Summer brings so much fun, but it’s also the dreaded season of the mosquito, and by that we mean, the Culex mosquito, which transmits West Nile Virus to humans. The virus can be deadly, so squelching the mosquito population and finding an effective repellent is important. Here’s a look at the latest thinking and the ingredients endorsed as effective mosquito repellents.
Tags: · 8-diol, Catnip Oil, CDC, Dallas, DEET, EPA, Fort Worth, IR3535, mosquitoes, Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus, p-Methan-3, picaridin, preventing mosquitoes, repellents, West Nile Virus
West Nile Virus has caused more sickness and death this year than any other season since the disease emerged in the U.S. a decade ago, according to The Centers for Disease Control.
As of Aug. 14, the CDC had confirmed 693 cases of human infections caused by mosquito-borne West Nile Virus nationwide, with 336 of those in Texas.
Tags: · bio-pesticides, CDC, healthier ways, mosquito, protection, Texas, West Nile Virus
Last week the federal government announced a plan to reduce the safe upper limit for fluoride in drinking water, to help protect children from the disfiguring marks or mottling of teeth that occurs with overexposure to the mineral.
Fluoride has been added to public drinking supplies in the U.S. for decades, at the behest of dental experts who claim it helps reduce cavities.
But opponents of fluoridation — which now affects about 70 percent of the U.S. population — say its risks outweigh any possible benefits. In addition, recent science shows that topical fluoride treatments work best to strengthen tooth enamel, rendering fluoridation unnecessary.
Following last week’s announcement, the Fluoride Action Network (FAN) issued a statement saying the new proposed fluoride levels were neither protective of teeth, nor safe for developing brains. FAN argued that more than 100 studies have shown that fluoride damages animal brains, and 24 studies show an association between moderate to high fluoride ingestion and lowered IQs in children.
Tags: · CDC, dentists oppose fluoride, dentists support fluoride, Dr. Paul Connett, EPA, EPA regulates fluoride contamination, fluoridation unnecessary, fluoride, Fluoride Action Network, fluoride affects brains, fluoride health effects, fluoride opponents, fluoride protects teeth, hazardous waste added to water systems, hazards of fluoridation, HHS, new lower level for fluoride, support for fluoridation
By Melissa Segrest
Green Right Now
Your kids may be working on their ABCs, but is their school working on its IPM?
That’s Integrated Pest Management, an increasingly requested – or required – method of fighting pests without using potentially harmful pesticides. (Or using minimal pesticides.)
For decades, schools liberally applied toxic pesticides on their grounds and in their classrooms to beat back bugs and rodents. Exterminators or the school janitor might have sprayed DDT, diazinon or chlordane. If things got bad enough, teachers would (and still could) take matters into their own hands with a can of Raid.
Tags: · Beyond Pesticides, Biopesticides, CDC, children and pesticides, Clean Green Schools, Environmental Protection Agency, green pesticides, Integrated Pest Management, IPM, IPM in schools, IPM Institute, IPM star, pest control and schools, School IPM 2015, schools and cockroaches, schools and pesticides, schools and pests, Sherry Glick, The Healthy SEAT, University of Florida IPM
From Green Right Now Reports
Norovirus and Salmonella were the leading causes of food borne disease outbreaks in 2006, according to a report released yesterday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report offers the most recent available information on which illnesses are linked to specific types of foods.
The foods associated with the largest number of cases in 2006 were poultry (21 percent of all outbreak-associated cases), leafy vegetables (17 percent), and fruits-nuts (16 percent). The food commodity categories defined by CDC are fish, crustaceans, mollusks, dairy, eggs, beef, game, pork, poultry, grains-beans, oils-sugars, fruits-nuts, fungi, leafy vegetables, root vegetables, sprouts, and vegetables from a vine or stalk.
Tags: · CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Food borne disease, Norovirus, salmonella
Barbara Kessler
Andrew Winston
Danielle Nierenberg
Anthony Swift