When it comes to distinguishing real health risks from trivial or simply bogus risks, American consumers have a great deal to learn. In the media, the real and the hypothetical risks get blurred -- or worse, the non-risks get so hyped that they sound like major causes of preventable disease...

An October press release from the Environmental Protection Agency's National Center for Environmental Research announced that EPA is funding a handful of researchers to investigate the role of "environmental chemicals" in putting children at risk of disease. The press release says that "protecting health is one of the highest priorities...

For years, friends and colleagues have asked me: why don't scientists speak up when the media hypes the latest health scare? They ask why scientists sit mute when self-appointed environmental activists claim there is a cancer epidemic (there is not) or that "chemicals" in products ranging from lipstick to rubber...

After last week's mega-coverage of the reported association of breast cancer and alcohol consumption, we at American Council on Science and Health received many queries -- some from very nervous women. Was the answer to follow an alcohol abstention program? After all, the news reports repeatedly said "any amount" of...