Nation digest 3/13

Remains of firefighters found at Trade Center

NEW YORK -- Human remains belonging to 11 firefighters and two civilians were pulled from the rubble of the World Trade Center on Tuesday as workers continued in the last stages of the recovery effort, firefighters said.

As of last week, 148 firefighters' bodies had been found and positively identified through DNA testing -- fewer than half of the 343 who were killed in the Sept. 11 attacks, said fire department spokesman Pat Cleary.

The remains removed Tuesday were pulled from an area where the south tower once stood, Cleary said. They will undergo DNA testing to confirm their identities, said fire department spokesman David Billig.

About 100 firefighters lined up to salute as the remains, carried on stretchers draped in American flags, were carried to an ambulance.

Medications, products contaminate water

A government analysis shows the nation's waterways are awash in traces of chemicals used in beauty aids, medications, cleaners and foods.

Among the substances: caffeine, contraceptives, painkillers, insect repellent, perfumes and nicotine.

Scientists say that the problem is that these substances largely escape regulation and defy municipal wastewater treatment. And the long-term effects of exposure are unclear, they say.

The compounds are sold on supermarket shelves and found in virtually every medicine cabinet and broom closet, as well as farms and factories. And they are flushed or rinsed down the drain every day. But they do not disappear, researchers warn.

Hydrologists with the U.S. Geologic Survey tested water samples in 30 states for 95 common compounds, an emerging class of contaminants known as pharmaceutical and personal care pollutants, or PPCPS. The results of the three-year analysis appear in the March 15 issue of journal Environmental Science and Technology.

AIDS activist who fought for new liver dies

BOSTON -- An HIV-infected woman who raised money for a new liver for herself after her insurance company refused to pay for the procedure died Tuesday following two unsuccessful transplants.

Belynda Dunn, a 51-year-old AIDS activist, died at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Dunn underwent a transplant procedure March 5, but the liver did not function and was removed. She received another transplant Friday.

Her doctors said the obstruction could have been a complication of the surgery.

-- From wire reports