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Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) literally lost it on the House floor Thursday over his Republican colleagues' procedural objection to an amendment to the Public Health Services Act. The amendment would extend and improve health care benefits for 9/11 victims suffering from lasting health complications. Weiner is given to House floor drama. The New York Democrat is known for his often passionate and attention-grabbing remarks. He screamed for more than a minute Thursday, calling on Republican colleagues to vote 'no' against the bill, rather than object on procedural grounds.

*snip* The mud is thick, black and lifeless. And it stinks. Dead stumps - what used to be thick green mangrove swamps - protrude out from the mud as far as your eyes see. It looks like a scene captured by a camera attached to an unmanned spacecraft that has just landed on a lifeless planet in another galaxy. Nothing is growing here, and I can’t imagine anything growing here in a very long time. *snip* "We went through that here. Nobody wanted our fish, they said, ‘your fish are contaminated because of the oil.’" Of the 6,000 fishermen who...

Sanjay Gupta, CNN, July 6, 2010: Might BP be trying to hide the risk to cleanup workers? … Louisiana’s Health Department has reported 128 cleanup workers who have been sickened. State clinics are telling us something else as well, that cleanup workers are being told to report to BP’s own health clinic on Grand Isle, not to go to state facilities.

NOTE The following text is a quote: www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/executive-order-optimizing-security-biological-select-agents-and-toxins-united-stat Home • Briefing Room • Presidential Actions • Executive Orders The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release July 02, 2010 Executive Order-- Optimizing the Security of Biological Select Agents and Toxins in the United States By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Policy. It is the policy of the United States that: (a) A robust and productive scientific enterprise that utilizes biological select agents and toxins (BSAT)...

The oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico is clearly harming wildlife and the economy of the region, but just how is it affecting human health? It's a question coastal residents and visitors want answered -- but so far, those answers are hard to come by. Although health professionals in Alabama and beyond are monitoring reports of illnesses in the Gulf, they say it could be months or years before the full impact is understood. "A lot of it depends on how long it continues and to what degree," said Tom Miller, assistant state health officer at the Alabama Department...

Five years ago Molly and Zachery Gray were in the midst of a dark, lonely spiral. It began with Molly's first miscarriage. "It was a really emotional process of being so joyful and so happy and ready to make that step into parenthood and that being pulled away from you," said Molly, 32. "[The pregnancy is] happening and all of a sudden it's gone. It's really hard." After a second miscarriage the Grays were on a desperate hunt for answers. After Molly got pregnant a third time, she heard about a small study to test the blood of pregnant women...

Some home builders already struggling in Florida's dismal housing market are facing another headache: The Chinese-made drywall they used is causing unpleasant odors and possibly leading to electric problems in dozens of homes constructed during the housing boom.

You think solar electrical generation is going to save you or the Planet? Think again. While it is true that photovoltaic solar panels do not pollute while they are producing electricity -- what about the manufacturing process? What happens when these panels reach the end of their projected lifecycle in twenty-five years? (This is, by the way, an optimistic view of their useful life.) Those questions are addressed in a study by the watchdog group Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition. "Green Power" is being hyped as the "Safe Solution." It is anything but safe -- when all factors are considered. Here...

If you are a parent (or grandparent) of a young child, you are a target for manipulation by activists (some with scientific degrees) who claim we are surrounded by a sea of chemical "toxins" and "carcinogens." You are easy prey — because you care so deeply about the health and welfare of your babies and children. Purveyors of unfounded health scares know that. The fearmongers have just about everything going for them. And unless you recognize their manipulative tactics, you will be among their millions of terrified victims. Here's how they work: They know what psychiatrists have known for many...

Although millions of toys have been recalled this year, toys containing toxic ingredients are still on store shelves. So how does a holiday shopper choose safer products? On Wednesday, December 5 the Michigan-based Ecology Center - the same group that released the first-ever consumer guides to toxic chemicals in cars and child car seats - will be releasing new research on over 1,200 toys in collaboration with the Washington Toxics Coalition and other leading environmental health groups across the country. At www.healthytoys.org parents will be able to easily check how products rank from highest to lowest in terms of lead,...

Fishing writer survives bite from deadly snake By JOHN RUDOLF LAKE HAVASU NEWS-HERALD LAKE HAVASU - It took only a split-second to turn an idyllic day fishing on Lake Havasu into an excruciating encounter with one of the deadliest creatures in nature. Early on the morning of Sept. 11, Doug Busey, 49, the Tahoe Daily Tribune's longtime fishing writer, stepped off of a friend's fishing boat to snap a few photos from a beach on the lake's California side. He knelt down to get a better angle on a cactus, and a dark blur jumped out at it him. Only...

I'm not saying Chinese products are crap. I'm saying they are dangerous crap. I'm saying that you can only have trade with people who have integrity, and people who poison kids and animals don't have integrity. And, unless I'm misunderstanding all this, we had thousands of American pets killed by Chinese crap products. We've had almost 20 million American toys recalled because they were made by Chinese crap manufacturers. We've had poison Chinese crap toothpaste – with a lethal anti-freeze ingredient included – sold to Americans and other people around the world. Just yesterday, consumer advocates in New Zealand warned...

Imports of popular Chinese fruit, vegetables and food products were blacklisted yesterday after tests found high levels of toxic contamination and cancer-causing chemical residues. The tests were conducted by the Department of Medical Science and the Food and Drug Administration on about 11,500 food items. They revealed dangerously high pesticide residues in Chinese spinach, white greens, carrots, celery, pears and collard greens, department chief Paichit Warachit said. Sulphur dioxide residues were also found in dried herbs such as Chinese pyrethrum and white mushroom, excessive amounts of lead in dried shark fin and seasoned seaweed, the carcinogenic drug chloramphenicol in goat...

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...