2 Studies Point to Common Pesticide as a Culprit in Declining Bee Colonies
In Thursday?s issue of the journal Science, two teams of researchers published studies suggesting that low levels of a common pesticide can have significant effects on bee colonies. One experiment, conducted by French researchers, indicates that the chemicals fog honeybee brains, making it harder for them to find their way home. The other study, by scientists in Britain, suggests that they keep bumblebees from supplying their hives with enough food to produce new queens. The authors of both studies contend that their results raise serious questions about the use of the pesticides, known as neonicotinoids. Healthy bee populations are essential to the production of our food. Bees are attracted to floral nectars and help pollinate the plant, allowing it to reproduce. Therefore, without honey bees, our lives would be impoverished by a general lack of fruits, vegetables, flowers, and other bee-pollinated plant products like corn, apples, oranges, lemons, broccoli, onions, blueberries, cherries, avocados, and many more. Unfortunately, the widespread use of neonicotinoid pesticides is causing a dramatic decline in honey bee populations. The USDA projects that this year’s corn crop will cover 94 million acres, all of which will be planted with seeds treated with neonicotinoid pesticides. In small doses these pesticides damage the bees’ immune systems and homing abilities; in large doses the pesticides are lethal. Sign the petition to put pressure on the EPA to ban the use of these pesticides in order to protect the long-term health of our food system!
Get Antibiotics Out of Organic Apples and Pears!
But in 2011, concerned about the impact on human health associated with the overuse of antibiotics, the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) informed organic apple and pear growers that antibiotics would no longer be allowed to be used after October 21, 2014. Now, due to pressure from the?organic apple and pear industry, the NOSB is considering pushing back that date until 2016.?Every time you eat an organic apple or pear sprayed with antibiotics, you expose your gut flora to measureable levels of streptomycin and tetracycline. This increases your chances of developing resistance to these important antibiotics, both of which are essential to treating human disease. Tetracycline is used to treat common infections of the respiratory tract, sinuses, middle ear, and urinary tract, as well as for anthrax, plague, cholera, and Legionnaire?s disease. Streptomycin is used to treat tuberculosis, tularemia, plague, bacterial endocarditis, brucellosis and other diseases. Please sign this petition by April 8th, and add your own comments. Ask the NOSB to stick with the agreed schedule and get antibiotics out of organic apples and pears by October 2014.Keep Your Spring Cleaning Green!
It’s that time of year again…spring! And that mean it’s time to do some major spring cleaning. That’s why Environmental Working Group’s scientists just updated EWG’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning product database. Before you head to the laundry room or grab the mop, check out how your favorite cleaning products scored. Conventional cleaning solutions are filled with toxic chemicals that are harmful to you, your family, and the environment and that’s why it so important to know which cleaners are green and clean. EWG’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning, scored more than 2,000 home cleaning products based on the toxicity of their ingredients and whether the maker had fully disclosed their contents. Just last week, they updated the guide with more than 100 products, plus a new category – laundry pods! – and more information on allergens. Don’t be fooled! The words “natural” and “green” don’t mean less toxic. Right now, there is no federal law requiring most cleaning products to disclose their ingredients on the labels. Some ingredients that seem healthy, such as botanical oils, can trigger allergies. Click here to see how your laundry detergent – and other cleaners – stack up.
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