"There's no question now that chemical exposures impair fertility,' she says. 'We have 80,000 chemicals in circulation .... While our grandfathers probably had a sperm count of about 120 million in one millilitre of seminal fluid, the average male sperm count now stands at about 60 million. (Anything less than 25/30 million is classified as infertile.) At the same time testicular cancer, which is linked to low sperm counts, is rising fast."
Source "[A] landmark field investigation that will follow 100,000 American children from as soon as possible after conception to age 21. He hopes the research will identify factors in the environment—cultural, genetic, social, physical, and chemical—that make us more susceptible to disease. He also hopes it will shed light on why rates of birth defects, childhood cancers, asthma, obesity, violence, ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and other learning disabilities are skyrocketing."
Source"This week, the province announced a sweeping ban on the use of traditional pesticides and herbicides on residential lawns and gardens, similar to one already in place in Quebec. Home Depot has promised to voluntarily yank products such as Killex and Grub-B-Gon from Canadian stores by the end of the year, and Canadian Tire is doing the same in Ontario. But some lawn-loving diehards are not ready to surrender. "I don't want a pile of weeds in my yard,"
Source"In terms popularized by Sir Halford John Mackinder, the famed theorist of geopolitics, the long isolated “Lenaland” along the Arctic basin will transform into a highly productive and strategically important “Rimland,” transforming the Arctic into tomorrow's equivalent of the Mediterranean, a true strategic, economic and military crossroads of the world. As envisioned by Oran Young two decades ago, we will finally witness the arrival of the “Age of the Arctic.” ... While at the top of our world sits the polar sea, at its bottom lays the ice-covered continent of Antarctica. And as its ice cover melts, this long-isolated continent will rise from the shadows, like Atlantis transmigrating from imagination to reality, with all its long-hidden treasures revealed, its resources becoming accessible, its land mass in time becoming suitable for human habitation. As the world population continues to grow, and with it its appetite for natural resources, the emergence of this new, unfrozen continent, and its integration into the world's political economy, may prove every bit as transformative as the melting of the Arctic sea ice in the years to come."
Source"The new research observed the lifetime pesticide exposure of over 300 Parkinson's patients. Over 200 of their healthy relatives were also included in the study as a control group. The results showed that patients with Parkinson's were 1.6 times more likely to report an exposure to pesticides in their lifetimes compared with the control group. Additionally, people with Parkinson's were 2.4 times more likely than healthy people to report heavy exposure to pesticides. Heavy exposure is defined as more than 215 days over a lifetime."
Source"The scientists believe toxins and carcinogens found in polluted air can stop hair growing by blocking mechanisms that produce the protein from which hair is made. Baldness is known to be hereditary, but the new research suggests that environmental factors could exacerbate hair loss."
Source"Its new kind of concrete walls and floors, combined with super insulation and triple-glazed windows makes it airtight, meaning the requirement for heating is minimal. Fresh air entering the passes through a heat exchanger, which transfers the heat from the outgoing stale air and puts it back into the house. A rainwater harvesting system collects water for use in flushing toilets. House builders in the UK will be forced by government legislation to build only zero-carbon houses from 2016 onwards but, given the long lead times in the industry, they are already trying to meet that target."
Source"The resulting deaths of an estimated 500 waterfowl have left the Alberta government and the oilsands industry struggling to convince the world they are not just paying lip service to cleaning up their operations. Images of oil-fouled birds flashed on televisions and computer screens around the world all week, just as Deputy Premier Ron Stevens returned from Washington where he touted the oilsands as a plentiful and sustainable supply of energy."
Source"Rather than realizing the enriched social life that Kellogg’s vision offered us, we have impoverished our human communities with a form of materialism that leaves us in relative isolation from family, friends, and neighbors. We simply don’t have time for them. Unlike our great-grandparents who passed the time, we spend it. An outside observer might conclude that we are in the grip of some strange curse, like a modern-day King Midas whose touch turns everything into a product built around a microchip."
Source"Back in the day, cribs were made of metal and babies got lots of fresh air and sunshine. Now, most kids get put in shiny new cribs from Wal-Mart or Babies R Us, and guess what; they are made from particle board and are full of formaldehyde. Environment California found a half dozen products – out of 21 nursery furnishings it tested – emitted formaldehyde at levels high enough to trigger allergy and asthma attacks in children.. The regulators are all over cribs for safety, space between bars and little pieces, but not a word about formaldehyde; it is not even checked."
Source"The flame retardants have been used for decades in television sets, computer-wire insulation, mattress stuffing, carpet padding and many other common household products. They have been found in household dust, but no one has been able to say how they got there and from what products."
Source"With the price of oil at more than $120 a barrel (up from less than $30 for most of the last 50 years), small and midsize nonpolluting farms, the ones growing the healthiest and best-tasting food, are gaining a competitive advantage. They aren’t as reliant on oil, because they use fewer large machines and less pesticide and fertilizer."
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