EU Recommends Stricter Dioxin, Furans, and PCB Control

EU Recommends Stricter Dioxin, Furans, and PCB Control

EU recommends stricter dioxins, furan and PCB control

By Joe Whitworth+, 07-Jan-2014

The food industry must control the presence of dioxins, furans and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) more accurately, according to a European Commission recommendation.

U.S. Senators Push For Investigation In Agent Orange Use At CFB Gagetown

http://blogs.ottawacitizen.com/2014/01/05/u-s-senators-push-for-investigation-in-agent-orange-use-at-cfb-gagetown/

The Portland Press Herald has reported that Maine Senators Susan Collins and Angus King have proposed legislation that would direct the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to investigate whether the health problems faced by some veterans in America are linked to the use of Agent Orange at CFB Gagetown.
More from that newspaper:
Veterans who trained at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown in Oromocto, New Brunswick, have long tried to get the federal government to acknowledge that their health problems, including cancer and Parkinson’s disease, could be linked to chemical exposure.
Some who served in 1966 or 1967 have been compensated by either the Canadian or U.S. governments, but the number is small. An undetermined number of Maine veterans have sought compensation or medical help with some of the illnesses they claim stem from their training at Gagetown.
From the 1950s through the 1980s, fields at the base, which specializes in heavy artillery training, were sprayed with massive quantities of chemical herbicides and defoliants, including a small amount of Agent Orange, to control the vegetation. That means the number of veterans exposed at Gagetown could be significant.
“Protecting the health of those who have served our nation is a solemn responsibility,” Collins said in a prepared statement.
Collins said she raised the issue with Eric Shinseki, Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. “Just as the government of Canada found a way to offer compensation to service members exposed to toxic herbicides at Gagetown, the VA should likewise be able to find a way to recognize the similar concerns voiced by Maine veterans,” Collins said.READ MORE: http://blogs.ottawacitizen.com/2014/01/05/u-s-senators-push-for-investigation-in-agent-orange-use-at-cfb-gagetown/

Flight crew is up for a fight to prove they contracted Parkinson's disease from spraying insecticides in aircraft

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/flight-crew-is-up-for-a-fight-to-prove-they-contracted-parkinsons-disease-from-spraying-insecticides-in-aircraft/story-fni0cx12-1226782002275
MORE than 20 flight attendants with Parkinson's have contacted lawyers fighting to prove they contracted the crippling disease from spraying insecticide in aircraft cabins.
Turner Freeman lawyer Tanya Segelov said: "I have had more than 20 people contact me so far and expect to hear from more. This is clearly something that needs to be investigated."
The Daily Telegraph exclusively revealed this week that long-haul flight attendant Brett Vollus had launched a test cast against the Commonwealth Government, which insists all aircraft have to be sprayed with insecticide upon arrival in Australia.
LEGAL CASE WILL PROVE LINK BETWEEN PARKINSON'S AND INSECTICIDES
"When you have a lot of people working in the same environment, with the same disease and a known link it certainly starts to look suspicious," said Ms Segelov.
Former Qantas stewardess Hilary Engledow, 65, from Port Macquarie has added her name to the list after being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease seven years ago.
"I used to hate the spraying and would even hide in the loo to get away from it," she said. "But no matter who did the spraying you would end up breathing it in.
"It is important we all come forward to try and prove that there is a huge cluster of victims among flight crew," she said.
"Showing the cause won't take away the disease from me but it might prevent others from getting it."
Parkinson's expert Professor Kay Double from the University of Sydney Medical School said studies had linked the bug spray chemical permathrin to Parkinson's disease.
But the problem was actually getting the funding to produce definitive research.
"We need to go out and do the studies and see how many flight attendants have Parkinson's Disease and what was their exposure to pesticide was," she said.
Clyde Campbell, director of Shake It Up, the Parkinson's charity linked to the Michael J Fox Foundation in the US, said insecticide had been linked to areas with increased incidences of the disease.
"There are certainly areas with a higher risk factor," he said. "But we need funding for research to help us understand the causes, how to slow it down and - the Holy Grail - cure it."
The Department of Health said all aircraft have to be sprayed upon arrival in Australia to prevent the spread of disease such as malaria from mosquitoes. It said all sprays complied with World Health Authority guidelines.
READ MORE: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/flight-crew-is-up-for-a-fight-to-prove-they-contracted-parkinsons-disease-from-spraying-insecticides-in-aircraft/story-fni0cx12-1226782002275

Report opens door to seeds engineered to resist ingredient

http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/Report+opens+door+seeds+engineered+resist+ingredient/9348631/story.html

The U.S. Department of Agriculture opened the door Friday to commercial sales of corn and soybean seeds genetically engineered to resist the weed killer 2,4-D, which is best known as an ingredient in the Vietnam Warera herbicide Agent Orange. The U.S. military stopped using Agent Orange in 1971, and it has not been produced since the 1970s.
Scientists don't believe 2,4-D, which is legal and commonly used by gardeners and some farmers, was responsible for the health problems linked to Agent Orange.
The USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service published a draft environmental impact statement Friday as part of the process for potential deregulation of the seeds, which can now be used only in tightly controlled field trials.
Deregulation would allow commercial development of the seeds and presumably lead to greater use of the herbicide.
The USDA has oversight over the seeds, not the herbicide.
The public has 45 days to comment on its report. The Environmental Protection Agency is conducting a separate review of 2,4-D, although it previously found it safe to use.
READ MORE: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/Report+opens+door+seeds+engineered+resist+ingredient/9348631/story.html

General Mills says no more GMOs in Cheerios

http://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-cheerios-general-mills-no-gmo-20140103,0,470209.story#axzz2pXqALmyh

By Jenn Harris

January 3, 2014, 11:44 a.m.

General Mills announced Thursday that it will no longer use genetically modified ingredients (GMOs) in its Cheerios breakfast cereal, and says the cereal will taste the same.  

The company says the cereal formula has not changed, only the way its ingredients are handled and sourced. Cheerios have always been made with no GMO oats but the small amount of corn starch used will now come from non-GMO corn and the sugar, non-GMO pure cane sugar. 
GMOs are foods that have been scientifically altered to tolerate herbicides. Some believe this process can cause health problems and environmental damage.
Cheerios will now have the words "not made with genetically modified ingredients" printed on the boxes.
"Why change anything at all?" asked General Mills vice president of global communications Tom Forsythe in a blog post.  "It’s simple. We did it because we think consumers may embrace it."
Forsythe claims the move was not brought on by public pressure or by safety concerns and referred to an earlier statement outlining the company's stance on GMO ingredients.   
"On safety – our number one priority – we find broad global consensus among food and safety regulatory bodies that approved GM ingredients are safe," read the statement.  
General Mills has not moved to expand the no-GMO policy to any of its other cereals. 

READ MORE: http://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-cheerios-general-mills-no-gmo-20140103,0,470209.story#axzz2pXqALmyh

Birth Defects and Childhood Cancers Study

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/sites/lejeune/update.html

Exposure to Contaminated Drinking Water and Specific Birth Defects and Childhood Cancers at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina 
Study Purpose
The purpose of this study was to determine if maternal exposures to the drinking water contaminants at Camp Lejeune increased the risk of neural tube defects (NTDs), oral clefts, and childhood hematopoietic cancers. This study also examined whether children exposed to contaminated drinking water during the first year of life had an increased risk of childhood cancers.  Drinking water at Camp Lejeune was contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) including trichloroethylene (TCE), tetrachloroethylene (PCE), benzene, 1,2-dichloroethylene (DCE) and vinyl chloride from the 1950s through 1985. 
What Was Studied
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) surveyed the parents of 12,598 children during 1999-2002 to identify potential cases of birth defects and childhood cancers. ATSDR asked parents if their child had a birth defect or developed a childhood cancer. To be eligible for the survey, the mother had to reside on base some time during her pregnancy and children had to be born between 1968-1985.
The survey’s participation rate was approximately 76% (ATSDR 2003).  Survey participants reported 106 cases: 35 NTDs, 42 oral clefts, and 29 childhood hematopoietic cancers. ATSDR made extensive efforts to obtain medical information from health providers to confirm reported cases.  ATSDR was able to confirm 15 NTDs, 24 oral clefts, and 13 cancers. Only confirmed cases from the survey were eligible for the study.  Based on the survey results, the study focused on NTDs (spina bifida and anencephaly), oral clefts (cleft lip and cleft palate), and childhood hematopoietic cancers (leukemia and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma [NHL]) diagnosed before 20 years of age.
READ MORE: http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/sites/lejeune/update.html

Tell Congress to Strengthen Federal Research Funding

Tell Congress to Strengthen Federal Research Funding Some good news for this busy time of year:  we have a budget deal that sets the broad parameters for spending for the next two years! However, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees must still come together to determine exactly how much funding each agency and program will receive in Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 – and they don’t have much time. We see an opportunity for at least limited increases for programs that are critically important to the Parkinson’s community. It is essential that we speak out now to strengthen funding for the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Department of Defense Parkinson’s research program – all of which support efforts to deliver new treatments to people with Parkinson’s. Work on these agency allocations will continue throughout the month of December and into the New Year, and our voice needs to be well represented among the many interests that will be reaching out to Congressional leaders. Contact your Members of Congress today to tell them to strengthen these programs that are important to the Parkinson’s community! Click here to take action.

USDA clears way for more GMO crops resistant to herbicides

http://www.cbs12.com/news/top-stories/stories/vid_12294.shtml
Story by M.L. JOHNSON / AP
Posted by Scott T. Smith / CBS12 NewsMILWAUKEE -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture opened the door Friday to commercial sales of corn and soybean seeds genetically engineered to resist the weed killer 2,4-D, which is best known as an ingredient in the Vietnam War-era herbicide Agent Orange.
The U.S. military stopped using Agent Orange in 1971, and it has not been produced since the 1970s. Scientists don't believe 2,4-D, which is legal and commonly used by gardeners and some farmers, was responsible for the health problems linked to Agent Orange.
The USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service published a draft environmental impact statement Friday as part of the process for potential deregulation of the seeds, which can now be used only in tightly controlled field trials. Deregulation would allow commercial development of the seeds and presumably lead to greater use of the herbicide.
The USDA has oversight over the seeds, not the herbicide.
The public has 45 days to comment on its report. The Environmental Protection Agency is conducting a separate review of 2,4-D, although it previously found it safe to use.
Some corn and soybean farmers have eagerly anticipated a next generation of herbicide-resistant seeds as weeds immune to Monsanto's Roundup, known generically as glyphosate, become more common. Most corn and soybeans grown in the U.S. are genetically engineered, usually with the Roundup resistant trait.
But some scientists and environmentalists regard the development with alarm, noting 2,4-D can easily drift beyond the area where it is sprayed, threatening neighboring crops and wild plants.
READ MORE: http://www.cbs12.com/news/top-stories/stories/vid_12294.shtml

Environmental Remediation of Dioxin Contamination at Danang Airport Progress Report

http://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1861/project_report_14-danang_airport_remediation_Nov2013.pdf

New Warning About Excessive “Agent Orange” Toxin in Baby Formula and Breast Milk

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/08/03/infants-ingest-nearly-80-times-safe-level-of-dioxin.aspx
The Environmental Protection Agency has held public hearings to review a proposed safe exposure limit for dioxin, a known carcinogen and endocrine disruptor.
Dioxin is nearly impossible to avoid, as women exposed to it pass it on to fetuses in the womb, and both breast milk and formula have been shown to contain it.
Research done has shown that a nursing infant ingests an amount 77 times higher than what the EPA has proposed as safe exposure. Adults are exposed to 1,200 times more dioxin than the EPA suggests is safe.
According to Inhabitots:

"Because dioxin is such a common pollutant -- it's a waste product of incineration, smelting, chlorine bleaching and pesticides manufacturing -- its health effects are well documented ...
[S]tudies have shown that ongoing low-level exposure can result in heart disease, diabetes, cancer, endometriosis, early menopause and reduced testosterone and thyroid hormones."

READ MORE: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/08/03/infants-ingest-nearly-80-times-safe-level-of-dioxin.aspx

The Curtis Bay incinerator will endanger Marylanders [Commentary]

The proposed trash-burning "power plant" should not be built

Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-incinerator-20131219,0,52959.story#ixzz2p4tFrLJz

By Gwen DuBois

11:52 a.m. EST, December 19, 2013

The students at Benjamin Franklin High School have it right. They have organized against Energy Answers' waste-to-energy incinerator planned for a location within one mile of three schools in Curtis Bay.
Not only should it not be built so close to their school, it should not be built at all. Calling it a trash-burning "power plant" doesn't make it safe or change the fact that it incinerates industrial waste including old tires, plastics and construction materials — up to 1.4 million tons a year.
This industrial waste produces dangerous emissions such as mercury and other heavy metals, dioxin and other chlorinated chemicals. When mercury deposits in waterways, it gets converted to methyl mercury and concentrated in fish. When pregnant women and children consume the fish, neonates and children can suffer neurological damage and diminished IQ. Some heavy metals like cadmium, chromium and nickel increase the risk of lung cancer. Dioxin, one of the most dangerous chemicals, is formed when chlorinated organic compounds are incinerated, and hence, incinerators are the major source of dioxin in the environment. In addition to causing cancer, it weakens immunological response to infection and can disrupt hormonal action, including reproductive function. It accumulates in our fat and doesn't go away.

Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-incinerator-20131219,0,52959.story#ixzz2p4t43WTo

How ordinary feminine care products could be hurting women

We talk about toxins in food and cosmetics -- but the dangerous chemicals inside tampons and pads are being ignored

http://www.salon.com/2013/12/22/toxic_tampons_how_ordinary_feminine_care_products_could_be_hurting_women/

(Credit: Jiri Hera via Shutterstock)

Laura Kiesel

Nowadays, we hear a lot about the noxious cocktail of chemicals that can be found in our food, furniture, cleaning products and even our cosmetics. Yet we never really hear about what might be included in some of the most intimate personal care products women use.

http://www.weact.org/tabid/180/Default.aspx