April 24th, 2013

Apples, strawberries, grapes and celery. All of these are healthy foods, but unfortunately they arrive at the grocery with the highest pesticide residues and top the latest “Dirty Dozen” list released by the Environmental Working Group. The other Dirty Dozen foods include some of the most delectable fruits and vegetables. You’ll just have to buy the organic versions if you want to avoid the trace pesticides that ride along.

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February 10th, 2010

(This article was first posted on Jan. 25, 2010, by the Natural Resources Defense Council on its Simple Steps website. It is a Q & A with NRDC Senior Attorney Daniel Rosenberg exploring why the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families coalition, of which the NRDC is a member, wants tighter controls on toxic substances.)

By Paul McRandle

Q: Quickly, what is TSCA and why does it need to be reformed?

Daniel Rosenberg: TSCA is an environmental law first enacted in 1976 and never updated since, that was intended to regulate the safety of industrial chemicals—that is most chemicals that find their way into the stream of commerce. It is generally regarded to be the greatest failure of all the major environmental laws passed in the early 1970s. This is because there were 62,000 chemicals in use when it was enacted and all of those chemicals were grandfathered in, meaning they didn’t have to be tested or required to meet a safety standard. On top of that, the law makes it extremely difficult for EPA to take action even when they know a chemical is unsafe, like asbestos. The way the law is written, the burden is on the agency to prove a chemical is unsafe rather than the companies who make chemicals having to prove they are safe.

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April 25th, 2009

Fleas happen. So do ticks. With the trees in full leaf and the back of the lot thick with weeds, I know the hounds will soon be targets. Typically, I just shave them (the dogs not the parasites), wash them with something obnoxiously fragrant and hope for the best.

I gave up chemical dog collars awhile back, about 1992. (Reasons in a moment.) But knowing that the dogs are miserable with fleas (not to mention how miserable we’d be sharing their fleas) and that they can get Lyme disease if they pick up a tick, I’m well aware this isn’t a perfect solution. I have fed them garlic powder, a home remedy, but with mixed success.

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