This blog is set up for a college class project about the Environment. Please follow my blogs and comment as you feel compelled to. I encourage you to share additional information and research so that we can conduct an informed conversation about dangerous environmental hormones. My hope is to raise awareness of dangers facing our world and to empower us to take back our lives. We must stop harming ourselves and our world.
I wanted to pause from the targeted blogs that I have been posting about each of the different chemicals today. Today, I wanted to take time to remind myself what is important in our world. I have been learning and reading about all the harmful chemicals we have saturated our land, air and water with and I am besieged with guilt and dismay at my own part in this destructive behavior.
Yet, I am can reflect on the way that our whole society has set itself up to consume. We have built our legacy on freedom yet we are slaves to consumption. At the detriment of our children and their children, we continue to consume. Its not just consumption that we seek, it is also convenience. The days of drinking out of a water hose in the back yard from the well water are diminished with the water we have today. I read somewhere that there is no pure water left on the planet. That all of our fresh water supply has some kind of chemical in it that was not there naturally a hundred years ago. I don't want to carry little plastic bottles that will poison my body if they reach a certain temperature and in those bottles contains drinking water that is poisoned by arsenic and other pollutants.
Our world is in need of a large reset. I know, I know that is a pipe dream. No resets, no do overs, then at least a re-think. A conversation, a global conversation where we are all working in the same direction and not undermining our neighbors by continuing to harm ourselves and our future.
Wow, got a little philosophical there for a minute.
Really, I just wanted to remind myself that I contribute to the problem every day and therein lies the problem. If I start doing things differently then that is one less person creating problems. That is all I can control and that is all I can focus on. There are hundreds of thousands of intelligent people in this world so it won't hurt me to act intelligently and thoughtfully to make a difference in my corner. That is all.
When I started researching this chemical I began to get some very disturbing images. You see, my heart started breaking into tiny pieces with every image I found and every article I read. There is this village in India...oh, don't go anywhere...cause you might think that is far removed from you...or that has nothing to do with you and me...I could never be exposed to this sort of poison. Let's begin with a lesson from Wikipedia.
DEFINITION: Endosulfan is an off-patentorganochlorineinsecticide and acaricide that is being phased out globally. Endosulfan became a highly controversial agrichemical[1] due to its acute toxicity, potential for bioaccumulation, and role as an endocrine disruptor.
Because of its threats to human health and the environment, a global
ban on the manufacture and use of endosulfan was negotiated under the Stockholm Convention in April 2011. The ban will take effect in mid 2012, with certain uses exempted for 5 additional years.[2] More than 80 countries,[3] including the European Union, Australia and New Zealand, several West African nations,[4] the United States,[5][6] Brazil[7] and Canada[8]
had already banned it or announced phase outs by the time the Stockholm
Convention ban was agreed upon. It is still used extensively in India,
China, and few other countries. It is produced by Makhteshim Agan and several manufacturers in India and China.
USES: Endosulfan has been used in agriculture around the world to control insect pests including whiteflys, aphids, leafhoppers, Colorado potato beetles and cabbage worms.[9]
Due to its unique mode of action, it is useful in resistance
management; however, as it is non-specific, it can negatively impact
populations of beneficial insects.[10] It is, however, considered to be moderately toxic to honey bees,[11] and it is less toxic to bees than organophosphate insecticides.
HEALTH EFFECTS:
Endosulfan is one of the most toxic pesticides on the market today,
responsible for many fatal pesticide poisoning incidents around the
world.[37] Endosulfan is also a xenoestrogen—a synthetic substance that imitates or enhances the effect of estrogens—and it can act as an endocrine disruptor, causing reproductive and developmental damage in both animals and humans. Whether endosulfan can cause cancer is debated. With regard to consumers intake of endosulfan from residues on food, the Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations
has concluded that long-term exposure from food is unlikely to present a
public health concern, but short term exposure can exceed acute reference doses.[38]
You can get more information on production and other details for yourself, but the images from this village in India pretty much tells the story.
These pictures are from Kerala, India.
WHY?
The Hindu: News out of New Delhi in an article dated July 27, 2012 headline reads
‘Allow use of endosulfan except in Kerala and Karnataka’
The Centre has asked the Supreme Court to allow the use
of pesticide endosulfan in all States except Kerala and Karnataka, as
these States are ready to use it for agricultural pest control.
The
Supreme Court in May last year banned the production and sale of
endolsulfan in the country. In April this year, it asked the Centre to
ascertain the quantity of raw material lying with three companies
(producers of the banned pesticide endosulfan) and the manner in which
the raw material could be disposed of.http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3688642.ece
WHY?
WHY?
June 2010 Endosulfan Action: EPA is taking action to end all uses of endosulfan in the United
States. EPA has concluded that endosulfan poses unacceptable risks to
agricultural workers and wildlife, and can persist in the environment. http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/reregistration/endosulfan/endosulfan-cancl-fs.html
I can only hope that your heart breaks also about these places in India that have been so impacted by this product. But then I am not finished. You can see the map of the United States I am providing you along with the link where that map came from and the logic behind the long drawn out ban or phase out as they call it just makes no sense to me. http://daily.sightline.org/2012/10/18/farm-workers-arctic-tribes-and-pesticides-on-northwest-crops/
I originally set up this blog to identify and explain or discuss the harmful environmental hormones that are polluting the air, water and soil. Additionally, I wanted to explore how they get absorbed into our bodies through exposure, eating, drinking, by touching the products that contain the harmful chemicalsor come into contact with it directly and indirectly. There was overwhelming evidence that these chemicals are in our bodies; they do exist.
My concern has increased as it is more and more evident that policy-makers, governments, legislators, and decision makers are not 100% against the things that harm us. Rather than finding support in banning these harmful chemicals I am finding more and more large chemical companies and industries spending lots of money in order keep strict regulations from get passed. That is just my opinion after reading several articles and research studies.
Hhhhmmmmmm! I wonder. Call me crazy, well, to put it bluntly I don't see the legitimacy of it taking from the mid 1990's until 2012 for the EPA to release its "Dioxin Report". 27 years to be exact.The following is a short quote from a bit of information I found athttp://chej.org/wp-content/uploads/Documents/Behind%20Closed%20Doors-082808.pdf
"Every American has dioxin in their body. According to the EPA, about ninetypercent of the American public’s exposure results from ingestion of commonfoods, mostly dairy and meat products. Dairy cows and beef cattle absorbdioxin by eating contaminated feed crops. The crops become contaminated byairborne dioxins that settle onto soil, water, and plants. Dioxin thenaccumulates in the grazing animals that eat these crops. People ingestdioxin when they eat meat, dairy products, and eggs. Some exposure alsoresults from eating dioxin-contaminated fish. Dioxin gets into our foodsupply from emissions from garbage, medical and hazardous wasteincinerators, the bleaching of paper, and the manufacture and disposal of chlorinated plastics and pesticides. Dioxin can result in serious healthproblems including cancer, attention deficit disorder, learning disabilities,weakened immune system, infertility, birth defects, and endometriosis(CHEJ, 1999; USEPA, 2000)."
This is probably one of the most toxic carcinogens and should be avoided
at all costs. To learn more about dioxin and how it is dangerous to
humans and to learn more about PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), which
are highly toxic chemical compounds you can watch this film now.
What other health problems are linked to dioxin exposure?
In addition to cancer, exposure to dioxin can also cause severe
reproductive and developmental problems (at levels 100 times lower than
those associated with its cancer causing effects). Dioxin is well-known
for its ability to damage the immune system and interfere with hormonal
systems.
Dioxin exposure has been linked to birth defects, inability to maintain
pregnancy, decreased fertility, reduced sperm counts, endometriosis,
diabetes, learning disabilities, immune system suppression, lung
problems, skin disorders, lowered testosterone levels and much more.
For an detailed list of health problems related to dioxin, read the People's Report on Dioxin.
How are we exposed to dioxin?
The major sources of dioxin are in our diet. Since dioxin is fat-soluble, it bioaccumulates, climbing up the food chain. A North American eating a typical North American diet will receive 93% of their dioxin exposure from meat and dairy products
(23% is from milk and dairy alone; the other large sources of exposure
are beef, fish, pork, poultry and eggs). In fish, these toxins
bioaccumulate up the food chain so that dioxin levels in fish are
100,000 times that of the surrounding environment. The best way to avoid dioxin exposure is to reduce or eliminate your consumption of meat and dairy products by adopting a vegan diet. According to a May 2001 study of dioxin in foods,
"The category with the lowest [dioxin] level was a simulated vegan
diet, with 0.09 ppt.... Blood dioxin levels in pure vegans have also
been found to be very low in comparison with the general population,
indicating a lower contribution of these foods to human dioxin body
burden."
In EPA's dioxin report, they refer to dioxin as hydrophobic (water-fearing) and lipophilic
(fat-loving). This means that dioxin, when it settles on water bodies,
will rapidly accumulate in fish rather than remain in the water. The
same goes for other wildlife. Dioxin works its way to the top of the
food chain.
Men have no ways to get rid of dioxin other than letting it break down
according to its chemical half-lives. Women, on the other hand, have
two ways which it can exit their bodies:
It crosses the placenta... into the growing infant;
It is present in the fatty breast milk, which is also a route
of exposure which doses the infant, making breast-feeding for
non-vegan/vegetarian mothers quite hazardous.
In researching BPA I have come across so much information that is both scary and disconcerting at the same time. There is plenty of evidence and case studies to show that everything from plastic sandals to the lining in canned food, bottles, gloves, and all sorts of items from all over the world indicate that BPA (Bisphenol A) is in everything we eat, breathe and touch. I am always skeptical of the web pages that set out this information without backing it up with the reports, test results or research that was done to provide the information, and there is plenty of those that name certain companies that are at fault, but instead of slamming the companies, I thought I would provide you with some of the information. This information is specifically about Bisphenol A.
Part of the conflict with this "hazardous substance" is that 1.) most of the time we don't even know we are being exposed to it; 2.) it is in an object that we deem harmless yet under certain circumstances can become lethal (as in the heating up of the plastics and the toxic gasses that are produced at certain temperatures); 3.) what are the long-term effects of the small doses of continuous exposure really doing to our bodies.
My question to you is this, how do you think we should stop the exposure of this hazardous substance?
There are lots of you out there that may or may not be concerned with what you put into your bodies. We may not think that endocrine disrupters affect us, but what if the very thing that perpetuates us as a society is being affected by environmental hormones in water, food and products we are in contact with and consume. I found this short 4 page article that helps to describe some of the very questions we must ask ourselves today.
Atrizol, frogs, unborn babies. What do they have in common. This video can begin to make us aware of the simple truths about water, and other variables of things we are putting into our bodies. The most striking information to me was the fact that what I put into my body today could affect my daughter's children's children. Please take just 17 minutes of your day to begin the journey of awareness.
Check out what they have to say about the miniscule amount of BPA in their aluminum cans. Later I will give the you information about research that shows the small miniscule continued exposure is what does the most harm.
This blog is being created to start a discussion
about issues concerning pollutants and chemicals that mimic our hormones.Don't let any big words discourage you from following along and interacting with my blog over the coming weeks. I will attempt to explain and describe in layman's terms what has happened, what continues to happen and hopefully we can even discuss what could happen to stop or in the very least minimize our exposure to these harmful agents when possible.
There are several websites that discuss this
phenomena and bring to light the facts behind these chemicals and pollutants that have been
released into our water over the years; that get in our food; are put
directly into products on purpose; and
enter our bodies leaving adverse effects on our human systems.
These Endocrine Disrupters come in many forms, shapes and sizes and
there is plenty of evidence to show that we are feeling the effects of this “poisoning” through abnormalities in our body’s functions.
Some of the threat of "environmental
hormones," which are believed to disrupt our normal functions of our
bodies come from the following Exogenous Estrogens that are found in some
pesticides, flexible plastics, flame retardants, inner linings of canned foods,
cosmetics, and numerous other products.
The common ones
are:
Atrizine
BPA
DDT
Dioxin
Endosulfan
Pbb
Pcbs
Phthalates
Zeranol
One of the concerns is
that it can cause premature puberty in young girls.Another concern is how it affects a
developing fetus, the reproductive organs of humans and animals, There are
other problems that may be attributed to the use of these chemicals and further
research needs to be conducted to verify
the many theories and hypotheses that exist with regard to use of these and how
they affect the human system as well as animals.
Much of the research that
has been done in this area are believed to be looking at doses contrary to how
we actually have exposure so there needs to be more emphasis on the effects of
it at the exposure levels.Another
concern is that these estrogen mimicking chemicals also elevate a woman’s
changes for breast cancer.
This is all for today but please follow along tomorrow. I will be discussing my goals for this blog and providing you with some additional food for thought. Please offer any comments to me as we begin this battle against the Silent
Really, I just wanted to remind myself that I contribute to the problem every day and therein lies the problem. If I start doing things differently then that is one less person creating problems. That is all I can control and that is all I can focus on. There are hundreds of thousands of intelligent people in this world so it won't hurt me to act intelligently and thoughtfully to make a difference in my corner. That is all.
