Amos, Cubit: This is sales talk; the spin you get when someone is trying to sell you something …

Dr ANDREW LOHREY

We have heard the voice of industry from Julian Amos, Chairman of the Forest Industries Association of Tasmania. In defending the forest industries Dr Amos has said in a recent letter to the Mercury, “Atrazine has not been found to be harmful to human health”. This view is echoed by Simon Cubit who was reported on the ABC News, (May 6th 2009) to have said, ” there is no evidence to support the theory that atrazine causes cancer”. Cubit assiduously followed up this with his letter in the Mercury (May 8th 2009) where he even talks about, “the acceptable daily intake of herbicides”.

Currently, Dr Amos works for the forest industries and Dr Cubit used to work for them. Both these men push an industry line which is dangerous to public health but financially worthwhile to industry. Both these men should not be believed when they say such things as ‘atrazine is not harmful to human health’ or ‘it does not cause cancer’, or even worse, that we can all have an ‘acceptable daily intake’ of these poisons. This is sales talk; the spin you get when someone is trying to sell you something.

It is clear that the debate about health risks from pesticides is conducted by independent health experts on one side and industry representatives on the other. In the middle is the government and its public health advisors who seem too timid to disagree with industry interests.

It is clear that the debate about health risks from pesticides is conducted by independent health experts on one side and industry representatives on the other. In the middle is the government and its public health advisors who seem too timid to disagree with industry interests.

We have heard the voice of industry from Julian Amos, Chairman of the Forest Industries Association of Tasmania. In defending the forest industries Dr Amos has said in a recent letter to the Mercury, “Atrazine has not been found to be harmful to human health”. This view is echoed by Simon Cubit who was reported on the ABC News, (May 6th 2009) to have said, ” there is no evidence to support the theory that atrazine causes cancer”. Cubit assiduously followed up this with his letter in the Mercury (May 8th 2009) where he even talks about, “the acceptable daily intake of herbicides”.

Currently, Dr Amos works for the forest industries and Dr Cubit used to work for them. Both these men push an industry line which is dangerous to public health but financial worthwhile to industry. Both these men should not be believed when they say such things as ‘atrazine is not harmful to human health’ or ‘it does not cause cancer’, or even worst, that we can all have an ‘acceptable daily intake’ of these poisons. This is sales talk; the spin you get when someone is trying to sell you something.

The truth is that atrazine disrupts endocrine activity which interferes with reproduction and development. These changes are likely to cause a range of serious illnesses including cancer. This information is widely available to anyone who wishes to look it up on the web.

One only has to look at the web site of Choice to see an unbiased view of pesticides. Choice says: “We urge the Australian government to apply the precautionary principle to all chemicals and place the burden of proof on manufacturers and importers that a chemical is safe, rather than simply giving them the benefit of the doubt”. This is exactly what should be done in Tasmania.

Dr Andrew Lohrey

The truth is that atrazine disrupts endocrine activity which interferes with reproduction and development. These changes are likely to cause a range of serious illnesses including cancer. This information is widely available to anyone who wishes to look it up on the web.

One only has to look at the web site of Choice to see an unbiased view of pesticides. Choice says: “We urge the Australian government to apply the precautionary principle to all chemicals and place the burden of proof on manufacturers and importers that a chemical is safe, rather than simply giving them the benefit of the doubt”. This is exactly what should be done in Tasmania.

Dr Andrew Lohrey

This comment was lodged in response to comments emanating from Comment 8, HERE:

Last Saturday a crop duster flew right between houses within the town boundary and drift off hit me while I was just harvesting my organic vegetables. I have been sick ever since but I was told that nothing illegally has happen. Now I can’t even drink my rain water any more and the tao water is undrinkable. I moved to Cressy to live a healthy life style. Just a few month ago I lost my breasts to cancer and now I don’t know where to go any more. Damn the unscrupulous bastards who are responsible.
I do apologize if this is not the right spot to tell the story but I am new to this and I am ready to fight the ‘good fight’ if it means saving people to go through what I have been through.

Posted by Ella on 26/04/09 at 04:44 PM

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