Chemicals
This category covers chemicals: their uses, misuses and environmental impact.
See alsoEnvironmental Justice and Food
Contents
Overviews and Lists
The Environmental Working Group does great work on this issue, including their new guide on cleaning products and good cheap food.
Top 10 Toxic Hazards US (Infographic, see also slideshow and article.
'The Clean 15' 2012 Shopper's Guide To Pesticides Ranks Fruits And Vegetables. 6.12 See also The Dirty Dozen and the Clean 15 foods with most and least chemicals. 5/10
Time Magazine 2009 fine overview on toxins, including drugs in water system.
Top 10 polluted places Time Magazine version.
EPA site includingAgricultural Chemicals
Course Readings
Harrison, J. “Abandoned Bodies and Spaces of Sacrifice: Pesticide Drift Activism and the Contestation of Neoliberal Environmental Politics in California.” Geoforum 39, no. 3 (2008): 1197-214. 133 (pdf download).
Schlosser, Eric Fast Food Nation provides information on the meat industry and chemicals in the food.
Steingraber, Sandra Living Downstream explores the role of chemicals in cancer Time Pt 1 Time Pt 2 WWII origins of petrochemical industry. A new film is based on the book. Here's an interview with her about that (audio 5/10). She appears in Contaminated Without Consent video.
Interactive
Water pollution simulation: Think through the consequences associated with the development of a widget plant upstream from the Alma Mater School. While the plant will be good for the region’s economy, will it release widgoxyn—a deadly chemical known to interfere with aquatic food webs—in such quantities that it will irreparably damage the stunningly beautiful Alma Mater Pond?
Articles/Reports
EWG is creating a new database of household cleaning products. Preview: Hall of Shame. Environmental Working Group's Shopper's Guide to Pesticides was targeted with an expensive, misleading public relations attack campaign. The Alliance for Food and Farming (AFF), a California-based public relations group of pro-pesticide, big agricultural producers made the unfounded charge that the EWG Guide is influencing people to eat fewer vegetables. Those bogus claims won't fool most people. Still, EWG was shocked when California and federal officials started handing out taxpayer dollars to support the industry's tactics.
Pesticides blamed by report for illnesses 10/12.
Pesticide Use Proliferating With GMO Crops, Study Warns 10/12
Heinz Award winner 2012 finds connection between chemicals and obesity. 9/12 BPA linked to obesity 2/12. Also ADHD. Other studies show connections to autism (top 10 suspects}, though genetics also a factor. Chemicals linked to autism spike 4/12
Controversial Stanford says organic food not more nutritious 9/12.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Silent Spring, Huffington decided to review five of Rachel Carson’s warnings made decades ago to see how they measure up today. (also for iPad )7.12
Fire retardants found in peanut butter (and are in large amounts in furniture and to a lesser degree even clothes). 6/12.
Moms protest: their mission is to convince Congress to retire the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act and replace it with the proposed Safe Chemicals Act, which currently awaits a Senate vote. The swap would essentially shift the burden of proof for chemical safety from the current assumption that a chemical is safe until proven toxic -- generally after it has already spent years on the market -- to a requirement for industry to prove that a chemical is safe prior to placing it on store shelves. 5/12
New study on prenatal exposure of organophosphate fertilizer. 4/12
Syngenta tries to cover up Atrazine contamination of water supply, including by collecting information to try to intimidate reporters. PBS Newshour video segment on use in forests 9/12. Audio and text)Atrazine affects hormones in frogs, what about us?
Pesticide use in Central Valley (photo-essay) 2/12.
South LA chemicals: In industry’s shadow: After years of illnesses, family looks for answers. Blood test results.
Using plants to clean up chemicals (phytoremediation). See also Mycoremediation: Fungal Bioremediation Harbhajan Singh.
New Report on mercury raises new and troubling questions. 2/12 (interestingly, greens and pro-life folk are uniting on the issue).
Story of Cosmetics from Annie Lenonard. What those words on the label really mean. Hormone disrupting chemicals. More research. More on cosmetics 2/12
Analysis of new EPA TRI data 1/12
Gulf War Syndrome Today, more than 250,000 U.S. veterans report suffering from one or more unexplained symptoms that have, together, come to be known as Gulf War Syndrome. 11/11
Executive Summary of The National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals includes new findings on perfluoroalkyl, a hormone disruptor found in fast-food packaging and nonstick cookware.
2009 Report. Industrial facilities dumped 232 million pounds of toxic chemicals into American waterways in 2007, according to the federal government’s Toxic Release Inventory into more than 1,900 waterways in all 50 states. The Ohio River ranked first for toxic discharges in 2007, followed by the New River and the Mississippi River. Nitrate compounds— which can cause serious health problems in infants if found in drinking water and which contribute to oxygen-depleted “dead zones” in waterways – are by far the largest toxic releases in terms of overall volume.
Environmental Working Group's Shopper's Guide to Pesticides was targeted with an expensive, misleading public relations attack campaign. The Alliance for Food and Farming (AFF), a California-based public relations group of pro-pesticide, big agricultural producers made the unfounded charge that the EWG Guide is influencing people to eat fewer vegetables. Those bogus claims won't fool most people. Still, EWG was shocked when California and federal officials started handing out taxpayer dollars to support the industry's tactics.
Rosie Spinks, ENVS major, worked at UCSC's City on a Hill Press and co-founder of UCSC's first environmental magazine, Gaia. This work helped win her a coveted editorial internship at Sierra magazine, the national publication of the Sierra Club. A story she wrote for Sierra (about the teenage daughter of a Watsonville farm worker family fighting the use of the pesticide methyl iodide) was published on the magazine's website.
Drop in crime rate correlates to lead reduction. 6/11
Endocrine disruptors are dangerous chemicals that alter the natural function of the body's hormones. They are frequently used in plastics, in pesticides, and in personal care products and act in the human body as a "false" version of estrogen. They appear to be linked to a variety of diseases, including sexual dysfunction, heart disease, metabolic disorders, and cancer. Grist. The classic work is Our Stolen Future
Babies are polluted at birth, new report says By Laura LeBlanc (May 13th, 2010)
There are more than 80,000 chemicals on the market today, but only about 200 of them have been tested for safety. That’s because the Environmental Protection Agency can only require safety testing after there is proof that a substance poses a health risk under the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 — the only major environmental regulation that has not been updated. Only five chemicals have been regulated since the law was enacted. As for getting rid of a dangerous substance — well, under the 1976 law, the EPA wasn’t even able to successfully ban asbestos, a known carcinogen.
A new report by the President’s Cancer Panel is calling for a major shift in how we regulate thousands of new chemicals that are introduced each year. The report says that children are far more susceptible than adults to being harmed by exposure to environmental toxins, even before they are born.
The Dirty Dozen and the Clean 15 foods with most and least chemicals.
Time Magazine 2009 fine overview on toxins, including drugs in water system.
Top 10 polluted places Time Magazine version.
NYT 09 story about an almost ghost town in Kansas contaminated by lead mining.
UCSC alum Susanne Rust (’03) Winner of several major awards for "Chemical Fallout," an investigative series on BPA: as well as 2008 John B. Oakes Award for Distinguished Environmental Journalism from Columbia University.
Books
Poisoned Profits. Philip Shabecoff, former chief environmental correspondent for the New York Times, and Alice Shabecoff, former executive director of the National Consumers League, contend that there is a link between the high percentage of the children of baby boomers that are born with or develop health problems and corporate pollution. video
In The Body Toxic, the investigative journalist Nena Baker explores the many factors that have given rise to this condition-from manufacturing breakthroughs to policy decisions to political pressure to the demands of popular culture.
Florence Williams is author of the new book Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History, important because they concentrate and pass on toxins. text interview 6/12 audio interview.
Stacy Malkan's Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry.
Mark Shapiro's new book Exposed (review) Multiple audio interviews Text interview Here's a local audio interview 2007
In Sacrifice Zones, Steve Lerner tells the stories of twelve communities, from Brooklyn to Pensacola, that rose up to fight the industries and military bases causing disproportionately high levels of chemical pollution. Lerner is the author of Eco-Pioneers: Practical Visionaries Solving Today's Environmental Problems 1998) and Diamond: A Struggle for Environmental Justice in Louisiana's Chemical Corridor (2005), both published by the MIT Press. video.
Elizabeth Grossman's Chasing Molecules: Poisonous Products, Human Health, and the Promise of Green Chemistry.
The World According to Monsanto by Marie-Monique Robin. Also a video documentary.
Doubt is Their Product: How Industry's Assault on Science Threatens Your Health 2008 Oxford David Michaels
Angus Wright Death of Ramon Gonzales on pesticide use
Experimental Man: What One Man's Body Reveals… by David Ewing Duncan
Important book on endocrine disruption Our Stolen Future
Maps
Scorecard.org allows you to see environmental hazards by maps or Zip code (data ends 2002?) **** Similarly Planet Hazard slices and dices EPA data by place, chemical and industry etc.
Poisoned Places four part NPR report and interactive map. 11/11
ToxMap shows toxic waste sites in US ***
Mapcruzin by Slug Mike Meuser *** South Bay map, SF Bay cumulative exposures, contaminated Bay Area groundwater.
Other Sources
UCSC Library Toxicology Research Guide
Bhopal is one of the worst chemical accidents in history. Article by Mark Hertsgaard. It Happened in Bhopal (video). Another documentary. The Yes Men (who spoke at UCSC's ESLP course) are activists who announced the Dow was going to do the right thing on Bhopal. A new 2011 documentary.Natural Heroes on 20th anniversary.
EPA Head Lisa Jackson 10/09 speech includes important reforms about chemicals. text. Also in audio (Realplayer required).
Online Course
Environmental Health from Johns Hopkins University gives a good overview of different kinds of exposures to different toxins and their effects.
Images
Twenty-Five Stories from the Central Valley, an online exhibit, uses photos, theater, stories and sound to paint a vivid picture of the environmental toxins that “the other California” lives with every day. Women leaders give us a window into the little-known lives of people who are making this region safer for everyone. Their stories are shocking, sad, and inspiring.
Audio
New Studies There are tens of thousands of chemicals in everyday products. Only a fraction of these have been tested for toxicity and health effects in the U.S. Richard Denison, a senior scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund, talks about new studies that raise troubling health questions. (9:30) text and audio 7.12
Pesticides Coming Your Way panel discussion: Nan Wishner from California Environmental Health Initiative and Paul Towers from Pesticide Action Network, bring us up to date on sneaky new attempts to apply yet more pesticides to our water, air and food. 7/11.
Reform long overdue LOE 8/10
Chemicals linked to autism 7/11.
Toxic sites in California and how we are dealing with them (includes brownfields and Hunter's Point).
How cancer-causing methyl iodide snuck past the EPA and onto strawberry farm fields ] See also California Report from NPR. Worker safety video from Quest at KQED.
Brownfields are abandoned industrial hazardous waste sites, the most infamous is Love Canal, another site, which helped spark the third wave of the American eco-movement. CA railroads are offering land for development. Now, these are an important aspect of environmental justice. CA brownfields.
Addressing the Legacy of Agent Orange in Vietnam, Bob Edgar, President and CEO, Common Cause, Charles R. Bailey, Director, Ford Foundation Special Initiative on Agent Orange/Dioxin 3/11.
Nitrates in CA drinking water 5/10 can lead to Blue Baby Syndrome. panel discussion 5/10
The Secret Life of Lead series from LOE.org
Living on Earth segment on regulation reform 5/10
Endocrine disrupting chemicals like bisphenol A have been making news lately, with several states passing regulations limiting or banning their use. The trajectory of BPA is similar to another chemical, commonly known as DES, once prescribed for pregnant and menopausal women. Host Jeff Young talks with Professor Nancy Langston about the history of endocrine disrupting chemicals and how this history can inform future chemical regulation. Her book is called, “Toxic Bodies: Hormone Disruptors and the Legacy of DES.” 3/10 NPR loe.org
Atrazine is widely used as weedkiller on American farms. And a new study shows this common chemical may have gender-bending effects on frogs. Host Guy Raz talks to biology professor Tyrone Hayes about his work with atrazine and frogs. Hayes found that 9 of every 10 male frogs he exposed to atrazine became chemically castrated. And that other 1 out of every 10? Well, he became a she.NPR audio and text 3/10 UCB's Hayes' earlier work featured in important book Our Stolen Future
Health and the Environment. Linda Birnbaum, director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences addresses the risks of plastic additives, lead and mercury -- and the connections between the environment and cancer, asthma and reproductive health. 2/10
BPA Update. Bisphenol-A or BPA may soon hit the list of known toxins under California's Proposition 65, the law that lets state regulators restrict the use of toxic chemicals and require warnings on product labels. 3/10
Kettleman City birth defects 2/10 EJ?
Pesticide Drift KQED Quest two part series with links (including pesticide map)
David Ewing Duncan, director of the Center for Life Science Policy at Berkeley and author of "Experimental Man." The book chronicles Duncan's discovery of how his body interacts with environmental toxins. After having his DNA scrutinized, his brain scanned, and undergoing a number of other advanced medical tests to give him a personal snapshot of his body, Duncan unveils what he's learned about the future of human health and the environment. 5/09
Genes, Environment and Health Research KQED Forum Episode 2007
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Hendrick Smith details widespread pollution of America's waterways in the PBS Frontline documentary Poisoned Waters. Audio interview April 20, 2009.
Audio of panel discussion of California's new Green Chemistry initiative. 12/08 See also here and 12/18
Mark Shapiro's new book Exposed (review) Multiple audio interviews Text interview Here's a local audio interview 2007
Websites
Environmental Working Group chemical index, also asbestos and Health/Toxins
Pesticides overview from Encyclopedia of Earth
CA Department of Toxic Substances
Toxicological profiles (Look up chemicals and what they do.
New CA law helps us protect ourselves
Sierra Club Useful Sierra Club site
Children's Environmental Health Network
Eco-USA Superfund sites, organizations
Natural Resources Defense Council
Pesticide Action Network has specific info on California
Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition has info on electronics industry.
Video
Our Daily PoisonAccording to the World Health Organization, the incidence of cancer has doubled over the last thirty years (after allowing for the population aging factor). Over this period, the increase in leukemia and brain tumors in children has been around 2% per year. The WHO has observed a similar trend for neurological diseases (Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s) and autoimmune disorders, and for reproduction dysfunctions. What explanations can be found for this worrying epidemic, which is hitting the “developed” countries particularly hard? Haunted by that question, director Marie-Monique Robin launches an in-depth investigation into everyday products and the system charged with regulating them.
"Our Toxic Waterways: Flushing Away Our Future," reviews a new documentary called "Big River," by Ian Cheney and Kurt Ellis (makers of King Korn; in this sequel they follow the chemicals to the Gulf of Mexico) about Atrazine.
Poisoned Waters PBS Frontline. summary 2009 Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Hendrick Smith details widespread pollution of America's waterways in the PBS Frontline documentary Poisoned Waters. [Audio interview April 20, 2009.
Contaminated Without Consent 16 minutes. Includes Steingraber, and emphasis on kids, who have the highest levels of some chemicals.
TEDtalkThe toxic baby includes Endocrine disruptors .
Semper Fi: Always Faithful follows a master sgt's mission to expose the Marine Corps and force them to live up to their motto to the thousands of soldiers and their families exposed to toxic chemical at North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune and a looming environmental crisis at military sites across the country. 10/11
UCSC Chemical Screening Center robotics, which looks at chemicals in the ocean, for example.
Human Rights in the Age of Environmental Devastation and Climate Chaos looks at chemicals and their effects. First Aired: 3/16/2009 55 minutes. Chief of the Cardiology Division of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Richmond, California Jeffrey Ritterman explores the consequences of climate change and environmental destruction on our health. (#15577)
Toxicologist Susan Shaw shows evidence chemical dispersant in Gulf oil spill sparing some beaches only at devastating cost to the health of the deep sea. She does a bit of history of chemicals.
Addressing the Legacy of Agent Orange in Vietnam (2/25/11) Commonwealth Club.
Chasing Molecules: The Promise of Green Chemistry Elizabeth Grossman speak (3/3/10) Commonwealth Club.
The World According to Monsanto by Marie-Monique Robin. Also a video documentary.
Erin Brockovitch DVD211
Blue Vinyl Link
Rachel Carson's Silent Spring VT2457 Excellent introduction to Carson.
Texas Gold: Carolyn M. Scott 2005 21 min.
Fourth-generation fisherwoman Diane Wilson leads a one-woman crusade against Dow and other petrochemical plants, which create 17% of America’s pollution from her Texas town of 1,352. These factories have turned Seadrift from a traditional fishing port into a massive chemical cocktail that poisons the surrounding air, earth and waters—, sardonically dubbed Texas Gold.
Trade Secrets: This documentary exposes the 40 year history of the American chemical industry's supression of information regarding the threats to public health by synthetic chemicals being introduced into the environment at all levels. Addresses the danger to public health by the continued use of approximately 9000 of the 15,000 mass produced chemical substances that have never undergone toxicological study in the United States. Followed by a panel discussion moderated by Moyers including industry spokesmen, environmental, and medical experts. VT7877 120 min.
Toxic Bust 2005 40 mins. Blending fiction and documentary, Toxic Bust weaves the story of a fictitious woman who finds a lump in her breast, together with real-life stories of breast cancer survivors who trace the cause to the chemicals in their environment. The film focuses on three hot spots in America: San Francisco’s Hunter’s Point where the poor live in a toxic stew, and surprisingly Cape Cod and Silicon Valley. Though a warning to all, Toxic Bust reveals that middle-class Boomers who have grown up on lawn pesticides, household cleansers and dry cleaning are vulnerable to toxins and breast cancer. Megan Siler, the producer/director of Toxic Bust, lives in Berkeley, California.
Toxic Legacies VT9128 2001 46 min. Elizabeth Guillette has studied the differences in the children of the Yaqui Valley of Mexico since 1993. The children of the valley towns are far behind those in the foothills in physical coordination, energy, and learning capabilities. The difference she observed was that pesticides have been used in the valley since the 1950s whereas in the foothills, where there is little agricultural industry, there is practically no pesticide use. The program follows Guillette as she meets with scientists for corroboration and possible solutions.
Pam Marrone, founder and former Chairman/CEO of AgraQuest Inc., talks about how she turned her childhood passion and love for bugs into a lifelong commitment that led her to found AgraQuest.
Selected UCSC Resources
Michael Wilson, a UCSC alum, is a pioneer in the emerging field of sustainable or "green" chemistry. With 74 billion pounds of industrial chemicals produced and imported each day in the U.S. (much of it toxic or ecotoxic) Wilson's work focuses on transforming the nature of chemical design and production.
Chemical Screening Center robotics, which looks at chemicals in the ocean, for example. video
College Eight and College Eight Sustainability Office
Community Agroecology Network (CAN)
Environmental Studies Department *
Environmental Toxicology Department
UC Toxic Substances Research and Teaching Program (TSR&TP) is a University of California Multicampus Research Unit supporting research on toxic substances in the environment and teaching of graduate students through funding of grants, fellowships, and lead campus programs.
