Is cadmium the new lead? Link reported between the ubiquitous metal and kids with learning disabilities. It’s a heavy metal. It’s linked to learning problems in school children. And every child is exposed. Sounds like lead? It’s cadmium. Children with higher cadmium levels are three times more likely to have learning disabilities and participate in special education, according to new research. Absorbed from the soil, cadmium is found in certain foods, particularly potatoes, grains, sunflower seeds and leafy greens, as well as tobacco. It also is used in some inexpensive children’s jewelry, prompting new voluntary industry standards last fall. Harvard's Robert Wright said the links to learning disabilities and special education were found at commonplace levels previously thought to be benign. Environmental Health News 2012-02-10T09:00-05:00

BPA fosters diabetes-promoting changes. An ingredient in plastics and food-can linings coaxes cells from the pancreas to inappropriately secrete the hormone insulin, a finding that bolsters earlier links between type 2 diabetes and low-dose exposure to the chemical, bisphenol A. Science News 2012-02-10T09:00-05:00

California auto recyclers brace for tightened regulations. Off the road, junk cars continue to pollute because of what some critics say is a decades-long failure by California to properly regulate the powerful automobile recycling industry. New York Times 2012-02-10T09:00-05:00

Underwater time bombs. Nearly 70 years on, World War Two shipwrecks are a looming time bomb – for the environment and for the inhabitants of Micronesia's Chuuk Atoll. Islands Business 2012-02-10T09:00-05:00

Verdict looms in world's biggest asbestos trial. A court in northern Italy will rule Monday in the unprecedented trial of a Swiss billionaire and a Belgian baron for over 3,000 alleged asbestos-related deaths. Expatica 2012-02-10T09:00-05:00

Study: Oil-gas pollution tops expectations. Ozone-forming air pollution along the Colorado Front Range is up to twice the amount that government regulators estimated, a new study finds. Oil and gas development is the main source - a finding with broad implications for the industry across the Rocky Mountain region. Associated Press 2012-02-10T09:00-05:00

Opposition rising against US Arctic drilling. Drilling in the Arctic waters of the US may become as contested an issue as the Keystone Pipeline XL in up-coming months. Scientists, congress members, and ordinary Americans have all come out in large numbers against the Obama Administration's leases for exploratory drilling in the Beaufort Sea and the Chuckchi Sea. Mongabay 2012-02-10T09:00-05:00

BP's blemished safety record is off-limits in trial, judge rules. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit against BP over damages from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill won't be allowed to bring up the oil giant's spotty past safety record, U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier ruled Thursday. New Orleans Times-Picayune 2012-02-10T09:00-05:00

Watchdog clears State Department of impropriety in Keystone pipeline project. The State Department’s inspector general has found no conflict of interest or improper political influence in the agency’s review of the disputed Keystone XL pipeline project. But the official said the department had not adequately weighed concerns about the route of the 1,700-mile pipeline. New York Times 2012-02-10T09:00-05:00

NRC approves first new nuclear plant in a generation. Regulators on Thursday approved plans to build the first new nuclear power plant in the US in more than 30 years, despite objections of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman, who cited safety concerns stemming from Japan's 2011 Fukushima disaster. Reuters 2012-02-10T09:00-05:00

In a border town, drawing a line on coal for Mexico. The Dos Republicas Coal Partnership, which is owned by Mexican mining companies, has applied to renew a permit that would let its American partners mine about 6,300 acres of land in a Texas border town. Residents worry about harm to the environment and property damage. And it galls some that the coal will be shipped to Mexico. Texas Tribune 2012-02-10T09:00-05:00

In drilling country, water rights stir fracking questions. Water transfers for hydraulic fracturing are becoming an increasingly common sight. But in a region where state officials predict there won't be enough water to sustain expected population and agriculture levels, the tankers spark questions about how water is being used. E&E Daily 2012-02-10T09:00-05:00

U.S. approves 1st nuclear reactors since 1978. The nation's first new nuclear power plant in a generation won approval Thursday as federal regulators voted to grant a license for two new reactors in Georgia. The vote clears the way for officials to issue an operating license for the reactors, which could begin operating as soon as 2016 and 2017. Associated Press 2012-02-10T09:00-05:00

As ‘yuck factor’ subsides, treated wastewater flows from taps. With climate change threatening to diminish water supplies in the fast-growing Southwest, more cities are considering the potential of reclaimed water. But will the yuck factor keep people from accepting it? New York Times 2012-02-10T09:00-05:00

Groups want to hasten Colorado regulator's exit, call for improved oil and gas oversight. Citing the pending departure of the director of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, environmentalists are speaking out against the “ongoing parade of regulators” leaving state government to take jobs with the industries they formerly regulated. Colorado Independent 2012-02-10T09:00-05:00

Maryland court sends Exxon spill case back to trial. The state's second-highest court has rejected much of a $147 million jury verdict that was awarded to hundreds of northern Baltimore County residents whose groundwater was contaminated by a gasoline leak at an Exxon station. Baltimore Sun 2012-02-10T09:00-05:00

EPA says food near Anaconda Mine site is safe, based on tiny sample. Test results, which the US Environmental Protection Agency has cited repeatedly as evidence that irrigated crops and livestock next to a polluted Nevada mine are safe for consumption, were based on samples from four onions taken more than four years ago, newly-disclosed documents show. Associated Press 2012-02-10T09:00-05:00

The Curse: Cancer mysteriously ravages German village. Cancer has struck nearly every household in Wewelsfleth, a village of 1,500 inhabitants in northwest Germany near the mouth of the Elbe River. Residents feel not only cursed, but also abandoned by authorities in their search for an elusive answer. Der Spiegel 2012-02-10T09:00-05:00

Malawi: Cholera in a time of floods. They survived floods and witnessed the horrific scenes of their houses, livestock, household items and gardens being swept away at the end of January. Now, the people of the Nsanje and Chikhwawa districts on Malawi’s southern border with Mozambique are facing another menace: a cholera outbreak. Inter Press Service 2012-02-10T09:00-05:00

Reclaimed bus yard begins life as urban wetland. It took three years and more than $26 million to turn an old MTA bus yard in South Los Angeles into what it is today: a sprawling park and urban wetland that will store and clean millions of gallons of storm water — while also giving children a place to play. Some say it is a model of how cities should treat polluted runoff. Los Angeles Times 2012-02-10T09:00-05:00

California sets trends in health regulation. The state has been first to pass major public health initiatives that have spread throughout the country. California was first to require smog checks for clean air, pass anti-tobacco initiatives and bike helmets laws. CNN 2012-02-10T09:00-05:00

China probes "bouncing" boiled eggs. Chinese authorities are investigating eggs which bounce after being boiled and may make men sterile, state media reported Friday, in the latest food safety scare to hit the country. Reuters 2012-02-10T09:00-05:00

Indoor ecosystems. Hardy Acinetobacter are burrowed into the crevices of my cutting boards. Counter-tops are biodiversity hot spots of bacteria and fungi, including sphingomonads that may have settled out of the tap water used to wipe the counter. The toilet seat is coated with bacteria associated with human skin. A large citizen-science survey is assessing the biodiversity of interior spaces. Science 2012-02-10T09:00-05:00

The Y chromosome may explain why men have earlier coronary disease. The earlier onset of coronary artery disease in men has long provoked speculation and research. Now a new study in the Lancet suggests that common variations in the Y chromosome may play an important role in the increased risk seen in men. Forbes 2012-02-10T09:00-05:00

International meeting on controversial bird flu research draws near. The World Health Organization has just one week left to prepare for a highly anticipated meeting on controversial bird flu research. National Public Radio 2012-02-10T09:00-05:00

Obese pets could unleash fat veterinary bills. America’s obesity crisis is spreading – to our pets. About 53% of the nation’s cats and 55% of dogs are overweight. And more than one in five of those fat animals is clinically obese, meaning at least 30% above normal weight. Los Angeles Times 2012-02-10T09:00-05:00

Lab test rules out connection to mad cow disease for one of two rare Marin cases. Two Marin residents have recently been diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and one of them had died due to the exceedingly rare, fatal illness. Contra Costa Times 2012-02-10T09:00-05:00

Mad-cow disease unlikely in Marin cases. A Marin County woman has died and a second resident is sick with a rare degenerative brain disorder that is occasionally associated with mad- cow disease, but neither case is infectious and there is no public health threat, state officials said Thursday. San Francisco Chronicle 2012-02-10T09:00-05:00

Trouble in the air, double on the ground. Could a fresh row over airline emissions lead to a global trade war? That is the scariest prospect raised by China’s objections this week to the European Union’s new plan for controlling greenhouse-gas emissions from aeroplanes. Economist 2012-02-10T09:00-05:00

2C warming goal now 'optimistic.' French scientists unveiling new estimates for global warming said on Thursday the 2C goal enshrined by the United Nations was "the most optimistic" scenario left for greenhouse-gas emissions. Agence France-Presse 2012-02-10T09:00-05:00