Commentaries

Turn off the "Tap" to Stop Our Dioxin-Food Problem

The recent recommendation by the National Academy of Sciences to reduce our exposure to dioxin from our food. It's too bad the Academy's solutions focused mostly at the bottom of the dioxin food chain, rather than turning off the dioxin "tap" at its source. Dioxin is considered one of the most toxic compounds ever produced.

Antimicrobial Use in Animal Feed: An Ecological and Public Health Problem

Antibiotics arguably constitute one of the most important medical discoveries of the last century. Unfortunately, many antibiotics now are rapidly losing effectiveness as bacteria increasingly acquire resistance to multiple medicines. Routine feeding of antibiotics to animals raised for food promotes overuse and is one of the key drivers contributing to antibiotic resistance.

A Fertilizer That Contaminates

Ironite is one fertilizer that bills itself as a "natural soil supplement . . . popular choice for home, lawn and garden for 43 years. Nothing greens like Ironite. Will not burn." Ironite is made from a 60 acre pile of mine tailings located at a Superfund-nominate site. Testing by state agencies in Washington and Minnesota in 1998 and 1999 found dangerously high levels of arsenic and lead.

Opportunity Lost on Aid?

In the three years of planning for the United Nations conference on development held last month in Monterrey, Mexico, U.S. negotiators steadfastly insisted that the conference was not about more public aid. U.S. negotiators argued that aid had, at best, a mixed record, and that the benefits of international trade revenues now dwarf any conceivable level of public aid.