Another Reason to Go Organic :: Link between Pesticides & ADHD in Kids

Saw this in an email from the Organic Consumers Association today.

Pesticides tied to ADHD in children from Harvard SPH on Vimeo.

You can fight Oil Spills @ Home ... check your Bathroom

Saw this on Facebook today. Thanks Organic Consumers Association.

From this Huffington Post article "The Oil Spill in the Bathroom" :

Up to 40,000 barrels of oil have been pouring into the Gulf of Mexico each day since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig blew up and killed 11 BP workers on April 20. With U.S. liquid fuel consumption at about 20 million barrels a day, that's about 4 percent of U.S. oil consumption poisoning the oceans and washing up on our beaches every day. Coincidentally, that's also the same amount of U.S. daily oil consumption that is used to produce the petrochemicals common in conventional cosmetics.

The USDA's National Organic Program protects consumers from false organic claims on food. Only foods that are third-party certified to the USDA's organic standards can be advertised as organic.

Not so with non-food products. The USDA allows health and beauty products to be certified to USDA organic standards, but it doesn't require all products that are marketed as organic to be certified.

The result is that organic integrity varies from aisle to aisle in the grocery store. When shopping for health and beauty products, shoppers are bombarded with organic claims on products that aren't actually certified organic. Unless the product is certified organic, it's almost impossible to tell what percentage of the ingredients are organic and which ingredients are synthetic, petroleum-derived or dangerous. And, as our tests for 1,4 dioxane have shown, the petroleum-based formulations of some mislabeled "organic" products can even produce hidden toxins that don't appear on the label.

UPDATE June 17: Just saw this. Thanks Organic Consumers Association e-newsletter.

The new Whole Foods Market policy on "organic" labeling personal care products states: "We believe that the "organic" claim used on personal care products should have very similar meaning to the "organic" claim used on food products, which is currently regulated by the USDA's National Organic Program. Our shoppers do not expect the definition of "organic" to change substantially between the food and the non-food aisles of our stores."

Whole Foods new policy mandates that "Organic Product" or "Product made with Organic [specified ingredients]" claims must be certified under the USDA National Organic Program, just like food. A more limited "Contains Organic Ingredients" claim for personal care may be certified under the NSF ANSI 305 standard, which has additional allowances for personal care products. All organic claims which are not certified, including "Organics" in branding must otherwise be dropped. Brands have been told they have until August 1, 2010 to explain how they will change their labeling or formulations to comply with the new standard. Those that don't submit an explanation are expected to be dropped from store shelves over the coming year while those that comply will have until June 1, 2011 to be in full compliance with Whole Foods new policy.

Cage-Free Organic vs. Pasture-Raised Organic Eggs

From today's Organic Consumers Association e-newsletter -

note: videos are not graphic.

The USDA's National Organic Program has animal welfare standards that require egg-laying hens to have access to the outdoors and be able to exhibit their natural behaviors. Unfortunately, because the law isn't being evenly enforced, there are a wide range of conditions for egg-laying hens among certified organic operations.

Some certified organic eggs come from farms that provide plenty of rich green pasture for the hens to forage in for greens, insects and worms.



But the biggest industrial egg producers, who dominate grocery store sales of organic eggs, keep their hens in giant sheds, feeding them a simple corn-soy ration spiked with a synthetic supplement called methionine that keeps the hens appearing healthy even though they aren't getting the sunlight and forage they need.

support organic personal care product law

grabbed this info from a recent Organic Consumers Association e-newsletter:

In a milestone victory after years of work by the OCA and the organic community to demand an end to blatant labeling fraud in the organic marketplace the National Organic Standards Board voted 12 to 1 at their November 2009 meeting to direct the USDA National Organic Program to enforce the law for organic personal care products - just as they do for organic food.

This means that shampoos, body care products, and cosmetics that claim to be organic but are not certified would be forced to drop their organic label and advertising claims, or else reformulate their products (getting rid of petrochemicals and problematic synthetic ingredients) to meet "USDA Organic" or "made with organic ingredients" standards.

The Organic Consumers Association is initiating a letter-writing campaign asking the USDA to take quick action on the NOSB recommendation. You can send a letter here. It takes 2 seconds. Ok, maybe 30 seconds.


In the meantime the OCA advises consumers to ...

BOYCOTT THESE FAKE "ORGANIC" BRANDS:
Amazon Organics, Avalon Organics, Desert Essence Organics, Earth's Best Organic, Giovanni Organic Cosmetics, Head Organics, JASON Pure Natural and Organic, Nature's Gate Organics, Organics by Noah's Naturals

BUY THESE CERTIFIED USDA ORGANIC BRANDS:
Alteya Organics, Baby Bear Shop, Badger, Bubble and Bee Organic, Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps, Indian Meadow Herbals, Intelligent Nutrients, Kimberly Parry Organics, Little Angel, Mercola, Miessence Certified Organics, Nature's Paradise, OGmama and OGbaby, Organicare, Organic Essence, Origins Organics, Purely Shea, Rainwater Organic Lotion, Rose Tattoo Aftercare, SoCal Cleanse, Sensibility Soaps/Nourish, Terressentials, Trillium Organics, Vermont Soap.


For background information about this issue read this brief article.