"The Environmental Protection Agency had the authority and information to issue an emergency order protecting residents of Flint, Mich., from lead-tainted water a full seven months before it did so, an EPA internal investigation has concluded."

"Lawmakers have proposed pesticide-free zones around schools and daycare centers. Environmental and community activists say they fall short, given pesticides’ reach and persistence; pesticide manufacturers say they're unwarranted."

"Federal health officials have made a new color-coded map for Miami and say pregnant women should stay out of the "red zone" — where Zika virus is actively infecting new people daily."

"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."