Charles Dickens was writing a tale of two cities. But his words – that “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times’’ – perfectly describe the tale of one this week. After nearly a decade of fighting for and failing to get emergency help for the people poisoned by asbestos-contaminated vermiculite [...]

If nanotechnology goes astray, companies and their investors could face billions of dollars in asbestos-like litigation because potential risks are now hidden due to weak regulations governing disclosure of liabilities. The comments are in a report to be issued Wednesday by Investor Environmental Health Network, a partnership of investment managers concerned about the financial and [...]

It’s Monday night and I’m in Cambridge, Mass.  MIT has graciously lowered its standards and is allowing me to participate in a week-long workshop on nanotechnology. And, yes, for those of you who paid close attention, I did attend a conference on nanotechnology in food last week at the Institute of Food Technologists in California. [...]

I’ve been doing journalism for decades, several of them. I covered my first two or three wars with the keys of a battered portable typewriter. It never crashed but the spell-checker is lousy I not only understand change, I covet the ability to get our words out instantly and to a world-wide audience that most [...]

Silver nanoparticles, untested for safety, are being used in a growing number of children’s toys, babies’ bottles, cosmetics, dishwashers, underwear and hundreds of other items. A report issued today says that consumers and workers who make the products may be at risk. The report, authored by Friends of the Earth and Health Care Without Harm [...]

Many food exports from China may be dangerous, but some of the tricks used to fool Chinese shoppers are even more treacherous. Everyone knows about the about the tens of thousands of Chinese infants struck down but kidney-destroying melamine in their milk and the 60,000 dogs and cats worldwide who died after eating it in [...]

There are two gigantic professional food organizations that gather their members each year to compare notes and discuss what’s new. The International Association of Culinary Professionals musters its legions of chefs, recipe creators, food stylists, restaurateurs, educators and writers. They debate and discuss what new styles of cooking, innovations in cuts and seasoning of beef, [...]

I’m in Anaheim, Calif., and I’m not visiting Disney’s mouse. For the next few days, I’ll be attending the Institute of Food Technologists’ annual international conference.  It’s not nearly as boring as it sounds. There are about 15,000 food scientists, microbiologists, engineers, chemists, educators, government regulators, chefs and a score or more of other PhD-toting [...]

Physicians have figured out that nanoparticles of silver may be a new way to prevent blood clots and some coronary artery disease, heart attack and stroke. Dr. Debabrata Dash and colleagues at India’s Institute of Medical Sciences at Banaras Hindu University said they pursued the anti-clotting study because “patients urgently need new anti-thrombotic agents because [...]

Sometimes there are things that we should just stop using. Take melamine for an example. The plastic-like substance has been used for tens of thousands of products such as Formica countertops, whiteboards, tiles and fabric. And let’s not forget the scratched and stained tableware from the 50s and 60s called Melmac that still magically migrates [...]