Computers outperform lab rats in detecting toxic chemicals

19-Feb-2018 - UL, the science safety company, and Johns Hopkins University have embarked on joint research that has resulted in findings that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is superior in finding toxic substances to traditional animal testing. Beyond being more effective, UL's Cheminformatics REACHAcross™ ...

Eurofins to acquire EAG Laboratories

Expanding its presence in North America

20-Sep-2017 - Eurofins Scientific announces that it has signed an agreement to acquire EAG Laboratories, a scientific services company providing analytical testing and consulting solutions to a diverse and demanding set of end markets, from Odyssey Investment Partners. The transaction is expected to close in ...

Synthetic chemicals: Ignored agents of global change

25-Jan-2017 - Despite a steady rise in the manufacture and release of synthetic chemicals, research on the ecological effects of pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and industrial chemicals is severely lacking. This blind spot undermines efforts to address global change and achieve sustainability goals. So reports a ...

Arsenic found in many US red wines

Health risks depend on total diet

30-Sep-2015 - A new study that tested 65 wines from America's top four wine-producing states found all but one have arsenic levels that exceed what's allowed in drinking water. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency allows drinking water to contain no more than 10 parts per billion of arsenic. The wine ...

Animal testing methods for endocrine disruptors should change, team argues

Review suggests that oral gavage, the accepted method of dosing lab animals to test chemical toxicity, does not accurately mimic how humans are exposed to chemicals in everyday life

30-Jun-2014 - Challenging risk assessment methods used for decades by toxicologists, a new review of the literature led by environmental health scientist Laura Vandenberg at the University of Massachusetts Amherst suggests that oral gavage, the most widely accepted method of dosing lab animals to test chemical ...

The unsolved mystery of kava toxicity

15-Jul-2011 - A major new review of scientific knowledge on kava — a plant used to make dietary supplements and a trendy drink with calming effects — has left unsolved the mystery of why Pacific Island people can consume it safely, while people in the United States, Europe, and other Western cultures sometimes ...

New approaches needed to gauge safety of nanotech-based pesticides

06-Oct-2010 - Nanotechnology is about to emerge in the world of pesticides and pest control, and a range of new approaches are needed to understand the implications for public health, ensure that this is done safely, maximize the potential benefits and prevent possible risks, researchers say in a new ...

Study shows how carbon nanotubes can affect lining of the lungs

27-Oct-2009 - Carbon nanotubes are being considered for use in everything from sports equipment to medical applications, but a great deal remains unknown about whether these materials cause respiratory or other health problems. Now a collaborative study from North Carolina State University, The Hamner ...

Plastics chemical retards growth, function of adult reproductive cells

10-Jul-2009 - Bisphenol A, a chemical widely used in plastics and known to cause reproductive problems in the offspring of pregnant mice exposed to it, also has been found to retard the growth of follicles of adult mice and hinder their production of steroid hormones, researchers report. Their study is the ...

NSF and EPA establish 2 centers for environmental implications of nanotechnology

Centers will focus on environmental effects of nanotechnology and its applications

19-Sep-2008 - The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have made awards to establish two Centers for the Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology (CEIN). The centers, led by UCLA and Duke University, will study how nanomaterials interact with the environment ...