"SAVAR, Bangladesh — On the worst days, the toxic stench wafting through the Genda Government Primary School is almost suffocating. Teachers struggle to concentrate, as if they were choking on air. Students often become lightheaded and dizzy. A few boys fainted in late April. Another retched in class."

"Levels of manganese, a neurotoxin, in the cove and in a nearby creek were 10, 20 or nearly 30 times above the EPA's safety standard for tap water."

"Scientists and lawyers are scheduled to debate the safety of certain 'BPA-free' plastics this week in a U.S. District Court in Austin, Texas."

"An extensive new study confirms a long-suspected link between crippling birth defects and the nitrate contamination that threatens drinking water for 250,000 people in the San Joaquin Valley."

The incidence of autism has increased in recent decades, but scientists are still struggling to understand what causes the developmental disorder. Now they are starting to suspect "environmental epigenetics" may play a key role in its origin.

"Days after environmental watchdog group Center for Environmental Health cried foul on the levels of a controversial caramel coloring in Pepsi, soda giant PepsiCo announced its intention to phase out the ingredient nationwide by February 2014."

"WASHINGTON -- Nearly two years after an outcry about arsenic in apple juice touched off by a segment on 'The Dr. Oz Show,' the federal Food and Drug Administration is proposing a new limit on acceptable levels."

"The Food and Drug Administration has agreed to ban the use of a chemical linked to health problems in infant formula packaging."

"We have to confess: When we heard that Twinkies will have nearly double the shelf life, 45 days, when they return to stores next week, our first reaction was -- days? Not years?"

"That cat poop can pose a health risk to humans no longer surprises us. Some cats carry a parasite called Toxoplasma gondii. Infected cats shed embryonic T. gondii, called oocysts, in their feces."

"A 27-year-old U.S. program intended to warn the public of the presence of hazardous chemicals is flawed in many states due to scant oversight and lax reporting by plant owners, a Reuters examination finds."

"BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — In 36 years with the Los Angeles police, Sgt. Irwin Klorman faced many dangerous situations, including one routine call that ended with Uzi fire and a bullet-riddled body sprawled on the living room floor. But his most life-threatening encounter has been with coccidioidomycosis, or valley fever, for which he is being treated here."

"In the United States, everyone becomes a chef on the Fourth of July."

"Pepsi-Cola is still using caramel coloring containing a chemical linked to cancer in rodents, a report released on Wednesday showed, more than a year after the beverage maker promised to phase it out."

"California corrections officials announced Tuesday they will comply with a federal judge's order to move inmates at risk of contracting valley fever out of two San Joaquin Valley prisons."