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Poison control calls could prevent many unnecessary pediatric ER visits

About 65% of young children brought to New Jersey emergency departments for suspected poisoning probably didn't need emergency care and could have stayed home if their families had called poison control before rushing to the hospital, according to Rutgers researchers.

27 Aug 2026

Contaminated soil can bring hazardous lead dust into homes

Lead contamination in soil tracked inside homes can cause dangerous indoor lead dust levels even in residences with no interior lead-based paint, according to researchers with the Rutgers Environmental, Occupational and Health Sciences Institute in collaboration with community scientists from the East Trenton Collaborative.

11 Aug 2026

Newly discovered protein pathway limits spinal cord injury damage

Spinal cord injury begins with immediate mechanical damage, but much of the lasting neurological loss develops during the secondary phase, when inflammation, oxidative stress and disrupted metabolism continue to injure surviving tissue.

10 Aug 2026

New mechanism linked to septic heart injury protection uncovered

Sepsis triggers widespread inflammation, circulatory failure and metabolic stress, and cardiac dysfunction is a common complication associated with sharply poorer outcomes.

31 Jul 2026

New laser technology detects counterfeit alcohol through sealed bottles

A laser-based technology being developed at Adelaide University could soon help authorities detect deadly counterfeit alcohol, expose wine fraud and even identify dangerous chemicals inside sealed bottles – all without opening them.

17 Jul 2026

Gut immune cells help prevent severe salmonella infections

Widely recognized as the face of food poisoning, salmonella bacteria lurk in raw meat and poultry, on pets and in unpasteurized dairy products.

7 Jul 2026

How agentic AI is reshaping laboratory workflows

Gary Stimson of LabVantage explains how agentic AI and CORTEX support connected laboratory workflows, from UI guidance to autonomous agents.

From Pittcon 3 Jul 2026

New discovery sheds light on how the human body controls Salmonella infections

Salmonella, an infection that causes diarrhea, fever, and abdominal pain, is the most common form of bacterial food poisoning in the U.S., sickening more than a million people each year.

26 Jun 2026

Preoperative HMB supplement improves liver regeneration quality after major surgery

Taking a supplement before a hepatectomy, a surgery in which part of the liver is removed, may help the organ recover more quickly and become more resistant to further damage.

25 Jun 2026

Scientists discover how food poisoning bacteria protect themselves from antibiotics

Scientists from the Department of Microbiology of the University of Malaga, also members of the Institute of Subtropical and Mediterranean Horticulture 'La Mayora' (IHSM), have discovered a hitherto unknown mechanism that allows the bacterium Bacillus cereus, which is responsible for food poisoning and human infections, to protect itself against antibiotics and adverse conditions.

23 Jun 2026

Researchers urge one health approach to control raccoon-borne water contamination

The emerging infectious bacterium Escherichia albertii has caused outbreaks of severe food poisoning and hospitalized people through contaminated water and foods, such as salad ingredients. Now, a new study from Osaka Metropolitan University (OMU) has gathered evidence from river, animal and genetic samples that suggest a pathway by which invasive raccoons (Procyon lotor) transmit infections to humans.

12 Jun 2026

Childhood lead exposure declines but disparities persist nationwide

Blood lead levels in young children in the United States declined in the last decade, but state data reveal that children of color and children from low-wealth families are still exposed to higher levels of lead, according to a new study in the American Journal of Public Health.

11 Jun 2026

Why is the US falling behind other high-income nations on survival?

A JAMA Network Open study found that the US recorded 12.7 million excess deaths compared with 17 peer high-income countries between 1999 and 2022. Circulatory and metabolic diseases drove much of the burden, while drug poisonings, alcohol-related deaths, and suicide sharply widened the gap among younger Americans.

12 May 2026

Dangerous water bead ingestions increase among young children

A new study reveals that ingestions of water beads by young children have surged in recent years. Researchers at the Center for Injury Research and Policy of the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital and the Central Ohio Poison Center analyzed calls to U.S. poison centers and found an alarming 6,532% increase in the rate of reported water bead ingestions among children younger than 6 years from 2019 to 2023, followed by a 24% decrease from 2023 to 2024.

30 Apr 2026

TikTok chatter could help predict where the opioid crisis is heading next

A large-scale analysis of 569,581 TikTok comments found that opioid-related discussions may help track and forecast synthetic opioid overdose mortality in the US. Recovery, harm reduction, drug use, drug sourcing, and loss-related conversations provided near-real-time signals that improved 6-month forecasting accuracy.

28 Apr 2026

Scientists discover immune sentinel cells within skin hair follicles

Researchers at the School of Medicine at the University of California, Riverside have discovered previously unrecognized immune surveillance structures in the skin.

25 Apr 2026

U.S. dentists still prescribe opioids at higher rates globally

People getting their teeth pulled or drilled by dentists in the United States are still much more likely to get powerful opioid medications than dental patients in other developed countries or even the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, a new study finds.

23 Apr 2026

UCL study urges clinician vigilance when prescribing gabapentinoids for pain

People who take gabapentinoids, a medication prescribed increasingly frequently worldwide, particularly for chronic pain, face a much greater risk of drug poisoning if they are also taking another medication, finds a new study by University College London (UCL) researchers.

17 Apr 2026

Pennsylvania town faces fallout from Trump's environmental rule rollback

North America's largest coke plant hugs the west bank of Pennsylvania's Monongahela River, belching out emissions from turning superheated coal into a carbon-rich fuel.

13 Apr 2026

Rising e-cigarette exposures threaten safety of toddlers and infants

While cigarette exposures are decreasing for young children, electronic nicotine products are putting toddlers at new risk of inhalation, according to Rutgers Health researchers.

3 Apr 2026