TOXIC CHEMICALS: Big Agriculture and big coal are big polluters, and their policies are having a big impact on our environment and health

Posted on December 27, 2009 by Buck

Big Ag is a big polluter

Industrial agriculture has the ability to supply large amounts of food on the cheap. However, cheap food comes with consequences. For starters, the process is resource and energy intensive, and it leaves behind a footprint on the environment and our health. For example, pesticides applied to fruit orchards and vegetable fields leach from the area of application into the landscape, negatively impacting ecosystems. These chemicals also remain as residue on fruits and vegetables. Consequently, in addition to getting the recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables (and depending on our choices, which are based on how cognizant we are of where our food originates) we might be ingesting herbicides and pesticides on a daily basis. Consequently, sometimes it’s better to buy organic (i.e., “because ‘organic’ can mean ‘pricey,’ it makes sense to focus on buying organic versions of produce that is most likely to harbor pesticide residues when grown conventionally“).

Toxic chemicals leach into foods via the plastic lining of metal cans

Some “canned foods, including soups, juice, tuna, and green beans” have been found to “contain measurable levels of Bisphenol A (BPA).” BPA has also been found in baby bottles and baby food, and research has linked the chemical to a multitude of health problems. However, it’s possible to avoid plastics containing BPA:

BPA is found in polycarbonate plastic food containers often marked on the bottom with the letters “PC” recycling label #7. Not all #7 labeled products are polycarbonate but this is a reasonable guideline for a category of plastics to avoid. Polycarbonate plastics are rigid and transparent and used for sippy cups, baby bottles, food storage, and water bottles. Some polycarbonate water bottles are marketed as ‘non-leaching’ for minimizing plastic taste or odor, however there is still a possibility that trace amounts of BPA will migrate from these containers, particularly if used to heat liquids.

Safer products and uses: When possible it is best to avoid #7 plastics, especially for children’s food. Plastics with the recycling labels #1, #2 and #4 on the bottom are safer choices and do not contain BPA. Find baby bottles in glass versions, or those made from the safer plastics including polyamine, polypropylene and polyethylene. Soft or cloudy-colored plastic does not contain BPA. Bottles used to pump and store expressed breast milk by the brand Medela are also labeled BPA-free.

In addition to a wide range of health problems, research suggests that BPA impacts human reproduction. From Nature.com:

A paper in the journal Human Reproduction adds weight to a long-held (by some) suspicion that the plasticising chemical bisphenol A (BPA) does bad things to the body’s hormone balance.

In this study, male workers in Chinese factories handling BPA were compared to a control group of Chinese factory workers who weren’t exposed to BPA over five years.

The results showed that the workers in the factories handling BPA had four times the risk of erectile dysfunction, and seven times more risk of ejaculation difficulty (press release).

This stark conclusion is the first direct evidence that exposure to BPA in the workplace could have bad health effects, the authors led by De-Kun Li, a reproductive and perinatal epidemiologist at Kaiser Permanente’s Division of Research in Oakland, California.

For years BPA has been associated with a range of health problems, from cancer to diabetes and heart disease.

The suspicion was that BPA was an endocrine disruptor – a substance that mucks up the way hormones in the body, including sexual reproduction hormones – are made and regulated. This study, the authors say, provides the evidence that the US regulators have been after for years. They add that the levels in this study were very high – nothing like the levels people are normally exposed to in everyday life.

The chemical is already regulated. In Canada, for example, BPA is banned in baby bottle manufacture, and in France earlier this year members of the senate sought a ban on BPA. Of course, there is also perhaps a need for caution – don’t be terrified, not all plastics used in baby products or drinks bottles contain BPA, and no links between low exposure levels and adverse health effects have been found. In the US at least, it seems that it is easy to check whether BPA is present: there should be a number 7 printed on any bottle that contains the stuff.

More information on BPA, our food, and our health can be found in these videos:

Video: Bisphenol A (BPA) Contaminating Our Food

Video: BPA risk to men

Video: Call for ban on baby bottle chemical

Big Coal emits a deadly neurotoxin that accumulates within the environment

Invisible toxins are emitted through energy production when fossil fuels such as coal are burned. For example, when coal is burned, mercury—a neurotoxin—is released “into the environment, [and] coal-burning power plants are the largest human-caused source of mercury emissions to the air in the United States, accounting for over 40 percent of all domestic human-caused mercury emissions.” Mercury is converted by natural processes into methylmercury, which accumulates in the food chain. Consequently, our food becomes contaminated with a nerotoxin, which can make people sick.

A toxic soup

There’s no doubt that chemicals and toxins from agriculture, burning fossil fuels, and other industrial processes are negatively impacting our bodies and minds and even resulting in death by triggering diseases such as cancer. “Toxic Soup,” a documentary, “connects the current spikes in childhood cancer, autism, and other serious illnesses with the business practices of Fortune 500 companies: DuPont, Bayer, Ashland Oil, and Massey Energy.” More on the documentary:

‘Toxic Soup’ is a look at the lives of everyday Americans who discover pollution in their backyards and decide to fight for the clean air, water & blood that we all deserve. And it’s David versus Goliath as this enviro documentary follows a team of investigators who explore three industries critical to the growth of US superpower. Coal gave us electricity; Oil gave us the automobile; And chemistry everything in between. But at what price

The trailer for “Toxic Soup”:

To illustrate the stealthy toxic soup we’re exposed to via industrial practices, one study tested the blood and urine of pregnant mothers, and the “study reveal[ed] that children spend their first nine months in an environment that exposes them to known toxic chemicals.” More from Consumer Affairs:

In the WTC study, researchers tested pregnant women from Washington, California, and Oregon and discovered:

• Every woman was exposed to BPA, the hormone disrupting chemical used to make polycarbonate plastic and the lining for food cans. BPA is linked to cancer, early puberty, diabetes, obesity, and reproductive problems, researchers said;

• Each woman had at least two and as many as four “Teflon chemicals,” or perfluorinated compounds, in her blood. Those chemicals are used to create stain-protection products and non-stick cookware and are linked to low birth weight, obesity, and cancer, the groups said.

• Every woman had mercury in her blood. Mercury is known to harm brain development, researchers said. The National Academy of Sciences has also reported that 60,000 children each year may suffer brain problems as a result of exposure to mercury in the womb. This exposure can affect their ability to play and learn.

• Every woman was exposed to at least four phthalates, the plasticizers and fragrance carriers found in shower curtains, shampoo, soaps and other consumer products. Phthalates are linked to reproductive problems and asthma.

The findings shocked and angered women in the study.

There are alternatives to industrial agriculture, fossil fuels, and toxic chemicals such as (1) permaculture or other (2) sustainable farming methods, (3) renewable energy and energy conservation, (4) decentralized energy production, and (5) green chemistry.

Resources:

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POLLUTION: Sparking the Pollution Blaze – Do we Really Need Fireworks?

Posted on February 24, 2009 by Buck

NOTE: This post was written by Holly McCarthy, contributor to the Conservation Report

If you think that burning a wad of $100 bills for momentary enjoyment is an act that’s reserved only for the loonies, well then, most of us are kind of crazy too, at least the ones among us who enjoy a fireworks display. Yes, I will admit that I am among those who tend to ooh and aah at the magnificent colors and amazing patterns that streak across the night sky and hold us enthralled. But then comes the sobering thought: How much are we contributing to the pollution of the earth’s atmosphere and the air we breathe by encouraging and participating in such displays?

The answer is not pleasant at all, because fireworks are among the largest polluters in terms of volume used.^[*] For example, even a single firecracker is capable of causing high level of air pollution. In fact, fireworks are an absolute menace to human health and one of the biggest enemies to a green and clean earth because:

The manufacturing process is polluting: Fireworks contain a large amount of chemicals and heavy metals, which means that the manufacturing process produces harmful effluents that tend to pollute surrounding areas and water resources.^[*] Also, most fireworks are manufactured in developing countries like India and China (for reasons of cost) where labor is cheap and anti-pollution laws are not stringent enough. Besides, there’s always the tendency to use substandard materials and harmful chemicals (some of which are banned) during the production process.

They contain harmful chemicals: The pretty colors we see showcased against the black sky are nothing but the effects of poisonous chemicals like barium, copper, cadmium, lithium, antimony, rubidium, strontium, lead and potassium nitrate. Some of them are radioactive^[*] and can cause cancer while others increase the levels of perchlorate in the air and water and yet others cause respiratory problems and other chronic illnesses. High levels of perchlorate inhibit your thyroid’s ability to absorb iodide, and this leads to hypothyroidism and thyroid cancer.^[*] Besides this, these chemicals have been proven to cause acid rain which is not good for the environment.

They contribute to noise pollution: This one’s a no-brainer—just ask anyone with a baby that needs to go to sleep how annoying and infuriating the sounds of firecrackers are, and you’re bound to get a earful. The noise is deafening and at times, when adequate safety precautions are not taken and the crackers are set off too close to human ears, there’s a high probability of damaged eardrums.

The debris litters the earth and surrounding resources: Falling debris from burned out firecrackers litter the ground and also pollute surrounding water resources. They are also liable to be swallowed by animals and fishes which then choke to death or die because they are poisoned by the chemical residue from the litter.

The smoke pollutes the air: Firecrackers emanate a lot of smoke which not only makes breathing difficult, but also adds to the existing pollution levels that are already dangerously high. The fumes are noxious and can cause and aggravate various respiratory illnesses like asthma and bronchitis.

They are dangerous: If adequate precautions are not taken, they can cause fires that destroy buildings and forests and also cause deaths and injuries.

It’s an irony that fireworks, being the heavy polluters that they are, are largely used to celebrate festivals and other occasions like Independence Day, because if we persist in encouraging this trend, the day is not far off when we’re going to be fighting a losing battle of another kind—the struggle to save our planet from global warming and pollution.

Footnotes:

^[*]“Fireworks are one of the most unusual sources of pollution in atmosphere; although transient, these pollution episodes are responsible for high concentrations of particles (especially metals and organic compounds) and gases.”

^[*]See: “U.S. government scientists say Fourth of July fireworks displays often held over lakes and other bodies of water can pollute the water with perchlorate“

^[*]For example, barium “is used to produce brilliant green colors in fireworks displays, despite being poisonous and radioactive.”

^[*]See: “Low Levels Of Perchlorate Exposure Are Safe For Pregnant Women, Study Indicates”: However, “in higher amounts, perchlorate decreases the entry of iodine into the thyroid gland, [and] it can disrupt how the thyroid functions because iodine is an essential component of thyroid hormones.”

On the Net:

Information about the Author:

This post was contributed by Holly McCarthy, who writes on the subject of organic coupons to make “living green and buying organic products easier for consumers everywhere.” She invites your feedback at hollymccarthy12 at gmail dot com

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Photo source for attribution. The author or licensor of this image does not endorse my work or me and their image is protected under an attribution license.

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