Environmental Health

"When the results of tests for lead in the water at more than 1,500 New York City school buildings were announced in July, officials said that fewer than 1 percent of all the samples taken showed lead concentrations that exceeded Environmental Protection Agency guidelines. Given other safety measures in place, officials assured parents, the water was safe to drink. But a review of how the testing was conducted suggests that the amount of lead in the water that students consume could be greater than the results indicate."

"Federal scientists are finding increasing skin and liver tumors in bottom-feeding fish caught in several of Wisconsin's Lake Michigan tributaries that flow through areas with particularly severe environmental problems."

"The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned on Tuesday that federal funds to fight the Zika virus were nearly exhausted, and that if Congress did not replenish them soon, there would be no money to fight a new outbreak."

"Emily Pratt wasn’t impressed when she heard about the U.S. Food and Drug Administration probe into the potentially deleterious effects of tattoo ink. She would have shrugged to show how little she cared, but she was a bit sore from the tattoo machine that had just been smacking away at her left forearm."

"The Environmental Protection Agency’s internal watchdog has begun 'preliminary research' into the department’s oversight of state drinking water testing."

"Everywhere you turn, it seems, there's news about the human microbiome. And, more specifically, about the bacteria that live in your gut and help keep you healthy. Those bacteria, it turns out, are hiding a big secret: their own microbiome. A study published Monday suggests some viruses in your gut could be beneficial."

If a kid catches a big walleye on the St. Louis River estuary in Duluth, the state warns her not to eat it. Ever.

"The Food and Drug Administration on Friday took steps to safeguard the nation’s blood supply from the Zika virus, calling for all blood banks to screen donations for the infection even in states where the virus is not circulating."

"Study finds a cocktail of legal and illegal drugs in Baltimore's Gwynns Falls, most likely from city's leaking sewers".

"ST. LOUIS -- Water samples from 16 schools in the city school system contained lead levels that exceeded those most commonly found in homes in Flint, Mich., after a contamination crisis there, according to results released Thursday by an environmental engineering company."