What Makes Me Angry ...

Every so often I get really, really angry. If I stood in front of a mirror, steam would probably be coming out of my nostrils, and my face would have already turned purple. The signs above, at Ballston Beach in Truro, indicate danger. There are no signs to warn us of the toxic chemicals that have infiltrated our lives. We need to turn this situation around, but how?

I get angry when I read the umpteenth article on endocrine disruption and realize that life will go on as desired by the chemical industry with no change. Ignorant human beings will gain weight and develop diabetes, despite today’s news of a new study linking phthalates to childhood obesity. This morning also brought an ABC report on 300 chemicals detected in a nursery. (Express your approval of this type of investigation here.)

Yes, it’s true that enlightenment comes slowly ...

Recently there have been more articles on how to avoid toxic chemicals in food. Here's another. Food bloggers are big on the Internet, but, so far, they have not tackled toxins in food.

I only started studying these issues two and a half years ago, in my effort to prevent NStar from spraying Monsanto’s glyphosate, and four other nasty chemicals, under Cape Cod’s power lines to kill vegetation. One thing led to another and soon I realized Monsanto is an evil empire here on earth. The corporation has infiltrated our government and has been twisting arms to impose GMOs on Europe, for instance.

And, the USA? We’re already doomed unless someone does something fast. Monsanto has managed to bypass rigorous testing and sneak unlabeled GMOs into 80% of the food found on American grocery shelves. Last month NPR's Diane Rehm did a whole show on why GMOs should be labeled. Corn and HFCS (high-fructose corn syrup) remain the major offenders. Food Inc. explained how HFCS also makes us fat. It’s still possible to eat local and avoid GMOs, but for how long? Monsanto is buying up seed companies. Argh!!! (Read the latest on this dreadful corporation on the Organic Consumers Web site.)

Meanwhile, here on Cape Cod, NStar has not abandoned its plan to poison our sole-source aquifer with five toxic chemicals. One of them, glyphosate, has been shown to increase risk of birth defects in the unborn. The utility company will put their plan into action in the spring. If you are a pregnant woman on the Outer Cape, you do not want to be drinking unfiltered well water, since NStar already tested its spraying plan in certain areas. These toxic chemicals do not dissolve. They are not absorbed by the soil. In fact, they flow right through our sandbar-of-a-beautiful-tourist-destination into the aquifer. Activists proposed goats early on and NStar scoffed. Google uses goats at its headquarters in California. Why shouldn’t we have them here? Now Eastham has its own herd. Today’s New York Times reports goats are a great way to avoid herbicides, something we already knew, but, hey, it’s refreshing to see people are beginning to talk about it ...

Join the Movement to Regulate Toxic Chemicals

Walking at Newcomb Hollow last month, I noticed residue from boogie boards had washed up on the beach. What are boogie boards made of? The material looks suspiciously like polystyrene to me. Styrene is a known carcinogen.

Let's think about health a different way today. Imagine for a moment that HEALTH stands for

Help
Eradicate
A
Life-
threatening
Hazard.

I’m talking toxic chemicals. They are everywhere and must be regulated. We do not need them in our environment.

I received a comment on a recent blog post that neighbors were posting “Organic Lawn” signs, the way people used to post “Just Fertilized.” This gives me hope. But how far we must travel to take advantage of the legislation, proposed by Senator Kerry and Senator Moran (Endocrine-disruptive Chemicals Exposure Elimination Act) and Senator Lautenberg (Safe Chemicals Act)! Every day I hear about a new study indicating toxic chemicals can cause disease or that exposure has consequences on health.

There’s rocket fuel in Rialto, CA wells. Not good to drink the stuff. (Remember how shocked everyone was in 2005 when rocket fuel was detected in the breast milk of women in 18 states?)

The New York firefighters, those who responded to 9/11, are more at risk of cancer due to toxic chemicals in the dust they breathed in while trying to save lives at the World Trade Center. What was in the dust? Benzene and asbestos, among other things. According to today's Guardian, "Some contaminants in the World Trade Center dust, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, and dioxins, are known carcinogens."

Studies confirm school age kids have lower IQs when their mothers are exposed to pesticides during pregnancy.

POPs may be linked to type 2 diabetes, according to a new Finnish study.

Locally, NStar intends to spray four herbicides under 150 miles of power lines on Cape Cod. One of these toxic chemicals is glyphosate, which has been detected in air and water in the Midwest. No wonder. More and more weed-killer must be sprayed on American fields because Roundup Ready crops don’t work and require additional herbicide, not less, as Monsanto had promised.

Endocrine-disruptors are often estrogen-mimics and are believed to cause breast cancer, reproductive problems, and the feminization of male frogs. Barnstable County already has a high rate of breast cancer. We do not need herbicides filtering down into our sole-source aquifer …

To make matters worse, the Tea Party is taking aim at the environmental regulations already in place.

The media ignores any studies that hint at the risk toxic chemicals pose, although a new study seems to get published every day. If bloggers and Facebookers do not spread the word, who will?

What can you do about this situation?

1.) Think HEALTH: Help eradicate this life-threatening hazard, toxic chemicals in our food, air and water. Support the movement. (I follow Safe Planet, created by the United Nations, contribute to Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families and watch for new reports about toxic chemicals on Cape Cod from Silent Spring Institute.)
2.) Get educated on the risks toxic chemicals pose.
3.) Tell friends and family.
4.) Write your legislators.
5.) Eat organic.
6.) Filter drinking water.
7.) Pray?

I have been posting every month or so about how toxic chemicals pose a risk to health. Has my writing made any difference in the way you perceive toxic chemicals?

Another Letter to the Editor Published Yesterday

The piece of glass above sticks out of the sand. We can see it, avoid stepping on the jagged edges and hurting ourselves. Not an option with pesticide residue on fruit or traces of herbicides in a glass of water. Here's my latest letter to the editor of the Cape Cod Times, entitled "Urge Senator Brown's Support on the Safe Chemicals Act," published yesterday:

I am very worried about the quality of Cape Cod drinking water. I have done extensive research over the past two years, since NStar decided to switch from mowing to spraying up to five herbicides under the power lines, and I have learned that these toxic chemicals can leach through the sandy soil into our sole-source aquifer.

Once chemicals get in our drinking water, there is little recourse, so we need to prevent this from happening. If it is known by tourists that drinking water is compromised with traces of endocrine-disruptive chemicals, tourists will stop coming. Real estate values will plummet.

I urge county government to take a firm stand against herbicides — not only those sprayed by NStar, but by all homeowners. Toxic chemicals need better regulation.

Please ask Sen. Brown to support the Safe Chemicals Act of 2011, now before Congress. Cape Cod is known for being a pristine place. Let's make sure it stays that way!

Another Letter to the Editor Published Today

Check out today's Cape Cod Times. The editor published my letter with the heading, "Too many unknowns exist to persist in herbicide use":

“I urge readers to sign the GreenCAPE petition against herbicidal spraying at Change.org.

Our sole-source aquifer is at risk of contamination. People are talking about herbicides from Provincetown to Sandwich. Indeed, two of the five toxic chemicals NStar intends to spray under the power lines have been in the news this week. The first is Glyphosate. Consumers know this chemical as Round-Up, a powerful weed-killer. According to a report by Earth Open Source, Monsanto and industry regulators have known for decades that Glyphosate causes birth defects in laboratory animals.

The second herbicide is imazapyr, which the National Seashore plans to use on a Truro cranberry bog. This chemical kills reeds, known as phragmites. The Seashore also intends to apply imazapyr at Herring Pond, in Wellfleet, this fall. One study found imazapyr in groundwater 8 years after its application.

At a time when herbicide use across the country has come under intense scrutiny, it seems crazy to me to persist in using herbicides. Scientists are connecting the dots and realizing toxic chemicals can lead to autism, ADHD, and other diseases.

Since traces of these herbicides will end up in our drinking water, I urge those responsible at both NStar and the National Seashore to seek safer options.”

County Commissioner Holds Meeting On Herbicides and Cape Water

October blew in with warm gusty winds and pouring rain. Large drops ping off the air-conditioner in my office window as I write. Outside, the zinnias turn their heads skyward to receive this life-sustaining liquid, so long in coming, so vital to everything. Water from the skies seems appropriate today because I went down to Barnstable this morning to listen in on a meeting organized by County Commissioner Shelia Lyons regarding herbicidal spraying by the utility company, which is to start up again at the beginning of 2011 after a one-year moratorium. I journeyed down picturesque Route 6A with my friend Beverly, who shares my determination that Cape water not be polluted by a mixture of five toxic chemicals. Not sure which of the buildings in the complex to try first, Beverly and I arrived a bit late.

The meeting was organizational. This mission statement had been drafted ahead of time: “Vegetation management on Cape Cod is undertaken by individual residents, local businesses, farmers, golf courses, utilities, corporations, non-profits and others. The impacts of some of these vegetation management practices on our drinking water and environment are not sufficiently understood. The mission of this Committee is to develop recommendations for short-term and long-range strategies to reduce or eliminate certain vegetation management practices, (including mechanical and chemical applications) that are not known to be safe for Cape Cod drinking water or the environment.”

I felt very positive about this meeting. For one thing, Sheila Lyons did a great job of guiding the discussion. For another, she allowed the public to listen and make comments at the end. Everyone at the table was, of course, given a chance to speak, including Rep. Sarah Peake, several representatives from the utility company, Green Cape, MA DAR, as well as a cranberry grower from Harwich and everyone's favorite organic landscaper, Laura Kelley. Unfortunately I missed the introductions, so I cannot share the names of everyone present or list all participants. Sheila made it clear that the object was to build consensus and move forward. A few random comments:

“What was the practice in the past, and how has it changed?”

“What can we do, as a region, to protect our water?”

“We need to lay out what we can and can’t accomplish.”

“Testing was done in clay soil, not on the Cape, and the Outer Cape has sandier soil. Do we have the ability to do data that is Cape-specific?”

Regarding a ban in place in Westchester County, NY: “Do we want to pursue that ability for the county and look at ourselves as a special place, looking at how we can best address this in a cost-effective way?”

Laura mentioned the Precautionary Principle, adopted this week by Sarasota County, in Florida, as a possible model for Barnstable County. “I was born and raised here,” she said. “I want to be able to continue to live here.”

One man commented that he does not use the computer and requested hard copies of everything, which solicited many surprised looks. He also asked to see the labels of all five herbicides at the next meeting, which will take place in two weeks.

“We want to know the total product to be used along the 150 miles and the starting date.”

“The research is 50 to 60 years old. There’s been no research done on this mixture. What about (in combination with) jet fuel and the pharmaceuticals?”

“We can ask the Cape Cod Commission to come forward with a specific testing plan. Three different soil samples and air conditions, from three sites.”

“I’ve got news for you: this will take years.”

And what did the utility company reps have to say? They spoke of "discrepancies on wellheads" and said that they do not have to spray every year. This is the first time I have heard this claim. Not every year is good. But never is better.

Towards the end, Beverly mentioned the President’s Cancer Panel, which has made recommendations on how to avoid environmental toxins and does an amazing job of explaining the risks. I didn’t write down her words because I was too busy waving Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk: What We Can Do Now, the panel's Annual Report, above my head ...