"BRUSSELS -- Long-term exposure to fine particles of pollutants in the air can trigger adverse birth outcomes, childhood respiratory diseases and atherosclerosis, the World Health Organization warned today.

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency banned 12 rodent poisons made by the United Kingdom-based Reckitt Benckiser Inc. because the products failed to abide by safety regulations, the agency announced Wednesday."

"We’ve come a long way since the days when kids played in clouds of DDT, gas stations sold leaded gasoline, and smoking near youngsters was commonplace."

"Did you have a nasty case of food poisoning this year? Chances are that fruit or vegetables were the culprit."

"Chevron ignored potentially life-threatening dangers to workers at its Richmond refinery and should pay a record fine of nearly $1 million stemming from the fire there in August, state regulators said Wednesday."

"Vitamin D plays a pivotal role in a number of disorders. Now scientists are investigating whether the 'sunshine vitamin' could be implicated in autism. With autism rates climbing and levels of vitamin D declining because of more sunscreen use and less time spent outdoors, scientists have begun to look into a possible link."

"An independent office within the Small Business Administration has worked to block health, safety and environmental regulations on behalf of small and large businesses without appropriate technical expertise, two new studies have charged."

"Dawn Morrow is not allowed to go outside. The brown soupy mix hanging over the Grand Valley spells disaster for her lungs, which already are compromised by a rare lung disease with a long name, lymphangioleiomyomatosis."

"Bird flu researchers end a yearlong moratorium on experiments to determine whether the H5N1 virus can mutate and spread among humans. The work, which was deemed risky, won't resume yet in the U.S."

"SALT LAKE CITY -- A group of Utah doctors is declaring a health emergency over the Salt Lake City area's lingering air pollution problem."

"Serving hot food on melamine tableware could increase your exposure to melamine, a study released Monday in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine suggests."

"Diet and exercise are seen as the key factors that cause obesity, but new research suggests that certain chemicals called obesogens contribute to the global weight problem. Bruce Blumberg, professor of developmental and cell biology at the University of California at Irvine tells host Steve Curwood that the effects of an obesogenic chemical he studied seem to persist for several generations."

"CHEYENNE, Wyo. -- Gov. Matt Mead has joined those expressing disappointment that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has extended for a third time a public comment period on a report on groundwater pollution in a Wyoming gas field rather than moving toward wrapping up the study."

"Just like the controversial compound it's designed to replace, a chemical used in cash register receipts and other consumer products messes with hormones, according to research published today."

"DAVIS, Calif. -- What causes autism? The question has spurred about a billion dollars' worth of genetics research that has found no clear answer. But University of California, Davis, epidemiologist Irva Hertz-Picciotto has been pursuing another angle: Does the environment around a pregnant woman play a role in determining whether her child develops autism?"