"Teflon, Other Chemicals Receive Greater EPA Scrutiny," By Michael McGrady. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has instituted new health advisories for chemicals used in the manufacture of Teflon cookware, plastics, and fabrics. EPA’s action came in response to the discovery of traces of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) being found in groundwater sources in New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont. EPA’s May 19 guidelines reduce the acceptable level of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and PFOA … [Read more...]
Safety Rules for Laundry Detergent Packets All Wet
March 18, 2015
"Congresswoman Calls for New Safety Rules on Detergent," by Paula Bolyard. Rep. Jackie Speier of California is proposing a bill directing the Consumer Product Safety Commission to issue new rules establishing safety standards for liquid detergent packets. The Democrat Speier’s bill, the Detergent Poisoning and Child Safety (PACS) Act, directs the CPSC to impose new regulations on the color, design, and contents of detergent packets. Read more. … [Read more...]
Certified Organic, Yet Untested for Safety
July 29, 2013
"Organic Crops Are Tested For Pathogens, Right? Nope," by Mischa Popoff. View of rows of green and red lettuces.The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits synthetic nitrogen fertilizer in organic production and encourages natural compost. But it does not test for un-composted feces, relying instead on record-keeping and record-checking. As I have said before, this can create serious problems. At least 140 people across eight states have now fallen ill after consuming … [Read more...]
Bees and Pesticide Regulation
May 16, 2013
"Will We ‘Bee’ Smart about Pesticide Regulation? by Henry Miller. On April 29, the European Commission failed for the second time to get the votes necessary to pass a proposed two-year ban on several innovative agricultural pesticides known as neonicotinoids (“neonics”). But immediately after reporting that a “qualified majority” of member states had not been reached, the Commission’s health and consumer affairs commissioner, Tonio Borg, announced that he would institute the ban … [Read more...]
BPA Replacements Not Better
May 7, 2013
"BPA Replacement Faces Same Attacks as BPA," by Kenneth Artz. As anti-chemical activists attempt to ban the safe but controversial chemical Bisphenol A from plastic products, a new study claims the most viable replacement chemical presents greater human health concerns than the exhaustively tested Bisphenol A. Read the full article in Climate and Environment News. … [Read more...]
No Harm from BPA
February 21, 2013
"WSJ: No Ill Effect Found in Human BPA Exposure," by Joe Bast. Bisphenol A, known as BPA, has been the target of environmentalist concern for many years. But just like DDT, atrazine, and even dioxin, this much-studied chemical has never been found to cause any harm. Read the full article at Somewhat Reasonable. … [Read more...]
Ban on BPA for Cash Register Receipts
February 4, 2013
"Suffolk County, NY Bans BPA in Cash Register Receipts," by Alyssa Carducci. Suffolk County, New York became the first government entity in the nation to ban Bisphenol-A from cash register receipts. The decision by the Suffolk County Legislature defies the findings of government health and science bodies around the world. Read the full article in Environment & Climate News. … [Read more...]
Questioning USDA Organic Certification
September 10, 2012
"USDA Employs Lax Oversight of Organic Farms," by Mischa Popoff and Jay Lehr The leaders of the American organic food industry, sitting in their perches in offices far removed from the soil and toil of actual farming, sustain an unfounded attack against conventional, nonorganic food, charging that it is impure and hardly nutritious. We all know that purity and nutrition are readily provable through scientific analysis, but here we have the activist leadership of the multibillion-dollar organic … [Read more...]
EPA Over-Estimates on Health Benefits of Regulation
August 13, 2012
"House Testimony: EPA Grossly Overstates Economic Benefits of Regulation," By James Taylor. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is grossly overstating the economic benefits of its various environmental restrictions, environmental expert Richard Trzupek told the Energy and Environment Subcommittee of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Trzupek, a chemist and environmental consultant, told the House subcommittee in June 6 written testimony that EPA routinely claims … [Read more...]
Testing for Organic Food Certification
August 13, 2012
"It’s Time to Start Testing Organic Food " by Jay Lehr. There can be no mistaking the fact that modern agriculture is under attack. Gone are the days of saving the whales or attacking logging companies for cutting down trees. The latest environmental “bad guy” is the farmer who grows the food you feed your family. This attack against farming has occurred mainly in the form of sustained and very negative public-relations campaigns, but it has also made its way into the nation’s courtrooms. It … [Read more...]
Silent Spring at 50
August 6, 2012
"New Book Documents the Flaws in Environmental ‘Classic,’ Silent Spring,"by Jay Lehr. I have been writing about Rachel Carson’s infamous book Silent Spring for much of the 50 years since its publication. With ten years of environmental education behind me when the book was published in 1962, it was immediately obvious that this was not a work of science but rather a compilation of anecdotal data and selective scientific studies to make points that fit the author’s philosophy of how the earth … [Read more...]
EPA Rules Pesticide Safe
June 29, 2012
"EPA Rejects Petition to Ban ‘Weed and Feed’ Herbicide," by Kenneth Artz. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has rejected a request by the Natural Resources Defense Council activist group to ban 2,4-D, one of the most effective herbicides on the market. H. Sterling Burnett, a senior fellow with the National Center for Policy Analysis, applauded EPA for following sound science in its review process. “For once, the EPA got it right. They followed the science, which said that if you follow … [Read more...]
