tMoA

Would you like to react to this message? Create an account in a few clicks or log in to continue.
tMoA

~ The only Home on the Web You'll ever need ~

    Keep Nanotech OUT of Organic!

    spiritwarrior
    spiritwarrior


    Posts : 458
    Join date : 2010-04-10

    Keep Nanotech OUT of Organic! Empty Keep Nanotech OUT of Organic!

    Post  spiritwarrior Mon May 17, 2010 4:29 pm

    Nanotechnology is a powerful new platform technology for taking apart
    and reconstructing nature at the atomic and molecular level. The
    nano-scale is exceedingly tiny; it is the world of atoms and molecules,
    involving the manipulation of matter at the nanometer scale (nm), one
    billionth of a meter. “Nano” means more than just tiny manufacturing: it
    is well-known that materials engineered or manufactured to the
    nano-scale exhibit radically different fundamental physical, biological,
    and chemical properties from bulk materials–properties that also create
    unique human health and environmental risks.

    While the first wave of nanomaterial products has been consumer
    products, food and food packaging products appear to be next in line.
    Many of the world's leading food companies - including H.J. Heinz,
    Nestle, Hershey, Campbell, General Mills, PepsiCo, Sara Lee, Unilever,
    and Kraft - are investing heavily in nanotechnology applications.
    Hundreds of new food and agriculture products are under development and
    many could be on the market soon. By 2010 the nano-food market could be
    worth $6 billion. Examples of current products include a nutritional
    supplement drink for children that contains iron nanoparticles,
    McDonald's hamburger containers, Cadbury chocolate bar wrappers, and
    Miller Lite beer bottles.


    USDA’s National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) is voting on whether
    nanotechnology should be banned from use in Organic products. Thanks to
    your overwhelming outcry in May 2009, the Board’s initial recommendation
    is to keep nanotech out of organic entirely. Now, we need your help
    again to make sure USDA holds the line! The critical vote on the Board’s
    final recommendation will be held in Washington D.C. on Nov 3.

    Nanotechnology is contrary to Organic Principles and could further
    entrench industrial/chemical agriculture and industrial food as our
    dominant paradigm, to the detriment of public health and the
    environment. Tell NOSB to ensure the integrity of Organic on this issue
    by voting that USDA ban nanotechnology as an excluded method.

    Talking Points

    Please edit the letter below to personalize your comments. We will
    collect your comments and deliver them at the close of the comment
    period at Midnight on Monday, October 19th.


    Subject:


    To whom it may concern,

    Valerie Frances, Executive Director, NOSB, USDA-AMS-TMD-NOP, 1400
    Independence Ave. S.W., Room 4004-S, Ag Stop 0268, Washington,
    D.C.20250-0268

    RE: Docket No. AMS-TM-09-0060

    I am concerned about the potential use of nanotechnology in organic
    products (Docket No. AMS-TM-09-0060). It is up to NOSB to ensure the
    integrity of Organic on this issue by voting that USDA ban
    nanotechnology as an excluded method. I support the Materials Committee
    Recommendation that nanotechnology be prohibited for the following
    reasons:

    Nanotechnology is contrary to Organic Principles. Nanotechnology will
    further entrench industrial/chemical agriculture and industrial food as
    our dominant paradigm, to the detriment of public health and the
    environment. As such, nanotechnology is antithetical to organic
    principles and should be banned from the USDA Organic standard.

    Size matters.
    "Nano" is best understood to mean more than merely
    tiny manufacturing and materials; rather it means substances that have
    the capacity to be fundamentally different, with new chemical, physical
    and biological properties. These same new properties that excite
    industry create new and novel risks to human health and the environment.
    Not all nanomaterials will be hazardous, but the materials' safety
    cannot be assumed from testing or approval of larger cousins and should
    be assumed to have added risk.

    Labeling Nanotech Materials as Synthetic Is a Dangerous Idea. A Ban on
    the Technology, Like Genetic Engineering, Is Required To Protect Organic
    Integrity. Labeling nanotech materials as "synthetic" without
    recommending a prohibition on the technology is a very dangerous idea
    that would create a future system where proponents of each specific
    nanomaterial would be able to petition for inclusion on the National
    List. It would be as if biotechnology crops could petition one by one to
    be organic! The only way to protect Organic is by prohibiting
    nanotechnology as a class because it is antithetical to the principles
    and purpose of the Organic Standard.

    (Edit Letter Below)


    Human and Animal Health: Due to their size, nanoparticles can cross
    biological membranes, cells, tissues, and organs more readily than
    larger particles. When inhaled, they can go from the lungs into the
    blood system. There is growing evidence that some nanomaterials may
    penetrate intact skin and gain access to systemic circulation. When
    ingested, nanomaterials may pass through the gut wall and into the
    blood. Once in the blood stream, nanomaterials can circulate throughout
    the body and can lodge in organs and tissues including the brain, liver,
    heart, kidneys, spleen, bone marrow, and nervous system. Once inside
    cells, they may interfere with normal cellular function, cause oxidative
    damage and even cell death.

    Environmental Impacts: There are serious concerns about environmental
    impacts that conflict with Organic's land stewardship ethos. Once loose
    in nature, manufactured nanomaterials represent a new class of
    pollutants. Potentially damaging environmental impacts stem from the
    novel nature of manufactured nanomaterials, including mobility and
    persistence in soil, water and air, bioaccumulation, and unanticipated
    interactions with chemical and biological materials. Existing studies
    have raised red flags, such as damage to beneficial microorganisms from
    nano-silver. The U.K. Royal Society has recommended that, "the release
    of nanoparticles and nanotubes in the environment be avoided as far as
    possible" and that, "factories and research laboratories treat
    manufactured nanoparticles and nanotubes as hazardous, and seek to
    reduce or remove them from waste streams."

    Broader Impacts: In addition to health and environmental impacts,
    nanotechnology is a platform, converging technology which will continue
    to industrialize food and agricultural. Some of these issues include:
    the use of nanotechnology in conjunction with biotechnology and
    synthetic biology; the use of nanomaterials in food packaging in order
    to ship further distances and increase shelf life, exacerbating climate
    change impacts and contrary to organic principles of small-scale and
    local farming; and the intellectual property privatization of
    nanotechnology's basic building blocks.

    The Time to Act is Now. Nanotechnology commercialization is currently
    exploding without any oversight or labeling and little emphasis on risk
    research. Food and agriculture is a growing sector of nanomaterial
    research and development and commercialization. NOSB and NOP must act to
    protect organic. NOSB must ensure the integrity of Organic on this
    issue by voting that USDA ban nanotechnology as an excluded method and
    bar nanotechnology and nanomaterials, as a class, from eligibility in
    the National List entirely.

    http://truefoodnow.org/
    spiritwarrior
    spiritwarrior


    Posts : 458
    Join date : 2010-04-10

    Keep Nanotech OUT of Organic! Empty Keep Nanotech OUT of Organic!

    Post  spiritwarrior Mon May 17, 2010 4:32 pm

    some research says that nano particles in food and packageing can cause morgellons disease

      Current date/time is Tue Dec 10, 2024 2:25 pm