Monday, April 18, 2011
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Salud! Quote of the week
There is a cause for every effect. When God's physical laws are broken, sickness and disease result. But if you diligently keep them, you will be healthy, happy and "brimming with life". David C Pack
Organic Bytes: Monsanto Madness, GMO Breast Milk, Nuclear Meltdown
Alert OF THE WEEK
Researchers at the China Agricultural University say they have forcefully inserted genetically modified human genes into cows to produce a breast-milk-like substance.
The research was funded by the Beijing GenProtein Biotechnology Company which hopes to soon sell its genetically modified dairy products in supermarkets.
Like cows injected with genetically engineered bovine growth hormone before them, these new "humanized" dairy cows are likely to suffer poor health while producing milk that is nutritionally inferior and more likely to trigger an allergy or increase cancer risks in the children or adults who drink it.
Cloned and genetically modified animals also suffer greater health problems, increased mortality and a high number of still births.
Food produced from these animals is dangerous for humans because the insertion of foreign genes into DNA strands remains an inexact science. These foreign genes hit the DNA strands in random spots, changing the way they are expressed (turned on and turned off) and creating proteins never before ingested by human beings. These novel proteins could prove dangerous for large segments of the human population who find they are allergic to them.
How to Identify GMOs Sold in Whole Foods Market
The video does not answer this question. I think this is still new for many people. If more people are informed and concerned about this, then we will see more information about GMOs on the products labels.
http://www.youtube.com/user/organicconsumer#p/a/f/1/xvU2yH4IpBo
http://www.youtube.com/user/organicconsumer#p/a/f/1/xvU2yH4IpBo
Activists with the Organic Consumers Association's Millions Against Monsanto campaign went to Whole Foods Market in San Francisco to try to identify which foods are genetically engineered, but couldn't get any help from store employees...
Monday, April 11, 2011
Food day OCTOBER 24, 2011
http://www.foodday.org/
Food Day is committed to:
- 1Reduce diet-related disease by promoting healthy foods
- 2Support sustainable farms & stop subsidizing agribusiness
- 3Expand access to food and alleviate hunger
- 4Protect the environment & animals by reforming factory farms
- 5Promote health by curbing junk-food marketing to kids
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Utilities Knew Of Chrome-6 Contamination For Years
For Immediate Release, April 3, 2011
Contact EWG Public Affairs: 202.667.6982. alex@ewg.org
Yet the tap water industry was worried enough about the contaminant to conduct its own extensive survey in 2004 that found clear evidence of widespread chromium-6 pollution in untreated source water. The survey, conducted by the Awwa Research Foundation (since renamed the Water Research Foundation), an offshoot of the American Water Works Association, obtained data on 341 source water samples from 189 utilities in 41 states. The conclusion: chromium-6 is common in American groundwater.
Tap water industry representatives made no mention of their study when they testified alongside EWG at a Feb. 2 Senate environment committee hearing on chromium-6 pollution. There is no indication that customers of the189 participating utilities were advised of the chemical’s presence in source waters in their communities.
Chromium-6, also known as “hexavalent chromium,” is often called the “Erin Brockovich” chemical, after the crusading legal assistant who helped residents of tiny Hinkley, Calif, win a $333 million settlement from Pacific Gas & Electric Co, accused of dumping the chemical in local ground water. Actress Julia Roberts won an Oscar for her portrayal of Erin Brockovich in the 2000 film of the same name.
The 2004 industry study, which EWG obtained from a source and cited in its December 2010 report, Cancer-causing Chromium-6 Pollution in U.S. Tapwater, demonstrates that chromium-6 pollution was not confined to California.
“The tap water industry’s 2004 study is unmistakable proof that it has known about extensive chromium-6 contamination for at least seven years,” said Jane Houlihan, EWG senior vice president for research. “Water utilities should tell their customers any time they know that a suspected carcinogen has polluted local waters. People have a right to know what they and their families may be drinking.”
“I’d like to say I’m surprised at the utilities’ silence, but I’m not,” Brockovich said. “Instead of treating their customers like adults and sharing the test results with them, they shelved the findings, letting folks continue to drink water for years that could contain chromium-6.”
Pollution levels in untreated and treated water are not directly comparable. Even so, the two studies, read together, paint a picture of coast-to-coast chromium-6 pollution.
The industry research group provides its report Occurrence Survey of Boron and Hexavalent Chromium to water utilities and their consultants, who pay four or five-figure subscription fees and a document fee of about $300. (The report can now be bought online for $200 or more.)
# # #
EWG is a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, DC that uses the power of information to protect human health and the environment. http://www.ewg.org/
Contact EWG Public Affairs: 202.667.6982. alex@ewg.org
2004 Tests Found ‘Brockovich’ Chemical Nationwide
Washington, — Some water utility representatives have protested Environmental Working Group’s report of laboratory tests that found worrisome levels of chromium-6, a suspected carcinogen, in the drinking water of 31 cities across the country. Yet the tap water industry was worried enough about the contaminant to conduct its own extensive survey in 2004 that found clear evidence of widespread chromium-6 pollution in untreated source water. The survey, conducted by the Awwa Research Foundation (since renamed the Water Research Foundation), an offshoot of the American Water Works Association, obtained data on 341 source water samples from 189 utilities in 41 states. The conclusion: chromium-6 is common in American groundwater.
Tap water industry representatives made no mention of their study when they testified alongside EWG at a Feb. 2 Senate environment committee hearing on chromium-6 pollution. There is no indication that customers of the189 participating utilities were advised of the chemical’s presence in source waters in their communities.
Chromium-6, also known as “hexavalent chromium,” is often called the “Erin Brockovich” chemical, after the crusading legal assistant who helped residents of tiny Hinkley, Calif, win a $333 million settlement from Pacific Gas & Electric Co, accused of dumping the chemical in local ground water. Actress Julia Roberts won an Oscar for her portrayal of Erin Brockovich in the 2000 film of the same name.
The 2004 industry study, which EWG obtained from a source and cited in its December 2010 report, Cancer-causing Chromium-6 Pollution in U.S. Tapwater, demonstrates that chromium-6 pollution was not confined to California.
“The tap water industry’s 2004 study is unmistakable proof that it has known about extensive chromium-6 contamination for at least seven years,” said Jane Houlihan, EWG senior vice president for research. “Water utilities should tell their customers any time they know that a suspected carcinogen has polluted local waters. People have a right to know what they and their families may be drinking.”
“I’d like to say I’m surprised at the utilities’ silence, but I’m not,” Brockovich said. “Instead of treating their customers like adults and sharing the test results with them, they shelved the findings, letting folks continue to drink water for years that could contain chromium-6.”
Pollution levels in untreated and treated water are not directly comparable. Even so, the two studies, read together, paint a picture of coast-to-coast chromium-6 pollution.
The industry research group provides its report Occurrence Survey of Boron and Hexavalent Chromium to water utilities and their consultants, who pay four or five-figure subscription fees and a document fee of about $300. (The report can now be bought online for $200 or more.)
# # #
EWG is a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, DC that uses the power of information to protect human health and the environment. http://www.ewg.org/
BPA in Food Packaging Study
BPA in Food Packaging Study
What happens when you try to get BPA out of your diet? The Breast Cancer Fund and Silent Spring Institute enlisted five families to participate in a study of BPA and phthalate exposure from food packaging to find out. Our results were published in Environmental Health Perspectives (March 2011).
For three days, we provided fresh food—not canned or packaged in plastic—to each family. They avoided canned foods and drinks and meals prepared outside the home.The effect was significant. While the families were eating our food, their BPA levels dropped an average of 60 percent.
Our takeaway: you can reduce your BPA exposure by cooking fresh foods at home, avoiding canned foods, choosing glass and stainless steel food and beverage containers, and not microwaving in plastic.
http://www.breastcancerfund.org/clear-science/innovative-research/food-packaging-study/
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