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ACSH is honored to welcome Dr. Katie Suleta to our Board of Scientific Advisors. A long-time writer for ACSH, she brings a prominent voice to our organization.

The EPA’s decision to end the use of IRIS for developing chemical risk assessments is a fundamental change in how the agency will decide what chemical hazards mean for regulation. By returning hazard and dose-response assessments to individual program offices, EPA may gain flexibility and scientific currency, but it risks recreating the very inconsistency IRIS was designed to prevent.

In theory, middlemen make markets work. They connect confused consumers with complex products, translate jargon, and smooth the path between buyers and sellers. However, Medicare Advantage insurance brokers may be doing something far more lucrative, turning consumer “guidance” into a booming industry. Are brokers being paid fairly for helping seniors navigate Medicare’s maze, or are they extracting taxpayer-subsidized commissions from a system designed to serve beneficiaries?

Scientists claim to have detected a bizarre collection of organic molecules in ancient Martian rocks, including compounds better known to petroleum chemists than planetary scientists. Some of the findings are probably real, some are probably artifacts, and all of them required an insane feat of analytical chemistry carried out millions of miles away on Mars.

Most women have a sense that alcohol is “bad for breast cancer risk.” What is far less understood are the actual numbers—and whether the moralizing tone around drinking matches the data.

Why do mosquitoes always find YOU — even when others get left alone? In this video, we break down the fascinating science behind how mosquitoes hunt humans using CO₂, color vision, thermal infrared heat detection, and your skin’s unique microbiome.

For centuries, childbirth’s pain was explained as punishment; more recently, as the evolutionary price of walking upright and bearing large-brained babies. But if difficult birth occurs across placental mammals, the story is broader than humanity, reflecting a “cliff-edge” compromise between producing viable offspring and getting them safely into the world.

A new study suggests that higher blood levels of the amino acid tyrosine may be linked to a slightly shorter lifespan, especially in men. But before you toss your protein shake, there’s a major caveat: elevated tyrosine may possibly be a marker of poor metabolic health rather than a cause of aging.

For the first time in my adult life, I'm nicotine free. Here's my story, and the science that explains how I got here. Happy World No Tobacco Day.

Drug prohibition hasn't worked. Illicit opioids continue to kill thousands of Americans each year, and the problem grows worse as the illegal drug supply becomes increasingly toxic. With such a lackluster track record, is it time to consider a more radical solution to the overdose epidemic?

ACSH science advisor and addiction medicine specialist Dr. Lynn Webster joins us to discuss safe injection sites—medically supervised facilities where addicts can use drugs—as a tool to reduce overdoses. Is this a sensible public health intervention, or a dangerous policy that enables destructive behavior?

Robert Kennedy Jr.’s push for more research into psychedelics harkens back to the 1960s, when Harvard Professor Timothy Leary urged people to “turn on, tune in, and drop out” with psychedelics.

We live in a complex chemical landscape in which risks are notoriously difficult to evaluate. It can be pretty hairy to understand.

We’ve heard some pretty absurd things from HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., but his claim that circumcision, possibly in combination with Tylenol, might cause autism is a cut below the rest.

Chemophobia treats chemistry itself as contamination while ignoring toxicology’s most basic principle: the dose makes the poison. Increasingly, public discourse rewards marketing slogans and emotional reactions over evidence, exposure, and scientific proportionality.

GLP-1 drugs have been accused of stealing muscle along with fat, but the evidence suggests the scare may say more about sloppy measurement than about biology. A new study finds that much of the so-called “lean” loss may stem from healthier reductions in liver fat and other non-muscle tissue, while strength and function appear largely preserved—especially when exercise keeps muscles “on notice.”

America spends more on healthcare than any other wealthy nation, yet we are living shorter lives than our peers. A new study examines the millions of preventable deaths that shape American life.

What happens when you marry measles and Ebola? Not much, other than a tepid sci-fi thriller. Think the world will collapse if a terrorist gets their hands on smallpox or Spanish flu? Not unless the stars align, the weather cooperates, and you manage to get the microbe into the breathing zone of a large population – a very difficult task if you are using an ICBM to deliver the payload.

For years, women approaching menopause were told the same thing: Take more calcium. Drink more milk. Protect your bones. But modern research shows bone health is far more complex than just calcium intake.

When we worry about fungicide residues, we often forget what those agents are meant to hold back: fungi that make their own potent toxins. The food-safety question is not whether we can achieve chemical purity, but which risks we are willing to manage. A new study on mycotoxins in plant-based foods reminds us that “natural” is not the same as harmless.

It's Mother’s Day! Here at ACSH, that means it's time to highlight how dedicated moms help mold their children into capable, independent adults. It may not always feel like it, but all that time you invest in your kids makes a lifelong difference. Here's the science.

For decades, women have been given a simple message: protect your bones by getting enough calcium—preferably from dairy—and consider supplements, especially after menopause.That advice wasn’t exactly wrong, but neither was it entirely correct. More importantly, it was far from the complete picture.

ACSH is honored to welcome Dr. Lynn Webster to our Board of Scientific Advisors. A physician, author, and leading advocate for pain patients, he brings exceptional expertise to the role.

This week’s readings reveal a hidden bridge between the mechanical and the biological, arguing that the "spark of life" and its most guarded secrets are often governed by physics rather than by chemistry alone. From the "chaos gates" of our cells, which use "spaghetti-like" protein motion to filter molecules, to ultrasound-driven vibrations punching through the brain's defenses, we see that biology is a series of physical hurdles. This theme of mechanical animation culminates in the haunting origin of Frankenstein, a novel typically thought to be inspired by Galvani’s electrical experiments on biological tissue, but which may instead be a mother’s desperate, physical grief.

You can be religious or you can be scientific—you certainly can’t be both. That’s the framing many people bring to discussions where faith and evidence intersect. But is it really a fair way to approach the issue?

No, say Dr. Chuck Dinerstein and Cam English on this episode of The Science Dispatch. Historically, science and religion were close allies. Letting them collaborate again could offer better insight into some of our most pressing health and scientific questions.

Liz Bucar’s Beyond Wellness: How Restoring the Religious Roots of Spiritual Practices Can Heal Us explores how modern wellness trends often strip activities of their essential cultural and religious depth, leaving behind a "salad bar" of superficial fixes. Despite my initial skepticism as a non-spiritual reader, I found a compelling argument for replacing "quick-fix" energy with genuine intentionality and self-reflection.