It has been almost 18 months since the disastrous meltdowns struck four nuclear reactors at the Fukushima plant in northern Japan. While daily news footage of exploding reactor buildings, emergency workers dressed like spacemen, and officials sweeping radiation detectors over children's bodies have disappeared, the impact of Fukushima continues.

While...

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics must be congratulated for securing a 11/15/11 agreement with Johnson & Johnson "for reducing or gradually phasing out trace amounts of potentially cancer-causing chemicals" from Baby Shampoo, "one of its signature products." However, this agreement is limited and restricted to the U.S. market.

There are...

A December 10, 2010 a two page article in The New York Times, "When Wrinkle-Free Clothing Also Means Formaldehyde Fumes," stated that "formaldehyde is commonly found in a broad range of consumer products." These include sheets, pillow cases and drapes, besides "personal care products like shampoos, lotions and eye shadows."...

The huge mushroom clouds from atom bomb tests of the 1950s and 1960s are an unforgettable part of the American saga. The tests were cloaked in rhetoric typical of the Cold War, i.e. they were needed to achieve "superiority" over the Soviets in the event of a nuclear war.

But...

On April 22 Senators Dianne Feinstein and Sam Brownback urged the Senate to pass the January 2009 Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Act. This stated that "lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in both men and women, accounting for 28 percent of all cancer deaths." The...

In 1984, the American Cancer Society (ACS), the world's largest nonprofit organization, inaugurated the October National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM), with its flagship National Mammography Day. The NBCAM was conceived and funded by the Imperial Chemical Industries, a leading international manufacturer of petrochemicals, and its U.S. subsidiary Zeneca Pharmaceuticals....

Bob Herbert's July 19 New York Times column rightly states that the harm from a meltdown at a nuclear power plant "would make the Deepwater Horizon disaster look like a walk in the park." Herbert also warns that systems needed to prevent a meltdown are not well developed. "Right now,...

As reported in the June 25 New York Times article on "Genetically Altered Salmon," genetically altered foods "must be labeled--if they are different in their nutritional or natural properties or other characteristics." Genetically engineered milk is very different than natural milk, and clearly qualifies for FDA's explicit mandatory labeling.

July 16 marks 65 years since the first atomic bomb explosion, known as Trinity. It is a date that changed world history forever, and created new health and security threats that still plague the planet.

Details of Trinity have been documented before, but merit a recap, since memories may fade...

Perfumes and fragrances are the single largest category of cosmetic and personal care products, especially hair, facial, and eye. These products represent nearly 50 percent of all prestige beauty dollars now spent in the US Fragrances are also extensively used in a wide range of everyday household cleaning products.

Exposure...

The 1938 Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), explicitly stipulates: "Each ingredient used in a cosmetic product and each finished cosmetic product shall be adequately substantiated for safety prior to marketing." In the absence of adequate evidence of safety, products must be conspicuously labeled on their principle display panel:...

Bisphenol-A (BPA) is widely used as a plasticizer in polycarbonate baby bottles, besides adult personal care and cosmetic products, food can linings, microwave oven dishes, dental sealants and also medical devices. Other recently recognized major sources are cash register and credit-card receipts, which are coated with microscopic powdered BPA, and...

The May 6 report by the President's Cancer Panel is well-documented. It warns of scientific evidence on avoidable causes of cancer from exposure to carcinogens in air, water, consumer products, and the workplace. It also warns of hormonal risks from exposure to Bisphenol-A (BPA) and other toxic plastic...

Dr. Perricone posted a full page ad on his Cold Plasma product in the December 26, 2009 New York Times Magazine. The ad promised that the product, "gives skin everything it needs," and "works better for skin than anything else ever used." According to his website, Dr. Perricone is noted...

The Safe Chemicals Act of 2010, filed by Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) on April 15 this year amends the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act. This would require manufacturers to prove the safety of chemicals before they are marketed. Of particular concern are carcinogens, to which the public remains dangerously exposed...

As reported in a March 18, New York Times editorial, "Honest Food Labels," FDA Commissioner, Margaret Hamburg, M.D., publicized letters to 17 food companies accusing them of -- "masking undesirable ingredients" -- in their products. She also emphasized the importance of "providing nutrition information that consumers can rely on." Unfortunately,...

Triclosan is an anti-bacterial ingredient in many cosmetics and personal-care products. These include nearly half of all commercial antibacterial liquid soaps, cleansers, deodorants, detergents, toothpastes, and mouthwashes.

Water testing studies by the U.S. Geological Survey have found that triclosan is among the top 10 persistent contaminants in U.S. rivers,...

On February 23 and 24, the New York Times published two full page articles on experimental drug trials on malignant melanoma, respectively titled "After Long Fight, Drug Gives Sudden Reprieve" and "A Drug Trial Cycle: Recovery, Relapse, Reinvention."

As stated in the February 24 article, at an...

On February 9, the Food and Drug Administration announced that it would take stringent action to regulate "the most potent forms of medical radiation," particularly those from increasingly popular CT scans. The FDA is to be commended for warning that such radiation is unsafe and equivalent to that about...

On January 29, 2010, with three other scientific experts, I filed a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Petition seeking an urgent ban on hormonal meat, as it poses unrecognized risks of hormonal cancers.

The Petition requested the FDA to take the following action:

• Require producers of hormonal meat to...