Re: from whence my child's cadmium?

April 24, 2012

Years ago I asked Dr. Green where all the toxic metals in our daughter

came from - it's not just mercury - and he recommended the book Fateful

Harvest by Duff . (Not to be confused with Fatal Harvest.) This is

a true story, focused on one small farming town, published in 2002,

about how the mayor, a young woman who grew up there, accidentally

discovered lots of evidence of toxic chemicals being sold to the local

farmers. One of the main horrifying things this book uncovered is the

" magic silo " where toxic waste of various sorts, including from

incinerated cars, is simply re-labeled as fertilizer, and the EPA

expressly encouraged this as a form of re-use. Also organic fertilizer

could and did contain large amounts of arsenic and other heavy metals,

and it could be labeled organic as long as it came out of the ground

with those ingredients; mine tailings full of arsenic was being sold as

organic zinc fertilizer. Fertilizer was not required to label all the

ingredients, no matter how toxic; it was only required to actually

include what it claimed to include. So it was perfectly legal for

fertilizer to be labeled as a zinc fertilizer as long as it actually has

zinc, and it could contain any amount of mercury, arsenic, beryllium,

cadmium, tungsten, etc. without many any mention of it.

The book cause such a stir that the EPA decided to defend itself by

commissioning a study by the Battelle Institute to examine the amounts

of certain toxic metals, including mercury, in farm soil. It spends a

large number of pages trying to show the mercury in soil is not a

particular problem, however it confirms that basic story of re-labeling

toxic waste as fertilizer that is acceptable for use on food. The toxic

waste in question could be something that requires a special kind of

containment, i.e. to keep it out of the environment, but it's OK to put

it directly on our food crops with no mention of the toxic ingredients.

I got the Battelle report online several years ago, it might still be

available.

I have not heard of anything changing since this was written; presumably

this is all still true.

So yes, we should not be surprised to find cadmium and other toxic

metals in our food - sometimes even in our organic food. Shocking, isn't it?

--Sandy MacInnis

> Now and again a parent asks, Why does my autistic child's lab data

> indicate elevated cadmium? The following article offer some clues.

>

> //

>

> Can heavy metal in foods, cosmetics spur breast cancer spread?

>

<http://www.philly.com/philly/health/HealthDay664026_20120423_Can_Heavy_Metal_in\

_Foods__Cosmetics_Spur_Breast_Cancer_Spread_.html?cmpid=138896554>

>

> Prolonged exposure to low levels of the heavy metal cadmium may fuel the

> growth of some breast cancer cells and encourage them to spread,

> preliminary research indicates.

>

> Found in many farm fertilizers, cadmium can make its way into soil and

> water. Some other main sources of cadmium include cigarette smoke,

> rechargeable batteries, certain cosmetics, bread and other cereals,

> potatoes, root crops and vegetables. Once it enters the body, cadmium

> may mimic the effects of the female hormone estrogen.

>

> Unlike previous research, this new analysis looks at lifetime exposure

> to cadmium, not acute bursts of high levels of the heavy metal.

>

> This research is still in its infancy, explained study author Maggie

> Louie, an associate professor of biochemistry at the Dominican

> University of California, in San ....

>

> See also:

>

> Treatment of autism spectrum children with thiamine tetrahydrofurfuryl

> disulfide: a pilot study.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12195231>

> Lonsdale D, Shamberger RJ, Audhya T.

> Neuro Endocrinol Lett. 2002 Aug;23(4):303-8.

>

> PS: This post may be forwarded hither & yon.

>

April 25, 2012

,

Again, just a reminder that we appreciate all your research and most interesting

posts. I learn so much from them! Thank you!

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