About one-fourth of the cotton crop in the United States is genetically engineered to produce a toxin that kills pests such as the pink bollworm. The introduction of these crops has allowed farmers to reduce their reliance on chemical pesticides. Since children eat, drink and breathe more pesticides pound per pound than adults, they are at high risk to health impairments. The Environmental Protection Agency's Aug. 2 ban on one pesticide and restricted use of another for fruits and vegetables does little to address the link between pesticides and youth violence, according to a university researcher. On Aug. 2, EPA banned the use of methyl parathion and restricted the use of azinphos methyl for fruits and vegetables because the pesticides can damage the brain and nervous system.
Young children are especially susceptible.
The Mediterranean is on its way to becoming a tropical aquarium, with 110 newcomer species from the tropics threatening to crowd out native species less suited to the ever-warmer and more polluted water, experts warned today. The State Board of Education is expected to vote this week on whether evolution should be left off a list of topics on statewide assessment tests in science for high school students. While this form of tourism helps farmers and ranchers maintain a rural lifestyle, the services they provide improve the quality of life for those who visit and offer an opportunity for people to learn what it takes succeed on a farm. But reaching one billion is not a cause for celebration in a country where one half of the adults are illiterate, more than half of all children are undernourished, and one third of the people live below the poverty line. If you can not read HTML email please say so and you will receive a Plain Text version.