On April 29th, a landmark decision was made by the European Commission – bee-killing, neonicotinoid pesticides will experience a continent-wide ban in Europe for two years. A?15-member states majority?supported the ban, with eight against and four abstaining.? The ban comes several months after the EFSA released a report identifying ?high acute risk? to honey bees from uses of certain neonicotinoid chemicals.? In the U.S., the silence from executive regulatory agencies is deafening. Beekeepers and environmental advocacy groups have continuously engaged the EPA on this issue, first filing an emergency legal petition to ban the pesticide clothianidin back in March 2012. After being ignored by regulators, Beyond Pesticides joined with beekeepers, environmental and consumer groups in a lawsuit challenging the agency?s oversight of these systemic pesticides, as well as their practice of ?conditionally? registering pesticides without adequate data. The EU vote represents a major setback to industry giants Syngenta and Bayer, which spent millions of dollars lobbying European states to not support a ban on their products, and casted calls for a ban on the unfounded accusations of ?bee-hobbyists.? According to the Guardian UK, ?One Syngenta executive, mentioning in passing his recent lunch with Barack Obama, claimed that ?a small group of activists and hobby bee-keepers? were behind that campaign for a ban.? Industry continues to argue that a ban would be catastrophic to agriculture, but similar bans in Italy, Slovenia and Germany enacted a couple years ago did not hinder the agricultural community. In light of these new restrictions across Europe, EPA must also move to restrict these chemicals in the U.S. to protect bee and other pollinator health.

Study Links Monsanto’s Roundup Autism, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s

A new review of hundreds of scientific studies surrounding glyphosate?the major component of Monsanto?s Roundup herbicide?sheds light on its effects within the human body. The paper describes how all of these effects could work together, and with other variables, trigger health problems in humans, including debilitating diseases like gastrointestinal disorders, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, Parkinson?s and Alzheimer?s disease. Glyphosate impairs the cytochrome P450 (CYP) gene pathway, which creates enzymes that help to form and also break down molecules in cells. There are myriad important CYP enzymes, including aromatase (the enzyme that converts androgen into estrogen) and 21-Hydroxylase, which creates cortisol (stress hormone) and aldosterone (regulates blood pressure). One function of these CYP enzymes is also to detoxify xenobiotics, which are foreign chemicals like drugs, carcinogens or pesticides. Glyphosate inhibits these CYP enzymes, which has rippling effects throughout our body. Because the CYP pathway is essential for normal functioning of various systems in our bodies, any small change in its expression can lead to disruptions. For example, humans exposed to glyphosate have decreased levels of the amino acid tryptophan, which is necessary for active signaling of the neurotransmitter serotonin. Suppressed serotonin levels have been associated with weight gain, depression and Alzheimer?s disease. This paper does not claim to yield new scientific discoveries. Instead, it looks at older studies in a new light. .The authors of the new review call for more independent research to validate their findings, stating that ?glyphosate is likely to be pervasive in our food supply, and contrary to being essentially nontoxic, it may in fact be the most biologically disruptive chemical in our environment.? If the body of independent research on GE foods and the herbicides used with them shows one thing, it is that there are unanswered questions begging for unbiased research. And while these questions remain unanswered, Americans have the right to know how their food was produced.

How Toxic is Your Lipstick?

In a small study out last week, researchers tested lipsticks and lip glosses for toxic metals, including lead and cadmium. Though metal content varied widely from brand to brand, they found that women who apply lipstick two to three times daily can ingest a significant amount?20 percent of the daily amount that’s considered safe in drinking water or more?of aluminum, cadmium, chromium, and manganese. Depending on the lipstick, in some cases women who applied it? 14 times a day or more, were meeting or surpassing the daily recommended exposure to chromium, aluminum, and manganese. Lead, a metal that humans should avoid exposure to entirely, was detected in 75 percent of the samples. Some of these chemicals are nasty: Cadmium, for example, is a carcinogen that has been found in breast cancer biopsies and shown to cause cancer cells to multiply in lab experiments. Lipsticks with traces of lead included one made by Burt’s Bees, which is now owned by Clorox.? The FDA itself doesn’t even test the dozens of dyes used in cosmetics or set the maximum amounts of metals in them; it outsourced that job years ago to the Cosmetic Ingredient Review, an organization established in 1976 by a cosmetics-industry-aligned trade and lobbying group. Over the years, the US has banned 22 chemicals outright. For comparison, the EU currently bans more than 1,300 chemicals. Want to limit your heavy metal intake without giving up your lipstick? The FDA’s 2012 test found less than one part per million of lead in Wet n’ Wild, Bobbi Brown, and Shiseido brand lipsticks. The Environmental Working Group also has a database with information on cosmetic products and the risky ingredients that could be in them, and the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics has a list of its favorite products online as well.