Recycled treated or untreated wastewater represents an important health challenge in developing countries due to potential water related microbiological exposure. The aim of the study was to assess water quality and health implications in a Mexico City periurban agricultural area.

Ionizing radiations are a grave threat around the high background regions of the globe. Selected pockets of Brazil, China and India are reportedly under the grip of high background radiation. Presence of monazite sand along the beaches of these regions, among other factors, has contributed to these dreaded radiations. Recent studies have indicated the availability of monazite deposits throughout the erstwhile South Travancore region comprising parts of Kerala, and Kanyakumari District, Tamil Nadu.

Could nanotechnology revive an old killer? That's the fear being raised by the discovery that carbon nanotubes shred the lung lining in a similar way to asbestos fibres. Ken Donaldson at the University of Edinburgh, UK, and colleagues injected carbon nanotubes into the abdominal cavity of mice. One week later, the tissue surrounding the abdominal organs of the mice showed a level of inflammation similar to that caused by asbestos exposure.

Gas from rotting manure could fuel the future. Biogas digesters, devices that turn decomposing manure into fuel, are cost-effective, environmentally friendly and improve the health of rural people who use them.

It's the latest in a growing list of health problems linked to air pollution: dangerous blood clots triggered by smog from traffic and factories. If a deep vein thrombosis (DVT) breaks loose from where it forms in the lower leg or thigh and travels to the lungs, it can cause breathing problems and sometimes death. Andrea Baccarelli and colleagues at Harvard School of Public Health monitored the air quality in different parts of the Lombardy region of Italy.

Poverty causes malnutrition, but malnutrition also contributes to poverty through increased morbidity, impaired development in children, and reduced capacity for work and productivity in adults. In rich countries food is a relatively small part of household consumption (10

20 years ago Philip Morris, the manufacturer of Marlboro cigarettes, notes in its annual report to shareholders that the company accounted for just 7% of worldwide cigarette sales, but added determinedly that "since our share of most international cigarette markets is still far below our US level, we have considerable room for future growth. The prophetic rise in Philip Morris' market share of current global cigarette sales to 15.6% has culminated in the March spinoff of Philip Morris International (PMI).