A Circle of Poison and Poverty

Imagine for a moment that you live in a community that is poor. You work every day in the service industry but just can’t make enough money to move to a better neighborhood. Now imagine that you have a young child who is gifted with high level of intelligence. You want to send your child to a school that can challenge her to help reach her potential. But, you can’t because of your limited income.

This is how one mother described her situation to me recently in Detroit, Michigan. She went on to say that the area around her home and school had lead levels, left over from former lead smelter activities, which were three times the legal standard. Her child and her neighbor’s children began their lives with so much potential. Today, the children are lead poisoned and are having difficulty passing the state school standardize tests. In fact, so many children are failing the standardized tests that their school is about to be closed, their teachers fired and their community further impacted by another empty building and no neighborhood school.

When people hear about the struggles in environmental justice communities they often only think about the immediate pollution and health impacts in a low wealth community. But to understand it one level deeper you need to understand that families living in these communities are really trapped. If you were only to look at their children’s ability to get out of poverty and reach the birth potential, it speaks volumes about the real world situation.

Their children cannot reach their potential because they are impacted by the chemicals like lead in their environments. Often young people, because they are frustrated in trying to achieve in school while faced with asthma, learning disabilities, and the inability to maintain attention students end up dropping out of school. Students weren’t born with the inability to achieve; it was due to their exposures to lead and other toxic environmental chemicals that they developed problems. Once students drop out of school they have little ability to improve their economic status and thus continue the family’s legacy of poverty.

Those who have the power to change this cycle of poison and poverty choose not to. Instead they cover their intentional neglect by blaming the victims, the parents, teachers, and community leaders. Not only do those in power blame the innocent, they exasperate the problem by ignoring the existing pollution while placing more polluting faculties in the area. I think it was Mayor Bloomberg who said, “Do you really want me to put that smokestack in downtown Manhattan?” when community leaders near NYC navy yard objected to an incinerator being added to their burdens.

I’m not sure how to change this situation. It is a larger societal crisis that will take the majority of people to demand change. Today it is only the voices of the desperate parents, frustrated teachers that sound the alarm and cry for justice. This must change.

Flame Retardants Linked to Lower Intelligence and Hyperactivity in Early Childhood

Researcher at the University of Cincinnati presented a paper at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Pediatrics earlier this month showing that prenatal exposure t o chemicals called polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) is associated with lower intelligence and hyperactivity in early childhood. PBDEs have been used for decades as flame retardants to reduce the impact of fires in everyday products such as furniture, carpeting and electronics.

The authors collected blood samples from 309 pregnant women enrolled in a study at the university to measure PBDE levels. After the children were born, the authors conducted intelligence and behavioral tests annually until the children were 5 years old. PBDE levels in blood were found to be associated with deficits in child cognition at age 5 and with hyperactivity at ages 2 to 5 years. A ten fold increase in PBDE blood levels was associated with about a 4 point IQ deficit in 5-year old children.

Although PBDEs except deca-PBDE are no longer used in the U.S. as flame retardants, they are found in many consumer products bought years ago. In addition, these chemicals are highly persistent in the environment because they do not easily biodegrade, so they remain in human tissue for years and are transferred to the developing fetus from the mother. Dr. Aimin Chen, the lead author of the study, commented that the “study raises further concerns about [PBDE] sic toxicity in developing children.“ To view the abstract of the paper, “Cognitive Deficits and Behavior Problems in Children with Prenatal PBDE Exposure,” go to http://www.abstracts2view.com/pas/view.php?nu=PAS13L1_3550.8.

In related news, officials in Europe in charge of three key international treaties reported that delegates agreed by consensus to a gradual phase out the flame retardant hexabromocyclododecane, or HBCD, which is used in building insulation, furniture, vehicles and electronics. HBCD is the third most commonly used brominated flame retardant world-wide following tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) and decabromodiphenyl ether (deca-BDE). The phase out would begin a little more than a year from now, but there also would be specific exemptions for five years on some construction uses in buildings. HBCD will be added to the Stockholm Convention, which now regulates 22 toxic substances internationally including DDT and PCBs. The treaty takes aim at chemicals that can travel long distances in the environment and don’t break down easily. Delegates also agreed to tougher controls on disclosure of information about exports for two flame retardants, PentaBDE and OctaBDE. For more information, see <http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/nations-agree-to-new-ban-on-flame-retardant-tighter-export-controls-on-other-materials/2013/05/10/8420c5a8-b96d-11e2-b568-6917f6ac6d9d_story.html#license-8420c5a8-b96d-11e2-b568-6917f6ac6d9d>.

How to Create Greener and Healthier Schools for Children and Teachers

WHEN: Thursday May 23 – 4:30pm – 5:45 pm

WHERE: Free Webinar From Your Home/Computer

RSVP online at: http://bit.ly/healthyschoolswebinar

Healthy schools that are free from toxic chemicals are critical to children’s health. Unfortunately school building materials and products can contain chemicals harmful to children’s health that have been linked to asthma, learning and developmental disabilities, cancer and other serious health problems on the rise.  For example, hazardous chemicals and materials like mercury, phthalates, vinyl and halogenated flame retardants have been found in lighting, flooring, office supplies, and/or other products in schools. The good news is safer and affordable alternatives are available for schools and parents to use and purchase.

Learn how you can encourage your school to be greener and healthier by launching an environmentally preferable purchasing (EPP) program.

Join this free webinar sponsored by NYS United Teachers (NYSUT), the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) the Center for Health, Environment & Justice (CHEJ) and the Green Schools Alliance.

RSVP online at: http://bit.ly/healthyschoolswebinar

Questions? Contact mike@chej.org / 212-964-3680.

Funding provided by the NYS Pollution Prevention Institute through a grant from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation.   Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Environmental Conservation.

Products Contain Toxic Chemicals Of Concern To Kids’ Health

Over 5000 kids products reported to contain chemicals linked to cancer, hormone disruption, and other chemicals that are a concern for kids’ health. Read the new report from Washington Toxics Coalition and Safer States. http://bit.ly/chemreveal

A Mother’s Story About Fracking

This is a first hand description by Jodi from PA who was recently dosed with toxic chemical inside of her home that were released from a nearby well pad and gas line. She now has skin rashes on her face, neck and chest. She is nauseous and extremely tired.

Teachers and Students That Inspire

I was invited by a science teacher Kendall Jensen to visit with her students at Roosevelt High School during my travel to assist the Portland, Oregon community group Neighbors for Clean Air. I have visited classrooms often throughout my work at CHEJ. However, this school, its teachers and the students truly inspired me in a way that I left more energized than when I came.

To understand why, you need to understand the environment. The school built in 1921 houses over 680 students. The students come from a low wealth area with 84% of the students receiving free or reduced lunch program, making it Oregon’s poorest high school. A few of the students live in the shelters and are homeless.

Moreover, the school is the most diverse in the state with the student population consisting of 31% Latino, 30% white, 23% African American, 9% Asian/Pacific Islander, and 4% Native American. In a school population where there are so many negative impacts working against students’ ability to succeed, I walked into a room full of students gathered together to take steps to improve themselves and their environment.

Ms. Kendall Jensen a science teacher at the high school has inspired and motivated the students to explore the environmental problems in the community. As I walked into the classroom where we were having lunch and conversation with students about Love Canal and the work that the neighborhood group, Neighbors for Clean Air, was working on the room was full of energy from eager students. No one was getting extra credit; no one was getting any benefit other than the opportunity to learn more about their neighborhood’s air problems.

I would be remiss if I didn’t also share that this was one of the first beautiful spring days in Portland with the temperature in the 70’s, sunny and clear. Yet students motivated by Kendall and their own curiosity came to learn instead of joining their friends for lunch on this beautiful day. Students listened and learned not just about the local toxic air pollution problems but about taking leadership becoming their own advocates and standing up for what they think is right. This High School is in the direct line of toxic air pollution. It is one of Portland’s schools that rank in the top 5% of all US schools with the most dangerous outdoor air quality in the country.

As a mother of four and someone who has spent time with extraordinary teachers like Kendall, it is clear that when students fail it is not because of a failed teacher. Sometime, especially in schools like Roosevelt High School where students face challenges everyday to survive, it the added toxic environment that directly affects their ability to learn and to pass standardized tests. We know with a level of scientific confidence that toxic chemicals in the environment are directly connected to children’s’ ability to concentrate and learn. Children facing daily toxic lifestyles as it is being referred to now – meaning single family households, poverty, drug influences, poor diet and so on – is exasperated by exposures to real toxic chemicals. Clearly the students in that classroom want to learn, want to succeed and want to take control of their futures. They and the school’s teachers need help; they need a healthy environment, with clean air for their students to succeed. Clean air is something that teachers do not have the ability to change on their own. It is the responsibility of the government to give students a chance by both providing the tools and the healthy environment to make success possible. If the students at this school fail it is more likely the fault of the lack of a healthy environment and not the teachers.

Why is a middle school near a fertilizer plant?

The entire community of West, Texas has been rocked by the massive explosion of a fertilizer plant Wednesday evening. While rescuers work tireless to find all survivors, reports are coming in about the physical damages of the surrounding buildings.

More than 150 buildings remain charred; many with structures so damaged that search teams are not being permitted to enter. One local middle school was along the devastated pathway.

West Middle School saw significant roofing damage after the explosion. Volatile chemicals such as ammonium nitrate remain present in the air and school officials have warned the community to “stay away from all school property” until further notice.

Read more.

Faith group calls fracking morally wrong in opposing new center for shale development

By JIM MACKINNON Published: April 2, 2013

Faith Communities for Frack Awareness issued the following press release today questioning the creation of a Center for Sustainable Shale Development: Faith Communities Together for Frack Awareness [FaCT] is profoundly concerned about the recent “agreement” between frackers and so-called “environmentalists” to establish a “Center for Sustainable Shale Development/CSSD,” which is to develop voluntary standards for the fracking industry to follow. We believe that this “agreement” will mislead the public into thinking that everything is all right with fracking. The public may incorrectly believe that since fracking corporations have entered into this agreement, that environmentalists now accept and approve of fracking. Nothing could be further from the truth. Virtually all environmental groups in Ohio and elsewhere are NOT represented by this “agreement,” nor were they even consulted during its development.

Principal players behind formation of CSSD are the Heinz Foundation and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), a group that is known among real environmentalists as a “greenwasher,” an environmental group that is willing to endorse weak regulations and industry self-regulation and reporting, and which provides a mantle of respectability for the industry, which it certainly does not deserve.

Just on the face of it, this agreement on voluntary standards is a sham. The key word here is voluntary. We’ve heard of such things before – terms like self-policing, self-regulating, and self-reporting. Pure and simple, it’s like putting the fox in charge of “regulating” the henhouse. We all know how that story will end. As the Executive Director of Food & Water Watch, Wenonah Hauter predicted, greenwashers like EDF and some others have swooped into states like Ohio where there are strong grassroots groups against fracking and “claim to represent environmentalists while they promote regulation that is so weak even the gas industry can live with it.”

Since April 2011, EDF has been positioning itself to undermine the science of Cornell University’s Robert Howarth, Renee Santoro, and Anthony Ingraffea in their peer-reviewed study that predicts that methane is the dirtiest fossil fuel, worse than coal. Dr. Ingraffea met with Fred Krupp and Mark Brownstein of EDF about a year ago, but Krupp and EDF are on a mission to completely discredit their findings.

As people of faith, we agree with Father Neil Pezzulo who has said that fracking “is a lie; and no matter how many times a lie is told, it is still a lie.” Fracking is morally wrong because it harms God’s creation, hurts and sickens people, and exploits the poor, especially in deprived rural areas. And we agree also with hydraulic fracturing engineer Dr. Anthony Ingraffea that the reason the industry does not make fracking safe is that cannot make it safe.

FaCT believes that the phony agreement and the resulting sham voluntary standards mislead the public and further distracts us from what should be our real goal as a society, which is to get completely off our hydrocarbon dependency and move to a new paradigm of green, safe, renewable energy. A warming world must not stall any longer, and it must not be distracted by greenwashers and corporate propagandists.

Trial begins today over baby food lead warning

San Francisco — The nation’s largest baby food makers face a lawsuit by an environmental group aimed at forcing them to alert consumers that some products contains low amounts of lead.

The case scheduled for trial Monday will determine whether they should put warning labels on such products sold in California.

Gerber Products Co., Del Monte Foods, Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. and many other makers of baby foods and juices are selling products containing lead at levels that require warning labels under California Proposition 65, the Environmental Law Foundation asserts in the suit filed in Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland.

Lawyers for the food companies say the U.S. Food and Drug Administration tested products targeted in the lawsuit, and decided levels were below the standards that require a warning.

But both sides in the case agree on one fact: baby foods containing carrots, peaches, pears and sweet potatoes have some lead. Also covered by the suit are grape juice and fruit cocktail.

Lead exposure can damage a child’s developing brain and lead to a lower IQ. Overall, lead poisoning in the U.S. has declined significantly as it was removed from paints and gasoline formulas.

Still, more than 500,000 U.S. children are believed to have lead poisoning, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Old paint, contaminated drinking water and soil tainted by old leaded gasoline are primary sources of lead exposure to children in the U.S., the CDC reported. Some specialists describe children as having lead poisoning only when at very high levels are present, but others use the term more broadly to describe any child with levels that can impact intelligence or cause other harm.

FDA tests on products named in the lawsuit found lead levels “below FDA’s current tolerable intake levels for lead.”

The companies argue the lead in fruit and vegetables used in the products is naturally occurring, which if the trial judge finds is true could exempt the companies from having to warn consumers.

“Despite the trace amounts of lead in the products at issue, the federal government has determined that Americans need to eat more — not less — of these nutritious foods,” the companies’ attorney, Michele Corash, wrote in court documents.

“FDA recently reiterated its conclusion that the trace levels of lead in the products at issue in this case do not pose unacceptable health risks.”

The companies say Prop. 65 does not require a warning label if the concentrations of the lead fall below so-called “safe harbor” levels, or concentrations below the amount required for a warning under the state law.

Jim Wheaton, an attorney for ELF, said California law nonetheless requires food makers to warn consumers about a possible risk of certain toxins, including lead. He noted that California’s Proposition 65 requires warning labels on foods that contain a toxin at 1/1000th of the levels considered dangerous to human health.

The plaintiffs also argue that no level of lead is considered safe, especially for newborns and pregnant women. “Even when studying the low level of exposure that is typical in the dietary context, scientists have not been able to identify a level of exposure that is without any health risks,” the plaintiffs’ wrote in court documents.

They hope that public pressure or the judge will compel the companies to take steps to remove the lead from their foods, knowing that a label warning parents of lead in their baby’s food would be devastating for business.

“Everyone assumes that a company selling foods for children will never offer a product for sale that carries a warning label,” Wheaton said. “They will take the steps their competitors apparently already are taking to offer product with no lead or so low no warning is required.”

Christine Kuhinka, director of corporate communications for Gerber Products Company, which is owned by Nestle Nutrition U.S., said the company does not comment on pending litigation.

“We will, however, vigorously defend the allegations in this litigation,” Kuhinka said in an email.

Spring Often A Sad Time For Families

Spring is here which is generally a very nice time of year where people look forward to opening their windows and planting gardens. Unfortunately in many of the communities that CHEJ works in people dread spring and summer. Why, because their air is contaminated and they have been told not to plant a garden. Consequently, they look out their kitchen windows with a sad heart knowing that the barren ground that once was rich with vegetables is now too toxic for human consumption. Families also understand that the ground is likely a toxic risk for their children to play out of doors, but what choice do they have<p>.

Although it’s warm or even hot in some places parents are fearful about opening their windows to let the breeze in because they know that along with the breeze is chemicals and nasty particulates. So a lovely spring day in neighborhoods impacted by chemicals, becomes a reminder of what they’ve lost by no cause or act of their own.

Corporations have the right to pollute. There are laws and regulations that outline how much they can pollute the air and how much harm they can do (based on a cancer risk analysis) but no one in the regulatory agencies puts together what the real risks are to people when you live in an industrial zone. Each facility is allowed to release a certain amount of chemicals but when you look at those releases collectively the levels at time is staggering.

Families living in areas with a number of industries never choose or even thought one day they would be poisoned. For example just outside of Baltimore, Maryland in Wagner’s Point families lived there for generations. This area is actually a peninsula that juts out into the bay. People had small summer homes and it served as a nice place for retirees. Men and women once went to the shore a block from their home to fish, go crabbing or to have a picnic. Spring was a welcome time of year for them.

However, over time the center of the peninsula became more and more industrialized. Oil storage tanks and chemical plants began popping up. Eventually the center of the peninsula was all industry. The air was foul, truck traffic a serious problem and the crabs were no longer safe to eat. Families were told that if there was an accident at any of the facilities that they would be trapped at the end of the peninsula and could only escape if they were to jump into the water. They were assured that a boat would make its way to them to pluck them out.

The families were there first. The regulatory agency permitted each of these plants like they were located on an island with no other industries around. Wagner’s Point and a northern community also on the peninsula became unsafe for children, adults and pets. CHEH worked with families there to help them obtain relocation. They won and were able to leave but where is the fairness in that. Families were there first, they lived in a beautiful water front community until the industries took over.

Today those same families, especially the seniors are remembering when they looked forward to spring. Remembering when the stood at water’s edge and fished or picnicked. Gone are the boat rides, looking for crabs or swimming in the water. For them spring is healthier where they live now but a piece of their heart, love and family tradition is gone.

Some say spring is beautiful for the privileged. Spring is for those who can live far from industries, those who can afford the time, resources and money to fight back to protect their community. I believe spring a beautiful spring is for everyone. We all need to just keep on pushing back and we need to help those who are in need of our assistance. A happy spring should be had by all.