In a letter copied to the BCLocalNews.com website, Nancy Falconer, Heath Promotion Co-ordinator for the Canadian Cancer Society, responded to a letter previously written by Lorne Hepworth, President of CropLife Canada, a trade lobbying organization for the pesticide and biotech industry. In his letter, titled, "Nothing Toxic About Pesticide Use in Canada", Hepworth claimed, "There’s nothing toxic about the ...

The New York Times is reporting that Senate Republicans, facing opposition from Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, as well as a number of environmental groups, are hoping to pass H.R. 872 with the 2012 fiscal budget for the Environmental Protection Agency. If passed, H.R. 872 removes protections of the Clean Water Act, which requires special permittin ...

What is your favorite, dog-eared, gardening book? Which books do experienced horticulturists green-thumb through when they need advice? The Republic, of Columbus, Indiana published, Survival guides: the books that keep America's best gardeners growing. Of the four selections, The Organic Lawn Care Manual was chosen by Margie Radebaugh, director of horticulture and education at the Phipps Conservatory and Bo ...

The findings ofa new study published in Diabetes Care has linked exposure to pesticides and other pollutants to Type II Diabetes in the elderly population. Researchers recruited a group of 725 elderly swedes without diabetes. They tested blood samples for levels of pollutants like PCB's- once used in paint, plastics, and for electrical equipment manufacturing and organochlorine pesticides. Then researchers ...

Long-time advocate of cleaning up the polluted Chesapeake Bay, Senator Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), is risking relations with fellow democrats to fight a bill that would threaten clean water regulation. Under the Bush administration, a 2007 EPA rule allowed all pesticides permitted under the Fungicide, Insecticide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) to be exempt from the Clean Water Act, which required additional permit ...

The Florida Independent is reporting that fish containing elevated levels of potentially harmful chemicals have been found in two tributaries near downtown Jacksonville. Mercury, PCB's, and arsenic are by-products of coal and are likely the result of nearby industry. They are highly toxic, especially to pregnant women, children, and the elderly. The finding of dieldrin, heptachlor, and chlordane are particu ...

It's the perfect venue. Lots of families with children eager to participate in kid-friendly activities. Well-clipped, dandelion-free lawns as far as the eye can see. But beneath this mirage of innocence and good ole American past-time fun lurks something lurid. East coast to west, Responsible Industry for a Sound Environnment has been making the Little League rounds. Traveling around in a giant, green RV an ...

With California's consistent drought troubles, you'd think cities there would encourage residents to limit water use and replace resource-dependent lawns with native plantings and landscape structures. Not so in Alhambra, California, located in western Los Angeles County. According to an article written for the Alhambra Source, when Alexis Moreno and her husband stopped watering their lawn in order to repla ...

Among the many hazards posed by insecticide use is that of evolutionary pest resistance. Eventually, Mother Nature outsmarts us again, creating what are often called, "super bugs", that survive insecticide application. But it looks like the University of Florida has discovered a way to work with Ms. Nature. According to an article by Robert H. Wells in the University of Florida News, whiteflies- known for a ...

Although marketed as true, clean comfort, the truth is that cotton is one of the world's dirtiest crops, due to its heavy use of insecticides- the most dangerous form of pesticide to human and animal health. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 84 million pounds of pesticides were applied to the nation’s 14.4 million acres of cotton in the year 2000, and more than two billion pounds of fertilize ...