A prominent U.S. panel of scientists has concluded that not enough is known about hormone-altering chemicals to calculate their risks to humans. In a report requested by Congress, a committee of the National Academy of Sciences yesterday acknowledged that pesticides and other chemicals that mimic estrogen and block male hormones seem to be feminizing some wildlife, as well as suppressing animals' immune systems and causing neurological damage. But the 16 scientists, including two who work for chemical companies and several viewed favorably by environmentalists, said there was too little data to conclude whether the ubiquitous, hormone-mimicking chemicals are harming people …

Citing health risks to children, the EPA yesterday restricted the use of two pesticides widely used on apples and other crops. But enviros say the agency has bowed to industry pressure and failed to crack down on the most dangerous pesticides. The Natural Resources Defense Council and other environmental groups plan to sue the EPA for violating a 1996 food safety law. EPA Administrator Carol Browner defended her agency by saying the task of evaluating safe pesticide levels proved more difficult than expected, and said there will be a push over the next 18 months to evaluate 39 pesticides known …

Drinking water across the Midwest is polluted with high levels of the herbicide atrazine and poses a particular risk to infants in the first four months of life, according to a report released yesterday by the Environmental Working Group. The D.C.-based group found that between 1993 and 1998 atrazine contaminated the tap water of some 10.4 million people in seven Corn Belt states, sometimes in concentrations up to 14 times the legal limit. Earlier this week, EWG placed a full-page ad in the New York Times chastising the Environmental Protection Agency for not moving quickly enough on a promise to …

EU ambassadors voted yesterday in favor of a bill that would force automakers to take back old cars and pay for the cost of recycling or reusing them, overriding opposition from Germany. The bill, which still needs approval from the EU parliament, would cover all cars produced in 2001 or later. By 2006, automakers would be required to take back all old cars, no matter when they were built, and recycle or reuse 80 percent of car weight. This compromise measure is a watered-down version of an earlier draft bill that was blocked last month, but the auto industry still …

Upset at attempts by the Vatican to disrupt progress on limiting world population growth, 126 women's organizations from around the globe yesterday sent an open letter to the Roman Catholic Church protesting its efforts. The letter asked how a church that holds life as "a fundamental value" could watch thousands of women die because they lack access to family planning and abortion, and why an institution that "by its nature does not have women or children or sexual and reproductive problems" is "blocking advances in contraception, sexual education and H.I.V. prevention." A small group of conservative Catholic and Muslim nations, …

The Edwards Dam in Augusta, Maine, will be breached on Thursday in an effort to restore fish populations in the Kennebec River, as debates rage across the U.S. over proposals to knock down dams for the sake of fish. About 75,000 large dams block American rivers, and small dams block thousands more. Proposals to breach dams on the Columbia River in the Northwest to help endangered salmon are particularly controversial.

A number of business leaders are joining the fight against sprawl, worried that traffic jams, air pollution, and a lack of open space will drive away the best workers. A study released today by the National Association of Local Government Environmental Professionals highlights 19 "smart growth" initiatives undertaken by businesses. For example, DaimlerChrysler is building a $1.6 billion plant near downtown Detroit rather than in the far-flung suburbs; two Florida developers are trying to direct growth away from the sensitive Everglades; and 45 businesses in York County, Pa., are investing in old urban areas.

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, in a speech yesterday in Colorado to Western water officials, proposed setting minimum water levels for rivers and signaled his intention to redirect water toward environmental uses rather than agricultural irrigation or residential growth. Babbitt said that in coming years, more dams will be breached or modified to help restore rivers, wetlands, and fisheries. He asserted that Western water woes be alleviated through conservation measures, water marketing, and recharging of aquifers. He also predicted a truce in a skirmish that has prevented large-scale water sales between California's Imperial Valley and San Diego; officials are scrambling to …

The recent high-profile deal to keep chainsaws out of the Headwaters grove of ancient redwood trees near Eureka, Calif., is unlikely to bring about a truce in the raging war over old-growth forest in the Pacific Northwest and northern California. Environmentalists continue to dig in their heels and repudiate all compromise (more than 90 percent of U.S. old-growth has already been lost, they say; no more can be sacrificed). Meanwhile, the timber industry flexes its mighty political muscle and logs on. Two new books explore the volatile climate in Northwest logging country -- a factual first-person narrative and a fictional …

A sweeping agreement between the U.S. and Canada to manage and conserve West Coast salmon runs is expected to be announced today. The 10-year deal, which would end a prolonged dispute over salmon between the two nations, would revolve around a jointly managed conservation trust fund of about $150 million. Millions from the fund would be used to buy out commercial fishing licenses in the U.S. in order to reduce the American catch of sockeye salmon from British Columbia's Frasier River. The agreement would also require deep cutbacks in the Canadians' catch of U.S.-bound chinook.