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The Age – Australia slow to ban toxic products

· Kelly Burke

· May 12, 2009

A LIST of highly toxic chemicals about to be deregistered or already banned in the European Union remain widely available in Australia and can be found in everything from pets’ flea control collars to head-lice treatments for children.

An analysis of pesticide use in everyday products, conducted by the consumer advocate group Choice, found that a wide range of household surface sprays, cockroach baits, termite and ant treatments, mosquito deterrents, flea shampoos and pet accessories were still being manufactured here with eight chemicals it says are no longer registered in Europe.

One neurotoxin, chlorpyrifos, which is used as a household insect killer, has also been banned in the United States for almost a decade because of its suspected link to childhood leukaemia and effects on the reproductive and immune systems.

Another pesticide, permethrin, is still commonly found in commercial head-lice shampoos, lotions and sprays. The chemical is to be phased out in Europe from October, but it was only recently added to the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority’s list of chemicals scheduled for review, and it has been marked by the statutory body as a low priority.

Choice spokesman Christopher Zinn said the Government needed to place the burden of proof on manufacturers and importers that a chemical was safe, rather than simply giving them the benefit of the doubt.

But Simon Cubit, the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority’s spokesman, said Choice’s data was flawed and that some uses of chlorpyrifos and pyriproxyfen — another chemical named and used in cat flea collars — were still permitted by the EU.

Treatments to kill head lice were registered by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, not the APVMA, Dr Cubit said, with permethrin found to “have a low overall toxicity, and a low incidence of adverse events” by the TGA in 2003.

An Auditor-General’s productivity report on the APVMA completed in 2007 found that the average time taken to complete a review was becoming increasingly longer, with most taking more than five years and one taking more than 14 years to complete.

The authority’s tardiness posed particular concern to the auditor because the risks associated with ongoing use of a chemical remained while it underwent a review, the report noted, and no efforts were made to inform the public of the chemical’s status.

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SIERRA PACIFIC INDUSTRIES PLEDGES NOT TO USE DANGEROUS HERBICIDE ON LOGGING
PROJECT
Environmental Groups Commend Decision on Atrazine
ForestEthics and the Center for Sierra Nevada Conservation commend
California¹s largest landowner, Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI), for
pledging not to use the dangerous herbicide atrazine in its proposed
³Lookout² Timber Harvest Plan (THP). The project is near the town of Manton
and would log directly around Digger Creek, the source of drinking water for
many of its residents. Originally filed in 2006, the plan was approved by
state regulators, but is being challenged in court by several environmental
groups due to the cumulative impacts of logging and herbicide use in the
surrounding watershed.
SPI had not ruled out the use of any chemicals in the originally proposed
Lookout THP but recently submitted an amendment stating they would remove
all reference to atrazine in the plan.
ForestEthics¹ Josh Buswell-Charkow, lead campaigner for ForestEthics¹ effort
to reform SPI¹s destructive logging practices, released the following
statement:
³Sierra Pacific Industries¹ decision not to use atrazine in the proposed
Lookout plan is a laudable step and it deserves recognition. We still have
serious concerns with SPI¹s logging practices and the Lookout plan, but
ForestEthics is encouraged by their willingness to take this step.²
Between 1995 and 2006, SPI used over 770,000 pounds of toxic chemicals to
manage their tree plantations across Northern California. The unknown safety
of these chemicals, and the sheer quantity used in the watersheds of
California¹s rivers and streams, had raised further questions about SPI¹s
already controversial logging practices.
Vivian Parker, a retired biologist who has been monitoring chemical usage by
the timber industry in Northern California for a decade, was pleased with
the news. “The potential impact of chemicals on Digger Creek, the source of
drinking water for the town of Manton, continues to be a serious threat.
However, SPI is acting responsibly by reducing its use of atrazine in this
watershed, and reducing its use throughout its ownership.”
Atrazine was the second most frequently detected pesticide in EPA’s National
Survey of pesticides in drinking water wells. Studies have shown that at
levels 1/30th of what the EPA allows in drinking water, atrazine can cause
male frogs to grow ovaries. Its use is banned by the European Union.
ForestEthics¹ ³Save the Sierra² campaign is working to transform the
destructive logging practices of California¹s largest landowner, Sierra
Pacific Industries. Since 1995, SPI has clearcut or converted to plantation
over a quarter of a million acres of natural forests, with plans for up to a
million acres within the next fifty years. Though the Sierra is home to half
of California¹s plants and animals and the source of 60% of our drinking
water, SPI continues to ruin this natural treasure with its destructive
practices.
ForestEthics, a nonprofit with staff in Canada, the United States and Chile,
recognizes that individual people can be mobilized to create positive
environmental change‹and so can corporations. Armed with this unique
philosophy, ForestEthics has helped protect more than sixty-five million
acres of Endangered Forests. Visit www.forestethics.org, for more
information. # # #

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The triazines are already banned in the EU

The chemicals stated in the article are some of those known to cause these effects.

Minimisation of exposure to EDCs is essential, as in the EU approach to pesticides and aerial spraying and the UK High Court ruling re lack of safety to human health from current UK Gvt practices.

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1180957/Gender-bending-chemical-timebomb-fear-boys-fertility.html

Gender-bending chemical timebomb fear for boys’ fertility
By David Derbyshire
Last updated at 12:01 AM on 13th May 2009

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Chemicals in food, cosmetics and cleaning products are ‘feminising’ unborn boys and raising their risk of cancer and infertility later in life, an expert warns today.

Professor Richard Sharpe, one of Britain’s leading reproductive biologists, says everyday substances are linked to soaring rates of birth defects and testicular cancer, and to falling sperm counts.

The government adviser’s report published today is the most detailed yet into the threat posed to baby boys by chemicals that block the action of the male sex hormone testosterone, or mimic the female sex hormone oestrogen.

Some chemicals are raising unborn boys’ risk of cancer and infertility later in life, Professor Sharpe believes

Professor Sharpe says many could be harmless on their own – but warned that their cumulative effect could be devastating for developing foetuses and warned women trying for a child to avoid them.

‘You can’t do anything about chemicals in the environment but you can control what you expose a baby to through your lifestyle choices,’ he said.

‘Because we don’t know the complete list of chemicals that may be hormone disrupters, and we don’t know how they interact, we can’t point a finger at an individual chemical.

‘The message is to avoid them, just as you should avoid alcohol and drugs.’

Doctors are concerned about rising levels of birth defects, with 7 per cent of British boys born with partially descended testes and seven in 1000 with malformed genitals.

The latest estimates indicate that one in six men in the UK has a low sperm count and will struggle to father a child.

And the number of testicular cancer cases among men in their 20s and 30s has been doubling every 25 years.

Following an analysis of available evidence, Professor Sharpe concluded that gender-bending chemicals are ‘likely to account for a proportion’ of birth defects in baby boys – and the testicular cancer and fertility problems the boys may suffer later in life.

His report looked at studies into birth defects of boy’s genitals, low sperm counts and testicular cancer – a range of problems collectively called Testicular Dysgenesis Syndrome or TDS.

In repeated experiments, testosterone-disrupting chemicals found in pesticides, drugs, plastics and household products created symptoms of TDS in laboratory animals. Some of the experiments showed that the chemicals work in combination – causing problems at doses where the individual chemicals should be harmless.

The evidence that the chemicals cause problems in humans was weaker, but still showed a link between environmental chemicals and male fertility problems, the report said.

In one study, scientists looked at families moving from countries with a low rate of testicular cancer to Denmark – which has one of the highest rates of the disease in Europe.

First-generation immigrants had the same level of cancer as their country of origin. But their children – conceived and born in Denmark – had a similar risk to Danes. That indicated something in the environment was to blame.

Other studies have shown that mothers exposed to chemicals used in plastics, flame retardants and pesticides are more likely to have sons who go on to develop testicular cancer.

Exposure to environmental chemicals slightly increases the risks of undescended testes and hypospadia – malformed genitalia – in boys, the report found.

Professor Sharpe said TDS has its origins in the period between the eighth and 12th week of pregnancy, when exposure to hormone-mimicking chemicals can interfere with testosterone production in a foetus, preventing the sex organs from developing normally.

Chemicals shown to cause problems include pesticides such as DDT, fungicides such as vinclozolin; a group of chemicals called PCBs used in electrical circuits, paints, flame retardants and glues; and phthalates, which are used to soften plastics.

Elizabeth Salter Green of the charity CHEM Trust, which commissioned Professor Sharpe’s report, said: ‘Chemicals that have been shown to act together to affect male reproductive health should have their risks assessed together.

‘Currently that is not the case, and unfortunately chemicals are looked at on a individual basis.

‘Therefore Government assurances that exposures are too low to have any effect just do not hold water because regulators do not take into account the additive actions of hormone-disrupting chemicals.’

She advised pregnant women to keep cosmetic use to a minimum, choose unscented products, stop using perfume, avoid colouring hair and avoid DIY.

Dear Teresa,

Please take a moment to read the following items that have caught the attention of Autism Canada. We encourage you to share the information with friends or family to help spread awareness.

The Disappearing Male

“The Disappearing Male” is a CBC documentary exposing the possible cause to many of today’s most prevalent disorders: a common class of chemicals found in everything from shampoo to carpets to baby bottles. These chemicals are thought to contribute to the increasing number of boys with disorders such as autism, ADHD, Tourette’s syndrome, cerebral palsy, and dyslexia by mimicking hormones and damaging the most basic building blocks of human development.

Please take the time to view this video in order to gain the knowledge necessary to make a world a better place for, not only your own children, but also generations of children to come. Click here to view “The Disappearing Male.”

Research Suggests Children Can Recover From Autism

Leo Lytel, a boy who once could not maintain eye contact with his mother, echoed words and often spun around in circles – all typical autism symptoms – has joined the increasing number of people who have overcome the disorder.

Past research has found that 3% to 25% of autistic children recover. Deborah Fein, psychology professor at the University of Connecticut, has narrowed this field and found that 10% to 20% of autistic children can overcome the disorder. The increasing number of these cases are opening doors for more research, including image testing comparing the brains of children who have recovered from autism to both “normal” and autistic children.

While the articles points to ABA as being a contributing factor to recovery, it is unclear and unfortunate that more attention to details isn’t given to other interventions that were done simultaneously. Studies in the past have suggested that up to 93% of children and adolescents diagnosed with autism are also on special diets, vitamin supplements and a variety of complimentary and alternative medicine strategies. While there is no doubt that behavioural therapy is necessary for recovery there is growing evidence that biomedical interventions can greatly influence outcomes. Let’s hope that this is just the beginning of the research that will be coming examining recovery from autism.