Green Options

Drinking water poses a threat due to possible perchlorate contamination and BPA leaching from plastic, but it seems reasonable to assume that in the United States, bottled water is free from fecal matter.  Yet until now, there were no requirements to test source water — 70% of which comes from the the same place as tap water.

Beginning December 1st, “bottled water containing E. coli will be considered adulterated,” says the US Food and Drug Administration.  You don’t say?  It doesn’t seem as though we’d need a press release to tell us that, but this is the FDA we’re talking about.

Mom always said to take your vitamins, and now it looks like she was right.  A good dose of vitamin B12 could be the key to cleaning up thousands of sites contaminated by solvents, particularly industrial degreasers and dry cleaning chemicals known as trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (perc).   These are two of the most common ground contaminants in the U.S., and when they get into aquifers, they are among the most difficult to remediate.  All that may be about to change.

The lowly cattail is emerging as the weapon of choice against water contamination, and perhaps even global warming.  In addition to its use in large phytoremediation projects to absorb contamination from groundwater and wetlands, the cattail could also work in on a small, inexpensive scale, helping to reduce arsenic contamination in impoverished areas.  All this and biofuel, too?

World wide, 75 percent of human exposure to mercury is  from the consumption of marine fish and shell fish. In the U.S., about 40 percent of all human exposure to mercury is from tuna harvested in the Pacific Ocean, according to Elsie Sunderland, a coauthor of the recent US Geologic Survey study.

Data used in this study comes from one of 15 (so far) research cruises that are part of a much larger, international project called CLIVAR; the Climate Variability (CLIVAR) Repeat Hydrography/CO2 research   program.

Data analysis of the water samples indicated that total mercury levels in the North Pacific Ocean water have risen about 30 percent over the last 20 years.

After my family and I enjoyed several handfuls of pistachios at a get- together last weekend, I was surprised to hear yesterday about the latest food recall.

Federal food officials are warning Americans to avoid any food containing pistachios because of possible salmonella contamination.  (Just like the recent problems with peanuts.)

All of this food recalling makes a person wonder if anything is really safe to eat anymore?

Finally, some good news to come out of the global recession! As the price of rough diamonds plummets in Africa, miners throughout the continent are instead turning toward a future in agriculture.

Diamond mining has nearly destroyed many African nations. In Sierra Leone, for instance, diamonds are what fueled an 11-year civil war, which killed or injured nearly 100,000 people and displaced millions. The conflict was popularized in the Oscar-nominated blockbuster film, Blood Diamond, starring Leonardo DiCapprio.

A director of the Shell Petroleum Company in Nigeria revealed at a conference that oil theft is costing the company and the country tremendously.

“Even with low oil prices, the (Nigerian) government loses between $1 billion and $1.5 billion every year to crude theft,” Mutiu Sunmonu said at the Abuja conference. Nigeria is one of the top producing oil nations in the world with hundreds of miles of oil pipes used for transporting crude.

In the Napo region of northeast Ecuador, the nation’s second largest oil pipeline leaked tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil.

The pipepline company’s website described the leak as being due to ‘natural causes’.

American environmental scientist Douglas Beltman witnessed the amount of oil in the Santa Rosa river in the area and was quoted in a Reuters update, “The river was completely covered with oil from bank to bank.” (Mr. Beltman was generous enough to provide some photos taken of the spill for this story.) About 100 workers are cleaning up the area and a spokesperson for the pipeline company, Oleoducto de Crudos Pesados Ecuador, said the leak had been contained.

Research from the University of Gothenburg has revealed that 31% of antibiotics sold in Sweden contain drugs manufactured near Hyderabad, India, where porous wastewater treatment has led to widespread contamination.

The questionable water treatment facilities were found to release levels of the antibiotic ciprofloxacin which were 5 times higher than the daily consumption of the entire country of Sweden. At levels that high, there is an increased risk of breeding “super germs”, drug-resistant bacteria which have evolved an immunity to antibiotics.

The Tennessee Valley Authority and the EPA reported that levels of pollutants such as lead and arsenic were below safe levels for drinking water in areas affected by the Kingston coal ash spill. An environmental group’s tests had dramatically different results.

[Creative Commons photo by Andrew Ciscel]

Appalachian Voices teamed up with scientists at Appalachian State University to test water samples downstream from the spill. They found contaminant levels far above what is considered safe for drinking.

According to the AP Newswire 432 children in China have been sickened by infant formula tainted with Melamine.

There is one confirmed death.

Apparently, a Chinese dairy that sold milk powder linked to kidney stones in infants knew it contained melamine. They failed to recall the tainted milk products because, “grocers wouldn’t return it”. Uh, okay? I kinda don’t get that either.

In any event. If you or anyone you know and love shops at an ethnic market with any regularity (I do!) please pass this important information along. Although much of the tainted formula has been seized, and many executives are in custody (Yes they did this on purpose) some might have made it’s way to other countries.