A discovery that two commonly used food additives are estrogenic has
led scientists to suspect that other ingredients added to the food
supply may be capable of altering hormones. The FDA, however, doesn't
require testing.
By: Jessica A. Knoblauch, Environmental Health News, March 27, 2009
A
discovery that two commonly used food additives are estrogenic has led
scientists to suspect that many ingredients added to the food supply
may be capable of altering hormones.
More
than 3,000 preservatives, flavorings, colors and other ingredients are
added to food in the United States, and none of them are required to
undergo testing for estrogenic activity, according to the Food and Drug
Administration.
“We
need to be mindful of these food additives because they could be adding
to the total effect of other estrogen mimicking compounds we're coming
into contact with,” said Clair Hicks, a professor of food science at
the University of Kentucky and spokesperson for the Institute of Food
Technologists, a nonprofit scientific group.
“The benefits of using these additives in food need to be weighed against the risks they present,” Hicks said.
In a study published in December, Italian researchers screened 1,500 food additives using computer-modeling software, a much faster and cheaper approach than testing lab rats.
The
researchers first used modeling to identify 13 molecules that could
hypothetically bind with an estrogen receptor, a group of molecules
activated by the hormone. Like a clenched fist that fits into the palm
of a hand, potentially estrogenic molecules will “fit” inside the
receptor, indicating they could interact and alter hormones.
Then,
the researchers exposed cells to the 13 food additives, which confirmed
that two have estrogen-mimicking properties. Known as “xenoestrogens,”
these substances have been linked to reproductive problems in animals
and perhaps humans.
The
first food additive, propyl gallate, is a preservative used to prevent
fats and oils from spoiling that can be found in a range of foods
including baked goods, shortening, dried meats, candy, fresh pork
sausage, mayonnaise and dried milk.
The second additive, 4-hexyl resorcinol, is used to prevent shrimp, lobsters, and other shellfish from discoloring.
All of this positive PR for organics feels very threatening to Big Ag. So one group, the Mid America CropLife Association, has sent an email defending chemical ag to Mrs. Obama. See the letter reprinted below.
After sending the letter, MACA forwarded it around to others, with the following message:
Did you hear the news? The White House is planning
to have an "organic" garden on the grounds to provide fresh fruits and
vegetables for the Obama's and their guests. While a garden is a great
idea, the thought of it being organic made Janet Braun, CropLife Ambassador Coordinator and I shudder.
As a result, we sent a letter encouraging them to consider using crop
protection products and to recognize the importance of agriculture to
the entire U.S. economy. Read below for the entire letter.
Except one person on the forward list didn't shudder at the idea of
an organic garden - and that's how the letter reached me. Here it is:
March 26, 2009
Mrs. Barack Obama
The White House
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mrs. Obama,
We are writing regarding the garden recently added to the White
House grounds to ensure a fresh supply of fruits and vegetables to your
family, guests and staff. Congratulations on recognizing the importance
of agriculture in America! The U.S. has the safest and most abundant
food supply in the world thanks to the 3 million people who farm or
ranch in the United States.
The CropLife Ambassador Network, a program of the Mid America
CropLife Association, consists of over 160 ambassadors who work and
many of whom grew up in agriculture. Their mission is to provide
scientifically based, accurate information to the public regarding the
safety and value of American agricultural food production. Many people,
especially children, don't realize the extent to which their daily
lives depend on America's agricultural industry. For instance, children
are unaware the jeans they put on in the morning, the three meals eaten
daily, the baseball with which they play and even the biofuels that
power the school bus are available because of America's farmers and
ranchers.
Agriculture is the largest industry in America generating 20%
of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product. Individuals, family partnerships or
family corporations operate almost 99% of U.S. farms. Over 22 million
people are employed in farm-related jobs, including production
agriculture, farm inputs, processing and marketing and sales. Through
research and changes in production practices, today's food producers
are providing Americans with the widest variety of foods ever.
Starting in the early 1900's, technology advances have allowed
farmers to continually produce more food on less land while using less
human labor. Over time, Americans were able to leave the time-consuming
demands of farming to pursue new interests and develop new abilities.
Today, an average farmer produces enough food to feed 144 Americans who
are living longer lives than many of their ancestors. Technology in
agriculture has allowed for the development of much of what we know and
use in our lives today. If Americans were still required to farm to
support their family's basic food and fiber needs, would the U.S. have
been leaders in the advancement of science, communication, education,
medicine, transportation and the arts?
We live in a very different world than that of our
grandparents. Americans are juggling jobs with the needs of children
and aging parents. The time needed to tend a garden is not there for
the majority of our citizens, certainly not a garden of sufficient
productivity to supply much of a family's year-round food needs.
Much of the food considered not wholesome or tasty is the
result of how it is stored or prepared rather than how it is grown.
Fresh foods grown conventionally are wholesome and flavorful yet more
economical. Local and conventional farming is not mutually exclusive.
However, a Midwest mother whose child loves strawberries, a good source
of Vitamin C, appreciates the ability to offer California strawberries
in March a few months before the official Mid-west season.
Farmers and ranchers are the first environmentalists,
maintaining and improving the soil and natural resources to pass onto
future generations. Technology allows for farmers to meet the
increasing demand for food and fiber in a sustainable manner.
Farmers use reduced tillage practices on more than 72 million acres to prevent erosion.
Farmers maintain over 1.3 million acres of grass waterways, allowing water to flow naturally from crops without eroding soil.
Contour farming keeps soil from washing away. About 26 million acres in the U.S. are managed this way.
Agricultural land provides habitat for 75% of the nation's wildlife.
Precision farming boosts crop yields and reduces waste by using
satellite maps and computers to match seed, fertilizer and crop
protection applications to local soil conditions.
Sophisticated Global Positioning Systems can be specifically
designed for spraying pesticides. A weed detector equipped with
infrared light identifies specific plants by the different rates of
light they reflect and then sends a signal to a pump to spray a preset
amount of herbicide onto the weed.
Biogenetics allows a particular trait to be implanted directly into the seed to protect the seed against certain pests.
Farmers are utilizing 4-wheel drive tractors with up to 300
horsepower requiring fewer passes across fields-saving energy and time.
Huge combines are speeding the time it takes to harvest crops.
With modern methods, 1 acre of land in the U.S. can produce 42,000
lbs. of strawberries, 110,000 heads of lettuce, 25,400 lbs. of
potatoes, 8,900 lbs. of sweet corn, or 640 lbs of cotton lint.
As you go about planning and planting the White House garden, we
respectfully encourage you to recognize the role conventional
agriculture plays in the U.S in feeding the ever-increasing population,
contributing to the U.S. economy and providing a safe and economical
food supply. America's farmers understand crop protection technologies
are supported by sound scientific research and innovation.
The CropLife Ambassador Network offers educational programs for elementary school educators at http://ambassador.maca.org
covering the science behind crop protection products and their
contribution to sustainable agriculture. You may find our programs
America's Abundance, Farmers Stewards of the Land and War of the Weeds
of particular interest. We thank you for recognizing the importance and
value of America's current agricultural technologies in feeding our
country and contributing to the U.S economy.
Please feel free to contact us with any questions.
Sincerely,
Bonnie McCarvel, Executive Director
Janet Braun, Program Coordinator
Mid America CropLife Association
11327 Gravois Rd., #201
St. Louis, MO 63126
LAKE TAHOE CLARITY CONTINUES TO HOLD STEADY IN 2008
-March 19 2009
The waters of Lake Tahoe were clear to an average depth of 69.6 feet
in 2008, according to UC Davis scientists who have monitored the lake
since 1968. That keeps the clarity measurement in the range where it
has been for about the past eight years.
When measurements began in 1968, a white "Secchi disk" lowered into
the lake was visible at an average depth of 102.4 feet.
Last year UC Davis reported that data since 2001 suggested lake
clarity was not declining as fast as it had been. That encouraging
finding is supported by the 2008 average, which is nearly identical
to the 2007 average of 70.1 feet.
Individual clarity measurements in 2008 ranged from a maximum depth
of 122.2 feet on April 24 to a minimum of only 36.9 feet on Aug. 5.
In fact, the lake was much less clear than normal during the entire
period from mid-July to mid-August, possibly because of smoke from
California wildfires, said John Reuter, associate director of the UC
Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center.
For example, the typical Secchi depth in that summer period from
2003-2007 was 50 feet to 65 feet. But in 2008, the depth was 36.9
feet to 46.8 feet.
The overall summer (June-September) clarity depth was also very
shallow at 50.5 feet -- the shallowest measured since monitoring
began in 1968.
Smoke from wildfires elsewhere in California drifted into the Tahoe
Basin and hung around for weeks last summer. Prolonged fallout of ash
particles could have both blocked light penetration into the water
and fed the lake's algae, which absorb sunlight and reduce water
clarity.
"What 2008 highlighted is the impact that wildfires and other factors
outside our direct control can have on Lake Tahoe. While progress is
being made in both understanding and addressing the root causes of
clarity decline, the path to achieving the desired clarity will not
be a straight one," said Tahoe Environmental Research Center director
Geoff Schladow.
UC Davis and many other academic institutions and public agencies are
working together with the private sector to restore and preserve the
Tahoe Basin ecosystem. Led by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency
(TRPA), the collaborative Environmental Improvement Program is a
public-private partnership rivaling the most ambitious of U.S.
restoration initiatives in its scope.
"We are encouraged that the long-term trend showing clarity loss
slowing has held," said TRPA executive director Joanne Marchetta.
"Despite the apparent impact seen from wildfires outside the basin
last year, Lake Tahoe's future appears hopeful."
UC Davis researchers measure the lake's clarity with a Secchi disk
every seven to 10 days at two fixed locations. The depth at which the
white disk, the size of a dinner plate, disappears from sight is
referred to as the Secchi depth.
Their long-term research strongly indicates that Lake Tahoe's
long-term clarity loss is caused by fine particles and nutrients in
the lake. The particles and nutrients enter the lake through erosion,
runoff and atmospheric deposition. Once in the lake, they affect
clarity by scattering light and by fueling the growth of algae, which
absorb light.
"With our Environmental Improvement Program and other initiatives, we
feel we may have turned the corner in the effort to restore lake
clarity to levels seen a generation ago," said Marchetta. "With a
continued commitment to the lake from all sectors, we will accomplish
our goal of preserving and protecting Lake Tahoe."
The annual average Secchi measurements for the past several years
were:
Reuters. By Matt Daily. Published December 8, 2008.
Scientists at Harvard University and IBM are hoping to harness the
power of a million idle computers to develop a new, cheaper form of
solar power that could revolutionize the green energy world.
Researchers have launched the project using IBM's World Community
Grid, which taps into volunteers' computers across the globe to run
calculations on a myriad of compounds -- potentially shortening a
project that could take 22 years to just two years.
Harvard scientists are hoping the project will allow it to discover
a combination of organic materials that can be used to manufacture
plastic solar cells that are cheaper and more flexible than the
silicon-based ones typically used to turn sunlight into electricity.
The technology could be used to coat windows, make backpacks or line blankets to produce electricity from the sun's rays.
Technology to make the plastic cells already exists, but they are
not yet efficient enough to be rolled out in commercial products.
News