 minutes ago AP Photo: In this Sept. 30, 2001, file photo NEW YORK - While debates rage about why more buildings have not gone up at the World Trade Center site, there is one, shrouded in a web of black netting and full of trade center dust, that can't seem to come down. The vacant 41-story former Deutsche Bank AG building looms above ground zero, contaminated with toxic waste and still holding tiny body parts more than four years after the trade center collapsed onto it on Sept....

Many Canadians are being contaminated with heavy metals, pesticides and other toxic chemicals, suggests a study by an environmental watchdog group. Environmental Defence tested the blood and urine samples of 11 men and women volunteers, including wildlife artist Robert Bateman. A total of 88 chemicals, including PCBs, flame retardants and insecticides, were found. Lab tests showed a total of 60 chemicals, with an average of 44 found in each volunteer, some in trace amounts. The contaminants include suspected carcinogens and chemicals that may cause reproductive disorders, harm the development of children, disrupt hormone systems or are associated with respiratory illnesses....

It was a first for veteran anglers at one of the Allegheny River's hottest spots. They were being asked to donate their fish to science. On a recent Saturday, a cadre of fishermen at the Highland Park Dam filled buckets with white bass and channel catfish so that Dan Volz, a public health expert, can tell them someday soon whether what they catch is loaded with heavy metals and estrogen-like compounds, or chemicals that mimic the effect of estrogen, a hormone produced by the body and needed for the development and growth of female sex organs. snip While there are...

Three Crew Members Killed by Toxic Gas on Cruise Ship in Los Angeles PortBy Tim Molloy Associated Press Writer Published: Sep 2, 2005 LOS ANGELES (AP) - Three members of a cruise ship crew were killed by toxic sewer gas Friday as they repaired a waste pipe aboard the ship that had just returned to the Port of Los Angeles. No passengers were injured, but 19 other crew members from Royal Caribbean's Monarch of the Seas were examined for possible exposure to the toxic gas, authorities said. Passengers were leaving the ship at the time of the incident, the company...

BAGHDAD — Al Qaida has deployed bombs laced with toxins in an attempt to increase the lethality of attacks in Iraq, coalition military sources said. On Aug. 9, the U.S.-led coalition found a suspected chemicals factory in Mosul with 1,500 gallons of chemicals. A statement by the Multi-National Force said the facility was used to develop the bombs mixed with toxins. The statement said Sunni insurgents succeeded in employing roadside bombs that contained toxic chemicals. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Special Offer: Home Loans With Options -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The MNF said coalition forces learned of the facility from suspected insurgents. The statement said the investigation...

Just thought I'd share with Freepers a warning. A few years back, I was able to get ahold of a whole bunch of CA valley wine grapes. I sat in the kitchen, and the mutt, of course who always gets a bit of what I'm eating tried one. He loved it! So over the next few minutes or so, I ate a couple cups worth, and he must have had twenty or thirty. Sadly, the hound will have to forego any more grapes. He didn't even get sick, but I find out on the tv tonight grapes and raisins are...

....unless you could be the type of person to be concerned about trifles like cancer, death from inhalation problems and the odd birth defect (to name a few). Latex is a natural rubber or is not in the slightest elastic (high modulus) until it undergoes a process called vulcanization. This requires a large number of additives. Latex even in its natural form has proteins known to cause allergic reactions (Types I, II and IV -fatal). The additives in vulcanization include: - Benzene - Short term exposure to benzene may cause irritation to the nose, throat and lungs. It can also...

Terrorists from al-Qaeda have been making chemical and biological weapons in Georgia’s Pankisi Gorge, French Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin said on Tuesday. Speaking at a world conference on bio-terrorism in Lyons that was organized by Interpol, he said that “several al-Qaeda cells have been trained in Afghanistan where they have learned to use biological agents including anthrax, ricin and botulism toxins. Later, after the fall of the Taliban regime, those groups continued their experiments in the Pankisi Gorge, on the territory of Georgia, bordering Chechnya,” Interfax news agency reported. The minister added that al-Qaeda terrorists “were able to use...

MONDAY, Dec. 6 (HealthDayNews) -- Experiments with the brain cells of rats show that contact with an ingredient found in shampoos, hand lotions and paint causes neurons to die.The chemical, methylisothiazolinone (MIT), belongs to a class of compounds called biocides. These are used in the manufacture of many common household products and industrial water cooling systems to prevent bacteria from developing. According to the National Institutes of Health, brands containing MIT include the shampoos Head and Shoulders, Suave, and Clairol, as well as Pantene hair conditioner and Revlon hair color."As far as I can tell, no neurodevelopmental testing has been...

By Gene J. Koprowski UPI Technology News Published 12/3/2004 9:04 AM CHICAGO, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- A mobile phone is a disposable product -- consumers buy a new one about every year and a half, and toss the old one in the closet. Then, years later, when they have a major house-cleaning weekend, they find a few old phones collecting dust and toss them out in the trash. Experts told UPI's Wireless World this pattern is starting to become a major environmental issue, as old mobile phones start to fill up garbage dumps across the United States and leach lead,...

Iraqi troops, searching terrorist hideouts in Fallujah, discovered a chemical weapons laboratory with manuals on manufacturing explosives and toxins – including anthrax. National security adviser Qassem Dawoud said National Guard troops “found a chemical laboratory that was used to prepare deadly explosives and poisons.” He said the lab was in a district where pockets of fighters are still holding out following the US led assault on the city. “We also found in the laboratory manuals and instructions spelling out procedures for making explosives,” Dawoud said. “They also spoke about making anthrax.” Dawoud showed pictures of a shelf containing what he...

FBI Confirms Traces of Ricin and Rinolic Acid Found In Baby Food jarsThis Headlind is scrolling on the KABC News Website In LA. ABC7.comNo Story on website as of yet.

Sarpy Lakes Closed Toxic algae threat suspected "My son said he come up to the dock and the dog was foaming at the mouth," Connie told us. "He thinks he got a hold of a toad. Then 15 minutes later the dog went down in the yard and collapsed with seizures." Sarpy County authorities have shut down several lakes after the deaths of three dogs. The 300 people who live in the area are being told to stay out of the water. For the second time in as many weeks, Nebraska lake water is killing pets. Last week, Buccaneer...

Farm-raised salmon, a growing staple of American diets, contains significantly higher concentrations of PCBs, dioxin and other cancer-causing contaminants than salmon caught in the wild and should be eaten infrequently, according to a new study of commercial fish sold in North America, South America and Europe. The study, using Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) health guidelines, concluded that while consumers could safely eat four to eight meals of wild salmon a month, consumption of more than one eight-ounce portion of farmed salmon a month in most cases poses an "unacceptable cancer risk." People in Washington, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and...

By John Pike© 2004 Insight/News World Communications Inc. Hormesis, the scientific theory that humans actually need small amounts of poison in their diets, could be the most important environmental event of the 21st century if proved valid. Billions of dollars could be saved in environmental cleanup costs, say researchers, while at the same time improving the health of all organisms, including humans. But at first examination, hormesis appears kooky. The knee-jerk reaction is to reject this phenomenon as pseudoscience or propaganda by polluters, and a few uninformed observers have done just that. But hormesis is a possible, if not highly probable, iconoclastic...

Researchers from the University at Buffalo are developing a handheld sensor that can detect the presence of toxins potentially used as agents in biological warfare. The proposed sensor, which will utilize optical-detection and chemical-sensing technologies, could be used in urban, military, industrial and even home environments, says researcher Albert H. Titus, assistant professor of electrical engineering in the UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. "Our sensor will have certain advantages over what is currently available," Titus says. "It will be lightweight, portable, relatively inexpensive to manufacture and it can be tailored to detect many types -- or different quantities...

CDC Alert on Ricin--South Carolina The United States Postal Service, in conjunction with federal and state law enforcement and public health officials, identified an unmarked andsealed envelope containing a threatening note and a sealed container believed to contain a toxic substance at a small postal handling facility in Greenville, South Carolina. The Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed that the substance was the toxin Ricin. The facility was closed and CDC conducted environmental testing. The results of the environmental testing were negative for the presence of Ricin. There are no indications of...