TIP TALKS
The e-Newsletter of the
Toxics Information Project (TIP)
June, 2015
*****************************************************************************************************
IN THIS ISSUE
**LIB TALKS: What Does “BPA-Free” Really Mean?
Who is EHHI, & Why Should You Know Them?
**ANOTHER “OOPS” EXAMPLE?
Dupont’s Dirty PFC & Teflon History
**GOOD NEWS: Victory - GE Ban Upheld In Oregon!
**ACTIONS & ALERTS FOR YOU: Deadline Midnight
June 22: Demand Mandatory Safety Testing Of All GMOS!
168 Chemicals A Day? Tell the Senate – Support Safer
Cosmetics!, End The Use Of Highly Toxic Pesticides On
Strawberry Fields — Forever!
** RESOURCES: Avoiding those PFCs, Beat Bug Bites
With Five Simple Steps
******************************************************
LIB TALKS
There is much going on these days, especially actions to
influence legislation & regulation. And, with summer comes
special time pressures as I try to prepare our monthly TIP TALKS.
Two particular thoughts seem worth sharing this month, along
with some of the chosen shared articles & alerts.
**WHAT’S THE SCOOP ON EWG’S BPA REPORT?
One of the best investigative resources we have is Environmental
Working Group (EWG), producer of unbiased & important reports
and guides for consumers. Their latest work has focused on BPA
a nasty and prevalent endocrine-diisrupter. They have a good BPA
report on their website, and also a petition calling for ending the use
of BPA. The problem is – as they also state – BPA is often replaced
by BPS or some other equally unhealthy substitute. And it is often
quite foggy as to what is really being used. So, here’s my position:
**The EWG report on BPA, including “who is using it and who
has BPA-Free alternatives” is well worth checking.
Just be sure to read the section at:
www.ewg.org/research/bpa-canned-food/what-does-bpa-free-mean
to understand the quandary. After that, at least you can
avoid Known BPA-laden stuff. See:
www.ewg.org/research/bpa-canned-food/what-does-bpa-free-mean
** A SPECIAL SOURCE FOR NEWS – AND SOLID HEALTH
& ENVIRONMENTAL INFO: I draw your attention to Environment
& Human Health, Inc. (EHHI), an organization in Connecticut amply
supplied with some of the best independent medical & scientific
onnections, up on the latest developments, unsullied by corporate
control. (Unless you consider some connections to Yale University
suspect). I can’t share with you more than a teeny drop of the
informational wealth they supply.. – Some of the Topics Covered:-
· Asthma, Cancer, Cell Phones, Childhood Obesity,
· Flame Retardants, Indoor Tanning, Plastics
· Lawn Care Pesticides, Pesticides in Schools,
· Synthetic Turf, The LEED Debate
Vehicle Exhaust, Wood Smoke
I urge you to bookmark and keep up with them yourselves at::
http://www.ehhi.org/
http://www.ehhi.org/news
http://www.ehhi.org/reports/
May you all have a healthy & happy Summer!
Blessings, Liberty G
*************************************************************
ANOTHER “OOPS” EXAMPLE
(Sometimes The First Step Forward Is A U-Turn!)
POISONED LEGACY: TEN YEARS LATER,
CHEMICAL SAFETY AND JUSTICE FOR
DUPONT’S TEFLON VICTIMS REMAIN ELUSIVE
DuPont’s Dirty History In 2005 the Environmental Protection
Agency fined chemical giant DuPont a record $16.5 million over
its decades-long cover-up of the health hazards of C8, also known
as PFOA. One of a family of perfluorinated chemicals, or PFCs,
PFOA was a key ingredient in making Teflon, the non-stick,
waterproof, stain-resistant “miracle of modern chemistry” used
in thousands of household products. DuPont had long known
that PFOA caused cancer, had poisoned drinking water in the
mid-Ohio River Valley and polluted the blood of people and
animals worldwide. But it never told its workers, local officials
and residents, state regulators or the EPA. Eventually, research
by federal officials, EWG and other public interest groups found
that the blood of almost all Americans was contaminated with PFCs.
And in 2006 the EPA confirmed that PFOA is a probable human
carcinogen. Ten years later, a new EWG investigation shows that
Americans are still threatened by PFCs and that the victims of
DuPont’s heinous actions are still awaiting justice.
Click here to read EWG’s full report.:
www.ewg.org/research/poisoned-legacy/executive-summary (See Resources
section for tips on avoidance of PFCs)
*************************************************************
GOOD NEWS
VICTORY - GE BAN UPHELD IN OREGON!
COURT RULES IN FAVOR OF GMO-FREE ZONE
Federal Judge Clarke dismissed a legal challenge brought by
commercial farmers who use Monsanto’s genetically modified
alfalfa seeds. The non-organic farms sought to overturn a 2014
ordinance passed by Jackson County voters that banned the use
of such seed stock, claiming that the anti-GMO ordinance
violated their right to farm. See more:
www.centerforfoodsafety.org/press-releases/3953/judge-upholds-jackson-countys-ban-on-genetically-engineered-crops
*******************************************************
ACTIONS & ALERTS
***************************************************
DEADLINE MIDNIGHT JUNE 22: DEMAND
MANDATORY SAFETY TESTING OF ALL GMOS!
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced in
March that the agency has abandoned its 2008 proposal to
update the 1990s-era regulations governing genetically
engineered crops. Instead, the USDA will craft new regulations,
from scratch. In preparation for crafting the new regulations, t
he USDA wants to hear from the public. This is a great opportunity
to tell the USDA we want stronger regulations that protect the
environment, public health and farmers—and that we want
mandatory safety testing of all GMOs now! Monsanto loves
to claim that all genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have
been thoroughly safety tested before they end up in our foods
and on our grocery store shelves. That’s a lie. The truth is, when
it comes to “safety testing” of GMOs, Monsanto has been making
the rules. And the USDA, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration,
and the U.S Environmental Protection Agency have been letting
them. It’s time to demand real safety testing of GMOs.
TAKE ACTION BEFORE MIDNIGHT JUNE 22:
Demand Mandatory Safety Testing of All GMOs!
http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/50865/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=16947
168 CHEMICALS A DAY? TELL THE SENATE –
SUPPORT SAFER COSMETICS!
Consumers use dozens of personal care products, ranging from
shampoo to lotion to makeup. On average, a woman puts 168
chemicals on her body each day. We already know some of those
chemicals are dangerous, such as endocrine disruptors that can
damage reproductive organs and pose a number of other serious
health concerns. But for many other chemicals, we simply don’t
have enough information to know if they are safe or not. That’s
because federal rules designed to ensure products are safe haven’t
been updated for more than 75 years. To bridge this gap in oversight,
Senator Susan Collins & Senator Dianne Feinstein have introduced
the Personal Care Products Safety Act in an effort to modernize the
regulatory process & make sure the products we use every day are
safe. They are counting on us to reach out to our members of
Congress and urge them to support the Personal Care Products
Safety Act. Will you take a moment to do that now?
\http://action.ewg.org/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=2154&tag=201506FeinsteinCosmetics
END THE USE OF HIGHLY TOXIC PESTICIDES
ON STRAWBERRY FIELDS — FOREVER!
A horrible incident from March reveals just how dangerous the toxic
pesticide methyl bromide can be. A Delaware family vacationing in
the Virgin Islands was seriously harmed by its use in the condo below
them. Their two teenage boys slipped into comas, and remained in
critical condition six weeks later. Though indoor abuse of the
pesticide is rare, it reveals just how deadly the poison is, which
raises even more concerns about chronic exposure to outdoor use.
Those plump, juicy California strawberries come at a price - do we
really want our children and others exposed to a chemical so toxic
it can lead to Parkinson's disease?
This toxin harms the ozone and causes health problems ranging
from birth defects to dizziness and nausea. It was supposed to
have been banned by 2005 - but the EPA allowed loopholes that
continue the use of this deadly poison. According to Truthout,
California used close to 4 million pounds of the toxin on fruits,
especially on the soil used to grow strawberries, in 2012 alone.
Even though the pesticide is legally restricted to outdoor use, that
doesn't stop it from being abused or from harming workers - or from
drifting to school yards and affecting our children. If Europe can ban
this pesticide altogether, there's no excuse for the EPA to prolong its
use in the US. Insist the EPA end all exemptions for methyl bromide use
SIGN NOW.
www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/382/453/362/?z00m=23728510&redirectID=1711082069
*************************************************
RESOURCES
* ***************************************************
PFCS IN YOUR LIFE
PFOA is no longer in used in the United States by the end of 2015, but
DuPont and other companies are using related chemicals that may not
be much safer. These next-generation PFCs are used in greaseproof
food wrappers, waterproof clothing and other products. Few have been
adequately studied for safety, and chemical companies hide critical
information about most of them as trade secrets. EWG wants to make
sure that all consumers know about these new chemicals. We have
created the resources you need to make smarter, healthier choices,
including a brand new consumer guide. Download EWG’s consumer
guide, complete with tips and tricks to keep PFCs out of your home:
http://static.ewg.org/reports/2015/poisoned_legacy/EWG_Guide_to_PFCs.pdf?_ga=1.204166804.549968364.1412022888
BEAT BUG BITES WITH FIVE SIMPLE STEPS
Summer is just around the corner, which means hiking and camping
season is officially underway. It also means it’s bug season. Warmer
temperatures and extra daylight hours add up to lots of outdoor fun
these days—along with the buzzing, swatting and smacking of pesky
insects. You know what that means: bug bites. These tiny chomps
can cause painful irritation and in some cases, carry the risk of West
Nile virus, Lyme disease or other serious illnesses. So how do you
protect yourself and your family from bug bites while avoiding toxic
chemicals? Healthy Child Healthy World has you covered: whether
you’re heading out for a hike, enjoying a picnic or sending the kids
to summer camp, we hope you use these simple steps to keep your
family safe and comfortable! Click here to see HCHW’s tips for
beating bug-bites this summer:
http://healthychild.org/beat-bug-bites-with-these-simple-steps/?inlist=Y&utm_source=201506HCHWBugBites&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=201506HCHWBugBites
*************************************************************
CONTACT US WITH YOUR THOUGHTS,
COMMENTS, QUESTIONS!
AND BY THE WAY – WE’RE SMALL, WE’RE ACTIVE,
WE DON’T BOTHER YOU WITH LOTS OF PITCHES
FOR MOOLA – BUT WE REALLY DO NEED SOME HELP!
**************************************************************
Liberty Goodwin, Director
Toxics Information Project
P.O. Box 40572,
Providence, RI 02940
Tel. 401-351-9193
Website: www.toxicsinfo.org
***********************************************