PANUPS: BioPirates, Contaminated Iowa Homes, Healthy Gardens and more

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Thu, 29 Jun 2006 23:58:15 GMT

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PANUPS: BioPirates, Contaminated Iowa Homes, Healthy Gardens

and more

 

 

 

To read entire articles go to:

http://www.panna.org

 

BioPirates, Contaminated Iowa Homes, Healthy Gardens and more…

 

June 29, 2006

 

Global: Biopiracy is the act of taking biological materials and ideas

from, typically, indigenous people and those living in regions of

poverty, often without compensation or even permission. Indigenous

groups are alleging that a National Geographic project is doing just

that as it works to use DNA to map humanity's genetic lineage, and

have asked the UN to stop the project. Biopiracy " loosely refers to

the failure of companies and researchers to pay indigenous groups and

poor governments for biological materials and ideas, " according to

journalist Kelly Hearn. " Biopiracy awareness is undoubtedly growing

fast, so much so that you are seeing calls for an international

framework to deal with the problem, " said Deb Harris, a Northern

Paiute activist from Nevada and PAN partner who directs the Indigenous

Peoples Council on Biocolonialism. Hope Shand of ETC Group (Action

Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration), another PAN partner,

points out the connection between biopiracy and the intellectual

property debate: " Patents are socially corrosive and the whole system

undermines conservation and use of biological diversity " . Read Hearn's

article.

 

Washington: According to the advocacy website BushGreenWatch.org the

White House and Republican members of Congress are engaged in

strategies to get rid of federal laws and regulations that protect the

public on issues of environment, public health, civil rights,

education, housing, poverty programs, workplace safety and more.

OMBwatch reports that congressional leaders in the GOP are working to

get anti-regulatory legislation passed before the elections in the

fall. One proposal creates a " sunset commission, " an unelected body

with the power to recommend whether a program lives or dies, and then

move its recommendations through Congress on a fast-track basis with

limited debate and no amendments. Among likely targets is " a national

children's health study that examines factors leading to such problems

as premature birth, autism, obesity, asthma, and exposures to

pesticides, mercury and other toxic chemicals " . OMBwatch.org is asking

concerned citizens to take action now.

 

Iowa: A study of homes located near expanding agricultural acreage

found evidence of contamination in as many as 95% of the residences

from herbicides and pesticides such as 2, 4-D and metolachlor.

Researchers clarified that 16% of all homes in the study had never

been farms, nor had people who worked on farms ever lived there, yet

those living spaces were contaminated as well. Dust was collected from

carpets of the homes from vacuum cleaners. Read the report from

Environmental Health Perspectives.

 

California: Elena Ruiz walked out of her Central Valley home last

September and found herself in a " fog of pesticides, " including

dimethoate, applied by the Patterson Flying Service. The state

Department of Pesticide Regulation upheld a county-proposed $5,000

fine after Ruiz complained of health problems from the incident. This

is the first case to invoke a 2005 state law, advocated by a coalition

including PAN, that requires any person or company that causes illness

or injury by violating pesticide regulations to pay the victim's

related medical costs. Ruiz said that she is still experiencing

symptoms including a sore throat and numbness, and that doctors

believe the exposure affected her nervous system. " My life hasn't been

the same, " she said. The Patterson Irrigator has the story.

 

Massachusetts: Many of us work hard to have a beautiful garden. It is

important for us to remember that we could be harming the environment.

Fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and fungicides typically contain

potentially dangerous chemicals and toxins, even minute amounts of

which pose health risks, especially for children, pets and wildlife.

These chemicals can also seep into the groundwater or run off into

rivers, lakes, streams and reservoirs, contaminating drinking water

sources. The town of Bolton Common has listed ways to garden with the

least amount of toxic chemicals. If you want to help your neighbors

have healthy lawns, also check out the Healthy Lawn Campaign.

 

California: A regional water board acted last week to ensure that the

state of California can identify farmers who discharge water into

Central Valley streams. " A network of voluntary coalitions were not

adequately reporting membership or pollution data, " according to The

Sacramento Bee. The action follows on testimony by residents, Delta

Keeper and PAN North America calling on the board to strengthen a

program to reduce the flow of pesticides, fertilizers, and other

chemicals from farms into the Sacramento River Delta. California is

the first state in the U.S. to begin to regulate farmers as

waste-water dischargers. Read the full article and read PAN's testimony.

 

PANUPS is a weekly email news service providing resource guides and

reporting on pesticide issues that don't always get coverage by the

mainstream media. It's produced by Pesticide Action Network North

America, a non-profit and non-governmental organization working to

advance sustainable alternatives to pesticides worldwide.

 

You can join our efforts! We gladly accept donations for our work and

all contributions are tax deductible in the United States. Visit

http://www.panna.org/donate.

 

Visit the web address below to tell your friends about this.

http://www.panna.org

 

PANUPS is a weekly email news service providing resource guides and

reporting on pesticide issues that don't always get coverage by the

mainstream media. It's produced by Pesticide Action Network North

America, a non-profit and non-governmental organization working to

advance sustainable alternatives to pesticides worldwide. We gladly

accept donations for our work and all contributions are tax deductible

in the United States.

 

Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA) 49 Powell St., Suite

500, San Francisco, CA 94102 USA Phone: (415) 981-1771 Fax: (415)

981-1991 Email: panna Web: http://www.panna.org