Green Options

The world is not such a magical place when chemicals, including the carcinogen chromium 6, are being dumped into groundwater.

A lawsuit filed in Los Angeles alleges that Disney has been dumping the waste from their on-site cooling systems since 1998. According to the suit, brought by Environmental Worldwatch, Inc and local residents, the company,

supplied, dumped, released and deposited and continues to supply, dump, release and deposit vast amounts of chromium 6, air cooling water and residues, and other various toxic waste materials.

The Disney corporation has so far declined to comment on the specifics of the case but are denying any wrongdoing.

In Illinois, Tricia Krause isn’t the most popular mom in the neighborhood. But she couldn’t care less. She’s fighting against the town of Crestwood, claiming its water made her family ill.

The single mom of 3 has 2 kids with health problems and a small business to run. Her son had leukemia and her daughter had a brain tumor. She’s got her hands full, but she’s still fighting against her former hometown, where all three kids were born.

I’m so sad and angry and disappointed about this.

The Chicago Tribune reported on the Crestwood problem just the day before Earth Day. Their story claims that the village, population 11,000, served residents tainted water for 20 years. While Crestwood officials boasted that they had the cheapest water in the county–”Good to taste but not to waste!”–they were giving residents a “taste” of carcinogens.

Krause says her kids were directly affected by the cost-saving measures. She’s now suing the city of Crestwood.

The Obamas recently installed a new playground on the White House lawn. But one environmental group says the mulch they used will be harmful for their children.

In the wake of EWG’s report that found formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane in “gentle baby products, a major Chinese grocery chain is pulling Johnson & Johnson baby products from their shelves.

Nonggongshan Supermarkets Corporation (Bless you!), based in Shanghai, said the concern over carcinogens pushed them to make the choice.

We have to be responsible to consumers and suspend sales of these products until they are proved safe.

Anyone else think it’s ironic that a store in China is making the move to protect consumers faster than any here in the States?

Problem is…just this month The Environmental Working Group released a report, “No More Toxic Tub”. Lab test conducted by EWG found both Johnsons’ Baby Shampoo and two of their Baby washes include formaldehyde or 1,4-dioxane, both ingredients linked to cancer and skin allergies.

In shocking news, the Canadian government has announced that two chemicals used in cosmetics are carcinogens that are severely harmful to human health. A further two chemicals found in lipstick and other personal care products have also been found to be highly toxic to the environment.

The two cancer-causing chemicals, isoprene and epichlorohydrin, have been added to the Cosmetic Ingredient Hotlist to prevent their future use in cosmetics. Health Canada is also proposing that manufacturers use best-available technology to control releases of isoprene.

The cosmetics chemicals posing a danger to the environment are the siloxanes D4 and D5, which are used as emollients to soften the skin and are found in most personal care products on the market in Canada and the United States.

In California, and San Francisco in particular, we see almost as many Obama for president placards in home and business windows as we see Stop the Spray signs. It seems like the precursor for a B-grade sci-fi film with the storyline pitting the the government versus this evil moth. But this isn’t Mothra we’re talking about, its the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM).

The situation involves not just the local governments but the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) and CDFA (California Department of Food and Agriculture) that claim that the LBAM will cause major destruction of crops in California. The feds think that we must take swift action or suffer the economic impact of quarantines, which they estimate will cost CA millions of dollars.

Something curious happened on the way to this economic thinking. To date, the LBAM has caused ZERO crop damage. The economic damage has been due only to quarantines imposed on the Golden State by Canada and Mexico. When the Feds sprayed Santa Cruz and Monterey counties last fall the counties recorded over 640 health problems. This number represented only the reported cases, and conservative estimates of actual health impacts by local agencies put the number of cases at ten times the number of reports claimed.

Join Chic for a Cause : Stop the Spray ~ Our Body, Our Decision   

What? A fashion fundraiser to grow awareness about opposing the harmful effects of the aerial spraying of pesticides. When? May 30, 2008 Where? Muse Studios, 224 6th St. San Francisco, CA 94103 Time? 6-9 pm Admission? $10 Why? To stop the “Light Brown Apple Moth program” which is really a toxin dump on California! 

Last fall a pesticide was dumped on Californians that included ingredients that are carcinogens, mutagens as well as other toxic chemicals in microcapsules that reach deep lung tissue. Soon after spraying in 2007, 600 plus reports of illness were recorded such as respiratory distress, nausea and vomiting, as well as serious skin irritations. Now the spray is back and we need to take a stand! Sign the petition, participate in events if possible, and please help educate others.

Editor's note: In the newest edition of Red, Green and Blue, writers Shirley Siluk Gregory and Jimmy Hogan take a look at the "smaller" concerns of environmentalists, and whether it's worth worrying about such issues when there are much greater and more pressing matters affecting our lives and health.

Shirley: When the Environmental Working Group last week announced its release of an updated and expanded "Skin Deep," its online database of chemicals

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