Obama on green energy and affordable health care

Here’s President-Elect Obama’s first YouTube weekly address, just released. He includes as part of his agenda, “to build an American green energy economy… while freeing our country from the tyranny of foreign oil and saving our planet for our children.” He also includes, “making health care affordable for anyone who has it, [and] accessible for anyone who wants it.” This is music to the ears of anyone suffering from Environmental Illness: the hemorrhage of policy protecting the health, safety and welfare of the American people, the bad policy that perpetuated a filthy environment coupled with a broken health insurance system, will be stemmed.

Panel confirms Gulf War Illness caused by toxic chemicals

A congressionally mandated report on Gulf War Illness is released.

Findings of a study just released on Gulf War Illness directly correlate the chemical exposure experienced by soldiers, notably pesticide exposure, to memory and concentration problems, persistent headaches, unexplained fatigue, widespread pain, chronic digestive problems, respiratory symptoms, and skin rashes.

How many of us with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity have stories of being similarly exposed to toxic chemicals resulting in the same chronic symptoms? Do you think anyone will ever mandate a study about us?

WASHINGTON - At least one in four U.S. veterans of the 1991 Gulf War suffers from a multi-symptom illness caused by exposure to toxic chemicals during the conflict, a congressionally mandated report being released Monday found.

For much of the past 17 years, government officials have maintained that these veterans — more than 175,000 out of about 697,000 deployed — are merely suffering the effects of wartime stress, even as more have come forward recently with severe ailments.

“The extensive body of scientific research now available consistently indicates that ‘Gulf War illness’ is real, that it is the result of neurotoxic exposures during Gulf War deployment, and that few veterans have recovered or substantially improved with time,” said the report, being released Monday by a panel of scientists and veterans. A copy was obtained by Cox Newspapers.

Gulf War illness is typically characterized by a combination of memory and concentration problems, persistent headaches, unexplained fatigue and widespread pain. It may also include chronic digestive problems, respiratory symptoms and skin rashes.

Two things the military provided to troops in large quantities to protect them — pesticides and pyridostigmine bromide (PB), aimed at thwarting the effects of nerve gas — are the most likely culprits, the panel found.

[...]

It found that in terms of brain function, exposure to pesticides and the PB pills hurts people’s memory, attention and mood. Some people, it notes, are genetically more susceptible to exposures than others.

[...]

To ward off swarms of sand flies in Kuwait City and the eastern Saudi province of Dhahran, Hardie said trucks would come through at 3 a.m. and spray “clouds” of pesticides.

Fly strips that smelled toxic hung “everywhere,” especially near food. “The pesticide use was far and away (more) than what you’d see in daily life,” he said.

Several soldiers interviewed said they were ordered to dunk their uniforms in the pesticide DEET and to spray pesticide routinely on exposed skin and in their boots to ward off scorpions. Others wore pet flea collars around their ankles.

The federal panel added that it also could not rule out an association between Gulf War illness and the prolonged exposure to oil fires, as well as low-level exposures to nerve agents, injections of many vaccines and combinations of neurotoxic exposures.

Link to full story at Rome News-Tribune, well worth the read.

Photo by Lietmotiv: Oil well fires rage outside Kuwait City in the aftermath of Operation Desert Storm. The wells were set on fire by Iraqi forces before they were ousted from the region by coalition force.

Canary’s Cry for Sunday, Nov. 16

In light of the recent fires in California, The New York Times says “In Fighting Wildfires, People Concerned About Chemicals.” The concern is about the fire retardant dropped from planes. “Yet while many residents praise — and even demand — the use of retardant to protect their homes and neighborhoods, the potent mix of chemicals in the most common type can leave scars of its own, hurting watersheds and the fish and other animals that live in them. Increasing concerns over retardant are prompting opposition to its use in certain situations and further stirring the debate in the West over how much is too much when it comes to fighting wildfires.”

DelawareOnline reports on “Study: Steel mill dust may be toxic.” A preliminary report measuring specific air pollutants near the Claymont Steel mill confirms what some residents have long suspected: Metallic soot that settles every day on cars, windows and porches might be hazardous to their health.

The Canton Rep says “Outdoor wood burners raise a stink.” Legislation that would severely restrict, essentially banning, outdoor wood-burning appliances is expected to get a vote at Monday night’s City Council meeting. Councilman James Griffin, D-3, introduced the legislation in an effort to help deal with what he considers a neighborhood nuisance — smoke coming from an outdoor wood-burning appliance at 336 Arlington Ave. NW. Griffin said he also wants to prevent more of the outdoor furnaces from cropping up throughout the city.

The New York Times has a report on “Exxon, making the case for oil.” Exxon has moved away from its extreme position debunking CO2 emissions as the cause of climate change and has stopped financing climate skeptics this year. One of Exxon’s ads says the company aims to provide energy “with dramatically lower CO2 emissions.” Yet even though the company acknowledges that climate change is a risk to the world, it dismisses most green alternatives and continues with hydrocarbons. The report says, “Ultimately, the biggest test for Exxon’s long-term business model is the fact that rising energy use — whether in the United States or in China — will eventually have to be reconciled with reducing carbon emissions and finding low-carbon energy sources.”

JS Online says “BPA leaches from ’safe’ products.”

Products marketed for infants or billed as “microwave safe” release toxic doses of the chemical bisphenol A when heated, an analysis by the Journal Sentinel has found.

The newspaper had the containers of 10 items tested in a lab - products that were heated in a microwave or conventional oven. Bisphenol A, or BPA [link added], was found to be leaching from all of them.

The amounts detected were at levels that scientists have found cause neurological and developmental damage in laboratory animals. The problems include genital defects, behavioral changes and abnormal development of mammary glands. The changes to the mammary glands were identical to those observed in women at higher risk for breast cancer.

The newspaper’s test results raise new questions about the chemical and the safety of an entire inventory of plastic products labeled as “microwave safe.” BPA is a key ingredient in common household plastics, including baby bottles and storage containers. It has been found in 93% of Americans tested.

For the Exxon and BPA stories: Thanks, Linda!

Photo by Kevitivity.

Aerial spraying in California put public at risk

In the Open Forum at SF Gate, Mike Lynberg writes that “Aerial pesticide spraying put people at risk.”

Lynberg is referring to the spraying that occured in the fall of 2007 when the State of California sprayed pesticides over Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties to control the potentially invasive Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM). Thousands of Californians participated in a grass roots effort called Stop the Spray, and asked Governor Schwarzenegger to investigate the health complaints and end the LBAM Eradication Program. And in June 2008, the State announced a moratorium on aerial spray of urban areas. However, according to the Stop the Spray website, the LBAM Eradication Program still continues with the use of controversial toxic ground treatments and aerial pesticide spray of rural/mountainous areas.

Writes Lynberg:

The state’s long-awaited report on the human health risks of aerial pesticide spraying for the light brown apple moth was released last week. The report says what thousands of outraged people from Monterey to Marin County had feared: the product sprayed put some people at risk.

“We cannot exclude the possibility that one or more ingredients in the LBAM product could cause an allergic response in sensitive individuals,” reads the report, issued by the Department of Pesticide Regulation, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and the Department of Public Health.

The report acknowledges that some of the ailments suffered by people in the Monterey and Santa Cruz areas - namely asthma and reactive airway disease - “may be associated with exposure to a sensitizer or allergen.”

[...]

Seventy-four doctors filed pesticide illness reports. Several people ended up in emergency rooms.

There is more in the new report to validate the outrage many people felt about aerial spraying. State agencies now say there is a “paucity of data” on long-term exposure to the pesticides. Lab animals were tested for very short periods of time, whereas people in the Monterey and Santa Cruz areas were exposed to chemicals that persisted in the air for 30 to 60 days.

The report also admits that laboratory tests on a small number of animals might not be an adequate predictor of human health effects when large numbers of people - with different levels of sensitivity - are exposed to a pesticide.

Link

Photo from VeganReader.com.

We’re toxic “from womb to tomb”

There’s an excellent story by Simran Sethi at The Huffington Post on toxic chemicals found in everyday household products making their way into our bodies. Featured is information from the Environmental Working Group on studies showing hundreds of chemicals in the umbilical cord blood of newborns. The full story is laced with links to more information. Note that all the products mentioned as toxic are the same products to which people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity have bad reactions from low level exposure.

Here’s an excerpt from Sethi’s report:

We can thank WWII for inventions like SPAM, plastic wrap, and modern-day chemical cleaning products. When hostilities ended, the same companies that had been manufacturing chemicals for nerve gas and other weapons began to bottle their concoctions for the general public, who used them to disinfect their homes. Sixty years later, Mr. Clean may seem well intentioned, but a toxic chemical is still a toxic chemical, no matter how diluted or how many “Danger! Do not swallow” warnings a bottle is branded with. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires that household chemicals label info on poison control and toxicity, but doesn’t mandate ingredient disclosure. We each have our own allergies and sensitivities, so what may be deemed “safe” for one person may be harmful for another.

Kids are among the most vulnerable peeps. Children under the age of six are more likely to die from ingesting dish soap than any other product in the home. Luckily, most of us ingest or inhale dish soap residue in doses much too small to be lethal, but the chemicals are still having an effect. Women who work at home are 54% more likely to die from cancer, because of a higher exposure to household cleaning products. And the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has determined that indoor air quality may be twice as polluted as outdoor air.

Environmental Working Group (EWG) has found that everyday products like dish soap and laundry detergent are polluting our air and our bloodstreams with toxic chemicals linked to cancer, infertility, and stunted development. You’re probably thinking sure, you’re fill-in-the-blank age, you’ve been exposed to a lot in your short/long life. But here’s the kicker: we’re toxic from womb to tomb. A recent EWG study tested the umbilical chord blood of 10 unborn babies, and found a total of 287 toxic chemicals, an average of 200 per fetus. (You can find out more in the accompanying video.) The chems in babies included 28 waste by-products, 47 consumer products like Teflon and Scotch Guard, and 212 industrial chemicals and pesticides (such as PCBs and DDT) that were already banned more than 30 years ago. Our newborns are coming into the world with a heavy “body burden” of toxins that will impact their health and development.

Link to full story and video at The Huffington Post.

Link to more videos on the topic of chemicals and children from a conference sponsored by Seventh Generation.

Photo by Brittany Bush.

Who’s chirping about Multiple Chemical Sensitivity today?

Earth911 writes about chemical sensitivity when they address the question: Isn’t it more eco-friendly to buy an artificial Christmas tree? Well, they say, it depends on who you ask.

Real or Fake?

The National Christmas Tree Association annually releases this fact sheet to help educate the public. It compares the pros and cons of fake vs. real trees in everything from origin to production to ingredients.

Take a Deep Breath

Nearly 500,000 acres of Christmas trees in the U.S., with each acre providing the daily oxygen requirements of 18 people. When one tree is cut down, three seedlings are planted the following year to replace it making it the ultimate carbon offset. In 2008 alone, an estimated 40-45 million Christmas trees were planted in North America.

On the flip side, those trees are often sprayed with pesticides. While fake trees are not depleting resources and can be reused year after year. However, artificial trees contain lead to produce the PVC material in the needles. These trees can off-gas, and can create issues for those who have chemical sensitivities.

The Galway Tent Blog, out of Dublin and dedicated to the topic of incinerators, says “No more incinerators should be approved,” citing “recent research, including that relating to fine and ultrafine particulates, the costs of incineration, together with research investigating nonstandard emissions from incinerators, has demonstrated that the hazards of incineration are greater than previously realised. The accumulated evidence on the health risks of incinerators is simply too strong to ignore and their use cannot be justified now that better, cheaper and far less hazardous methods of waste disposal have become available.” An excerpt from the study’s Executive Summary:

Toxic metals accumulate in the body and have been implicated in a range of emotional and behavioural problems in children including autism, dyslexia, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), learning difficulties, and delinquency, and in problems in adults including violence, dementia, depression and Parkinson’s disease. Increased rates of autism and learning disabilities have been noted to occur around sites that release mercury into the environment. Toxic metals are universally present in incinerator emissions and present in high concentrations in the fly ash.

Susceptibility to chemical pollutants varies, depending on genetic and acquired factors, with the maximum impact being on the foetus. Acute exposure can lead to sensitisation of some individuals, leaving them with lifelong low dose chemical sensitivity.

Rincon Hill San Francisco, a community blog, announces a neighborhood meeting and adds, “Individuals with severe allergies, environmental illness, multiple chemical sensitivity or related disabilities should call the City Accessibility Hotline at 415-554-8925 to discuss meeting accessibility.” Bravo!

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and truly clean energy

The development of truly clean, green energy is an important issue for people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. While those of us with MCS are forced to eliminate the toxicity of our immediate surroundings and of our basic consumer products as best we can in order to function and be productive, there are people out in the big bad world who are just as dedicated to eliminating toxicity of the larger environment. While the environmental activity of previous decades was more focused on the direct polluting of our air, waterways and soil (and therefore our bodies), the threat of climate change has shifted the focus to a much larger problem. And that larger problem is triggering greener critical mass thinking, finally.

It’s important for those of us with MCS to understand and support the efforts of people like Al Gore, because the environmental trends that are taking root in response to climate change are going to help us in our cause of MCS awareness. As more people become educated and aware of the differences between dirty, polluting energy (the “drill-baby-drill” mind set) vs truly clean, green energy (wind, solar, geothermal), I believe more people will also begin to take a look at the toxicity in their own immediate environment: their homes and places of work, and the food, air, and water they consume. This is all good news for those of us with MCS.

People usually do not change habits without a strong motivation. In the case of those of us with MCS, myself included, we are motivated by health issues to turn toward an organic, nontoxic lifestyle. We have no choice.  Because of our health issue, most of us were way ahead of the greenie curve. We all have adjusted our lifestyle, which has by default lessened our foot print, and we have heralded the call for others to do the same. Of course, those at the front edge of a movement are often seen as the “fringe” element, kooky people not in step with the norm. Well, guess what? The world is catching up with us. Why? Because the toxic paradigm has hit critical mass and is now hitting everyone where it counts: in the pocketbook.

So, what I see happening is the perfect storm, the convergence of several strong micro and macro environmental and social movements, all of which just culminated in the election of a U.S. president who promises Change. Environmentalists, scientists, consumers (especially parents), politicians, and the global marketplace are now pretty much all on the same page, even if for different reasons. And they, along with a growing consensus in the general population, are demanding truly clean, green energy, and along with it, I believe, the elimination of toxic products in the marketplace and thus in our environment and in our bodies.

For those of you who are not already, I’d like to get you in the mood for fully participating in the discussion on alternative energy. To start us off here on The Canary Report, I’d like to share with you a publication from Environment America, a federation of state-based, citizen-funded environmental advocacy organizations. It’s called “Renewing America: A Blueprint for Economic Recovery.” Here’s the Executive Summary below, and here’s where you wonky types can download the full report.

Across the country, Americans are hurting. From the big cities of the coasts to the industrial heartland to our rural communities, the slumping economy is taking its toll in shuttered businesses, disappearing jobs, bankruptcies, foreclosures and an increased sense of anxiety about our collective future.

To revive the American dream, we need to rebuild our economy on a sound foundation—one that puts people back to work, contributes to long-term prosperity, rebuilds our communities, and protects our environment.

There is one path to a renewed economy that achieves all of those goals—one that is increasingly recognized by opinion leaders, politicians, investors and workers as our best chance to work our way out of our current economic troubles, while building a stronger, more self-reliant and environmentally responsible America.

It is the path to a clean energy future.

Clean energy in America is not some distant dream. We have the technology, the tools and the know-how to use energy more wisely and to get more of our energy from clean, renewable sources. What’s more, clean energy can be produced right here at home, creating new jobs in all sectors of the nation’s economy—including many jobs that can never be outsourced.

Americans are already beginning to see the benefits of clean energy in their local economies. Laid-off workers in the nation’s “Rust Belt” are getting back to work building wind turbines and solar cells; farmers in the Midwest are supplementing their incomes with royalties from wind farms; residents of economically distressed inner cities are learning how to install solar panels and weatherize homes for greater energy efficiency. Every part of the country has the opportunity to benefit from a transition to a new energy future.

But to turn this trickle of green jobs into a torrent of new economic opportunities, we need to act boldly—and fast. With a strong policy commitment to clean energy and the investment to match, we can:

• Embrace a future of clean power by making our economy more energy-efficient and getting 100 percent of our electricity from clean, renewable sources.

• Achieve energy independence, by cutting our consumption of oil in half—nearly as much as we currently import from all other nations.

• Speed economic recovery and create millions of new jobs in dozens of different occupations in every part of the country.

This report lays out a blueprint for how we can repower America for the 21st century, cleaning our environment while revitalizing our economy. A new president and a new Congress create a golden opportunity to chart a new future for America. The time to begin is now.

The Prevention Agenda: What say you?

Come join me in the discussion on The Prevention Agenda, a new social network dedicated to helping President Obama focus on preventing pollution, climate change, toxic exposures and other threats to our health and the environment.

I started off my discussion on the site with my Letter to President-Elect Obama.

The host of the discussion is Diane MacEachern. Diane is a heavyweight in environmental activism. Here’s an excerpt of her bio from The World Women Want:

Diane played an integral role in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Change Action Plan, a nationwide program to educate the public about global warming. In addition, Diane was the technical advisor to Earth Quest, a traveling museum exhibit underwritten in part by the Ford Motor Company to educate children about the environment. She also worked with the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance to establish the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument during the Clinton Administration.

She has a best-selling book Save Our Planet: 750 Everyday Ways You Can Help Clean Up the Earth that offers hundreds of tips on using energy more efficiently, saving water, avoiding  toxic chemicals, and making smart “environment friendly” shopping decisions.

Come join me in the discussion at The Prevention Agenda! We canaries have a lot to say on the issue.

White House food garden petition

Join in on this great campaign to petition President-Elect Obama to turn the White House lawn into an organic fruit and veggie garden. Go sign the petition!

We, the undersigned, are petitioning President-elect Obama to plant a large organic food garden or Victory Garden on the White House lawn with part of produce going to the White House kitchen and the rest to local food pantries. The White House is “America’s House” and should set a healthy example. President-elect Obama would not be breaking with tradition, but returning to it (the White House has had fruit and vegetable gardens before) and showing how we can meet global challenges such as food security, climate change, and energy independence.

Five green Obama dreams from Zaproot

From Zaproot.

Yes, we can change. Obama wins the presidential election and here are our top 5 green dreams for 2009. Zero Pollutions Motors creates the car of the future, and it runs on air. And, check out the latest in Green Gadgets.

A letter to President-Elect Obama

Dear President-Elect Obama,

I am jubilant at your victory! I wish you a heartfelt congratulations. It was a long, hard campaign that you managed flawlessly, and if your skills at running a campaign are any indication of the way you will run the federal government, then we are in good hands indeed.

I know many people and organizations are petitioning you this week, pleading their case or personal issue and hoping you will deliver the change you’ve promised. Those of us who have suffered under the policies of the Bush Administration are desperate for relief and we each want to make sure that our corner of the universe is touched by your promise of change.

I’ve worked in Democratic politics at both the local and national level enough to know that campaigns are one thing and governing something else entirely. I know that you will not be able to deliver on absolutely everything you hope to. But rather than feeling desperate that my particular issue will not be addressed and righted in the coming eight years, I instead feel great confidence that indeed it will.

My issue is the environment. Not the Big Picture of climate change that most of the world is focusing on right now– of course arguably the most important issue of our times–, but rather the immediate environment of our homes, places of work, and public spaces. You see, I have Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, and so my issue is the need for strong, enforced policy that forces corporate entities and businesses to stop polluting our air, water, soil and bodies with toxic synthetic chemicals.

I am especially concerned about the 80,000 synthetic chemicals that are being put into everyday household and other commercial products, most of which have not undergone rigorous study as to their impact on public health. This is disconcerting given that many of these toxic chemicals from the marketplace are showing up in our blood, and most disturbing, the blood of our children.

The Bush Administration has allowed corporate interests to run rough shod over environmental and consumer policy. Bush officials have lied to the American people and to the international community about the severity of toxic chemicals in the marketplace, which left the European Union no choice but to take control of the issue on the global stage. I am grateful for that, but deeply ashamed that my country is not at the forefront of this pressing issue.

Of all the images produced during your stirring campaign, what sticks with me the most are the faces of the people in the crowd at Grant Park as you addressed the nation as the new president-elect. I don’t believe I have ever seen such unbridled joy and optimism at any political event. But now comes the time for the real work, and I know in my heart of hearts that you will do what’s right and lead the federal government to do its job in protecting the health, safety and welfare of the American people.

Aloha and mahalo to you, our native son. Go do us proud. Imua!

Susie Collins

Who’s chirping about Multiple Chemical Sensitivity today?

Thomas Coffman at the Albert Lea Tribune writes about “You might discover your own migraine cure.” He says, “The majority of migraines involve food allergies, such as wheat and chemical sensitivities. [...] Find out if it’s a food allergy, a chemical sensitivity or whatever. Then start reducing them systematically. You may discover your own cure on your own.”

The Canary’s big red flag went up with this one. Owing Mills Times out of Maryland reports “Hospital testing scents in new lobby” :

The hospital will test several aromas in the lobby in the coming weeks, Wexler said.

“The concept is to eliminate the typical cleaning odor of hospitals to reduce the stress of those waiting,” he said.

Brian Sanderoff, pharmacist and CEO of Your Prescription for Health, a natural pharmacy on Dolfield Road in Owings Mills, praised the idea of using aromatherapy in a hospital lobby, citing lavender, sandalwood, bergamot and clary sage as aromas with calming properties.

“Because the nerves from the nose go directly into the brain, aromas are a direct way of affecting many aspects of brain function including emotion and mood,” said Sanderoff, adding that sensitivities to the chemical compounds of aromas and quality of essential oils used to produce aromas are two concerns with aromatherapy.

Bay of Plenty Times reports that residents in a New Zealand town say “We don’t want toxic city” :

Bay residents, including the mother of a teen left totally debilitated by toxic sprays, have urged Tauranga City Council to rethink the city’s increasing dependence on chemical weed control.

Councillors this week heard Avenues resident Robyn Board describe the impact that agri-chemicals had had on her 18-year-old son Michael.

She was one of seven speakers opposed to council’s draft agri-chemical policy, which said use of some toxic agri-chemicals was necessary to help control weeds.

Mrs Board’s son collapsed five years ago after the family’s rural neighbour sprayed a mixture of Roundup and the hormone-based Gardoprim in high winds.

The Board family left their home that day, never to return.

“He is still virtually housebound because he is too debilitated to go out and be a regular 18-year-old,” Mrs Board said.

Mrs Board, who herself had been diagnosed with multiple chemical sensitivity and ME (also known as chronic fatigue syndrome) precipitated by chemical poisoning, said the sprays had a profound effect on her son.

Who’s chirping about Multiple Chemical Sensitivity today?

On the election front:

Lou Cheese, over at Living w/ Mulitple Chemical Sensitivity, braved the Cleveland air to document the Obama rally today. As his photo at left shows: “I packed my bag with extra batteries for the camera, two respirators, and a note from the doctor explaining the requirement for respirator use in public areas,” he says. “Just what every guy needs.” He posted three updates, at 11:00 a.m.,  3:00 p.m., and 7:00 p.m. I’ve really enjoyed his perspectives on the presidential race, including his fears of being arrested by the Secret Service at various rallies for being a terrorist because of wearing a respirator!

GreenMuze put together a simple guide to a green voting experience, what they call “Your Eco-Voting Etiquette Guide.” The guide talks about how it’s not enough to just be voting green, you should act like a greenie at the polling place, too. I was delighted to see they recommend a fragrance-free experience. Along with recommending carpooling, eco-friendly water containers, and organic cotton t-shirts, they also say this:

Go scent free.

For many people voting is a social occasion, you see your neighbours, chat with friends, and even perhaps flirt with someone new in the line-ups, but do everyone a favour and go scent free. Increasingly, people are having more chemical sensitivities to perfumes, hairsprays, scented creams and even strong smelling laundry detergents and fabric softeners can be a serious health trigger for many individuals.

The Body Burden reports that everyone alive today carries within her or his body at least 700 contaminants, most of which have not been well studied. Why add more? Going chemical free will reduce the planetary toxic load, is better for your health and much better for the health of those around you. It is time we consider chemical perfumes, hairsprays, shampoos, etc. as equally as noxious as cigarette smoke.

GreenMuze also says “Obama is certainly not the eco-saviour that Al Gore would have been, but he is much better than the McCain/Palin ticket and smart enough to stock his cabinet with good green people.” Exactly!

Canary’s Cry for Friday, Oct. 31

Oh the horror:

The Canary is screaming her head off about The Washington Post report on the Bush Administration making “A Last Push to Deregulate,” which will result in the easing of many environmental rules including clean air protection. The Post says, “Those and other regulations would help clear obstacles to some commercial ocean-fishing activities, ease controls on emissions of pollutants that contribute to global warming, relax drinking-water standards and lift a key restriction on mountaintop coal mining.”  The Post also says, “The burst of activity has made this a busy period for lobbyists who fear that industry views will hold less sway after the elections.”

ChicoER.com reports that school officials had to close two portable library buildings in Hamilton, California, due to mold growth. Officials didn’t know whether the library books will have to be cleaned or destroyed.

The Press Enterprise, in “Cement dust harmful, suit says,” reports on a lawsuit filed on behalf of 268 people who allege they’ve been harmed by hexavalent chromium emissions from the TXI Riverside Cement Co. plant just north of Riverside, California. Attorneys for the plaintiffs are working with Erin Brockovich-Ellis, the legal researcher made famous by the 2000 movie “Erin Brockovich.” The lawsuit filed by the Westlake Village firm of Masry & Vititoe claims the plaintiffs — people who lived or worked near the plant — have suffered from unspecified types of cancer, kidney and liver injuries, upper airway and skin irritations as well as emotional duress.

Happy Hallows’ Even!

Did you vote yet?

Do you want cleaner air? Go vote!

Do you want better health care? Go vote!

Do you want safer food and nontoxic household products? Go vote!

Do you want change? Go vote!

I’M NOT KIDDING. VOTE.

Photo by On Bradstreet.

EPA weakens pesticide standard at request of manufacturer

Environmental Protection Agency’s action at behest of manufacturer could double human exposure to food contaminant linked to asthma, infertility

Think the EPA is looking out for your health? Think again. Here’s a press release from the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit research organization. Click on Skin Deep graphic for more info on the chemical benzalkonium chloride.

OAKLAND, CA - At the request of a single manufacturer - Edwards-Councilor Co., Inc. of Virginia Beach, VA - the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has weakened federal safety standards for a toxic chemical that is used in a broad range of cleaners and other consumer products that come in regular contact with food.

The chemical in question - alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride, or ADBAC - is a pesticide and antimicrobial agent that is suspected of causing asthma and reproductive system damage. Products containing this chemical are regularly used to sterilize surfaces and utensils used during food preparation. Residues that remain can accumulate in food and be consumed by unwitting diners.

“EPA should not give a free pass to this potent chemical, given its widespread use in commercial and consumer products, and growing concerns about its adverse impacts to human health and the environment,” says Environmental Working Group scientist Rebecca Sutton, Ph.D.

This toxic antimicrobial is a type of benzalkonium chloride, a class of antimicrobial chemicals used in a broad range of cleaning products and at least 207 personal care products, where it is completely unregulated,according to an EWG analysis. EPA’s action, effective Oct. 20, has rolled back a key federal safety standard in place to reduce consumers’ risks.

Reviews of available toxicological and epidemiological research on ADBAC and other quaternary ammonium compounds, or QACs, reveal substantial data gaps and significant cause for concern regarding impacts to human health and the environment. As EPA eased food safety standards for this particular pesticide, it neglected to consider evidence that ADBAC and other QACs may be reproductive and genetic toxicants. In addition, studies on people and lab animals have linked these compounds to increased risk of asthma.

In an interview in the leading scientific journal Nature in June of 2008, Washington State University scientist Dr. Patricia Hunt says she observed a severe decline in the fertility of her lab mouse population after moving her lab from Case Western University in Cleveland, OH to Pullman, WA. The culprit: the disinfectant Virex, that contains ADBAC and other QACs, and which was used to clean the mouse cages in the new animal facility.

Widespread use in hospitals of disinfectants containing ADBAC and QACs is believed to be one of the primary reasons asthma is on the rise among health care workers. A recent survey of 3,650 health care workers in Texas found that the likelihood that these workers developed asthma during their careers doubled if they performed general cleaning of surfaces.

“EPA’s action to remove these safety standards at the behest of a single company goes against the Agency’s own mission ‘to protect human health and the environment’,” Sutton said. “EPA’s acquiescence to Edwards-Councilor will increase human exposures to this toxic chemical, and may lead to more cases of asthma and infertility among Americans.”

Dr. Sutton’s entire letter to EPA can be found here.

###

Environmental Working Group is a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, DC that uses the power of information to protect human health and the environment.

Link

Thanks, Ruth!

Canary’s Cry for Tuesday, Oct 28

Blacksmith Institute in collaboration with Green Cross Switzerland issued a Top Ten List of the world’s most dangerous pollution problems [Urban Air Quality at left]. The report names pollution as one of the leading contributing factors to death and disability in the world and highlights the disproportionate effects on the health of children.

The Top Ten list includes commonly discussed pollution problems like urban air pollution as well as more overlooked threats like car battery recycling. The problems included in the report have a significant impact on human health worldwide and result in death, persistent illness, and neurological impairment for millions of people, particularly children.  According to the report, many of these deaths and related illnesses could be avoided with affordable and effective interventions. “Our goal with the 2008 report is to increase awareness of the severe toll that pollution takes on human health and inspire the international community to act,” said Richard Fuller, founder of Blacksmith Institute. “Remediation is both possible and cost-effective.”

Army Times reported that “Burn pit at Balad raises health concerns.”

Troops say chemicals and medical waste burned at base are making them sick, but officials deny risk.

An open-air “burn pit” at the largest U.S. base in Iraq may have exposed tens of thousands of troops, contractors and Iraqis to cancer-causing dioxins, poisons such as arsenic and carbon monoxide, and hazardous medical waste, documentation gathered by Military Times shows.

The billowing black plume from the burn pit at 15-square-mile Joint Base Balad, the central logistics hub for U.S. forces in Iraq, wafts continually over living quarters and the base combat support hospital, sources say.

Reuters INDIA picked up the Reuters Washington story “Does mold make you sick?” Fungus expert Joan Bennett did not believe in toxic mold — the cause of “sick building syndrome” and many lawsuits — until her New Orleans home was flooded during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. When she got a whiff of the foul air that the black goo had created in her home, she decided to change her research focus and try to find out how and if the fungi that took over most of the flooded homes on the Gulf Coast might make people ill. “The overwhelming obnoxiousness of the odor and of the enveloping air made me start to believe in something that I had never believed in before — sick building syndrome,” Bennett, of Rutgers University in New Jersey, told a news conference.

Earthjustice seeks tougher regulations for vinyl manufacturers

Many cancer-causing toxins from vinyl manufacturers remain unregulated.

Dig this: The Clean Air Act requires the Environmental Protection Agency to set emission standards for each hazardous air pollutant PVC plants emit. But the EPA in 2002 set standards for just one: vinyl chloride. This means emissions of dioxins, chromium, lead, chlorine, and hydrogen chloride – substances associated with a wide variety of serious adverse health effects including cancer – are entirely unregulated.

Worse, monitoring conducted by the EPA shows PVC plants have emitted concentrations of vinyl chloride at more than 120 times higher than the ambient air standard. And still, the EPA does nothing to protect the public. Says Marti Sinclair, Chair of Sierra Club’s National Air Committee, “We’re left with little choice but to bring this matter before a judge.”

Washington, DC — Citizens in communities affected by cancer-causing air pollution from vinyl manufacturers went to court today to ask the federal government to regulate the host of toxins released from these plants.The nonprofit public interest law firm Earthjustice filed the lawsuit today in federal district court in Washington, DC, on behalf of the Sierra Club and two community groups in Louisiana – Mossville Environmental Action Now (MEAN) and Louisiana Environmental Action Network (LEAN).

Each year, PVC plants pump some 500,000 pounds of vinyl chloride – a known human carcinogen – and many other toxins into the atmosphere. In spite of the documented effects of these cancer-causing chemicals, the federal government has bowed to pressure to keep the PVC industry’s air emissions largely unregulated.

Mossville, Louisiana, with its four vinyl production facilities, including two major vinyl chloride manufacturers, is considered the unofficial PVC capitol of America. Mossville residents Edgar Mouton and Dorothy Felix have spent much of the past decade fighting to protect their families from the cancer-causing chemicals raining down upon their community.

“We’re being hit from the north, south, east, and west. Every time the wind changes, we get a lungful of pollution from some other plant.” said Edgar Mouton, a Mossville resident and retired chemical plant employee. “These chemicals end up in our water, our gardens, our children’s bodies. Each day we hear about someone in our community being diagnosed with cancer or another illness. We’re taking legal action so that we might live to see some improvements for ourselves and our community.”

Louisiana is home to six of the nation’s 21 plants manufacturing polyvinyl chloride, commonly known as PVC or vinyl. Six more plants are located in Texas. The remaining plants are found in New Jersey, Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Oklahoma.

“Air pollution from PVC plants is a serious problem in Louisiana. In Baton Rouge alone, we have four of these plants and they’re talking about building a fifth,” said Gary Miller an engineer with Louisiana Environmental Action Network. “This is one of our region’s most toxic industries. It only makes sense that it be subject to correspondingly strong rules.”

Link to full story at Earth Justice

Bottled water is bad news

Bottled water is a big, nasty corporate business and may contain disinfection byproducts, fertilizer residue, and pain medication.

Bottled water is bad news for many different reasons. Many brands are contaminated with things you really do not want to be putting in your body, the discarded plastic bottles are polluting the environment, and too many companies who are bottling the water are greedy corporations without a thought to their impact on the environment or the rural communities surrounding their plants.

Take a look at some of the problems with bottled water.

A new EWG study shows that bottled water is polluted with a range of contaminants, including many of the same chemical pollutants typical in municipal tap water supplies. Laboratory tests – conducted for EWG at one of the country’s leading water quality laboratories – found that ten popular brands of bottled water, purchased from grocery stores and other retailers in nine states and the District of Columbia, contained 38 chemical pollutants altogether, with an average of 8 contaminants in each brand.

Two of ten brands tested, Walmart’s and Giant’s store brands, bore the chemical signature of standard municipal water treatment — a cocktail of chlorine disinfection byproducts at concentrations that exceeded legal limits and industry-sponsored voluntary safety standards. Four brands were also contaminated with bacteria. These results show that consumers should have no confidence in the purity of the bottled water they buy. If the water at the source is contaminated, so will be the water in the bottle. And bottled water production itself can contribute additional chemical pollutants.

Read full EWG blog post at Enviroblog

Read full EWG press release on the bottled water study

Read full report on EWG Bottled Water Quality Investigation

And take a look at comments to Enviroblog’s post:

[Comment] Your study on Bottle Water is coming under fire for bad research methodologies. I hope you will be able to clear all this up or it could seriously damage your organizations credibility. Link to the news story.

[Answer] To see EWG response to the statements from the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA), “IBWA Claims Tests Show No Contaminants, But Test Results Nowhere to Be Found,” go to link.

Note that the “expert” at Yale, Stephen Edberg, who refuted the EWG study for “bad research methodologies,” works as a consultant to the International Bottled Water Association and Nestle Waters North America. Nestle is accused by environmental and community groups for damaging water tables and ripping apart rural communities in the areas where they have their plants. Stop Nestle Waters says:

Why are we targeting Nestle Waters?

• Because Nestle’s predatory tactics in rural communities divide small towns and pit residents against each other.
• Because Nestle reaps huge profits from the water they extract from rural communities - which are left to deal with the damage to watersheds, increases in pollution and the loss of their quiet rural lifestyle
• Because Nestle has a pattern of bludgeoning small communities and opponents with lawsuits and interfering in local elections to gain control of local water supplies.
• Because the environmental consequences of bottled water on our atmosphere, watersheds and landfills are simply too big to ignore.
• Because no international corporation should have the right to pilfer the public’s water for profit.

And if you want to blow your mind about the problems of discarded plastic on the environment, go visit Fake Plastic Fish.

Best solution in regards to your drinking water? Drink filtered tap water and use a glass or stainless steel container when you are on the go.

Photo and graphic design by CowGummy at flickr

Let’s educate Obama and McCain about MCS

MCS America asks the public to Tell the Presidential Candidates About MCS.

Now is the time to begin educating the presidential candidates about multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) and its devastating effects on the individual, the community and our nation.  Let them know funding is needed for programs that educate both health care professionals and the general public about MCS, a committee is needed to help coordinate health agency research, promote the exchange of information, hold federal agencies accountable, and give advocates a voice in policy decisions, and more research is needed as it offers the greatest prospect of returning people with MCS to healthy, productive lives.

Let our candidates know we are watching them and their actions with regard to MCS as we decide who to elect.  Write your own letter or download our pre-designed letters and send one [each to Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain].

View and Download Sample Letters.

Link for more information.

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