An east London hospital is ordered to make urgent improvements after breaching hygiene rules.

Proposals to redevelop one of Europe's largest brown field sites get the green light despite local objections.

A chronology of key events

An inquiry hears how German and US warfare experts gave advice on decontamination after an anthrax death.

Spot checks suggest 90% of acute hospital trusts in England do not meet hygiene standards aimed at reducing infections.

Children at a Gateshead school are decontaminated after they are exposed to a dangerous chemical.

The family of poisoned Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko are given back the keys to their home after it was declared free of radiation.

One in four hospital trusts in England is failing to meet national standards on the cleanliness of surgical equipment.

A Surrey hospital ordered to improve its infection control is given the all-clear by the health watchdog.

Fire appliances and chemical decontamination unit are called to Janetstown Industrial Estate.

Residual radiation from experiments carried out at a university may have contributed to the deaths of two lecturers, it is claimed.

Victims of the dumping of 500 tons of chemical waste in Ivory Coast say two years on, they have been abandoned, writes the BBC's John James.

A hospital recalls nearly 100 patients over concerns they were treated with contaminated endoscopy equipment.

Explosions. Bunsen burners. Adoring crowds in evening dress - or school uniform - eyes wide with wonderment. Can we recapture the excitement of science, asks historian Lisa Jardine.

A new reprocessing plant in east London will be the first to take old drinks and milk bottles and turn them into new ones.

A hospital has been given until 17 July to clean up its act after mattress cleaning facilities were found to be inadequate.

The North Lincolnshire primary care trust is the only one in the UK to fail all three hygiene tests.

A quarter of NHS trusts in England are failing to meet key standards in hygiene, a watchdog has revealed.

Decontamination plans for an old gas works near a primary school spark a protest by worried parents.

Operating theatres are being thrown into chaos and operations cancelled because of broken, missing or dirty surgical instruments, surgeons say.