June 12, 2012, 12:05 AM
As state regulators consider a proposal from San Diego Gas & Electric Co. for a program that would allow customers to prepay their utility bills, a new report suggests that prepaid utility service programs risk the health and safety of low- and moderate-income households. Prepayment...
+ read more
May 3, 2012, 12:05 AM
If you’re in LA or Orange counties, odds are you’re not eating the fish you thought you were. A report released last week by the environmental advocacy group Oceana showed that 55 percent of the seafood it tested in the two counties was mislabeled. Nearly 120 samples were...
+ read more
April 13, 2012, 12:05 AM
Despite concerns about safety and oversight after the deadly 2010 San Bruno pipeline blast, the California Public Utilities Commission has 135 vacant positions, including many in the consumer safety division, according to the state legislative analyst. The utilities commission, which faced...
+ read more
April 11, 2012, 12:05 AM
A report showing potent chemicals are in nail care products that claim to be toxin-free is prompting a state senator to call for reforms, and the state attorney general's office is reviewing the findings. The state Department of Toxic Substances Control study found that 18 of 25 nail care...
+ read more
February 27, 2012, 12:05 AM
A substance originally created as an over-the-counter decongestant has been illegally and unsafely sold in widely marketed sports supplements, according to a class-action lawsuit filed this month in Los Angeles federal court. The compound, 1,3-dimethylamylamine, also known as DMAA, is...
+ read more
August 12, 2011, 12:05 AM
Although summer may be coming to a close, the debate on sunscreen safety rages on. Earlier this summer, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declined to put warning labels on sunscreens that contain nanomaterials, while requiring other labeling information. Sunscreen manufacturers...
+ read more
June 2, 2011, 12:05 AM
The possibility of being burned by your laptop probably isn’t something you spend a lot of time thinking about. But the Consumer Product Safety Commission says some consumers – seven, to be precise – were burned by defective batteries in their HP laptop computers. ...
+ read more
May 20, 2011, 12:05 AM
The next time you're at a car rental counter, will you know whether the vehicle you’re getting has recently been subject to a safety recall? Likely not. While you might assume car rental companies make sure every car under a recall is fixed before it’s rented, some...
+ read more
