In 2007, seventeen-year-old cross-country runner Arielle Newman was found dead in her home. Autopsy results were inconclusive. After a two-month investigation, the medical examiner concluded that...
Picture this. You swallow a little pill, wait until it irritates your intestines enough to expel its contents and then hunt through the expelled excrement to retrieve the pill. Why? So you can use...
Terrible story about seven people sickened, one very seriously, from eating steak tartare at a Montreal restaurant. Eating raw meat is a risky business, but poisoning from steak tartare is rare...
Lead is nasty. Since the body has a tough time eliminating it, exposure to very small amounts can cause poisoning over the long term. Diagnosis of lead poisoning is challenging because of the...
There was a question about the possible toxicity of the popular foam puzzle mats that children play with and on. The concern is about exposure to formamide being released. This chemical is used in...
The Romans had a sweet tooth, but didn’t know about sugar. So they boiled down grape juice to make a sweet syrup called “sapa” which they added to wine, as well as to various foods. The acidic...
Take an aspirin tablet. Now imagine cutting it in half. And in half again. Keep doing this, obviously in your imagination, until you have about three million pieces. Now take one of those pieces...
Everyone knows that driving car is a risky business but what about just getting into one? Especially on a hot day! And we’re not talking about burning your rear by depositing it on the plastic seat...