Seafood label outrages organic advocates
The latest change in organic food standards, proposed by Alaska’s Republican Senators to benefit salmon fishermen, orders the federal government to find a way to certify wild seafood as organic. In a ploy that outraged organic advocates, the seafood amendment was tacked onto the hard-won repeal of an earlier change that diluted feed requirements for organic chickens and livestock. The amendment has been sought for several years by Alaskan and Californian fishing industries who see the organic label as a potent marketing tool.
The idea was turned down by the National Organic Standards Board, which helped write the standards that took effect last October. The standards are built around the idea that animals and produce raised in closed systems where their foods and access to chemicals are controlled. Unlike farmed fish, wild fish don’t fit that category because there’s no way to know what they’ve been eating or where they’ve been swimming.
Organic activists said the seafood maneuver was another example of something they’ve feared when the federal government got into organic regulation — that politicians would change the standards to benefit special interests. It will take several years for any new regulations to take effect. (San Francisco Chronicle)

US used more dioxin on Vietnam than admitted
The US military sprayed far more dioxin over wartime Vietnam than they admitted at the time, according to new research. Between 1961 and 1971, herbicides such as Agent Orange — banned in the US in 1970 — and other weapons of mass defoliation were used to strip swamps and forests of cover for Vietcong forces and to deprive the enemy of food by destroying crops. A report on US military data by Colombia University in New York in the journal Nature Today has revealed that an extra seven million liters of dioxin-containing herbicides were sprayed over key areas of the war-torn country.
The study supersedes a US government investigation done nearly 30 years ago and opens the way for a new look at the long-term effects of this form of chemical warfare. Environmental campaigners blame the herbicides for chronic illnesses among American veterans and for hideous childhood deformities and diseases in Vietnam today. (Guardian UK)

Grain elevator operators resist transgenic wheat
North Dakota grain elevator operators who responded to a new poll about the proposed introduction of Monsanto’s genetically modified (GM) RoundUp Ready wheat are overwhelmingly concerned that the new wheat will be rejected by consumers in the US and abroad, causing a failure of confidence in US grain products. Consumers worry that GM crops cause allergic reactions, contaminate nearby fields, and prevent farmers from saving seeds.
The survey was conducted in North Dakota because it is the number one state for spring wheat production, which is the first GM wheat variety slated for commercial release. Release of GM wheat before customer acceptance “could be death to the US spring wheat market,” one elevator operator wrote on his survey form. The export trade equals about 45 percent of the entire market for US spring wheat growers.
Monsanto petitioned the US Dept. of Agriculture for approval of its GM wheat variety last December and has also applied for approval of the product in Canada. Monsanto has already received government approval for several GM crop varieties, including corn and soybeans.
“The worldwide consumer must have confidence with the credibility of the US farmer and government dealers, which will have no control should Monsanto be in control of wheat releases,” said one elevator operator. “Where is the demand for RoundUp Ready wheat? Not one consumer group wants it!”
The survey reflects serious concern among North Dakota wheat elevator operators about the potential adverse economic impacts of GM wheat. It also shows strong support for a more comprehensive public review of GM wheat introduction than the USDA has previously required for other crops with 78 percent of the operators who responded to the survey supporting an expanded public review of the new wheat. (ENS)

US renewable energy fueled by local efforts
The House energy bill passed last week contains some $20 billion in tax credits for oil, gas, and nuclear power, and offers little to bolster the nation’s development of renewable energy. This disinterest in renewable energy is not matched by US states and local communities, many of which continue to demonstrate increasing interest and commitment to developing and purchasing energy from renewable resources. The country’s bottom-up adoption of renewable energy is detailed in a report by the US Public Interest Research Group. It finds that these small steps taken at the state and local levels provide a ready blueprint for a national strategy to accelerate the nation’s development of renewable energy. (ENS)

Cause for alarm over chemicals
Toxic chemicals used as flame retardants are rapidly building up in the bodies of people and wildlife around the world, approaching levels in American women and their babies that could harm developing brains, new research shows. The chemicals, PBDEs, or polybrominated diphenyl ethers, are used to reduce the spread of fire in an array of plastic and foam products in homes and offices, including upholstered furniture, building materials, televisions, computers, and other electronic equipment.
This year, the European Union banned the two PBDE compounds that have been shown to accumulate in human bodies. Some European industries had already begun to phase out the chemicals, and levels in the breast milk of European women have begun to decline. But in the United States, no action to regulate the flame retardants has been taken, and their use continues to rise. About half of the 135 million pounds of PBDEs used worldwide in 2001 were applied to products in North America.
Scientists who specialize in toxic contaminants say they haven’t seen a chemical buildup in human bodies and the environment as quickly as that of PBDEs in almost half a century. The flame retardants are as potent and long-lasting as PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) and DDT — chemicals that began to accumulate in the environment in the 1950s and were banned in the 1970s. Even if PBDEs were banned today, they would endure in the environment for decades, scientists say. (Los Angeles Times)

Poll: industry must pay toxic chemical clean-up
Eight out of ten US citizens want their government to phase out the use of certain toxic chemicals, replace them with non-polluting alternatives, and force corporate polluters — not taxpayers — to pay for their clean-up, say the results of a poll by the Alliance for Safe Alternatives. The survey comes only a week after the American Chemistry Council, a group that lobbies the government on behalf of the chemical industry, irked civil society groups by announcing a $50 million public relations deal to create an ad campaign to persuade married women that families are safer because of chemicals.
A majority of poll respondents mistakenly believed that chemical companies are required to present information to the government about the health impacts of the chemicals they create, that the US administration conducts safety checks on chemicals used in all primary consumer products, and that the government — which promotes companies overseas as well as at home — does not demand health studies on new industrial chemicals unless they will be added to foods.
A number of safer alternatives are already available and could easily replace persistent toxic chemicals. (IPS)

Asthma in 25 percent of Harlem children
A study by Harlem Hospital has found that one of every four children in Harlem has asthma — double the rate researchers expected to find and one of the highest rates ever documented for a US neighborhood. Indicative that asthma is even more prevalent in poor, urban areas than previously believed.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about six percent of all Americans have asthma; the rate is believed to have doubled since 1980, but no one knows why. New York City is thought to have a higher rate than other major cities. The disease kills 5,000 people nationally each year.
Asthma is an inflammation and constriction of the airways that makes it difficult to breathe. Scientists believe that only someone with a genetic predisposition can become asthmatic, but environmental factors also contribute to development of the disease and can lead to attacks.
Some of the worst triggers are most prevalent in poor communities, including the feces of cockroaches and dust mites, cigarette smoke, mold, and mildew. Harlem also has a heavy concentration of diesel bus and truck traffic; the tiny particles in diesel exhaust are thought to be another serious asthma trigger.
The Harlem Hospital findings suggest that if such blanket testing like that used in the new study were more widespread, “the rates might be much higher than suspected in any number of inner-city neighborhoods around the country,” said Dr. Stephen Nicholas, head of the project. “We found that a lot of kids are floating through life without anyone knowing they have asthma.” (New York Times)

Scientists urge DU clean-up to protect citizens
Hundreds of tons of depleted uranium (DU) used by Britain and the US in Iraq should be removed to protect the civilian population, the Royal Society — Britain’s premier scientific institution — said last week, contradicting Pentagon claims that it was not necessary. The statement fuels the controversy over the use of DU, which is an effective tank destroyer and bunker buster but is believed by many scientists to cause cancer and other severe illnesses. The society said both soldiers and civilians were in short term danger, especially children playing at contaminated sites. DU is suspected of causing the unexplained cancers among Iraqi civilians, particularly children, since the previous Gulf War.
DU is a by-product from nuclear reactors, making it basically free. At 20 percent stronger than steel, it is a highly effective material in warfare. Despite its slight radioactive content and toxic effects, it has become a standard weapon in US and British arsenals since the Gulf War. (Guardian UK)

back to top