The good news is that 800 tons of Syria’s chemical weapons are scheduled to be destroyed before the end of December. The bad news is, the byproducts of this chemical weapon destruction will be dumped into the Mediterranean Sea where they could damage fragile ecosystems.

It’s nearly impossible to sift good news out from stories of the Syrian war: Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq have together taken in more than one million Syrian refugees. But this leaves millions of others homeless or displaced within this war-torn country.

Even the fortunate few who find relative safety as refugees are anything but safe. They face violence, crime, heat, cold, rain, thirst, disease, malnutrition and their children are being exploited to do their host country’s dirty work.

People in faraway lands send hand-made hats to try to help keep some Syrian refugee children warm during this winter, only have these gifts meet bureaucracy and corruption at the host country’s border.  But now Assad’s regime has agreed to destroy chemical weapons only months after it denied their existence.

On Friday December 7th, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) claimed to have destroyed some of Syria’s chemical weapons and this organization will receive a Nobel price for global disarmament.

But there is a dark side to even this glimmer of good news. The OPCW recently said it is “technically feasible” to destroy these chemical weapons in the Mediterranean Sea.

No one has given details of this chemical weapon destruction, but it is likely that they are being destroyed aboard a ship by hydrolysis instead of incineration.

What this means is that the chemical weapons will be mixed with other chemicals which will neutralize and de-weaponize them.

But one of the first things a budding chemistry student learns is to balance chemical equations. Except for the miniscule fraction of matter converted to energy or transmuted in nuclear reactions, all of the chemical elements present before the reaction will be present after the reaction.

For all practical purposes, matter is neither created nor destroyed. This means these weapons won’t disappear. They will simply change chemical form to something considered less harmful than the original chemical weapons. But this does not mean they will be rendered harmless.

Israel National News reports that Professor Moshe Kol, Organic Chemistry Professor at Tel Aviv University is concerned the the byproducts of chemical weapon destruction will harm sea life.

Byproducts of the destruction of Assad’s chemical weapons are likely to include sodium hypochlorite and phosphoric acid. These are less harmful than the original chemical weapons.

On a small scale we might even consider them harmless. For example, sodium hypochlorite is used in chlorine laundry bleach and phosphoric acid is one of the main ingredients of Coca Cola.

But what is harmless at low concentrations and a small scale can be very harmful at large concentrations and an enormous scale. More than 800 tons of potentially harmful chemicals will be dumped into the Mediterranean Sea over the next few months. And that’s the good news.

Creative Commons photo of Wadi Qandil beach near Lattakia, Syria by Victor Ibrahiem via Wikimedia.

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According to local reports, a two-year-old toddler managed to suck out and ingest liquid nicotine, the kind found in electronic cigarettes made to help people bust the habit of ingested carcinogenic tobacco into their lungs. The girl reportedly died last night in the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem’s Ein Karem.

The police were questioning the girls parents to see if the cigarette came from them or from another source.

There is enough nicotine in one regular cigarette to seriously harm a small child.

Living in the Middle East, I see far too many instances of people tossing cigarettes butts around the streets, parks and beaches with no regard for the public who comes into contact with them.

My two-year-old daughter is constantly picking up old butts, any that she can get her hands on, and is always trying to emulate the inhaling that she sees being done by other adults. She doesn’t understand that the butts are dirty and possibly dangerous to her.

Do us a favor – share this news of Urbin around the world – a nice-looking butt bit so people can dispose butts in style. And keep your kids away from your smoke-busting devices, patches and pills.

While Middle Eastern people are among the biggest smokers in the world, and they do so under lax smoking laws and enforcement (see some new laws and campaigns in Jordan for instance), it’s a very very sad day when children die because of our need to break the habit. Wise up people. If you smoke, do it far from the kiddies, far enough that they don’t see you or breathe your smoke.

And if you have to buy the nicotine electronic cigs to bust the habit keep them far from the reach of your little ones.

Image of electronic cigarette from Shutterstock

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This grey Congo parrot could be at risk if exposed to  cooking fumes from PTFE coated cookware

Issues surrounding the safety of ceramic and other “non-stick” cookware have still clouded peoples minds in Israel and elsewhere. These issues followed an Israeli TV consumer watchdog program, Kolbotek warned viewers that some brands of ecolon ceramic  coated fry pans and other cookware may be “killing you with color”  due to certain poisonous metals and other dangerous substances being present in the pans’ coatings. The warning that some of this cookware are allegedly carcinogenic even caused panic among consumers in Israel.

Ecolon, a silicon based coating ingredient, is not only used in the cookware industry, but also has many uses in other products as well, including automobile parts and accessories.

The issue of whether ecolon and other coating substances (including teflon) are dangerous to human health is still not entirely settled; and one company, Neoflam, which was singled by Kolbotek even filed a lawsuit against against the television program  for giving what that company says is a false report on the dangers of its ceramic cookware products. A few years before the Kolbotek program was aired, back in 2007,  Neoflam sent samples of its products to America’s FDA laboratories for testing.  The test findings determined that there were  0.5 mg per kilogram of cadmium, 5 mg per kilogram of lead and 2 mg per kilogram of mercury present in the ecolon coating . The findings at that time were “non-determinable” as to any harm caused to consumers as a result of the use of these coatings.

Chart showing effects of high cooking temperatures on PTFE coated utensils

One interesting recent finding that people might be interested in learning, however, is the effect that cooking fumes from polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) or teflon coatings on many cooking utensils have on both humans and animals; especially pet birds like parrots. Studies on this substance . which is also used in bags containing microwave popcorn, have found that not only is prolonged use of these utensils causing low birth weights in humans  but may also be responsible for the deaths of pet birds, especially parrots.

The bird deaths are said to be attributed to the fumes emitted by the non-stick coatings when the cookware is submitted to high temperatures during cooking. The emitted fumes are then said to cause the birds to quickly produce high amounts of fluids in their lungs as a protective measure measure against the fumes. The increased fluids then literally choke the birds to death. These bird death from teflon fumes have been noted in various studies going back to 2003 and earlier . No findings on bird deaths from fumes coming from the use of ceramic coated cookware have been noted, however.

As the jury is still out on the dangers on using ceramic coated cookware, consumers who use these products should only use the higher quality ones that have been certified as “green”  cooking utensils. Following the manufacturer’s usage instructions, including not cooking on extremely hot fires or burners and using a bit of oil like olive oil in the pan, are good ideas as well.

More articles on issues surrounding ceramic and PTFE coated cookware:

Ceramic Coated Cookware May be Killing You With Color

Are Cooking Coatings Messing with Birth Weights and Bodies?

Neoflam Ceramic Pans Are Allegedly Carcinogenic, Causing Panic in Israel

Ceramic Frypan Company Neoflam Sues TV Show for False Report

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The UN is calling for urgent action to reduce human exposure to chemicals and save the lives of millions of people

A couple of months ago, as part of my research for an article, I spoke to a young woman affected by a rather unique and misunderstand condition called ‘Multiple Chemical Sensitivity’. Also known as environmental illness or chemical injury or chemical sensitivity, MCS is defined as a condition where individuals have become neurologically sensitized to chemicals in the environment, including fragrances, car exhaust, pesticides, cleaning products, and building materials. Although there is debate in the medical community about its existence, the notion that the toxic chemical soup mixture that we expose ourselves to on a daily basis doesn’t have any impact seems outright illogical. Indeed, a recent study by the UN states that we are living in a world overwhelmed with chemicals and that better management of chemicals could save millions of lives.

The study released in early September by the U.N Environment Program states that urgent action is needed to reduce the growing health and environmental hazards we face due to exposure to chemical substances. There is an estimated 143,000 chemicals being produced that we know very little about and the UN states that only a fraction of these chemicals are evaluated to determine their effects on human health and the environment.

Unsurprisingly, the rate of death and disability due to the use of unsafe chemicals is high. The report reveals that poisoning from industrial and agricultural chemicals are among the top five leading causes of death worldwide, killing over 1 million people annually. The director of WHO’s Department of Public Health and the Environment, Maria Neira, argued that the figure was closer to 4.9 million deaths.

“I think that is an enormous figure: 4.9 million deaths that could be avoided if we have better management in reducing exposure to those chemicals,” Neira told VOA news. “Obviously, this figure is an underestimation. This is just the tip of the iceberg. We know that data is only available on a very small number of chemicals. If we go for more that would probably give us a more dramatic figure.”

Global chemical sales are also set to increase by around 3 percent a year until 2050 and the UN says production is quickly shifting from developed to developing countries. This is not good news. The report says chemical production is set to increase by 40 percent in Africa and the Middle East between 2012 and 2020. I guess this is an issue (or should I say problem) we’re going to be hearing a lot more about in the near future.

In a bid to encourage countries to take an active role in managing dangerous chemicals, the report argues that it’s cheaper to protect workers than it is to deal with the aftermath of dangerous exposure to chemicals. The UNEP’S director of the Division for Technology, Industry and Economics, Sylvie Lemmet argues in VOA News: “The estimated cost of poisoning from pesticide in sub-Saharan Africa…is estimated to be 6.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2009. This is higher than the total ODA [Overseas Development Aid] that is going to the health sector in that same area…preventing these costs makes an economic benefit.”

For more on chemical exposure in the Middle East see:
Pesticides Causing Brain Damages to be Banned in Israel
How Medicines Are Contaminating The Earth
BPA is One of Hundreds of Endocrine Disrupters
Chemical Colouring Our Food – A Rainbow to Avoid

Image of worker extracting sulphur in Indonesia via Shutterstock.com

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Among those sweet baby scents have lurked not so sweet ingredients like formaldehyde, claim activists.

If there is a signature scent associated with babyhood, Johnson & Johnson’s baby shampoo could win that prize. It’s a longstanding favorite with parents around the globe and has been for decades. Though the consumer products giant shut down their Israeli offices in 2009, the company’s cosmetic brands in Israel netted them close to $50 million that same year, reported Ynetnews.com. Their products are sold throughout the Middle East including Israel, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, according to the website.

That means babies have been exposed to what activists have referred to as the ‘toxic tub problem.’ Fortunately, a concerted effort by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics has led to a activist victory. Johnson & Johnson, makers of Aveeno, Neutrogena, and Johnson’s Baby Shampoo, announced this month that it will be removing some of these toxins from its baby and adult products globally.

“This is a major victory for public health,” said Lisa Archer, director of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics at the Breast Cancer Fund, a co-founder of the campaign. “We applaud Johnson & Johnson for its leadership in committing to remove cancer-causing chemicals from its products. We will be vigilant in making sure it meets its commitments and will continue to encourage it to remove other ingredients of concern.”

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is a US coalition of more than 175 nonprofit organizations working to protect the health of consumers and workers by eliminating dangerous chemicals from cosmetics.

Johnson & Johnson, one of the largest companies in the world, told the Campaign it will reformulate its hundreds of cosmetics and personal care products in all the markets it serves in 57 countries around the world. Specifically, it will:

•    Reduce 1,4 dioxane to a maximum of 10 parts per million in adult products;
•    Phase out formaldehyde-releasers in adult products;
•    Limit parabens in adult products to methyl-, ethyl- and propyl-;
•    Complete phase-out of triclosan from all products;
•    Phase out Diethyl Phthalate (DEP) from all products (no other phthalates are currently used);
•    Phase out polycyclic musks, animal derived ingredients, tagates, rose crystal and diacetyl from fragrances.

Johnson & Johnson’s announcement follows the company’s November 2011 commitment to globally reformulate its baby products. This coincided in part with the release of two reports called Toxic Tub and Baby’s Tub is Still Toxic, which showed Johnson & Johnson baby products contain  carcinogens.

Read More Toxic News:
BPA Chemical Banned From Baby Bottles, Cups in the US
BPA Disrupts the Quality of Eggs Retrieved in IVF Treatment
US Study: Toxins in Kids Costing Billions
The author is a regular contributor to Greenprophet.com and blogs at www.tinamariebernard.com.

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Jet fuel in breast milk? Breasts getting bigger than generations ago? These are just two discoveries that investigative journalist, Florence William’s, shares in her latest book about the environmental impact on breasts.

Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History (2012) is more than an ode to those beguiling curves; it is part of the growing body of research and awareness about eco-conscious intimacy, a movement some are calling ‘ecosexuality.’ A term originally coined by Greenpeace about 10 years ago, among other things ecosexuality invites us to examine the impact of toxins on our reproductive selves.

“For such an enormously popular feature of the human race — even today, when they are frequently bikinied, bared, flaunted, measured, inflated, sexted, YouTubed, suckled, pierced, tattooed, tassled and in every way fetishized — it’s remarkable how little we know about their basic biology,” Williams says.

Being made primarily of fat and glandular tissue, “breasts, it turns out, are a particularly fine mirror of our industrial lives,” Williams explains. “In the course of a lifetime, [they] meet many friends and foes: lovers, babies, ill-fitting undergarments, persistent pollutants, maybe a nipple ring, a baggie of silicone or a dose of therapeutic radiation. It’s a lot to ask of breasts.”

Measurable consequences include bigger breasts developed earlier with toxins finding hiding places in unsuspecting bosoms. Toxins come from industrial sources including air pollution. William’s had her breast milk tested and found that it was laced with miniscule amounts of jet fuel. However, consumers are also inadvertently exposed to daily household use items.

Many of those are in our beauty, cleaning and pleasure aid products. For example, lead in lipsticks reduces fertility in men and women. Toluene in nail polish and hair dye stops menstruation and decreases sperm count. Phthalates are reproductive toxins found in fragrances, cosmetics, and personal care products (even many vibrators and dildos). Bisphenol-A in plastics has been shown to cause spontaneous abortions and alter a man’s sperm.

Breast cancer rates vary around the globe, with women in Israel having rates similar to the west. It kills fewer women than heart disease, but because its scars reach deeper than our skin, it’s the rallying call that resonates with women’s private erotic selves. This touches on another aspect of the ecosex movement; our attitudes towards pleasure, our bodies and what is considered ‘natural.’ For better or for worse, Williams message about breast health underscores the complicated relationship society often has with the female body.

From the author’s website:

“Feted and fetishized, the breast is an evolutionary masterpiece. But in the modern world, the breast is changing… and attracting newfangled chemicals. Increasingly, the odds are stacked against us in the struggle with breast cancer – even among men. What makes breasts so mercurial – and so vulnerable?”

Her investigation follows the life cycle of the breast from puberty to pregnancy to menopause, bringing her from a plastic surgeon’s office where she learns about the importance of cup size in Texas to a lab where she discovers the presence of environmental toxins in her own breast milk.

Endowed with a witty and inquisitive voice, Williams explores where breasts came from, where they have ended up, and what we can do to save them.

Florence Williams work often focuses on the environment, health and science. She is a contributing editor at Outside Magazine and a freelance writer for New York Times, New York Times Magazine and numerous other publications.

Read more breast health news:
Ecosex and Why Environmentalists Are Avoiding the e-Spot
Are Hormones in the Environment Making Women’s Breasts Bigger?
Natural Breast Enhancement

The post Breast Milk Worth More Than Oil appeared first on Green Prophet.

Air and water pollution in Israel from insecticides, oil and other petroleum-based residues from older gas stations; and other chemicals are feared to be causing neurological damage to people according to new studies. Various forms of insecticides, especially the use of insecticides containing three types of organophosphate substances will be stopped in two months by the Israel Health Ministry, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. 

The use of insecticides and pesticides by kibbutzim and moshavim (cooperative settlements) have resulted in a number of complaints by residents that residues from these chemical agents are showing up in new neighborhoods that are being constructed nearby. Studies are finding that chemical ingredients such as organophosphates are affecting various parts of the body; especially the nervous system. In areas where these chemicals are being applied, there is higher incidence of Parkinson’s and attention deficit disorders.

A large increase in the number of complaints by residents in the areas affected by the pesticides resulted in the problem being mentioned in the annual report made by the State Comptrollers Office in which the following statement was issued: “Every gust of wind brings insecticide and disinfectant particles into the residents’ homes every day. The residents approached Israel Nature and Parks Authority rangers numerous times due to concern over the long-term impact of the substances.”

Pesticide effects in utero

The organophosphate  substances mentioned can affect the  fertility, growth, and development of males and females. It particularly affects people  like agricultural workers who are continuously exposed to the substances; as well as pregnant women, where prenatal fetuses have been linked to impaired fetal growth and development.

Higher doses of the pesticides can result in what is known as organophosphate poisoning, poisoning  that can cause vomiting, diarrhea, seizures, coma and respiratory failure.

The impact on the level of exposure to human health by these pesticides is being studied by  Prof. Yoram Finkelstein, the director of Shaare Zedek Medical Center’s Neurology and Toxicology Unit and Service, who has been investigating the problem. He is being assisted byAmit Ophir, a PhD student who is conducting the study under Finkelstein’s supervision.

Their preliminary findings on these issues were presented recently at Harvard University.

Studies dealing with exposure to pesticides in the USA are investigating a possible link between the substances and neurological disorders in children, including autism. This is all the more reason to eat organic and support local farms that are growing food with earth-friendly approaches like permaculture.

:: Haaretz/Alberto Denkbereg

Read more on the effects of pesticides and other poisons on  public  health:

Beware: Peppers, Pears and Grapes from Turkey are The Most Toxic Produce in Europe, Study Finds
Water Pollution in Israel Threatens People, Animals, and Plants
Old Gas Stations Still Polluting Israel’s Ground Water

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When your ancestral roots include a tangle of Irish housewives, you instinctively interpret “Vernal Equinox” as “spring cleaning”. I live in a furnished apartment. I’ve shed most of my superfluous stuff after a couple international moves. So mine is a micro spring-cleanup.  Sort photos; recycle books; shakeout a closet and the bathroom shelves.

The bathroom shelves sound simple enough.  But I have a teenage daughter. So, we suit up in old clothes, open windows to air out long-spilt nail polish remover and exploded body wash, and jump in. Boxes of ancient lotions; mini-shampoos and conditioners swiped from a year’s-worth of hotels; dust-covered toiletry gift sets, never opened; and then, the nail polishes.

Crazy thing is this kid doesn’t use make-up.  She just loves scent.  Her motley collection would disappear if only I could source scratch ‘n sniff wallpaper. She agrees. We start sorting.  As we unscrew each cap to whiff and judge the fantasticness of each smell, I read labels.

It starts with parabens, benzoates and xylens. Moves on to butyl, methyl, ethyl and propylisobutyl.  In comes formaldehyde, nonylphenol, octylphenol, and tongue-twisting alkylphenol ethoxylates.  Top it all off with perfumes.  It’s a chemistry lab Madame Curie would kill for, neatly packaged in pretty bottles and teensy tubes.

I swap stories with a mother of twin 6-year-olds.  Her girls are mad for nail polish, the next rung up from bubble bath on the kiddie-cosmetics ladder.  Twenty minutes of internet meandering on this and we both have headaches.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics (CSC -links to website) is a coalition of women’s health, environmental health and consumer-rights organizations. They publish reports, host a website, and run a companion blog exposing the chemical truth about toiletries we all use. They relentlessly query cosmetic giants on flash-points like how can products pitched to women contain ingredients linked to reproductive illness?  Can companies self-marketed as leaders against breast cancer use chemical ingredients that might cause the disease?

The Environmental Working Group (EWG),  one of the CSC’s founders, strives to expose health and environmental threats hidden in everyday products. Their excellent website broadcasts some dizzying findings.

In industrialized nations, nine out of ten girls regularly wear makeup by age 14.  Pubescent girls are most vulnerable to makeup’s chemical ingredients, some of which have proven links to breast cancer. In a study of 20 teenagers, EWG found evidence of 13 different hormone-altering chemicals in the girls’ blood and urine samples.  Their research shows that a typical kid is exposed to about 27 product ingredients that haven’t been found safe for growing bodies.

EWG claims that 77 percent of the ingredients in 1,700 child-specific products have yet to be assessed for safety.  CSC’s 2009 report, No More Toxic Tub, revealed that dozens of bestselling kid’s bath products  are contaminated with cancer-causing formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane.

The toxins in your make-up:

1. Phthalates – Used in hairsprays, perfume and nail polish; they act as hormone disruptors and affect fertility.  They cause allergies, damage kidneys, and have been linked to asthma.  Phthalates are banned from US children’s toys, but not toiletries.

2. Parabens – Used as a preservative in deodorants, moisturizers and toothpaste; parabens are estrogen mimics. They’re linked to breast and testicular cancers.

3. Xylene – Used as a nail polish solvents; it irritates the skin and respiratory tract, may cause liver damage, and is narcotic in high concentrations.

4. Formaldehyde – Used as a disinfectant, germicide, fungicide and preservative in deodorants, shampoos, handwash and nail polish;  it’s been found to cause lung cancer in rats. It irritates eyes, respiratory tract and mucous membranes.

5. Alkylphenol ethoxylates – Used to make shampoos foam; these are hormone disruptors and extremely toxic. They may be carcinogenic.  They cause asthma and eczema, and damage the central nervous system.

6. Perfume – Synthetic fragrances are linked to breathing difficulties and allergies. About 2,600 chemicals are commonly used in perfume; 95% of chemicals used to scent cosmetics are synthetic compounds derived from petroleum. Twenty-six of these chemicals are on the EU banned list.

That’s why we only use natural perfume.

Cosmetic ingredients are often considered trade secrets, and they’re exempt from labeling laws. The industry is widely unregulated.  The very nature of these products hold their greatest danger: applied directly to the skin, chemicals are easily absorbed and pass into the bloodstream.

Consider the youngest users. These chemicals are found in baby shampoos, lotions and soaps. How often is your baby rub-a-dub-dubbed in the chemical tub?

How to shop for make-up without toxins:

Product standards vary internationally. Ingredients within a same-name product can differ based on point of manufacture. Testing standards are globally inconsistent; chemicals banned by one nation may be acceptable in another. Consumer protection websites can educate and inform, but we’re fully responsible to take care before we buy.  CSC offers these few tips on how to shop smart:

• Simplify: Select products with fewer ingredients and no synthetic fragrance or dyes. Use fewer products overall. Look for natural creams and deodorants with materials you recognise. Good face creams may need to be kept refrigerated.
• Choose safety:  Learn more. Check out EWG’s Skin Deep Cosmetic Database  and search almost 70,000 products.  Learn about ingredients and associated risks. See if they test on animals. Find safer alternatives. See also their Safety Guide to Children’s Personal Care Products.
• Read labels: Select products that don’t contain any of the ingredients mentioned in this article.

It’s not all ugly.  Hundreds of companies meet CSC safety standards, and another hundred are making measurable progress towards those goals.  These industry champions show it’s possible to make safe products, that work great (and, yes, kid, they smell fabulous) without using hazardous chemicals.

Asthma? Allergies? Eczema? Maybe she’s born with it – but maybe it’s her choice of toiletries.

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Following McDonald’s announcement that they are no longer using pink slime in their hamburger patties, news of this issue has been spreading around the world. Since McDonald’s can be found from Israel to the United Arab Emirates, we have also addressed the issue. Such postings, including our meat glue article which was picked up on Snopes, are not intended to raise public hysteria but to fact find.  Similar topics have included possible ceramic coated cookware dangers and meat products containing the substance transglutaminse otherwise known as meat glue.

A number of USA based news media sites, including CBS News and msnbc.com have reported that McDonald’s in America have dropped the used of the slimy pink substance after British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver brought a live cow and large chunks of freshly slaughtered beef into an American fast food restaurant to show customers how pink slime is made.

He combined ground up pieces of discarded beef trimmings and placed them in a washing machine to show how the fat is spun off by the machines centrifuge-like revolutions.

To further emphasize his point, Oliver took a bottle of household ammonia and mixed some if it with water, thereby creating the ammonium hydroxide that he claims is being used to kill e-coli and other forms of bacteria present in the “slime.”

Jamie Oliver video on how pink slime is made:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wshlnRWnf30[/youtube]

While reports are not definite pink slime may have been used in the McDonald’s hamburger chain in Beijing until August, 2011 when it was said to have been “removed from our supply chain” according to a statement released by McDonald’s of China to the Peoples Daily news.

The Chinese offices of McDonald’s later denied ever having used it, however. But serious questions still arise regarding its use in beef products in McDonald’s restaurants in China, according to a second article published in the China Daily news site. Reports on the Middle East are non existent.

We still do not know if any fast food chains are using pink slime in any part of the Middle East, however. It might be a good thing to add that  in McDonald’s restaurants in the USA, and possibly elsewhere as well, a number of questionable chemical additives are still being used on a daily basis, as reported in the Washington Post. Some of these additives include:

1. Propylene glycol – a substance similar to that found in antifreeze
2. Ammonium sulfate – used to encourage bread dough to rise
3. Azodicarbonamide – a bleaching agent used in hamburger buns
4. Sodium Acid pyrophosphate – a buffering agent used in foods like chicken nuggets

While everyone should be happy that McDonald’s has removed pink slime from at least its meat patties being served in American restaurants, these other additives warrant investigation as well. And we welcome consumer advocates located in the Middle East to conduct their own food content examinations in Middle Eastern fast food chains.

We will certainly be on the watch.

Slime Photo via US News

More on scary food issues:

Is Pink Slime Worse Than Meat Glue?
Ceramic Frying Pans May be Killing You With Color
Meat Glue: Is Anybody Talking About It?

The post McDonald’s Drops Pink Slime But Questionable Products Remain appeared first on Green Prophet.

Turkish environmental groups are calling for increased awareness against toxic waste dumping like that in Lebanon.  Toxic dumping is taking place in the Caldag region, about 60 km east of Izmir, where a mining concession was given to a UK mining company, Sardes Nickel. Operations started in 2004 to explore and mine deposits of nickel ore located under some of Turkey’s most fertile farm land. The mining, operation according to an article in the Todays Zaman news site will involve using a similar method of  “heap leaching” that utilizes sulfuric acid, one thousand kilograms of acid per ton of crushed ore — to dissolve the target mineral.

“Heap leaching” to the Extreme

This way of “finding” the nickel bearing ore is similar to what was done for 60 years in Cyprus by an American company, Cyprus Mines corporation (CMC), which caused large amounts of toxic wastes to be deposited in the mining areas. Toxic materials like petroleum and cyanide were dumped there and which will take decades to remove.

Like a Death Trap

The situation of the former mining area in Northern Cyprus, controlled by Turkey, is in fact so bad that the case is going to be brought before the International Court of Justice in the Hague. People who have visited in dumping site say the following about its present condition:

“We have been coming back and forth to this site since 1995. The picture is horrible. It is like a death trap. There were pyrites and mountains sprayed with cyanide everywhere and open pools. You can’t walk around for more than 30 minutes because your throat begins to burn from the sulfur.”

Toxic wastes dumping is an issue that many countries have to deal with, including that caused by disposing of toxic wastes from nuclear power plants.

The Turkish Foundation for Reforestation, Protection of Natural Habitats and Combating Soil Erosion (TEMA) has studied the Sardes case and now claim that the Sardes Nickel Company is not only planning to use the heap leaching method, but recommend that it be used elsewhere as a way to extract the nickel from the ore.

For their side, Sardes claims that “green activists” have misled the public into believing that this mining method is unsafe, and even consider the claims made by TEMA as false.

In light of what happened in Cyprus, the claims concerning using toxic chemicals to extract the metal, and afterwards dumping the wastes nearby are valid enough to bring to the country’s environment ministry’s attention. According to TEMA vice president Deniz Attack:

“We are not against mining, but it should not harm the environment. The company was trying to do this in one of Turkey’s and the world’s most fertile areas. It will affect the local people’s health and their future.”

::Todayszaman.com

Read more on toxic waste issues and waste dumping issues in Middle East:

Classic Case of “Whodunnit” Arises Over Toxic Waste Dumping in Lebanon

The Middle East Nuclear Power Boom Without Toxic Waste Strategy

Garbage Trucks Dump Straight into the Sea in Lebanon

Top image via wikipedia

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