[discuss-dan] Don't Wait for the EPA

["getmelissa@uswest.net" <getmelissa@uswest.net>]

From: "Mark Graffis" <ab758@virgin.vip.vi>

   
   Environment [25]ENS -- Environment News Service 
   
   Healing Our World: Weekly Comment
   
   By Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D.
   
   
   We have forgotten who we are
   we have alienated ourselves from the unfolding of the cosmos
   we have become estranged from the movements of the Earth
   we have turned out backs on the cycles of life.
   -- Author unknown
   
   It takes only a few years for a deadly pesticide to infiltrate the
   ecosystem, causing harm to our bodies and our world. In some cases,
it
   takes only a single exposure to one of these deadly chemicals to
insure
   that a birth defect will occur. However, it seems to take about 50
   years for politicians to gather enough evidence in the form of deaths
   of children and horrible defects to take action.
   
   mask
   
Modern chemical and biological protective mask (Photo courtesy[26] U.S.
Department of Defense)

   Pressure from greedy chemical companies and a decision making process
   that puts unfair weight on the concerns of the industry rather than
on
   individual safety has virtually paralyzed the Environmental
Protection
   Agency and most other pesticide regulators.
   
   I'm fed up with the lies and inaction. Even when the EPA takes
action,
   as it did with Dursban earlier this year and with Diazinon earlier
   this month, the agreements always allow production of the poisons to
   continue and allows stores to sell existing stocks.
   
   In the case of Diazinon, the EPA said it is phasing out this most
   widely used lawn and garden pesticide because of unacceptable risks
to
   people, especially children.
   
   But then, in the same breath, this agency that seems to put the
   welfare of industry above that of people, said that the manufacture
of
   retail products can continue until June 30, 2003!
   
   Even more unbelievable is the fact that they said stores could
   continue to sell existing stocks. No move is under way to attempt to
   collect unused products from consumers. This chemical has been sold
in
   the U.S. for 48 years and most of the 14.7 million pounds sold
   annually winds up in lakes, rivers, streams and, eventually, into
   animal and human tissues.
   
   girl
   
Children are at greatest risk because they consume a greater amount of
pesticides per unit of body weight than adults. (Photo courtesy [27]U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) )

   In King County, Washington, the Local Hazardous Waste Management
   Program has found Diazinon in every stream in the Seattle area
tested,
   in amounts above what is considered safe for aquatic life.
   
   Diazinon is part of a deadly family of pesticides that came from
   chemicals developed as nerve gases during World War II. Please take
   that in for a moment. Chemicals that were specifically designed to
   kill all life forms quickly during wartime were approved by our
   government for use on our lawns, in our homes, and around our
   children.
   
   Richard Wiles of the Environmental Working Group, a Washington, DC
   based lobbying organization, is quoted in the "Seattle Times" as
   saying that chemicals like diazinon "come in like nuclear weapons. If
   you're a toddler on the lawn, you're getting the gas, your getting it
   dermally and you're sticking your hand in your mouth."
   
   This family of organophosphate pesticides - nerve gases - were first
   synthesized in Germany before and during World War II. Tabun, Sarin,
   and Soman were made by Gerhard Schrader. In the 1930s and 40s.
   
   pesticide
   
Methyl bromide pesticide (Photo courtesy USDA))

   Sarin, still available today, is lethal to an adult human if he or
she
   gets only 1700 mg on their skin. It doesn't even have to be taken
   internally to kill. Sarin gained worldwide attention when on March
20,
   1995, the Aum Shinrikyo, a terrorist group in Japan, placed Sarin on
   five subway trains traveling toward Kasumigaseki station. This subway
   stop is a common one for those working in Tokyo government offices.
   Twelve commuters died and over 5,000 were injured.
   
   More than 100,000 human made chemicals have been introduced into the
   environment in the past 50 years. More than 1,000 new chemicals are
   developed each year. Wherever you live, there are probably more than
   250 synthetic industrial chemicals in your body that were not present
   in the bodies of your grandparents when they were your age.
   
   Earlier this year, the Environmental Working Group released a report
   estimating that every day, 1.1 million children eat food that, even
   after it is washed, contains an unsafe dose of 13 organophosphate
   pesticides. Of those children, 106,600 exceed the EPA's own safe
daily
   dosage level for adults by 10 times or more. The foods found to most
   likely contain unsafe pesticide levels are peaches, apples,
   nectarines, popcorn and pears. Among baby foods, pears, peaches and
   apple juice had the highest levels.
   
   Remember - many of these pesticides on vegetables are not water
   soluble and cannot be washed off simply with water.
   
   children
   
Invisible pesticides become part of the most ordinary looking meals.
(Photo courtesy USDA)

   With the experience of the last 50 to 75 years, we know that these
   pesticides cause birth defects in many species, including humans.
They
   cause mutations, and harm the nervous system. Symptoms such as
   headache, intestinal cramps, excessive secretions and spasms are
often
   confused by doctors with those of heat stroke, heat exhaustion, low
   blood sugar, gastroenteritis, and severe respiratory infections.
   
   Environmentally, these poisons become deeply embedded in our planet's
   life support systems and are particularly toxic to birds, aquatic
life
   and, of course, insects.
   
   Yes, the EPA is now conducting a review of the organophosphates
   because of a 1996 law and it is considering whether to change the
   acceptable residue levels in food. The new law requires that instead
   of examining the impact of individual chemicals as has been done in
   the past, the EPA must consider the cumulative impact of the entire
   family of poisons.
   
   In the meantime, while the officials are studying and assessing the
   impact on industry, children whose only mistake was playing on their
   lawn or eating a meal are at risk and many are dying.
   
   ladybugs
   
Ladybugs perform natural aphid control services (Photo courtesy USDA)

   Please go to your garages and closets at once and immediately remove
   ALL the pesticides you have in ANY form, regardless what the label
   says. Use rubber gloves to handle the containers, even if they
haven't
   been opened. Do not throw them in the trash or pour them down the
   train. Tie them tightly in a plastic bag and take them to a hazardous
   waste facility in your area. You can find out where by calling your
   city's garbage collection agency.
   
   There are many safe materials you can buy or make to control insects.
   Or maybe you can do some research and find ways to live with the
   insects and the natural world instead of trying so desperately to
   separate from them.
   
   For your garden, there are flowers you can plant to repel many
   insects. You can release ladybugs in your yard that will eat aphids.
   If you have a nest of wasps under your house that is putting your
   family at risk, you can set up a wet/dry shop vacuum, filled with
   water, and leave it on all night.
   
   Whatever you choose, do not take any chemical label at face value and
   do not wait for the EPA, or any agency, to tell you what is safe. Our
   lives really do depend on doing what we know in our hearts to be
right
   - not what the label says is safe.
   
   RESOURCES
   
   1. See a list of toxic poisons and how much it takes to kill at:
   [28]http://chemistry.about.com/science/chemistry/library/blpoison.htm
   
   2. Read a report on chemical and biological terrorism at:
   [29]http://www.csis-scrs.gc.ca/eng/miscdocs/tabintre.html
   
   3. See some startling facts about home pesticide use at:
   [30]http://www.inharmony.com/facts.htm
   
   4. See a news report about young children at risk from pesticide
   residue on food at
   [31]http://more.abcnews.go.com/sections/living/pesticide0129/
   
   5. Visit the Greenpeace Toxics Site for a worldwide perspective at:
   [32]http://www.greenpeace.org/~toxics/
   
   6. Find out who your Congressional representatives are and e-mail
   them. Tell them that the time is now to start mandating building
   materials recycling. If you know your Zip code, you can find them at
   [33]http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/ziptoit.html or you can search
   by state at
   [34]http://www.webslingerz.com/jhoffman/congress-email.html. You can
   also find your representatives at
   [35]http://congress.nw.dc.us/innovate/index.html.
   
   [Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D. is a writer and teacher in Seattle. He
   can be found walking with his wife, their unborn child, and with his
   dog, keeping them all off lawns when they walks around the
   neighborhood. Please send your thoughts, comments, and visions to him
   at [36]jackie@healingourworld.com and visit his web site at
   [37]http://www.healingourworld.com]
   

  47. http://ens.lycos.com/

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