The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a proposal to withdraw the standard for arsenic in drinking water. The current standard was tightened to 10 parts per billion (ppb) from the previous 50 ppb in Jan 2001.

The European Commission's Energy Council has announced a directive to increase the promotion and use of electricity generated from renewable sources for its internal electricity market. This directive is meant to help the EU countries meet their commitments in limiting the emission of greenhouse gases specified under the Kyoto Protocol and to achieve the objective of doubling the amount of renewable energy used in Europe to 12 percent of the total energy consumption in 2010.

The United Kingdom's Deputy Prime Minister has launched a Carbon Trust to promote research and development in low carbon technologies. The Carbon Trust, chaired by the UK chairman and managing director of Ford Motor, would provide up to ₤200 million over a period of two years to assist businesses invest in low carbon technologies such as wind and solar power.

The Trust would be funded by the proceeds of a climate change levy, a tax on energy use by businesses, which would come into effect in Apr 2001.

Each year, many people die of diseases caused by food-borne pathogens, including those caused by E.coli, listeria, salmonella, cryptosporidium and camphylobacter.

Professor Daniel Lim of the University of South Florida has developed a new device that could detect food-borne pathogens in minutes. The device comprises portable fibre-optic biosensors, lasers and a computer.

According to Prof Lim, biosensor is currently the fastest technique for detecting pathogen. Unlike conventional techniques, which could only detect bacteria after it has bloomed to a high level and become difficult to curb, this new technique allows pathogens to be detected at its initial developing stage. It is effective in detecting small amounts of budding bacteria within minutes. The reduction in time needed to detect pathogen would reduce morbidity and mortality rate from food-borne diseases. It would also allow prompt enhancement of food safety programmes.

Ministers and officials from over 70 countries agreed on the need to take into account environmental considerations in the negotiation of new trade agreements. They expressed this view in a meeting held in Berlin which was organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.

The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducted a study to measure the exposure of the US population to 27 environmental chemicals, including metals such as lead and mercury, pesticide metabolites, phthalate metabolites and cotinine. Results are released in the first National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals.

The report highlighted that the national blood levels of lead and cotinine from second-hand smoke appears to be declining. However, the results also revealed the US population is being exposed to higher levels of environmental chemicals such as phthalates, mercury, pesticides than what were previously predicted by scientific panels.

An advanced technology known as biomonitoring was used to measure chemicals directly in blood and urine samples collected from participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. This method of measurement yields more accurate results compared to estimating exposure levels by measuring air, water and soil samples.