"As global warming triggers heavier rainfall and faster snowmelt in the Arctic, Inuit communities in Canada are reporting more cases of illness attributed to pathogens that have washed into surface water and groundwater, according to a new study."

An uncommon and little-understood disease called Kawasaki disease may actually be spread by seasonal winds from Central Asia, new research strongly suggests. The sometimes fatal disease has been able to cross the Pacific to the United States.

Jennifer Frazer reports for Nature News April 4, 2012. [8]

"Darren Collins doesn't know life without Lyme disease. He was just 11 months old when he came home from Wisconsin's Mauthe Lake Campground pasty white, lethargic and running a fever of 105. Darren's flu-like illness eventually subsided, but a host of other troubling Lyme-related symptoms -- stomachaches, irritability and concentration problems -- have since plagued the boy, now 10."

The Food and Drug Administration is supposed to make its regulatory decisions on the basis of science and for the health and well-being of the public. But the White House often intervenes, trying to influence FDA decisions to achieve political goals. Often the White House pressure comes in response to fear of demagogic attacks from the GOP. So it was with movie popcorn.

Gardiner Harris reports for the New York Times April 2, 2012. [21]

"One of the most remarkable environmental messes in local history was triggered 41 years ago when a train derailment dumped 200 tons of toxic chemicals on the porous bedrock of rural Genesee County."

Many girls seem to be entering puberty much earlier than girls did a few decades ago. Research suggests the cause may be small amounts of estrogen-mimicking chemicals in the food and water supply. For kids and parents struggling with this phenomenon, doctors seem to have few answers besides redefining "normal." Some unhappy families are turning to less conventional practitioners. A closer look at the research reveals that the causes may be more complex than originally thought.

"The Food and Drug Administration announced Friday that it was denying a petition to ban BPA from all food and drink containers, saying the science does not show an immediate cause for such action. However, the federal agency cautioned that this ruling does not declare bisphenol A, or BPA, as safe. The agency says it is continuing its assessment of the chemical, which is used in the lining of most canned food and drinks."

"The Obama administration has announced a new policy to handle the risks posed by legitimate biological research that could, in the wrong hands, threaten the public."

"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to decide by Saturday whether to continue allowing bisphenol-A (BPA) in food and beverage containers, Americans' main source of exposure to the chemical implicated in everything from asthma to diabetes."