FDA says not enough people have contracted cancer for them to regulate BPA in canned foods and beverages.

Manufacturers of baby bottles and cups have stopped using polycarbonate containing BPA (bisphenol A)  in response to consumer concerns it may affect children.

Sarah Janssen, a senior scientist at the NRDC, said the FDA’s denial of a ban shows “a major overhaul” of chemical regulation is needed. The Environmental Working Group, a Washington-based advocacy group, said consumers can no longer trust the FDA to protect the health of their families.

“The agency has veered dangerously off course,” Jane Houlihan, the group’s senior vice president for research, said today in a statement. “Pregnant women and new parents should no longer think FDA has their backs.”

Tell the FDA: No BPA in food packaging!

On March 31st, the FDA will decide whether or not to continue allowing bisphenol A (BPA) to be used in food packaging.

While the toxic chemical was recently banned in California from being used in baby bottles and sippy cups, thanks to the lobbying of the American Chemistry Council and other chemical manufacturers BPA continues to be allowed in food and beverage packaging, including the lining in much canned food and soup.

The FDA has the power to finally put a stop to BPA in our food. It needs to stand up to industry pressure and protect us from this dangerous chemical.

Please join me in urging the FDA to ban BPA in food packaging.

global annual death toll from filthy urban air at 1.3 million.

Failure to force aging buses and trucks off Hong Kong’s streets is a key cause of air pollution that results in more than 3,000 premature deaths a year, according to Civic Exchange, a think tank.
 
“People normally don’t realize that air pollution can cause cancer, heart and respiratory diseases,” said Carlos Dora, coordinator at the Geneva-based health agency’s Department of Public Health and Environment, who puts the global annual death toll from filthy urban air at 1.3 million. “Those are the diseases that really are the big, big plague.”

As Chief Executive Donald Tsang steps down after seven years in office, he leaves a city that boasts the world’s most valuable stock exchange, hosted three of the five biggest initial share sales in history, and is the best place on the globe for business, a new gauge by Bloomberg Rankings shows. Blotting the record is another superlative: Hong Kong, the most polluted international financial center. 

New York, London, Tokyo and Singapore all have cleaner air and more ambitious improvement targets, according to WHO data and the city governments’ websites. As China opens its economy, removing the capital controls that led investors to use Hong Kong as a proxy for Chinese growth, pollution risks undermining Tsang’s economic successes.

Tide Gentle and Free for children has a known cancer causing agent

Tide's "Free and Gentle" laundry detergent claims to be "gentle on the skin" because it’s free of dyes and perfumes. Ads for the detergent target parents and feature pictures of small children. But a recent report exposed high levels of a cancer-causing chemical in Tide "Free and Gentle" detergent: 1,4-dioxane.

Even bacteria don't poop where they eat and drink...

A southern Chinese city contained a toxic metal spill that threatened water supplies for 1.5 million people and contaminated a tributary feeding rivers that run to Hong Kong and Macau. 

Crews in the city of Liuzhou used ships to spread canvas across the Longjiang River and stop the cadmium, China National Radio reported today. Tests done at 6 p.m. yesterday at Liuzhou’s water plants met national standards, it said.

The cadmium spill, first detected Jan. 15, killed fish and prompted panic buying of bottled water, the Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday. Authorities dumped hundreds of tons of chemicals into the river to neutralize the cadmium, according to Xinhua.

Any cadmium in the water will be “greatly diluted” by bigger rivers and reservoirs downstream and levels of the metal won’t exceed safety standards in neighboring Guangdong province, Hong Kong and Macau, China National Radio reported yesterday, citing Xu Zhencheng, a researcher involved in the spill cleanup.

Cadmium, used in batteries and paint pigments, may cause kidney dysfunction and cancer, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Liuzhou is prepared to discharge water from upstream reservoirs to help dilute the metal, today’s radio report said, citing Gan Jinglin, the city’s director of environmental protection.
Tests conducted Sunday evening found that cadmium concentrations at the Liuxi water plant were 0.0046 milligrams per liter, within national standards, the radio report said, citing local authorities.

Liuzhou may stop drawing water from the river and use reserve and ground water instead if the level of cadmium reaches double the normal rate, China National Radio said, citing Liuzhou Mayor Zheng Junkang.
All seven heavy-metal production plants located upstream have suspended operation in order to curb potential sources of pollution.