Hazardous Materials

He mowed his yard, refilled his prescriptions and mopped his living room floor. Then the elderly man went into his bedroom in this placid Alabama town, sat on his bed and fired a bullet into his head. It fell to Benjamin Lichtenwalner, an expert in the aftermath of violent death, to erase all signs of suicide. Blood and tissue stained the floor, walls, ceiling and curtains. A round from a .44 Smith & Wesson had left a perfect hole in a ceiling fan blade.

An Energy Department investigation has alleviated fears that a significant amount of plutonium was missing from a national laboratory, but it has also heightened concerns about flaws in the system for controlling the U.S. stockpile of weapons materials. The investigation began in February, shortly after a routine inventory at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico found a plutonium shortage estimated at 2.

It's never easy to cope with tragedy, but Enrique Castaneda can help. An expert in biohazard removal, he professionally cleans and disinfects areas that have been contaminated by human blood, brains, skin or other unsanitary parts and fluids. "We've done jealous husbands killing their wives; we've done drug deals gone bad; we've done family members that passed away and nobody found them for two, three weeks," he says. "It's true when they say crime doesn't have an address. It happens anywhere."

Residents living near a now-closed smelting plant in south Oxnard had a higher incidence of premature births but otherwise showed little other health effects from its operations, a state study has found. The 240-page assessment by the state Department of Public Health did not find higher incidences of asthma, cancer, birth defects or low-birth-weight babies for people living within a mile of Halaco Engineering Co. But it found that emissions from the operation, including lead, arsenic, copper and zinc, may have contributed to a rise in the number of premature babies born in homes within a mile of the coastal plant.

Retailers across the country are yanking shoes, toys, Valentine's gifts and other children's goods from shelves to comply with a strict lead law that took effect Tuesday. The repercussions of the hotly debated Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, which bans the sale of children's products containing dangerous amounts of lead and chemicals called phthalates, began rippling through the industry as manufacturers realized the law wasn't going away.

The battle over a product safety law escalated Friday, when federal regulators turned down a request by manufacturers to postpone Tuesday's deadline requiring them to stop selling goods that contain unsafe levels of lead. Manufacturers responded by warning that thousands of jobs could be lost if the law was not changed.

Authorities investigating white powder found in envelopes at the Wall Street Journal in New York and Harvard Law School in Massachusetts said it was harmless. Police evacuated about 250 people from the Journal's Manhattan newsroom and executive offices after about a dozen envelopes were found. FBI spokesman James Margolin said five employees were decontaminated as a precaution. A newspaper spokeswoman said the postmark was Knoxville, Tenn. Each envelope contained a blank piece of paper and the powder, which was thought to be flour.

Jennifer Taggart's testing gun seems an anomaly in this California Market Center room filled with pink tutus and flowery white baby gowns. She holds a laser gun, called the XRF Analyzer, to a tiny dress and waits. The scanner beeps: The garment doesn't contain any lead. Its designer sighs in relief. On Friday, clothing buyers from retail boutiques start pouring into the downtown Los Angeles garment emporium to decide which items to stock.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has given preliminary approval to changes in new lead-testing rules after complaints that the measures could have forced thrift stores and sellers of handmade toys to dispose of merchandise or even go out of business. If formally adopted, the changes approved on a first vote Tuesday would grant exemptions to last year's Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, which seeks to ensure that products for children do not contain dangerous amounts of lead.