7/2/2023 0 Comments Dateline toxic![]() Triclosan is a stupid use of a toxic chemical. When I asked Andrea Canning (via twitter) where she thought the high levels of triclosan came from, she didn’t know. Presumably her baby isn’t washing her hands with antibacterial soap or brushing her teeth with Colgate Total. Her 6 month old baby had levels of triclosan that were 10 times higher than the national average her toddler had levels of triclosan that were 100 times higher than the national average. The next day, she tried to boost her numbers again by doing normal everyday things-microwaved her oatmeal in a plastic cup,had canned soup and vegetables for lunch and dinner, put on makeup with fragrance, drank a V-8 and a diet Coke in a can, washed her hands with Dial soap, and brushed her teeth with Colgate Total. When she was tested again, her levels fell to almost zero. Then she tried to eliminate these chemicals from her daily use – ate fresh fruits and veggies, used unscented cosmetics, avoided antibacterial soap, and avoided plastic with the #7 recycling symbol. First, she found her baseline numbers, which were around the national average. “It is my idea that until privileged people become more concerned about the trespass of synthetic chemicals into their bodies, little will be done to address the greater environmental injustices faced by indigenous and other marginalized peoples.Did you catch the Dateline episode yesterday? It was a great report – a real life look at some of the chemicals that we, in the NRDC Health program, have been working on for years. The producer Andrea Canning wanted to see how her daily behavior could affect the levels of bisphenol A (BPA), phthalates, and triclosan in her urine. “This training will also jumpstart my next major ethnographic project on cultural perceptions of the risks associated with toxic chemicals in everyday life,” she said. “Now that I’m in remission, the Mellon Fellowship comes at the right moment for reinventing my research at a different scale.”Īs part of the 18-month project, she will take classes and travel to conferences to enhance her ongoing research with Q’eqchi’ communities. ![]() “I spent seven years in rural Mesoamerica, but after cancer, I couldn’t continue that kind of fieldwork,” she said. “Under the chemotherapy drip came an idea that I have been kindling ever since: the potential use of FPIC to challenge the nonconsensual presence of synthetic chemicals in the bloodstreams of indigenous peoples - and virtually everyone else on the planet,” Grandia said. At the time of her diagnosis, she and Q’eqchi’ leaders were working on ways to use the United Nations principle of the right to “free prior informed consent” to halt development of their territories. Grandia’s own battle with lymphoma nine years ago, which she believes may have been triggered by her exposure to pesticides during years of fieldwork in Central America, led indirectly to her Mellon-supported project. “They inspire me to overcome my own fears and move forward with my research.” “Land rights and environmental organizers are under constant death threats, but they rarely abandon their work.” she said. In the area of Guatemala where Grandia worked, a schoolteacher was shot and killed after denouncing a palm oil plantation that had dumped pesticides into a river. Those who protest environmental degradation have often suffered retaliation. “They need hard data about the environmental hazards in their territories.” “The Q’eqchi’ confront many environmental conflicts from pesticide exposure and extractive industries through nickel mines, sugar cane and palm plantations, and oil pipelines,” she said. “It is often students who make the introductions that lead to collaboration,” Grandia said. “I don’t think I would have conceived of this if I weren’t at UC Davis.”ĭuring her five years at UC Davis, students in her “Introduction to Native American Studies” and especially “Native Foods and Farming of the Americas” classes gave Grandia inspiration to begin building these cross-disciplinary linkages. “At UC Davis, there is an aspiration to bring the humanities and social sciences together with the hard sciences, and I hope to do that,” she said.
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