DelMonte to eliminate BPA and GMOs

Del Monte, a major US food producer, announced that it would be eliminating BPA in can liners. But they must use another phthalate, which has not been shown to be safe. They also want to eliminate GMO foods in their products. But Roundup is not just used on GMO food, it's used on all crops to kill it all at the same time, whether the crop is GMO or not.

Links
Article: http://www.organicauthority.com/Del-Monte-Eradicate-BPA-GMOs

BPA found in 16,000 foods and beverages

EWG now has a database showing 16,000 foods contaminated with the endocrine-disrupting chemical BPA. BPA (bisphenol A) can disrupt hormones in the human body creating a host of problems. BPA is a one of a class of chemicals called "phthalates". BPA makes plastics softer so they don't crack. So they are used in plastics for can liners, plastic containers, and just about every plastic. Plastic without phthalates is brittle and breaks easily. Plain plastic is simply not usable in everyday life.

Containers that are BPA free are not safe. Manufacturers simply replace one phthalate with another, which would be even more damaging to people and animals.

How to avoid exposure to BPA

1. In most cases it's impossible to completely avoid exposure to BPA. Food ingredients are shipped to factories in plastic wrap or plastic containers. But the longer the food sits in contact with the BPA, the more BPA it likely has.
2. Buy food sold only in glass jars. 
3. Store food in glass jars. The resealable glass jars with a latching lid and rubber seal are more and more common in the US these days. 
4. Most cans have plastic liners, but especially for acidic foods like tomatoe products and green beans. Avoid canned foods.
5. Avoid freezing food in plastic bags unless the food is wrapped in waxed paper. 
6. Do not allow food to come into contact with plastic for long periods of time. 
7. Plastic syringes and IV drip bags also contain BPA.

U.S. experts doubt EPA curbs on Monsanto, BASF herbicides will halt crop damage

US specialists doubt that reducing the sale of dicamba, sold by Monsanto and BASF, will actually slow down crop damage. Monsanto is releasing dicamba-resistant soy beans. Does dicamba get into every cell, so that it ends up in the food system?

Overspray of dicamba, trade name Xtend, to neighboring fields is responsible for millions of dollars in crop damage. Depending on soil conditions, Roundup can remain in the soil for up to 4 years, damaging future years of crops. Does dicamba do the same?

Links
Article: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-agriculture-dicamba/u-s-experts-doubt-epa-curbs-on-monsanto-basf-herbicides-will-halt-crop-damage-idUSKBN1CI21K

Who claims glyphosate is safe, vs unsafe

This page has a list of agencies world-wide which shows who thinks glyphosate (Roundup) is safe, and who thinks it is unsafe.

Can you click on my ads?

I'd like to ask everyone to click on the ads shown on this page. It's what pays the bills. It takes a lot of time and work to do research for the articles and track down the actual study so you have a direct link to the study. So taking 5 seconds to click on an ad would really mean a big deal to me.

Thank you! You're awesome!

List of GMO crops used in many countries

This list of GMO crops will tell you which countries use them. However, Roundup is spread on non-GMO crops as well, right before harvest, so a non-GMO product does not mean pesticide free.

Roundup kills your energy system?

What is the Shikimate pathway?

The Shikimate pathway is a seven step metabolic route used by bacteria, fungi, algae, some protozoan parasites and plants for the biosynthesis of folates and aromatic amino acids (phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan). Since animals need these folates and amino acids, but do not have this pathway, these nutrients must be provided by gut bacteria. Is this how Roundup interferes with a human's energy level, by disturbing gut bacteria?

From Wikipedia: The seven enzymes involved in the shikimate pathway are DAHP synthase, 3-dehydroquinate synthase, 3-dehydroquinate dehydratase, shikimate dehydrogenase, shikimate kinase, EPSP synthase, and chorismate synthase. 

Even since the 1980s, one cause of Myalgic encephalomyelitis (formerly Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) has been thought to be a dysfunction of the human cell mitochondria. But now with more research on how critical gut bacteria is to humans, and how glyphosate (and a diet with sugar) destroys the good gut bacteria, this study might be able to show how Roundup causes its damage, and may be a cause for CFS.


Full study is on Elsevier, which is paywalled. But here is the abstract.


Abstract

The shikimate pathway is a metabolic route for the biosynthesis of aromatic amino acids (AAAs) (i.e. phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan). A key enzyme of shikimate pathway (5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase, EPSPS) is the target of the widely used herbicide glyphosate. Quinate is a compound synthesized in plants through a side branch of the shikimate pathway. Glyphosate provokes quinate accumulation and exogenous quinate application to plants shows a potential role of quinate in the toxicity of the herbicide glyphosate. Based on this, we hypothesized that the role of quinate accumulation in the toxicity of the glyphosate would be mediated by a deregulation of the shikimate pathway.

In this study the effect of the glyphosate and of the exogenous quinate was evaluated in roots of pea plants by analyzing the time course of a full metabolic map of several metabolites of shikimate and phenylpropanoid pathways. Glyphosate application induced an increase of the 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate-7-phosphate synthase (DAHPS, first enzyme of the shikimate pathway) protein and accumulation of metabolites upstream of the enzyme EPSPS. No common effects on the metabolites and regulation of shikimate pathway were detected between quinate and glyphosate treatments, supporting that the importance of quinate in the mode of action of glyphosate is not mediated by a common alteration of the regulation of the shikimate pathway. Contrary to glyphosate, the exogenous quinate supplied was probably incorporated into the main trunk from the branch pathway and accumulated in the final products, such as lignin, concomitant with a decrease in the amount of DAHPS protein.

Links
Study: Pestic Biochem Physiol. 2017 Sep;141:96-102. doi: 10.1016/j.pestbp.2016.12.005. Epub 2016 Dec 10. Abstract: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28911748.

Oregon wants to forcibly spray organic farm with pesticides

Azure Standard is an organic farm that has been running for 18 years. Oregon state law requires farmers to control "noxious weeds". The weed of concern is Canadian Thistle. Sherman County, Oregon does not think Azure Standard has done enough to control this thistle. From the article:

Sherman County may be issuing a Court Order on May 22, 2017, to quarantine Azure Farms and possibly to spray the whole farm with poisonous herbicides, contaminating them with Milestone, Escort and Roundup herbicides.

And then the state will charge them for the service. Like the Chinese government charge the family of the dead after a criminal has been executed.

Links
Article: https://www.theorganicprepper.ca/an-oregon-county-govt-plans-to-douse-azure-standards-organic-farm-in-pesticide-05122017

Poisons in US drinking water

EWG has launched it's US drinking water database. The database even has an interactive map of the US. EWG testing of tap water has found 250 toxin in US tap water, and they organized it into a database.

EWG found the unregulated cancer-causing contaminant 1,4-dioxane in the water supply of 90 million Americans and thousands of personal care products.

Some tap water has toxins that are at 1000 time the EPA limit. Children's brains are especially sensitive to toxins while the brain is still growing and making neuron connects. The human brain does not stop growing until age 25, on average, and some are not even finished growing at that age.

Here's a PubMed search for studies on dioxane. You can even create an RSS feed from your search! So with an RSS reader you can have the studies ready at your fingertips. Mozilla Thunderbird, an email client, supports RSS feeds.

More links
EWG database page for dioxane.

News briefs: DuPont, Teflon, EWG, Michael Dourson and EPA, alachlor, acetochlor

Walmart pushes companies to get verified by EWG... for personal care products. More about EWG verified is here. The EWG Skin Deep program rates products based on the safety of their ingredients. Many lipsticks contain lead, which causes irreversible brain damage.

Marion Nestle presents a round up of sugar industry reports. Fat isn't the biggest problem, sugar is. Read the reports and look for things like them minimizing the dangers of sugar, or focusing on the "good points". "Sugar gives you energy! But don't worry about it being an inflammatory agent."

Attorney who exposed the dangers of DuPont's Teflon wins alternative Nobel Prize called the Right Livelihood Award. Info on Teflon and studies here.

Trump's chemical safety nominee, Michael Dourson, could be bad for consumers. The EPA is already pro-poison, and frequently downplays the dangers of Roundup and other pesticides, even as farmers complain about the failure of Roundup, so this is a bad move.

Dourson was also paid by Dow and Monsanto to propose safe exposure levels for breakdown products of two widely used herbicides, alachlor and acetochlor, in an attempt to counter water standards developed by Wisconsin and Minnesota. Both chemicals are associated with higher cancer rates in male agricultural worker...

And the CDC is not much better.

How to power things using batteries and alt power, part 2 of 2

Part 2 of 2

Power draw from the battery

If all 4 amps is being used on the Amazon inverter, how many amp hours are actually being drawn from your battery? 4 amps / 0.8 (efficiency rate), or about 5 amps per hour. Worst case scenario for an inverter that provides 4 amps: If your battery holds 20 amp hours, it will last for 20 amp hours / 5 amps per hour, or 4 hours if there is no power being added to the battery. If your battery holds 80 amp hours, it will last for 80 / 5 amps per hour, or 16 hours of continuous use with no power being added to the battery.

Examples of batteries

Below is a variety of batteries. I don't know about their quality, but let's compare the cost per amp hour of capacity. Do not use "cold cranking amps" for capacity, find the amp hours rating.

- Optima Marine battery, $200 for 55 amp hours. Cost per amp hour: $3.64usd
- 12v battery, $100 for 35 amp hours: $2.86usd