First fully organic restaurant-bar opens in New York

GustOrganics, a new cocktail lounge and restaurant in New York, claims to be the nation’s first fully certified organic establishment for all food, beverages and spirits.

• All dishes made only with organic U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) certified ingredients.

• Certified organic by the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York.

• Certified green restaurant by the Green Restaurant Association.

But above all, for the purposes of what this site deals with, GustOrganics is the world’s first USDA certified organic bar.

Alberto Gonzalez (seen above), a native of Argentina, is the owner of GustOrganics. He notes that all drinks — hot, cold and alcoholic — are free from chemicals, hormones, antibiotics, artificial flavors and drink enhancers.

“We have only USDA certified organic spirits, wines and beers,” he said. “All these products are produced according to the USDA’s National Organic Program. On top of this, our cocktails are made featuring fresh organic fruits and vegetables. …

Link to full story at Examiner.com

No comment

Firefighters exposed to hazardous food additives

New Zealand– Christchurch firefighters were put to the test on Thursday night dealing with a dangerous cocktail of flames and chemicals.

The first on the scene at the Hornby hazardous goods warehouse turned back after chemicals burned through the gloves of two firefighters.

Decontamination units were brought in and the toxic fire was fought from a safe distance.

Chemicals stored at the warehouse included food processing additives.

Link to TVNZ

Pesticide exposure kills elderly woman

EPA files complaint three years later; federal pesticide law limits the penalty EPA can seek to a maximum of $4,550.

(Beyond Pesticides) The U.S. EPA has filed an administrative complaint, seeking a maximum penalty of only $4,550, against a pest control company that sprayed pesticides in a couple’s home, causing the wife to die shortly thereafter. It has been more than three years since the incident took place in Florence, Oregon.

Swanson’s Pest Management of Eugene, Oregon sent an employee to a home on June 29, 2005 to apply Conquer Residential Insecticide Concentrate, active ingredient esfenvalerate, and ULD BP-100 Contact Insecticide, active ingredient pyrethrin. The couple returned to their home two and a half hours later and immediately fell to the ground due to the fumes. Paramedics were called in and they too experienced respiratory distress or became ill when they entered the treated home. According to The Oregonian, Florence Kolbeck was 76 years old and died of cardiac arrest as a result of the exposure. Her husband, Fred, was hospitalized for respiratory distress.

The complaint was filed following a review of Swanson’s use of the two pesticides, finding that the company failed to properly ventilate the home prior to the occupants re-entering, and improperly applied Conquer as a “space spray” at nearly three times the allowable rate. All of which are violations of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The U.S. EPA complaint also contains alleged violations pertaining to an application at another residence that took place prior to the application that led to the women’s death. In this case, the applicator allegedly used the same tank mix of pesticides, though no adverse health affects were reported.

A 2006 article in the Seattle Times reported that Swanson’s general manager, Steve Fisher, “said his review of the case showed that the technician sprayed the home as he normally would… ‘Unfortunate things happen in just about every walk of life.’”

This past March, Fred Kolbeck settled a $2.5 million lawsuit against Swanson’s for an undisclosed amount, according to The Oregonian.

Swanson’s has 30 days from the day they received the U.S. EPA complaint to either arrange a settlement conference, file an answer to the Complaint, or pay the proposed penalty. Swanson’s operation manager, Joan Jensen told The Oregonian, “that the EPA’s allegations are not accurate” and that the “negotiations with the agency are ongoing.”

According to EPA, “The consequences of Swanson’s alleged violations were extremely serious,” yet the federal pesticide law limits the penalty EPA can seek to a maximum of $4,550.

With the phase-out of most residential uses of the common organophosphate insecticides, chlorpyrifos and diazinon, home use of pyrethrins and pyrethroids, such as the ones applied at the Kolbeck home, has increased. According to a 2008 report, pyrethrins and pyrethroids were responsible for more than 26 percent of all major and moderate human incidents involving pesticides in the United States in 2007, up from just 15 percent in 1998 - a 67 percent increase. This is based on an analysis of adverse reaction reports filed with the Environmental Protection Agency by pesticide manufacturers.

While pyrethroids have been characterized as less toxic than organophosphates, the number of reported human health problems, including severe reactions and even deaths attributed to pesticides containing pyrethrins and pyrethroids, increased from 261 in 1998 to 1,030 in 2007, nearly a 300 percent increase. Pyrethrins and pyrethroids account for more incidents than any other class of pesticide over the last five years. EPA data shows at least 50 deaths attributed to this supposedly safer class of pesticides since 1992.

Pesticide products containing synthetic pyrethroids are often described by pest control operators as “safe as chrysanthemum flowers.” While pyrethroids are a synthetic version of an extract from the chyrsanthemum plant, they are chemically engineered to be more toxic, take longer to breakdown, and are often formulated with synergists, increasing potency and compromising the human body’s ability to detoxify the pesticide. Pyrethroids may affect neurological development, disrupt hormones, induce cancer, and suppress the immune system. Researchers at Emory University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) find that residential pesticide use represents the most important risk factor for children’s exposure to pyrethroid insecticides.

There are clear established methods for managing homes that prevent infestation of unwanted insects without the use of synthetic chemicals, including exclusion techniques, sanitation and maintenance practices, as well as mechanical and least toxic controls (which include boric acid and diatomaceous earth). Based on the host of health effects linked to pesticides, their use in the home is hazardous and unnecessary. Most pest problems can be solved without toxic pesticides, through sanitation, proper storage of food and trash, exclusion (sealing entryways), traps and non-volatile baits. For detailed information on preventing specific pests, see Beyond Pesticides’ Alternatives Factsheets.

For more information on the details of the Kolbeck/Swanson incident and the issues surrounding ventilation after a pesticide application, click here.

Link

Paint the town green

The good folks at Common Ground give high marks to LoVo paint, a nontoxic, low-VOC alternative with a beautiful color selection. LoVo might not get a pass from every canary, but it’s always good to see people making smarter choices about office and household products.

When our building manager informed us it was time to freshen up the lobby of the Common Ground office, we lobbied him for the chance to put our principles into practice. We headed down to G&R Paint Company on Sutter Street in San Francisco, to talk to owner/colorist Philip Reno about eco-friendly paint options (philipsperfectcolors.com) and left with four gallons of C2 LoVo paint (c2color.com). Our building manager loved the nontoxic, low-VOC paint’s rich color and smooth and even finish, and we all loved that the paint was virtually odorless (sparing us all the cloud of stinky, toxic fumes, thank you very much). Now we’ve got a dazzlingly white lobby and a new favorite paint! Oh how we love happy endings.

Link

Link to LoVo Paints

The World According to Monsanto

Filmmaker Marie-Monique Robin on the troubling past of one of the world’s biggest agricultural companies.

Don’t miss the very last line by Poppy Bush.

Link

Canary’s Cry for Saturday, Dec. 27

A new Cal State Long Beach study finds high levels of DDT and PCB in seals and sea lions that died between 1994 and 2006, suggesting possible danger for humans.

The Los Angeles Times reports Old Chemicals Found Years Later in Marine Mammals. The new study found DDT, a once widely used agricultural pesticide now banned in the United States, in slightly lower concentrations in sea lions than was found in studies of marine mammals conducted in the early 1970s, according to the report published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin. Adult male sea lions and seals had the highest concentrations because they had the highest fat content. But the chemicals were also present in pups, who absorbed them from their mothers’ milk.

The Philadelphis Inquirer reports that fumes from a chemical used to deice planes got into the passenger cabin of an Alaska Airlines jet yesterday at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, irritating the eyes of people on board, officials said. Paramedics treated 26 people, and seven, including all five crew members, decided to go to a hospital, an airline spokeswoman said.

Chicago News reports that a South Side meat-packing plant containing hazardous chemicals burned for approximately three hours on Christmas Day before more than 160 firefighters extinguished the blaze.

The Ithaca Journal reports on more protest against the decision by the Consumer Product Safety Commission to allow retailers to sell toys in inventory that may contain a potentially harmful chemical. Continued sale of toys with phthalates - a class of chemical compound used as a softener for plastics that seeps out of toys when chewed - is possible because of a safety commission ruling that Congress’ Consumer Product Safety Act pertains only to newly manufactured or imported toys containing phthalates. In a press release, [Assemblywoman Barbara] Lifton said animal toxicity data shows that phthalates could be harmful to infants or children. Toys that are already in stock can still be sold because of pressure applied from toy and chemical companies such as ExxonMobil, she said. The Consumer Product Safety Act became law in August.

Photo by Tom Clifton

Who’s chirping about Multiple Chemical Sensitivity?

The Pilot reports on a ruling favoring former county employees who claim they suffer myriad environmental illnesses caused by a sick building :

Seven former Moore County employees can continue pursuing their worker compensation claims that a county building made them sick in the early 1990s, the N.C. Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday. The seven employees filed worker compensation claims against Moore County and its insurance company, Sedgwick of the Carolinas, in 1995 and 1996. The county and the insurance carrier have disputed the claims, arguing that there was no proof that the building made them sick. [...]

The appeals court also said that since the workers first filed their claims, medical science may have made advancements to understand the situation better, so the commission could consider reopening the case.

“We also note that expert testimony in this case reflects the uncertainty about fibromyalgia and multiple chemical sensitivity that existed when the depositions were taken,” the ruling said. “However, plaintiffs originally filed their workers’ compensation claims more than 10 years ago, and in the intervening years the medical community may have gained a greater understanding of these conditions. Accordingly, the commission may, in its discretion, reopen the case for new evidence.”

Philstar.com reports that firecrackers are harmful to people, animals, the environment and create toxic waste :

[Ecowaste President Manny] Calonzo said firecrackers contain harmful substances that could trigger chemical sensitivities, asthma and other respirator ailments.

“The bursting of firecrackers (violates) the fundamental right of the people to breathe clean air and goes against the effort of the health and environmental authorities and the citizenry to improve air quality,” he added.

Exploding firecrackers, according to Calonzo, also results in “toxic litter” that adds to the heaps of holiday trash.

And the “loud bangs” of exploding firecrackers also torture and traumatize animals that are “most sensitive” to sound than humans, “hurting their ears, terrifying them and making them flee to safety.”

Ecowaste is promoting the use of “emission-free, zero waste” noisemakers from recycled materials such as tambourines made from bottle caps, maracas from tin cans, cymbals using pot lids, and shakers from plastic bottles, among others.

Pesticide bans boost local economies

A letter to the editor in the Peterborough Examiner argues that regional pesticide bans give a big boost to the local economy.

The Ontario government’s new lawn pesticide ban - which should come into effect in early 2009 - will do much to protect human and environmental health. But it’s also becoming clear the legislation will be a boon to our economy-boosting business and creating green jobs.

Communities across Canada which already have pesticide restrictions have enjoyed a major expansion of their lawn care sector. For example, in the five years following a pesticide ban in Halifax the number of lawn care firms in the city grew from 118 to 180 -an increase of 53 per cent, according to Statistics Canada. The number of employees in the sector also grew. Stats Can also reports the number of landscaping and lawn care businesses in Toronto has grown each year since its ban.

Why does the non-toxic route help the economy? For one thing, it relies less on chemicals and more on workers -meaning it creates local employment. It also requires some specialized knowledge of plant and soil ecology which homeowners often lack -hence their increased reliance on organic professionals.

Ontario’s organic lawn care providers are booming. Barriebased Turf Logic Inc. will be doubling its business by next spring. Oshawa-based Environmental Factor has grown its business 10- fold over the last eight years.

It’s also the case that many organic lawn products (such as corn gluten meal, horticultural vinegar, compost, and beneficial nematodes) are produced right here in Ontario -which means more business for our manufacturers. (By contrast, many of the toxic lawn chemicals are made in the U. S. or Europe.)

Two questions often raised during discussions of market change are, “Will the transition happen smoothly and will the new services be affordable?” In this case, the answer to both is yes.

More than five million Ontarians live in municipalities which already require non-toxic lawn care, Peterborough among them. So the industry already has the know-how and products to provide pesticide-free services province-wide. As well, major retailers are now committed to the non-toxic approach, meaning do-it-yourselfers have everything they require.

What about costs to the consumer? A recent survey of Ontario lawn companies showed the price of pesticide-free services is competitive with traditional services and is sometimes exactly the same. (One company charges $159.88 to treat a 2,500 square foot property - whichever service the customer picks.) And as more firms go organic, prices will drop. Non-toxic lawn care not only produces beautiful properties -just look at the Stratford Festival lawns, the campus of Trent University, or the grounds of the Ontario legislature -but is also very cost-effective.

Scientists have long told us that pesticides are associated with cancer (such as non-Hodgkins lymphoma), neurological illness (such as Parkinson’s disease), and birth defects. Health authorities - including the Canadian Cancer Society, the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario, and the Ontario College of Family Physicians - have long supported cosmetic pesticide bans.

But now we know that, in addition to its health benefits, going pesticide-free also makes good economic sense.

GIDEON FORMAN Executive Director, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment

Photo by sissi de kroon

Green hospitals are better for everyone

As a follow-up to yesterday’s post on Multiple Chemical Sensitivity in a Hospital Setting, here’s a report in Time on Making Hospitals Greener and Patients Healthier. It would be so smart if all hospitals adopted these practices, not just so those of us with MCS don’t have to weigh out the consequences of exposure before seeking medical treatment for any ailment, but for everyone especially hospital staff.

In the typical hospital, “while we are trying to treat or cure illness and disease…we expose our staff and patients to irritants and carcinogens, and our treatments often contribute to the development of other diseases,” says Dr. Kristin Bradford, a family physician in Willits, Calif.

Enter “green medicine” — the effort to detoxify the healing environment and enhance patients’ and employees’ health, while reducing costs all around. The international advocacy group Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) — whose 2006 study of 1,200 nurses suggested a link between the hospital environmental and health problems among the staff — has been a pioneer in the movement, recently initiating collaborative research among major U.S. health systems to document how removing toxins from the environment impacts worker safety and lost time due to employee illness.

[Link to full article here]

We have a hospital here on our island, the North Hawaii Community Hospital, that integrates native Hawaiian cultural practices and other healing traditions such as Feng Shui into the environment. Note the difference in the corridor at left to a more common hospital corridor above. North Hawaii Community Hospital uses HEPA air filters, water filters, low VOC paints, and other nontoxic measures. Here’s a description of The Healing Environment in Blended Medicine at North Hawaii Community Hospital. And here’s a description of the Holistic Care they offer in addition to the traditional allopathic medical care and surgery.

I haven’t been to North Hawaii hospital for awhile for care, but when I was there some years ago for some tests, I did not have a bad reaction to the air quality. Unlike the hospital in California I visited this past summer when I was with my dad for his nutrition consultation– whoa, that was bad from the first breath I took once inside the front doors. But I’d have no hesitation going to North Hawaii hospital again for care if I needed it.

Photo at top by Julie

Thanks, Linda, for sending the Time article my way!

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity in a hospital setting

Photo: Rodger Norris, who has multiple chemical sensitivity lives in a remote home in Timberon, New Mexico. The nearest neighbor lives about a mile away, and the nearest small town (where he lived for seven years until an increase in traffic caused his symptoms to worsen) is 35 miles over winding mountain roads. In the photo, Norris, 56, displays the sign he posts at the doors of his house and his driveway, describing his condition and warning away visitors who are smokers or who are wearing products that contain artificial fragrances. Courtesy of Rodger Norris.

A registered nurse, Carolyn Cooper, MPH, RN, wrote an article in 2007 about how to care for patients in hospital who have Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. (Roger Norris pictured above was a subject of Cooper’s report.)

Given that the article was written two years ago, it gives us some perspective about how far we’ve come with the current literature on toxic chemicals in our environment. You will see better what I mean if you read Cooper’s full article. For example, all the male reproductive studies have come out since this article was published, as have most of the BPA and melamine and FEMA formaldehyde reports - so the public and the medical profession knows a lot more now than it did then.

Here’s an excerpt:

Overview: Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) is a condition in which people experience a broad array of symptoms in reaction to exposure to trace amounts of common chemicals. Symptoms are most often triggered by odors, typically affect many systems, and can range from a runny nose to difficulty breathing and heart palpitations. The cause of this condition is unclear and there is no universal consensus on how to diagnose or treat it. MCS afflicts millions of Americans, although its prevalence is difficult to establish reliably. Theories of causation include both the physical and the psychogenic. This article begins with a case study, describes the current research on MCS, and offers recommendations to guide nurses when treating these patients in the hospital.

[...]

The definition of MCS has also changed over time and may continue to evolve. Its essential feature remains, however, the patient’s assertion of a link between a variety of symptoms and low-level chemical exposures that act as triggers.

While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention doesn’t recognize a diagnosis of MCS, it does acknowledge the existence of “chronic multisystem illnesses,” including chronic fatigue syndrome, the symptoms of which often resemble those of MCS.

A 1999 consensus statement published in the Archives of Environmental Health offered the following six criteria for a diagnosis of MCS:

* Very low levels of exposure to chemicals and other irritants, well below toxicity thresholds, produce symptoms.

* Symptoms are reproducible with repeated exposure to the chemical or irritant.

* The condition is chronic.

* Symptoms lessen or resolve when the chemical triggers are removed.

* Similar symptoms may be caused by several chemically unrelated substances.

* Symptoms occur in multiple organ systems.

But clinicians may find these open-ended criteria difficult to apply, especially without laboratory analysis and other physical findings to link specific exposures to specific symptoms.

There’s also no accepted definition of what constitutes a “mild” or “severe” case of MCS, nor is there a consensus on whether the condition is always caused by a precipitating environmental exposure (as may be the case for certain industrial workers or for those exposed during an accident to a single high dose of a toxic chemical). And while research is ongoing, diagnosis is further complicated by the fact that many of the most common symptoms, such as fatigue, heart palpitations, sweating, and difficulty concentrating, are the same as those necessary for the diagnosis of various psychosomatic and psychiatric disorders, including depression, somatoform disorders, panic disorder, and agoraphobia.

All staff members should at the very least take the following precautions when working with people who have MCS.

* Don’t use perfume, aftershave, or scented lotion.

* Keep free of the odor of cigarette smoke.

* Wear a long-sleeved cotton surgical gown (and cap if necessary) to mask odors if you know you smell of a potential irritant and no other caregiver is available.

* Knock first and wait to be admitted to the patient’s room.

Surgery. When a patient with MCS is scheduled for surgery, notify perioperative areas well in advance. It is particularly important that the anesthesiologist confer with the patient before a surgical procedure so that medication sensitivities can be considered. Perioperative clinicians must be prepared to carefully reassure patients that safety measures will be taken on their behalf. Other recommendations for surgery include the following:

* Schedule the procedure as the first case of the day to minimize exposure to environmental irritants that will be stirred up during the day.

* A ceramic or porcelain oxygen mask may be indicated to deliver anesthesia.

* Povidone iodine is generally a safe antiseptic solution, but isopropyl alcohol should be used sparingly.

* Use paper tape for surgical dressings (or assess the patient’s reactions to other adhesives 24 to 48 hours in advance by using patch tests).

* Use only latex-free gloves.

Link to full article

PDF of full article: mcs-in-a-clinical-setting

Carolyn Cooper’s blog

Thanks, Linda, for link and added insight!

More on Gulf War Illness

Boston.com has a story today on Gulf War Illness.

I think the findings of the study recently released showing exposure to pesticides and other toxic chemicals as the cause of Gulf War Illness are going to help our cause in having Multiple Chemical Sensitivity fully recognized by the government. Note that the Gulf War vet here in the excerpt says that the smell of perfume or a new car causes her serious physical distress. Yes, people with severe chemical injury can then develop adverse health problems from exposure to low level toxic chemicals like fragrance and off-gassing plastics. We know that, and vets with Gulf War Illness know that. The more studies that are done, the closer we are to having MCS fully recognized by government, which will affect policy in health care, housing, employment and other basic rights.

Now if they’d just start to connect the dots between the vets and the rest of us. I wish they’d hurry up for ALL of us. We’ve all waited long enough.

Tara Batista says she cannot ever recall her phone number. But she can remember clearly what she was like before she drove an ambulance through the deserts and combat zones of Saudi Arabia in the winter of 1991.

“I was 19; I was healthy,” she said in a recent phone interview. As a combat medic during the Gulf War, Batista, who now lives in Fitchburg, stood in clouds of pesticides and, under orders, took a little white pill twice a day as a precaution against a chemical attack.

Today, she says, the smell of perfume or a new car makes her lose the ability to speak, and triggers dry heaves, weakness, and pain that rises through her body like a shiver. She has recurring sinus infections and night sweats.

Last year, she contemplated killing herself.

[...]

The drug, pyridostigmine bromide, and certain pesticides used during the war to keep fleas and sand flies at bay affect the central nervous system, the report found, and are associated with memory and focus problems, persistent headaches, respiratory and digestion problems, and “widespread pain.” The report concludes that there are no effective treatments, and that the conditions of afflicted veterans have remained static or worsened in the nearly 18 years since the Gulf War ended.

“The physical symptoms are real and not in people’s heads,” said Roberta White, the scientific director for the committee, which began its evaluation of Gulf War research and programs in 2002.

Read the full story at Boston.com.

Read the full report on Gulf War Illness here.

Who’s chirping about Multiple Chemical Sensitivity today?

Peggy Munson, that’s who.

Peggy Munson at Peggy’s Blog writes about surviving the recent ice storm in New England, and how her Multiple Chemical Sensitivity limited her options at finding safety.

I know this ice storm in New England was potentially lethal for everyone, but the past few days were harrowing for me. I turned 40 on Wednesday, and on Thursday night the power went out – and stayed out for almost 48 hours. The temperature was around 15 degrees Fahrenheit or less at night and for much of the day, and my life turned into a Jon Krakauer novel very quickly. With multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS) everything is inaccessible (so if you’re an EMT, firefighter, hospital worker, M.D., nurse, or shelter worker, think about this). Calling 911 is generally out of the question, emergency rooms are full of toxic cleaning chemicals and scented people, and the carbon monoxide from generators or the toxins from wood smoke can be particularly dangerous or lethal (and hotels: forget about it). Because I was weak and sick going into the outage, I was suddenly like that guy in Into the Wild – picture the end of the movie version of the book – who has eaten the poisonous seeds by accident and thus orbiting around this tiny space, trying to stay warm, totally screwed. Fortunately, the power is back on, and I made it out alive.

Munson is a writer by profession, a writer of erotica to be precise, but only posts on her blog once every couple of months. I wish she was posting more often because her writing on MCS is incredible, full of insight and loaded with smart, emotional prose. She’s blogged about Elizabeth Feudale-Bowes, the woman who was ordered to dismantle her safe house because it violated building codes, which Munson uses to then segue into a fantastic riff on housing for people with MCS. She’s also explored disability in a larger context as well as her experience with contracting Lyme disease on top of her chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS) and MCS.

Munson also has edited Stricken: Voices from the Hidden Epidemic of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, about which reviewers have this to say:

“The single best book I’ve read that honestly and fully describes the CFIDS experience.”- Massachusetts CFIDS Update

“This is a book that leaves you changed after you’ve read it, it’s so powerful and compelling.” - A Hummingbird’s Guide to ME

“One of the very best books on the topic and a must-read for people with CFS, their friends and family, and the public. ” - National Fibromyalgia Association

And a bit more info:

Peggy Munson is the author of the poetry collection Pathogenesis and the novel Origami Striptease, and the editor of Stricken: Voices from the Hidden Epidemic of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. More information can be found at www.peggymunson.com. Peggy also blogs about MCS issues at www.myspace.com/peggymunson.

Photo and last blurb from Planet Thrive.

Vandana Shiva on Earth Democracy

Vandana Shiva, a physicist, environmental activist and author, argues for a return to traditional farming practices as a way to reclaim the health of the planet. In this video she talks about the importance of saving non-GMO seeds and her concept of Earth Democracy.

The herbicide resistant crops she mentions are food crops that are genetically engineered (GMO is the acronym for Genetically Modified Organism) to withstand pesticides such as Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide, allowing farmers to spray crops all they want to kill weeds without harming the crop.

Link

Thanks, Mokihana, for the inspiration for this post!

President-Elect Obama: Reform chemical policy

In this letter to president-elect Barack Obama, U.S. chemicals policy activists say, “U.S. chemical regulatory policy must understand and implement the Precautionary Principle so that we may finally join the modern chemical policies of other countries around the world.”

Rachel’s Precaution Reporter #172, December 10, 2008

LETTER OF PRINCIPLES FOR TOXIC CHEMICAL REGULATORY REFORM

To the Obama transition government

Dear President-Elect Obama,

Congratulations on your victory in the election for president of the United States. We look forward to the positive changes you plan on making, and send you this letter to offer our support in that endeavor, especially for the urgently needed reform of our chemical regulatory policy.

Recent reports about industry influence and possible interference with our chemical regulatory policy on chemicals at the FDA, EPA and other agencies threaten the confidence of all consumers about American products, and about our government’s role in protecting health. As we are sure you know, storms of controversy over chemicals in everything from shower curtains and lipstick, to baby bottles, infant formula, canned food, cars, toys and even pet food have increasingly unnerved parents and anyone concerned about public health.

Though its effects may not be as obvious, the deregulation of the chemical industry has hurt the United States just as much as the deregulation of Wall Street, with effects likely to last generations. Scientists, physicians, health advocates, worker organizations, parent groups, health-affected groups and many others view fundamental reform to current chemical laws as urgent and necessary to protect children, workers, communities, and the environment now and in the future.

The economic costs of current levels of chemical contamination are often hidden, though they contribute significantly to reduced worker productivity, increased hospital costs, more expensive health insurance, and greater burdens on businesses for hazardous waste storage, disposal, and clean-up fees. Uncounted in the conventional cost-benefit analysis of our chemical regulatory policies is the price we pay for children with developmental disabilities or the toll on families with chemical exposure-linked illness, not to mention eco- system impacts, made worse by global warming.

Mounting scientific studies link chemical exposure to human illness and unnecessary disabilities and chronic conditions. The most vulnerable include children, women, and communities of color and those already stressed by depressed economic conditions and diminished access to health care and information. Spikes in rates of illness linked to chemical exposure include: obesity, diabetes, thyroid disease, childhood cancers, breast cancer, prostate cancer, heart disease, asthma, neurodevelopmental problems, learning disabilities in children that persist throughout life and other effects. Although chemical exposure knows no boundaries, communities of color located around chemical manufacturing areas and whose geographic location receives chemical drift from applications elsewhere are at particular risk.

Tragically, these preventable illnesses and health effects linked to chemical exposure are on the rise, and the effects of some chemical exposure effects can last for generations. Scientists, physicians, health advocates, worker organizations, parent groups, health-affected groups and many others view fundamental reform to current chemical laws as urgent and necessary to protect children, workers, communities, and the environment now and in the future.

People all over the United States, including Mossville, Louisiana, Glynn County, Georgia, Dixon, Tennessee, Port Arthur and Corpus Christie, Texas, agricultural communities in California, North Carolina, Washington, and Florida and elsewhere are suffering from chemical contamination. Arctic Indigenous communities are among the most highly exposed populations in the world. The Arctic has become a hemispheric sink for long-lasting chemical contaminants that travel long distances on oceanic and atmospheric currents. These chemicals accumulate up the food chain in fish, wildlife and peoples of the north.

Harm from chemical exposure from U.S. based and other chemical corporations is not limited to the U.S. Despite efforts by the international community to identify the most dangerous chemicals and phase them out, the U.S. government has obstructed this movement and has lost credibility with an international community suffering from the health effects of insidious chemical exposure caused, significantly, by U.S. corporations and their foreign allies. Ongoing efforts of the U.S. government to impede and obstruct major international policy advances such as the Stockholm Treaty and REACH have had serious economic and political consequences.

The opportunity to eliminate toxic chemical exposure and build a new green economy that supports clean production of safe consumer goods is now at hand. By designing new, safer chemicals, products, and green production systems, American businesses will protect people’s health and create healthy, sustainable jobs, and enhance our ability to compete in the international marketplace. Some leading companies are already on this path and the workers and neighboring communities benefit. They are creating safe products and new, green jobs by using clean, innovative technologies that benefit public health, the environment and the bottom line. But transforming entire markets will require policy change.

Please consider these five steps to improve the health and well being of Americans, to protect future generations, promote industry innovation and technological superiority in designing safer chemicals, products and manufacturing processes, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and reward businesses that protect workers and lead the way to a new, green energy economy that will benefit all Americans.

1. Hire and Gather the Best and the Brightest for your Toxics Regulatory Team

* Deploy thoughtful leaders on: chemical exposure and environmental health, scientific and common sense solutions to the toxic chemical contamination problem, innovations in business and industry with Green Chemistry development, and other innovative thinkers to advise the administration on toxic chemical exposure as a variable in all domestic and foreign policy as well as on new appointments to agencies and departments relevant to environmental health. One example would be forming a task force on chemical regulatory reform or some other multi-stakeholder process to help expedite immediate action. These innovative thinkers should advise the administration on toxic chemical exposure as a variable in all domestic and foreign policy as well as on new appointments to agencies and departments relevant to environmental health and have no financial conflicts of interest. It will be important for this group to see the interconnectivity of issues inherent to a healthy and prosperous future.

* Set a public interest research agenda that coordinates green chemistry with green energy and green engineering technologies being developed and supported.

* The administration should adopt the position that the right to a clean and healthy environment is an inalienable right that will be protected by the courts.

2. U.S. Chemicals Policy Must Adhere to Principles and Guidelines for Ethical Chemical Regulatory Reform

* U.S. residents and all peoples have a fundamental right to protection from exposure to toxic substances, including from chemicals and nuclear radiation, in our environment and our bodies. The purpose of the U.S. chemicals regulatory policy must be to protect us from these exposures, while preventing the export of toxic substances that could harm other countries.

* U.S. chemical regulatory policy must understand and implement the Precautionary Principle so that we may finally join the modern chemical policies of other countries around the world. The Precautionary Principle forms the foundation of the European Union’s REACH law on chemicals and international treaties such as the Stockholm Convention. This foundation for U.S. chemical policy mandates adequate scientific evidence that will help to insure that a substance is safe before it is allowed to be introduced in the marketplace.

* U.S. chemical regulatory policy must provide remedies for the injustice of unequal environmental protection based on race that has exposed communities of color to significant levels of toxic pollution. Such remedies must include a legal standard that requires a safe distance between a residential population and a chemical facility and a private right of action against a federal, state, or local regulatory agency whose decision or action results in a racially disproportionate pollution burden.

* In addition to aligning with REACH, U.S. chemical regulatory policy must regain U.S. leadership by respecting the intentions of international agreements, including Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM), the Stockholm Convention, Rotterdam Convention, Basel Convention, the Montreal Protocol, and a new global free standing legally binding agreement on mercury and other similar substances of concern.

3. Revamp the Chemical Evaluation Process

* A gross lack of knowledge currently exists in the U.S. about the data on chemical substances produced, imported, exported, and used in the U.S. This serious data deficiency demands immediate adoption of a comprehensive process of identifying and assessing critical information for all substances before they can be produced, marketed or allowed for continued use. Of utmost priority art chemicals that are suspected of being mutagens, carcinogens, reproductive or neurodevelopmental toxicants, endocrine disruptors, and persistent bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals. Examples include: phthalates, bisphenol A, perflourinated chemicals, endosulfan, lindane, perchlorate, methyl bromide, methyl iodide, organophosphates, dioxins, furans, and brominated and chlorinated flame-retardants, and non- persistent chemicals, such as benzene, which may be difficult to detect.

* Evaluation of the chemicals must be on the basis of their inherent hazards and toxicity, including threats of harm to workers who make them, the communities where they are made, the communities where the chemicals and chemical-induced products are used, disposed or destroyed, and where there is danger for impacting the health of the general public, now and in the future, as in the case of neurotoxins and many carcinogens, which can take years to trigger or manifest effects.

* Chemical evaluation processes also must be based on complete transparency and mandated data collection from the corporations that make the chemicals, removing “business security” shields from manufacturers of suspected dangerous substances. Health and safety information should not be considered confidential business information and a “No Data, No Market” rule should be implemented and enforced.

* Suspected materials must be phased out more rapidly where safer substitutes are already available.

* No U.S. government agency should be allowed to shield chemical corporations from being mandated to provide information under the guise of “national security,” in regard to chemical production facilities or transportation of these chemicals.

* Evaluation of chemicals must be conducted by U.S. government scientists and academic colleagues in a manner that that upholds the integrity of the evaluation, with public financial support as well as political support for independent research and protection for speaking freely about their findings. Scientists must be expected to report unbiased results, free from political and industry-driven influences, with all findings subject to fully transparent, independent peer review. Scientists must have support and protections to be able to conduct independent scientific study and speak freely about their findings — the “gag order” on U.S. federal scientists must be removed immediately.

* Immediate action to pursue permanent Chemical Security legislation that would require thousands of facilities, including all water treatment plants to require the use of safer chemical alternatives and processes. Millions of people inside the U.S. are at risk if an unintentional or intentional (terrorist attacks) industrial chemical accident were to occur. The framework required includes improving standards for review of safer and more secure alternatives, worker involvement, and crucial government accountability. One immediate concern is the need for a structured review of federal facilities that pose the danger of an off-site chemical emergency release. The standards for these reviews must be focused on “alternatives assessment” rather than “risk assessment.”

4. Reform “Stakeholder” Influence in Decision-Making

* U.S. chemical policy regulators, including non-scientist appointees and staff members, must be completely free of ties to the chemical industry or other entities that would attempt to influence their decisions or impact the integrity of chemical evaluations. Regulators may consult with the chemical industry, but we need a change from what has become a conventional U.S. process in which the chemical industry dictates chemical regulatory policy and writes relevant legislation. The preferred “stakeholders” in this process must be the people of the United States, not the chemical corporations.

* The people of the United States need to have access and the ability to participate in the chemical evaluation process, which requires resources for capacity building and access to expertise to represent their interests.

* The Toxic Release Inventory rule and other tools for industry transparency?must be strengthened, and the public’s right to know chemical data should be guaranteed. There must be Executive and legislative support for mandating complete transparency for all data regarding chemical exposure in communities, including pesticide use data.

* Toxic chemical exposure must also be considered an Environmental Justice issue, and previously ignored and disenfranchised communities of color and of modest economic standing must be brought into the process of identifying vulnerable populations and implementing culturally respectful policies for empowerment to become safe from chemical exposure. This can only be accomplished through dedicated resources for capacity building at the community level.

* Resources must be immediately directed toward environmental monitoring of air, water, and soil where chemical exposure is suspected in order to prevent, not just manage, exposure to workers and communities.

* When toxic chemical exposure is identified, immediate action and resources must be available to halt the exposure and protect communities, especially children, honoring the cultural integrities of each community.

* Assessment of toxic chemical exposures must be an immediate mandated component of all relief efforts for communities in times of disaster, with protection mitigations in place to prevent additional and new exposures (as in the example of the FEMA trailers) compounding existing tragedy.

5. Create Economic Strength and Strategy Via Toxic Chemical Exposure Protections

* A program of incentives must be developed to support the efforts of chemical corporations, the auto and oil industries, and other relevant industries to develop less harmful substitutions for their products. No new products should be allowed into the marketplace without adequate scientific study on health effects. The responsibility must be on the producer to demonstrate no harm. Regulatory and financial barriers for companies seeking to develop and use less toxic products, move away from reliance on petrochemicals, and reduce resource depletion in production, including use of water, should be addressed, and incentives provided for those corporations that demonstrate significant progress insuring that their workers, communities, and customers are protected.

* “Polluter pays,” reverse onus, and other precautionary policies, in addition to the Rio Principles should be adopted as a foundation for U.S. environmental protections and for restoring confidence in U.S. corporations, their standing in the community, and the products they make. Re-establish support and enforcement of Superfund policies.

* Support programs for farmers to transition to safer, less toxic means of food production must be instituted.

* Integrate Toxic Chemical Exposure Issues Throughout U.S. Government Agencies and Policies

* EPA must partner with the Centers for Disease Control and immediate resources need to be made available for biomonitoring and public health surveys of communities where chemical exposure impact is suspected. Monitoring should also include biota and human tissue contamination with the intention of tracing the sources of contamination. These agencies must develop and use a protocol for the evaluation of chemical exposure impact that is based on the Precautionary Principle

* Intentional dosing of human beings, especially children, with pesticides and other known toxic chemicals in experiments is unethical and must be prohibited.

* Chemical contamination knows no political boundaries. Testing of imported foods and other products for chemical contamination must be reinstated.

* The U.S. government must make it illegal for U.S. corporations to dump toxic waste or sell banned or restricted products outside of the country. U.S. corporations must be accountable and responsible for harm that befalls communities at home and overseas from chemical exposure caused by these corporations chemical manufacture, use (including in consumer products), and disposal. The U.S. must become a party to the Basel Treaty and uphold its principles.

* The U.S. government must define toxic substance hazard as a variable in all international trade, human rights, and other agreements and encourage and support other nations to reduce and eliminate toxic substance exposure.

* Toxic chemical exposure must be taken into account for all U.S. policies, including stimulus for the economy,?job creation, the transition away from petrochemical fuels, education, and other urgent changes in U.S. economic and social enterprises.

* A timeline must be set for putting a modern chemical regulatory process and policy in place; time is of the essence with the health of hundreds of millions of people at stake.

Thank you.

The undersigned groups are eager to assist with designing and building support for transformational change to the U.S. chemical regulatory system and offer our recommendations as enthusiastic partners of the President-Elect’s new administration to achieve necessary and timely change.

Sincerely,

Laura Abulafia, MHS, Director, Environmental Health Initiative, American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (Formerly AAMR)

Martha Dina Arguello, Executive Director, Physicians for Social Responsibility

Ruth Berlin, LCSW-C, Executive Director, Maryland Pesticide Network

Joan Blades, President and Co-founder, MomsRising.org

Arlene Blum, Executive Director, Green Science Policy Institute

Lin Kaatz Chary, Great Lakes Green Chemistry Network

Elizabeth Crowe, Director, Kentucky Environmental Foundation

Kathleen Curtis, Policy Director, Clean New York

Carol Dansereau, Executive Director, Farm Worker Pesticide Project, Washington

Joe DiGangi, International Pops Elimination Network

Tracey Easthope, Environmental Health Director, Michigan Ecology Center

Jay Feldman, Executive Director, Beyond Pesticides

Christopher Gavigan, CEO, Healthy Child, Healthy World

Lois Gibbs, Executive Director, Center for Health, Environment and Justice

Dori Gilels, Executive Director, Women’s Voices for the Earth

Kathryn Gilje, Executive Director, Pesticide Action Network North America

Monique Harden, Co-director and attorney, Advocates for Environmental Human Rights

Amanda Hawes, attorney

Rick Hind, Legislative Director, Greenpeace

Dr. J. William Hirzy, Vice-President NTEU Chapter 280 (EPA HQ Professionals Union), and Chemist in Residence, American University

John Kepner, Project Director, Beyond Pesticides

Bettie D. Kettell, RN Durham, Maine

Elise Miller, MEd, Executive Director, Institute for Children’s Environmental Health

Pam Miller, Biologist and Director of Alaska Community Action on Toxics

Mark A. Mitchell, MD, MPH, President, Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice

Peter Montague, PhD, Environmental Research Foundation

Suzanne Murphy, Executive Director, Worksafe

Janet Nudelman, Director of Program and Policy Breast Cancer Fund

Judith Robinson, Director of Programs, Environmental Health Fund

Mike Schade, PVC Campaign Coordinator, The Center for Health, Environment and Justice (CHEJ)

Ted Shettler, MD, MPH, Science and Environmental Health Network

Lynn Thorp, National Campaigns Campaigns Coordinator, Clean Water Action

Laurie Valeriano, Policy Director, Washington Toxics Coalition

Nathalie Walker, Co-director and attorney, Advocates for Environmental Human Rights

Kristen Welker-Hood, ScD MSN RN, Director, Environment and Health Programs, Physicians for Social Responsibility

Charlotte Wells, Galveston BAYKEEPER®, Texas

Resources

Contaminated without Consent www.contaminatedwithoutconsent.org

Is It In Us? isitinus.org/

The Louisville Charter www.louisvillecharter.org

Principles of Environmental Justice ej4all.org/environmental.principles.php

Scientific Consensus Statement on Environmental Agents Associated with Neurodevelopmental Disorders Developed by the Collaborative on Health and the Environment’s Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative February 20, 2008 (revised July 1, 2008) www.iceh.org/pdfs/LDDI/LDDIPolicyStatement.pdf

Toxic Playroom www.toxicplayroom.org

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Thanks, Linda!

Artist uses pollution as canvas

Reverse graffiti artist Moose makes a big statement about clean in San Francisco’s Broadway Tunnel.

San Francisco’s Broadway tunnel is a highly traveled thoroughfare in the heart of the city. Over 20,000 cars, trucks, and motorized vehicles pass through it per day. Its walls are caked with dirt and soot, and lined with patches of paint covered graffiti from days gone by. It set the perfect canvas to create a beautiful work of art showcasing the talents of reverse graffiti artist “Moose”, and the power of Green Works plant based cleaner.

Shot by documentarian Doug Pray. For most information visit www.reversegraffitiproject.com

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No comment

Well, one small comment. Try this: See what happens when you view this presentation through the lens of what’s known in literary criticism as “against the grain.” My red flag always goes up whenever I hear someone making an argument for something good for me as an American based on instilling the fear of losing my freedom. In this story, who are they telling me is the Bad Guy? And who are they telling me is the Good Guy? And in this particular piece of propoganda, who are the Ignorant Gullible Guys wanting some protections? But take a look for yourself and see what you think.

Writer finds illness as path to the sacred

A writer with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity is looking to publish her manuscript Writing the Prayer of Your Life, and says it’s her illness that’s made her realize the sacredness of life and our planet.

For [Debora] Seidman, the sacred is discovering the essence of why we are here, which can be different for every person, she said. Following her struggles with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, she said she felt personally tuned into the devastation of the planet. Our lives, she said, have become so consumed by technology that many people forget that life is not about cell phones and emails, but that everything is sacred and valuable.

“Our world is in crisis in many ways, and like many people, I feel the way out of the crisis is the spiritual,” Seidman said. “Part of my mission is to reclaim prayer as our birthright. It’s not about religion, it’s about the basic human impulse to make a connection with the divine. It’s about being able to hear the truth that your own heart and your own soul wants to say to you.”

Listening to one’s soul is a matter of life and death, she said, adding that writing can be the first step in making changes. “People have gold mines of wisdom [inside],” she said. Combining her specialties in spirituality and teaching writing, her book presents a process of writing that can lead to accessing that wisdom.

Still, “My journey through writing was difficult,” she said.

Growing up in a family where much was left unspoken, Seidman said she felt the need to write what was not being said. After receiving praise for her writing as a teenager, she said she stopped writing after second-guessing her interest in it. She started again after losing a close friend to cancer and becoming ill herself. She said that through her personal tragedies she was able to come to terms with what she wanted by recognizing the sacred in her life, in the eyes of her loved ones and in the beauty of nature.

Link to full story at the Amherst Bulletin

Thanks, Linda!

Guardsmen sue over chemical exposure in Iraq

Sixteen Indiana National Guard soldiers have sued the Houston-based defense contractor KBR, saying the company knowingly allowed them to be exposed to a toxic chemical in Iraq in 2003.

From Democracy Now!:

The soldiers were providing security for KBR during repairs of a water treatment plant in southern Iraq shortly after the US invasion. The suit claims the site was contaminated for six months by hexavalent chromium, “one of the most potent carcinogens” known to man. It alleges that KBR knew the plant was contaminated but concealed the danger from civilian workers and soldiers. We speak with one of the soldiers and with the lead attorney in the case.

Link here to full story, which includes a rush transcript of interview with Michael Doyle, lead counsel for the Guardsmen in the litigation, and Jody Aistrop, former member of the Indiana National Guard and one of the sixteen soldiers suing KBR.

Excerpt:

JODY AISTROP: Good morning. Well, my time in Iraq, we just spent at different sites every day, just basically getting KBR in, getting them out and guarding them while they were doing their job, just protecting them. Specifically, the water plant, we would go there, you know, every third day. And if the contractors really liked you, liked the job you were doing, you could go for a week for two weeks straight.

And, I mean, I believe that we were contaminated, because I, myself, seen the stuff on the ground. I was in the pump room, where the Iraqis were down working on the pumps. And the whole place was just covered, the pump room was. [cough] Excuse me.

I really don’t know what else to say. We basically just went in, did our job. And I feel that they knew. A report had came out that KBR knew that the ground was contaminated. And we were just told it was a mild irritant, don’t worry about it. The bloody noses are from the dry air, the sand. And we just continued to do our job, like it was nothing.

JUAN GONZALEZ: And, Jody, what were some of the symptoms that you and the others, beside the bloody noses that you mentioned, that you started to experience? And did you—what kind of complaints did you lodge to them, to the company officially?

JODY AISTROP: The main one was the bloody nose. Your eyes would burn. You would get a rash, like on your arms or your legs. And actually, my rash just cleared up like three months ago. And it turned into lesions once I got home.

Link to full story at Democracy Now!

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Read the lawsuit against KBR

Organic farming at Boggy Creek Farm

Organic farmer Larry Butler of Boggy Creek Farm in Austin, Texas, tells us about organic farming. He explains that an organic farm uses not only organic feritlizers, but also Integrated Pest Management. He points out that farms using chemical pesticides also still experience bug problems.

“Chemicals are not the panacea for farming,” he says. “Instead of chemical fertilizers and chemical herbicides and things like that, sometimes we’ll use vinegar for an herbicide, it’s just like Round-Up.”

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Iraq veteran develops Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

A woman who served in current Iraq conflict has developed an array of disturbing illnesses similar to those suffered by Gulf War veterans, including Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. How many others from the Iraq conflict are suffering the same problems?

This is an interview by Mark Anderson at American Free Press with a veteran of the current Iraq conflict who suffers Gulf War Illness type symptoms including Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. The interview was done on the day after the congressionally mandated report on Gulf War Illness was released. The interviewer has an obvious agenda of including Depleted Uranium in the discussion, so he sort of skips over anything else the women have to say, but you’ll be very interested in hearing what the two women have to say: a young woman who served in the current conflict, and an Air Force nurse who served in the Gulf War in the early 1990s.

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