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Sept/Oct 2000 issue (#47)
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(ENS) The natural activities of growing plants can help clean toxic chemicals, heavy metals and even radiation from contaminated soil and water. This process, known as phytoremediation, is an increasingly popular choice in the search for inexpensive, effective and environmentally friendly methods of restoring polluted sites around the world. Some of the species being studied-- or already in use-- are mustards, alfalfa, tomatoes, pumpkin vines, bamboo, cord grass and sunflowers. In the Ukraine, these plants have been used to absorb radioactive particles from soils around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, where an accident a decade ago left severe contamination. The plants themselves become toxic, and must be disposed of using hazardous materials techniques. But the volume of contaminated materials is reduced from acres of land to mere bushels of plants.
In testimony before the House Subcommittee on National Parks and Public Lands recently, the National Parks Conservation Association protested the use of snowmobiles, personal watercraft, and airplane flights within the national parks and seashores. "We don't play basketball inside the Lincoln Memorial," said an NPCA representative. "It would simply be inappropriate and disrespectful. National parks are not amusement parks." NPCA argued that motorized craft disturb "clean air, natural sounds, undisturbed wildlife, and the scent of woods and flowers."
(ENS) Researchers have detected a previously unreported compound of industrial origin in the atmosphere-- trifluoromethyl sulphur pentafluoride (SF5CF3). It is considered the most potent greenhouse gas measured to date. Scientists speculate that it originates as a breakdown product of SF6 in high- voltage equipment. "Without even knowing it, we have been releasing a very potent greenhouse gas for almost 50 years. We have to find the source of this gas and to try to stop its increase," a scientist said.
(ENS) The Center for Marine Conservation (CMC) has issued a report on the health of America's oceans. Titled "Health of the Oceans," the report found that almost 40 to 45 percent of American marine waters are not suitable for fishing or swimming, and that the number one source of poor coastal water quality is runoff polluted by pesticides, fertilizers, and animal waste. The report added that nearly half of the assessed fish populations are overfished. The report is available at http://www.cmc-ocean.org.
The lead article in the July-Aug World Watch magazine [1776 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington DC 20006] discussed the decline, disappearance, and deformities of amphibians around the world. Causes include global warming, ozone depletion, pollution, and more. But the article concluded that amphibians can only be saved by addressing larger problems. "The survival of these creatures now depends on our willingness to confront the major, systemic environmental issues of our day: climate change, forest loss, pollution, the spread of invasive species, and the control of the human population.... [T]he ethical issue is now very clear."
A Senate subcommittee is holding hearings on whether fluoride, now being added to some 90 percent of water systems in the US, should be an ingredient in water. An article in the excellent environmental newsletter News on Earth reported that a representative of the EPA headquarters professional employees union told the Senate Environment and Public Works subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Water that fluoridation is "a massive experiment that has been run on the American public, without informed consent" and that fluoride exposure has become "excessive and uncontrolled." Municipal water is treated with hydrofluosilicic acid and its sodium salt, "two cheap and widely available waste products of the fertilizer industry," the article noted. Some problems associated with these chemicals may be fluorosis (opaque white spots) on teeth, and links to bone cancer in young men. For a copy of this issue send $2.00 to NOE, 101 W. 23rd St., NYC, NY 10011.
ENS reports that experts from major school-based associations, health organizations, and state, county and city officials were to meet in August to discuss an EPA initiative called Tools for Schools, which deals with the increasing health problems related to indoor air quality in schools. Indoor air pollution can be 2-5 times greater, and sometimes 100 times higher, than outdoor levels, according to a notice about the meeting. Nearly 55 million people, or 20 percent of the US population, spend their days inside elementary and secondary schools, and asthma is one of the leading causes of school absenteeism. For more information go to www.aasa.org/Events/epa_schedule.htm.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, www.pcrm.org, has filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requesting an immediate investigation of Milk Mustache ads featuring celebrities urging people to drink more milk. PCRM says the ads are false and misleading and, in some cases, contain fraudulent health and nutritional claims. The PCRM website says that many ethnic groups are lactose intolerant, and that cow's milk consumption does not prevent osteoporosis: "In fact, the US has one of the highest rates of osteoporosis in the world, as well as one of the highest dairy intakes." The milk-mustache ads allegedly fail to state "that the cause of osteoporosis is not usually inadequate calcium intake but calcium loss. People who consume an animal-protein-based diet tend to lose calcium from their bones surprisingly fast, due to the tendency of animal protein to leech calcium from the bones."
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