Nexus - 0802 - New Times Magazine-pages

Page Content (OCR)

transport of the radioactive material to and from the facility. which may have been irradiated. In some countries, wheat, Since 1974, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has potatoes, onions and seafood may have been irradiated on a recorded 54 accidents at 132 irradiation facilities worldwide.” commercial scale, but processed foods manufactured from these The IAEA has dismissed many of the accidents as "operational ingredients are not labelled with regard to the irradiated incidents". Some of the major accidents in the United States ingredients.*° Support organic farming producers and buy include: traditionally prepared foods rather than mass-produced foods. * In 1991, a worker at a Maryland facility suffered critical Lobby governments to ensure that irradiated food components and injuries when exposed to ionising radiation from an electron-beam food packaging are also declared on food labels.’ Write to or e- accelerator. The victim developed sores and blisters on his feet, mail supermarkets, food corporations and food manufacturers to face and scalp, and lost fingers on both hands. tell them you will not buy irradiated food. Write letters to the In 1988, Radiation Sterilizers, Inc. (RSI) in Decatur, Georgia, editor of your local and national newspapers and phone talkback reported a leak of caesium-137 capsules into the water storage radio shows about food irradiation. Convene public meetings and pool, which endangered workers and contaminated the facility. discussion groups. Grow a food garden in your own backyard. If Workers then carried the radioactivity into their homes and cars. you grow it, you know it! Seventy thousand medical supply containers and milk cartons In its brochure, "Facts about Food Irradiation", the International were recalled because they had been contaminated by radiation.* Atomic Energy Agency says: "The view that consumers are Clean-up costs exceeded $30 million, and taxpayers had to foot opposed to buying irradiated food cannot be substantiated."* This the bill. outrageous statement must be challenged. We must become vocal ¢ In 1986, the NRC revoked the licence opponents of the pro-irradiation lobby and of a Radiation Technology, Inc. (RTI) its powerful propaganda. The public needs facility in New Jersey for 32 worker-safe- more information than just to be told that ty violations, including throwing radioac- None of the labelling irradiated food is "safe". The public needs to ti ast t with the garba and H k the scientific uncertainty that underlies bypassing a key safety device. Asa | Presently requires the dose J rsccments from so-called expert result of this negligence, one worker of radiation to be indicated, organisations. rein 1982, an accident at Inernational | MOF the number of times the Fier srocery. shopping. via the Nutronics in Dover, New Jersey, contam- product has been irradiated. Internet...every day we become further inated the plant and forced its closure. removed from our food and more dependent Radiation baths were being used to purify upon others to provide this basic require- gems, chemicals, and medical and food ment. Unless we reclaim responsibility for supplies. our own food and work towards food self-sufficiency as opposed «In 1974, an Isomedix facility in New Jersey flushed radioac- to food security, our future is in their hands. oo tive water down toilets and contaminated pipes leading to sewers. Also that year, a worker received a dose of radiation considered Endnotes lethal for 70 per cent of the population. Prompt hospital treatment — !- See www.dkp-ml.dk/netactivist/ food_E5.htm. saved his life Pop! P P 2. Cobalt-60 is the most widely used radiation source for food irradiation. However, US company GrayStar is developing a prototype irradiator which will expert Endnotes 1. See www.dkp-ml.dk/netactivist/ food_E5.htm. 2. Cobalt-60 is the most widely used radiation source for food irradiation. However, US company GrayStar is developing a prototype irradiator which will generate gamma rays using caesium-137, which GrayStar would chemically sep- arate from high-level nuclear waste. The prototype machine, 10 feet wide by 8 feet long and 28 feet high (3 x 2.4 x 8.5 metres), is designed to be installed alongside a meat packaging or food processing line. 3. Skerrett, P.J., "Food Irradiation: Will It Keep the Doctor Away?", Technology Review, www.techreview.com/articles/nd97/skerrett.html. 4, Webb, T. and Lang, T. (London Food Commission), Food Irradiation: The Facts, Thorsons Publishing Group, UK, 1987. 5. The UN lists the WTO and also the IMF and World Bank as members of the United Nations System of Organizations. 6. For an in-depth exposé of America's meat industry, read Gail Eisnitz's book, Slaughterhouse: The Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect, and Inhumane Treatment inside the US Meat Industry (Prometheus Books, 1997). Slaughterhouse documents the meat industry's heavy use of toxic chemicals, drugs, steroids, hormones and rendered animal protein (animal cannibalism). Problems of toxic sewage and industrial sludge, genetic engineering, raw manure (as low-cost feed for animals), and other questionable practices are also covered in the book. For details, see www.hfa.org/slaughterhouse.htm. 7. World Health Organization, "The Wholesomeness of Irradiated Food", Report of the Joint FAO/IAEA/WHO Expert Committee, Geneva, 1977 and 1981, WHO Technical Report Series, Nos 604 and 659. 8. For further details on the Codex, see www.purefood.org/irrad/codexfaq.cfm. 9. ICGFI members are: Australia, Argentina, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, People's Republic of China, Costa Rica, Céte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Peru, The Philippines, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States of America, Vietnam and Yugoslavia. Continued on page 81 A GLOWING FUTURE? Irradiation of food is only part of the glowing future that inter- national agencies, governments, corporations and the nuclear industry are investigating. There are many plans for the use of irradiation in other areas, such as soil sterilisation to eliminate weed seeds, insects and fungi. Fortunately at present, existing technology cannot be applied to in-field agriculture, but it is now possible to irradiate bagged pot- ting soils and similar products. The irradiation sanitisation of re- usable greenhouse materials (pots, growing substrates, etc.) is cur- rently done on contract for the greenhouse industry by irradiation companies in The Netherlands. Also, in several countries, various imported products are irradiated to control weed seeds that might inadvertently be present (such as in wild bird seed). Many products which we use in our daily lives have been irra- diated. Medical disposable supplies, cotton balls, contact lens solution, make-up, wine corks and wine cask bladders, bottles and plastic containers, feminine hygiene products, beehives (minus the bees) and packaging materials are just some of the products routinely irradiated for sanitation purposes. As there are no labelling requirements for non-food items, consumers are left in the dark as to which products have been radiation-treated and what dose has been used. There are several steps we can all take to avoid irradiated foods. Try to buy locally grown produce and avoid imported foods 24 - NEXUS FEBRUARY — MARCH 2001