Friday, 09 Jan 2004

Just Stick to Tofu

Farmed Salmon Contaminated With PCBs, Other Nasties

Consumers, still struggling with the news that bovine spongiform encephalopathy-laden beef will make your brain melt and mercury-laden tuna will make your children stupid, were met today with more bad news: A new study in the journal Science claims that fish-farmed salmon contain enough contaminants (primarily PCBs and pesticides) to pose a serious health risk, more or less nullifying the health benefits of fish that other group of scientists told you about in that other study. Salmon lovers can take some consolation -- researchers say that wild salmon contain just a 10th of the cancer-causing contamination found in farmed varieties, and that South American farm-raised salmon are safer than the European variety. Grist's prescription: Forage for roots and berries in uninhabited wilderness areas and catch your fish from streams high in the mountains. Bon appetit!

Homeocidal

Herbal Medicine Trade Threatens Thousands of Plant Species

The booming worldwide market for herbal medicines threatens between 8 and 20 percent of the 50,000 known wild medicinal plant species with extinction, according to a forthcoming study by the World Wildlife Fund. Having risen by10 percent per year for the past decade, the herbal medicine trade is worth some $20 billion in Europe and North America. Extinction of the species would harm not only habitats but the economic well-being of the generally poor communities in India and China that harvest the plants. Enviros are urging the industry to team up with conservation organizations to insure that the plants are harvested responsibly and sustainably. Along with yesterday's report on mass extinctions due to global warming, this study confirms that just about every species on Earth is toast.

A Few of Your Favorite Things

The Grist Inbox Is Brimming With Opinions on Biodiesel, Urinals, More

A handful of Grist readers were perturbed that our recent article on eco-friendly cars didn't mention biodiesel; writer Jim Motavalli responds by noting both the upsides and the downs of this fuel fave. Other letter writers tout the benefits of waterless urinals, talk up tankless water heaters, boost Wesley Clark, dis Dennis Kucinich, and issue a call for jocks to save the planet. Find environmental opinions galore -- on the Grist Magazine website.

Terror Error

Top British Scientist Calls Global Warming Bigger Threat Than Terrorism

Which menacing global problem should be keeping you up at night: terrorism or climate change? Britain's top government scientist is creating a bit of a stir by arguing that it's the latter, and lambasting President Bush for having his priorities all out of whack. In an article in today's issue of the U.S. journal Science, David King, chief scientific advisor to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, castigates the U.S. for refusing to take action to curb greenhouse gas emissions, noting that although the country is home to only 4 percent of the world's people, it pumps out 20 percent of the world's heat-trapping gases. "The United States is already in the forefront of the science and technology of global change, and the next step is surely to tackle emissions control too," King writes. "We in the rest of the world are now looking to the U.S. to play its leading part."

Down, Down, and Away -- It's Superfund

Superfund Sites to Remain Toxic Due to Lack of Funding

According to the U.S. EPA's inspector general, the Superfund program faces a $175 million shortfall this year; as a result, cleanup will not begin on 11 of the nation's worst toxic waste sites. Superfund was established in 1980 as an attempt to force polluting industries to pay to clean up their messes. Cleanup of toxic sites directly attributable to a company are paid for by that company, while others are paid for from a fund maintained through a special tax on polluting industries. However, in 1995 a Republican Congress refused to renew the tax, and President Bush has not asked them to reverse that decision. As a result, the fund is almost out of money. Presumably taxpayers will pick up the bill from now on. Super!