There is a natural, easy, and inexpensive way to perform detoxification. Want to know what to do?
1. Eat more organic fiber
Fiber can be found in many foodstuffs, including fruits, vegetables, and brown rice. Eating lots of fiber sources are able to eliminate toxins from the body. Foods rich in fiber that could be the best detoxifying ingredients including fruit beets, radishes, artichokes, cabbage, broccoli, spirulina (a type of algae growth), chlorella (green algae), and seaweed.
2. Diligent drink natural vitamin C
It sounds trivial, but the vitamins did have many benefits for our bodies. Besides containing antioxidants, vitamin C also helps the body produce glutathione, the liver compound that is able to eliminate toxins in the body.
3. Drink more filtered water
Drink at least 2 liters a day will remove toxins and maintain the body’s cells remain hydrated, especially after you eat a lot less healthy food.
4. Take a deep breath
All who live must breathe, but not many know how to breathe correctly. Breathing deeply will allow more oxygen circulates through your body system. To that end, practice taking a breath at least 10 minutes every day. Sit comfortably with your back straight. Inhale through your nose in seven counts, hold for four counts and then exhale through the mouth of the eight counts. You’ll want to inhale all the air in the lungs so it can attract more oxygen in the next breath.
5. Sauna
Our bodies get rid of toxins through sweat. With a sauna, skin pores will open, and through that poison and all the dirt on the body will come out. You can help the body eliminate some toxins through sweat. In addition, the sauna also helps blood circulation and reduce muscle soreness.
6. Oil Pulling
Oil Pulling is a safe, simple, cheap and gentle ‘do it yourself home remedy’ that cures and prevents diseases and extends your healthy life. It involves gently rinsing the mouth with 1 tablespoon (10ml) of cold pressed oil for 15 to 20 minutes and spitting it out. You can use either sunflower oil or sesame oil or olive oil. This simple therapy is completely harmless as you do not take any medicines - even the oil you use is spit out after OP. By helping the body get rid of toxins that have accumulated, Oil Pulling has been mentioned in the ancient texts of Ayurveda and promotes self healing from within.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Nixon's Republicans created the EPA - these Republicans want to destroy it!
A Gallup poll released on Dec. 19 shows Congress' approval rate at 11 percent, the lowest rating since Gallup began asking the question in 1974.
The U.S. House voted 191 times to weaken our clean air and other environmental protections this year. That's an average of more than one anti-environmental vote per legislative day! Which makes this is one of the most anti-environmental Congresses in American history - their efforts to dismantle the EPA, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and the other key protections standing between us and the destructive desires of Big Oil and Big Coal. Our forests, our national parks, polar bears, whales, caribou, the very air we breathe and the water we drink are all at risk. Nixon's Republicans created the EPA - these Republicans want to destroy it!
The U.S. House voted 191 times to weaken our clean air and other environmental protections this year. That's an average of more than one anti-environmental vote per legislative day! Which makes this is one of the most anti-environmental Congresses in American history - their efforts to dismantle the EPA, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and the other key protections standing between us and the destructive desires of Big Oil and Big Coal. Our forests, our national parks, polar bears, whales, caribou, the very air we breathe and the water we drink are all at risk. Nixon's Republicans created the EPA - these Republicans want to destroy it!
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
“An Unexpected Mortality Increase in the United States Follows Arrival of the Radioactive Plume from Fukushima: Is There a Correlation?”
PRESS RELEASE - Janette D. Sherman, MD - 12-19-2011
This report, “An Unexpected Mortality Increase in the United States Follows Arrival of the Radioactive Plume from Fukushima: Is There a Correlation?” published in the Internat. J. of Health Sciences today, is not new science, but confirms research done over the decades as to adverse effects caused by radioisotopes to the unborn and the very young because of their rapidly developing cells, immature immunological systems and relatively small weight.
As background, in the 1950s, I worked for the Atomic Energy Commission (the forerunner of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission) at the Radiation Laboratory, University of California in Berkeley and the US Navy Radiation Laboratory at Hunter’s Point in San Francisco. Near 60 years ago, we learned that radiation could damage animals and plants and cause cancer, genetic damage, and other problems.
The issue of the danger from nuclear power plants is not just the engineering, but biology and chemistry. We have understood for decades where and how radioisotopes interact with life systems.
Cesium-137 and Strontium-90 have half-lives of approx 30 years. It takes 10 half-lives for an isotope to fully decay, thus it will take 300 years or Three Centuries before radioactive cesium and strontium will be gone.
Cs134, Cs-137 and Sr-90 continue to be released from Fukushima in tons of contaminated water that is making its’ way across the Pacific Ocean. Cesium concentrates in soft tissue, strontium in bones and teeth, of the unborn and young.
Immediately after Chernobyl the level of thyroid disease increased. Given the large amounts of radioactive iodine
(I-131) released from Fukushima, thyroid disease will develop in those exposed in Japan, as well as in those exposed to lesser amounts throughout the northern hemisphere. Public health officials need to anticipate and prepare for these findings.
The highest levels of I-131 measured by EPA in precipitation varied from a high of 390 pico Curies (pCi) in Boise to 92 in Boston, with intermediate levels in Kansas City, Salt Lake City, Jacksonville and Olympia, WA. (Normal is @ 2 pCi)
Not every system was evaluated after Chernobyl, but of those that were: wild and domestic animals, birds, fish, plants, fungi, bacteria, viruses - even humans - were altered by the radiation, often for generations.
Birds in the 30-kilometer “exclusion zone” of Chernobyl display small brain size, alterations of normal coloration, poor survival of offspring, and poor adaptability to stress,
Recent, independent studies conducted in Scandinavia shows a decline on academic performance in children exposed during the Chernobyl fallout.
80% of children in Belarus are considered un-well by government standards.
Unless the earth stops tuning, and the laws of biology, chemistry and physics are rescinded, we will continue to see sickness and harm spread to the children of Fukushima, the same that occurred after Chernobyl. We ignore history at our peril.
Full article available on 12-20-2011 at: www.janettesherman.com see also: www.radiation.org
This report, “An Unexpected Mortality Increase in the United States Follows Arrival of the Radioactive Plume from Fukushima: Is There a Correlation?” published in the Internat. J. of Health Sciences today, is not new science, but confirms research done over the decades as to adverse effects caused by radioisotopes to the unborn and the very young because of their rapidly developing cells, immature immunological systems and relatively small weight.
As background, in the 1950s, I worked for the Atomic Energy Commission (the forerunner of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission) at the Radiation Laboratory, University of California in Berkeley and the US Navy Radiation Laboratory at Hunter’s Point in San Francisco. Near 60 years ago, we learned that radiation could damage animals and plants and cause cancer, genetic damage, and other problems.
The issue of the danger from nuclear power plants is not just the engineering, but biology and chemistry. We have understood for decades where and how radioisotopes interact with life systems.
Cesium-137 and Strontium-90 have half-lives of approx 30 years. It takes 10 half-lives for an isotope to fully decay, thus it will take 300 years or Three Centuries before radioactive cesium and strontium will be gone.
Cs134, Cs-137 and Sr-90 continue to be released from Fukushima in tons of contaminated water that is making its’ way across the Pacific Ocean. Cesium concentrates in soft tissue, strontium in bones and teeth, of the unborn and young.
Immediately after Chernobyl the level of thyroid disease increased. Given the large amounts of radioactive iodine
(I-131) released from Fukushima, thyroid disease will develop in those exposed in Japan, as well as in those exposed to lesser amounts throughout the northern hemisphere. Public health officials need to anticipate and prepare for these findings.
The highest levels of I-131 measured by EPA in precipitation varied from a high of 390 pico Curies (pCi) in Boise to 92 in Boston, with intermediate levels in Kansas City, Salt Lake City, Jacksonville and Olympia, WA. (Normal is @ 2 pCi)
Not every system was evaluated after Chernobyl, but of those that were: wild and domestic animals, birds, fish, plants, fungi, bacteria, viruses - even humans - were altered by the radiation, often for generations.
Birds in the 30-kilometer “exclusion zone” of Chernobyl display small brain size, alterations of normal coloration, poor survival of offspring, and poor adaptability to stress,
Recent, independent studies conducted in Scandinavia shows a decline on academic performance in children exposed during the Chernobyl fallout.
80% of children in Belarus are considered un-well by government standards.
Unless the earth stops tuning, and the laws of biology, chemistry and physics are rescinded, we will continue to see sickness and harm spread to the children of Fukushima, the same that occurred after Chernobyl. We ignore history at our peril.
Full article available on 12-20-2011 at: www.janettesherman.com see also: www.radiation.org
Monday, December 19, 2011
Glyphosate (RoundUp), frogs and childhood cancers.
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/news-briefs-archives-68/3352-argentina-poison-from-the-sky
Argentina: Poison from the Sky
by Marcela Valente
(IPS) - Argentina's soy boom has been a major source of foreign exchange. But the other side of the coin is the toxic effects among the rural population, from spraying agrochemicals.
Research by the National University of Río Cuarto in the northwestern province of Córdoba demonstrated that glyphosate, the herbicide used on transgenic soy crops, causes genetic damage in mice and amphibians, like frogs.
Two years ago, another research study by Andrés Carrasco, a professor at the Molecular Embryology Laboratory of the University of Buenos Aires School of Medicine and principal researcher at the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET), also demonstrated damage in amphibians.
Genetically modified (GM) soy seeds, approved amid controversy in the 1990s for use in Argentina, were developed by the U.S.-based multinational biotechnology corporation Monsanto to be resistant to glyphosate, the active principle in the "Roundup" herbicide sold by the company.
Introduction of the GM seeds launched an expansion of soy cultivation and increased use of glyphosate. Today, 18 million hectares are planted to soy, out of a total of nearly 30 million hectares of all kinds of grain crops.
Sales of "Roundup" herbicide, which contains glyphosate and other ingredients that aid its absorption by plants, soared dramatically from one million litres a year in the 1990s to nearly 300 million litres a year today, according to official figures.
In 2006, a group of NGOs with access to medical reports from provinces where soy cultivation was expanding, launched the "Stop the Spraying" ("Paren de Fumigar") campaign, which managed to get an official commission created to look into the reports of health damages.
But the commission produced no results, and Monsanto insists that, with proper precautions, the herbicide is not toxic.
Delia Aiassa, a biologist in the Genetics and Environmental Mutagenesis group at the Natural Sciences Department of the University of Río Cuarto, leads a research team studying the impact of glyphosate on health.
The expert explained that exposure to glyphosate can cause asthma, chronic bronchitis, skin and eye irritation, damage to the kidneys, liver and nervous system, cancer, developmental problems in children and birth defects.
She also said that pregnant women are at greater risk of miscarriage, and in men fertility problems are more frequent, if they are exposed to the chemical.
Recently Aiassa published the results of her experiments in mice and amphibians, and her research team has carried out surveys in repeatedly sprayed areas which demonstrated the impact the herbicide has on human health.
Aiassa told IPS that mice and amphibians treated with glyphosate, in its pure form or as the commercial herbicide, mixed with additives, "had increased genetic damage to blood cells, bone marrow and liver." At higher doses, the animals died.
At the request of small towns in Córdoba that are surrounded by soy plantations, the multidisciplinary team carried out "human monitoring" to study the use of herbicides and pesticides from the vantage point of those directly involved.
In Rincón de los Sauces, in Córdoba, where 34 families are surrounded by large soy fields, 34 percent of respondents said that the area round their homes was repeatedly sprayed.
Fifty-three percent of those interviewed said they had never received any information about risks posed by the misuse of agrochemicals, and 35 percent reported symptoms of poisoning (of whom 83 percent worked as sprayers in the fields).
Similar results were obtained by the team in other small towns like Las Vertientes, Marcos Juárez and Saria in the same province. The experts also found "a lack of medical records reflecting the ailments experienced by local residents."
This shortcoming was highlighted by Dr Damián Verzeñassi, academic under-secretary of the School of Medical Sciences at the National University of Rosario, in the northeastern province of Santa Fe.
Aiassa and Verzeñassi gave a talk for health workers Dec. 6 at the Juan Garrahan Paediatric Hospital in Buenos Aires, where severely ill children from all over the country are treated.
"One cannot keep thinking about human health as though it were unconnected with the health of ecosystems," Verzeñassi said in his talk, warning of the health effects of a model of production based on large-scale production of transgenic soy.
Verzeñassi told IPS that because some health impacts only appear a considerable time after exposure to an agricultural chemical, it as essential for doctors in affected areas - and at the Garrahan hospital - to keep patient records.
"Case-based reasoning is a key tool in these situations, but it requires reliable case histories from which to gather data to visibilise the problem," the doctor from Rosario told his colleagues.
IPS asked him about the trial to be held next year in Córdoba province against two agribusiness producers and the pilot of a crop duster plane, for illegal spraying of glyphosate in the vicinity of the village of Ituzaingó and for damages caused to the local population.
In Verzeñassi's view, the trial is "very important" to establish criminal responsibility in the case. He regretted that a group of women from Ituzaingó had to push hard for prosecution to go ahead, instead of the public health system performing that duty.
In spite of loud demands, there is no national law to regulate agricultural chemicals in Argentina. There are regulations in the provinces and in some municipalities, which are permissive to different degrees and are not always enforced.
Among the doctors attending the talk was the head of Oncology at the Garrahan hospital, Pedro Zubizarreta. He told IPS that one-third of the country's child cancer cases - usually the most severe - come for treatment to the Garrahan.
"We can't prove an increase in cancer cases associated with glyphosate use, because we don't have enough detailed records, but what matters is that an agricultural chemical that causes harm is being used on a massive scale," he said.
"We might not be able to demonstrate today that this causes more child cancer, but we do know it is bad for our health and that of our children, and it has an enormous effect on biodiversity and the variety of our foods," he stressed.
The concern expressed by doctors and scientists echoed those of people in Chaco province in the northeast, where IPS covered a debate among the participants at a Women's Hearing for Climate Justice, held in October, which focused on agricultural chemicals.
"They ruin the earth; people around here can't plant any crops because they all wither. They spray toxic chemicals alongside our crops, and the wind burns them all up," Juana Ozuna of the small farmers' organisation in Colonias Unidas, Chaco province, told IPS at that event.
"We don't have much education, but we can see that it does harm, because we can't keep animals or have a vegetable garden, the water is polluted and there are pitiful cases of deformed babies," she concluded.
Argentina: Poison from the Sky
by Marcela Valente
(IPS) - Argentina's soy boom has been a major source of foreign exchange. But the other side of the coin is the toxic effects among the rural population, from spraying agrochemicals.
Research by the National University of Río Cuarto in the northwestern province of Córdoba demonstrated that glyphosate, the herbicide used on transgenic soy crops, causes genetic damage in mice and amphibians, like frogs.
Two years ago, another research study by Andrés Carrasco, a professor at the Molecular Embryology Laboratory of the University of Buenos Aires School of Medicine and principal researcher at the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET), also demonstrated damage in amphibians.
Genetically modified (GM) soy seeds, approved amid controversy in the 1990s for use in Argentina, were developed by the U.S.-based multinational biotechnology corporation Monsanto to be resistant to glyphosate, the active principle in the "Roundup" herbicide sold by the company.
Introduction of the GM seeds launched an expansion of soy cultivation and increased use of glyphosate. Today, 18 million hectares are planted to soy, out of a total of nearly 30 million hectares of all kinds of grain crops.
Sales of "Roundup" herbicide, which contains glyphosate and other ingredients that aid its absorption by plants, soared dramatically from one million litres a year in the 1990s to nearly 300 million litres a year today, according to official figures.
In 2006, a group of NGOs with access to medical reports from provinces where soy cultivation was expanding, launched the "Stop the Spraying" ("Paren de Fumigar") campaign, which managed to get an official commission created to look into the reports of health damages.
But the commission produced no results, and Monsanto insists that, with proper precautions, the herbicide is not toxic.
Delia Aiassa, a biologist in the Genetics and Environmental Mutagenesis group at the Natural Sciences Department of the University of Río Cuarto, leads a research team studying the impact of glyphosate on health.
The expert explained that exposure to glyphosate can cause asthma, chronic bronchitis, skin and eye irritation, damage to the kidneys, liver and nervous system, cancer, developmental problems in children and birth defects.
She also said that pregnant women are at greater risk of miscarriage, and in men fertility problems are more frequent, if they are exposed to the chemical.
Recently Aiassa published the results of her experiments in mice and amphibians, and her research team has carried out surveys in repeatedly sprayed areas which demonstrated the impact the herbicide has on human health.
Aiassa told IPS that mice and amphibians treated with glyphosate, in its pure form or as the commercial herbicide, mixed with additives, "had increased genetic damage to blood cells, bone marrow and liver." At higher doses, the animals died.
At the request of small towns in Córdoba that are surrounded by soy plantations, the multidisciplinary team carried out "human monitoring" to study the use of herbicides and pesticides from the vantage point of those directly involved.
In Rincón de los Sauces, in Córdoba, where 34 families are surrounded by large soy fields, 34 percent of respondents said that the area round their homes was repeatedly sprayed.
Fifty-three percent of those interviewed said they had never received any information about risks posed by the misuse of agrochemicals, and 35 percent reported symptoms of poisoning (of whom 83 percent worked as sprayers in the fields).
Similar results were obtained by the team in other small towns like Las Vertientes, Marcos Juárez and Saria in the same province. The experts also found "a lack of medical records reflecting the ailments experienced by local residents."
This shortcoming was highlighted by Dr Damián Verzeñassi, academic under-secretary of the School of Medical Sciences at the National University of Rosario, in the northeastern province of Santa Fe.
Aiassa and Verzeñassi gave a talk for health workers Dec. 6 at the Juan Garrahan Paediatric Hospital in Buenos Aires, where severely ill children from all over the country are treated.
"One cannot keep thinking about human health as though it were unconnected with the health of ecosystems," Verzeñassi said in his talk, warning of the health effects of a model of production based on large-scale production of transgenic soy.
Verzeñassi told IPS that because some health impacts only appear a considerable time after exposure to an agricultural chemical, it as essential for doctors in affected areas - and at the Garrahan hospital - to keep patient records.
"Case-based reasoning is a key tool in these situations, but it requires reliable case histories from which to gather data to visibilise the problem," the doctor from Rosario told his colleagues.
IPS asked him about the trial to be held next year in Córdoba province against two agribusiness producers and the pilot of a crop duster plane, for illegal spraying of glyphosate in the vicinity of the village of Ituzaingó and for damages caused to the local population.
In Verzeñassi's view, the trial is "very important" to establish criminal responsibility in the case. He regretted that a group of women from Ituzaingó had to push hard for prosecution to go ahead, instead of the public health system performing that duty.
In spite of loud demands, there is no national law to regulate agricultural chemicals in Argentina. There are regulations in the provinces and in some municipalities, which are permissive to different degrees and are not always enforced.
Among the doctors attending the talk was the head of Oncology at the Garrahan hospital, Pedro Zubizarreta. He told IPS that one-third of the country's child cancer cases - usually the most severe - come for treatment to the Garrahan.
"We can't prove an increase in cancer cases associated with glyphosate use, because we don't have enough detailed records, but what matters is that an agricultural chemical that causes harm is being used on a massive scale," he said.
"We might not be able to demonstrate today that this causes more child cancer, but we do know it is bad for our health and that of our children, and it has an enormous effect on biodiversity and the variety of our foods," he stressed.
The concern expressed by doctors and scientists echoed those of people in Chaco province in the northeast, where IPS covered a debate among the participants at a Women's Hearing for Climate Justice, held in October, which focused on agricultural chemicals.
"They ruin the earth; people around here can't plant any crops because they all wither. They spray toxic chemicals alongside our crops, and the wind burns them all up," Juana Ozuna of the small farmers' organisation in Colonias Unidas, Chaco province, told IPS at that event.
"We don't have much education, but we can see that it does harm, because we can't keep animals or have a vegetable garden, the water is polluted and there are pitiful cases of deformed babies," she concluded.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Peripheral precocious puberty in a 4-month-old girl: role of pesticides?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21306193
Gynecol Endocrinol. 2011 Sep;27(9):721-4. Epub 2011 Feb 9.
Peripheral precocious puberty in a 4-month-old girl: role of pesticides?
Gaspari L, Paris F, Jeandel C, Sultan C.
Source
Unité d'Endocrinologie-Gynécologie Pédiatrique, Service de Pédiatrie 1, Hôpital Arnaud-de-Villeneuve, CHU Montpellier, Université Montpellier I, Montpellier, France.
Abstract
A 4-month-old girl presented with sexual development, including breast enlargement, menstruation, uterine length of 69 mm at ultrasonography, and dramatically high estrogen bioactivity, but no growth acceleration, pubic hair, pelvis masses or adrenal tumors. Gas chromatography with an electron capture detector and mass spectrometry detected pesticides (p,p'-DDD, p,p'-DDT, lindane and endosulfan sulfate) in plasma from the infant, the mother, and the 38-year-old father, who reported a dramatic decrease in libido, and in soil samples from their farm. The precocious sexual development was probably caused by the estrogen activity of the environmental contamination by tons of pesticides stored in the family farm.
PMID:
21306193
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Gynecol Endocrinol. 2011 Sep;27(9):721-4. Epub 2011 Feb 9.
Peripheral precocious puberty in a 4-month-old girl: role of pesticides?
Gaspari L, Paris F, Jeandel C, Sultan C.
Source
Unité d'Endocrinologie-Gynécologie Pédiatrique, Service de Pédiatrie 1, Hôpital Arnaud-de-Villeneuve, CHU Montpellier, Université Montpellier I, Montpellier, France.
Abstract
A 4-month-old girl presented with sexual development, including breast enlargement, menstruation, uterine length of 69 mm at ultrasonography, and dramatically high estrogen bioactivity, but no growth acceleration, pubic hair, pelvis masses or adrenal tumors. Gas chromatography with an electron capture detector and mass spectrometry detected pesticides (p,p'-DDD, p,p'-DDT, lindane and endosulfan sulfate) in plasma from the infant, the mother, and the 38-year-old father, who reported a dramatic decrease in libido, and in soil samples from their farm. The precocious sexual development was probably caused by the estrogen activity of the environmental contamination by tons of pesticides stored in the family farm.
PMID:
21306193
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
NIOSH Fact Sheet Highlights Pesticide Poisoning Monitoring Program.
NIOSH Fact Sheet Highlights Pesticide Poisoning Monitoring Program
A variety of occupations such as agricultural workers, groundskeepers, pet groomers, and fumigators are at risk for exposure to pesticides including fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, rodenticides, fumigants, and sanitizers.
Dec 12, 2011
Among the estimated two million agricultural workers in the United States, physicians diagnose 10,000 to 20,000 pesticide poisonings each year. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) established the Sentinel Event Notification System for Occupational Risks - Pesticides Program (SENSOR-Pesticides) to reduce the number of injuries and illnesses associated with occupational pesticide exposure.
The Program is a U.S. state-based surveillance effort that monitors pesticide-related illness and injury in 11 states. Under this program, NIOSH provides technical support and funding to state health departments to build and maintain surveillance capacity and to bolster pesticide-related illness and injury surveillance. EPA also provides funding support for the program.
The SENSOR-supported surveillance systems tabulate the number of acute occupational pesticide poisonings, allowing for the timely identification of outbreaks. The program also helps develop preventive interventions and maintains a national database that compiles information from participating states.
Researchers and government officials from the SENSOR-Pesticides Program have published research articles highlighting findings from the data and build state and national capacity by facilitating communication across participating states. Publications have discussed issues as diverse as pesticide poisoning among agricultural workers, pesticide poisoning in schools, birth defects, and residential use of total release foggers (aka: bug bombs), which are devices that release an insecticide mist.
In 2005, three migrant farm workers living in the same region of Florida gave birth to infants with birth defects within eight weeks of each other. Though suspected, the possibility of workplace pesticide exposure during the maximum sensitivity period of their pregnancies was not initially confirmed because one of the three women had not been working in Florida during this period. The SENSOR-Pesticides Program facilitated collaboration between states that revealed that the three mothers worked for the same tomato grower during their maximum sensitivity periods—two at the grower's Florida operations and one in North Carolina. Thorough investigation was not able to establish a causal link between the mothers’ possible workplace pesticide exposure and their infants' birth defects. However, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services inspected the tomato grower's farms and found several pesticide and record keeping violations. Later, North Carolina created a taskforce whose findings motivated the state legislature to pass anti-retaliation and recordkeeping laws, training mandates to protect the health of agricultural workers, and funding for improved surveillance. The Florida state legislature provided funding to add ten new pesticide inspectors.
Relevant Information
About 1.1 billion pounds of pesticides are used annually in the U.S. and over 20,000 pesticide products are marketed.
A variety of occupations such as agricultural workers, groundskeepers, pet groomers, and fumigators are at risk for exposure to pesticides including fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, rodenticides, fumigants, and sanitizers.
Surveillance serves as an early warning system for harmful effects not detected by manufacturer pre-market testing of pesticide products.
http://ohsonline.com/articles/2011/12/12/niosh-fact-sheet-highlights-pesticide-poisoning-monitoring-program.aspx
A variety of occupations such as agricultural workers, groundskeepers, pet groomers, and fumigators are at risk for exposure to pesticides including fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, rodenticides, fumigants, and sanitizers.
Dec 12, 2011
Among the estimated two million agricultural workers in the United States, physicians diagnose 10,000 to 20,000 pesticide poisonings each year. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) established the Sentinel Event Notification System for Occupational Risks - Pesticides Program (SENSOR-Pesticides) to reduce the number of injuries and illnesses associated with occupational pesticide exposure.
The Program is a U.S. state-based surveillance effort that monitors pesticide-related illness and injury in 11 states. Under this program, NIOSH provides technical support and funding to state health departments to build and maintain surveillance capacity and to bolster pesticide-related illness and injury surveillance. EPA also provides funding support for the program.
The SENSOR-supported surveillance systems tabulate the number of acute occupational pesticide poisonings, allowing for the timely identification of outbreaks. The program also helps develop preventive interventions and maintains a national database that compiles information from participating states.
Researchers and government officials from the SENSOR-Pesticides Program have published research articles highlighting findings from the data and build state and national capacity by facilitating communication across participating states. Publications have discussed issues as diverse as pesticide poisoning among agricultural workers, pesticide poisoning in schools, birth defects, and residential use of total release foggers (aka: bug bombs), which are devices that release an insecticide mist.
In 2005, three migrant farm workers living in the same region of Florida gave birth to infants with birth defects within eight weeks of each other. Though suspected, the possibility of workplace pesticide exposure during the maximum sensitivity period of their pregnancies was not initially confirmed because one of the three women had not been working in Florida during this period. The SENSOR-Pesticides Program facilitated collaboration between states that revealed that the three mothers worked for the same tomato grower during their maximum sensitivity periods—two at the grower's Florida operations and one in North Carolina. Thorough investigation was not able to establish a causal link between the mothers’ possible workplace pesticide exposure and their infants' birth defects. However, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services inspected the tomato grower's farms and found several pesticide and record keeping violations. Later, North Carolina created a taskforce whose findings motivated the state legislature to pass anti-retaliation and recordkeeping laws, training mandates to protect the health of agricultural workers, and funding for improved surveillance. The Florida state legislature provided funding to add ten new pesticide inspectors.
Relevant Information
About 1.1 billion pounds of pesticides are used annually in the U.S. and over 20,000 pesticide products are marketed.
A variety of occupations such as agricultural workers, groundskeepers, pet groomers, and fumigators are at risk for exposure to pesticides including fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, rodenticides, fumigants, and sanitizers.
Surveillance serves as an early warning system for harmful effects not detected by manufacturer pre-market testing of pesticide products.
http://ohsonline.com/articles/2011/12/12/niosh-fact-sheet-highlights-pesticide-poisoning-monitoring-program.aspx
Monday, December 12, 2011
Turmeric Curcumin - Natural Cancer-Fighting Spice Reduces Tumors by 81%
Turmeric Curcumin - Natural Cancer-Fighting Spice Reduces Tumors by 81% - It also reduces pain, inflammation, diabetes, arthritis and many other health problems. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP7S5VDHtFY
The health benefits of turmeric lie in its active ingredient called curcumin. This powerful compound gives turmeric its therapeutic benefits, its yellow color, and its pungent flavor. More specifically, curcumin harbors antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, stomach-soothing, and liver-and heart-protecting effects. Turmeric is thought to reduce inflammation by lowering histamine levels and it may also stimulate the adrenal glands to increase production of a hormone that reduces inflammation. It is often used to ease joint pain and inflammation associated with arthritis. However, it is also used to reduce joint pain and in inflammation in other disorders as well. Turmeric (curcumin) also harbors rich stores of antioxidants. Antioxidants are disease-fighting substances that mop up the continuous onslaught of free radicals. Free radicals are unstable oxygen molecules that damage cells as they travel through the body and are responsible for premature aging and diseases such as cancer if left unchecked. In fact, Naturopaths often recommend turmeric for situations in which high concentrations of antioxidants are required.
Studies with animals show that turmeric benefits liver health. Several animal studies suggest that turmeric protects the liver from the damaging effects of certain toxins, including alcohol. These findings certainly lend credence to the herb's history of use in liver aliments. Among the many health benefits of turmeric, is that it harbors antiplatelet activity. The herb reduces the ability of the blood to form clots and, as such, this action may improve circulation as well as offer some protection against heart attacks and strokes. If you suffer from digestive problems this may be the herb for you. Turmeric helps digest fats by stimulating the flow of bile. No wonder it was used traditionally as a digestive aid. Laboratory studies indicate that curcumin has anti-cancer activity. More specifically, it destroys some types of cancer cells. For example, in the laboratory, curcumin kills cultures of human leukemia cells. This action may be due to turmeric's antioxidant properties or some other anti-cancer activity. Tumeric may help fight bacteria infections.
Precautions and Side Effects of Turmeric. Turmeric is considered a safe herb. However, prolong use of higher than recommended doses can cause stomach upset and other gastrointestinal disturbances. There is no RDA (recommended daily allowance) on turmeric because it is not considered an essential nutrient. However, a typical adult dosage as a stand-alone supplement is 400 to 600 of curcumin a day. Who should avoid the use of Turmeric? People with congestive heart disease whose cause remains unidentified and people with painful gallstones, obstructive jaundice, acute bilious colic, or extremely toxic liver disorders. The following people should check with their medical provider before starting any supplements - Pregnant women, women who are trying to conceive or women that have a history of fertility problems. Women who are nursing. People with a blood-clotting disorder. People on any type of medication. People with health conditions.
Tips on Choosing a Quality Turmeric Supplement - Choose a supplement using only standardized extracts of at least 95% curcumin or greater. Curcumin is not well absorbed by the body when taken taken orally. As such, it is often sold with piperine to enhance absorption. Bromelain also enhances the bioavailability of curcumin.
The health benefits of turmeric lie in its active ingredient called curcumin. This powerful compound gives turmeric its therapeutic benefits, its yellow color, and its pungent flavor. More specifically, curcumin harbors antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, stomach-soothing, and liver-and heart-protecting effects. Turmeric is thought to reduce inflammation by lowering histamine levels and it may also stimulate the adrenal glands to increase production of a hormone that reduces inflammation. It is often used to ease joint pain and inflammation associated with arthritis. However, it is also used to reduce joint pain and in inflammation in other disorders as well. Turmeric (curcumin) also harbors rich stores of antioxidants. Antioxidants are disease-fighting substances that mop up the continuous onslaught of free radicals. Free radicals are unstable oxygen molecules that damage cells as they travel through the body and are responsible for premature aging and diseases such as cancer if left unchecked. In fact, Naturopaths often recommend turmeric for situations in which high concentrations of antioxidants are required.
Studies with animals show that turmeric benefits liver health. Several animal studies suggest that turmeric protects the liver from the damaging effects of certain toxins, including alcohol. These findings certainly lend credence to the herb's history of use in liver aliments. Among the many health benefits of turmeric, is that it harbors antiplatelet activity. The herb reduces the ability of the blood to form clots and, as such, this action may improve circulation as well as offer some protection against heart attacks and strokes. If you suffer from digestive problems this may be the herb for you. Turmeric helps digest fats by stimulating the flow of bile. No wonder it was used traditionally as a digestive aid. Laboratory studies indicate that curcumin has anti-cancer activity. More specifically, it destroys some types of cancer cells. For example, in the laboratory, curcumin kills cultures of human leukemia cells. This action may be due to turmeric's antioxidant properties or some other anti-cancer activity. Tumeric may help fight bacteria infections.
Precautions and Side Effects of Turmeric. Turmeric is considered a safe herb. However, prolong use of higher than recommended doses can cause stomach upset and other gastrointestinal disturbances. There is no RDA (recommended daily allowance) on turmeric because it is not considered an essential nutrient. However, a typical adult dosage as a stand-alone supplement is 400 to 600 of curcumin a day. Who should avoid the use of Turmeric? People with congestive heart disease whose cause remains unidentified and people with painful gallstones, obstructive jaundice, acute bilious colic, or extremely toxic liver disorders. The following people should check with their medical provider before starting any supplements - Pregnant women, women who are trying to conceive or women that have a history of fertility problems. Women who are nursing. People with a blood-clotting disorder. People on any type of medication. People with health conditions.
Tips on Choosing a Quality Turmeric Supplement - Choose a supplement using only standardized extracts of at least 95% curcumin or greater. Curcumin is not well absorbed by the body when taken taken orally. As such, it is often sold with piperine to enhance absorption. Bromelain also enhances the bioavailability of curcumin.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Tribunal verdict vs. 6 agrochemical TNCs hailed, urgent action on recommendations urged
Tribunal verdict vs. 6 agrochemical TNCs hailed, urgent action on recommendations urged
Pesticide Action Network (PAN) International hailed the verdict of the Permanent People’s Tribunal (PPT) against the world’s six largest agrochemical companies Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer, Dow Chemical, DuPont and BASF after a historic four-day session that culminated in Bangalore, India yesterday.
Victims and survivors of the pesticide industry from all over the world, represented by PAN International, testified before a distinguished international jury to indict the “Big 6” for human rights violations. Based on evidence presented before it, the Tribunal found the Defendant agrochemical TNCs “responsible for gross, widespread and systematic violations of the right to health and life, economic, social and cultural rights, as well as of civil and political rights, and women and children’s rights.” (see the verdict http://www.agricorporateaccountability.net/)
The Tribunal also found agrochemical TNCs responsible for violation of indigenous peoples’ human rights, and further found that “their systematic acts of corporate governance have caused avoidable catastrophic risks, increasing the prospects of extinction of biodiversity, including species whose continued existence is necessary for reproduction of human life.”
Sarojeni Rengam, PAN Asia Pacific Executive Director, said that the Tribunal’s verdict is a victory for peoples who have been most affected by the Big 6’s control over food and agriculture. “We are elated with the verdict. It affirms what people all over the world already know and are experiencing: that the pesticide industry is to blame and should be held accountable for the systematic poisoning of human health and the environment, loss of food sovereignty and self-determination, and increased world hunger and poverty,” she said.
The PPT, founded in 1979 in Italy, is an international opinion tribunal that looks into complaints of human rights violations. Borne out of the tribunals on the Vietnam War and Latin American dictatorships, the PPT has held 37 sessions so far using the rigorous conventional court format. While its verdicts are not legally binding, these can set precedent for future legal actions against Defendants, and can pressure governments and institutions.
Jurors for the PPT Session on Agrochemical TNCs are Indian legal scholar Upendra Baxi, British scientist Dr. Ricarda Steinbrecher, African environmental lawyer Ibrahima Ly, German economist Elmar Altvater, Italian professor Paolo Ramazotti, and PPT Secretary General Dr. Gianni Tognoni. (see profile of jury http://www.agricorporateaccountability.net/)
The Tribunal said that the home States of the Big 6 (US, Switzerland, and Germany), have “failed to comply with their internationally accepted responsibility to promote and protect human rights,” by not adequately regulating, monitoring and disciplining these corporations. The Tribunal further said that these States have “unjustifiably promoted a double standard approach prohibiting the production of hazardous chemicals at home while allowing their own TNCs unrestrained license for these enterprises in other States, especially of the Global South.”
The Tribunal also found host States responsible for failure to protect the human rights of its citizens by offering “magic carpet type hospitality” to agrochemical TNCs and therefore not adequately protecting social movement activists or independent scientists from harassment, not limiting the “global corporate ownership of knowledge production in universities and related research sites,” “not recognizing the value of indigenous knowledge and social relationships they create and sustain,” and “not fully pursuing alternative and less hazardous forms of agricultural production without having learnt the full lessons from the First Green Revolution.”
The Tribunal also found that the policies of World Trade Organization in relation to Intellectual Property Rights are “not balanced with any sincere regard for the grave long-term hazards to humans and nature already posed by the activities of agribusiness and agrochemical industries.” International financial institutions, named in the indictment as the International Monetary Fund-World Bank, do not follow “a strict regime of human rights conditionalities” and “have yet to develop policies concerning their support for hazardous manufacture, application or process,” said the Tribunal.
The Tribunal recommended that national governments should “prosecute the Defendant agrochemical companies in terms of criminal liability rather than civil liability.” It also urged governments to take action to “restructure international law” to ensure the accountability of transnational corporations, to “accept a less heavy burden of proof on the victims and to fully commit to and legislate for the precautionary principle,” and “to prevent TNCs from directly or indirectly harassing and intimidating scientists, farmers and human rights and environmental defenders.”
It also urged international organizations and intergovernmental institutions to uphold human rights and the welfare of populations, and protect of biodiversity and ecosystems by subordinating the interests of corporations pursuing patents.
“The Tribunal’s recommendations must immediately be acted upon, for they echo what civil society and people’s organizations have been demanding for a very long time. The prosecution of the Big 6 must be started to bring justice to fruition for the thousands of victims and survivors of the pesticide industry. The precautionary principle must be put into place and the patent regime abolished, as recommended by the Tribunal. That is the only way to stop these human rights violations, which continue every day without impunity,” said Rengam.
Rengam further added that the Tribunal just marks the beginning of an escalated international people’s movement against agrochemical TNCs, which is now armed with a powerful verdict that can be used in every part of the world. “The next step towards justice and liberation from the Big 6’s control will be determined by the people’s unity, strength, and determination to stand up against corporate greed and aggression, just as was shown in this victorious PPT Session,” she concluded. ###
_____________________________________________
E-mail: inquiry@agricorporateaccountability.net, media@agricorporateaccountability.net
Website: http://www.agricorporateaccountability.net
The Permanent People's Tribunal Session on Agrochemical TNCs is organised by Pesticide Action Network International, a global network of more than 600 organisations in over 90 countries which has been working to eliminate the use of pesticides and other hazardous technologies.
See the full coverage of the PPT Session http://www.agricorporateaccountability.net/.
Pesticide Action Network (PAN) International hailed the verdict of the Permanent People’s Tribunal (PPT) against the world’s six largest agrochemical companies Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer, Dow Chemical, DuPont and BASF after a historic four-day session that culminated in Bangalore, India yesterday.
Victims and survivors of the pesticide industry from all over the world, represented by PAN International, testified before a distinguished international jury to indict the “Big 6” for human rights violations. Based on evidence presented before it, the Tribunal found the Defendant agrochemical TNCs “responsible for gross, widespread and systematic violations of the right to health and life, economic, social and cultural rights, as well as of civil and political rights, and women and children’s rights.” (see the verdict http://www.agricorporateaccountability.net/)
The Tribunal also found agrochemical TNCs responsible for violation of indigenous peoples’ human rights, and further found that “their systematic acts of corporate governance have caused avoidable catastrophic risks, increasing the prospects of extinction of biodiversity, including species whose continued existence is necessary for reproduction of human life.”
Sarojeni Rengam, PAN Asia Pacific Executive Director, said that the Tribunal’s verdict is a victory for peoples who have been most affected by the Big 6’s control over food and agriculture. “We are elated with the verdict. It affirms what people all over the world already know and are experiencing: that the pesticide industry is to blame and should be held accountable for the systematic poisoning of human health and the environment, loss of food sovereignty and self-determination, and increased world hunger and poverty,” she said.
The PPT, founded in 1979 in Italy, is an international opinion tribunal that looks into complaints of human rights violations. Borne out of the tribunals on the Vietnam War and Latin American dictatorships, the PPT has held 37 sessions so far using the rigorous conventional court format. While its verdicts are not legally binding, these can set precedent for future legal actions against Defendants, and can pressure governments and institutions.
Jurors for the PPT Session on Agrochemical TNCs are Indian legal scholar Upendra Baxi, British scientist Dr. Ricarda Steinbrecher, African environmental lawyer Ibrahima Ly, German economist Elmar Altvater, Italian professor Paolo Ramazotti, and PPT Secretary General Dr. Gianni Tognoni. (see profile of jury http://www.agricorporateaccountability.net/)
The Tribunal said that the home States of the Big 6 (US, Switzerland, and Germany), have “failed to comply with their internationally accepted responsibility to promote and protect human rights,” by not adequately regulating, monitoring and disciplining these corporations. The Tribunal further said that these States have “unjustifiably promoted a double standard approach prohibiting the production of hazardous chemicals at home while allowing their own TNCs unrestrained license for these enterprises in other States, especially of the Global South.”
The Tribunal also found host States responsible for failure to protect the human rights of its citizens by offering “magic carpet type hospitality” to agrochemical TNCs and therefore not adequately protecting social movement activists or independent scientists from harassment, not limiting the “global corporate ownership of knowledge production in universities and related research sites,” “not recognizing the value of indigenous knowledge and social relationships they create and sustain,” and “not fully pursuing alternative and less hazardous forms of agricultural production without having learnt the full lessons from the First Green Revolution.”
The Tribunal also found that the policies of World Trade Organization in relation to Intellectual Property Rights are “not balanced with any sincere regard for the grave long-term hazards to humans and nature already posed by the activities of agribusiness and agrochemical industries.” International financial institutions, named in the indictment as the International Monetary Fund-World Bank, do not follow “a strict regime of human rights conditionalities” and “have yet to develop policies concerning their support for hazardous manufacture, application or process,” said the Tribunal.
The Tribunal recommended that national governments should “prosecute the Defendant agrochemical companies in terms of criminal liability rather than civil liability.” It also urged governments to take action to “restructure international law” to ensure the accountability of transnational corporations, to “accept a less heavy burden of proof on the victims and to fully commit to and legislate for the precautionary principle,” and “to prevent TNCs from directly or indirectly harassing and intimidating scientists, farmers and human rights and environmental defenders.”
It also urged international organizations and intergovernmental institutions to uphold human rights and the welfare of populations, and protect of biodiversity and ecosystems by subordinating the interests of corporations pursuing patents.
“The Tribunal’s recommendations must immediately be acted upon, for they echo what civil society and people’s organizations have been demanding for a very long time. The prosecution of the Big 6 must be started to bring justice to fruition for the thousands of victims and survivors of the pesticide industry. The precautionary principle must be put into place and the patent regime abolished, as recommended by the Tribunal. That is the only way to stop these human rights violations, which continue every day without impunity,” said Rengam.
Rengam further added that the Tribunal just marks the beginning of an escalated international people’s movement against agrochemical TNCs, which is now armed with a powerful verdict that can be used in every part of the world. “The next step towards justice and liberation from the Big 6’s control will be determined by the people’s unity, strength, and determination to stand up against corporate greed and aggression, just as was shown in this victorious PPT Session,” she concluded. ###
_____________________________________________
E-mail: inquiry@agricorporateaccountability.net, media@agricorporateaccountability.net
Website: http://www.agricorporateaccountability.net
The Permanent People's Tribunal Session on Agrochemical TNCs is organised by Pesticide Action Network International, a global network of more than 600 organisations in over 90 countries which has been working to eliminate the use of pesticides and other hazardous technologies.
See the full coverage of the PPT Session http://www.agricorporateaccountability.net/.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Permanent People’s Tribunal Session on Agrochemical TNCs to be broadcasted live
Permanent People’s Tribunal Session on Agrochemical TNCs to be broadcasted live
The first-ever Permanent People’s Tribunal (PPT) Session on Agrochemical Transnational Corporations (TNCs) will be broadcasted via livestreaming on December 3 to 6, 2011 from Bangalore, India.
This was announced today by Pesticide Action Network International, which will bring the indictment in behalf of victims and survivors from all over the world who will gather and give testimony for the landmark trial.
Pesticide industry giants Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer, DuPont, BASF, and Dow Chemical will be charged with violations of more than 20 instruments of international human rights law before a distinguished panel of jurors.
The schedule and livestreaming of the PPT can be seen here:
http://www.agricorporateaccountability.net/en/page/media-resources/51
Live updates from the PPT can be seen here:
http://twitter.com/#!/PANAsiaPacific
The first-ever Permanent People’s Tribunal (PPT) Session on Agrochemical Transnational Corporations (TNCs) will be broadcasted via livestreaming on December 3 to 6, 2011 from Bangalore, India.
This was announced today by Pesticide Action Network International, which will bring the indictment in behalf of victims and survivors from all over the world who will gather and give testimony for the landmark trial.
Pesticide industry giants Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer, DuPont, BASF, and Dow Chemical will be charged with violations of more than 20 instruments of international human rights law before a distinguished panel of jurors.
The schedule and livestreaming of the PPT can be seen here:
http://www.agricorporateaccountability.net/en/page/media-resources/51
Live updates from the PPT can be seen here:
http://twitter.com/#!/PANAsiaPacific
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