Raising Happy Healthy Children…Naturally!
The Organic Consumers Association has a call for comments on two dockets the USDA is considering regarding the approval of human genes in rice in Missouri. BUT I just read that the USDA has already given preliminary approval for the planting of rice with human genes in Kansas. Here is a link to more info;
And the Missouri information which also provides info on how to send your comments is following.
I pondered over this entries title and almost put, “Like being Screwed Over? Shop at Walmart!”. There are apparently Organic store tags being posted on items that are not organic. We don’t shop there anyhow for a number of reasons (have I posted them here?) but still, many have to and it kills me that they might not catch the very misleading signs.
Now this you won’t believe!
Chemical agency ties under review. A firm with industry connections is removed from overseeing a federal evaluation on the safety of bisphenol A.
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences has begun a review of ties between a federal health center that evaluates the risks of chemicals to reproductive health and a consulting firm funded by companies that produce chemicals linked to reproductive disorders.
The investigation follows a Times report on Sunday that Sciences International, an Alexandria, Va., firm funded by more than 50 industrial companies, helps manage the federal Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction.
Among the firms with financial ties to Sciences International are two that produce bisphenol A, a chemical in polycarbonate plastic bottles that has been linked in animal testing to prostate and breast cancer and reduced fertility.
Since 1998, Sciences International has helped manage the federal reproductive health center and prepared draft reports analyzing bisphenol A and 16 other chemicals. The company has a $5-million contract with the center.
The center’s scientific advisory panel was scheduled to decide today whether bisphenol A endangers reproductive health in humans.
But on Tuesday, director Michael Shelby announced that the panel, after two days of reviewing the 372-page report that Sciences International prepared on bisphenol A, known as BPA, still had too many unresolved questions and was postponing its decision for six weeks.
Continue reading ‘More on Bisphenol A and NOW A Conflict of Interest’
Every once in a while, a new site comes along that really wows me. This site may not be very new at all but I just stumbled upon it and am so glad I did. It is wonderfully simplistic and yet chock full of REAL information. Check it out;
http://eartheasy.com/homepage.htm           Ideas for environmentally sustainable living
Oooh…I just stumbled upon this really super cool marine non profit org/site. It looks fairly new but there’s a decent amount of information on the site and even experiments for kids of all ages.
http://www.see-the-sea.org
See The Sea, Charitable Foundation was founded in 1998 and is a non-profit (501(c)3 tax exempt) marine education and environmental awareness organization. Our mission is to actively take part in and help to promote the reversal of human-caused environmental damage and to help revive and preserve our ocean ecosystem.
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In what I would call a remarkable decision, the EPA has REJECTED, yes rejected the use of a KNOWN carcinogen in the treatment of wood for home use. That is decks, playground equipment, picnic tables, etc. I don’t know if I’ll ever cease to be amazed at this sort of thing but I am stupified that the industry actually hired lobbying firms to try to push the EPA to pass this KNOWN CARCINOGEN for residential use. Just stupified. Anyhow, the EPA finally did something right. Here’s the story; Â
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/08/AR2007010801618.html
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These Profiteers are guilty of commiting atrocities (war crimes, torture, toxic dumping and stifling freedom of speech) against mankind in the name of Greed.Here’s the LowDown on these Prophets of Profit.
Corporations carry out some of the most horrific human rights abuses of modern times, but it is increasingly difficult to hold them to account. Economic globalization and the rise of transnational corporate power have created a favorable climate for corporate human rights abusers, which are governed principally by the codes of supply and demand and show genuine loyalty only to their stockholders.
Several of the companies below are being sued under the Alien Tort Claims Act, a law that allows citizens of any nationality to sue in US federal courts for violations of international rights or treaties. When corporations act like criminals, we have the right and the power to stop them, holding leaders and multinational corporations alike to the accords they have signed. Around the world-<>in Venezuela, Argentina, India, and right here in the United States-citizens are stepping up to create democracy and hold corporations accountable to international law.
Continue reading ‘The 14 Most Evil Corporations (according to Global Exchange)’
To add to the Toxic Toy issue that you may have read about here, it appears now that Bisphenol A is added to Coca cola cans to prolong shelf life. As you might remember, Bisphenol A is used in baby bottles (hard plastic) and has been shown to leach into the milk in the bottles. Canada is leading the way to turn the current ridiculous “prove it’s unsafe” method to “prove its safe” when it comes to chemicals. I’d imagine that this means that all cans produced by Coco cola have this chemical in it, US and Canada but that’s a guess. Read on;
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=e70c8659-3ee7-4bf2-9e11-c32b7a6195ff
From: San Francisco Chronicle (pg. A1), Nov. 19, 2006
TOXIC
San Francisco prepares to ban certain chemicals in products for tots,
but enforcement will be tough — and toymakers question necessity
By Jane Kay, Chronicle Environment Writer
Widely used chemicals with suspected links to cancer and developmental
problems in humans are present in common baby products like the yellow
rubber ducky, bath books and clear plastic bottles, a Chronicle
analysis confirmed.
The toxic chemicals, which are used to harden or soften plastics, can
leach out each time a baby sucks on a favorite doll or gnaws on a cool
teething ring, scientists say.
Starting Dec. 1, a first-in-the-nation ban goes into effect in San
Francisco, prohibiting the sale, distribution and manufacture of baby
products containing any level of bisphenol A and certain levels of
phthalates.
The law, modeled on a European Union ban that started this year,
reflects emerging concerns by environmental health scientists over the
buildup of industrial chemicals in humans, particularly young
children. Especially under scrutiny are chemicals that mimic estrogen,
possibly disrupting the hormonal system and altering the normal
workings of genes.
Yet the trouble is that no one knows for sure how many baby products
contain the chemicals. Stores, many of which are still unaware of the
pending ban, will be unable to decide what to take off the shelves
because manufacturers aren’t required to disclose what chemicals go
into a product. For that reason, The Chronicle set out to test several
common baby toys and found that most of them — even ones labeled
“safe, non-toxic” — contained the chemicals.
Haha…found on another blog this little toy is too fun to not play with;
Here’s where you can get your own sign.
Sign the petition while you are at it. We don’t need hummers in happy meals to improve life on our planet.