Codex Allows Seven Deadly Pesticides Banned by Stockholm Convention and US Law
Although Codex says it is focused on "Consumer Protection" the Codex Alimentarius Commission now allows seven of the 12 deadliest compounds on earth to be used on food. These seven deadly pesticides are banned by US law and the Stockholm Convention, which the US and every member of Codex signed.
The Stockholm Convention, signed by 176 countries including the
United States (May 2005) commits the signatories to eliminate world's 12 most
dangerous Persistent Organic
Pollutants (POPs . The (CAC)Codex
Alimentarius Commission, (made up of 171 countries, including the US, uses
consensus to set the world’s rules for international trade in food) allows seven
of the twelve agreed upon killer POPs to be used in the production of foods as
varied as milk, soy oils, cotton seed, citrus fruits, eggs, poultry, cereal
grains, pineapples, leafy and root vegetables, legumes and others.
POPs
remain intact in the environment for long periods, become widely distributed
geographically, accumulate in the fatty tissue of living organisms and are
highly toxic to humans and wildlife. They increase brain, bladder, biliary,
lung, breast and other cancers, cause damage to the kidney, liver, adrenals and
thyroid, can cause decreased fertility, immune suppression, diabetes, porphyria,
cardiovascular disease, fatal skin lesions especially in children and nursing
infants (“pink sore”), headache, dizziness, nausea, general malaise, and
vomiting, followed by muscle twitching, myoclonic jerks and
convulsions.
All of the killer POPs pose shared health threats but each
has its own special hazards. Endrin, for example, is 2-4 times more toxic than the better
known DDT, and tends to accumulate in children.
Chlordane, banned in the US in 1988, paralysis cancer-fighting
cells and doubles rates of lung and brain cancer in exposed persons. As a group,
the seven deadly
pesticides are known to increase the effects of the other toxic substances. Codex
allows them in food.
Scientists estimate that the misuse of POPs leads
to thousands of excess deaths, millions of disabilities and billions of lost
dollars annually.
The seven restricted
POPs banned by both the Stockholm Convention and US law but permitted by
Codex are
Aldrin, Chlordane, ,
Dieldrin,
Endrin, Heptachlor, Hexachlorobenzene and Mirex.
Toxiphene and DDT are the only two POPs pesticides on the Stockholm POPs
list which Codex does not allow.
The Natural Solutions Foundaton is deeply concerned about the
apparent lack of science-based decision making since excellent alternatives
exist to the use of these deadly toxins. Consumers, environmentally concerned
groups and individuals have raised serious concerns about the trustworthiness of
Codex Alimentarius as a consumer protection agency which are strenghtened by
Codex's position on POP's.
For further information contact The Natural Solutions Foundation.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/8/prweb276701.htm