Category: Toxins

The facts about chemicals, pesticides, and clean water.

  • Let’s Talk About The Threat of Toxins On Our Children

    HFI: Toxins and Our Kids. Tiny amounts of lead, chemical flame retardants and organophosphate pesticides such as Round Up, among other toxins, course through the blood of nearly every American. But just how much worry is a little poison worth?


    A lot, especially when considering the cumulative effects of this chemical cocktail on children.     Our children are a sicker generation than their parents. Neurological issues, Allergies, Ecezma, ADD, Cancer, Delays, Autism, SIDS…could it be that its the toxic environment we created that is causes some or all these issues?  Experts agree on one big problem: We’re not really looking at the long term impact of chemicals on our children. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, for example, has only required toxicity testing for around 200 of the more than 80,000 chemicals permitted for use in the U.S. “By allowing children to be exposed to toxins or chemicals of unknown toxicity, we are unwittingly using our children in a massive experiment.

    Lanphear focused on six brain toxins in the 2014 video: lead, mercury, organophosphate (Round Up) pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), bisphenol A (BPA) and polybrominated dipenyl ethers (PBDEs), a chemical flame retardant that his research team this year linked to IQ deficits and hyperactivity. This list of chemical brain-drainers, according to a study published in February, may be just the tip of the iceberg.

    While suggesting that the “ultimate solution” is to “revise how we regulate chemicals,” Lanphear offered a few suggestions for consumers navigating toxins: Eat fresh or frozen foods, choose fish low in mercury, avoid the use of pesticides in and around the home and check for lead in older homes.

    He also recommended writing government representatives and urging them to support regulation that reverses the burden of proof to require companies prove a chemical isn’t toxic before it enters the market. In the U.S., an overhaul of the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 remains hotly debated.

    “This emerging evidence that there is no threshold for some of the most well-established toxins strongly supports the urgent need to revise” the toxic substances act, Lanphear told HuffPost.

    And while the time is ripe for that federal move, Lanphear added that it is “exactly the wrong time to terminate the National Children’s Study.” The future of the U.S. study, long-planned to follow children from birth to adulthood, tracking factors such as exposure to toxic chemicals, now looks uncertain.

    “I firmly believe that until mothers and the public become more familiar with this science not much will happen,” said Lanphear. “The hope is that videos like this will help people understand this emerging pattern of toxicity.”

    The reaction from Woodruff’s son, Xavier Woodruff-Madeira, 16, to the video is just the kind Lanphear hopes to spark: “I didn’t know that tiny little amounts of chemicals can add up to make a big difference in kid’s attention — and affect all those kids.”

    This article originally appeared at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/20/toxins-children-brain-little-things-matter_n_6189726.html.

  • STOP Giving Your Child Tylenol!

    HFI: Tylenol. It’s in every medicine cabinet, recommended by doctors and ‘doctor grandma’. But the truth is … it’s bad. Really really bad. You should throw it out, run away from anyone who says you should use it, and never look back. It has a black box warning – one of the strongest warning given by the FDA. Its been shown to cause irreversable neurological damage in some children and can trigger serious reactions after typical childhood illnesses.

    Tylenol Makes Big Money and Can Cause Big Side Effects

    Tylenol (Acetaminophen) hit the scene in 1955 as a “prescription only” pain reliever, was making bank just a few years later, was acquired by Johnson and Johnson in 1959, and was available over the counter within a year after that. Tylenol has been a hugely successful product, making its billions off of parents who give it to their kids post-vaccine, post-nasal drip, during a cold, and for serious things like hang nail pains and 99 degree “send me over the edge” fevers.

    Tylenol Doesn’t Do What You Think it Does

    If you’re giving your child Tylenol for pain, a fever, or worse … giving it preemptively (prior to a procedure or vaccinations), you should know that it doesn’t do what you think it does. Tylenol doesn’t reduce pain, is a neurotoxic endocrine disruptor, is harmful to a developing fetus, and is even more harmful to babies and small children whose bodies’ can’t clear the drug.

    A 2008 study conducted by an epidemiologist showed that children who were given Tylenol after their MMR vaccine developed autism eight times as often as children given ibuprofen. In another study, males who were uncircumcised (and thus, were not given pain-relieving Tylenol), had a five times lower risk of autism. The studies go on and on.

    Tylenol is hazardous – They Have Known It For 40 years

    Now might not be the best time to tell you that Tylenol has a “black box warning” (the FDA’s strongest drug label warning) and contains the following ingredients:

    Carboxymethylcellulose sodium (a thickening agent), carrageenan (associated with cancer and gastrointestinal disease), citric acid, flavor, glycerin, hydroxyethyl cellulose, microcrystalline cellulose, propylene glycol (a common ingredient in antifreeze that could be neurotoxic), propylparaben (a hazardous substance and endocrine disruptor), purified water, sodium benzoate, sorbitol solution, sucralose, and of course – acetaminophen.

    Don’t be fooled, the FDA is completely aware of the dangers associated acetaminophen. They promised to implement safety measures and dosage restrictions, warnings, and safety measures to protect consumers from the harms of Tylenol way back when, but never followed through.

     It’s been 40 years and they haven’t done a thing. Tylenol makes way too much money and you know about the FDA’s impressive ability to write-off children damaged by billion dollar industries.

    It’s not the 90s anymore and we can’t pretend that Tylenol is safe. We have to protect our children when those who are supposed to put the safeguards in place, don’t. That’s why we should probably stop giving our kids Tylenol.

    Portions of this article originally appeared at: http://www.livingwhole.org/why-you-should-stop-giving-your-kids-tylenol/.

  • Nampa ID City Parks Reduce Usage of Health Damaging Roundup

    HFI: VERY important news…

    “Napa is phasing out the herbicide, known by its brand name Roundup, and is substituting other substances, plus increased mulching to attack weeds in public recreational areas, according to Dave Perazzo, the city’s director of parks, trees and facilities.”
    See Full Article At the Nampa Registar http://napavalleyregister.com/news/local/napa-edges-away-from-glyphosate-weed-killer-in-city-parks/article_096c09bd-140e-5a3d-a325-d97cab4e88e2.html

    Why This Is Important

    Used in yards, farms and parks throughout the world, Roundup has long been a top-selling weed killer. But now researchers have found that one of Roundup’s inert ingredients can kill human cells, particularly embryonic, placental and umbilical cord cells.

    The new findings intensify a debate about so-called “inerts” — the solvents, preservatives, surfactants and other substances that manufacturers add to pesticides. Nearly 4,000 inert ingredients are approved for use by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

    Glyphosate, Roundup’s active ingredient, is the most widely used herbicide in the United States.  About 100 million pounds are applied to U.S. farms and lawns every year, according to the EPA.

    Until now, most health studies have focused on the safety of glyphosate, rather than the mixture of ingredients found in Roundup. But in the new study, scientists found that Roundup’s inert ingredients amplified the toxic effect on human cells—even at concentrations much more diluted than those used on farms and lawns.

    One specific inert ingredient, polyethoxylated tallowamine, or POEA, was more deadly to human embryonic, placental and umbilical cord cells than the herbicide itself – a finding the researchers call “astonishing.”

    “This clearly confirms that the [inert ingredients] in Roundup formulations are not inert,” wrote the study authors from France’s University of Caen. “Moreover, the proprietary mixtures available on the market could cause cell damage and even death [at the] residual levels” found on Roundup-treated crops, such as soybeans, alfalfa and corn, or lawns and gardens.

    The research team suspects that Roundup might cause pregnancy problems by interfering with hormone production, possibly leading to abnormal fetal development, low birth weights or miscarriages.

    “The authorizations for using these Roundup herbicides must now clearly be revised since their toxic effects depend on, and are multiplied by, other compounds used in the mixtures,” Seralini’s team wrote.

    Controversy about the safety of the weed killer recently erupted in Argentina, one of the world’s largest exporters of soy.

    Last month, an environmental group petitioned Argentina’s Supreme Court, seeking a temporary ban on glyphosate use after an Argentine scientist and local activists reported a high incidence of birth defects and cancers in people living near crop-spraying areas. Scientists there also linked genetic malformations in amphibians to glysophate. In addition, last year in Sweden, a scientific team found that exposure is a risk factor for people developing non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

    Inert ingredients are often less scrutinized than active pest-killing ingredients. Since specific herbicide formulations are protected as trade secrets, manufacturers aren’t required to publicly disclose them. Although Monsanto is the largest manufacturer of glyphosate-based herbicides, several other manufacturers sell similar herbicides with different inert ingredients.

    The term “inert ingredient” is often misleading, according to Caroline Cox, research director of the Center for Environmental Health, an Oakland-based environmental organization. Federal law classifies all pesticide ingredients that don’t harm pests as “inert,” she said. Inert compounds, therefore, aren’t necessarily biologically or toxicologically harmless – they simply don’t kill insects or weeds.

    Kemery said the EPA takes into account the inert ingredients and how the product is used, whenever a pesticide is approved for use. The aim, he said, is to ensure that “if the product is used according to labeled directions, both people’s health and the environment will not be harmed.” One label requirement for Roundup is that it should not be used in or near freshwater to protect amphibians and other wildlife.

    But some inert ingredients have been found to potentially affect human health. Many amplify the effects of active ingredients by helping them penetrate clothing, protective equipment and cell membranes, or by increasing their toxicity. For example, a Croatian team recently found that an herbicide formulation containing atrazine caused DNA damage, which can lead to cancer, while atrazine alone did not.

    Read the complete article: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/weed-whacking-herbicide-p/.
  • Idaho boy sprayed by cyanide planted by US Department of Agriculture, dog killed

    Idaho boy sprayed by cyanide planted by US Department of Agriculture, dog killed

    HFI: BOMBS in IDAHO? By Whose Authorization? WHY NO NOTIFICATION? “300 yards from this swingset next to my house there were 2 cyanide bombs. It kills anything. It almost killed my child and it did kill my dog,” Mark said. “I don’t want it to kill my neighbors.”

    POCATELLO, ID –


    The family of a teenage boy sprayed by a cyanide explosive that killed their dog is outraged they weren’t told the device was planted near their home, reports East Idaho News.

    Canyon Mansfield, 14, went on a walk Thursday afternoon with his family’s 3-year-old yellow Labrador, Casey, on a hill behind their Pocatello home on Buck Skin Road.

    “I see this little pipe that looked like a sprinkler sticking out of the ground,” Canyon told EastIdahoNews.com. “I go over and touch it. Then it makes a pop sound and it spews orange gas everywhere.”

    The orange gas was cyanide, and it sprayed into Canyon’s left eye and on his clothing.

    The teen grabbed some snow and washed his eye out but then realized Casey was having problems.

    “I look over and see him having a seizure,” Canyon said, holding back tears. “I ran over and he had these glassy eyes. He couldn’t see me, and he had this red stuff coming out of his mouth.”

    Canyon ran down the hill and inside the house to his mother.

    “He said, ‘Mom, Mom, there’s something wrong with Casey,’” Theresa Mansfield recalled. “We ran back outside and up the hill and by the time we got there, Casey had died.”

    Theresa called the police and then contacted her husband, Mark, who is a medical doctor.

    “I hurried home, and the first thing I did was try to resuscitate the dog,” Mark Mansfield said. “Unfortunately I exposed myself to cyanide and had no idea.”

    It took hours after emergency crews arrived and help from multiple agencies to learn Casey had died from exposure to an M-44.

    M-44s are spring-activated devices that release cyanide when they are activated through upward pressure or pulling. The US Department of Agriculture uses the devices to control coyotes and other predators.

    “We didn’t know anything about it. No neighborhood notifications and our local authorities didn’t know anything about them,” Mark said. “The sheriff deputies who went up there didn’t even know what a cyanide bomb was.”

    The Mansfields have lived in their home nearly 10 years and have never seen M-44s in their neighborhood. They say the one triggered Thursday was planted on the borderline of their property.

    “We weren’t aware, and nobody told us,” Theresa said. “There was nothing posted up on the hill saying to beware or be careful.”

    Canyon was rushed to Portneuf Medical Center for treatment and his family said they and Bannock County sheriff deputies who responded to their home had blood drawn to make sure they were OK.

    On Friday, US Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services told EastIdahoNews.com this is the first unintentional discharge of an M-44 in Idaho since 2014.

    “Wildlife Services understands the close bonds between people and their pets and sincerely regrets such losses,” R. Andre Bell, a spokesman for the US Department of Agriculture, said in a statement. “Wildlife Services has removed M-44s in that immediate area … and is completing a thorough review of the circumstances of this incident … to determine whether improvements can be made to reduce the likelihood of similar occurrences happening in the future.”

    The clothes Canyon was wearing when the explosive went off now sit in a sealed plastic bag since the Mansfields are unsure what to do with them.

    “We couldn’t even have a proper burial for Casey because we didn’t know how to deal with cyanide,” Theresa said. “No one knows how to deal with cyanide.”

    The Mansfields said, as of Friday, nobody from the US Department of Agriculture has contacted them to apologize for what happened. They wonder if other explosives may be hidden in the hills surrounding their home.

    “If you plant bombs by our house, just tell us,” Canyon said. “By the grace of God I’m still alive.”

    His parents say they hope no other family has to endure what they’ve been through.

    “300 yards from this swingset next to my house there were 2 cyanide bombs. It kills anything. It almost killed my child and it did kill my dog,” Mark said. “I don’t want it to kill my neighbors.”

    Theresa added, “Canyon is lucky to be alive. Thank God. Thank God that he is OK.”

    This article originally appeared at: http://fox59.com/2017/03/18/idaho-boy-sprayed-by-cyanide-planted-by-us-department-of-agriculture-dog-killed/.
  • The Most Toxic Chemical Ever Used Now Found In Our Natural Suppliments?

    The Most Toxic Chemical Ever Used Now Found In Our Natural Suppliments?

    HFI: Glyphosate. Its that chemical found in roundup, that is sprayed on our fields, on our foods and eaten by the animals we eat. The cycle of contamination continues as it ends up in the gelatin that is used in capsules packaging supplements and medicines. 

    From the Healthy traditions website:

    Glyphosate is in 80% of our food supply in the U.S., and may well be the most toxic chemical ever approved for commercial use, according to some scientists. Scientists now link glyphosate to kidney disease, antibiotic resistant bacteria, inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, depression, ADHD, autism, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, ALS, multiple sclerosis, cancer, cachexia, infertility, and developmental malformations. It reportedly destroys the microbiome of humans and plants, which is seen by some as the root cause of many modern diseases.

    To learn more about the dangers of glyphosate, see:

    Glyphosate Herbicide Causes Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria, Kidney Disease, and Infertility

    Is Glyphosate Responsible for your Health Problems?

    Common Weedkiller Used in Modern Agriculture Could be Main Factor in Gluten Intolerance

    MIT Researcher: Glyphosate Herbicide will Cause Half of All Children to Have Autism by 2025

    From the Green Pastures.Org Blog:

    Once you think of glyphosate insinuating itself into collagen, it’s an easy step to imagine that glyphosate would be a major contaminant in gelatin, a very common food additive and the main constituent of gelatin-based deserts. Gelatin is routinely added to marshmallows, pudding, gummy bears, yogurts, margarine, frosting, cream cheese, sour cream, non-dairy creamers and fat-reduced foods.

    There are hundreds if not thousands of proteins that strongly depend on glycine at certain spots in their chain in order to adequately perform their job.

    Gelatin is typically derived from the bones, joints and skin of pigs and cows. These animals are fed high doses of glyphosate in their GMO Roundup Ready corn and soy feed. The glyphosate that makes its way into their joints ends up in your gelatin dessert.

    Gelatin is also the main constituent of gel caps, which have become a standard way of packaging both pharmaceutical drugs and nutritional supplements such as fish oil. I would predict that any nutritional supplement housed in a gel capsule is going to cause you much more harm than good, because whatever benefit the contents provides is more than offset by the damaging effects of the glyphosate.

    Please read the rest of the article to read about the full impact of glyphosate.

  • How sugar affects the brain

    How sugar affects the brain

    When you eat something loaded with sugar, your taste buds, your gut and your brain all take notice. This activation of your reward system is not unlike how bodies process addictive substances such as alcohol or nicotine — an overload of sugar spikes dopamine levels and leaves you craving more.
    Nicole Avena explains what sugar does to your body.
    Lesson by Nicole Avena, animation by STK Films.

    This article originally appeared at: https://youtu.be/lEXBxijQREo.

    Help teens figure out alternate sweeteners. What do you use to satisfy a sweet tooth.

  • EPA to Ban Dangerous Pesticide Chlorpyrifos

    EPA to Ban Dangerous Pesticide Chlorpyrifos

    OCTOBER 30, 2015

    Washington, D.C. — 

    Some 15 years after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) banned chlorpyrifos from residential use, the agency proposed today to ban the neurotoxic pesticide from use in agricultural fields as well.

    The announcement came after a recent court of appeals decisions gave EPA a deadline to take meaningful action on a 2007 legal petition to ban the chemical.

    “This is what we have been seeking for years. EPA’s and other independent findings show that chlorpyrifos causes brain damage to children and poisons workers and bystanders,” said Patti Goldman, the Earthjustice attorney handling the case. “At long last, the agency is signaling its intention to protect children, workers and their families by banning this hazardous pesticide. It is imperative that EPA move quickly to protect workers and children by finalizing this important rule.”

    Calling EPA’s delay in regulating chlorpyrifos “egregious,” the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals recently ordered EPA to respond to the 2007 petition by October 30. The original lawsuit spurring the court deadline was filed by Earthjustice on behalf of Pesticide Action Network (PAN) and Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

    “Given the incredibly strong science on the health harms of this pesticide, it’s absurd that EPA has taken so long to act,” said Dr. Margaret Reeves, Senior Scientist at PAN. “A ban will finally ensure that children, workers and families in rural communities are safe from this drift-prone, bad actor pesticide.”

    In December 2014, EPA acknowledged the extensive body of peer-reviewed science correlating chlorpyrifos exposure with brain damage to children, including reduced IQ, delayed development, and loss of working memory.

    And it found drinking water contamination, particularly harmful to infants, and serious risks to workers from handling chlorpyrifos or entering the fields after spraying.

    Ordered by a court to take regulatory action based on its scientific reviews, EPA is now proposing to revoke all chlorpyrifos tolerances.

    This would end all uses of chlorpyrifos that result in residues on food, contamination of drinking water, or drift to schools, homes, and other places people are located.

    http://earthjustice.org/news/press/2015/epa-to-ban-dangerous-pesticide-chlorpyrifos

  • TOXIC Neonicotinoids EPA Approved Bee Killer

    TOXIC Neonicotinoids EPA Approved Bee Killer

    HFI: Important!! Neonicotinoids Do not, I repeat, do not buy plants treated with Neonicotinoids. Bees take the pollen back to the hive and feed it to the brood.  This is the number one cause of colony collapse! They are banned in Europe! Avoid these toxins and Save the bees! Neonicotinoids are also known to kill our earthworms. 
    Save our food supply. Purchase local seeds and plants from local farmers and nurseries. Better yet save your own and grow at home!

    Toxic ‘witches brew’ of pesticides and fungicides is killing Up To Half Of America’s Bees

    This headline appeared in the Popular Science Magazine in March of 2013. Now four years later, BEES have been added to the endangered species list in the United States.Bees don’t just make honey, remember, but pollinate a ton of what we eat–as much as a fourth of it. That could lead to less food and higher food prices.

    In 2013 Quartz published these frightening facts:
     

    …The mysterious mass die-off of honey bees that pollinate $30 billion worth of crops in the US has so decimated America’s apis mellifera population that one bad winter could leave fields fallow. Now, a new study has pinpointed some of the probable causes of bee deaths and the rather scary results show that averting beemageddon will be much more difficult than previously thought.

    Scientists had struggled to find the trigger for so-called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) that has wiped out an estimated 10 million beehives, worth $2 billion, over the past six years. Suspects have included pesticides, disease-bearing parasites and poor nutrition. But in a first-of-its-kind study published today in the journal PLOS ONE, scientists at the University of Maryland and the US Department of Agriculture have identified a witch’s brew of pesticides and fungicides contaminating pollen that bees collect to feed their hives. The findings break new ground on why large numbers of bees are dying though they do not identify the specific cause of CCD, where an entire beehive dies at once.

    When researchers collected pollen from hives on the east coast pollinating cranberry, watermelon and other crops and fed it to healthy bees, those bees showed a significant decline in their ability to resist infection by a parasite called Nosema ceranae. The parasite has been implicated in Colony Collapse Disorder though scientists took pains to point out that their findings do not directly link the pesticides to CCD. The pollen was contaminated on average with nine different pesticides and fungicides though scientists discovered 21 agricultural chemicals in one sample. Scientists identified eight ag chemicals associated with increased risk of infection by the parasite.

    Most disturbing, bees that ate pollen contaminated with fungicides were three times as likely to be infected by the parasite. Widely used, fungicides had been thought to be harmless for bees as they’re designed to kill fungus, not insects, on crops like apples.

    BEES ADDED TO US ENDANGERED SPECIES LIST FOR THE FIRST TIME

    Toxins affect EVERYTHING! Bees & Earthworms

    Neonicotinoids : From Beecharmers.org

    Below is a summary of the chemical and brand names of the commonly used neonicotinoids. These are toxic to our honey bees. We are asking growers who are using these materials and who are dependent on honey bees for pollination, not to use these products currently until more research is done .
    Actara, Platinum, Helix, Cruiser, Adage, Meridian, Centric, Flagship, Poncho, Titan, Clutch, Belay, Arena, Confidor, Merit, Admire, Ledgend, Pravado, Encore, Goucho, Premise, Assail, Intruder, Adjust and Calypso (This list was generated by The Senior Extension Associate at Penn State)
    Never use a neonicotinoid pesticide on a blooming crop or on blooming weeds if honey bees are present.

    • The use of a neonicotinoid pesticide pre-bloom, just before bees are brought onto a crop is not recommended. If one of these materials MUST be used pre-bloom (for example at pink in apples), select a material that has a lower toxicity to bees (acetamiprid or thiacloprid) and apply only when bees are not foraging, preferably late evening.
    • Do not apply these materials post bloom (example petal fall) until after the bees have been
    removed from the crop. For the full report clicke here.

    Preserving the Bees: 

    •  *In the United States, a group of beekeepers from North Dakota is taking Bayer to court after losing thousands of honeybee colonies in 1995, during a period when oilseed rape in the area was treated with imidacloprid. A third of honeybees were killed by what has since been dubbed colony collapse disorder.
    • *The Dutch government has banned Imidaclprid completely in open-air situations. The product evidently also leaves a residue in the soil that completely destroys the Earthworm population that is so important to soil conservation. It also gets into weeds and other crops grown in the same ground. French beekeepers maintain they have lost thousands of colonies to this pesticide and a sister organo-phosphate called Fibronil produced by Aventis and are calling on the French government to remove both products from the market.
    • *PARIS – “Gaucho”, a broad-spectrum insecticide made by the Germany-based chemical giant Bayer, was banned in France in 1999 due to its toxicity to bees and other forms of life — including humans — but its replacement, “Regent”, from another German giant, BASF, is just as dangerous say beekeepers and biologists.

  • The 2017 Dirty Dozen: Strawberries, Spinach Top EWG’s List of Pesticides in Produce

    The 2017 Dirty Dozen: Strawberries, Spinach Top EWG’s List of Pesticides in Produce

    Julie: My canary child can tell you if the strawberries are contaminated. Even if the label says ORGANIC – doesn’t mean it isn’t sprayed prior to planting. Driscolls causes almost instant reaction for his little body. We have to get to know our farmer before letting my littlest try the strawberries. 

    EWG’s analysis of tests by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that nearly 70 percent of samples of 48 types of conventional produce were contaminated with residues of one or more pesticides. USDA researchers found a total of 178 different pesticides and pesticide breakdown products on the thousands of produce samples they analyzed. The pesticide residues remained on fruits and vegetables even after they were washed and, in some cases, peeled.

    “If you don’t want to feed your family food contaminated with pesticides, the EWG Shopper’s Guide helps you make smart choices, whether you’re buying conventional or organic produce,” said Sonya Lunder, an EWG senior analyst. “Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables is essential no matter how they’re grown, but for the items with the heaviest pesticide loads, we urge shoppers to buy organic. If you can’t buy organic, the Shopper’s Guide will steer you to conventionally grown produce that is the lowest in pesticides.”

    Landrigan, Dean of Global Health and Director of the Children’s Environmental Health Center at Mt. Sinai, was the principal author of a landmark 1993 National Academy of Sciences study, Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children. The study led to enactment of the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act that set safety standards for pesticides on foods.

    For the Dirty Dozen list, EWG singled out produce with the highest loads of pesticide residues. In addition to strawberries and spinach, this year’s list includes nectarines, apples, peaches, celery, grapes, pears, cherries, tomatoes, sweet bell peppers and potatoes.

    Key findings:

    • Nearly all samples of strawberries, spinach, peaches, nectarines, cherries and apples tested positive for residue of at least one pesticide.
    • The most contaminated sample of strawberries had 20 different pesticides.
    • Spinach samples had an average of twice as much pesticide residue by weight than any other crop. Three-fourths of spinach samples had residues of a neurotoxic pesticide banned in Europe for use on food crops – it’s part of a class of pesticides that recent studies link to behavioral disorders in young children.

    “From the surge in sales of organic food year after year, it’s clear that that consumers would rather eat fruits and vegetables grown without synthetic pesticides,” said Lunder. “But sometimes an all-organic diet is not an option, so they can use the Shopper’s Guide to choose a mix of conventional and organic produce.”

    This article originally appeared at: http://www.ewg.org/release/2017-dirty-dozen-strawberries-spinach-top-ewgs-list-pesticides-produce.
  • The Real Cost of Breast Implants

    The Real Cost of Breast Implants

    Dr. Ed Melmed & Dawn Strohm

    For more information please visit
    http://www.knowthecause.com/index.php…

    This article originally appeared at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeRoZzfA3jg.