The research Project led by Dr. Nestor Etxebarria of the University of the Basque Country is aimed at monitoring contamination of ports. Mussels are used to measure the levels of contaminants as they feed by filtering water and so accumulate any contaminant substances in their organs.

The mysterious death of patients around the world following a routine dosage of the common blood thinner, heparin, sent researchers on a frantic search to uncover what could make the standard drug so toxic. A researcher at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute was among a small group of scientists with the expertise and the high-tech equipment necessary to determine the source of the contamination.

An international team of researchers led by MIT has explained how contaminated batches of the blood-thinner heparin were able to slip past traditional safety screens and kill dozens of patients recently in the United States and Germany.

For almost half a century, scientists have struggled with plutonium contamination spreading further in groundwater than expected, increasing the risk of sickness in humans and animals.

Contaminated seaweeds in Sydney Harbour could be threatening the small animals that feed on them, according to a new study revealing that the harbour's seaweeds have the world's highest levels of copper and lead contamination.

Using new genetic techniques, scientists are unlocking the secrets of how E coli bacteria contaminate food and make people sick.

Scientists in Japan have discovered a new species of bacteria that can live in hairspray, according to the results of a study published in the March issue of the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology.

Though a worldwide problem, arsenic contamination of drinking water does not have a universal solution.

Microbes such as bacteria tend to live in complex colonies called biofilms, where there can resist antibiotics and cause more problems for the immune system.

Firing clay in unvented kilns could be a significant source of dioxins in people exposed regularly and over long periods, a new study suggests.

A research team including University of Central Florida Microbiology Professor Keith Ireton is using the bacterial pathogen Listeria Monocytogenes to understand the mechanisms of cell growth and cancer development.

Like Johnny Appleseed of yore, the Food and Drug Administration is scattering food-defense programs across the US so that the country's million or so food processors can better secure their food against possible contamination by terrorists.