Phthalates are chemicals that increase the softness and flexibility of plastic.  Due to concerns about potential health problems, the US government has permanently banned three types of phthalates (DEHP, DBP, BBP)1 in any amount greater than 0.1 percent for each phthalate in children's toys and for some child care items used for toddlers ages 3 and under.

Manufacturers have been turning to alternative plasticizers, which are different phthalates, but outside the ordinary approval process little is known about the toxicity of the replacements or whether they can enter the air infants breathe for 12 to 14 hours per day at potentially harmful levels.

Since infants breathe in far more air given their low body weights than adults, Ying Xu and Yirui Liang

Scientists have found the balance necessary to aid healing with high-tech hydrogel.

Hydrogels are used as a scaffold upon which cells can build tissue. The new hydrogel overcomes a host of issues that have kept them from reaching their potential to treat injuries and forming new vasculature to treat heart attack, stroke and ischemic tissue diseases.

Dust from soil erosion due to wind can affect human health, traffic, and, on a larger scale, climate. Investigators compared different models that quantify how the wind energy spreads over an herbaceous surface using data from the Sahel region of Africa, where estimates of dust emissions remain uncertain.

They found that the modeling tools give results in reasonable agreement, indicating that vegetation can decrease the amount of dust emitted from soil erosion by 6% to 26% in mass compared with bare soil.

Do consumers make different choices based on the fragrance surrounding them?  If they do not, a billion dollar advertising segment would disappear. Studies have found, for example, that lavender is the fragrance of trust and groups are always working to improve the ambiance of the marketplace. 

A new study in the Journal of Marketing says that the “temperature” of scents in a store atmosphere may have a powerful effect on what and how much customers buy. So if you want people to spend money, spread the cinnamon around.

Human papillomavirus is a virus that is responsible for almost all cases of cervical cancer and the HPV vaccine can prevent 70 percent of those.

A new study by University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers indicates that only about half of the girls ages 11-12, the age recommended by the Centers for Disease Control, receive the vaccine.

It's become a fad for nutritionists to claim that oranges are better than orange juice, and they list numerous reasons - from added sugar in juice to better uptake of carotenoids, flavonoids and Vitamin C in whole oranges.

But how different are they? Unless you are someone on a nutrition website selling the lifestyle and health fad of the moment, not much. It is true that some juices have more sugar but that is offset by the biological fact nutrients in orange juice seem to be easier for the body to absorb from juice than when a person consumes them from unprocessed fruit. 

And there is convenience. It is better to have a health benefit from something than no health benefit at all.