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Monday, March 21
U.S. Cosmetics Industry Fights to Continue Using Toxic Chemicals
by
Linda Thieman
on Mon 21 Mar 2005 05:53 PM CST
 U.S. Cosmetics Industry Fights to Continue Using Toxic Chemicals
By Kelly Hearn, AlterNet.org
Toxic
cosmetics ingredients were recently banned in the European Union. Here
in the U.S., the $35 billion cosmetics industry is fighting a similar
ban tooth and nail.
Phthalates,
the chemicals used in some cosmetics, may keep your nail polish hard
and shiny and your tresses thick and glossy, but in animal tests they cause birth defects, disrupt hormone systems and lead to reproductive problems.
Those are just a few of the reasons the European Union recently banned
them. Now, despite a huge outcry from the $35 billion cosmetics
industry, some California lawmakers are trying to ban phthalates in the
U.S.
California
Assemblywoman Judy Chu has introduced a bill that would ban the same
two types of phthalates as the EU did. In part because the FDA does not
conduct pre-market health testing of cosmetics ingredients (nor require
cosmetics makers to do so), Chu was moved to present a similar bill
last year that would have banned phthalates and other chemicals
blacklisted by entities like the International Agency for Research on
Cancer, the European Union and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Those
efforts were defeated. But if passed this session, Chu's Phthalates Ban
Bill (AB 908), would be the first ever phthalate ban in the United
States.
"After
three decades of extensive studies [on] carcinogens and reproductive
toxins, the EU banned two phthalates and those are the two that I am
proposing to ban," Chu said in a recent telephone interview. "It is
outrageous that American women aren't give the same protections that
European women are. How can a whole continent of women be protected yet
Americans ignore this?"
...During last year's legislative session, Chu's original bill (AB
2012), would have prohibited phthalates and forced cosmetics
manufacturers to disclose to state officials any hazardous chemicals in
their products. That bill failed to pass the Assembly Health Committee after intense industry opposition.
(Click here to read the complete article.)
Counterpoint Extra: Ted Remington Now Appearing Weekly on Sinclair Action
by
Trish Nelson
on Mon 21 Mar 2005 11:55 AM CST
Counterpoint Extra: Ted Remington Now Appearing Weekly on Sinclair Action
The rational counter to "The Point," "The Counterpoint"
critiques and corrects the daily editorial by Sinclair Broadcasting's corporate
vice president, Mark Hyman, that is broadcast on all Sinclair-owned television
stations across the country.
Congratulations to Ted Remington whose conscientious analysis of Sinclair Broadcasting's "The Point" by Mark Hyman can now also
be found weekly on Sinclair Action. Go Ted!
by
Iowa's Ted Remington
I'm
proud to announce that beginning this week, I am contributing a regular
"Counterpoint" essay for SinclairAction that will appear on their
website. However, I will still maintain [The Counterpoint] blog
independent of SinclairAction or any other organization.
The
Counterpoint feature that appears on SinclairAction will be a "kinder,
gentler" version of what you see [on the Counterpoint]. On a weekly
basis, I'll write a response to a chosen edition of "The Point" from
the previous week and/or comment on general trends in Mark Hyman's
rhetoric. There will be less snide asides from me and more pure fact
checking and analysis. However, the goal is the same - to provide a
balance to "The Point" and to identify and critique Hyman's
simplifications, distortions, and falsehoods.
Like
what you see [on the Counterpoint], the commentary that appears
courtesy of SinclairAction represents my individual point of view, not
the editorial voice of the organization (i.e., I'm not on the
SinclairAction payroll). However, SinclairAction is offering me an
opportunity to contribute to their ongoing efforts to monitor Sinclair
Broadcasting and keep them honest (to the extent that's possible).
I'd like
to thank the good folks at SinclairAction as well as Media Matters for
America for the encouragement and support they've provided!
Click here to view a recent segment of "The Point" where Mark Hyman defames Ted Remington.
Cleaning Up Factory Farms
by
Linda Thieman
on Mon 21 Mar 2005 04:35 AM CST
 Cleaning Up Factory Farms
By J.R. Pegg, Environment News Service, AlterNet.org
The
Bush administration thinks it's perfectly OK to let factory farms
discharge waste into the nation's waters. A federal appeals court says
the policy stinks.
The Bush
administration's regulations to limit water pollution from factory
farms violate the Clean Water Act and must be revised, a federal
appeals court ruled [last month]. The court found the regulations
failed to ensure that factory farms would be held accountable for
discharging animal wastes into the nation's waters.
...The
decision continues a long-running battle over how to regulate factory
farms – known as concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). CAFOs
have emerged as the dominant force in the modern production of
agricultural livestock as the size of livestock operations has grown
over the past two decades. These operations produce some 500 million
tons of animal waste annually – disposal and storage of this waste
presents serious risks to public health and the environment.
CAFOs
often over-apply liquid waste on land, which runs off into surface
water, killing fish, spreading disease, and contaminating drinking
water supplies. Waste can leak onto the land and into groundwater and
drinking water supplies from the massive waste storage units on the
farms.
Three
decades ago, the U.S. Congress identified CAFOs as point sources of
water pollution to be regulated under the Clean Water Act's water
pollution permitting program. The 2003 rule aimed to implement that
decision – it applies to some 15,500 livestock operations across the
country.
(Click here to read the complete article.)
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