- The ARC - California Edition -

Food for Preventive Thought

Denmark Bans Lead -- The Danish government has taken a significant step forward toward reducing the mineral lead in their country’s environment by banning the use of lead from future products manufactured within Denmark. This mandate will be phased in and should be fully implemented by the year 2003. 

The mineral lead is known to be toxic to humans and animals. Young children (and fetuses) are most susceptible to the toxic effects of lead, and even small amounts of lead have been reported to affect children’s physical and intellectual growth.

In the country of Denmark, manufacturers annually use about 18,000 tons of lead in a wide variety of products, including cables, fishing gear and plastics. The Environmental Protection Agency of Denmark has projected that the new regulation will result in a 50% reduction of lead in the environment. 

Denmark is the first country in the world to issue a manufacturing ban for the mineral lead. This follows Danish regulations already in place that control the use of other heavy metals, including cadmium, mercury and nickel. 

Organophosphates Banned From Home Use -The manufacturer of the insecticide Diazinon has entered into an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to gradually phase out the home consumer use of this popular pest-control product. Diazinon is one of a family of organophosphate chemicals that were an offshoot of nerve gas agents developed during the second World War.

This agreement is an outcome of a federal mandate passed in 1996 that called for a review and evaluation of all pesticides for any adverse effects. The federal EPA started with the organophosphate chemicals, since this family of chemicals had already been linked by a number of studies to neurological disorders in children. 

The Diazinon insecticide is marketed under the trademarks of Ortho, Real-Kill and Spectracide and for almost half a century has been used in many garden and lawn sprays. This agreement between the manufacturer and the federal EPA will effectively eliminate the use of the entire organophosphate family of chemicals from home and garden uses. 

Dandelions – To Kill or Not To Kill -- It was ten years ago in the small community of Hudson, Canada where lines were drawn and a debate was started about the value of having a beautiful green lawn, versus the possibility that the pesticides used to keep your lawn green and plush could impact the health of your neighbors - the health of humans and animals. 

As a result, a local ordinance was passed to ban the use of pesticides within the residential areas - Since that time over three-dozen other towns in the Quebec providence have enacted similar restrictions. There were lawsuits filed and so far the city of Hudson has won on two levels. 

The court battle has now reached the Supreme Court of Canada. The argument has narrowed to whether a municipality has the right to ban a pesticide that had previously been licensed by the federal and provincial governments.

The Supreme Court decision will most likely occur during the height of the spraying season this summer.