Fwd: FYI: Caveat eater - Strawberries are about to get more toxic

**J* L* <j*@gmail.com>**

Please plant a row for the hungry.Ask me how!

Begin forwarded message:

> From: John Graham <jgraham.ggm@gmail.com>
> Date: May 7, 2010 7:20:48 PM PDT
> To: Jeff Lowenfels <jeff.lowenfels@gmail.com>
> Subject: Fwd: FYI: Caveat eater - Strawberries are about to get more toxic
> 

> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone 
> 
> Begin forwarded message:
> 
>> From: Mary Long <atechi2@yahoo.com>
>> Date: May 7, 2010 5:43:29 PM PDT
>> To: Mary Long <atechi2@yahoo.com>
>> Cc: 'Cameron Fenley' <cfenley24@sbcglobal.net>, cstayfocused@gmail.com, glenn.nickerson@comcast.net, 'liz' <elcaley@astound.net>, m.guziejka@gmail.com, rhlogomotion@yahoo.com, Kelsey Elliot <kelseyelliott9@hotmail.com>, jodileblanc@sbcglobal.net, chrishopkins3535@sbcglobal.net, 'John Graham' <jgraham.ggm@gmail.com>
>> Subject: FYI: Caveat eater - Strawberries are about to get more toxic
>> 
> 
>> Just passing this along - as most of you know the pesticide load, especially in kids, is horrifyingly high.  Please send your "public comment" as a concerned citizen to mei_comments@cdpr.ca.gov) before June 14.  (And a good selling point to customers about "growing  your own".)
>> 
>> SF Gate - The Thin Green Line
>> 
>> Caveat eater: Strawberries are about to get more toxic
>> 
>> In Sacramento, a pesticide so cancer-causing that it's often used specifically to create cancer in rats for medical experiments was just proposed for use on the state's strawberry crop.
>> 
>>  
>> The state's own Department of Pesticide Regulation had advised in a report against approving the gas, methyl iodide. And 50 Nobel prize winners asked the U.S. EPA not to approve it. ("Further, a group of over 50 eminent scientists, including five Nobel Laureates, sent a letter of concern to U.S. EPA about methyl iodide explaining, âBecause of methyl iodideâs high volatility and water solubility, broad use of this chemical in agriculture will guarantee substantial releases to air, surface waters and groundwater, and will result in exposures for many people. In addition to the potential for increased cancer incidence, US EPAâs own evaluation of the chemical also indicates that methyl iodide causes thyroid toxicity, permanent neurological damage, and fetal losses in experimental animals.â The letter concludes, âIt is astonishing that the Office of Pesticide Programs (of US EPA) is working to legalize broadcast releases of one of the more toxic chemicals used in manufacturing into the environment.â) According to farmers, there are a number of alternatives to the stuff, including solarization, anaerobic soil disinfestation and natural pesticides. And it's especially important to use safe materials only in strawberries, which hold the chemicals they're treated with. (More background in this TGL post.)
>>  
>> Lobbying for methyl iodide, we have a single company, the largest pesticide manufacturer in the world, Arysta LifeScience. The Strawberry Growers Commission â the people who employ the people who'd be breathing the stuff in â had weakly declined to take a position.
>>  
>> The State is accepting public comment (email: mei_comments@cdpr.ca.gov) through June 14. Let them know that people trump profits.
>>  
>> 
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