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Sellafield
and La Hague a large-scale nuclear accident every year
radioactive
releases are equivalent to a large-scale nuclear accident every year
Flame
retardants increasing in breast milk
concentrations
have increased 60 fold
Contraceptive
maize
the end of overpopulation or the human race ?
Low
energy light bulbs
dispose
of them carefully!
Mercury in vaccinations
mercury
increases a child's risk of developing autism
Herbs rich source of
healthy antioxidants
higher levels found than in fruit
and veg
Fatty foods don’t always
harm the heart
dogma challenged
by African research
Electrical appliances
lead to miscarriage
study found double the risk
Chicken feed drug found in
eggs
Soil Association calls for a ban
Irradiation
creates unnatural chemicals in food
these chemicals
could be harmful
Vitamin
A - in foods
safer
than supplements
Scotland
can power Britain
by harnessing the
wind and the waves
GATS
- the latest
US objects to
UK planning laws in the name of free trade
US
using Depleted Uranium
in Afghanistan
fear that radioactive dust will get
into the food chain
Sellafield and La Hague - a large-scale nuclear accident every year
A report commissioned by the European Parliament concludes that the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel at Sellafield and La Hague constitute the world’s largest man-made releases of radioactivity into the environment, corresponding to a large-scale nuclear accident every year. It points out that (e.g.):
• some of the radionuclides released in great quantities have half-lives
of millions of years
• concentrations identified in recent years in the environ- ment
repeatedly exceeded EU Food Intervention Levels
• accidental radionuclide releases from Sellafield and La Hague could
be twice those of Chernobyl
• these could lead globally in both cases to over one million fatal
cancers in the long term
• Iodine-129 discharged from La Hague and Sellafield in 1999 was
eight times greater than the total iodine-129 released by the fallout
from all nuclear weapons testing.
The report also examines the current impact of radioactive releases from nuclear reprocessing (constituting the majority of releases from the nuclear industry: 80% in France, 90% in the UK). "In the surrounding regions of Sellafield and La Hague a statistically significant increase in the incidence of leukaemia has been established. While research on the causal relationship with environmental radiation has not been conclusive, it cannot be ruled out that exposure to radiation is an initiating or at least a contributing factor. There are great uncertainties involved in the assessment of population doses and subsequent health effects. The release of large quantities of long lived radionuclides at Sellafield and La Hague therefore violates the Precautionary Principle, laid down, inter alia, in the European legislation, Agenda 21 and the Earth Charter of March 2000."
It points out that reprocessing is the least acceptable option ... "Non-reprocessing options, and available dry storage technologies in particular, are considerably less expensive than reprocessing. In addition, their social and political acceptability are much greater than reprocessing."
The full report may be viewed on website:
http://www.europarl.eu.int/stoa/publi/default_en.htm
(8846) N-Base Nuclear Information Service
Flame retardants increasing in breast milk
When Swedish researchers analysed samples of breast milk produced between 1972 and 1997, they found a sixtyfold increase in concentrations of flame retardant polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs - a class of relatively unknown chemicals similar to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)). US, Japanese, Israeli and Spanish researchers have now also found PBDEs in human breast milk and fat, where the chemicals accumulate. PBDE levels are also rising rapidly in fish and marine mammals. The principal sources are probably plastics in appliances and computers, foam in upholstery, and the fabrics in carpets and draperies. 5% - 35% by weight of such items consist of PBDE flame retardants.
In animal studies, PBDE exposure results in pronounced effects on the nervous system. When Per Eriksson and colleagues at Uppsala University (Sweden) tested a pair of penta-PBDE compounds, they found that all of the mice exposed to any dose of a penta-PBDE compound during the first ten days of life showed abnormal behaviour when grown. Those receiving the highest doses of one of the compounds performed poorly in navigating a maze. At all doses, nervous system defects worsened as the mice aged.
Ed.- The European Parliament has voted to ban two toxic fire-retardant chemicals: (penta-) PBDE (found in polyurethane foam in domestic furniture and upholstery) and octaBDE (found in office equipment and electrical appliances). The ban will be extended to decaBDE by 2006. OctaBDE may win a reprieve if current tests show it is not toxic. To become law this vote has to be approved by the European Union’s Council of Ministers.
(8833) Environmental Health Perspectives
Contraceptive maize
San Diego biotechnology company Epicyte has created the ultimate GM crop: contraceptive maize. They have genetically modified maize with a rare class of human antibodies that attack sperm, creating tiny contraceptive factories and, potentially, a globally and readily available source of contraceptives. Epicyte president Mitch Hein explains that "the antibodies are attracted to surface receptors on the sperm. They latch on and make each sperm so heavy it cannot move forward". The company plans to launch clinical trials of the corn in a few months.
He states that the company has also created maize plants that make antibodies against the herpes virus to block the spread of sexual disease.
Ed.- The national media heralded this news as a possible solution to the world’s potential over-population problem. If the wind’s blowing in the wrong direction it could be the end of the human race!
(8830) Robin McKie. Observer
Low energy light bulbs
Energy savers should be aware that all low energy light bulbs currently on sale contain mercury. They should not, therefore, be disposed of in normal household waste. Waste Watch (0870 243 0136) can advise where mercury collecting points are in your area. Swedish company LightLab are developing a mercury-free version which, when tried and tested, will be a major step forward in environmentally-friendly lighting.
Buying low energy light bulbs is still the best option. Fossil-fuel power stations also emit mercury so using less electricity reduces mercury emissions.
Nearly all brands of low energy light bulb are owned by multinationals.
The most ethical buys are probably IKEA (despite accusations of appalling
worker exploitation) and B&Q/Kingfisher.
(8712) Ethical Consumer
Mercury and autism
A previously unreleased confidential report from the US Centers for Disease Control reports that an exposure to more than 62.5 micrograms of mercury within the first three months of life more than doubles a child’s risk of developing autism. The US legal firm Waters & Kraus, who are representing many families in a class action, indicated that in many of the cases the firm evaluated, the affected child had received more than 62.5 micrograms of mercury through paediatric vaccines in the first three months of life.
A public version of the report released at the time it was completed suggested that its findings were inconclusive on the issue of whether the mercury-based vaccine preservative thimerosal has contributed to the US’s epidemic of regressive autism and other neurological disorders in small children. See also the ‘Illnesses of our Time’ section, page 13
More information is available on: www.autismfraud.com
Ed.- In 2000, Sally Bernard and colleagues (Autism: A unique type of mercury poisoning) linked the mercury based preservative thimerosal (ethyl mercuri thiosalicylic acid) not only to autism but to related syndromes such as ADHD. Thimerosal is used widely as a preservative in vaccines, antitoxins, tuberculin tests and desensitisation solutions. It may also be found in soap-free cleansers, nose, eye, and ear drops, eye ointments, topical medications, antiseptic sprays, cosmetics (including makeup removers, eye moisturisers, and mascaras) and cleaning fluids for contact lenses. UK regulators have recommended phasing out its use in vaccines.The research study may be viewed at http://www.cureautismnow.org/sciwatch/invest.cfm
For further information write to Sally Bernard, Safe Minds, 14 Commerce Drive, PH Cranford, NJ 07016, USA or email her: sbernard@nac.net
(8611) Jane Jones. National Pure Water Association
Herbs rich source of healthy antioxidants
Researchers with the U.S. Department of Agriculture have found that herbs, in addition to making food tastier, are an abundant source of antioxidants (chemical compounds which protect body tissue from the ravaging effects of oxygen) and could provide potential anti-cancer benefits when supplementing a balanced diet. "Some herbs should be considered as regular vegetables. People should use more herbs for flavouring instead of salt and artificial chemicals", the researchers say.
The herbs with the highest antioxidant activity belonged to the oregano family, which were 3 to 20 times stronger than the other herbs studied. On a per gram fresh weight basis, oregano and other herbs ranked even higher in antioxidant activity than fruits and vegetables: 42 times more than apples, 30 times more than potatoes and 12 times more than oranges.
In general, fresh herbs and spices are healthier and contain higher antioxidant levels compared to their processed counterparts. For example, the antioxidant activity of fresh garlic is 1.5 times higher than dry garlic powder.
(8774) Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Fatty foods don’t always harm the heart
A study of nomadic tribes in Africa challenges the dogma of the past 50 years that a diet high in saturated fats necessarily raises cholesterol concentrations. This can only be said of people in more industrially developed countries where lifestyles are largely sedentary. The Fulani of Nigeria had healthy cholesterol levels despite diets comprising almost 50% saturated fat. In the US, individuals are advised to consume no more than 30% of their calories from fat, of which no more than 10% should come from saturated fat. What’s more, the typical Fulani diet contained more protein than the US recommended level, only one third of the recommended level of folate and lower-than-recommended levels of vitamins C and B6 (shown to protect against heart disease).
The researchers suggest the finding can be attributed to the population’s high activity level, low-calorie intake and lack of smoking.
(8771) American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Electrical appliances lead to miscarriage
De-Kun Li and colleagues at the Kaiser Foundation Research Institute in Oakland, California (US) have found that exposure to alternating magnetic fields with peak levels of 1.6 microteslas or greater nearly doubles the risk of miscarriage. His team asked 1063 women around San Francisco who were in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy to spend a day wearing a meter around their waists that measured magnetic field levels every 10 seconds. More significantly, of the 622 women who said that the measuring period had been a typical day, those who experienced high peak fields were three times as likely to have a miscarriage.
The strongest magnetic fields came from implements with electric motors like hoovers, drills, food mixers, hairdryers and shavers as well as trains and other vehicles. Vacuum cleaners and drills, for instance, emit around 20 microteslas - more than 12 times higher than the critical level in the study - whilst food mixers give off around 10.
Alternating magnetic fields also have associated electric fields. The few previous studies of the effect of low-frequency electrical fields on miscarriages, such as one involving 727 women conducted in 1991 by Raymond Neutra’s group at the California Department of Health Services in Oakland, have been inconclusive. Li thinks this is because Neutra looked at people’s average exposure to electrical fields over time, not peak values. When Neutra reanalysed the data from his earlier study, which has only now been published, he discovered the results were similar to Li’s. Women exposed to peak levels greater than 1.4 microteslas were nearly twice as likely to miscarry. Li speculates that spikes in electromagnetic field strengths (EMFs) could cause miscarriages by subtly disrupting cell-to-cell communication.
His findings suggest that most previous investigations into the health effects of EMFs have been measuring the wrong thing.
Ed.- The risk of a miscarriage increases tenfold as women age, for example, from 5 per cent for women under 30 years old to 50 per cent for those in their mid-40s.
(8773) Epidemiology
Chicken feed drug found in eggs
Chemical (i.e. non organic) chicken and turkey farmers mix the drug lasalocid into the animals’ feed daily to prevent the disease coccidiosis (caused by the coccidia parasite) in their flocks. Traces of lasalocid, which accumulate in the body, have been found in 2.6% of eggs and animals examined. Tests conducted in 1974 using rabbits and human hearts showed that even low levels caused rapid heart contractions. A study of the accidental lasalocid poisoning of dogs in 1993 found that it caused complete breakdown of the central nervous system. Lasalocid becomes even more potent in the presence of neomycin permethrin, which is often prescribed to people allergic to penicillin.
The Soil Association states that Government tests are inadequate (only
1 in 18 million eggs is tested) and that the use of lasalocid should be
banned until proper research has evaluated the health dangers posed. At
least the European Commission takes lasalocid seriously. It aims to ban
its use from 2003.
(8702) Matthew Beard. Independent
back to headlines
Irradiation creates unnatural chemicals in food
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is ignoring growing evidence that a new class of chemicals (called cyclobutanones) formed when food is irradiated could be harmful. The chemicals, which have been detected in many irradiated foods licensed in the US, do not occur naturally anywhere on Earth. They have recently been found to cause genetic damage in rats, and genetic and cellular damage in human and rat cells.
Though federal regulations require the FDA to determine whether food additives proposed for human consumption are likely to cause cancer, birth defects or other health problems, the agency has not done so for cyclobutanones, nor have agency officials explained why they have failed to do so. Under US federal law, irradiation is considered a food additive.
(8825) Public Citizen
back to headlines
Vitamin A - Nature always best
More analysis of the 72,000-strong US Nurses’ Health Study demonstrates yet again that getting your vitamins from food, rather from supplements, is best (and safest). Whereas a strong link was found between high consumption of retinol (in vitamin A supplements or multivitamins) and hip fracture in older women, no link could be found for betacarotene, a natural food substance which is converted to vitamin A in the body. Women who consumed at least 3,000 micrograms/day were 48% more likely to suffer a hip fracture than those who consumed less than 1,250 micrograms/day. The recommended dietary intake of vitamin A for women is 700 micrograms per day.
The study found that multivitamins were the primary source of retinol and that liver and fortified milk and breakfast cereals were the main food sources. The researchers suggest that levels of retinol in foods that are fortified with vitamin A and in dietary supplements should be re-evaluated.
Ed.- Betacarotene is found in red, orange and yellow vegetables and fruit.
(8772) Jnl. of the American Medical Assoc.