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LIBBY QUAID The government declared Thursday that food from cloned animals is safe to eat. After more than five years of study, the
EU's parliament votes to regulate 30,000 toxic substances. The reforms will have a major effect on U.S. industry. By Marla Cone The European Parliament on Wednesday approved the world's most stringent law aimed at protecting people and the environment from thousands of toxic chemicals — legislation that will have a far-reaching effect on industries and products worldwide, including in the United States.
The Evening Standard A study of thousands of men and women revealed that those who stick to a vegetarian diet have IQs that are around five points higher than those who regularly eat meat. The researchers, from the University of Southampton, tracked the fortunes of more than 8,000 volunteers for 20 years.
By MARILYNN MARCHIONE In a startling turnaround, breast cancer rates in the United States dropped dramatically in 2003, and experts said they believe it is because many women stopped taking hormone pills. The 7.2 percent decline came a year after a big federal study linked menopause hormones to a higher risk of breast cancer, heart disease and other problems. Within months, millions of women stopped taking estrogen and progestin pills.
By Catherine Komp Nearly two months after DuPont claimed to have evidence that a chemical it uses in the Teflon-manufacturing process is safe for workers, the chemical giant still refuses to release its full findings to the public. Now unions have joined in pressuring DuPont to release the study and other information on the health effects of PFOA, a chemical used to make Teflon that the Environmental Protection Agency says is potentially harmful to humans.
Los Angeles Times The US Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday streamlined the way it updates regulations for the nation's worst air pollutants, a move that drew immediate charges that officials are trying to quash scientific review to benefit industry at the expense of public health.
By Sarah Boseley A world-famous British scientist failed to disclose that he held a paid consultancy with a chemical company for more than 20 years while investigating cancer risks in the industry, the Guardian can reveal. Sir Richard Doll, the celebrated epidemiologist who established that smoking causes lung cancer, was receiving a consultancy fee of $1,500 a day in the mid-1980s from Monsanto, then a major chemical company and now better known for its GM crops business.
By Deborah Zabarenko Old toothbrushes, beach toys and used condoms are part of a vast vortex of plastic trash in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, threatening sea creatures that get tangled in it, eat it or ride on it, a new report says. Because plastic doesn't break down the way organic material does, ocean currents and tides have carried it thousands of miles to an area between Hawaii and the US West Coast, according to the study by the international environmental group Greenpeace.
Inter Press Service News Agency Lulled by social indices that compare with the developed world's and tourist brochures that gush over ‘God's Own Country', the deaths of 125 people from an outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease, chikungunya, has come as a reality check for people in this southern state.
The Evening Standard UK McDonald's is closing its outlet in a town known for quality food and healthy, local produce. The fast food chain in Tavistock, Devon, simply wasn't being used enough by locals.
www.rachel.org The American Chemistry Council (ACC) -- formerly known as the Chemical
Even ‘premium’ chickens harbor dangerous bacteria By Consumer Report If you eat undercooked or mishandled chicken, our new tests indicate, you have a good chance of feeling miserable. CR’s analysis of fresh, whole broilers bought nationwide revealed that 83 percent harbored campylobacter or salmonella, the leading bacterial causes of foodborne disease.
Environmental Science & Technology Online The explosion in the creation of better and more complicated nanomaterials is moving far ahead of research on such materials’ environmental safety, leaving many to wonder about their potential effects on human health and the environment.
Watch the Real Story Behind Our Poison Milk Courageous Reporting!
By CLARE NULLIS Africa, a continent usually synonymous with hunger, is falling prey to obesity. It's a trend driven by new lifestyles and old beliefs that big is beautiful. Ask Nodo Njobo, a plump hairdressing assistant. She is coy about her weight, but like many African women, proud of her "big bum." She says she'd like to be slimmer, but worries how her friends would react.
By Michael Doyle The Bush administration pleased farmers and frustrated environmentalists Monday by declaring that pesticides can be sprayed into and over waters without first obtaining special permits. The heavily lobbied decision is supposed to settle a dispute that's roiled federal courts and divided state regulators. It's popular among those who spray pesticides for a living, but it worries those who fear poisoned waters will result.
The Independent Is that tuna in your sandwich? Or was the fish in the can a different species altogether? Was the corn-fed, free-range egg you ate for breakfast actually battery-farmed? From careless labelling to outright deception, food fraud in Britain has reached epidemic proportions - and most of us have no idea what we're being sold. How can we sort the organic wheat from the GM chaff? Kate Ravilious uncovers the tricks of a very dirty trade
By Sarah Boseley The spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic continues unabated, with the number of people infected rising once more in some countries which had been thought to be beating the disease, according to the UN. There are now 39.5 million living with HIV infection, according to the annual UNAIDS report, released ahead of World AIDS Day on December 1, and 4.3 million of those were infected in 2006. That is 400,000 more than were infected in 2004.
Factory farms are harmful to the public and the environment, researchers report. By Marla Cone Growing so large that they are now called factory farms, livestock feedlots are poorly regulated, pose health and ecological dangers and are responsible for deteriorating quality of life in America's and Europe's farm regions, according to a series of scientific studies published this week. Feedlots are contaminating water supplies with pathogens and chemicals, and polluting the air with foul-smelling compounds that can cause respiratory problems, but the health of their neighbors goes largely unmonitored, the reports concluded.
He says agency is swayed by politics By Diedtra Henderson Senator Edward M. Kennedy today will criticize the Food and Drug Administration during a Senate hearing for allowing "prevailing political winds" to trump science.
NewsTarget A team from Reading University and Rothamsted Research in the U.K. has discovered that wheat grown from sulfur-deprived soils creates flour with high acrylamide production levels. Acrylamides are found in foods such as potato chips, cookies and crusty bread, and is created when specific amino acids -- such as asparagines -- and sugars reach high temperatures while being cooked -- a process known as the Maillard reaction.
We can avert global thirst - but it means cutting carbon emissions by 60%. Sounds ridiculous? Consider the alternative By George Monbiot It looks dull, almost impenetrable in places. But if its findings are verified, it could turn out to be the most important scientific report published so far this year. In this month's edition of the Journal of Hydrometeorology is a paper written by scientists at the Met Office, which predicts future patterns of rainfall and evaporation.
The Associated Press Mental health problems soared after Hurricane Katrina, just as the city's ability to handle them plummeted, creating a crisis so acute that police officers say they take some disturbed people to a destination of last resort - jail. A prison spokeswoman said the jail spends $10,000 to $12,000 a month on psychiatric medication - 21% of the total it spends on pharmaceuticals. There are one full-time, board certified psychiatrist, and two part-time psychiatrists to treat 2,000 inmates.
BBC News Low levels of man-made chemicals in basic foods such as brown bread, butter and milk could combine to harm humans, a conservation charity has warned. WWF-UK said scientific tests link the chemicals to hormonal changes, cancers and immune deficiencies.
The Independent Chemical pollution may have harmed the brains of millions of children around the world in what scientists are calling a "silent pandemic". The world is bathed in a soup of industrial chemicals which are damaging the intellectual potential of the next generation and may increase the incidence of conditions such as Parkinson's disease, they say.
By Reuters Old toothbrushes, beach toys and used condoms are part of a vast vortex of plastic trash in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, threatening sea creatures that get tangled in it, eat it or ride on it, a new report says.
By Christopher Lee Americans have a harder time than residents of several other countries getting after-hours appointments with a nurse or primary care physician without going to an emergency room, a study released yesterday found. Forty percent of U.S. primary care doctors said they had arrangements for after-hours care, according to the survey of more than 6,000 physicians in seven countries. That compared with 95 percent in the Netherlands, 90 percent in New Zealand, 87 percent in the United Kingdom, 76 percent in Germany and 47 percent in Canada.
By Rita Beamish President George W. Bush's administration is seeking world permission to produce thousands of tons of a pesticide that an international treaty banned nearly two years ago, even though U.S. companies already have huge stockpiles of the chemical.
Reuters Health A new study has found a "substantial" drop in U.S. men's testosterone levels since the 1980s, but the reasons for the decline remain unclear. This trend also does not appear to be related to age.
BBC News UK and US forces have continued to use depleted uranium weapons despite warnings they pose a cancer risk, a BBC investigation has found. Scientists have pointed to health statistics in Iraq, where the weapons were used in the 1991 and 2003 wars.
The Associated Press A report from the state Department of Human Resources says an industrial waste plant is likely responsible for sickening more than 600 residents in Fairburn and nearby communities by exposing them to a toxic chemical used in crop pesticides.
Germ levels in Blue River and Indian Creek surge to 1,000 times more than state permits. The Kansas City Star Here’s a sign you don’t see along the Blue River or Indian Creek: Don’t go near the water. But a recent six-year study by the U.S. Geological Survey showed that the Blue River and its tributaries can be cesspools that some experts say are dangerous not only to wildlife but also to humans who wade or fish.
The Korea Times The more mercury pregnant women are exposed to, the greater chance they have of giving premature birth to babies, according to a study. Research on 85 pregnant women conducted by Ha Eun-hee, a professor of Ewha Womans University's preventive medicine department, showed that women with high levels of mercury in cord blood are three to five times more likely to give premature birth, which is to deliver a child in less than 37 weeks of pregnancy.
The Times Acupuncture can ease the pain and disability caused by arthritis, a study in Germany has indicated.
By MANNY FERNANDEZ In New York City, air pollution levels have typically been monitored by inanimate objects, at more than a dozen locations around town. But in the South Bronx, from 2002 to 2005, air pollution monitors went mobile. They went to the playground, to the gritty sidewalks, even to the movies.
AlterNet The corporations that sell bottled water are depleting natural resources, jacking up prices, and lying when they tell you their water is purer and tastes better than the stuff that comes out of the tap.
By Erik Eckholm Unable to afford health insurance, Dee Dee Dodd had for years been mixing occasional doctor visits with clumsy efforts to self-manage her insulin- In one 18-month period, Ms. Dodd, 38, was rushed almost monthly to the emergency room, spent weeks in the intensive care unit and accumulated more than $191,000 in unpaid bills.
The world's natural ecosystems are being degraded at a rate unprecedented in human history. World Wildlife Fund WWF's Living Planet Report 2006, the group's biennial statement on the state of the natural world, shows that we are currently using the planet's resources far faster than they can be renewed. On current projections, this means that as a whole, humanity will need at least two planets' worth of natural resources by 2050.
An aging population and our growing addiction to pharmaceuticals may have disastrous consequences for our water supply. On Earth Magazine Norman Leonard moved to Heritage Village, a sprawling retirement community in western Connecticut, 11 years ago. Its green-gabled condominiums and Capes were well maintained, and the landscapers hadn't skimped on the rhododendrons. A retired CPA, Leonard considers himself, at age 80, to be in pretty decent shape: He plays platform tennis on the grounds and hikes often in nearby forests and reserves. But still, he takes five different drugs a day to manage his blood pressure, acid reflux, and high cholesterol. Heritage Village is home to about 4,000 residents with similar medical profiles, who take an average of six drugs a day.
Humans are stripping nature at an unprecedented rate and will need two planets' worth of natural resources every year by 2050 on current trends Reuters "For more than 20 years we have exceeded the earth's ability to support a consumptive lifestyle that is unsustainable and we cannot afford to continue down this path," WWF Director-General James Leape said, launching the WWF's 2006 Living Planet Report.
By Jeff Milchen and Stacy Mitchell When Wal-Mart recently issued a press release announcing discounts on some generic drugs at Tampa area stores, its executives probably hoped for some favorable publicity in Florida media. So Bentonville surely was festive the next day when sweeping headlines like "Wal-Mart to sell generic drugs for $4 a month" ran nationwide - often on page one of newspapers.
Experts estimate 200 worldwide, up from 149 just two years ago MSNBC News Service NAIROBI, Kenya - The number of “dead zones” in the world’s oceans may have increased by a third in just two years, threatening fish stocks and the people who depend on them, the U.N. Environment Program said on Thursday. Fertilizers, sewage, fossil fuel burning and other pollutants have led to a doubling in the number of oxygen-deficient coastal areas every decade since the 1960s.
Washington Post Staff Writer Three years after the Food and Drug Administration first hinted that it might permit the sale of milk and meat from cloned animals, prompting public reactions that ranged from curiosity to disgust, the agency is poised to endorse marketing of the mass-produced animals for public consumption.
The Chicago Sun-Times It gets little attention, but it is deadly nonetheless. More than 200,000 women will get breast cancer in America this year. More than 40,000 will die from it. In comparison, we lost more than 50,000 men and women in Vietnam, and nearly 3,000 in Iraq.
By Lisa Stiffler A federal program to safeguard poor and racially diverse communities from pollution and other environmental harm is at risk of being dissolved, activists say.
Confronting the possibility of a global catastrophe. The New Yorker Most mornings, the line begins to form at dawn: scores of silent women with babies strapped to their backs, buckets balanced on their heads, and in each hand a bright-blue plastic jug. On good days, they will wait less than an hour before a water tanker rumbles across the rutted dirt path that passes for a road in Kesum Purbahari, a slum on the southern edge of New Delhi. On bad days, when there is no electricity for the pumps, the tankers don’t come at all. “That water kills people,’’ a young mother named Shoba said one recent Saturday morning, pointing to a row of battered pails filled with thick, caramel-colored liquid. “Whoever drinks it will die.’’ The water was from a community standpipe shared by thousands of the slum’s residents. Women often use it to launder clothes and bathe their children, but nobody is desperate enough to drink it. Instead, they take their buckets to a tanker stop, sit in the searing heat, and wait. Shoba found a spot in the shade next to a family of sleeping hogs. She wore a peach-colored sari and, to ward off the sun, a thin purple scarf around her head. Two little girls played happily in piles of refuse that lined the road.
The New York Times Soon after the news broke last month that nearly 200 Americans in 26 states had been sickened by eating packaged spinach contaminated with E. coli, I received a rather coldblooded e-mail message from a friend in the food business. “I have instructed my broker to purchase a million shares of RadSafe,” he wrote, explaining that RadSafe is a leading manufacturer of food-irradiation technology. It turned out my friend was joking, but even so, his reasoning was impeccable. If bagged salad greens are vulnerable to bacterial contamination on such a scale, industry and government would very soon come looking for a technological fix; any day now, calls to irradiate the entire food supply will be on a great many official lips. That’s exactly what happened a few years ago when we learned that E. coli from cattle feces was winding up in American hamburgers. Rather than clean up the kill floor and the feedlot diet, some meat processors simply started nuking the meat — sterilizing the manure, in other words, rather than removing it from our food. Why? Because it’s easier to find a technological fix than to address the root cause of such a problem. This has always been the genius of industrial capitalism — to take its failings and turn them into exciting new business opportunities.
Associated Press Baskets overflow with fresh greens. Tomatoes blush a deep red. The competition for customers' attention is fierce at the Heirloom Organics farm stand during the lunch-hour rush. Despite a recent E. coli outbreak, shoppers at this farmers market are reaching with confidence for spinach, reassured that the food is grown nearby, by farmers they can talk to, on land they can visit. Experts predict that as awareness of farming methods grows, interest in farmers markets, restaurants that buy locally and direct farm-to-consumer sales is bound to grow as well.
"Does the agro-food industry know how to control GMO?" Le Monde The question presents itself as the General Directory for Competition, Consumption and Fraud Repression (DGCCRF) publicized its annual audits account on Wednesday October 11. In 2005, out of 69 food product samples taken, 17 contained traces of genetically modified organisms. Their quantity was, however, inferior to the regulatory threshold of 0.9%. That publication comes at a time when transgenic rice had been discovered this summer in trade channels, as the DGCCRF confirms. But this episode is only the most recent in a series that began several years ago.
Environment Committee backs the substitution of hazardous chemicals in REACH WECF The Environment Committee today voted for a host of rules which will in the future make chemicals and their us much saferthan they currently are. As part of the Parliament's second reading process of the draft REACH regulation, the Environment Committee strengthened key passages of the draft law such as:
MedPage Today With the echoes of the Institute of Medicine's unrestrained critique of the FDA last month still resounding, two more broadsides advocating major reform were fired today at the beleaguered agency. The New England Journal of Medicine delivered an editorial that gave a ringing endorsement to the IOM's scathing indictment of the FDA. At the same time, a paper in the Archives of Internal Medicine paper pushed the FDA reform chorus loudly.
The Independent Today is a bleak day for the environment, the day of the year when mankind over-exploits the world's resources - the day when we start living beyond our ecological means.
By Martha Groves Malibu's coastline is considered the Riviera of California, but the celebrity-studded city's famed beaches are often among the most dangerously fouled in the state.
Washingtonpost.com Federal agents are scurrying across the Salinas Valley -- the nation's "salad bowl" -- in search of the source of the E. coli contaminating the spinach supply. They won't find it without a mirror, because the real culprit in this case is the U.S. government. A half-dozen federal agencies administer a patchwork quilt of outdated standards, inadequate inspections and porous statutes that allow pollution in the fields, filth in the packing houses and contaminated food on the supermarket shelves. Millions of Americans are sickened by food each year; some 9,000 die.
Environment News Service Traces of potentially harmful synthetic chemicals are in a wide array of food across Europe, including butter, milk, Scottish salmon, Greek cheese, Spanish ham and Italian salami. The report from WWF said the findings illustrate the pervasiveness of industrial chemicals and underscores the need for tighter chemical regulation. "It is shocking to see that even a healthy diet leads to the daily uptake of so many contaminants," said Sandra Jen, director of WWF's DetoX Campaign. "Breaking this global chain of contamination will require a strong commitment from EU politicians to human health and the environment."
Gannett News Service The nation’s youngest and oldest citizens are suffering the most from a fragmented, wasteful and in some cases dangerous health care system, according to a new study. When compared to nearly two dozen other industrialized countries, the U.S. has the highest infant mortality rate and the lowest life expectancy for people who have reached the age of 60.
"Every Link in the Food Chain is Affected" a New Report Says ABC News Mercury contamination is making its way into nearly every habitat in the United States, not just oceans, according to a report that the National Wildlife Federation will release Tuesday.
The U.N. hadn't known the size of the reserve -- about a year's worth -- when it gave exemptions to make ozone-depleting methyl bromide. By Marla Cone The United States has stockpiled millions of pounds of methyl bromide, a pesticide that depletes the ozone layer, according to newly public documents — information that could create a stir during international negotiations next month, when the Bush administration seeks permission to produce more.
SCHWARZENEGGER WEIGHING NATION'S FIRST STATEWIDE BIOMONITORING PROGRAM By Paul Rogers Is there a connection between toxic chemicals and high rates of breast cancer in the Bay Area? Do pesticides build up in the bodies of Salinas farmworkers? Do people living near oil refineries in Martinez or along freeways in San Jose absorb harmful levels of air pollution? California may be on its way to finding out.
By Eric Schlosser, Marion Nestle, Michael Pollan, Wendell Berry, Troy Duster, Elizabeth Ransom, Winona LaDuke, Peter Singer, Dr. Vandana Shiva, Carlo Petrini, Eliot Coleman & Jim Hightower Every year the fast-food chains, soda companies and processed-food manufacturers spend billions marketing their products. You see their ads all the time. They tend to feature a lot of attractive, happy, skinny people having fun. But you rarely see what's most important about the food: where it comes from, how it's made and what it contains. Tyson ads don't show chickens crammed together at the company's factory farms, and Oscar Mayer ads don't reveal what really goes into those wieners. There's a good reason for this. Once you learn how our modern industrial food system has transformed what most Americans eat, you become highly motivated to eat something else.
By Robyn Stubbs While politicians debate the future of environmental toxins in Canada, the average citizen can also send strong signals to industry about the use of toxicants - it's called consumer power.
Reuters Living near a hazardous waste site containing persistent pollutants such as dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and chlorinated pesticides, seems to increase the risk of hospitalization for respiratory infections and asthma in children, a study suggests.
Reuters Living near a hazardous waste site containing persistent pollutants such as dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and chlorinated pesticides, seems to increase the risk of hospitalization for respiratory infections and asthma in children, a study suggests.
By Kristin S. Schafer Back in 2001, two global toxics treaties offered a rare opportunity for U.S. leadership in the international environmental policy arena. Today not only is the opportunity for leadership lost, but the United States seems bent on undermining the effectiveness of these important treaties while the rest of the world moves ahead on implementation.
Pollution Concerns Arise In Drinking-Water Source By David A. Fahrenthold Abnormally developed fish, possessing both male and female characteristics, have been discovered in the Potomac River in the District and in tributaries across the region, federal scientists say -- raising alarms that the river is tainted by pollution that drives hormone systems haywire.
Even advocates of these crops were shaken recently when GM plants 'escaped' from test areas. By George M. Lamb In rice-growing states, traces of an unapproved genetically modified (GM) rice have been found mixed in with conventional rice meant for human consumption.
Monsanto Whistleblower Says Genetically Engineered Crops May Cause Disease By Jeffrey M. Smith Monsanto was quite happy to recruit young Kirk Azevedo to sell their genetically engineered cotton. Kirk had grown up on a California farm and had worked in several jobs monitoring and testing pesticides and herbicides. Kirk was bright, ambitious, handsome and idealistic—the perfect candidate to project the company’s “Save the world through genetic engineering” image.
Institute For Responsibility Technology Monsanto was quite happy to recruit young Kirk Azevedo to sell their genetically engineered cotton. Kirk had grown up on a California farm and had worked in several jobs monitoring and testing pesticides and herbicides. Kirk was bright, ambitious, handsome and idealistic—the perfect candidate to project the company’s “Save the world through genetic engineering” image.
Bloomberg The number of Americans without health insurance probably rose to a record in 2005 as medical costs increased three times as fast as wages, according to forecasts for a Census Bureau report today.
By Christian Nordqvist Childhood allergies have become more widespread around the globe since 1991, according to a large study. The most common allergies are hayfever, asthma and eczema. In the UK, a study of 1,700 children found asthma prevalence went up from 18.4% in 1991 to 20.9% in 2003 - for the same period hayfever prevalence went up from 9.8% to 10.1% and eczema rose from 13% to 16%.
Medical News Today Childhood allergies have become more widespread around the globe since 1991, according to a large study. The most common allergies are hayfever, asthma and eczema. In the UK, a study of 1,700 children found asthma prevalence went up from 18.4% in 1991 to 20.9% in 2003 - for the same period hayfever prevalence went up from 9.8% to 10.1% and eczema rose from 13% to 16%.
The recently revealed spread of genetically modified rice has critics alarmed on two levels: the problem itself and the fact that authorities suppressed the news. By Megan Tady Last week, the US Department of Agriculture announced that US commercial long-grain rice supplies are contaminated with "trace amounts" of genetically engineered rice unapproved for human consumption.
The recently revealed spread of genetically modified rice has critics alarmed on two levels: the problem itself and the fact that authorities suppressed the news. The New Standard Last week, the US Department of Agriculture announced that US commercial long-grain rice supplies are contaminated with "trace amounts" of genetically engineered rice unapproved for human consumption.
The Nation Every year the fast-food chains, soda companies and processed-food manufacturers spend billions marketing their products. You see their ads all the time. They tend to feature a lot of attractive, happy, skinny people having fun. But you rarely see what's most important about the food: where it comes from, how it's made and what it contains. Tyson ads don't show chickens crammed together at the company's factory farms, and Oscar Mayer ads don't reveal what really goes into those wieners. There's a good reason for this. Once you learn how our modern industrial food system has transformed what most Americans eat, you become highly motivated to eat something else.
HuffingtonPost.com Since Reagan's election, our government has catered to the needs of corporations that refuse to accept the destructive consequences of their actions.
YuaNet.com This commentary is about something I've come to call, "the really big lie," which is surely based on the theory that the masses are more willing to believe totally illogical, absurd propaganda, than a small little lie. I'm talking about the claim by the medical community, health officials, educators, and a vast parade of reporters, that the epidemic in kids with autism and related disorders overwhelming our schools, is the result of "greater awareness" and "better diagnosing."
IPS The Panamanian flagged ship Probo Koala unloaded more than 550 tonnes of toxic waste at Abidjan port in Cote d'Ivoire a month back. Emissions from that toxic waste have killed seven people and poisoned thousands.
The Sidney Morning Herald Think of it as a vast experiment in human biology. Put millions of people in a limited space, then crank a few levers: increase the hours they work, and increase the distance they have to travel; tempt them with material goods but undermine their sense of security about the future; allow them almost unlimited access to food, but subtly direct their choice by making grease and sugar most accessible. See what happens. The results are nearly in. Half a century of postwar growth - driven by escalating production, and flavoured by hard-core consumption and mass migration to cities - is yielding a consistent global pattern.
Canadian Business Online When Wal-Mart brings its giant food stores to Canada starting sometime this year, the amount of food labeled as organic sold in Canada will likely jump exponentially. While the world's largest retailer already sells organic products at its U.S. Sam's Clubs and in the so-called "pantry" section of its Canadian Wal-Mart stores, it has decided that offering more organically grown food will spiff up its image as a socially conscious retailer, bring in a more upscale customer-and fatten the bottom line.
n Southern California, Western medicine teams up with acupuncture, yoga and herbs to fight both disease and pain. Finally, this hybrid is going mainstream. By Hilary E. MacGregor WHEN a medical crisis hits, people want to know that someone smart in a white coat can prescribe Prozac to boost their mood, perform heart surgery to open their clogged arteries, or administer chemotherapy, radiation or surgery to cure them of cancer. But growing numbers of Americans are also eager to experiment with alternative therapies. They take herbs to boost their immunity, meditate to calm frayed nerves and seek acupuncture to combat nausea and pain. Two 1998 studies reported that 42% of Americans use alternative medical therapies to treat their conditions — and that, in 1997, Americans made an estimated 629 million office visits to complementary therapy providers. A 2002 government survey found that 36% of adults use some form of complementary and alternative medicine, and if megavitamin therapy and prayers for health are included in the list, the number rises to 62%.
It misses the deadline for a ruling on another controversial chemical in its 10-year review. Nearing the end of a 10-year review of all pesticides, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to ban a farm chemical that has tainted water and proved deadly to birds, but the agency approved continued use of 32 other widely used insecticides.
By Michael Janofsky Washington - Unions representing thousands of staff scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency say the agency is bending to political pressure and ignoring sound science in allowing a group of toxic chemicals to be used in agricultural pesticides.
Mandate to Protect Human Health and the Environment Threatened In 1996, under the Food Quality Protection Act, Congress gave the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 10 years to complete its assessment of the health impacts of hundreds of pesticides being used in homes, gardens and agriculture. The most acutely hazardous neurotoxic pesticides – the organophosphates (OPs) and carbamates — were the first group to be evaluated under EPA's review process.
Bisphenol A, found in baby bottles and microwave cookware, permanently altered genes in newborn lab rats, a study finds. By Marla Cone Linking prostate cancer to a widespread industrial compound, scientists have found that exposure to a chemical that leaks from plastic causes genetic changes in animals' developing prostate glands that are precursors of the most common form of cancer in males.
Milking It: Moms find industrial chemicals in their breast milk an outrage -- and a call to action By Gregory Dicum Not long before Mother's Day last year, new mom Mary Brune's bubble of maternal bliss was rudely punctured. "I was nursing my daughter," says the technical writer who lives in the East Bay, "and flipped on the news when a story came on about perchlorate." The story reported that this component of rocket fuel, implicated in causing mental retardation, had been found in human breast milk at levels considered unsafe by the National Academy of Sciences.
Agence France-Presse Hundreds of angry Chinese women have taken to the streets of Shanghai demanding refunds for US-Japanese cosmetics after authorities detected banned chemicals in some of the products. |
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