David Leigh
As the arguments heightened, Professor Stewart appeared more and more agitated and seemed relieved when question time was wound up. It amazes me that a vital and basic commodity, such as water, needs a professor, hired by the Cancer Council, to quote research, paid for by government and the chemical companies, to tell us it is safe to drink… well almost.
I, like many other people, in Hobart, St. Helens and Launceston, went to a meeting today. It was a meeting about Atrazine. I went to St. Helens, following an invite by Dr. Alison Bleaney, where Professor Bernard Stewart gave a lecture on the benefits of Atrazine…
Yes, that’s right, apparently we won’t get cancer from this vile chemical compound. Most of us left very much assured and comforted by that statement. This was hammered home, several times, by Professor Stewart.
The Cancer Council, who hosted the event, said at the beginning, that Forestry Tasmania has not used Atrazine for many years. One resident pointed out that Forestry Tasmania may not have used Atrazine for many years because the work in done by private companies , such as Gunns and contractors.
Atrazine, unlike tobacco and asbestos, has a clean bill of health, according to Professor Stewart. It was even said that table salt was harmful and that Atrazine, whilst it may have other effects, was not carcinogenic.
Dr. Bleaney argued that St Helens residents had a right to clean and safe drinking water and that she had many cases of acute sickness on her books, following strong contamination of the waterways by Atrazine.
Professor Stewart did not contest her point but played down the significance of her and other arguments against the use of these chemicals, by forestry.
Another resident told of how test results on the condition of Tasmania’s drinking water were fudged by removing the affected sediment before testing, to lessen the amount present in the sample.
Professor Stewart told that resident that he should hire a chemist and do his own sampling.
As the arguments heightened, Professor Stewart appeared more and more agitated and seemed relieved when question time was wound up.
It amazes me that a vital and basic commodity, such as water, needs a professor, hired by the Cancer Council, to quote research, paid for by government and the chemical companies, to tell us it is safe to drink… well almost.
If you don’t mention the acute migraine, stomach cramps, loss of short-term memory and general lethargy suffered by those who have unwittingly imbibed Atrazine.
The Tasmanian government seems to be going to great lengths to reassure us that our children will be safe, the cheque is in the mail and I promise I won’t c… Well, you get the picture. The point is, many Third World countries have safer drinking water than Tasmania.
And, from Alison Bleaney:
Problems with Atrazine – so who are we to believe?
The atrazine rap : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MxrH4lN0-A&feature=related
Professor Hayes website on atrazine
Also check out this video about Atrazine
and Tasmania’s angle ‘Clean, green and atrazine’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbPk9PRq5_A
http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwh/c-soc/atrazine.html
With reference to Prof Bernard Stewart’s statement that there is no proof that atrazine causes cancer, the US EPA’s own consumer factsheet states that the long term health effects from atrazine at 3ppb or above includes cancer.
http://www.breastcancerfund.org/site/pp.asp?c=kwKXLdPaE&b=1370047
State of the Evidence 2008 Executive Summary on Breast Cancer – triazines are named.
and
Success For Green MEP As Euro-Parliament Identifies Environmental Causes Of Cancer In New ‘Task Force’ Proposals
11 April 2008 – The European Parliament has passed an important resolution on combating cancer, with an overwhelming majority of Euro-MPs agreeing to amendments proposed by a Green MEP to highlight the environmental causes behind the disease.
Drawing on scientific evidence showing that cancers can be caused by environmental factors including toxic chemicals found in household goods, pesticides and poor air quality, South East MEP Caroline Lucas proposed significant changes to a Parliament resolution seeking to establish an EU Cancer Task Force to fight the disease more effectively.
Caroline said: “This landmark decision by the European Parliament means that MEPs now officially recognise that the environmental causes like pollution and chemical contamination must be considered in any strategy to combat cancer.
“In 2006 there were nearly 2.3 million new cancer cases and over 1 million cancer deaths within the EU; most deaths were in people with lung cancer, colorectal cancer and breast cancer. And according to Greenpeace, when you strip away causes like smoking and excessive alcohol consumption, together with hereditary factors, environmental factors still appear to be the biggest cause of the increase in cancers seen over the past few decades.
“While cancer is caused by many factors in multiple stages, a link is increasingly being made between toxic chemicals – especially so-called gender-bending hormone-disruptors – and cancers like that of the breast, which kills more than 10,000 people each year in the UK alone.
“Moreover, according to a recent study by the trade unions, at least 8% of annual cancer deaths are directly caused by exposure to carcinogens at the workplace. Substituting carcinogens with less harmful substances could prevent this exposure, and a tightening of legislation would ensure that employers fully protect their workers.
“Similarly links are being found between pesticide use and cancers. Yet pesticide technologies are all growing apace, and so the EU must ensure that those with serious health risks are swiftly taken off the market, and accelerate moves towards chemical free agriculture – putting human health above the profits of the companies that manufacture them.”
Caroline calls on the Commission and Council to commit to the proposed EU Cancer Task Force, and subsequently support initiatives to prevent the importing of items containing carcinogenic chemicals, and for measures to strengthen food monitoring for chemicals, including pesticides.
