Public

"Quite a few of the 225 people who live in Dish, Texas, think the nation's natural gas boom is making them sick. They blame the chemicals used in gas production for health problems ranging from nosebleeds to cancer.
And the mayor of Dish, Bill Sciscoe, has a message for people who live in places where gas drilling is about to start: 'Run. Run as fast as you can. Grab up your family and your belongings, and get out.'"

"COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio senators approved new regulations for horizontal shale drilling known as fracking on Tuesday in a bipartisan vote punctuated by a spoken rendition of 'The Beverly Hillbillies' theme song."

The Environmental Working Group has released its 2012 Sunscreen Guide -- with information on the safety and efficacy of the lotions you slather on your kids before they go to camp or the beach. You may not want to rest easy after you do so. EWG's annual release comes as the outdoor season gets under way -- and barely a week after the FDA failed to finalize sunscreen safety standards. And, yes, EWG has an app for that.

"When writer Florence Williams was nursing her second child, she read a research study about toxins found in human breast milk. She decided to test her own breast milk and shipped a sample to a lab in Germany. What came back surprised her. Trace amounts of pesticides, dioxin and a jet fuel ingredient — as well as high to average levels of flame retardants — were all found in her breast milk. How could something like this happen?"

"The number of children considered at risk of lead poisoning jumped by more than five-fold on Wednesday, as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lowered its threshold for the diagnosis. Children's health advocates applauded the decision, but also expressed concern that recent congressional budget cuts will drastically limit funds that could help affected kids and prevent further poisoning."