Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Environmental News Tidbits

PROTECTING CHILDREN AND ADULTS FROM TOXIC PESTICIDES
The OCA alerted the readers of Organic Bytes about Dow Chemical and the EPA meeting behind closed doors to remove the ban on the toxic termite pesticide Dursban. After Dursban was conclusively linked to brain damage and birth defects in kids and adults, it was banned, but Dow convinced the EPA to reverse the ban. Thanks to your overwhelming response to the OCA alert, which catalyzed public outrage across the country, the backroom deal was nullified and the ban on Dursban was reinstated. http://www.organicconsumers.org/epa-dow.htm

CREATING A SAFER GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT
The OCA informed you of new efforts by the biotech industry to legalize the "Terminator" gene, an experimental genetic engineering (GE) technique that makes plant seeds sterile. The technology would benefit GE seed producers by forcing farmers to purchase new seeds every year, but scientists are deeply concerned about what could happen if this experimental "suicide" trait spread from crops into wild plants via pollen drift. Thanks in part to your deluge of emails to the United Nations, those efforts by the biotech industry were stopped, and the terminator has been (at least temporarily) terminated. http://www.organicconsumers.org/un.htm

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