TIP TALKS
The e-Newsletter of the
Toxics Information Project (TIP)
November, 2014
*****************************************************************************************************
IN THIS ISSUE
**LIB TALKS: Tardy-ite Apology, Meeting on
GMO Labeling, Healthy Holiday Hints
**GOOD NEWS: Legal Assault on Biotech,
Signs of Organic Sense in Food Consumers
**ACTIONS & ALERTS: End Run Coming Fast
to Strip Your Right to Know! Act Now!
**RESOURCES: EWG Food Scores, Free Testing
for Fire Retardant Chemicals in Your Furniture
** SCHOOL SAFETY: Flu Season Tips,
Warnings About Artificial Turf
NOTE: If any links fail to work, just copy and
paste into your browser.
**********************************************************
LIB TALKS
**Embarrassing – things have been so hectic that our November
TIP TALKS is appearing on - December 2! Hopefully, all you
wonderful busy people understand! J Some of the tasks that
have distracted us are:
**GMO ACTION: Arranging a meeting with RI State Senator
Donna Nesselbush & Senate policy people to discuss details
of a GMO labeling bill for introduction next session. Rhode
Island friends can join us on Thursday, Dec. 11, at 10:15 a.m.
Contact me if interested, or to be kept in the loop.
**2014 HOLIDAY HINTS: We have a new flyer continuing
our tradition of offering tips on healthy & meaningful gifts,
food, partying. See and download this and all the other
great holiday booklets at: http://toxicsinfo.org/thoughts.htm
NOTE: Another holiday hint – though we are pretty quiet
about it, TIP needs some holiday cheer – especially due
to changes in some of our previous support. Consider
helping us out – info at the bottom of this newsletter.
*************************************************************************
GOOD NEWS
** BREAKING NEWS: $1 BILLION LAWSUIT
FILED AGAINST BIOTECH GIANT
US corn farmers have launched a $1 billion lawsuit against Syngenta,
claiming that the biotech giant has caused massive damage to
the demand for US corn on the international market. Syngenta's
genetically engineered corn is banned in many nations that now
refuse to import any US corn because of contamination.
Get The Whole Story Here:
http://foodrevolution.org/blog/us-farmers-launch-billion-dollar-suit-syngenta/
**THE WORLD WANTS ORGANIC FOOD!
by Robyn O’Brien, cross posted from Prevention.com
Demand for organic is growing like crazy in the U.S.
with 45 % of shoppers actively looking to purchase it.
It’s happening across age groups (provided you are under the age of 65)
and across income levels. A recent poll said that 42% of people with
incomes of less than $30,000 are actively seeking organic food.
Read the rest of the story at
http://organicconnectmag.com/world-wants-organic-food/
*************************************************************************
ACTIONS
STOP THE END-RUN ON YOUR RIGHT TO KNOW!
(An Important Alert From Consumer Reports)
https://secure.consumersunion.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2897
Now that more states are passing laws to label genetically engineered
food, the giant chemical & food processing industries are pulling out
the stops to block your right to know. On Dec. 10 a House committee
is holding a hearing on a bill that would block states from labeling
GMOs. And lobbyists are pushing hard for a vote early next year
under the new Congress. Even more shocking, this bill would allow
genetically engineered ingredients in ‘natural’ foods, and specifically
prevent the Food and Drug Administration from requiring labeling.
Show your members of Congress you won't stand for this end-run
on your right to know. Tell them to oppose this bad bill, and support
the common-sense bill in Congress that will give you the right to know
if your food is genetically engineered.
https://secure.consumersunion.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2897
STOP GIVING ANIMALS THIS DRUG BANNED IN MUCH OF THE WORLD!
Smithfield, one of the biggest meat companies in the world, is giving
animals a drug that’s not used in 160 countries because it risks public
health and animal welfare while unnaturally accelerating weight gain
in animals raised for meat. However Smithfield still uses ractopamine
in the United States! The U.K., China, Russia, Taiwan, and the
European Union ban or limit the use of ractopamine, a drug that
promotes growth in pigs, cattle, and turkeys. Ractopamine is linked
with serious health and behavioral problems in animals, and human
studies are limited but evoke concerns, according to the Center for
Food Safety. Please sign to tell Smithfield you want this drug out of
its supply chain!
www.change.org/p/tell-smithfield-to-stop-giving-animals-this-drug-banned-in-much-of-the-world?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=184331&alert_id=hfIvJAcqKr_PTqK0nRG75%2BzNsFc1Z24NNvRAaFfTPh0qKyFwuIKMzJLgSkZrGqQq5Uaq7Qi9I%2Fx
*************************************************************************
RESOURCES
** EWG FOOD SCORES: RATE YOUR PLATE
(From Environmental Working Group/EWG)
More than three years in the making, EWG’s Food Scores:
Rate Your Plate, the most comprehensive food database available
today, is ready to help guide you to healthier, greener and cleaner
food choices. This easy-to-use online food database and mobile
app is designed to revolutionize the way we shop and eat. With
information on more than 80,000 foods and 5,000 ingredients
from 1,500 brands, EWG’s unique scoring system rates foods
based on nutrition, food additives, contaminants and degree of
processing. Click here right now to start using EWG’s Food
Scores: Rate Your Plate & see how your favorite foods score!
www.ewg.org/foodscores?inlist=y&utm_source=201410FSRelease&utm_medium=email&utm_content=firstlink&utm_campaign=201410FSRelease
**DOES YOUR COUCH CONTAIN FLAME RETARDANTS?
GET IT TESTED FOR FREE
Mail to: Gretchen Kroeger, Box 90328 - LSRC
Duke University, Durham, NC 27708
12-26-14 Americans Have More Toxic Flame Retardants
in Their Bodies Than Previously Thought...
Free Test Can Determine if You’re Sitting on Toxic Furniture.
While odorless, flame retardants like polybrominated diphenyl ethers,
or PBDEs, are far from innocuous. They were recently identified as
one of 17 "high priority" chemical groups that should be avoided to
reduce your breast cancer risk,1 for instance.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/11/26/couch-flame-retardant-testing.aspx?e_cid=20141126Z1_DNL_art_1&utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20141126Z1&et_cid=DM60994&et_rid=742319573
*************************************************************************
SCHOOL SAFETY
SOME LINKS TO INFO ON ARTIFICIAL TURF CONCERNS
**Artificial Turf: Exposures To Ground Up Rubber Tires - Athletic
Fields, Playgrounds, Garden Mulch (From Environment & Human
Health/EHHI, CT.) http://ehhi.org/reports/turf/health_effects.shtml
**Soccer Coach: Could Artificial Turf Be Causing Cancer?
www.komonews.com/news/local/Soccer-coach-Could-field-turf-be-causing-cancer-259895701.html
**Synthetic Turf Chemicals © RAMP 2007, Rochester, NY
Synthetic turf is increasingly used on playing fields and in parks.
It is made in layers of synthetic materials including green plastic
blades attached to a backing, small particles called "fill" that secure
the blades, & underlying systems for drainage and stability.
The fill, often referred to as “crumb rubber”, is of interest because
it is usually made from recycled tires containing chemicals that
can cause cancer, birth defects and other health problems under
some exposure conditions.
www.albany.edu/ihe/Synthetic_Turf_Chemicals.php/ihe/index.php
TIPS FOR FLU SEASON:
**Clean Up Your School & Tell Congress to Support EPA's
Voluntary Schools Programs. Posted: 11/10/2014
Every one has heard how to prevent colds and the flu: Wash your
hands and cover coughs & sneezes! But here's another tip that's
not heard often: Clean up your school. You might reduce the flu by
87 percent or asthma by 39 percent. Here's why and what you can do.
See examples of environmental changes made in some schools at:
www.huffingtonpost.com/claire-l-barnett/tips-for-flu-season-clean_b_6122152.html
**************************************************************
Liberty Goodwin, Director
Toxics Information Project
P.O. Box 40572,
Providence, RI 02940
Tel. 401-351-9193
Website: www.toxicsinfo.org
***********************************************