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Aspartame, one of the most common artificial sweeteners — found in everything from diet sodas to cough drops to other pharmaceuticals — may soon be marked as a carcinogen (cancer-causing agent) by the world’s preeminent public health body.Via Reuters:One of the world’s most common artificial sweeteners is set to be declared a possible carcinogen next month by a leading global health body, according to two sources with knowledge of the process, pitting it against the food industry and regulators.Aspartame, used in products from Coca-Cola diet sodas to Mars’ Extra chewing gum and some Snapple drinks, will be listed in July...

The artificial sweetener aspartame might soon be declared a “possible carcinogen,” or cancer-causing agent, according to a leaked report from the World Health Organization. Aspartame is used in Diet Coke, Coke Zero, chewing gum, diet Snapple, breakfast cereals, ice cream and many other common food and drinks. It’s also sold as NutraSweet, Equal and Sugar Twin. The news about the possible move by the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer, first reported on Reuters, met with quick resistance from the food industry. “… [T]his leaked opinion contradicts decades of high-quality scientific evidence,” International Council of Beverages Associations executive director...

Traces of a chemical tied to blood cancers including leukemia have been detected in dozens of popular sunscreens and after-sun products, according to tests conducted by online pharmacy and lab Valisure. Benzene, a known carcinogen, was found in 78 of nearly 300 sprays and lotions tested — about 27% — including products sold by Banana Boat and CVS, according to Valisure. In a petition, the company has asked the FDA to recall these contaminated batches. The regulating body is reviewing the claim.

Two more drugmakers have recalled their metformin products following an FDA warning that it found unacceptable levels of a carcinogen in the drugs. Lupin Pharmaceuticals, based in Mumbai, India, is recalling all lots of its metformin extended-release tablets after finding certain batches were above the acceptable daily intake level for N-Nitrosodimethylamine, NDMA, a carcinogen. Metformin is the generic name for a type of drug that is used to improve blood glucose control in adults with Type 2 diabetes. Granules Pharmaceuticals, based in Hyderabad, India, is recalling 12 lots of its metformin tablets for the same reason. Neither drugmaker said they...

"A fight is coming to California over whether to list one of the world's most common over-the-counter drugs as a carcinogen, echoing recent high-profile battles over things like alcohol and coffee. The drug is acetaminophen"

In a first for a major restaurant chain, Chipotle Mexican Grill on Monday will begin serving only food that is free of genetically engineered ingredients. “This is another step toward the visions we have of changing the way people think about and eat fast food,” said Steve Ells, founder and co-chief executive of Chipotle. “Just because food is served fast doesn’t mean it has to be made with cheap raw ingredients, highly processed with preservatives and fillers and stabilizers and artificial colors and flavors.” In 2013, Chipotle was the first restaurant chain to indicate which items contained genetically modified organisms,...

One of the world’s most popular weed killers—and the most widely used kind in the U.S.—has been labeled a probable carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. The decision was made by IARC, the France-based cancer research arm of the World Health Organization, which considered the status of five insect and weed killers including glyphosate, which is used globally in industrial farming. […] The new classification is aimed mainly at industrial use of glyphosate. Its use by home gardeners is not considered a risk. Glyphosate is in the same category of risk as things like anabolic steroids and...

Because of these substances, Lance ArmstrongÂ’s cycling victories were taken from him and he was disqualified from further competition; Jose Canseco and Mark McGuire were stripped of their baseball records; numerous congressional hearings were held to assign blame regarding their use. We do our best to protect athletes from these dangerous substances while, at the same time, encouraging women to put them in their bodies.What are these substances? Steroids.Oral contraceptives (commonly known as birth control pills) are steroidal hormones. These drugs manipulate hormones to prevent conception, just as performance-enhancing steroids manipulate hormones to enhance physical size, strength, speed and...

E-cigarettes are more dangerous than thought and can cause cancer, the September edition of a French magazine has claimed. “Electronic cigarettes are far from the harmless gadgets they’re sold as by manufacturers,” wrote monthly magazine “60 Million Consumers” following a study of some 10 reusable and disposable e-cigarette models. “It’s not a reason to ban them, but to better control them,” said Thomas Laurenceau, chief editor of the magazine, which reports the findings of France’s national consumers' institute (INC). The INC has relayed its findings to the authorities, Laurenceau told AFP. …

The Pill Turns 50: Medicine That Makes You SickROBERT F. CONKLING, M.D.Recently three major health stories appeared in the Washington press in less than two weeks that were an occasion to pause and reflect. Recently three major health stories appeared in the Washington press in less than two weeks that were an occasion to pause and reflect.First, the Potomac Conservancy made headlines about the contamination of rivers and drinking water in major metropolitan areas, including Washington DC. Contaminants include not only bacteria, industrial chemicals and agricultural pesticides but also potentially endocrine-active pharmaceuticals, such anti-depressants, contraceptive sex hormones, antibiotics and...

An environmental group that analyzed the drinking water in 35 cities across the United States, including Bethesda and Washington, found that most contained hexavalent chromium, a probable carcinogen that was made famous by the film "Erin Brockovich." The study, which will be released Monday by the Environmental Working Group, is the first nationwide analysis of hexavalent chromium in drinking water to be made public.

Dr. Chris Kahlenborn is the lead author of the Mayo Clinic Proceeding’s article cited below. Kahlenborn testified before the FDA in June of 2000 regarding the link between oral contraceptives and breast cancer. May 2010 marked the 50th anniversary of the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the birth control pill in the United States. Newspapers and magazines around the country ran stories on this, mostly extolling the social and medical benefits of the pill. This theme was bolstered by a recent communiqué from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) which noted: “The pill remains one of the...

FReep This Poll! Do you want fluoride added to your drinking water supply? Yes No Not sure Go to the North County Times/The Californian link provided. Scroll down a bit and look for the poll on the right hand side. Vote your choice.

NEW YORK -- A 41-year-old paramedic who worked at a morgue for months after the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center was buried Monday after dying of an asbestos-related cancer. Deborah Reeve, a 17-year paramedic, died on March 15 of mesothelioma, a lung cancer associated with exposure to asbestos, her family said. Reeve developed a cough in late 2003 and retired at the end of 2004 after becoming too ill to work. Her doctors and family say her cancer was caused by exposure to toxic dust from the World Trade Center site. City health officials say it's...

WASHINGTON - Twenty-one senators asked the Environmental Protection Agency for more information Thursday about an internal paper that reportedly concludes that the gasoline additive MTBE may cause cancer. Key elements of the document, which has not been made public, surfaced as lawmakers considered whether to shield the makers of MTBE from product liability lawsuits as a result drinking water contamination in at least 36 states. MTBE, which was put into gasoline to cut air pollution, has been banned in several states because of complaints that it adds a foul smell and turpentine-like taste to drinking water when it leaks into...

Teflon, and the products that contain PFOA, are everywhere — from pots and pans, to Gore-Tex jackets, carpet coatings, computer chips, engine fuel lines and even pizza boxes... The issue now before the EPA is whether a chemical that's become a part of everyday life is also a threat

DuPont and 3M, makers of Teflon and Scotchgard, will remove a key ingredient used to make nonstick and stain-resistant products that also contaminates our bodies and the global environment. The move away from the chemical, known as PFOA, affects just a small fraction of DuPont's and 3M's business and won't take effect until the end of 2006. The compound, being studied by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a potential carcinogen, will still be used in other consumer and industrial products. "It's a small part of our sales," DuPont spokesman R. Clifton Webb said Tuesday. "We're taking this step not...

Forty-five years ago this week, ...1959, most Americans celebrated Thanksgiving sans cranberry sauce. Earlier that month, a government health official had announced that traces of the weed killer aminotriazole — a chemical that caused cancer in rodents — had been found in the cranberry crop. The spokesman urged housewives to "be on the safe side" and refrain from buying cranberries because the rodent data suggested that the "contaminated" cranberries could pose a human cancer risk. There was never any real health risk. The cranberry scare of 1959 marked the beginning of a modern wave of "chemical phobia" and a government...

<p>WASHINGTON - Anthrax, the bioterrorism agent that killed five people in 2001 and has frightened millions more, may be an effective cancer killer, according to new research from the National Institutes of Health.</p> <p>Genetically engineered anthrax protein -- designed to activate only on contact with a chemical on the surface of malignant tumors -- dramatically reduced and even eradicated cancers in tests on hundreds of mice, according to a study published Monday in the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences. Thanks to the genetic engineering, the anthrax did not poison the mice.</p>