The energy drinks market in the country is worth Rs 200 crore and is growing unregulated and several studies confirm that  energy drinks can be unsafe. But in India these drinks are labelled as proprietary food that has no prescribed standards. Read this special report in Down to Earth to find more.

Endosulfan sulfate is a persistent environmental metabolite of endosulfan, an organochlorine insecticide–acaricide presently registered by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. There is, however, limited acute fish toxicity data for endosulfan sulfate.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a highly prevalent constituent of plastics that has been associated with diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and an increased risk of miscarriages in humans. In mice, BPA exposure disrupts the process of meiosis; however, analysis of the affected molecular pathways is lagging and has been particularly challenging.

Swimming pool disinfectants and disinfection by-products (DBPs) have been linked to human health effects (e.g., asthma and bladder cancer), but no studies have comprehensively identified DBPs in the water and determined their mutagenicity. Richardson et al.

Agricultural pesticides account for at least 250,000 suicide deaths each year, making pesticides the single most common means of suicide worldwide.

In a prospective cohort study of patients presenting with pesticide self-poisoning, Andrew Dawson and colleagues investigate the relative human toxicity of agricultural pesticides and contrast it with WHO toxicity classifications, which are based on toxicity in rats.

Biomonitoring of exposure in workplaces has gained importance in evaluation of human health hazards. Since occupational exposure to petroleum hydrocarbons may have deleterious effects, genotoxicity risk among 200 fuel filling station attendants (FFSAs) and 200 matched controls was investigated.