Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Autism Nation: America's Chemical Brain Drain
http://truth-out.org/news/item/23267-autism-nation-americas-chemical-brain-drain
Autism Nation: America's Chemical Brain Drain
Thursday, 24 April 2014 09:04
By Dr Brian Moench, Truthout | News Analysis
While autism rates in Europe have remained virtually flat for the last decade, in the US, they have risen from 1:10,000 in 1981 to 1:68 in 2014. Many studies point to the prevalence of toxins in our environment as the culprit.
As flowers burst on the scene, blossoms unfold, and lawns awaken from winter's sleep, nature's spring rituals are joyful to watch.
Unfortunately, many home owners, gardeners, landscapers, farmers and state agencies launch an anti-nature spring ritual - mounting an arsenal of poisons to kill insects and weeds. This ritual comes at a tremendous cost.
Last month, leading scientists warned of a "silent pandemic," citing strong evidence that "children worldwide are being exposed to unrecognized toxic chemicals that are silently eroding intelligence, disrupting behaviors, truncating future achievements and damaging societies." These "brain" toxins - heavy metals, fluoride, chemicals like PCBs, toluene, solvents, flame retardants, BPA, phalates and pesticides - are found in the furniture you sit on, the clothing you wear, the air you breathe, the food you eat and soil your kids play in.
And this short list of chemicals and compounds is just the tip of a very large toxic iceberg.
"It's time to start looking for the environmental culprits responsible for the remarkable increase in the rate of autism in California," said Irva Hertz-Picciotto, an epidemiology professor at University of California, Davis.
<>
Autism Nation: America's Chemical Brain Drain
Thursday, 24 April 2014 09:04
By Dr Brian Moench, Truthout | News Analysis
While autism rates in Europe have remained virtually flat for the last decade, in the US, they have risen from 1:10,000 in 1981 to 1:68 in 2014. Many studies point to the prevalence of toxins in our environment as the culprit.
As flowers burst on the scene, blossoms unfold, and lawns awaken from winter's sleep, nature's spring rituals are joyful to watch.
Unfortunately, many home owners, gardeners, landscapers, farmers and state agencies launch an anti-nature spring ritual - mounting an arsenal of poisons to kill insects and weeds. This ritual comes at a tremendous cost.
Last month, leading scientists warned of a "silent pandemic," citing strong evidence that "children worldwide are being exposed to unrecognized toxic chemicals that are silently eroding intelligence, disrupting behaviors, truncating future achievements and damaging societies." These "brain" toxins - heavy metals, fluoride, chemicals like PCBs, toluene, solvents, flame retardants, BPA, phalates and pesticides - are found in the furniture you sit on, the clothing you wear, the air you breathe, the food you eat and soil your kids play in.
And this short list of chemicals and compounds is just the tip of a very large toxic iceberg.
"It's time to start looking for the environmental culprits responsible for the remarkable increase in the rate of autism in California," said Irva Hertz-Picciotto, an epidemiology professor at University of California, Davis.
<>
9 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=752556008118198
[img]
[/img]
Dawn Forsythe was the former Chief Pesticide Lobbyist for Sandoz Agro Inc., now better known as... agrichemical giant Syngenta. Dawn has intimate inside knowledge of how the agrichemical industry's propaganda machine operates and became a whistleblower. Dawn is featured in the recent Canada 16X9 investigative program "Pesticide Peril?" about Dr. Tyrone Hayes.
Tyrone Hayes, scientist at UC Berkeley, was hired by Syngenta many years ago to do studies to prove that their herbicide, atrazine, was safe. What Hayes found was the complete opposite: Atrazine posed serious environmental and human health hazards. Based on his studies, the European Union banned the toxic herbicide in 2004. The U.S. EPA and Health Canada, on the other hand, allowed its continued use. The toxic herbicide is used mainly on corn crops and millions of pounds is applied across North America every year. "Atrazine is the number one contaminant found in drinking water in the U.S. and probably globally,” says Hayes. Syngenta ruthlessly attacked Hayes for a decade. But he didn't back down.
WATCH this 16 minute exposé from Canada's 16X9 revealing Hayes' story and his 10+ year battle with... Syngenta:
http://globalnews.ca/news/1248219/is-there-atrazine-in-your-drinking-water/
[img]
[/img]
Dawn Forsythe was the former Chief Pesticide Lobbyist for Sandoz Agro Inc., now better known as... agrichemical giant Syngenta. Dawn has intimate inside knowledge of how the agrichemical industry's propaganda machine operates and became a whistleblower. Dawn is featured in the recent Canada 16X9 investigative program "Pesticide Peril?" about Dr. Tyrone Hayes.
Tyrone Hayes, scientist at UC Berkeley, was hired by Syngenta many years ago to do studies to prove that their herbicide, atrazine, was safe. What Hayes found was the complete opposite: Atrazine posed serious environmental and human health hazards. Based on his studies, the European Union banned the toxic herbicide in 2004. The U.S. EPA and Health Canada, on the other hand, allowed its continued use. The toxic herbicide is used mainly on corn crops and millions of pounds is applied across North America every year. "Atrazine is the number one contaminant found in drinking water in the U.S. and probably globally,” says Hayes. Syngenta ruthlessly attacked Hayes for a decade. But he didn't back down.
WATCH this 16 minute exposé from Canada's 16X9 revealing Hayes' story and his 10+ year battle with... Syngenta:
http://globalnews.ca/news/1248219/is-there-atrazine-in-your-drinking-water/
http://blogs.prevention.com/inspired-bites/2014/04/22/how-children-are-driving-the-mainstreaming-of-organics/
How Children Are Driving the Mainstreaming of Organics
Apr 22, 2014 3:59 pm
Posted by Robyn O'Brien
If you want to start a mommy war, start calling names. That happened this week when an article ran titled “The Tyranny of the Organic Mommy Mafia" (See New York Post).
It was sensational and missed a fundamental change:
The landscape of childhood has changed. No longer are our children guaranteed a childhood free from diabetes, obesity or food allergies, and parents are standing on the front line.
The escalating rates of childhood cancers, increasing diagnoses for conditions like autism and food allergies, and the rates of obesity and diabetes have earned this generation of children the title of “Generation Rx”. They are the first generation of kids expected to have a shorter lifespan than their parents.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in children under the age of 15. The journal Pediatrics has reported that 15% of American girls are expected to begin puberty by the age of 7 (with the number closer to 25% for African American girls) and a growing number of American children struggle with obesity. On top of that, the rate for having food allergies is 59% higher for obese children, with the Centers for Disease Control reporting a 265% increase in hospitalizations related to food allergic reactions. And while not all of those hospitalizations are for our children, what is becoming increasingly obvious is that the health of our children is under siege.
U.S.-born children have a 34.5 percent chance of developing asthma, hay fever, eczema and food allergies, compared with just 20.3 percent of foreign-born children. In addition, children born outside the U.S. but then moved here were more likely to develop allergies the longer they lived in the country.
When I shared this data with a journalist, she was speechless, and I found myself again wondering: What have our children possibly done to deserve this? And more importantly, what can we do to protect them?
This changing landscape of childhood is changing the face of American families and our economy. We already spend almost 18 cents of every dollar on health care, managing disease. The pharmaceutical companies can’t keep up with demand, and now there are shortages for drugs used to treat cancers and ADHD.
But more often than not, the solution is not found in the medicine cabinet, but in the kitchen, and parents are doing everything they can to protect the health of their children.
Writers that are fortunate enough to not be dealing with conditions like autism, food allergies and pediatric cancer have begun to refer to these parents as the “tyranny of the organic mommy mafia.” Tyranny is a strong word. Merriam Webster defines it as “cruel and unfair treatment by people with power over others.”
<>
How Children Are Driving the Mainstreaming of Organics
Apr 22, 2014 3:59 pm
Posted by Robyn O'Brien
If you want to start a mommy war, start calling names. That happened this week when an article ran titled “The Tyranny of the Organic Mommy Mafia" (See New York Post).
It was sensational and missed a fundamental change:
The landscape of childhood has changed. No longer are our children guaranteed a childhood free from diabetes, obesity or food allergies, and parents are standing on the front line.
The escalating rates of childhood cancers, increasing diagnoses for conditions like autism and food allergies, and the rates of obesity and diabetes have earned this generation of children the title of “Generation Rx”. They are the first generation of kids expected to have a shorter lifespan than their parents.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in children under the age of 15. The journal Pediatrics has reported that 15% of American girls are expected to begin puberty by the age of 7 (with the number closer to 25% for African American girls) and a growing number of American children struggle with obesity. On top of that, the rate for having food allergies is 59% higher for obese children, with the Centers for Disease Control reporting a 265% increase in hospitalizations related to food allergic reactions. And while not all of those hospitalizations are for our children, what is becoming increasingly obvious is that the health of our children is under siege.
U.S.-born children have a 34.5 percent chance of developing asthma, hay fever, eczema and food allergies, compared with just 20.3 percent of foreign-born children. In addition, children born outside the U.S. but then moved here were more likely to develop allergies the longer they lived in the country.
When I shared this data with a journalist, she was speechless, and I found myself again wondering: What have our children possibly done to deserve this? And more importantly, what can we do to protect them?
This changing landscape of childhood is changing the face of American families and our economy. We already spend almost 18 cents of every dollar on health care, managing disease. The pharmaceutical companies can’t keep up with demand, and now there are shortages for drugs used to treat cancers and ADHD.
But more often than not, the solution is not found in the medicine cabinet, but in the kitchen, and parents are doing everything they can to protect the health of their children.
Writers that are fortunate enough to not be dealing with conditions like autism, food allergies and pediatric cancer have begun to refer to these parents as the “tyranny of the organic mommy mafia.” Tyranny is a strong word. Merriam Webster defines it as “cruel and unfair treatment by people with power over others.”
<>
http://thinkingmomsrevolution.com/business-infotainment/
The Business of Infotainment
Posted on April 25, 2014
by Thinking Moms' Revolution
The Business of Infotainment
Posted on April 25, 2014
by Thinking Moms' Revolution
http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2014/04/europe-just-banned-apples-you-eat
Why American Apples Just Got Banned in Europe
—By Tom Philpott| Wed Apr. 23, 2014 9:01 PM PDT
Tweet: 1,508
Facebook Like: 29k
[img]
[/img]
Tischenko Irina/Shutterstock
Back in 2008, European Food Safety Authority began pressing the chemical industry to provide safety information on a substance called diphenylamine, or DPA. Widely applied to apples after harvest, DPA prevents "storage scald"—brown spots that "becomes a concern when fruit is stored for several months," according to Washington State University, reporting from the heartland of industrial-scale apple production.
DPA isn't believed to be harmful on its own. But it has the potential to break down into a family of carcinogens called nitrosamines—not something you want to find on your daily apple. And that's why European food safety regulators wanted more information on it. The industry came back with just "one study that detected three unknown chemicals on DPA-treated apples, but it could not determine if any of these chemicals, apparently formed when the DPA broke down, were nitrosamines," Environmental Working Group shows in an important new report. (The EFSA was concerned that DPA could decay into nitrosamines under contact with nitrogen, a ubiquitous element, EWG notes.) Unsatisfied with the response, the EFSA banned use of DPA on apples in 2012. And in March, the agency then slashed the tolerable level of DPA on imported apples to 0.1 parts per million, EWG reports.
What does that have to do with the US-grown apples now gleaming, spot-free, on supermarket shelves? According to EWG, in 2010, when the US Department of Agriculture last looked for DPA residues on US-grown apples, it found them on 80 percent of samples. Average reading: 0.42 ppm, or about four times the new European limit. In other words, the apple on your countertop would likely be deemed unsafe by European authorities.
So what's our own Environmental Protection Agency's take on DPA-coated apples? It green-lights residues of up to 10 ppm—100 times the new European norm—and hasn't reconsidered its position on the chemical since 1998, EWG reports. Nor does it have plans to do so in the future. Here's EWG:
<>
Why American Apples Just Got Banned in Europe
—By Tom Philpott| Wed Apr. 23, 2014 9:01 PM PDT
Tweet: 1,508
Facebook Like: 29k
[img]
[/img]
Tischenko Irina/Shutterstock
Back in 2008, European Food Safety Authority began pressing the chemical industry to provide safety information on a substance called diphenylamine, or DPA. Widely applied to apples after harvest, DPA prevents "storage scald"—brown spots that "becomes a concern when fruit is stored for several months," according to Washington State University, reporting from the heartland of industrial-scale apple production.
DPA isn't believed to be harmful on its own. But it has the potential to break down into a family of carcinogens called nitrosamines—not something you want to find on your daily apple. And that's why European food safety regulators wanted more information on it. The industry came back with just "one study that detected three unknown chemicals on DPA-treated apples, but it could not determine if any of these chemicals, apparently formed when the DPA broke down, were nitrosamines," Environmental Working Group shows in an important new report. (The EFSA was concerned that DPA could decay into nitrosamines under contact with nitrogen, a ubiquitous element, EWG notes.) Unsatisfied with the response, the EFSA banned use of DPA on apples in 2012. And in March, the agency then slashed the tolerable level of DPA on imported apples to 0.1 parts per million, EWG reports.
What does that have to do with the US-grown apples now gleaming, spot-free, on supermarket shelves? According to EWG, in 2010, when the US Department of Agriculture last looked for DPA residues on US-grown apples, it found them on 80 percent of samples. Average reading: 0.42 ppm, or about four times the new European limit. In other words, the apple on your countertop would likely be deemed unsafe by European authorities.
So what's our own Environmental Protection Agency's take on DPA-coated apples? It green-lights residues of up to 10 ppm—100 times the new European norm—and hasn't reconsidered its position on the chemical since 1998, EWG reports. Nor does it have plans to do so in the future. Here's EWG:
Earlier this year three scientists in the U.S. EPA Office of Pesticides, which is tasked with pesticide safety reviews, told EWG they were unaware of the new European ban and import restrictions. They said the agency had no plans to reassess DPA safety in light of the European actions.
<>
