"Bisphenol A readily passes through skin, French scientists report. Best known as an estrogen-mimicking constituent of some plastics and resins, BPA is also found in a large share of cash register receipt paper in the United States and Europe, a trio of studies recently indicated. One of the three also showed that the powdery coating easily rubs off onto the hands."

"High levels of manganese and copper pollution in urban areas are linked to increased risk of Parkinson's disease, according to an analysis of 35,000 Parkinson's patients by scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis."

"Extensive testing of Gulf of Mexico seafood by federal scientists has found only minute traces of the dispersant Corexit, which was used to break up oil from the BP spill, officials say. About 1.8 million gallons of dispersant were applied to the waters' surface and at the wellhead, nearly a mile undersea."

"BP lifted its estimate of the likely cost of its Gulf of Mexico oil spill to $40 billion on Tuesday, denting profits, but its underlying performance beat all expectations on higher refining margins and a lower tax rate."

"Opponents of a Nevada nuclear waste dump thought they'd finally managed to kill the Yucca Mountain project. Then came Sharron Angle."

"Battle lines have been hardening over the proposed Keystone XL pipeline over the last couple of weeks. The pipeline, which will stretch from Alberta in Canada to refineries on the Gulf Coast, would nearly double the United States' capacity to import oil made from Canadian oil sands. Canadian oil sands are a plentiful and secure source of oil, but the extraction process is high in carbon dioxide emissions and takes a toll on pristine Canadian forest ecosystems."

"It is a 20-block trip from the Interior Department headquarters to the House Natural Resources Committee's Capitol Hill hearing rooms, and Secretary Ken Salazar may get to know it well."

"Republican leaders have begun gathering evidence for sweeping investigations of Barack Obama's environmental agenda, from climate science to the BP oil spill, if as expected, they take control of the House of Representatives in the 2 November mid-term elections, the Guardian has learned."

Many Navajo families face a choice between burning coal, which can threaten the safety of their homes and their respiratory health -- or burning propane, which they may not be able to afford.

"For close to four decades, residents of Tallevast in southwest Florida lived side by side with the American Beryllium Company, which employed local men and women to manufacture parts for nuclear weapons. Each day, workers inhaled beryllium dust and brought it home on their clothing."