TIP TALKS

 

The e-Newsletter of the

Toxics Information Project (TIP)

 

May, 2014

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  IN THIS ISSUE
**LIB TALKS:  New Option for Sharing TIPs, Ongoing
TIP Food Concerns Work With Surveys & Farmers,
Comment on Today’s TT Choices.
**ACTIONS & ALERTS: Stop New 2-4 D Frankenseeds,
Why “Smart” Meters Are Dumb, Kelloggs Pushed Into
Changing Kashi Labels
** “CUTTING COSTS”: 2 Weird Ways to Save on Water,
Heat, & Personal Care Expense. Share Your Own CC TIPS.
**RESOURCES:  Great Updated EWG Sunscreen Guide
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                                      LIBERTY TALKS
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NEW:  CONTACT US PAGE UP & RUNNING: Send us your
comments, questions, suggestions.  Let us know if you want
these to be shared, or not. http://toxicsinfo.org/questions.htm
We especially hope for Cutting Costs While Cutting Chems tips.
Some will be used in future TIP TALKS and on the Thoughts
on How to Live Less Toxic page of our website:
http://toxicsinfo.org/thoughts.htm  

FOOD CONCERNS WORK:  I’m getting this out in a rush today
because of the midnight deadline on an important action, and
have been very busy with food concerns activity here in Rhode
Island.  We are focusing in the coming months on work with
farmers, and getting legislators to take our GMO survey:
http://toxicsinfo.org/surveys.htm If you wish to be kept in
the loop about this, or connected to similar work in another
neck of the woods, let me know.  And, wherever you live,
utilize the legislators survey as a research & education
tool with your state reps & senators:

TODAY’S TT CONTENT COMMENTS: As always, it is tough to
choose what to include in this newsletter – trying to keep it brief,
but include important info.  My main concern is practicality – does
this provide means of empowerment for change or assistance
to consumers in a confusing world?
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                          ACTIONS & ALERTS
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DEADLINE MIDNIGHT MAY 30: TELL THE EPA:
USE YOUR POWER TO STOP A NEW ONSLAUGHT
OF 2,4-D ‘AGENT ORANGE’ TOXINS! - See more at:
http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/50865/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=14080#sthash.t4N2vcVD.dpuf

Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) signaled
it will approve Dow’s new Enlist-brand corn & soy crops, genetically
engineered to resist massive doses of 2,4-D.  You remember 2,4-D.
It’s one of the ingredients in Agent Orange, the Vietnam-era herbicide
responsible for severe illnesses in hundreds of thousands of people
directly exposed to it, & also in their offspring and future
generations.

The USDA admits to concerns that if the new crops are approved,
the annual use of 2,4-D would jump from 26 million pounds to
176 million pounds. (Independent scientists predict the increase
would be even more dramatic.)  But hey, it’s not their problem.

According to the agency, it’s responsible only for approving the
genetically engineered seeds, not the new formulation of 2,4-D
herbicide that will be used on the crops. So the USDA is passing
the buck to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
which it says is responsible for approving the new formulation
of 2,4-D herbicide that will be used on Dow’s Agent Orange crops.

Deadline Midnight Tonight: Tell the EPA, Don’t Approve More
Cancer-Causing Agent Orange Herbicide!
http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/50865/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=14080#sthash.t4N2vcVD.dpuf
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          NINE REASONS WHY TODAY’S “SMART”
              METER SYSTEMS ARE A MISTAKE
May 4, 2014  by Richard H. Conrad, PhD Biochemist
www.takebackyourpower.net/news/2014/05/04/nine-reasons-why-smart-utility-meters-are-a-big-mistake

INTRODUCTION Smart electric meters and smart grid systems track
and record details of customers’ energy usage, and transmit the
information to utilities wirelessly at microwave frequencies.
Authorities are attempting to make smart meters mandatory.
They are usually installed without permission and sometimes
against the wishes of homeowners.  Smart meters fill homes with
pulsed microwave radiation 24/7 without consent, and infringe
on the privacy, security, safety and health of residents.

For the above reasons there is world-wide opposition to smart
meters. Fifty-seven jurisdictions in the US are opposed to mandatory
smart meters. Fifteen jurisdictions in California have made smart
meter installations illegal. More than half of the States in the US
have wireless smart meter opposition groups. The opposition
is growing & is persistent.

The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) in a
letter to the California Public Utilities Commission (January 2012)
called for an immediate moratorium on smart meter installation
and in October 2013 restated their call for a moratorium based
on new scientific evidence that “clearly demonstrates adverse
health effects in the human population from smart meter emissions.”
Many experts concur (see References and Notes section).

Safe wired (vs. wireless) alternatives that enhance sustainability
and do not infringe on personal rights are technologically feasible
right now (see Alternatives at end of References and Notes section)
but in most cases are not being offered.  There is an enormous
amount of propaganda being disseminated by the smart meter
manufacturers & others that paints a picture far from the truth.

Smart meters cause more problems than they solve.  Here is the reality:
1) NO REAL COST JUSTIFICATION
2) INVASION OF PRIVACY RIGHTS
3) SUSCEPTIBILITY TO HACKING AND CYBER-TERRORISM
4) ADVERSE BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF MICROWAVE RADIATION
5) POSSIBLE HUMAN CARCINOGEN
6) FCC AND INDUSTRY SPIN
7) MENTAL AND PHYSICAL DEBILITATION
8) OPT-OUTS NOT SUFFICIENT
9) SAFETY AND BENEFITS PROPAGANDA
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                          GOOD NEWS
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KELLOGG AGREES TO ALTER LABELING ON KASHI LINE
http://healthfreedoms.org/2014/05/09/kellogg-agrees-to-alter-labeling-on-kashi-line
  The Kellogg Company, maker of some of the country’s
most familiar breakfast cereals, said on Thursday that it had agreed
to drop the terms “all natural” and “nothing artificial” from some
products in its Kashi line as part of a settlement agreement ending
a class-action lawsuit.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit, filed in 2011 in California, said the company
used those terms on Kashi products that contained ingredients like
pyridoxine hydrochloride, calcium pantothenate and soy oil processed
using hexane, a component of gasoline.  Such ingredients occur
naturally — wheat germ and flaxseed are sources of pyridoxine
hydrochloride, for example — but food companies, as well as makers
of vitamins, often use synthetic versions to control costs and ensure
consistent supplies.

Kashi, once a darling of shoppers favoring organic and natural foods,
has hit turbulence in recent years.  Some consumers attacked it on
social media in 2012 after learning that Kellogg was a big contributor
to an effort that helped defeat Proposition 37, a California ballot
initiative that would have required the labeling of products containing
genetically engineered ingredients.
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                              CUTTING COSTS
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      SHOCKING WAY TO SAVE ON HOT WATER COSTS
(And Water Polluting Chlorine)  Take less showers!  Yes, you
heard me right - even with summer coming in. The simple truth
is that, unless you are out in the broiling sun for hours, or it is
90 degrees in the shade, most people don't sweat that much.  So,
unless you are yukky from the heat, it is not really necessary to
shower every single day.  You could save a lot of money and water
by showering every other day - unless you are especially dirty or
sweaty from working in the garden or serious sun/heat exposure.

SHOCKING WAY TO SAVE ON PERSONAL CARE EXPENSE: Totally
far out – you may not need that deodorant every single day either. 
Even in warm weather, if you are inside with air conditioning most
of the time, and are not a person who sweats much, applying the
gook on a regular basis may be unnecessary.  Just use for hot,
sweaty times and you will save coin and chems.

TELL US YOUR OWN CLEVER WAYS OF CUTTING COSTS
WHILE CUTTING CHEMS.  How do you save money on your
personal care, cleaning, food and other purchasing, while
getting good, less toxic products?  Just go to our newly
re-activated  "Contact Us" page and tell us what you do/suggest.
http://toxicsinfo.org/questions.htm Let us know if your comments
may be shared.  (And, yes, I know some of you will argue with
the shocking suggestions above, but hopefully non-sweaters
will see the potential in them)
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                              RESOURCES:
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                EWG’S 2014 SUNSCREEN GUIDE
            (From Environmental Working Group)
                  www.ewg.org/2014sunscreen/ 
While we’ve seen positive changes in the market, such as more
zinc- and titanium-based mineral sunscreens, two-thirds of the
sunscreens analyzed by EWG researchers either offer inadequate
protection from the sun or contain toxic ingredients such as
oxybenzone & octinoxate. It’s a scary reality that the vast majority
of sunscreens stocked on American shelves aren't as good as
most of us think they are. Some highlights from this year's report: 
(For more details, click on the link above)

1. No spray sunscreens!  Super-convenient, sure, but they may
pose serious risks if inhaled and they make it too easy to apply
too little or miss a spot.

2. Super-high SPFs (SPF 50 or higher) are not your friend. SPF
– sun protection factor – refers only to protection against UVB
radiation & has little to do with protecting you from UVA rays –
the ones that accelerate skin aging & have been linked to skin cancer.

3. Oxybenzone can mimic estrogen.  That’s right, estrogen. A number
of sunscreens contain the chemical oxybenzone, which penetrates
skin, gets into the bloodstream and may act like estrogen in the body!
It can also trigger allergic reactions.

4. Retinyl palmitate may harm your skin.  On sun-exposed skin, the
retinyl palmitate found in some sunscreens has been shown to speed
development of skin tumors and lesions.

5. Skip sunscreen/bug repellent combos. Studies suggest that
in some cases chemicals that filter harmful ultraviolet rays can
interact with insect repelling chemicals in ways that decrease
sunburn protection. Also, if you apply these products every
two hours (as you should for proper sun protection!), you may
be overexposed to the repellent chemicals.

6. Keep away from sunscreen powders and towelettes.Even the
FDA’s weak sunscreen rules bar these products! Their level of
protection is quite dubious.

7. Seriously – no tanning oils!  Tanning oils are just a bad idea.
They barely – if at all – protect you from the sun.

 

 

**************************************************************     
Liberty Goodwin, Director
Toxics Information Project   
P.O. Box 40572,
Providence, RI 02940
Tel. 401-351-9193
Website: www.toxicsinfo.org
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