Lead, a toxic heavy metal, can show up in the most unexpected places. For instance, several recent studies documented a worrisome tainting of calcium supplements. Just last month, some Mexican lollipops were recalled from U.S. stores upon a finding that their wrappers had leached lead into the candy. And recently, this column recounted the perils of a man poisoned by his bathtub winemaking operations.Of course, people can be exposed to lead through more obvious means—by breathing fumes in metalworking plants, eating foods tainted by emissions from cars burning leaded gasoline, exposure to pee...

Lead, a toxic heavy metal, can show up in the most unexpected places. For instance, several recent studies documented a worrisome tainting of calcium supplements. Just last month, some Mexican lollipops were recalled from U.S. stores upon a finding that their wrappers had leached lead into the candy. And recently, this column recounted the perils of a man poisoned by his bathtub winemaking operations.Of course, people can be exposed to lead through more obvious means—by breathing fumes in metalworking plants, eating foods tainted by emissions from cars burning leaded gasoline, exposure to pee...

Lead, a toxic heavy metal, can show up in the most unexpected places. For instance, several recent studies documented a worrisome tainting of calcium supplements. Just last month, some Mexican lollipops were recalled from U.S. stores upon a finding that their wrappers had leached lead into the candy. And recently, this column recounted the perils of a man poisoned by his bathtub winemaking operations.Of course, people can be exposed to lead through more obvious means—by breathing fumes in metalworking plants, eating foods tainted by emissions from cars burning leaded gasoline, exposure to pee...

A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist has spied a trio of California condors, released to the wild from captive-breeding programs sometime over the past 6 years, attending a pair of eggs. (p. 357)

Over the years, many studies have linked skin rashes in some people to working long hours at personal computers. A Swedish study now finds a possible explanation: Certain computer monitors emit a chemical that can cause allergic reactions.Three years ago, while analyzing pollution in samples of outdoor air, Conny Östman and his colleagues at Stockholm University realized that something in their lab was tainting the glassware they used. It was triphenyl phosphate, a flame retardant added to many plastics. The chemists eventually traced this contact allergen—which they later also found in the ai...

Over the years, many studies have linked skin rashes in some people to working long hours at personal computers. A Swedish study now finds a possible explanation: Certain computer monitors emit a chemical that can cause allergic reactions.Three years ago, while analyzing pollution in samples of outdoor air, Conny Östman and his colleagues at Stockholm University realized that something in their lab was tainting the glassware they used. It was triphenyl phosphate, a flame retardant added to many plastics. The chemists eventually traced this contact allergen—which they later also found in the ai...

Nothing tastes more like summer, to this inveterate gardener, than a home-grown, vine-ripened tomato. As a child, on a sweltering August afternoon, I used to swipe one from our garden to nibble slowly in the backyard. Or I’d share a bright red Beefsteak with mom. Slathered with mayonnaise and nestled on a bed of lettuce between slices of bread, it made a great summer sandwich.But never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that tomatoes might offer summertime health benefits to a sunburn-prone towhead like me. Yet that’s just what a European research team reports this month in the Journal...

Nothing tastes more like summer, to this inveterate gardener, than a home-grown, vine-ripened tomato. As a child, on a sweltering August afternoon, I used to swipe one from our garden to nibble slowly in the backyard. Or I’d share a bright red Beefsteak with mom. Slathered with mayonnaise and nestled on a bed of lettuce between slices of bread, it made a great summer sandwich.But never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that tomatoes might offer summertime health benefits to a sunburn-prone towhead like me. Yet that’s just what a European research team reports this month in the Journal...