New Study Shows Toxic Pesticide Found in Mothers’ Breast Milk

A?new pilot study has shown that the toxic herbicide, glyphosate, was found in the breast milk of American women. This finding contradicts industry claims that glyphosate does not accumulate in human tissue. Results of the pilot study, conducted by Moms Across America and Sustainable Pulse, with support from Environmental Arts & Research, were released today. While the numbers are small, they are alarming. The study revealed that the levels found in the breast milk of American women were found to be 760 to 1600 times higher than the European Drinking Water Directive allows for individual pesticides (Glyphosate is both a pesticide and herbicide.) The EPA, arguing that glyphosate is not bio-accumulative, recently raised the limits for the amount of glyphosate residue allowed on human food. The study also analyzed 35 urine samples and 21 drinking water samples from across the U.S. and found levels in urine that were over 10 times higher than those found in a similar survey done in the EU by Friends of the Earth Europe in 2013.? According to Sustainable Pulse, glyphosate-containing herbicides are the top-selling herbicides in the world and are sold under trademarks such as Monsanto?s ?Roundup?. Monsanto?s sales of Roundup jumped 73 percent to $371 million in 2013 because of its increasing use on genetically engineered crops (GE Crops). Glyphosate has also been found to be a powerful pesticide. ?This is another in a long line of studies showing the many ways in which glyphosate poses a real danger to human health,? Cummins said. ?It?s time for Americans to demand that the FDA, USDA and EPA ban this toxin for good. Until then, at the very least, the FDA must require labels on foods that contain this dangerous toxin. And the best way to do that is to require mandatory labeling of foods that contain genetically modified organisms, most of which derive from crops that require massive amounts of Monsanto?s Roundup.

Oil Consultant Turned Whistleblower Exposes Fracking Crimes in Alberta

The You Tube video below is a compilation of segments from a talk presented by?an environmental biologist and independent consultant for the Alberta, Canada. Jessica Ernst, worked for more than three decades within the Tar Sand oil industry. One of her main clients was the EnCana Company, which began large-scale fracking in Alberta in the early years of the 21st century. In 2007, Jessica Ernst the scientist, became Jessica Ernst the whistleblower. Bringing forward evidence that her own water well and those of her neighbors had been severely contaminated, Ernst?sued the EnCana Corporation. She also sued the forerunner of the Alberta Energy Regulator, as well as the Alberta government itself.? Ernst is especially intent on getting some accountability from the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER), which is 100 percent industry-funded. She accuses the AER of violating her freedom of association under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Ernst?made this allegation based on a directive issued by the oil and gas regulator, Jim Reid. Rather than doing a credible investigation of Ernst?s complaints, Reid ordered his staff to cease all communications with Ernst in 2005.? Tellingly, the current head of the AER is Gerard Protti, a former executive of EnCana Corporation. His conflict of interest is illustrative of a culture of conflict of interest that is transforming the governments of Canada and Alberta into wholly-owned subsidiaries of Texas-based and China-based oil and gas companies. Ernst explains how this failure at the top is resulting in the poisoning of the environment and the severe undermining of public health. The quality of commercial agriculture is thereby undermined. The vitality of wildlife is attacked. Similarly, the public health of Albertans is under assault.

Procter & Gamble Agrees to Clean Up Its Palm Oil Act

After weeks of public pressure and outcry over?Procter and Gamble’s (P&G) palm oil sourcing practices,? the company has committed to a new “No Deforestation” policy that will remove forest destruction from its products and provide full traceability for all the palm oil it uses. This is a huge step forward in protecting the country?s forests and the communities who depend on them, but much work still remains. Nearly 400,000 people have called for Procter & Gamble, which manufactures a wide range of products including Head & Shoulders shampoo, to change its ways and take measures to stop the destruction of habitat that is home to the Sumatran tiger and the orangutan, amongst other species. A series of protests across the world drew attention to P&G?s bad practices, including at the company?s headquarters in Cincinnati in the United States, a peaceful action for which Greenpeace US activists still face serious charges. In response, P&G have promised to take measures removing all deforestation from its palm oil supply chains by 2020. The policy goes beyond existing criteria from the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and requires the company?s suppliers to guarantee there will be no conversion of peatland, that the rights of local communities will be respected and that high carbon and high conservation value areas will be protected.