If you are worried about products exposing you or your children to toxic chemicals, don't look to the federal government for much help. The government, to a large extent, does not require companies to test chemicals for possible health effects before using them in consumer products, nor does it require that such products be fully labeled with chemical ingredients. In the absence of such government activity, public interest groups and the media have stepped into the role of testing and informing the public.

Jellyfish aren't the reason U.S. beaches are being closed — it's sewage, and legislation in the Senate and House seeks to ensure that people know when sewage is in their water.

According to a Sept. 5 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) second program to test and clean building interiors contaminated by toxins from the World Trade Center (WTC) collapse was a virtual failure. The program's problems stemmed from EPA's inadequate public notification and refusal to listen to its own science experts. The GAO report also indicated that EPA was reluctant to accept cleanup responsibility according to expert recommendations. The result was a limited program grossly underutilized by the public.