want some green drugs?

 

It is always interesting to read things that happen in other countries that we know will never happen in the United States because of our unwillingness to be unfriendly to corporations.  The first was Germany’s request to its citizens to cut back on meat.  And then the United Kingdom followed with their own health program that encouraged taking public transportation to your surgery.  And, now there is this….

The European Union requires pharmaceutical companies to analyze the environmental risks of their drugs.  This became a growing concern after the vast amount of data in which various drugs were showing up in water supplies.  With this information, doctors can take environmental factors into consideration prior to prescribing the medication.

Most countries have followed the minimum requirements set forth by the law.  However, some countries have moved many steps further.  For example, Sweden.  

They have managed to create a database that rates pharmaceutical substances in terms of their toxicity, persistence, and bioaccumulation potential based on data given by pharmaceutical manufacturers. It is part of Stockholm’s larger effort to reduce levels of the most environmentally hazardous medicines in wastewater effluent and in surface water by 2011.

The hope is that doctors will pick the greener of two similar options.  The database currently has 1,100 substances and gets 5 million hits per month.  Because of its success, it is expected that the entire European Union will institute the use of the database.

The United States, however, does not assess or classify drugs based on their environmental impact.  What is also interesting is that if an American drug company wants to sell its product in Europe, and invariably they all do, they must comply with providing the impact report.  The transition to bring this live in this country would be cost effective and easy…. half of the work is already done.

However, given that the pharmaceutical industry is one of the largest lobbying industries in D.C., we would guess a database like this would never be implemented in the states.  It would require guidelines being met that they would argue would impact the bottom line.  Politicians would side with the drug makers for the simple reason that they would want to get reelected and their campaign financed.  This country has shown time and time again that we support corporations over people and there is doubt that this would be an exception.

* reference material came from an article published in Environmental Health News

** photo by kasrak, via Flickr

medicinal plants going extinct

Plants that are used as traditional medicines to combat diseases, such as cancers and malaria, are going extinct according the New Scientist.  And, they believe overexploitation is the cause.

Most people worldwide, including 80 per cent of all Africans, rely on herbal medicines obtained mostly from wild plants. But some 15,000 of 50,000 medicinal species are under threat of extinction, according to a report this week from international conservation group Plantlife. Shortages have been reported in China, India, Kenya, Nepal, Tanzania and Uganda.

Most of the harm done to the plants is through over-harvesting, because commercial growers care little about the sustainability.  Other causes are climate, insect infestations, and habitat destruction.  

It is felt that by encouraging local communities, through incentives, that would do more to protect the plants from harm.  By giving them a competitive income to increase their quality of living, they may take greater care in the treatment of the crops and their sustainability.

satellite

This is very interesting. In a first of its kind, Japan is going to send a satellite up that will test the “breathing” of Earth.

In a group effort between Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Environment Ministry and the National Institute for Environmental Studies, the satellite will monitor the emissions of carbon dioxide and methane. These are the two main greenhouse gases that are regulated by the Kyoto Protocol.

Currently, greenhouse gases are monitored using the 283 various observation points across the world. However, the ocean is not monitored, nor a handful of places on land where there are no observation points, such as regions in Africa, the Middle East and South America.

Ibuki (the satellite) will monitor 56,000 locations on Earth from an altitude of 666 kilometers.

It will orbit the Earth in about 100 minutes and return to the same position in three days. During that time, Ibuki will observe sunlight reflected on the Earth’s surface.
Carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere absorb infrared rays of specific wavelengths.

The denser the gases, the more light they absorb. Therefore, the density of the gases can be calculated from the measured strength of the light of those wavelengths.

Since there is some disagreement as to how to evaluate the current data that is received, this should help in determining the true values of greenhouse gases. This will help when world leaders meet to draft the next version of regulations that need to be met under an international policy.

The article was published out of Japan, via Asahi.com, HERE.

troubled waters

The Economist has an amazingly extensive report on the ocean; its current condition and what can be done about it.

There are 11 articles ranging from topics on climate change, fisheries, and salt levels, and audio file with a contributing author, John Grimond, and links to other resources.

It is a very comprehensive look at something that dominates a major portion of our planet. Our fate could easily rest in her hands.

phthalates… rxn’s are bad

Phthalates may cause more damage than originally reported.

An investigation released by a committee from the National Research Council has found that the government risk assessment methods likely underestimate the effects of phthalates. The report has concluded that the EPA could understate the risk of phthalates if it does not consider the effect of combined exposure to different compounds. In other words, mixed with other chemicals, phthalates could be even more damaging.

Phthalate compounds with different chemical structures can interfere with androgen activity in ways that are different, yet lead to the same health outcome. The report stresses that particularly for hormone-mediated effects, risk assessments should group chemicals by common outcome, regardless of the chemical structure or mechanism involved. That will mean assessing products that may contain multiple phthalates or multiple products that may be used together or frequently in ways that could compound an individual’s total phthalate intake. Surprisingly, one such product may be certain types of medications.

In addition, scientists at Harvard, Boston University, and the CDC have identified phthalates in 47 different pharmaceuticals. Versions of the chemical are used in the coating surrounding some medications. Samples of urine were tested, and depending on dosage, some individuals were found with concentrations higher that allowed by the EPA.

Obviously, this has raised concern in over the counter medication, especially those used on pregnant women and children.

The article came via Consumer Reports, HERE.

triclosan: something else to watch out for

For health and safety, we have been marketed to that antibacterial products are the best things for our homes and the betterment of our families. One unfortunate result is that the bacteria are fighting back by becoming resistant to the antibiotics placed in these products. In fact, in 1974, 2% of staph infections were antibiotic resistant. Today, the figure is closer to 60%.

New data is being released that indicates there is a second concern for products with antibiotic resistance. Most products contain triclosan, which is a bactericide. Scientists are finding that it has endocrin-disrupting contaminant. Although, it would surprise few to hear that the EPA has not hesitated in saying it has little cause for concern.

The endocrine system is instrumental in regulating metabolism, growth, development and puberty, and tissue function and also plays a part in determining mood. This is not a hormone mimicker, as seen in Bisphenol-A and phlalates, but does affect our bodies similarly. The greatest concern is that scientists have found in non-human species alterations in the thyroid function in the presence of triclosan. The thyroid gland is responsible for metabolism and affects nearly every cell in the body.

You would be surprised to know that triclosan is in many everyday products, even some not labeled as ‘anti-bacterial”. For example, computer keyboards, toys, clothing, and mattresses.

It is hard to know what to do. You may think you are being responsible by not allowing antibacterial products into your home, and then find out that you are still being affected because you have… a bed? The best thing anyone can do is to be aware of what you are purchasing and ensuring you are doing as much research as possible for what you are allowing into your home. The next step, obviously, is soliciting your local agencies to put pressure on departments, like the EPA, to listen and evaluate ALL scientific research for accuracy and validity in making approval decisions.

It is unfortunate that at a time when we feel so regulated by what we can and can’t do, we still have to watch out for things that we, blindly, think others have our best interest in mind.

This is just another indication that living simply may be the best answer. HERE is the article.

plug it in, plug it in

The history of the electric car is vast. We had EV’s as early as the 1890′s, Ford and Edison were in a partnership for an expansion in the 20′s and then the 70′s oil embargoes really started getting people talking. It should be mentioned that there was an equal lack of movement over the last ten years. However, the EV is back and its seems to be in full gear.

The biggest limitation to the boom: where do we all plug in our new cars? Well, an Israeli born investor, Shai Agassi, seems to have the solution:

(he) and his company, Better Place, come in. They are promoting a vision of an electric transportation future that includes a widespread charging network, with battery exchange stations (where, for longer trips, depleted packs are exchanged for new ones in just a few minutes), and their auto-company partners are planning to produce the electric cars and trucks that will be plugged into those stations.

Agassi, a former software entrepreneur, has been traveling throughout the world, targeting what he calls “transportation islands,” either actual islands or densely packed urban areas with plentiful commuters in a small area. He’s signed up nations (Israel, Denmark, Japan, Australia), states (Hawaii) and even cities (San Francisco) as partners. In some, but not all of those locations, Better Place is cooperating with the Renault-Nissan Alliance.

The difference in his system is that he has modeled it off of the cell phone industry: “The first is that we build the network ahead of the cars. The second is that the battery is part of the infrastructure — you own the car, but we own the batteries. Down the road, when there’s a magic battery with twice the capacity of the one in your car, we can swap it at no cost to you. And the third idea is that drivers will buy miles and pay as they consume them.”

There are limitations, however. The first one being that the battery used in EV’s needs to be improved. Research needs people and money. Will either of this exist given that cheap oil is back. There is also the criticism that we need to collectively move away from oil. Under the proposal, it will cost the individual $600 per year to charge up to 18,000 miles. That may not seem like a lot, but with rising costs in every sector, this may be an unreachable goal, leaving the electric car, like the Prius to the elite and not the people that need cost savings. Also, would you want to buy something, and invest that money, in something that has not been proven to work?

Obviously, there are logistics that need to be worked out. This is not to diminish a good idea, but it is to highlight what is truly realistic. There is an immediate need to move to alternative energies. And, since we know there is resistance to change, the reasons for “why not” will be quicker on the tongue than “why”. The creators of these ideas and models need to be able to answer those questions with definitive answers, not claim that “research is being done” or “money is needed.”

The article is via Yale 360 and can be found HERE.

whatever is the equivalent of nationalist, applied to the state level… I’m that

California is very innovative and a leader in becoming “green” and sustainable.

California officials today unveiled a six-step strategy to promote use of safer, sustainable chemicals and wean the state’s industries and consumers off toxic compounds.

Twenty months in the works, the recommendations from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s staff are a mix of regulatory and voluntary strategies. State officials say it would be the most comprehensive program in the nation to push industries toward following the tenets of green chemistry.

Green chemistry alters how products are designed and manufactured by choosing compounds that do not produce hazardous waste. Of the 83,000 known chemicals, only a few hundred are considered green. Of the others, hundreds are harmful to humans and nature. And for a vast majority, the risks are still unknown.

You can read the full article HERE, which details the program.

germ warfare

Mother Jones posted a very interesting timeline that shows our increased use of anti-bacterial products with an increase of sickness. Go HERE for the entire post. These are some of my favorites:

In 1993, there were only a few dozen antibacterial consumer products. Today there are more than 9,000, with 2,753 new ones introduced in 2007.

Triclosan, the active ingredient in many antimicrobial soaps, has been detected in women’s breast milk and 58% of US waterways.

A 2007 study found that adults who regularly use household cleaning sprays are 30-50% more likely to develop asthma.

In 1974, 2% of staph infections were resistant to antibiotics; today, more than 60% are.

37 days and counting

In 37 days, we will have a new president. However, in the meantime, we will have announcement after announcement of rulings by the current administration.

Yesterday, was no exception.

The Environmental Protection Agency issued a new regulation yesterday exempting an estimated 118,500 tons of hazardous waste annually from strict federal incineration controls, and it separately exempted factory farms from a requirement to report hazardous air pollution to the federal government.

The incineration control ruling is of particular interest because the language can be loosely translated as “if you can burn it, it is not hazardous waste.” Which we all know is just simply not true.

This ruling is also particularly timely as the EPA is coming under attack for not testing the air quality around schools, as investigated by USA Today. The FDA and the EPA seem to be passing rule after rule that supports big business and not the citizen.

The article can be found HERE, via Washington Post.

I would like to remind the EPA, however, on their own mission statement, as found on their website:

EPA leads the nation’s environmental science, research, education and assessment efforts. The mission of the Environmental Protection Agency is to protect human health and the environment. Since 1970, EPA has been working for a cleaner, healthier environment for the American people.

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