The news is in for 10 residents of Washington state, who volunteered themselves last year as guinea pigs in a toxic chemical study. They gave samples of hair, blood, and urine, which were examined by the Washington Toxics Coalition. And, according to an article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer - one of several publications that reported on the results - "their levels of phthalates (found in such diverse products as shower curtains and fragrances), PBDEs (found in flame retardants, mattresses and furniture), mercury, pesticides, lead and other chemicals were high enough to make both scientists and subjects sit up and take notice." The paper's headline read, "We're walking, talking toxic waste dumps."

Finally, some good news on air pollution: according to a report issued yesterday, the amount of toxic chemicals released into the air nationwide decreased by four percent from 2003 to 2004. The EPA's Toxics Release Inventory tracks what are called PBTs, or persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic chemicals - things like mercury, lead, dioxins, and pesicides.

No more pollo con mole for me. First comes the news that 40,000 pounds of Dagoba organic chocolate had to be recalled after a laboratory in Oregon, where the company is based, confirmed that three kinds of Dagoba chocolate bars contained high levels of lead.