National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine Seeks Public Input in developing their Strategic Plan- Get Involved in the Discussion!
NCCAM (National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine) is seeking input from the public as they develop their strategic plan. Follow the link above and go to Strategic Plan. You will have an opportunity to post your comments and shape the path of integrative medicine in this country. I strongly encourage everyone to get involved in this discussion as we move towards the medicine of the future.
Environmental Working Group- Information on Chemicals in our Food, Water and Cosmetics
This is one of my favorite websites and I find the information and updated reports on toxic chemicals and exposures fascinating and disturbing. The website offers lots of updates on chemicals in our food and cosmetics and how they affect our health and the health of our children. There is a cosmetic safety database as well as sections on children’s health. Check it out- Here is a recent article on mercury exposure in the US.
EWG News release
U.S. Mercury Standard Among Worst in World
Related EWG Content
- Mercury Falling
November 1, 1999
Related News Coverage
- Faulting Mercury Study, EPA Fights FDA Bid To Ease Fish Intake Limit
Inside EPA | December 31, 2008 - Will FDA Relax Its Warnings On Seafood?
Los Angeles Times | December 22, 2008
A joint UN – WHO expert food committee has just recommended a new international standard for mercury in seafood that continues to allow a dangerous mercury exposure level, and is particularly threatening to infant children whose developing brains may be exposed to twice the amount of mercury that the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. EPA consider safe.
The developing world, where the UN — WHO standard is widely followed, will now be “protected” by a standard that is better than the outdated, unscientific U.S. standard (which mirrors the old UN — WHO standard), but would still allow twice the mercury considered safe by most American health officials.
The UN — WHO committee was directed by U.S. FDA’s Michael Bolger — the controversial bureaucrat who, at the behest of the U.S. tuna industry, is responsible for leaving U.S. consumers with what is now the weakest mercury safety standard in the world.
The U.S. EPA allows 0.1 of mercury per kilogram body weight per day, a standard that is supported by the National Academy of Sciences, but applies only to recreationally caught fish. The FDA allows 0.4 micrograms of mercury per kilogram. The new UN – WHO recommendation would allow 0.2.
Mercury from coal-burning power plants pollutes oceans and contaminates seafood. The FDA continues to fail to protect consumers by not adequately informing the public to avoid certain contaminated fish species, including canned tuna, which are especially risky for children and pregnant women.
