safety

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Sabotage Eyed In Outbreak of Foot-and-Mouth

Investigators target 'bio security' at labs making vaccine

(Newser) - British officials are pursuing the possibility that latest outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease could be the result of sabotage, the Times reports. They've ruled out water leaks spreading the virus from a research lab to nearby farms,and have concluded that "release by human movement must be considered a real...

Which Came First: Quake or Collapse?

It's geologists vs. mine owner on cause of Utah disaster

(Newser) - A cave-in method of coal extraction called “retreat mining,” recently okayed by regulators for Crandall Canyon, was more likely to have caused the Utah mine disaster than an earthquake, seismographers tell the Los Angeles Times. And they say the massive tremor was consistent with the type  “induced...

UK Cattle Test Positive for Foot-and-Mouth

New outbreak forces farm quarantine, ban on livestock transport

(Newser) - Britain faces its first outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in six years after a herd of beef cattle in Guildford tested positive, reports the Independent. The news forced Gordon Brown to cancel his vacation as the government introduced emergency measures banning all transportation of cattle and pigs and throwing up a...

Bad Plastic: It's Practically Everywhere

And it's linked to infertility, obesity, cancer—you name it

(Newser) - It's in everything from baby bottles to coffee makers to CDs, and research is accumulating, as Salon's Elizabeth Grossman puts it, that it's a major health hazard. Bisphenol A is a key ingredient of the lightweight plastics now ubiquitous in consumer products, and it's been variously linked to reproductive health,...

Gas-Powered Roller Skates Skid in Britain

Safety officials seize illegal 20 MPH "gas shoes" from China

(Newser) - British officials seized 50 pairs of motorized roller skates that can hit 20 mph in just 20 seconds. The Brits say the Chinese "gasoline skating shoes," which are controlled by a hand-held throttle, reach dangerous clips and expose young speedsters to falls and sudden stops that pitch them...

Some Laser Printers May Be Hazardous to Your Health

Office machines puff pollutants like smokers

(Newser) - Working near a laser printer might be as bad for you as second-hand smoke, according to a new study. Some major brands of printers emit particles of toner that can damage the lungs of people nearby—and even light concentrations can potentially cause heart and lung diseases.

FDA Panel Votes to Keep Avandia on Shelves

Controversial diabetes drug still faces heart-attack link

(Newser) - An FDA panel said today that GlaxoSmithKline's diabetes drug Avandia should remain in drugstores, despite earlier evidence the pill ups heart failure risks. Glaxo has defended its drug, countering that the risks associated with the popular Avandia are the same as those of other diabetes drugs.

Chinese Goods Flunk Gov't Safety Tests

Nearly 20% of domestic consumer products can't meet quality standards

(Newser) - The Chinese government acknowledged today what people around the world suspected—many products manufactured by the world's largest exporter of consumer goods are unsafe. One-fifth of its manufactured wares fail to meet government safety standards, a regulatory agency said in a posting on its website. Despite the findings, which did...

Doctors Give TB Fugitive Good News
Doctors Give
TB Fugitive Good News

Doctors Give TB Fugitive Good News

Runaway lawyer's disease less dangerous than initially thought

(Newser) - TB patient Andrew Speaker is not quite as sick as planeloads of people feared, Reuters reports. A doctor from Speaker's Denver hospital says the Atlanta lawyer, who flew to Europe despite warnings that he was highly contagious, doesn't have XDR—or extensively drug-resistant—tuberculosis, but rather the more treatable multi-drug-resistant...

Oil Spill Worsens Floods
Oil Spill Worsens Floods

Oil Spill Worsens Floods

Malfunction at Kansas factory unleashes gallons of crude into water torrents

(Newser) - The floods overwhelming the Midwest worsened today as 42,000 gallons of crude oil accidentally released from a refinery on Sunday made its way farther downstream. A malfunction at a plant in Coffeyville, Kan., on the Oklahoma border, contaminated flood waters with a thick, pungent layer of sludge that threatens...

Chinese PR Combats Export Rap
Chinese PR Combats
Export Rap

Chinese PR Combats Export Rap

Enemies in Washington stymie effort to promote food products called unsafe

(Newser) - China is on a public relations blitz to keep its exports solvent after nonstop coverage of unsafe toothpaste, fish and even tires in the US, China's largest customer, last week. Beijing broke its pattern of protest over the coverage, shutting down 180 offending factories and promising consumers that tainted food...

Salmonella Prompts Recall of Veggie Booty

Company yanks 'healthy' snack after dozens, including kids, fall ill

(Newser) - A snack popular with health-conscious junk-food fans because it contains kale and spinach may also contain salmonella, according to the FDA and CDC, and the manufacturer of Veggie Booty has issued a nationwide recall. Fifty-one people, many of whom had eaten the green-colored rice and corn curlicues, reported symptoms consistent...

Egypt Outlaws Female Genital Mutilation

Loophole removed after 11-year-old girl dies during circumcision

(Newser) - A legal loophole allowing girls to undergo genital cutting for "health reasons" has been eliminated in Egypt, strengthening an earlier ban. Seen as a rite of passage and a way to lessen sexual desire, the practice had been fairly widespread. But after a heavily sedated girl died during the...

Toothpaste Scare Widens&mdash;Again
Toothpaste Scare Widens—Again

Toothpaste Scare Widens—Again

Tainted tubes from China turn up in Georgia prisons, hospitals

(Newser) - The Chinese toothpaste scare is far from over and is more than just a scare. Tainted tubes have turned up, as expected, in discount stores—but officials have also found them in institutions such as prisons and hospitals, the Times reports. Nearly 1 million tubes containing varying amounts of a...

China Closes 180 Food Plants
China Closes 180 Food Plants

China Closes 180 Food Plants

Dangerous chemicals added to products from candy to pickles; most not exported

(Newser) - The Chinese government has shut down 180 food manufacturing plants for racking up a whopping 23,000 violations in the last six months, most of them for using chemicals and industrial materials as food fillers to cut costs. Almost all were small and unlicensed, making it unlikely their products, worth...

Safety of Chinese-Made Toys Is Hardly Child's Play

Flood of recalls raises concerns

(Newser) - The latest Chinese products posing safety problems for consumers are children's toys, joining toothpaste, pet food, and drugs on an increasingly worrisome list, the New York Times reports. Last week's recall of Thomas & Friends train toys brought the total number of toys recalled by the US this year to...

FDA Advisory Panel Rejects Weight-Loss Drug

Possible side effects send Acomplia to the sidelines

(Newser) - Accomplia, a weight-loss drug marketed in 18 other countries, failed to win approval from an FDA advisory board yesterday. The 14-member panel of outside experts ruled unanimously that manufacturer Sanofi-Aventis had not dispelled concerns about the safety of the drug, whose potential side effects include suicidal thoughts, anxiety, and depression.

China Finds Fake Protein in IV Drips

Counterfeit albumin discovered in hospitals and pharmacies

(Newser) - In yet another product-safety scandal, fake blood protein has been found in IV drips in 60 hospitals and pharmacies in northeastern China, the BBC reports. Albumin, or plasma protein, is administered to patients suffering from burns or undergoing open-heart surgery; the counterfeit contained no protein at all. 

Drug-Resistant TB Patient Flies Commercial

Carrier crossed Atlantic twice, putting passengers at risk

(Newser) - A man infected with drug-resistant tuberculosis boarded two transatlantic flights in two weeks, CNN reports, putting his fellow passengers at risk. Planes are equipped with air filters that should catch the rod-shaped TB bacili, but the CDC recommends anyone on Air France 385, from Atlanta to Paris May 12, or...

Corzine: Do As I Say, Not As I Did
Corzine:
Do As I Say,
Not As I Did

Corzine: Do As I Say, Not As I Did

Injured NJ governor pushes seatbelt use in dramatic PSA

(Newser) - Jon Corzine dodged a bullet, and he wants to make sure he isn't alone. The New Jersey governor, gravely injured in an SUV crash last month while not wearing a seatbelt, appears in a new 30-second TV ad that makes it clear he's learned his lesson. Today he joined the...

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