--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com <mailto:FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com> , "do.rflex" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > Ayurvedic medicines -- herbal mixtures dating back thousands of years > in India and increasingly popular in the West -- are frequently > contaminated with lead, mercury or arsenic, according to a study > published today. > > A fifth of the nearly 200 concoctions tested contained levels of the > toxic metals that, if taken at the maximum recommended doses, would > surpass California's safety guidelines. > > [...] > > About 80% of the samples showed no detectable metal content. > > But among the remaining samples, the toxic metals showed up at similar > rates in both U.S. and Indian-made products. > > Of the U.S. products, 21% contained lead, 3% contained mercury and 3% > had arsenic. Among the Indian-made medicines, 17% had lead, 7% had > mercury and none contained arsenic. > > The researchers and other experts surmised that the contamination had > less to do with the manufacturing process than the soils in which the > herbs were grown. > > "The raw material is all coming from India," said Kush Khanna, who > runs Bazaar of India in Berkeley, a manufacturer of ayurvedic > medicines started by his father in 1971. > > Full article, Los Angeles Times: http://tinyurl.com/65tke4 <http://tinyurl.com/65tke4> >>
"India is the scene of some of Coke's most serious crimes." "In the remote village of Plachimada, Coke's $25 million bottling plant depleted the water wells of locals. Adding insult to injury, Coca Cola also distributed "free fertilizer" to indigenous farmers. The "fertilizer" was a by-product of its production process and was loaded with cadmium, a carcinogenic toxin. Locals staged an ongoing demonstration at the plant starting in 2002. In 2005 the Kerala State Pollution Control Board shut down the Coke facility." "A Coke plant in Mehdiganj has caused Indian citizens in twenty towns to face significant water scarcity with water tables dropping by 18 feet." "Pesticide levels in Coke produced in India average 25 times the maximum levels established by the Bureau of Indian Standards. As a result, the Indian state of Kerala has banned the sale of Coke." "It is instructive to note that the Bush administration, ever the corporate champion, dispatched U.S. Undersecretary for International Trade Franklin Lavin to issue this thinly veiled threat to India: "In a time when India is working hard to attract and retain foreign investment, it would be unfortunate if the discussion were dominated by those who did not want to treat foreign companies fairly."" http://poac.wordpress.com/2006/09/27/i-pledge-allegiance-to-the-corporat\ ions/ <http://poac.wordpress.com/2006/09/27/i-pledge-allegiance-to-the-corpora\ tions/> Dow Chemicals legacy: "A generation after the world's worst ever industrial disaster occurred at a US multinational-owned pesticide plant in Bhopal, central India, responsibility continues to be evaded on cleaning up thousands of tonnes of toxic chemicals that have contaminated the soil and water in the vicinity" http://www.dawn.com/2007/09/11/int13.htm <http://www.dawn.com/2007/09/11/int13.htm> Solutions: "Ground Water Issue" "Lead was removed from soil using three crops of Indian mustard in one growing season, with a decrease in soil concentrations of lead to acceptable levels" www.epa.gov/tio/download/remed/epa_540_s01_500.pdf <http://www.epa.gov/tio/download/remed/epa_540_s01_500.pdf> OffWorld
