|
U.S. Government Facts:
Children’s Chemical & Pesticide Exposure via Food Products
All sources of the below data are attached. Please reference those sources for further information.The majority of this data comes from U.S. Government agencies and their respective reports.Data assembled in July 2005
• According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Academy of Sciences, standard chemicals are up to ten times more toxic to children than to adults,depending on body weight. This is due to the fact that children take in more toxic chemicals relative to body weight than adults and have developing organ systems that are more vulnerable and less able to detoxify toxic chemicals. (ii,iii)
• According to EPA’s “Guidelines for Carcinogen Risk Assessment,” children receive 50% of their lifetime cancer risks in the first two years of life. (v)
• According to the Food and Drug Administration, half of produce currently tested in grocery stores contains measurable residues of pesticides. Laboratory tests of eight industry-leader baby foods reveal the presence of 16 pesticides, including three carcinogens. (x,ix)
• In blood samples of children aged 2 to 4, concentrations of pesticide residues are six times higher in children eating conventionally farmed fruits and vegetables compared with those eating organic food. (iv)
• According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, organophosphate pesticides (OP) are now found in the blood of 95% of Americans tested. OP levels are twice as high in blood samples taken from children than in adults. Exposure to OPs is linked to hyperactivity, behavior disorders, learning disabilities, developmental delays and motor dysfunction. OPs account for half of the insecticides used in the U.S. (vi, vii, xvi)
• The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports that one of the main sources of pesticide exposure for U.S. children comes from the food they eat. (vi)
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture strictly prohibits mixing different types of pesticides for disposal, due to the well known process of the individual chemicals combining into new highly toxic chemical compounds. There are no regulations regarding pesticide mixture on a consumer product level, even though, in a similar manner, those same individual pesticide residues interact and mix together into new chemical compounds when conventional multiple ingredient products are made. 62% of food products tested contain a measurable mixture of residues of at least three different pesticides. (xi,xii,xiii,xiv,xv)
• Currently, over 400 chemicals can be regularly used in conventional farming as biocides to kill weeds and insects. For example, apples can be sprayed up to 16 times with 36 different pesticides. None of these chemicals are present in organic foods. (i)
• Over 300 synthetic food additives are allowed by the FDA in conventional foods. None of these are allowed in foods that are USDA certified organic.
Sources for: U.S. Government Facts: Children’s Chemical Exposure via Food Productsi) MAFF (1998) 'Orchards and fruit stores in Great Britain 1996', Pesticide Usage SurveyReport 142, MAFF publications, London.ii) US EPA, Office of the Administrator, Environmental Health Threats to Children, EPA 175-F-96-001, September 1996.iii) National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences, Pesticides in the Diets ofInfants and Children, National Academy Press, Washington, DC, 1993: 184-185.iv) Curl CL , RA Fenske and K Elgethun (2003) Organophosphorus pesticide exposure ofurban and suburban pre-school children with organic and conventional diets,Environmental Health Perspectives, 111 (3) p. 377 – 382.v) U.S. EPA. 2003. Draft Final Guidelines for Carcinogen Risk Assessment. EPA/630/P-03/001A Washington, DC. http://epa.gov/ncea/raf/cancer2003.htm. (accessed July9,2004)vi) Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control, National Reporton Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals, March 2003,http://www.cdc.gov/exposurereport/2nd/vii) Saulk Institute, Loss of neuropathy target esterase in mice linking organophosphateexposure to hyperactivityJournal Nature Genetics, March 2003viii) The Royal Society (2000) Endocrine disrupting chemicals, June 2000http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/ files/statfiles/document-111.pdfix) Cook, Kenneth A., et al., Pesticides in the U.S. Food Supply (February 1995),http://www.ewg.org/reports/fruit/Contents.htmlx) CFSAN FDA Office of Plant and Dairy Foods; FDA PesticideResidue MonitoringProgram 1994-2002 http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/pesrpts.htmlxi) Porter et al (1993) Groundwater pesticides: interactive effects of low concentrations ofcarbamates aldicarb and methomyl and the triazine metribuzin on thyroxine andsomatrophin levels in white rats, Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health,(40) p.15 – 34.xii) Boyd et al (1990) Behavioural and neurochemical changes associated with chronicexposure to low level concentrations of pesticide mixtures, Journal of Toxicology andEnvironmental Health, (30) p. 209 – 221.xiii) Porter et al (1999) Endochrine immune and behavioural effects of aldicarb (carbamate),atrazine (triazine) and nitrate (fertiliser) mixtures at groundwater concentrations,Toxicology and Industrial health, (15) p. 133 – 150.xiv) Thiruchelvam M et al (2000) The nigrostriatal dopaminergic system as a preferentialtarget of repeated exposures to combined paraquat and maneb: implications forParkinson’s Disease, Journal of Neuroscience, 20 (24) p. 2907 – 9214.xv) Pesticide Data Program (2000-2002), Baker et al (2000) Food Additives, Vol.19, No.5,427-446xvi) Environmental Protection Agency: America’s Children and the Environment (March 2003)www.epa.gov/envirohealth/children/
ALERT OF THE WEEK:
EPA GIVES FACTORY FARMS RIGHT TO IGNORE POLLUTION LAWS
The EPA is accepting public comments until March 27, 2008 on an outrageous proposal to eliminate clean air standards for factory farms. Federal laws currently require industry of any type to report hazardous substances they are spewing into the atmosphere, but according to the EPA, factory farms should be exempt so as to "to reduce the burden on the regulated community." It's time to tell the EPA to stop allowing factory farms to poison the air in our rural communities.
Learn more and take action: http://alerts.organicconsumers.org/trk/click?ref=zqtbkk3um_1-116x3226x3355980&
POLITICAL PLUNDER OF THE WEEK:
BUSH LEAGUE SCIENCE EXPOSED AS FRAUDULENT
More than 15,000 government scientists have endorsed a report to Congress protesting government cover-ups of scientific data. The report cites multiple examples of government manipulation of science for the sake of political gain, saying the current Administration has censored, suppressed and falsified important environmental and health research. "Although surely the worst, the Bush Administration is not the first, nor will it be the last administration to mistreat and misuse science and scientists," said Anthony Robbins, the former director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The interference has been directed at climate change research, new birth control drugs, species protection, consumer safety studies and agricultural research, the scientists said.
Learn more: http://alerts.organicconsumers.org/trk/click?ref=zqtbkk3um_1-116x3228x3355980&
HEALTH NEWS OF THE WEEK:
HEALTH IMPLICATIONS OF FLUORIDE IN YOUR DRINKING WATER
This quick Fluoride Action Network video shows us some of the major concerns of fluoride in drinking water. Check out the warning label on your toothpaste tube. It notes that the amount of fluoride in a single brushing (.25 mg) should not be swallowed, and if so, the label says you should contact a Poison Control Center. Interestingly, that's the same amount that's in an average glass of tap water. Learn more and watch: http://alerts.organicconsumers.org/trk/click?ref=zqtbkk3um_1-116x322ax3355980&
CONSUMER TIP OF THE WEEK:
CLONED MEAT NOW IN U.S. FOOD SUPPLY
Although the USDA only recently removed a voluntary market sale moratorium on foods from cloned animals, a Kansas cattleman claims these products are already in the U.S. food supply. "I have sold offspring of cloned animals into feedlots, and they are in the food chain," said Donald Coover, a cattleman and veterinarian. Coover says he has sold semen from clones to many US meat producers in the past few years, and that others have been doing the same. Despite strong public opposition, the FDA has announced that these foods do not need to be labeled as such, so consumers buying meat dairy and eggs don't know if the product came from a cloned animal. Fortunately, the USDA has clarified that foods labeled as "organic" cannot come from cloned animals.
Learn more: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_10496.cfm
SUSTAINABILITY TIP OF THE WEEK:
GROW ORGANIC FOOD IN YOUR HOME YEAR-ROUND
OCA recommends that we all buy organic, but also "buy local". Unfortunately buying local in the middle of the winter for many Americans is quite a challenge. But you'd be surprised at the diversity of foods you can grow in your own house or apartment. You can't get any more local (or fresh) than food harvested from your own windowsill. Foods that can be successfully grown indoors include salad greens, tomatoes, green onions, garlic, alfalfa sprouts and even avocado. Here are some tips and resources: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_10529.cfm
EDEN FOODS OFFERS OCA CUSTOMERS 15% DISCOUNT
Eden Foods is one of the few national organic food producers who goes beyond the USDA Organic Standards. Although Eden Foods is USDA certified, their products do not bear the USDA seal, because they say the USDA standard really represents a "minimum standard" that Eden Foods goes far beyond. As a subscriber to Organic Bytes, you can enjoy a discount rate on any Eden Foods products by clicking here
Warning! Please see the latest information regarding the use of Bisphenol A in the plastics in baby bottles, foods, bags, and containers! It is even used to line tin cans for packing foods as well as soft drinks!
It has been known to cause spontaneous miscarriages, endometriosis, breast cancer, prostate cancer, and many other diseases! It is in the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we consume, the drugs we take. If you use plastics, do NOT cook in them! The plastic turns into a toxic gas when heated and leaches into whatever it is near - food, water, or the air!
30 years ago before the onset of a LOT of our known diseases today, we were using GLASS AND PAPER to pack our products in – NOT PLASTIC! 30 years ago was when the 2 liter bottle and plastic milk jug were introduced!
Click on the links below to read the articles:
Holistic Nutrition Holistic Wellness Holistic Infertility Treatment Holistic Pregnancy Care Holistic Pet Care Holistic Children’s Wellness Holistic Workplace Holistic Entertainment Organic Food Organic Skincare Vitamins Supplements Endometriosis Treatment Holistic PMS Remedy Holistic Endometriosis Remedy Holistic Job Board Holistic Career Organic Skin Care Organic Cosmetics Organic Information Organic Event Planning
© Copyright 2007-2010 Pure4U, LLC. All rights reserved.
|
