Guest guest Posted September 15, 2006 Report Share Posted September 15, 2006 > > A Weekly News Update on Pesticides, Health and Alternatives > > >Court orders EPA to investigate pesticide harm, Pesticides lead in >suicides, US obstructs treaties on toxics, and more > >September 14, 2006 > >EPA must study pesticides' impact on California red-legged frog. The >Center for Biological Diversity has won a settlement in a lawsuit it >filed against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to require >the agency to involve the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in a more >thorough evaluation of the potential of certain pesticides to harm the >California red-legged frog through drift or runoff into habitats. The >settlement requires EPA to temporarily restrict the use of 66 >pesticides that EPA's own assessments indicate have potential to >adversely affect the frogs. The suspected pesticides include atrazine, >malathion, 2,4-D, chlorpyrifos, endosulfan, naled (used by FEMA to >spray Katrina-affected areas), permethrin, and others. Brent Plater, an >attorney with the center, told Associated Press, " The California >Red-legged frog is an extraordinary sentinel of environmental health, >so when frogs remain absent from an area despite the appearance of a >functioning ecology, that may be a warning sign for our own health. " >U.S. EPA has posted the settlement agreement and provided an >opportunity for public comment, due before September 18th. PANNA's Dr. >Susan Kegley, an expert witness in the case, said, " This is a good >first step toward solving the problem, but there is more to be done. >EPA should also be monitoring air and water in endangered species >habitats to better understand how pesticides might be transported there >and in what quantities. Instead the agency relies on questionable >models that do not incorporate all aspects of airborne pesticide drift >to estimate likely exposures for the frog. Unfortunately, they also use >these same flawed assumptions in estimating human exposures, so we're >not treated so differently from the frogs. " > >Pesticides a leading method for suicide. The World Health Organization >(WHO) reports that pesticides are among the most commonly used method >used to commit suicide globally, and the leading method in several >regions. WHO's statement says, " Worldwide, an estimated three million >cases of pesticide poisoning occur every year, resulting in an excess >of 250,000 deaths... It is estimated that in the last decade between >60% and 90% of suicides in China, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and Trinidad >were due to pesticide ingestion. " Many other countries in Asia, and >Central and South America have also reported growing numbers of >suicides from pesticide ingestion. In partnership with WHO, Brian >Mishara from the International Association for Suicide Prevention >issued the Report on the International Workshop on Secure Access to >Pesticides in Conjunction with the Annual Congress of the International >Association for Suicide Prevention. Read the report. > >U.S. obstructs treaties on toxic chemicals. Kristin Schafer, PANNA's >program coordinator for Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), writes >about the current obstructionist U.S. foreign policies on toxics in the >journal Foreign Policy in Focus. Schafer addresses two key >international agreements - the Stockholm Convention and the Rotterdam >Convention - international treaties that aim to phase out the >manufacture, trade, and use of some of the most dangerous chemicals on >earth, including PAN's Dirty Dozen Pesticides. " Most European countries >are well ahead of the United States in embracing the precautionary >principle in both domestic and international policies, " reports >Schafer, who has been working with international coalitions to reduce >the toxic poisons in our environment for over a decade. > >School fundraiser links children to local farms. An innovative >fundraising and educational project is netting money for schools and >local farms in Michigan. Instead of selling candy or magazines, fourth >graders at Central Lake Elementary school in Kalkaska, Michigan are >selling local farm products such as jam, maple syrup and fresh apples >to raise money for their school. Their class curriculum includes field >trips and projects that engage children in farming and the business of >producing food. Read more about how parent Pepper Bromelmeier organized >this project that brings local farms and schools together for mutual >benefit. > > > >---- > > >--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ >You received this message because you are d to the Google Groups " doomerism " group. >To post to this group, send email to doomerism (AT) googl (DOT) com > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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