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Coke Pepsi and the Politics of Food Safety

Recent events in India show that Coke and Pepsi have firmly joined the group of toxic and hazardous products that need to be banned to protect the health of citizens and to protect the environment. Not only does Coca-Cola steal the water of local communities, it pollutes what it doesn't take. In addition, the soft drink giants have succeeded in making the youth of India ashamed of indigenous food culture in spite of its nutrition and safety through their aggressive-advertising. (Vandana Shiva, Zmag, September 06, 2006)

http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2006-09/06shiva.cfm

(Added: Tue Sep 12 2006   Hits: 227)

Hell in 'God's Paradise'

he trees are finally green again in Paraíso de Dios, Dominican Republic, since a car battery recycling plant, which produced "a kind of foggy mist, like when it rains," was relocated. But years later, children continue to be born with high levels of lead in their blood. (Diógenes Pina, IPS, 26 January 2007)

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=36323

(Added: Wed Jan 31 2007   Hits: 116)

'Ultra-Fine' Particles In Vehicle Exhaust May Be Reducing Lung Capacity In Neighborhoods Along Freeways, State Environmental Researchers Fear

(9-29-02) If you live by a freeway, you may want to consider holding your breath. Only, chances may be that you won't be able to hold it for long. Minute particles from cars and diesel trucks may be causing people who live along freeways to lose lung capacity, say health researchers for the California Air Resources Board.

http://www.southlandreports.com/92602Story1.htm

(Added: Thu Oct 09 2003   Modified: Tue Jun 14 2005   Hits: 269)

Air Particles Linked to Cell Damage

By Gary Polakovic, L.A. Times Staff Writer, April 7, 2003. A team of Southern California researchers has discovered that microscopic airborne particles can disrupt the inner mechanics of cells, offering a possible explanation of how air pollutants common in urban haze can harm the human body.

http://www.air-purifiers-america.com/ed_celldamage.asp

(Added: Thu Oct 09 2003   Modified: Tue Jun 14 2005   Hits: 310)

Burning Issues: Wood Smoke Fact Sheets

Burning Issues is a project of Clean Air Revival, Inc., a non-profit 501 C3 organization dedicated to research and education on clean energy and aerosol pollution.

http://burningissues.org/fact-sheet.htm

(Added: Thu Oct 09 2003   Modified: Tue Jun 14 2005   Hits: 259)

Chemically Bonded

Canada's Aanishnaabek tribe who live on a reserve surrounded by chemical plants. Legally, there are no laws whatsoever to prevent toxic dumping on Indian land. Health problems are rife among the Aanishnaabek, and, these days, only a third of the children born are boys. But the idea of leaving is problematic: land is far more than just property - it's an integral part of their history and their identity. (Zoe Cormier, Ecologist, 1 December 2006)

http://www.theecologist.org/archive_detail.asp?content_id=719

(Added: Fri Jan 26 2007   Hits: 165)

CleanerProduction.Com

Web portal to resources for Cleaner Production, Pollution Prevention and Sustainable Business. Over 500 links, each described in detail, with easy navigation.

http://www.cleanerproduction.com

(Added: Fri Jun 13 2003   Modified: Tue Jun 14 2005   Hits: 268)

Cote d' Ivoire: Cabinet resigns over toxic fumes scandal

President Laurent Gbagbo has accepted the unprecedented resignation of Cote d'Ivoire's cabinet as anger mounts over the dumping of toxic waste in the main city, Abidjan, that made hundreds ill. The waste, which was discarded in various residential areas, is residue from gasoline cargo shipped to Abidjan's port last month. The health scandal adds to an already tense atmosphere in Cote d'Ivoire as talks on Tuesday to break a deadlock over the country's peace process failed. (IRIN News, September 7, 2006)

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=55451&SelectRegion=West_Africa

(Added: Wed Sep 13 2006   Hits: 200)

Depleted Uranium Watch: A Section of Stop Nato!

Analysis of related literature, original articles and press reviews on Depleted Uranium as well as a large collection of links to other sites.

http://www.stopnato.org.uk/du-watch/

(Added: Fri Feb 27 2004   Modified: Tue Jun 14 2005   Hits: 253)

Deployment Health Support Directorate's Depleted Uranium Information Library

"Welcome to the Deployment Health Support Directorate's Depleted Uranium Information Library, a gateway to primary source materials relating to the military use of depleted uranium and its possible health effects. This site provides access to medical and environmental studies, scientific and technical data, and training and safety materials; as well as news releases, speeches, briefings, and public testimony related to DU use." - A U.S. Defense Department Website

http://www.deploymentlink.osd.mil/du_library/

(Added: Fri Feb 27 2004   Modified: Tue Jun 14 2005   Hits: 250)

Diesel Particulate Matter

Diesel exhaust contains significant levels of small particles, known as fine particulate matter. Fine particles are so small that several thousand of them could fit on the period at the end of this sentence. Diesel engines are the third largest human-made source of fine particles contributing more than 20 percent of directly emitted fine particles (excludes fugitive dust emissions from agricultural particles) in New England.

http://www.epa.gov/region1/eco/diesel/health_effects.html

(Added: Thu Oct 09 2003   Modified: Tue Jun 14 2005   Hits: 282)

Fine Particles and Health

Provides overview of particulates. In contrast to other air pollutants such as ozone, NOx and SO2, which are well defined chemical entities,' particulates' is a generic term describing airborne particles with a wide range of different physical and chemical properties. Their composition thus varies according to geographical location, source, time and the measuring method used, and they may be classified in different ways.(PDF-121KB)

http://www.parliament.uk/post/pn082.pdf

(Added: Thu Oct 09 2003   Modified: Tue Jun 14 2005   Hits: 249)

Frequently Asked Questions on DDT Use for Disease Vector Control [pdf]

Here the WHO provides answers to a list of frequently asked questions about why DDT is so controversial. On the whole, it says the amounts of DDT used for malaria control are nowhere near as high as those unleashed when it's used as a pesticide, and DDT is generally effective if sprayed on indoor spaces where mosquitoes aren't wanted, just before the peak season. (WHO, 2005)

http://www.who.int/malaria/docs/FAQonDDT.pdf#search=%22ddt%20world%20health%20organisation%22

(Added: Tue Aug 22 2006   Modified: Thu Aug 31 2006   Hits: 179)

Getting Clean: Recovering from pesticide addiction

The Indian village of Punukula, nearly destroyed in the 'Green Revolution' by reliance on pesticides, is now known as the 'pesticide-free village'. Since undertaking a programme of Non-Pesticide Management with the local NGO SECURE, the village is prosperous. This article explains the new benefits experienced by the villagers. (Gerry Marten and Donna Glee Williams, Ecologist, 1 December 2006)

http://www.theecologist.org/archive_detail.asp?content_id=720

(Added: Fri Jan 26 2007   Hits: 329)

Health, Environment and The Burden of Disease; A Guidance Note (pdf)

DFID's report on linking health and the environment. Considers water supply, sanitation and hygiene promotion, indoor air pollution (IAP), general injuries, and improving health through the environment.

http://www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/healthenvirondiseaseguidenote.pdf#search=%22Health%2C%20Environment%20and%20The%20Burden%20of%20Disease%3B%20A%20Guidance%20Note%20(pdf)%22

(Added: Fri Jul 04 2003   Modified: Thu Sep 14 2006   Hits: 563)

How low can Dow go? Dow sues penniless Bhopal survivors

Greenpeace Aotearoa New Zealand, Monday, 23 December 2002. Yes that's right - the very people Dow should be helping are now facing a lawsuit from one of the world most powerful corporations. Why are they acting in such an amazingly perverse manner? On December 2nd a peaceful march of 200 women survivors from Bhopal delivered toxic waste from the abandoned Carbide factory back to Dow's Indian headquarters in Bombay with the demand that Dow take responsibility for the disaster and clean up the site. Dow obviously has other ideas because they are suing survivors for about US$10,000 for "loss of work". That's US$10,000 compensation demanded for a two hour peaceful protest where only one Dow employee briefly ventured out of the Mumbai corporate business park to meet the women protestors.

http://www.greenpeace.org.nz/news/news_main.asp?PRID=454

(Added: Thu Jan 23 2003   Modified: Fri Jan 19 2007   Hits: 254)

If Malaria's the Problem, DDT's Not the Only Answer

DDT is making headlines again. Many African governments are calling for access to the pesticide, believing that it's their best hope against malaria, a disease that infects more than 300 million people worldwide a year and kills at least 3 million, a large proportion of them children. And this has raised a controversy of Solomonic dimensions, pitting environmentalists against advocates of DDT use. (May Berenbaum, Washington Post, June 5, 2005)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/04/AR2005060400130.html

(Added: Tue Aug 22 2006   Modified: Fri Jan 19 2007   Hits: 172)

India: What's Your Poison?

Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are back in the middle of controversy in India. Samples of their soft drinks have been found to contain dangerous levels of pesticide. Delhi-based Center for Science and the Environment (CSE) said that it tested 57 samples taken from 11 soft drink brands made by Coca-Cola India and PepsiCo India and found a "cocktail of three to five different pesticides". In some samples - Coca-Cola bought in Kolkata, for instance - the level of carcinogenic pesticide Lindane exceeded Bureau of Indian Standards norms by 140 times. (Asia Times, August 17, 2006)

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/HH17Df01.html

(Added: Fri Aug 18 2006   Hits: 186)

Justice for Victims of Agent Orange

Even though the Vietnam War ended 30 years ago, the US's saturation chemical bombing is still wreaking havoc on millions, including the newly born, making them third-generation victims. Nobody knows when the congenital deformities, one of many horrific health consequences of the toxic chemicals, will end. Sign this international online petition in solidarity with all the Agent Orange victims in Vietnam. Launched in 2004, more than 600,000 signatures have already been collected. (Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin)

http://www.greenleft.org.au/agent_orange.htm

(Added: Wed May 31 2006   Modified: Thu Jan 18 2007   Hits: 276)

Lead Pollution and Human Health in Georgia -- Problems and Solutions

This 24-page report produced by Cooperation for a Green Future describes the sources of lead pollution in Georgia and it's influence on human health. It illuminates the status of transport-related lead pollution as a major environmental health hazard in Georgia, and points out potential avenues for improving the situation.

http://www.cgf-georgia.org/Lead_and_Human_Health.pdf

(Added: Tue Feb 26 2008   Modified: Wed Feb 27 2008   Hits: 31)

Morbidity and Mortality from Air Pollution

The Health Effects Institute Review of studies of ambient PM10 in 90 cities in the year 2000, show a consistent one half percent increase in mortality for every change of 10 micrograms/meter cubed measured for 24 hours before the day of death. (We do not have similar data for PM 2.5m/m3 because there was no consistent monitoring data available in year 2001 for the researchers to analyze.) The same rise in particulate levels cause increased hospitalization for heart disease by one percent. Hospitalization for pneumonia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) increased two percent (HEI, 2001). (The current 24 hour Federal Standard PM Standard is 65 micrograms per cubic meter.)

http://burningissues.org/tables/mortalitytable.html

(Added: Thu Oct 09 2003   Modified: Tue Jun 14 2005   Hits: 250)

New WWF Report Finds Wildlife and Humans at Risk from Commonly Used Chemicals (PDF)

Seals, whales, falcons, and polar bears are among a range of wildlife at risk from chemicals used in common consumer products, according to a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) analysis of recent scientific evidence on contamination of wildlife and people. "Products we use every day contain chemicals that can have serious wildlife and human health effects," said Clifton Curtis, director of WWF's Global Toxics Program. "Mounting scientific research is documenting the extent of our exposure to these chemicals." (PDF 446 KB)

http://www.worldwildlife.org/news/displayPR.cfm?prID=93

(Added: Mon Feb 02 2004   Modified: Thu Jan 11 2007   Hits: 257)

Paraguay Sojero: Soy Expansion and Its Violent Attack on Local and Indigenous Communities in Paraguay: Repression and Resistance [pdf]

In Paraguay, the expansion of (GM) soy production by Brazilian sojeros, supported by biotech and agrochemical corporations, local and national authorities, and the financial sector, is currently the main cause of violence against small farmers and their organisations, and of severe damage to people's health and to food crops due to fumigations with agrochemicals. Grupo de Reflexion Rural from Argentina presents a new report providing detailed accounts of the current violent acts against rural and indigenous communities in Paraguay, which are strongly related to the expansion of (GM) soy production. (Grupo de Reflexion Rural, 2006)

http://www.aseed.net/images/stories/agrocadabra/soy/paraguay-humanrights-report-72dpi.pdf

(Added: Wed May 24 2006   Modified: Thu Jan 18 2007   Hits: 247)

Paraquat unacceptable health risks for users [PDF]

This review considers the impacts of paraquat, the chemical herbicide used by a large number of farmers and plantation workers. The paper finds that the pesticide causes daily suffering to an extremely large number of farmers and workers. The report concludes that alternatives are available and their implementation must become a priority, along with a phase out of paraquat. (PAN, 2006)

http://www.evb.ch/cm_data/Paraquat_Report.pdf

(Added: Tue Apr 04 2006   Hits: 182)

Particles are bad for your health! (PDF)

The particle concentration in the air affects the respiratory tract and the cardio-vascular system. Studies also show links to lung cancer. The effect on human health seems to be proportional to the particle concentration. (PDF-344KB)

http://www.ab.lst.se/upload/dokument/miljo_och_halsa/miljolagstiftning/MKN/faktablad_2003_particles_webb.pdf

(Added: Thu Oct 09 2003   Modified: Tue Jun 14 2005   Hits: 230)

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