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Toxic America series continues tonight at 8 pm ET/PT
Did you tune into CNN's special series "Toxic Towns USA" last night? I sure did. I wanted to root on our friends and allies in the town of Mossville, LA who were featured in the special one-hour program hosted by Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
Among the local heroes profiled in the piece was Dorothy Felix, who has spent much of the past decade fighting to protect her community from the cancer-causing chemicals raining down upon her hometown of Mossville, a historically African-American community in southwestern Louisiana ringed by chemical plants.
This is a community where University of Texas researchers found that 99 percent of residents suffered from at least one disease or illness related to toxic chemical exposure. Further studies found blood levels of dioxin in Mossville residents rivaling those seen in workers involved in industrial accidents. The toxicologists studying these results called them some of the highest levels ever reported in the United States from an environmental exposure.
As fellow Mossville activist and retired chemical plant employee Edgar Mouton told reporters when he and Felix worked with Earthjustice on a lawsuit for stricter air toxics standards: "We're being hit from the north, south, east, and west. Every time the wind changes, we get a lungful of pollution from some other plant. These chemicals end up in our water, our gardens, our children's bodies. Each day we hear about someone in our community being diagnosed with cancer or another illness."
CNN profiled the heartbreaking stories in their piece last night: entire families struck with cancer, teenage girls suffering from endometreosis and forced to undergo hysterectomies, families left with no choice but to uproot and leave their now-poisoned ancestral homes. The community members' bravery in the face of these hardships was made even more profound when contrasted with the flat-out cowardice of the chemical plant owners and state officials who ducked CNN's request for interviews and refused to meet with Dorothy Felix.
Tonight, CNN is shifting gears: from "Toxic Towns" to "Toxic Childhood"—with a look at the toxics lurking in our homes and in our children's bodies.
From household cleaners to pesticides, the threats are there. Unfortunately, current regulation of the chemical industry is shockingly weak: under the current law the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency did not have the authority to ban even a notorious chemical like asbestos.
Gupta asks: "Should chemicals be innocent until proven guilty?" Our answer: No!
Earthjustice Vice President Patti Goldman put it this way in a recent blog post: "When it comes to protecting our kids from toxic chemicals, parents need a system that meets us halfway. We need to shift the burden from families to the companies who are manufacturing and distributing the chemicals used in these products."
What do you think? Are you ready to change the system and usher in an age when we can move about our daily lives without worrying about carcinogens and hormone disruptors lurking in our kitchenware and mattresses? Or when expectant parents can paint their nurseries, stock them with playthings and baby supplies—all with the security of knowing that each and every chemical in those products has been tested for health effects and found safe for their newborn?
Then click here to contact your member of Congress! Tell your senators to co-sponsor the Safe Chemicals Act and tell your representative to signal their support for comprehensive chemical reform. It will take two seconds. It's vitally important. And it may give you some piece of mind while you're tuning into CNN's "Toxic Childhood."
Submitted by Billy Gee (not verified) on August 7, 2010.
Why does it hurt when I pee? I had my temporAl lobe removed in 05...I have to go potty about 30 times a day. I think brain surgery is a scam. no one I talked to said they'd do it again. We would all take the meds and ride it out until the end. I don't know who they are....I became a bleeding heart,tree hugging liberal after surgery...makes ya say hum. I stare a lot, do you?
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on June 28, 2010.
I wish the program had been more factual and research based. There is so much drama related to this issue that it is hard to sort out the real information. Dr. Whelan barely had an opportunity to speak and I had the impression that the host tried to lead her to provide only specific information.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on June 18, 2010.
I missed Toxic Childhood on TV when will it be on again?
Yes I also remember the 50's those were great days as a child but yet there was some danger there too in many forms. I remember having two operations one for tonsils and on for adenoid and they used ether on me! I think I was only 6 years old at that time. Yuuk that was a horrible sicking stuff and I had nightmare for years after that. I used to take apart old pocket watches and clocks to see what made them tick and of course they had the radiative dials that glowed in the dark...cool huh? I used to play with a bottle of DDT and spray grasshoppers. I do not think DDT was really that toxic and could be used today in Africa to save many lives from malaria. To keep this short there were some dangers in the 50's but nothing like today.
Today almost everybody sprays their yards year around my neighbor included. He is such a perfectionist on his yard. I do not spray my yard and have not used bug spay in this home since I moved here 20 years ago. I think people spraying their yards all over the country is a major polluter. Farmers tend to over spray also. I wish more people would get educated in organic methods. I am not an extreme environmentalist but think we need balance. We also need oil badly but we need to gradually move to alternative energy sources. The BP incident was stupid but to ban offshore drilling is not the answer.
Submitted by Charles Erickson MD (not verified) on June 7, 2010.
Certainly, there has been misuse of chemicals in the past and we should be concerned about this. However, the program failed to mention the benefits of chemicals which we in the developed world enjoy. In developing countries, thousands of children die because of lack of chemicals in the form of antibiotics, DDT and other pesticides which kill malaria and fertilizers which improve crop production to aid in feeding children who lack adequate food. In Zambia I have seen first hand the harmful effects of failure to use chemicals
DDT was given as an example of a horribly toxic pesticide, however when used appropriately it has eliminated the scourge of malaria in the US but because we used it to kill mosquitoes. The ban imposed here led to its limited use in Subsaharan Africa by the WHO. Fortunately, the former has now approved its careful use. Nevertheless, the obsessive fear of harmful effects of the chemical in spite of limited evidence of any harm to human beings. Please see Africa Fighting Malaria.com for support of these statements.
We benefit from the use of chemicals and should not be fearful of the vast majority of them because of conjecture that they may be harmful.
Submitted by MaurineMeleck (not verified) on June 6, 2010.
What is the point of talking about all of these chemicals we get from pollution, pesticides etc when we inject toxins directly in our childrens' bodies via vaccinations-mercury and aluminum for example. This discussion is a moot point when this happens every day. Don't forget about Monsanto(that our government allows) to genetically modify our food(Europe doesn't do it).
Sure put the blame on 10,000 chemicals to distract from the toxins in the vaccines and the US vaccine program.
Maurine Meleck
Submitted by Nicoletta (not verified) on June 4, 2010.
I really enjoyed this piece! I was so very proud of myself because I do 98% of what Dr. G talked about here. I think this was a very informative piece. I hope that people watching it were moved to make changes in their daily lives!
I am a huge CNN fan. Cannot go to bed without watching it. What I have learned from this network has been extremely helpful to me in my life.
Hats off to all of you at CNN!! Thank you for providing excellent and informative news!
Submitted by Vickie Queen (not verified) on June 4, 2010.
WE ARE ALL unwittingly participating in a massive experiment without our consent. We are exposed to hundreds (and perhaps thousands) of man-made chemicals whose impacts on our health have barely been considered, including our hormones and our children's hormones.
I'm presenting webinars on this subject Friday, June 11th at 2PM(mt) and Monday, June 14th at 7PM(mt). If you would like to attend this informative webinar email me (vickie@menoqueen.com) so I can send you information on how to access the webinar. It's up to us to share this provactive information with everyone we know!
Submitted by Carrie R. (not verified) on June 4, 2010.
I was so friustrated that the BP oil spill coverage ran instead of the scheduled Toxic Childhood program. As a working mother I don't spend a lot of time watching TV and this is the first time in months I PLANNED to sit down and pay attention to something instead of doing chores. The BP debacle is not breaking news... and oil covered brown pelicans are not what I wanted to see. During the time frame when Toxic Childhoow was scheduled I learned NOTHING new about the oil spill. Consider me a very disappointed viewer (well, if I had viewed the program I could be considered a viewer, anyway!?)
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on June 3, 2010.
As a young child in the 1950's I drank bee poison. I was 4 years old we lived in London, England and my Mother was visiting friends who had children aged 6 and up.Somehow the older children lured me into a gardening shed and made me drink bee poison which came in baby bottles. Needless to say I was rushed to the emergency room and had my stomach pumped. a few years later I was in Florida and pretending to be a horse at a friends house we were eating the grass on the lawn which unbeknownst to us had been sprayed with a pesticide.i was horribly sick all night. these are almost comical events but obviously at that time no one realized the dangers.I do hav e asthma as an adult not severe asthma but it is triggered by cold, dust etc. I live with pets and am not suffering but i also try to eat healthy organic when i can and I exercise and take care of myself. The expert who claimed there is little toxicity( Elizabeth?) is so misguided it was rampant even in the 50's and 60's. thank you
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on June 3, 2010.
As a young child in the 1950's I drank bee poison. I was 4 years old we lived in London, England and my Mother was visiting friends who had children aged 6 and up.Somehow the older children lured me into a gardening shed and made me drink bee poison which came in baby bottles. Needless to say I was rushed to the emergency room and had my stomach pumped. a few years later I was in Florida and pretending to be a horse at a friends house we were eating the grass on the lawn which unbeknownst to us had been sprayed with a pesticide.i was horribly sick all night. these are almost comical events but obviously at that time no one realized the dangers.I do hav e asthma as an adult not severe asthma but it is triggered by cold, dust etc. I live with pets and am not suffering but i also try to eat healthy organic when i can and I exercise and take care of myself. The expert who claimed there is little toxicity( Elizabeth?) is so misguided it was rampant even in the 50's and 60's. thank you
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The articles you have on your website are always so enjoyable to read. Good work and I will be returning often.
Why does it hurt when I pee? I had my temporAl lobe removed in 05...I have to go potty about 30 times a day. I think brain surgery is a scam. no one I talked to said they'd do it again. We would all take the meds and ride it out until the end. I don't know who they are....I became a bleeding heart,tree hugging liberal after surgery...makes ya say hum. I stare a lot, do you?
I wish the program had been more factual and research based. There is so much drama related to this issue that it is hard to sort out the real information. Dr. Whelan barely had an opportunity to speak and I had the impression that the host tried to lead her to provide only specific information.
I missed Toxic Childhood on TV when will it be on again?
Yes I also remember the 50's those were great days as a child but yet there was some danger there too in many forms. I remember having two operations one for tonsils and on for adenoid and they used ether on me! I think I was only 6 years old at that time. Yuuk that was a horrible sicking stuff and I had nightmare for years after that. I used to take apart old pocket watches and clocks to see what made them tick and of course they had the radiative dials that glowed in the dark...cool huh? I used to play with a bottle of DDT and spray grasshoppers. I do not think DDT was really that toxic and could be used today in Africa to save many lives from malaria. To keep this short there were some dangers in the 50's but nothing like today.
Today almost everybody sprays their yards year around my neighbor included. He is such a perfectionist on his yard. I do not spray my yard and have not used bug spay in this home since I moved here 20 years ago. I think people spraying their yards all over the country is a major polluter. Farmers tend to over spray also. I wish more people would get educated in organic methods. I am not an extreme environmentalist but think we need balance. We also need oil badly but we need to gradually move to alternative energy sources. The BP incident was stupid but to ban offshore drilling is not the answer.
Certainly, there has been misuse of chemicals in the past and we should be concerned about this. However, the program failed to mention the benefits of chemicals which we in the developed world enjoy. In developing countries, thousands of children die because of lack of chemicals in the form of antibiotics, DDT and other pesticides which kill malaria and fertilizers which improve crop production to aid in feeding children who lack adequate food. In Zambia I have seen first hand the harmful effects of failure to use chemicals
DDT was given as an example of a horribly toxic pesticide, however when used appropriately it has eliminated the scourge of malaria in the US but because we used it to kill mosquitoes. The ban imposed here led to its limited use in Subsaharan Africa by the WHO. Fortunately, the former has now approved its careful use. Nevertheless, the obsessive fear of harmful effects of the chemical in spite of limited evidence of any harm to human beings. Please see Africa Fighting Malaria.com for support of these statements.
We benefit from the use of chemicals and should not be fearful of the vast majority of them because of conjecture that they may be harmful.
What is the point of talking about all of these chemicals we get from pollution, pesticides etc when we inject toxins directly in our childrens' bodies via vaccinations-mercury and aluminum for example. This discussion is a moot point when this happens every day. Don't forget about Monsanto(that our government allows) to genetically modify our food(Europe doesn't do it).
Sure put the blame on 10,000 chemicals to distract from the toxins in the vaccines and the US vaccine program.
Maurine Meleck
I really enjoyed this piece! I was so very proud of myself because I do 98% of what Dr. G talked about here. I think this was a very informative piece. I hope that people watching it were moved to make changes in their daily lives!
I am a huge CNN fan. Cannot go to bed without watching it. What I have learned from this network has been extremely helpful to me in my life.
Hats off to all of you at CNN!! Thank you for providing excellent and informative news!
WE ARE ALL unwittingly participating in a massive experiment without our consent. We are exposed to hundreds (and perhaps thousands) of man-made chemicals whose impacts on our health have barely been considered, including our hormones and our children's hormones.
I'm presenting webinars on this subject Friday, June 11th at 2PM(mt) and Monday, June 14th at 7PM(mt). If you would like to attend this informative webinar email me (vickie@menoqueen.com) so I can send you information on how to access the webinar. It's up to us to share this provactive information with everyone we know!
http://www.menoqoueen.com
I was so friustrated that the BP oil spill coverage ran instead of the scheduled Toxic Childhood program. As a working mother I don't spend a lot of time watching TV and this is the first time in months I PLANNED to sit down and pay attention to something instead of doing chores. The BP debacle is not breaking news... and oil covered brown pelicans are not what I wanted to see. During the time frame when Toxic Childhoow was scheduled I learned NOTHING new about the oil spill. Consider me a very disappointed viewer (well, if I had viewed the program I could be considered a viewer, anyway!?)
As a young child in the 1950's I drank bee poison. I was 4 years old we lived in London, England and my Mother was visiting friends who had children aged 6 and up.Somehow the older children lured me into a gardening shed and made me drink bee poison which came in baby bottles. Needless to say I was rushed to the emergency room and had my stomach pumped. a few years later I was in Florida and pretending to be a horse at a friends house we were eating the grass on the lawn which unbeknownst to us had been sprayed with a pesticide.i was horribly sick all night. these are almost comical events but obviously at that time no one realized the dangers.I do hav e asthma as an adult not severe asthma but it is triggered by cold, dust etc. I live with pets and am not suffering but i also try to eat healthy organic when i can and I exercise and take care of myself. The expert who claimed there is little toxicity( Elizabeth?) is so misguided it was rampant even in the 50's and 60's. thank you
As a young child in the 1950's I drank bee poison. I was 4 years old we lived in London, England and my Mother was visiting friends who had children aged 6 and up.Somehow the older children lured me into a gardening shed and made me drink bee poison which came in baby bottles. Needless to say I was rushed to the emergency room and had my stomach pumped. a few years later I was in Florida and pretending to be a horse at a friends house we were eating the grass on the lawn which unbeknownst to us had been sprayed with a pesticide.i was horribly sick all night. these are almost comical events but obviously at that time no one realized the dangers.I do hav e asthma as an adult not severe asthma but it is triggered by cold, dust etc. I live with pets and am not suffering but i also try to eat healthy organic when i can and I exercise and take care of myself. The expert who claimed there is little toxicity( Elizabeth?) is so misguided it was rampant even in the 50's and 60's. thank you
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