This post is going to be another struggle for balance. The threat from this particular mycotoxin in the food supply is a so large that it makes the risks that worry most people look tame. It makes the subject of one of my previous posts about another mycotoxin, vomitoxin, look like a virtual non-issue. Aflatoxin is one of the most potent acute toxins known and one of the most carcinogenic. Because of this the average international tolerance for aflatoxin B1 in food is 4 parts per billion (PPB). The average tolerance for food for children is 0.2 PPB and for milk 0.05 PPB (USDA ERS publication source for this data). These are seriously low numbers. I want to accurately represent the seriousness of this risk.
At the same time I also want to accurately represent the extent to which the commercial food supply is now protected from that risk. The same ERS document above reported US crop losses in 2003 from mycotoxins in corn, wheat and peanuts of $932 million and another $466 million for testing. That is all for preventing this toxin from getting to us. There is a lot going on in the background that few people recognize.
Folks in the food industry may well ask “why even bring it up!?” First of all, this is no secret. My Google Alert for “Aflatoxin” sends me articles nearly every day. Also I raise this issue to try to “calibrate risk.” I saw an entry in a comment string on another blog the other day where someone wrote, “I hope this is a move towards chemical-free food.” I’ll give that person the benefit of the doubt that they know that all food is made of chemicals (proteins, fats, carbs…). Their concern was about synthetic pesticide residues. I doubt that they know about “chemicals” like aflatoxin. They should. It is thousands of times more toxic than a typical pesticide residue.
I waited to write this post until after I had the opportunity to speak with SIGG CEO Steve Wasik. I am still disappointed.
Over this last week we have learned that SIGG bottles manufactured before August 2008 (not 2009, as I mistakenly mentioned earlier) contained Bisphenol-A (BPA) in their liners. BPA is a chemical used in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins and is part of a group of molecules known as endocrine disruptors.
naturally occurring compounds or man-made chemicals that may interfere with the production or activity of hormones of the endocrine system leading to adverse health effects. Many of these chemicals have been linked with developmental, reproductive, neural, immune, and other problems in wildlife and laboratory animals. Some scientists think these chemicals also are adversely affecting human health in similar ways resulting in declined fertility and increased incidences or progression of some diseases including endometriosis and cancers.
In a previous post, I listed five of the best things I think you can do in order to live a sustainable lifestyle — #6-10. Now, here is the top five list.
Staying away from the topics of food and transportation, which are probably the biggest daily products you could green, here is a list of products you use everyday. Read the rest of this entry »
As my wife and I write about in ECOpreneuring, if good health is important – and it should be for everyone – then a regular exercise routine along with eating right becomes a feature in our sustainable lifestyle, whether you walk around the block, do yoga or work out three times a week at a local YMCA like we do. Or go for a hike in the woods instead of watching more TV.
Remember the last time you had the flu or a lingering cold? Get much done? When we’re healthy, we take our good health for granted. Despite what our politicians and healthcare providers might suggest, good healthcare does not necessarily provide good health. Our lifestyle and daily habits contribute to feeling great just about every day of the year.
Some companies provide a good healthcare plan when it comes to physician access and medical coverage. But what does that matter when the stress-filled, unhealthy environment in a cubicle – with no access to the outdoors and fresh air – ends up giving us poor health? The American healthcare system is great – perhaps the best in the world – if we crashed in our car. It’s designed for treatment, not prevention. It’s a healthcare system based on the poor health of relatively well-off people who can pay (by credit or otherwise) for the services it provides.
Given all the debate on a national healthcare plan offered by the United States, below are a few promising trends many people are discovering.
GreenTalk Radio host Sean Daily talks about the health and environmental concerns within the natural beauty care products industry with Ido Leffler, CEO of Yes To, Inc., whose brand line-up includes Yes to Carrots.
For those in America who have yet to read The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Fast Food Nation or even The Jungle, the new docu pic Food, Inc. smoothly stirs the boiling pot of food production controversy while allowing those not familiar with the dark secrets of the food production industry to enjoy a film in bite size nuggets.
With Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser a co-producers and Omnivore’s Dilemma writer Michael Pollen one of the consultants (in addition to being on-screen participants) the film offers a solid, well presented structure that offers not only scary, gut wrenching even stomach turning scenes in meatpacking plants, chicken coops and but offers a silver lining into the future of food.
Producer/Director Robert Kenner weaves the film through the various food landscapes from the cramped chicken coops of Maryland to the aerial CAFO vistas to the open grasslands of Polyface Farms. Inside one of the chicken coops live chickens that wallow in their own filth and barely have room to move. Factory farm shots show downer cows being uplifted by forklifts to be transported to the slaughterhouse. The film makes a point of showing people how dangerous and unregulated our food system remains.
Sean Daily, Green Living Ideas’ Editor-in-Chief, talks with Mike Mueller and Alana Nelson, co-founders of Perfect Earth Tours, about the new destination getaway for green tourists — the eco spa resort.
While your immediate response to the headline may have been “Yeah, the economy’s tough,” or “Hmmm… they must’ve been English, art history, or film studies majors,” Florida Gulf Coast University graduates Kylee Snyder and Michael Brinkman aren’t cleaning “country clubs, fitness centers, office buildings, restaurants and vacation rentals” because they had no other options. Rather, after winning a university business plan competition in 2007, they invested the $500 prize into a new venture: Green Leaf Cleaning.
Two years later, they’re not only still in business; they’re profitable.
In a brief interview with the Naples (Florida) Daily News, Snyder and Brinkman note that green cleaning isn’t just about jumping on a bandwagon: Snyder notes that their services can contribute to better indoor air quality (and fewer employee sick days), and can also contribute to LEED certification points. In the end, though, their most effective pitch involves cost savings: the two entrepreneurs have made sure to keep prices affordable while maintaining high green standards for their clients, and in their own operations.
However, a new study in the journal of the Canadian Medical Association calls this recommendation into question, contending that the health benefits of omega-3’s have potentially been oversold while the ocean’s ability to provide them is failing.
The bottom line? The jury is still out on how much fish we should eat, so making eco-friendly choices is essential.
The study’s authors accurately point out that the oceans can no longer provide us with fish (and fish oil) at the current pace. Barely one-quarter of U.S. fisheries are known to be sustainably fished, and the United Nations reports that 80 percent of the world’s fisheries are now either fully fished (i.e. incapable of providing more) or overexploited.
Since July 2003, sustainablog has been providing information on environmental and economic sustainability, green and sustainable business, and environmental politics. The blog regularly features environmental leaders, experts in alternative energy and green technology, and real people trying to lighten their environmental footprints.
