Toxin

Fatty-tissue-loving pollutants make their way to infants through mothers’ milk. Be wary of your diet, but don’t turn to formula.

Living on Earth’s Cynthia Graber reports that when two common pesticides were taken out of home use, infant birth weight increased.

Deirdre Kennedy reports from San Francisco on the growing number of bogus health scares circulating in cyberspace. The messages prey on people’s often legitimate fears of environmental toxins. Hoaxes you’re likely to receive in an e-mail include warnings about Costa Rican bananas that carry flesh-eating bacteria or for women tampons made with asbestos.