Environmental Health

"Never really known as a friendly group, the Italian mafia has been brutally murdering people for hundreds of years. Most of the time, these killings are quick—some henchmen waylay the target, squeeze a trigger a few times and make their getaway. Yet according to a new report released last week by the Italian National Institute of Health, a few local Italian mobs have been slowly killing dozens of innocent people for decades by way of a multibillion dollar toxic waste disposal racket."

"Manitoba resident Raven Thundersky, 50, spent her life fighting for justice for people suffering from illnesses caused by asbestos."

"Following the discovery in the UK of bacteria that resist the most common antibiotic of last resort, a leading British expert is warning it is “almost too late” to stop a global superbug crisis."

"A newly discovered fungus is killing a tree that's critical to Hawaii's water supply, endangered native birds and Hawaiian cultural traditions like hula."

"A prominent scientist in the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service has just cleared the first hurdle in an ongoing whistleblower claim against the agency."

"Sally Garcia still doesn’t know what went wrong with her baby. When the tiny girl was born on May 25, 2012, she weighed 3 pounds, 6 ounces, measured 19 inches long — and was missing most of her brain and skull."

"With California working to list atrazine as toxic to the reproductive system, three of the United States' most-widely used pesticides are under fire for adverse health effects."

"Eighty-five percent of male smallmouth bass tested in or nearby 19 National Wildlife Refuges in the U.S. Northeast had signs of female reproductive parts, according to a new federal study."

"Biologists in the United States and Europe are developing a revolutionary genetic technique that promises to provide an unprecedented degree of control over insect-borne diseases and crop pests."

"Federal agencies engaged in the battle against deadly superbugs would get their biggest funding increase ever in the congressional spending deal unveiled this week. The budget blueprint would provide at least $375 million in new funds for the 2016 fiscal year to fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria, one of the biggest health threats facing the United States and the rest of the world."