Scientists warn of potential health threat from smuggled bushmeat. A study of illegal wildlife products seized by authorities at U.S. airports — including meat from monkeys and other primates — found that they sometimes carry multiple pathogens. Although the sampling showed none of the agents that cause HIV or AIDS, researchers discovered substantial contamination with herpesviruses that can lead to serious diseases. Science News, New York Daily News
Retail chains stop selling jewelry containing significant amounts of cadmium. The move stems from a legal settlement in California but it is being applied nationally. Such chains as Target, Saks, Gap, Aeropostale, Wet Seal and Forever 21 say they will no longer offer jewelry with more than trace amounts of the metal — a carcinogen that, federal authorities say, also can damage the bones and multiple organs. The Washington Post
GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum was paid $142,500 by a major coal company. Records show that Santorum earned the money for consulting work in 2010 and 2011 for Consol Energy, one of the nation’s biggest coal companies. While in the U.S. Senate, Santorum received more than $73,800 from Consol. On the campaign trail, Santorum has cited his work helping “a local company” fight government regulations on greenhouse gas emissions. Mother Jones
Three Southern Company power plants are the nation’s worst emitters of greenhouse gases. Two of the utility company’s plants in Georgia, and a third in Alabama, topped a first-ever detailed roster from the Environmental Protection Agency showing the sources of heat-trapping gases. After coal-fired power plants, refineries were the biggest polluters on the list. The Associated Press, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Coca-Cola alerted regulators about fungicide in orange juice. A Coke spokesman said the discovery of carbendazim, a fungicide not approved in the U.S. for use on citrus, affects every U.S. food company using orange juice from Brazil. Although federal authorities say the levels of carbendazim detected so far in juice in the U.S. do not justify a product recall, they have begun testing imported shipments for the fungicide. The Wall Street Journal, The Associated Press, FDA
Federal advisers had undisclosed ties to drug company. Three doctors who served on a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee that recently assessed four popular Bayer AG birth control pills have had business relationships with the drug company. All three doctors sided with the majority in a 15-to-11 vote that found that the benefits of the drugs outweighed the risks. The Wall Street Journal
Mine safety officials order closing of a silver operation in northern Idaho. The shutdown of the Lucky Friday Mine follows a series of accidents, including a pair last year that caused two deaths. The operation is expected to be closed for at least a year, while the owner, Hecla Mining, cleans up the main shaft at the site. Boise Weekly, The Spokesman-Review
U.S. nuclear industry will unveil plans for voluntary safety improvements in response to Japan’s disaster. Representatives of the Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry’s policy group, will meet with nuclear regulators Friday to propose the changes. They are likely to deal with the threat from earthquakes and floods, but probably not from a tsunami, which led to the Fukushima Daiichi meltdown in March. The New York Times
Murder is bumped off the list of the nation’s top killers. For the first time in 45 years, the annual federal ranking of the leading 15 causes of death did not include homicide. Heart disease was No. 1 on the list. Average life expectancy rose slightly, to 78.7 years. Reuters
Recalls: floor lamps from Big Lots, Chariot bicycle trailers and conversion kits, Honeywell electric heaters, mislabeled crab soup, Safeway chocolate chip cookies, imported sliced herring
Compiled by Stuart Silverstein
