Mark Schapiro
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 Jensen is director of the Field and External Affairs Division of the EPA's Office of pesticide Programs, and part of her job involves maintaining ties with international bodies like this one to share the EPA's expertise. The other part of her job involves overseeing what is probably the world's single most significant repository of toxicity data on those POPS chemicals, which her agency has been monitoring for decades. "POPS," she told me, "is the first international treaty [on chemicals] with real teeth and real bucks behind it."6
Ms. Jensen found herself in an awkward position: she was U.S. |
Paul D. Blanc, M.D.
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 Regulatory battles are ongoing or looming on the horizon over issues that range from limiting pesticide residues to controlling greenhouse air pollution emissions to reining in diesel truck exhaust (in regard to which the European Union is even more reluctant to take action than the United States is) to banning persistent chemicals such as bromine-containing flame retardants.18 Detailing each and every one of these examples is not necessary. The general principles that have been elucidated in this book are also applicable to these issues. |
Jeffrey M. Smith
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 The cooked GM pea was denatured and no longer effective as a pesticide, but it was still able to create an immune response in the mice.
Approved crops may have similar problems
If the GM peas had been commercialized in Australia, they would have been widely consumed in India where they may have caused dangerous allergic reactions. The GM crops on the market, however, contain novel proteins derived from bacteria or viruses. When expressed in a plant, they also may undergo unintended modifications with unknown consequences. |
| Bt {Bacillus thuringiensis) is a soil bacterium that produces a pesticide. Solutions containing the bacteria (including spores and protein crystals) are sprayed on plants as a method of insect control, used by organic farmers. Scientists altered the sequence of the gene that produces 5/-toxin and inserted it into plant DNA. Very few studies have assessed the health effects of Bt crops. Instead, justification for their approval is largely based on the argument that Bt sprays have a history of safe use and that the ifr-toxin does not react with mammals. Research contradicts both arguments. |
| StarLink corn's built-in pesticide has a "medium likelihood" of being an allergen
The Bt protein in StarLink corn (Cry9C) was designed to be more stable to enhance its ability to kill pests. As a result, it took longer to break down by heat and simulated gastric juices than other Bt proteins. Concerned that it may cause allergies, the EPA did not approve the corn for human consumption. They did approve StarLink as animal feed. |
Paul D. Blanc, M.D.
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| This might not have been surprising, given metam sodium's potency as a pesticide. The effect that could not be explained at first was the intense tespitatory irritation experienced by those exposed near the river. It began with the train crew and emergency cleanup crews, then spread out in concentric circles of distress, enveloping the local residents of Dunsmuir.
Initially, State of California health officials had only fragmentary information on the relatively new chemical. |
Thomson Healthcare, Inc.
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 Unproven Uses: Experiments in the use of cytisine as a pesticide (lice) have shown that in the necessary concentration the danger of poisoning is too high. precautions and adverse reactions
There are no indications for this drug. The drug is severely toxic. See Overdosage section. overdosage
Symptoms of poisoning include nausea, dizziness, salivation, pains in the mouth, in the throat and in the stomach area, outbreaks of sweat, headache as well as extended, severe and sometimes bloody vomiting. |
Richard Beliveau, Ph.D. and Denis Gingras, Ph.D.
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 Fruits and vegetables contain pesticide residues that cause cancer. False. pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables are present in trace amounts and no study has ever established a link between these residues and cancer. The opposite is true: the consumption of fruits and vegetables has constantly been linked to a decrease in the risk of developing cancer, and there is no doubt that the benefits associated with an increased intake of these foods exceed many times over any hypothetical negative effects that trace amounts of contaminants might cause. |
David Wolfe
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 Chart: Pesticides
Ibs./acre kg/hectare
Strawberries
302 lbs
340 kg
Dates
140 lbs
158 kg
Carrots
119 lbs
134 kg
Pears
112 lbs
126 kg
Cabbage
102 lbs
115 kg
Lemons
93 lbs
105 kg
Grapes
91 lbs
102 kg
Sweet Potatoes
88 lbs
99 kg
Peaches
71 lbs
80 kg
Nectarines
70 lbs
79 kg
The lowest pesticide use was in the following:
Ibs./acre kg/hectare
Figs
2 lbs
2 kg
Avocados
2 lbs
2 kg
Pecan
3 lbs
3 kg
Garlic
3 lbs
3 kg
Increasing Digestive Strength
The digestive organs act as one big muscle. |
Paul D. Blanc, M.D.
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| The responding consultant went through each pesticide, suggesting that theorerically rhree of them might have caused the problem, but not the weed killers. In his conclusion, he reassured, "The othet compounds noted by the inquiring physician I do not believe need be considered as possible causative agents for the acne-form lesions."61
Two physicians from New Jersey read the exchange and realized that the consultant had made a dangerous error. |
| As in the West, the scenario of grabbing what is most easily available often characterizes self-harm ingestions (especially among adolescents), but the nature of these poisons converts what might have been little more than a gesture (as in raking an over-the-counter painkiller in the United States) to a successful suicide (as in guzzling a poorly regulated otganophosphate pesticide in Sri Lanka). |
| Phosgene is an important chemical intermediate in key industrial sectors, especially in pesticide manufacturing. More important, phosgene is easy to make on the spot, by accident. This can occur when certain chlorine-containing hydrocarbon solvents are broken down by intense light or heat. The most striking cases have occurred when an electric arc welder works on a piece of metal that has just been cleaned or "degreased" with such a solvent. |
Josef A. Brinckmann and Michael P. Lindenmaier
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 Pesticide-Residues which lists 34 pesticides and their limits; exempt are "plants that require a particular method of cultivation or have a metabolic or structural pattern that causes a higher than normal pesticide level". |
Dr. Edward F. Group III, DC, ND, DACBN
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| Example: DDT (Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane), the first modern toxic chemical pesticide, washes off the land into a lake after a rainstorm. The fish in that lake drink the polluted water, causing DDT to be stored in their body tissues. DDT is not excreted efficiently, and stays in the bodies of fish for a long time—this biomagnifi.es the chemical (increasing the amount stored in tissues). And guess what? When humans eat fish from that lake, the DDT biomagnifies again! |
| Lemons from a grocery store are usually not as "pure" as you might believe due to over-processing, early picking, pesticide spraying, or being grown in nutrient-depleted soil.
Using fresh squeezed, organic lemon juice helps you eliminate more toxins on a daily basis. The more toxins you can flush out of your system, the more your colon will be receptive to your cleansing efforts.
Fig. XI: Oxygen Colon Cleanser Breaking Down Toxic Buildup
Why Are Oxygen-Based Colon Cleansers Used? |
David R. Montgomery
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 As crop yields increased two- to threefold from 1950 to the 1990s, the cost of machinery, fertilizer, and pesticide rose from about half to over three-quarters of farm income. Two types of farms survived: those that opted out of industrialization and those that grew by working larger areas for a smaller net return per acre. By the 1980s the largest farms, dubbed superfarms by the USDA, accounted for close to half of all farm income.
If small-scale agriculture is so efficient, why are America's small farms going under? |
Mark Schapiro
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| There may be no alternatives for fighting the mosquitoes that carry malaria than with that infamously toxic pesticide. "There is a real risk-benefit calculus there, because malaria is coming back and DDT may be the most effective way to control it. That risk-benefit is real. But with phthalates you don't have that same calculus. There are alternatives. We can switch. It's doable. Why put this into kids' bodies if we don't have to?'"6
The toy industry was perhaps the first in the United States to awaken to the rising power of the European Union. |
Hyla Cass, M.D.
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 This less healthy form of fat is also likely to contain hormones, antibiotics, and pesticide residues from animals raised on factory farms. You can reduce your exposure to these chemicals—some of which are known causes of cancer—by shopping for organic meats from grass-fed cattle. (Organic, grass-fed meat is also less likely to carry mad cow disease.) Eat the leanest cuts possible. Skinless chicken and turkey are better sources of protein as they contain little saturated fat.
Eliminate trans-fatty acids from your diet. |
Herbert Ross, DC with Keri Brenner, L.Ac.
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 Sources of Toxins
We are exposed to toxins every day of our lives, in air and water pollution, chemical and pesticide residues, mercury amalgam dental fillings, biological contaminants such as pollen and parasites, and genetically altered foods, among other sources. Even our own bodies can produce toxins, called endotoxins, which can be harmful if their numbers become excessive or if they aren't adequately neutralized.
Environmental Pollution
Toxins emanate from a variety of sources, but chiefly from environmental pollution. |
Michael Pollan
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 To shrink the monocultures that now feed us would mean farmers won't need to spray as much pesticide or chemical fertilizer, which would mean healthier soils, healthier plants and animals, and in turn healthier people. Your health isn't bordered by your body, and what's good for the soil is probably good for you too. Which brings us to a related rule:
OiEAT WELL-GROWN FOOD FROM HEALTHY SOILS. |
Gabriel Cousens, M.D.
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 Pesticide usage is a major public health problem worldwide. pesticide usage not only leads to disease, but directly destroys the life force of the soil. It reflects a consciousness that is completely out of touch with the laws of Nature.
Protecting Against Food Chemicalization
We have the power to refuse to consume what is detrimental to our health and to the planet. Since there is very little real control and monitoring by the U.S. government or by the chemical companies, the responsibility for our health lies with us, as it always has. Let us put our money where our mouths are. |
Mark Schapiro
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| Lindane is an organochlorine pesticide developed to kill the pests that attack seeds before germination; since the 1940s, when it was introduced, hundreds of millions of pounds have been coated onto seeds before planting in countries around the world. The Mexican delegate's move sent a message that power in POPS would not be limited to the rich, more developed countries.
In their nomination papers, Anaya cited numerous studies, including those by the EPA, the Extension Service of the U.S. |
| To either side were other nonvoting observers, including NGO representatives from the Center for International Environmental Law and the pesticide Action Network, both of which had spent years working on behalf of POPS and were highly critical of the EPA, and industry groups like the American Chemical Council, which had spent years fighting against POPS and other environmental initiatives. They had traveled a long way to sit in the same room. All were diplomatically polite with one another. |
Paul D. Blanc, M.D.
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| The entire organophosphate pesticide industry is also the result of this war effort. Sarin, the prototype organophosphate chemical weapon, is one of the most potent agents of this class. It was the agent used in the famous Japanese subway terrorist attacks in the mid-1990s. Sarin and other toxins of this group are versatile. They need not be inhaled to do their damage. A drop on the skin is enough to kill; once absorbed, it then blocks breathing by paralyzing the muscles of respiration. But sarin is also lethal through its damage to the brain. |
Mark Schapiro
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| Twenty years ago the NGO pesticide Action Network had dubbed these the world's "dirty dozen," and the name had stuck. All act like light switches of toxicity upon the human body —potent neurotoxins and carcinogens that most countries in the world had agreed to kick out of global commerce.
Over half a century, hundreds of millions of tons of these chemicals have been sprayed from nozzles, coated onto seeds, and leaked from factories and waste dumps into the soil and water supply. |
Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S.
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 But American regulators generally won't ban a pesticide till the bodies or cancer cases start to really pile up—that is, until scientists can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the suspected molecule "causes" illness in humans or ecological disaster. So atrazine—in the American waterways and food system—is deemed innocent until proven guilty, "a standard of proof," says Pollan, "(that is) extremely difficult to achieve since it awaits the results of chemical testing on humans that we, rightly, don't perform."
So for all these reasons, I'm leaving tap water alone. |
Bill Sardi
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 Varieties of wormwood have been used for centuries, both as a moth repellant and pesticide, but also as a medicinal tea. Sadly, world health authorities have dragged their feet in using artemisinin to treat malaria, which has cost millions of lives, and are now snubbing artemisinin as a promising anti-cancer drug.
Artemisia is the starting material for the semi-synthetic artemisinin that is used to treat malaria. |
Mark Lynas
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 Pests and diseases also tend to benefit from warmer climes, necessitating a greater amount of pesticide use. Farmers will have to make big changes in the types of crops they grow and the amount of irrigation they use - difficult moves in western areas which will be pumping underground aquifers dry at the same time as run-off from snowmelt declines. Even in Canada increases in cereal crop production in the Prairies will be limited by water availability. Where water is plentiful, however, Canadian corn and soybeans could see big jumps in yields. Potatoes and winter wheat would also benefit. |
James F. Balch, M.D. and Mark Stengler, N.D.
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 The long-term effects of pesticide and herbicide exposure are unclear, but a scary picture is beginning to emerge. Population studies on adults suggest a link with certain types of cancers and neurological diseases. As parents and doctors, we do not want to wait until "absolute" scientific evidence links these chemicals to various diseases. Pesticides that had been considered safe and were used for decades are now being banned. For example, methyl parathion, a type of organophosphate, was recently banned from being sprayed on apples. |
| Sometimes these drugs are highly effective, but they almost always have strong side effects, so it's important to choose a doctor who listens to your concerns and helps you make informed decisions about the medications study published in the International Journal of Epidemiology that analyzed data concerning pesticide use in California counties reported that there was an increased mortality rate from Parkinson's disease in counties that used agricultural pesticides. |
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