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NEWS > MEDIA
PRESS RELEASES
UPDATED 04-05-05
 ANTI-TERMITE CHEMICAL MIREX
NTN is calling for a ban on the chemical mirex, which is used by some mango growers in Australia.
The growers say the chemical - used in the Northern Territory and Western Australia - stops termites and is not used directly on fruit.
But the National Toxics Network claims its residue poses a risk to human health.
The Network is lobbying for an international ban at a United Nations meeting in Uruguay this week.
NTN PRESS RELEASE 16th November 2004
CHILDREN AT RISK FROM TOXIC CHEMICALS (Word 133k)
ASEHA PRESS RELEASE January 14, 2005
FRAGRANCES & PUBLIC HEALTH (Word 43k)
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STORIES
INDOOR AIR QUALITY & CHILDREN
A new collaborative project between NTN and the Total Environment Centre has been launched this week. WORKING TOGETHER TO CLEAR THE AIR: How the Chemical Cocktail Inside our Homes is Poisoning our Children by Jo Immig, is a comprehensive, current and highly informative brochure - a must read!
available here as a pdf (648k)
TOXICITY of GLYPHOSATE
Glyphosate is one of the most used herbicides worldwide and the most used with
genetically modified plants (GMOs). It is evoked as a common pollutant in rivers, and in the food chain. A new scientific study, from the University of Caen in France, shows that human placental cells are very sensitive to concentrations lower than the agricultural use. The product containing glyphosate , which includes surfactants, is much more toxic than the active ingredient alone, and could be classified as a potential endocrine disruptor.
Richard S, Moslemi S, Sipahutar H, Benachour N, Seralini GE. 2005.
Differential effects of glyphosate and Roundup on human placental cells
and aromatase
Environ Health Perspect: doi:10.1289/ehp.7728. [Online 25
February 2005]
ATRAZINE UNDER REVIEW
The APVMA
has released its draft final report
on the widely used herbicide, Atrazine, concluding that no major toxicological concerns relate to
the use of atrazine and moreover, that atrazine poses no undue hazard to most users.
APVMA Draft Final Report (pdf 763k)
NTN and its affiliates oppose the continuing registration of atrazine on the basis of its proven ability to contaminate surface and groundwater, its adverse impacts on fauna including amphibians and the growing evidence of atrazine impacts on human health.
NTN Atrazine Submission to APVMA
(Word 78k)
BREASTMILK TESTING IN AUSTRALIA
A recent study collected and tested the pooled samples from 20 urban and rural areas around Australia. The levels of the brominated flame retardants, the polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs) are clearly higher than those observed in Europe and Japan but lower than those observed in North America and some parts of Canada. The European Union has banned both penta-BDE and octa-BDE.
full story
DOCTORS FEAR CHEMICAL LINK TO CHILD DISEASE
A surge in cancer and neurological cases in north-eastern Tasmania since
2002 is consistent with chronic low-level chemical exposure, says a report
to be submitted to the federal Australian Medical Association next month.
The Tasmanian AMA has charted the rise for the first time and wants expert
opinion from the AMA's public health committee. The report says Tasmania has
health anomalies including a sudden jump in childhood cancers and
higher-than-average premature births. It says cases documented around St
Helens, on the east coast, in particular are symptomatic of possible
chemical exposure.
full story
BROMINATED FLAME RETARDANT CHEMICALS (BFRs)
FOUND IN HOUSEHOLD DUST, SALMON, PC Monitors
Both the European Union and California have now moved to ban at least two BFRs; penta-BDE and octa-BDE. NTN is calling on NICNAS to follow their example and ban both the penta and octa forms while commencing a phase out of all uses of deca-BDE over the next two years.
Full story & Issue papers on the BFR page
May 13, 2004 (ENS) - U.S. researchers have found high levels of chemicals used as flame retardants in household dust within every home they sampled.
full story
August 10, 2004 (ENS) - Farmed salmon are contaminated with much higher levels of chemical flame retardants than most wild salmon, new research demonstrates.
full story (Word 31k)
Sep 8th 2004 (http://www.daily texanonline.com)
A Texan study has found BFRs in computer terminals, household carpeting and food from Texas supermarkets.
full story (Word doc 21k)
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AERIAL SPRAYING IN TASMANIAN FORESTS
Concerns have been raised regarding the use of agvet chemicals in Tasmania by the Forestry industry. Alpha-cypermethrin (a pyrethrin based insecticide) is being aerially-sprayed within the recorded habitats of endangered aquatic species in Tasmania. Specific concerns are outlined in a letter to NTN from Chris Jonkers BSc (Forestry)
Pyretrins and the 'Freshwater Thylacine' (Word doc. 34k)
There are also concerns about water contamination, and the risks this may pose to the human community. Community efforts to establish which chemicals are being used by Forestry, following the release of the Scammell Report, have met with little success.
The Scammell Report
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MCS SUFFERERS RALLY IN WA
Do you have MCS? Would you like to know how to avoid it? Sufferers of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity in Australia are demanding an end to the human rights abuses in chemical regulation. They want chemical-free hospitals and schools, national disability access, and pesticide reduction strategies implemented by local councils. An interstate co-operative effort has produced these draft public guidelines for the community, on Pesticide Reduction Strategies for Australian Communities.
The WA MCS taskforce is compiling a paper for local government to push for a change in practices in WA. It will include practical information for councils, and detail the environmental, health and financial impacts of pesticide use.
Public health rallies to recognise MCS were held on Friday 17th September, in both Perth (Poster MCS Rally Perth (pdf))
and in Adelaide. (Contact Peter Evans, email:satfmcs@optusnet.com.au)
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NTN NSW UPDATE
NTN committee members have recently had big wins bringing major benefits for the Australian environment in NSW. Ellen White from northern NSW has stopped aerial spraying with glyphosate, over 35 hectares of Bitou Bush in the Dirawong Reserve at Evans Head. And John Craven was able to bring about amendments to the Contaminated Land Act in NSW that better support the public interest.
full story
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CCA-TREATED TIMBER
Arsenic based timber treatments will be phased out in the US by the end of this year.The use of CCA in Australia is under investigation because of new evidence that it is unsafe. But what about the existing decks, cubby-houses, schools and public playgrounds?
full story | NTN's CCA Submission (Word 49k)
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CCA UPDATE
What happens when CCA-treated timber burns? The January 2003 bushfires in Canberra destroyed over 500 homes, along with many urban and recreational assets. These assets consist of children's playgrounds, road barriers, through to camping and picnic areas. Burning this wood (CCA) not only releases arsenic into the air, but also creates unknown amounts of dioxin, another human carcinogen. This submission to the APVMA on CCA, by Warren Godson, covers this and other CCA issues to date, including industry alternatives.
CCA Submission (Word 146k)
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Toxic Pesticides Above "Safe" Levels in Many U.S. Residents
Many U.S. residents carry toxic pesticides in their bodies above government assessed "acceptable" levels, according to Chemical Trespass: Pesticides in Our Bodies and Corporate Accountability a report released May 11th by Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA) and partner groups in more than 20 cities. The report introduces the Pesticide Trespass Index (PTI), a new tool for quantifying responsibility of individual pesticide manufacturers for their "pesticide trespass." Available on the PANNA website at
http://www.panna.org
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FIPRONIL UNDER REVIEW
The APVMA is reviewing Fipronil. NTN is concerned about the continued use of Fipronil, based on the following data, and the domestic uses of fipronil in products such as pet care, home pest control and granular turf products.
NTN submission (Word 67k)
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TASMANIAN PULP MILLS
Paper pulp manufacture is acknowledged as having had serious impacts on environmental quality and hence on human and environmental health. There is, however, great potential for both improving efficiency and moving towards sustainability in terms of environmental, mill worker and community health. NTN reviews environmental guidelines for pulp mills.
NTN submission (Word 60k)
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SA TASKFORCE GETS SERIOUS ON CHEMICAL INJURY
A public protest recognising MCS and calling for a national MCS prevention, treatment and disability access strategy was held on Wednesday March 17 at 12pm, at the Department of Health and Ageing, 55 Currie St, Adelaide.
full story
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TASMANIAN INCINERATOR EXTINGUISHED
Tasmanian residents have successfully stopped a proposal for a $100 million incinerator project located in their community.
full story
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FRYING PAN FUMES KILLING PET BUDGIES!
Perfluorinated compounds, used in non-stick coatings on frying pans and other cookware, are polluting indoor air in kitchens, and killing caged birds, according to a recent BBC news report. In a new report by the World Wildlife Fund, Causes For Concern: Chemicals and Wildlife, these carcinogenic compounds, also used in some textiles and food packaging, are among "the most prominent new toxic hazards" - and are also showing up in dolphins, whales and cormorants in the Mediterranean; seals and sea eagles in the Baltic; and polar bears.
See the BBC News Online article 29 January, 2004 |
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New On-Line Children's Environmental Health Resource, Toxicity and Exposure Assessment for Children's Health (TEACH)
TEACH, a project of the U.S. EPA, is a new searchable database containing overviews of scientific literature in the field of children's environmental health risks from chemical exposure.
TEACH currently contains over 1,400 references from January 1972 to January 2003. These references cover information on environmental contaminants that potentially impact children's health and are updated annually.
Click here |
WORLD SUMMIT AGREES ON TOXIC BAN BY 2020 - JOHANNESBURG AUGUST 2002
THE world’s first international agreement to ban the use and production of toxic chemicals has been reached at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg.
All countries will have to ban chemicals that are hazardous to human health or the environment by 2020.
full story |
TOXIC PESTICIDES OFF THE MARKET IN EUROPE
81 home garden weed killers and 135 agricultural pesticides have been withdrawn from the market, and the European Parliament and the European Commission are currently considering new testing measures for many thousands of products commonly used in homes, in the garden and at work.
See BBC News Friday, 25 July, 2003
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CHEMICAL TOXINS IN HUMAN BLOOD
Toxic chemicals from everyday materials such as paints, glues, toys, electrical goods, furniture, carpets and clothes, have been found in human blood.
World Wildlife Fund in the UK tested 155 people for 77 chemicals, and an average of 27 were found in the blood of each person. Brominated flame retardants, PCBs, and even banned chemicals such as DDT are being found in human bodies.
See BBC News 25 November, 2003 |
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