Worries stick to food packing,
cards against humanity complete set
The next time you make some microwave popcorn or cook a frozen pizza, consider this: The packaging of many of these products contains a chemical that the Environmental Protection Agency considers potentially carcinogenic and wants businesses to voluntarily stop using by 2015.
Studies show that this chemical perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA is present in 98% of Americans’ blood and 100% of newborns. It doesn’t break down and thus accumulates in the system over time.
The chemical industry says there’s no reason to worry about PFOA, which is used to make Teflon pans, Gore Tex clothing and to prevent food from sticking to paper packaging. The industry says that while the EPA’s carcinogen concerns are based on animal tests, there’s no evidence that PFOA is harmful to humans. manufacturer of PFOA. “I serve microwave popcorn to my 3 year old.”
Public health advocates counter that the industry is being disingenuous.
“There’s never been a chemical found that affects animals but has no effect on humans,” said Bill Walker, vice president of the Environmental Working Group.
“I don’t know about you,” he added, “but I don’t like chemicals building up in my blood, even when the chemical industry says there’s no risk.”
Neither does state Sen. Ellen Corbett (D San Leandro), who has drafted legislation SB 1313 that would ban PFOA and a similar compound in any food packaging sold in California by 2010.
The bill has been approved by the state Senate and passed the Assembly Health Committee last month. It’s expected to come before the full Assembly in the next few weeks.
“I was shocked to learn that people are being exposed to toxic chemicals in foods they serve to their family and may ingest every day,” Corbett said.
She said she was also troubled that it’s virtually impossible to know which manufacturers have PFOA in their packaging. There are no labeling requirements.
PFOA is part of a broader constellation of substances known as perfluorinated chemicals, or PFCs. When PFCs are heated, they break down into compounds that can be absorbed into food and make it into the bloodstream.
Federal investigators determined in 2005 that PFOA is a “likely carcinogen” and called for expanded testing to study its potential to cause liver, breast, testicular and pancreatic cancer.
In 2006, the EPA invited all companies involved with PFOA to join a voluntary “stewardship program” to reduce use and emissions of the chemical by 2010 and eliminate the substance by 2015.
For its part, DuPont said in a letter to the agency that it would eliminate “where possible” use and emissions of PFOA “so that any residuals are reduced to the maximum extent feasible.” The company is working on alternative chemicals.
Corbett’s bill also would ban perfluorooctane sulfate, or PFOS, which is used in stain resistant materials and has been linked to bladder cancer and liver problems. Like PFOA, PFOS is present in most people’s blood and accumulates over time.
Turner,
crimes against humanity game, the DuPont spokesman,
carda against humanity, said nobody knew for sure how PFOA and PFOS had gotten into so many people’s bodies. He said DuPont’s studies found no connection between the high levels of human exposure and widely used products such as microwave popcorn and packaging for French fries at many fast food restaurants.
“Our conclusion is that these products are safe,” Turner said.
For nearly 60 years, the leading developer of PFOA applications was 3M Co. of Minnesota. The company exited the business in 2000 after learning that the chemical was accumulating in people’s bodies not least those of its workers.
“We agree with DuPont that these products do not cause adverse health effects,” said Bill Nelson, a 3M spokesman. “But we did not want to be a continuous source of these chemicals into the environment.”
I asked if he meant into people’s bodies.
“Into the environment,” Nelson repeated,
card against humanity, reflecting the chemical industry’s wariness of being linked to a substance that’s now ubiquitous in the general population. market to itself. In 2005, the company agreed to pay $16.5 million to settle charges brought by the EPA that DuPont failed to report possible health risks associated with PFOA.
DuPont admitted no wrongdoing. “Our interpretation of the reporting requirements differed from the agency’s,” the company said at the time.
Turner told me the company had agreed to phase out PFOA by 2015 because of “questions that have been raised.”
“We do not believe there is a human health risk,” he said. “Yet there are questions that people have, and we are taking aggressive action.”
Got that? No human health risk, which is why DuPont opposes Corbett’s bill. But questions have been raised, which is why the company is getting out of the PFOA business.
cards agianst humanity wi iau mh
in the Ratings: An Explanation The quarterback ratings system is based Authentic White Paul Kariya Jersey on four main stats from a quarterback’s passing game. The rating is achieved by taking a percentage of the following stats: completions, average yards per attempt, touchdown passes and interceptions. History of the NFL Quarterback Rating System Before we get into the Authentic White Simon Youth Authentic White Simon Despres Jersey Sami Vatanen Jersey Despres Jersey ratings system itself, let’s look at how the system progressed from a pee wee player Authentic Black Dany Heatley Jersey Authentic White Jacob Larsson Jersey into the professional it is today. The current rating system has been in place since 1973, but it has gone through a lot of changes. Some form of the system has been around since the early 1930s, when the only statistic kept was total passing yards. Through the years, stats were added to the list or taken away, with some years looking at a total of six different figures and other years having only one number to rely on. The major problem with these Authentic Matt Beleskey Jersey older systems is Men Kyle Palmieri Jersey Youth Julius Nattinen Jersey that they all relied on numbers from other quarterbacks to make any sense. In other words, all the quarterbacks were judged against
Authentic Sami Vatanen Jersey Authentic White Cam Fowler Jersey makes me sleepy. In fact, Authentic Black Paul Kariya Jersey I usually like to watch the first two or three innings, fall asleep, and then wake up to catch Authentic Matt Beleskey Jersey the last few innings. Watching football players hit each other full force and light each other up is exciting, and dozing is out of the question. Watching one grown man with ball in glove Men Scott Niedermayer Jersey Authentic White Carl Hagelin Jersey chase another grown man to tag him in a pickle is kind of funny. As 10,000 commercials played on the football TV, I had a few minutes to catch up on my MLB game. Finally, in the bottom of the third, a man hit the ball and dropped it in the right field gap for a single. All the baseball players, including the guy running up to first base, Authentic Dany Heatley Jersey seemed quite pleasant. Why Authentic Cam Fowler Jersey not be? They were playing in a nice park, on a nice warm and sunny day and no one had even broken a sweat yet. The batter reached Youth Corey Perry Jersey first base and started chatting with the opposing team first baseman. They started smiling and having a great Men Ryan Getzlaf Jersey Men Dany Heatley Jersey time with each other. My lip reading skills are not what they used to be but I think
Garth Brooks had it right when he sang "I thank God, for unanswered prayers" as Tim Tebow’s went unanswered for the first time this season. The score was already out of hand, somewhat predictably, when it turned in to "Tebow Time" at Invesco field in Denver yesterday. Tim Tebow never really had a chance to work his miracles though due to a better than usual New England Patriot defense. Apparently the other quarterback had gotten Jesus on the line as Tebow kept getting a busy signal. The Denver defense which has made all of these "Mile High Miracles" even possible was overmatched and they got run over by an offensive juggernaut named Tom Brady. They had him down early, but eventually Brady emerged from the depths and glided over the water like he typically does. Just about everything went according to plan on Sunday, except the main attraction. Tebow was harried and hurried and forced into making mistakes that he has yet to make this season. He turned the ball