"New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will sign into law Monday a ban on using electronic cigarettes anywhere conventional cigarette use is prohibited. Critics says the new restriction may – contrary to its stated intent – harm public health."

"WASHINGTON -– The Environmental Protection Agency has quietly updated its website in response to a complaint that its public information on artificial turf made from old tires understated potential concerns about safety."

"Recent salmonella outbreaks that sickened at least 523 people and sent dozens to the hospital underscore 'serious weaknesses' in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s oversight of poultry plants, according to a study released Thursday by the Pew Charitable Trusts, which also criticized the government’s failure to push more aggressively for recalls of contaminated meat."

"WASHINGTON — The honeybees that pollinate one-third of Americans’ daily diet are dying, and in the eyes of some environmentalists one culprit may be a decades-old Environmental Protection Agency system."

"LONDON — European food regulators said on Tuesday that a class of pesticides linked to the deaths of large numbers of honey bees might also harm human health, and they recommended that the European Commission further restrict their use."

"SAN JOSE -- A Santa Clara County judge on Monday handed a billion-dollar victory to 10 California cities and counties that sued the paint industry in the interest of cleaning up old lead toxins permeating the walls of millions of homes."

"WASHINGTON -- After more than 40 years of study, the U.S. government says it has found no evidence that common anti-bacterial soaps prevent the spread of germs, and regulators want the makers of Dawn, Dial and other household staples to prove that their products do not pose health risks to consumers."

The discovery of chronic wasting disease in captive deer in Missouri has put the keeping of deer under fire.

"Commentaries by two of China's most influential news outlets suggesting that the country's air pollution crisis was not without a silver lining drew a withering reaction on Tuesday from internet users and other media."