David Gutierrez

The FDA has sent letters to 25 companies, threatening them with disciplinary action if they do not stop claiming that their herbal products can prevent or cure cancer.

Grand Rapids, Mich. has become the most recent city to question the practice of fluoridating public water, as part of a growing tendency for local governments to question the use of many chemicals that formerly been taken for granted. "I think this pattern has been growing because there is better environmental health research that draws connections between low levels of chemical exposure and changes in our bodies," said Dr. Howard Hu of the University of Michigan. "As the research has become more sophisticated, it shows that environmental toxicants can do other things beyond just kill you: they can stunt your growth, change behavior and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Thirty-three brand-name red lipsticks were purchased in Boston, San Francisco, Minneapolis and Hartford, Conn. and tested for lead. Of these, 61 percent contained lead in detectable amounts, from 0.03 up to 0.65 parts per million (ppm). One-third of the lipsticks tested contained lead in concentrations higher than 0.1 ppm, which is the cutoff point set by the FDA for lead in candy.