Environmental News Network

Haze of confusion over most-polluted city list
A U.S. group's report naming the Chinese city of Tianjin as one of the world's most polluted places apparently confused the large northern port with a notorious lead-processing town in the country's east. Tianjin, with more than 10 million people, gained unwelcome global attention on Wednesday when the New York-based Blacksmith Institute named it as one of the world's most heavily polluted places for its outpouring of toxins from scrap lead processing. >> Read the Full Article
Ancient Architects Engineered Angkorâ€™s Downfall
University of New South Wales, Australia - The architects of Cambodiaâ€™s famed Angkor â€“ the world's most extensive medieval "hydraulic city" â€“ unwittingly engineered its environmental collapse, says research by University of New South Wales scientists and a team of international scholars. >> Read the Full Article
Study: Cell Phone Use Dangers Still Unknown
LONDON (Reuters) - Cellular phones do not pose short-term health risks, but it remains too soon to say whether they can cause brain cancer or whether children face greater risks than adults, British scientists said on Wednesday. Publishing the largest UK investigation into possible health problems from mobile technology, scientists said the six-year program found no evidence that short-term mobile phone use affected brain function or could cause brain cancer. >> Read the Full Article
New York restaurant Calorie Labeling Rule Overturned
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York's fast food restaurants can ignore a city law aimed at making it easier for consumers to tell how many calories are packed into their burgers, fries or tacos, a judge ruled on Tuesday. The new city law stopped short of forcing all restaurants to post calorie and fat counts on their menus, but said those outlets that already make such information available should post it on their menus in typeface as large as the menu item. >> Read the Full Article
Burger King To Limit Ads Targeting Children Under 12
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Fast-food chain Burger King Holdings Inc said on Tuesday that, beginning late next year, it will limit advertising aimed at children younger than 12 to food and drinks that meet strict nutritional guidelines. In conjunction with the Council for Better Business Bureaus' children's food and beverage advertising initiative, Burger King has agreed that, by December 2008, it will limit advertising aimed at children under 12 years old to Kids Meals that provide no more than 560 calories per meal, have less than 30 percent calories from fat and no added trans fats. >> Read the Full Article
Child malnutrition in Somalia at critical levels: U.N.
Child malnutrition in Somalia is at critical levels due to violence and lack of access for aid workers, the U.N. children's agency said on Wednesday. >> Read the Full Article
Survey: Consumers Trust Food Grown Locally, But Not Foreign Grown
AMES, Iowa -- A recent survey shows that American consumers trust local foods, but are skeptical about the safety of the global food system. A new survey also found that consumers feel local foods are safer and better for their health than foods from afar. >> Read the Full Article
Higher Gasoline Price Seen Trimming Down Americans
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Higher U.S. gasoline prices may slim more than just wallets, according to a new study from Washington University in St. Louis. Entitled "A Silver Lining? The Connection between Gas Prices and Obesity," the study found that an additional $1 per gallon in real gasoline prices would reduce U.S. obesity by 15 percent after five years. The report, written by Charles Courtemanche for his doctoral dissertation in health economics, found that the 13 percent rise in obesity between 1979 and 2004 can be attributed to falling pump prices. >> Read the Full Article
China: Terrorism "Big Threat" To Olympics
Beijing, China - Top Chinese leaders said today that terrorism poses the biggest threat to a successful Beijing Olympic Games. That from the Minister of Public Security, Zhou Yongkang. He called for closer international collaboration on information sharing and risk analysis. "Although the general security situation for the Beijing Olympics remains stable, we still face the challenges of terrorism, separatism and extremism," the minister said. "Terrorism, in particular, poses the biggest threat." >> Read the Full Article
Brain Network Related To Intelligence Identified
Irvine, California - A primary mystery puzzling neuroscientists -- where in the brain lies intelligence? -- just may have a unified answer. In a review of 37 imaging studies related to intelligence, including their own, Richard Haier of the University of California, Irvine and Rex Jung of the University of New Mexico have uncovered evidence of a distinct neurobiology of human intelligence. Their Parieto-Frontal Integration Theory (P-FIT) identifies a brain network related to intelligence, one that primarily involves areas in the frontal and the parietal lobes. >> Read the Full Article