Contaminated

[undergroundpanther]

EVERYTHING is CONTAMINATED..

The debate over who is responsible for the toxic residues of industry began over 100 years ago. Historical episodes that began as isolated industrial hazards in New Jersey have evolved into community issues of environmental contamination. The dangers of lead and mercury in the workplace were described by Ezra Hunt in 1886 in his report to the New Jersey legislature.
http://www.vincenter.org/96/weeden.html


According to a current report: "U.S. production of organic chemicals grew from 4.75 million tonnes <5.3 million tons> in 1967 to 7.9 million tonnes <8.48 million tons> in 1977- an increase of 67 per cent."10 Only a handful of the more popularly known toxins have been thoroughly tested for their carcinogenic, tetragenic (producing deformities of the fetus) or mutagenic properties (producing physical mutations that travel down the generations).

Laboratories in the U.S. whose actual faking of tests called into question approximately 500 compounds that had been approved based on their work. Several of those company executives were sent to federal prison but the system that produced them was not changed nor were the chemicals in question pulled off the market.Most toxins that have been approved for use by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have not been tested for their cancer causing or birth defect causing properties. Years ago the U.S. congress ordered the agency to begin testing already approved compounds for these additional dangers but by 1990, only six of those chemicals had been thoroughly tested.
http://www.rainbowbody.net/Finalempire/FEchap8.htm




“The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that air pollution in cities across the globe is causing more than 2 million premature deaths every year” This morning the average person woke up on a mattress which is soaked in flame retardant chemicals as mandated by law to prevent fires. Many pajamas are treated as well. Moving towards the shower many more chemicals are encountered including Bisphenol A and phthalates from plastic bottles, shampoos, soap, and perfume. The toxins mount as clothes are donned which have been washed in laundry soap and fabric softeners containing fragrances made from chemicals such as formaldehyde, chloroform, limonene, and benzyl alcohol.

In the kitchen breakfast is served up complete with Bisphenol A from the plastic juice bottle, perfluorooctanoic acid from the non-stick Teflon frying pan, benzene from the inks in morning reading materials, pesticides from the fresh bananas on the cereal which is fortified with synthetic vitamins made in a laboratory rather than grown in nature, and formaldehyde slowly off gassing from the glue in the pressed wood of the kitchen cabinets. Off to work in the car which is also treated with flame retardants and off gasses many chemicals from its plastics. Add this to the diesel exhaust and auto fumes on the highway and it’s a double whammy.

And the day has just begun. Our lives are filled with more toxins than we are aware of. We are under constant toxic assault taxing our liver and other organs as our bodies try to handle the toxic load. By the end of the day we feel tired and develop a headache, not because we worked hard or long hours, but because our bodies are burdened by too many poisons.
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=24238

BALTIMORE - Health officials closed a park after tests showed arsenic levels more than 100 times higher than is considered safe. The park, which had often been used by youth sporting events, is next to an industrial site where arsenic was used to manufacture pesticides until 1976.The Health Department locked the gates of Swann Park, which is south of Federal Hill, and distributed fliers warning neighbors about arsenic, a cancer-causing agent.
http://www.eco-usa.net/toxics/arsenic.shtml

The knowledge that nuclear radiation was harmful and really affected the biological basis for life was known from the very beginning back in 1943. In fact as I relayed in Deadly Deceit in 1943 (you'll find this in the wonderful book, The Making of the Atom Bomb, by Richard Rhodes) Fermi came to Oppenheimer and said, `Look I'm generating all this strontium-90 in my powered reactor at the University of Chicago.' He said, `Why do we need a bomb--we can just dump this over the German land mass. We'll kill as many people as we want.' Then Oppenheimer takes this to Teller who tells him, `Yes that's true, we know that from animal studies. But we can't be sure that they'll die quick enough, soon enough.'So it means that back even then in '43, they knew that the atom bomb was a biological weapon.
http://www.ratical.org/radiation/inetSeries/overview.html

State of the Earth & concerned scientists
http://www.ecopsych.com/zombie5.html

Don't forget the FDA approved Genetically altered rice for the food supply already Melamine pork and GM rice yum..
http://www.newstarget.com/021203.html

More places Feeling the toxins
http://www.sci.sdsu.edu/salton/NewRToxicPathtoUSA.html
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-17612913.html
http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/39723/
http://www.zmag.org/nov00cohen.htm


From 1967 until 1974, a company acting on behalf of the Ford Motor Company slung paint and other toxic wastes into an abandoned iron ore mine, located in the Ramapough Mountains - which some geologists say is the oldest rock formation on the planet.
http://www.minesandcommunities.org/Action/press895.htm

Despite widespread recognition that all landfills leak and thus contaminate the local environment, it is still common in the U.S. to bury industrial poisons in the ground.
http://www.ejnet.org/rachel/rhwn180.htm

Plastics
http://www.mindfully.org/Pesticide/Chlorine-Pandoras-Poison.htm

Did you know...there is an ..
International TRADE in toxic wastes

Eager to avoid negative publicity as well as to circumvent laws against the dumping of toxic wastes, many companies disguise their deadly exports with benign labels. Greenpeace estimates that 86% to 90% of all hazardous waste shipments destined for developing countries are purported to be materials for recycling, reuse, recovery, or humanitarian uses. These creative schemes have included selling waste materials as a source of fuel, shipping contaminated soil to be used as fill dirt for road construction, billing plastic wastes as raw materials for the construction industry, passing off aluminum waste as feed for livestock, and tagging waste from a metals processing plant as micro nutrients for soil enhancement (i.e. fertilizer).
http://egj.lib.uidaho.edu/egj02/lewis01.html

Boggles the mind.
http://www.ban.org/ban_news/index.html

Medical waste
http://www.nhlink.net/enviro/scp/medical.html

Body burdens,well all have them..
http://www.pollutioninpeople.org/learn
http://www.ourstolenfuture.org/
http://www.headlice.org/news/2004/bodyburden.htm

Thinking of the contaminated rice from China that is killing our pets and in OUR food supply..what is IN that rice? Besides melamide?

Genetically Engineered Rice that Contaminated the Food Supply is Deregulated by the USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) decided on November 24, 2006 to deregulate genetically engineered (GE) rice, known as LL601, after it contaminated the food supply.<1> The rice, a herbicide-tolerant crop<2> manufactured by Bayer Crop Science, was authorized for field-tests between 1998-2001.<3> Field release permits are designed to confine the regulated article to the specific test site. However, the contamination the LL601 rice into the commercial rice supply is yet another example of the failure of our system to adequately regulate genetically engineered crops.
August 18, 2006 the USDA announced that the LL601 rice, which was unapproved for human consumption, illegally contaminated rice grown for food use.<4> This announcement came more than 6 months after the contamination was first discovered by Riceland Foods, Inc a farmer-owned rice cooperative, and reported to Bayer.<5> Before informing the USDA or the public, Bayer proceeded to conduct its own tests to confirm the contamination.<6> Finally on July 31, 2006 Bayer disclosed the contamination to the USDA.<7> The same day that the USDA announced the contamination, Bayer filed a request for the deregulation of LL601.<8>(what a coinkidink ya think?) In the United States, biotechnology is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) according to the Coordinated Framework established in 1986
http://www.vjel.org/editorials/ED10057.html

The company that created the experimental variety of genetically engineered rice found this summer to have contaminated the U.S. rice supply contends that rice farmers and an "act of God" are to blame for the inadvertent release of the unapproved crop.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/21/AR2006112101265.html
http://www.gmcontaminationregister.org/index.php?content=re_detail&gw_id=135%C2%AE=0&;inc=0&con=0&cof=0&year=2006&handle2_page=

You might not like hearing it ,but I think everything,and I mean everything on this Earth that we eat,breathe,drink ,use or live on..IS Contaminated with chemical wastes, biological wastes, GM tinkering ect...Including our own flesh and bones. I don't think purification measures like eating organic will do enough to keep pollution out of your system really, you still have to breathe the toxic air despite being careful about your food and filtering water,most filters you buy are made of plastic..and plastic has it's own contaminants..,that Organic free ranged food is still is exposed to environmental contaminants regardless just like you and I are.And often the public is not aware of the industrial,military or chemical storage sites like MBTE from abandoned gas stations who leave their tanks underground that rust and leak into groundwater)or of any hazardous wastes nearby,unless the damage is so dramatic it can't be covered up..Stuff that is toxic left over even from decades ago could be seeping up to effect us now..And despite the danger of old toxins,every year 1000 or more new untested chemical compounds are spewed into the environment.We live in a toxic stew.

[Buzz Clik]

1. Open wide is right -- time for your daily dose of hysteria.

Let's just look at step one in the flow chart: 85% of the soil is depleted by erosion, exhaustion or overuse? That's an indefensible statistic.

I'll never understand why it's necessary to brush with such broad strokes. If even half of what is being claimed were true, we'd have all been dead decades ago.

[villager]

3. well, given that topsoil erosion has crashed civilizations in the Mediterranean,

& Middle East, it may not be "hysteria."

Good reading on the topic here:

http://www.landinstitute.org/vnews/display.v/ART/1997/09/01/3aa909339

[Buzz Clik]

4. Yes, soil erosion can be a problem.

Erosion exists today and is easily visible in many farmed areas.

Soil exhaustion is likewise possible, as is overuse.

However, all these are easily controlled, and current "best management practices" easily avoid every one of these. In this country, stating that 85% of the soil suffers from these insults is ridiculous.

And one certainly does not have to abandon every scientific, agricultural advance (a la Wes Jackson and the Land Institute) to avoid poisoning the hell out of yourself or destroying our resources.

[villager]

5. every scientific advance? You mean corporate-run monoculture farming?

which has had a good run for a few decades, but isn't, ultimately, sustainable?

[undergroundpanther]

7. Every"advance"

Has consequences and a cost to it be it immediate or later.

Take an advance..like Antibiotics.Worked great at first,saved many lives but since they were marketed as "wonder drugs" and people got this idea of taking a pill to fix every sniffle ,and people generally do not enjoy being sick and want it over with ASAP,antibiotics were over prescribed,and the bacteria it was supposed to kill mutated,we still use antibacterial stuff way too much, the bacteria mutates further and now we can't kill these bacteria with antibiotics anymore.There may be a terrible cost to come from our invention of this drug , this..advance.

Cars were once seen as wonderful advance too when oil was cheap and plentiful and the air was not so polluted and towns redesigned into suburbs made into sprawl that"just happened" to sell more cars, but You know I don't need to elaborate on the huge cost having cars has incurred to this planet and life on Earth.

Detergents, plastics, pesticides, lawns,single family homes,air conditioners,disposable zip lock baggies, all these things were seen at first as wonderful advances and conveniences ,but each thing has a cost and consequence too be paid for it's manufacture.And Ceos and marketers are so caught up in their own self absorbed greed driven "brilliance" and a pathological blinkered over done optimism.. the industries stubbornly refuse to look at real costs and real consequences that aren't listed on the corporate cost benefit analysis Stuff like quality of life or roadkills..

[Buzz Clik]

9. Indeed. Moderation in all things.

Most people don't consider the approach of the Land Institute to be an example of moderation. During my last visit there, Jackson was showing off his draft horses to be used for plowing the fields. His vision was using "grain" crops such as Illinois bundle flower -- which has the capacity to feed a normal family for a year if you plant roughly 20 acres with it. I don't think it's necessary to regress to the mid 1800s to find a sustainable approach to living in today's modern world.

[villager]

11. Obviously, I admire Wes Jackson's work more than you do. But it seems we

may be "regressed" to the mid-1800s if we follow the Pied Piper of corporatism, too. after it comes crashing down, that is.

In fact, if the only consequence is "mid-1800s-ism," we may be lucky, when the moment comes.

[Buzz Clik]

12. Jackson has some wonderful ideas...

... and he exposes a lot of people to new ways of thinking. That part is good. However, his approach couldn't possibly be used to feed this world.

On the flip side, the "corporate" approach -- massive farms growing all the same crops -- is, just as you say, not sustainable. Fortunately, there's a lot of space in between in which food can be produced on a large scale that healthy for people and maintains the resource.

[villager]

13. I hope that's so, Buzz Clik. The age of bee collapse is not inspiring much confidence

in our current system of food growing & delivery....

[nannah]

15. we need to shift to a cooperative model from one of competition

to make our species sustainable on the earth. this is what einstein said after we developed atomic capability; jonas salk spoke of this in the 50's. Lynn Margolis, the "wizardess of ooze", demonstrated the role of cooperation and collaboration in the survival of organisms at the most basic levels. communication and cooperation is what kept us alive when we were naked, hairless prey, I believe our "winner take all, competitive, profit driven" value system is bringing us to the edge. perhaps i am just out of touch as i am over 60, but i have no illusions of hearkening back to some time when all was well... those are transient moments that many people have the good fortune to experience. but i look forward to a time when we can see the role cooperation plays in nurturing sustainability in all living creatures.

[Buzz Clik]

8. You need to broaden your horizons a bit.

If it's your impression that agriculture in the United States is limited to corporate-run monoculture, you are misinformed.

[donsu]

16. soil does get exhausted - that's a fact

nt

[kineneb]

22. The Dustbowl

combination of fragile soils, over-use and drought.

Nutrients in the soil must be replaced as plants use them (manure, compost) or the soil becomes mere "dirt", unable to grow anything. Any good gardener knows this.

-I am working on turning the "dirt" in my yard into "soil"...lots of experience in the effort. Got to love that compost and chicken manure.

[undergroundpanther]

26. And nowadays

We use more OIL in the form of fertilizers to keep the soil functioning than we use in all our cars&trucks.

http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/2005/Update48.htm
http://www.ea2020.org/drupal/node/39

[villager]

2. sobering, UP. K&R

I'm on one of my periodic three-day "juice fasts" as we speak, in a (futile?) attempt to do a little de-toxing...

[undergroundpanther]

6. Hope it helps you somehow

I think people don't like hearing how serious this issue is,It's a defense mechanism to deny it for some and label it stuff like"hysteria" rather than actually consider the scope of this problem and the fact pollution effects all of us and our health.
Denial helps nothing.

For me I am aware of the seriousness of this mess but I am also aware I cannot do all that much to fix it by myself,If greenpeace and all these other organizations trying to fight pollution cannot control industry I myself sure can't.I know I can't afford to try different diets and supplements that may not work and waste what little money I have on a what if..I am on SSI and below the poverty line.For some poor people buying supplements and eating only organic diets are not affordable or easy to acquire.So that means I will be exposed to more nasty crap. For me..Changing to a diet I can't afford,breathing polluted air and drinking polluted water,touching contaminated soil, anyway is kinda like bracing myself while standing on the sandy beach holding my arms in a defensive position closing my eyes and taking a big inhale as if that will block an incoming tidal wave.

So I cope with it all this way. I know it's bleak and humanity and the animals(alot of species are going or are extinct now,like some species of frogs,maybe honeybees too from the stuff industry dumps and puts on food) All life will probably suffer a big die off from industry and it's damage.. At least I can rest my conscience knowing I said something,out loud. I risked being called a hysteric by people in denial to tell the truth as I see it.Not a big thing,but it's SOME thing.
I'll eventually die someday anyway.Death cannot be prevented no matter what people rattle off about"preventable deaths".But the quality of life while living it can be destroyed in the mistaken pursuit of avoiding a bad reality of what has been done to this Planet that is killing it. I myself would rather see the truth even if it's scary and it makes me weep.Others are not ready.So they dismiss it.

[Buzz Clik]

10. Lots of people are doing lots of hard work.

For you to "say out loud" the things you posted is not helping because much of it is bogus. The truly important issues get lost in your approach. At least 50% of the information in the flow chart in the opening post is dead wrong; that means 50% of it is correct and deadly serious, but you'll never hold an audience if you're willing to push erroneous material at the same time.

If you really want to help, cull out the bullshit and stick to the facts. I'll support you every step of the way.

[marions ghost]

14. and how about deliberate food tampering ?!

I caught a little tidbit on NPR about the melamine/gluten issue yesterday.

It has been determined that melamine was DELIBERATELY added to the gluten "to make sub-standard gluten more valuable" --ie. in order to cheat the buyers. (Melamine makes tests erroneously show more nutrient content in gluten).

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9803224


:nuke: :nuke: :nuke:


I understand your concerns, undergroundpanther

[glitch]

17. Thanks for the excellent post, K & R nt

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

18. I love the spelling errors.

"tetragenic"

:rofl:

The pseudoscience is slightly less amusing.

[undergroundpanther]

19. Disagree all you want

I don't care what you think,But don't be an asshole to me.It appears you have nothing to say but you like to show your ass,Keep your ass on the lounge than.
Spelling errors harm no one, but anal nit pickers who puff themselves up as"scientists" and offer NOTHING of value to the conversation but the same old tired quips and hollow criticisms and quibble over spelling..Fuck spelling, Are you unable to read anything unless it is perfectly spelled out for you first? ? If you can read without every word typed perfectly than I can say you can think without running to a fucking dictionary to validate a pointless empty opinion to invalidate me through it.If spelling is such an issue that you miss the point over letter arrangements ,maybe You need to climb out of that stupid box you are in and grow up wannabe "brainiac".I never claimed a Ph.d in anything yet you offer no substance to your rebuttals you are full of shit than? Obviously. I have seen many "scientists" who bully opinions and ideas they they don't like by yammering about stupid shit like spelling or grammar.You are pathetic.

[earth mom]

20. K & R! BTW-don't listen to the naysayers. They probably own stock in a company that is polluting

the hell of our food supply! That or they own the company themselves. :puke:

[undergroundpanther]

21. Naysayers with nothing to say

Are not worth listening to.But last night why not toast the pathetic worm.Had nothing better to do and a bit of anger at how the debate was slanted to give certain candidates a bigger voice, the ones I feel are too cozy with repeating right wing bullshit..so I let it out on the ass hanging out here asking to get it kicked.Thanks for the K&R's y'all.

There are certain people by self interest business or by denial who believe things and anything that challenges their precious beliefs is a threat unable to debate points they go after spelling, these people come from the position of weakness and self deception or just sick self interest.Anyway they come to pooh pooh always notice these same sorts of bullies ,the content of their criticism is always empty,off the point, or shallow.Looking at the"content" is one way you can always spot the "intellectual" wannabe bully.
As Tim Field says on his bully on line site,
Those who can, do.
Those who can't bully.

[nick303]

24. I prefer not to listen to naysayers myself

This is simply because my opinion is always correct, especially when in shoddily constructed flowchart form.

[kineneb]

23. "organic" is relative

as a former farmers' market manager, and a gardener, I know that there is nothing "pure" left in the environment. Everything is subject to contamination, merely by being out in the air... think radiation, air pollution, etc. for starters. I always told my customers that "organic" is relative: the growers didn't have any control over the content of the winds or rain.

The best we can do is to try, as best we can, to limit our exposure to environmental toxins. At this late date, it is almost impossible, since many of the contaminants have been around for so long.

[undergroundpanther]

25. Thank you

for your succinct understanding of the obvious..Everything is contaminated now! Organic is relative term when the plants live in a polluted ecosystem.

[Jcrowley]

27. Bump