Popular Science

My Quest To Analyze Every Man-Made Chemical In My Body

Here is a very interesting article about one person's efforts to discover what made-med chemicals were stored in his body. It also touches on some very important issues of capitalism such as the difference between regulation of pharmaceuticals versus industrial chemicals in the U.S. compared to Europe. Also the issue of individual responsibility in regard to exposure which is said to occur mostly in the houshold. Try to investigate the safety of one typical household cleaning product, and the practicality of individual responsibility for research seems nil.

Flow: for love of water

Water: pollution, commodification, politics, demand

To read my film review on Flow: For Love of Water navigate to that page on the right.

Consider the quote by John Maynard Keynes.

What happens when the death, disease, illness, disorder, disability, malady, and deformity of some becomes profitable to others?
Is it a flaw in our economic system, or in our moral system? In the similarly comlicated issue of organ trafficking, Nacy Sheper-Hughes points out that the root cause of perpetuated injustices is when one man looked at another and saw in him something that could extend his own life.

Without biotechnological advancments of the last hundred years turning healing into an industry, public health policy could hardly be taited by corporate interests. 

Without the undustries that put out so much potential endocrine disrupting products and waste, ambient levels of EDCs would be infinately less.

Without capitalism, environmental ignore-ance would not be profitable...

Or would it?

The Male Predicament

Also it views like your grandmothers post-mortem will video, this is an excellent introduction to the dilemna by Theo Colborn.

Click here: The Male Predicament



Drugs in Drinking Water
By Keefe, The Denver Post  -  3/12/2008



Commentary


00:40 She touches on the medical anthropology issue of pharmaceutical advertisement juxtaposed with the pharmaceutical secret illuded to in the above cartoon. The pharmaceutical industry is actually not alone nor premier in this, since as I address in my paper "Medcial Anthropology of EDCs" this potential threat to human/animal wellbeing includes cosmetics, food, water, livestock, transpotation, and potentiall any procuct market that relies on chemical industry for production, processing, and etc. in addition to pharmacuticals. Virtually every arena of our lives is suspect and the implications in our capitalist society are that it has never been profitable for a business to be environmentally proactive, except where such a display of eco-friendliness yeilds consumer enticement: a change in production processes such as Nalgene's switch to BPA-free plastic or from gas to electric may be costly, inefficient, questionable, or bankrupting.

04:15 EDCs can be found in every human tissue from blood to amniotic fluid

06:57 Although modern advancements in the biotech and pharmacy sectors is amazing, many diseases have been curiously on the rise including these listed.



8:00 Trending drops in sperm count and testosterone have been reported for the Northern Hemisphere.

9:45 Those who pioneered discovery of endocrine disruption are ignored by national health avisory in favor of "prestigious" corporate toxicologists of conflicting interests.

11:55 Crude oil byproduct derrivates are in virtually every consumer product on the market -plastics.

31:00 -35:05 One again we are reminded of the intimate network of capitalism, industry, consumerism, and public knowledge that our society is built upon. Corporate interests end up guiding public knowledge and policy.

Policy

The following is the abstract for "Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals: testing to protect future generations" by Alana Van der Mude 2010. The 26 page article describes what EDCs are, the current statutory and regulatory context, and potential solutions to regulatory shortcommings of pesticides and other chemical sources.

"Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are chemicals that interfere

with human hormone processes. EDCs are omnipresent: pesticides,

plastics, and drugs, among other common chemicals, all demonstrate endocrine- disrupting properties. Scientific studies have demonstrated the frightening effects EDCs have on human health, particularly for fetuses while they develop in utero. Given these health concerns. Congress passed the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996, which requires the EPA to test pesticides for their endocrine-disrupting properties. Frustratingly this testing, fifteen years later, has still not begun. Therefore this note argues that citizens should bring suit under the Administrative Procedure Act to compel EPA to complete testing of pesticides for endocrine-disrupting properties, all with the goal of furthering effective regulation of EDCs."
Click here: Full Article
Bisically this article serves to highlight the position of governemnt in regulating chamical capitalism, a seat that is surprisingly vacant.

Studies and research

* Adapting EDC Bioassays to Monitor Performance of Risk Management Processes
This is a study designed to create a framework for the utilization of environmental monitoring in risk assesment. Essentially the goal is to isolate levels of risk from simply comparative toxicology.
http://www.epa.gov/nrmrl/EDC/projects/edc_bioassay.htm

*Analysis of Swine Lagoons & Ground Water for Environmental Estrogens
Just as it sounds this study investigates the potential for groundwater contamination from swine concentrated animal feeding operations.
http://www.epa.gov/ORD/NRMRL/EDC/projects/edc_cafo.htm

* Emission of Endocrine Disruptors from Biomass & Diesel Fuel Composition
Here emissions are tested for androgenic or estrogenic activity.
http://www.epa.gov/ORD/NRMRL/EDC/projects/edc_combust.htm

* Evaluation of Drinking Water Treatment Technologies for Removal of Endocrine Disrupting Compounds
Just as it sound this study was carried out to test the effectivness of water treatment technologies.
http://www.epa.gov/ORD/NRMRL/EDC/projects/edc_dw.htm

* Fate of EDCs in Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants
Why do wastewater treatment plants often appear to be sources of EDCs to the environment?
http://www.epa.gov/ORD/NRMRL/EDC/projects/edc_ww.htm

*Land Application of Biosolids Containing EDCs
This is an investigation of the application of sewage sludge to agricultural lands for fertilization.
http://www.epa.gov/ORD/NRMRL/EDC/projects/edc_biosolids.htm

Neo-Marxists on pollution

I recommend this article called Capitalism, Pollution and the Solution at workerspower.com to get an idea of the ways capitalism is implicated in environmental pollution; it seems to frame the discussion of EDCs as well as "climate change" and other such issues, provided that you can sift through the communist calls to revolution.

Heres the problem for Marxists,

 "no capitalist government or business is ultimately going to do anything that damages their profits." Note the part where the dichotomy is laid between "bureaucratic planned economy" and "democratic planned economy". Namely "The Chernobyl disaster proved that state ownership in itself is no guarantee of acceptable security, if it is under bureaucratic control. In the case of the Stalinist states, the drive for mass industrialisation from the bureaucracy meant that there was no democratic input. The five year plans of industrialisation did not take into account the environmental impact, only the need to fulfil the quotas of production." Their assumption seems to be that the majority in a democratic socialism would have the best of intentions for fellow man, future man, and mother nature.

If it was 100% proven that cell phones reduce human life expectancy by 5 years and will extinguish the entire Beluga whale species in the near future, how many people would stop using theirs? For me, its not just corporate greed and the wealthy to blame, but rather it is that we LOVE and CHERISH modernity till death do we part -a modernity concieved and begotten through through industry's rape of mother nature. How far would you be willing to go to eliminate your exposure to EDCs, considering the fact that they are virtually everywhere and in everything?

Industrialization: progress or regress?

Focusing more on health and environmental consequences than on social stratification, the purpose of this project is to explore the effects of industrialization upon society. Criticizing the reckless abandon of unregulated agricultural and industrial operations has become quite popular, but how many people would forsake all the modern amenities of modern life that have resulted? Is industrialization inherently wrong regardless of regulation, or lack thereof? The tone of this inquiry will be more anthropological than scientific.