Elevated arsenic levels in apple juice
YONKERS, N.Y., Nov. 30 (UPI) -- A U.S. test of apple juice and grape juice found 10 percent had arsenic levels higher than federal drinking water standards, Consumer Reports said.
Ten percent of the 88 juice samples had arsenic levels exceeding the federal drinking water standard of 10 parts per billion, while 25 percent had arsenic levels higher than the 5 ppb permitted in bottled water by the Food and Drug Administration.
There are no defined limits for arsenic and lead in fruit juices sold in the United States, the non-profit research organization said Wednesday in a release. The FDA, however, recently told consumer advocacy groups it is seriously considering setting guidance for permissible levels of inorganic arsenic in apple juice.
Consumers Union, the advocacy arm of Consumer Reports, said the federal government should establish a standard of 3 ppb for total arsenic and 5 ppb for lead in juice.
The findings are featured in the January issue of Consumer Reports.
Urvashi Rangan, director of Safety & Sustainability at Consumer Reports, said the organization is concerned about the potential risks of arsenic and lead, especially for children.
Consumer Reports said the samples came from ready-to-drink bottles, juice boxes and cans of concentrate purchased from various locations in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
Poll: 37 percent text while driving
ROCHESTER, N.Y., Nov. 30 (UPI) -- Thirty-seven percent of U.S. drivers say they text while driving, but most say they engage in some type of distraction when driving, a survey indicates.
A Harris Interactive/HealthDay poll of 2,810 U.S adults conducted Nov. 10-14 indicates 86 percent of U.S. adults admitted to eating/drinking while driving, 59 percent talked on a non-hands-free cellphone, 41 percent set or adjusted a GPS device and 44 percent said they felt sleepy while driving and "sometimes even momentarily dozed off."
In addition, U.S. drivers admitted to while driving:
-- 36 percent say they read a map and 10 percent do it often or sometimes.
-- 1-in-10 say they regularly comb or style their hair.
-- 7 percent apply makeup regularly.
-- 9 percent regularly surf the Internet.
-- 7 percent say they watch video on a cellphone or in-board system often or sometimes.
Although large percentages of drivers say distracting behaviors are dangerous, they admit to doing them, the poll said.
"The number of drivers who engage in potentially dangerous, in some cases extremely dangerous, behaviors while driving is terrifyingly high, particularly when you remember that every 1 percent of drivers polled represents more than one-and-three-quarters of a million people," Humphrey Taylor, chairman of The Harris Poll, said in a statement.
HIV cases up 10 percent in Russia
MOSCOW, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- AIDS researchers in Russia say the number of new HIV infections rose nearly 10 percent this year.
Vadim Pokrovsky, head of the Russia's federal AIDS research center, said 48,363 new cases were reported the first 10 months of the year, up 9.6 percent from the same period in 2010, RIA Novosti reported Wednesday.
Russia has documented 636,979 confirmed cases of human immunodeficiency virus since 1987, with nearly half of the cases reported since 2006, researchers said.
The World Health Organization's 2011 World Health Statistics report says an estimated 33.3 million people worldwide were living with HIV in 2009.
Activist urges Great Lakes protection
BUFFALO, N.Y., Nov. 30 (UPI) -- A Great Lakes water rights activist says policies must be put in place to protect North America's largest supply of freshwater.
Maude Barlow, national chairwoman of the Council of Canadians and founder of the Blue Planet Project, spoke Tuesday at the University at Buffalo North Campus, The Buffalo (N.Y.) News reported.
"We want strong legislation to protect the Great Lakes from pollution, from overextraction and careless treatment," she said.
Barlow said one industrial source of pollution is through hydraulic fracturing, which uses large amounts of water to cut seams in rock formations to extract natural gas.
"A huge part of the answer is respecting water, conservation, restoring watersheds, rainwater harvesting and very strict laws around pollution. So you're not saying industry has no right to water, but it has no right to destroy that water. If that's what it takes for you to make money, then you can't do that," Barlow said.
