"Long before the first winter frost, hundreds of drinking fountains in Chicago parks have been shut off after testing revealed high levels of brain-damaging lead in the water."

"The scale of a cholera outbreak in Haiti after Hurricane Matthew may be underreported because remote areas are cut off, a United Nations official in charge of controlling the disease said on Tuesday, adding protests over slow aid made the problem worse."

"Researchers estimate the United States economy takes a $340 billion hit annually as endocrine-disrupting compounds lower IQs, increase behavior problems and exacerbate health woes like obesity and diabetes."

"Florida health officials have identified a new neighborhood in Miami as a Zika transmission zone, Florida Gov. Rick Scott's office said Thursday."

Parts of coastal North Carolina battered by floods from Hurricane Matthew will take a long time to recover. Damage to facilities for clean drinking water is a main obstacle.

"Trenton Public Schools have found elevated levels of lead in more than three-quarters of its buildings."

"Governments should tax sugary drinks to fight the global epidemics of obesity and diabetes, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday, Oct. 11."

"CLEVELAND, Ohio – Almost 45 percent of the service pipes Cleveland Water is responsible for, the ones that carry drinking, cooking and bathing water to customers across Northeast Ohio are likely to contain lead.

But what does that mean?

Concern about the toxin has been on the rise across the the country, though its danger to young children and pregnant women have long been known."

"A year after the Liberals were elected with a promise to ban the use of asbestos in Canada, no such move has been made – inaction that is dismaying to health experts, labour groups and families affected by asbestos-related diseases."

"The beverage giants Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have given millions of dollars to nearly 100 prominent health groups in recent years, while simultaneously spending millions to defeat public health legislation that would reduce Americans’ soda intake, according to public health researchers."