Arsenic on the rise. Scientific publications on arsenic are on the rise. A survey on publications indexed in PubMed in the period 1990-2009 shows that the number of annual publications on arsenic have increased at a higher rate relatively to publications on mercury, cadmium and lead, which are considered the most important metal pollutants (Figure).Sunday, February 14, 2010
MIMER Notes, February 14, 2010
Arsenic on the rise. Scientific publications on arsenic are on the rise. A survey on publications indexed in PubMed in the period 1990-2009 shows that the number of annual publications on arsenic have increased at a higher rate relatively to publications on mercury, cadmium and lead, which are considered the most important metal pollutants (Figure).
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Evidence that low level arsenic causes Alzheimer disease and other dementias
MIMER notes, February 6th, 2010
Arsenic for the fool
Anthropogenic arsenic is insidiously building up together with natural arsenic to a level unprecedented in the history of mankind. Arsenopyrite (FeAsS) is the principal ore of arsenic and gold in hard rock mines; it is formed by a coupled substitution of sulphur by arsenic in the structure of pyrite (FeS(2)) - nicknamed "fool's gold". Other important sources of anthropogenic arsenic are fossil fuels such as coal and oil.
In a paper accepted for publication in the journal Science of the Total Environment, researcher Sergio Dani of Brazil's Medawar Institute for Medical and Environmental Research found that arsenic in topsoil is exponentially related to dementias in European countries.
Dani found an association of total arsenic concentrations in topsoils – as determined by ICP-MS (inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry) data made available from the FOREGS Project led by Salminen and colleagues in 2005 – with the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias in Europe as reported by the Delphi consensus study led by Ferri and colleagues in 2005, and mortality data as reported by WHO for the year 2009.
This is the first indication that the environmental concentration of total arsenic in topsoils - in the 7-18 ppm range - is exponentially related to the prevalence and mortality of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. This evidence defies the imputed absence of verified cases of human morbidity or mortality resulting from exposure to low-level arsenic in topsoils.
Reference:
Dani SU. Arsenic for the fool: An exponential connection. Science of the Total Environment (2010), doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2010.01.027
Arsenic for the fool
Anthropogenic arsenic is insidiously building up together with natural arsenic to a level unprecedented in the history of mankind. Arsenopyrite (FeAsS) is the principal ore of arsenic and gold in hard rock mines; it is formed by a coupled substitution of sulphur by arsenic in the structure of pyrite (FeS(2)) - nicknamed "fool's gold". Other important sources of anthropogenic arsenic are fossil fuels such as coal and oil.
In a paper accepted for publication in the journal Science of the Total Environment, researcher Sergio Dani of Brazil's Medawar Institute for Medical and Environmental Research found that arsenic in topsoil is exponentially related to dementias in European countries.
Dani found an association of total arsenic concentrations in topsoils – as determined by ICP-MS (inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry) data made available from the FOREGS Project led by Salminen and colleagues in 2005 – with the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias in Europe as reported by the Delphi consensus study led by Ferri and colleagues in 2005, and mortality data as reported by WHO for the year 2009.
This is the first indication that the environmental concentration of total arsenic in topsoils - in the 7-18 ppm range - is exponentially related to the prevalence and mortality of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. This evidence defies the imputed absence of verified cases of human morbidity or mortality resulting from exposure to low-level arsenic in topsoils.
Reference:
Dani SU. Arsenic for the fool: An exponential connection. Science of the Total Environment (2010), doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2010.01.027
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Hopi and Navajo Residents Stop Peabody's Coal Mine Expansion on Black Mesa
From: Center for Biological Diversity
Published January 11, 2010 10:54 AM
Hopi and Navajo Residents Stop Peabody's Coal Mine Expansion on Black Mesa
BLACK MESA, Arizona, USA- Peabody Western Coal Company's Black Mesa Coal Complex has suffered a major setback as an administrative law judge for the U.S. Department of the Interior vacated a permit for the massive coal-mining complex. The judge vacated the permit in response to one of several appeals filed by Navajo and Hopi residents as well as a diverse coalition of tribal and environmental groups. The permit, issued by Interior's Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement, allowed Peabody to operate and expand the Black Mesa and Kayenta mines under a single permit.
Published January 11, 2010 10:54 AM
Hopi and Navajo Residents Stop Peabody's Coal Mine Expansion on Black Mesa
BLACK MESA, Arizona, USA- Peabody Western Coal Company's Black Mesa Coal Complex has suffered a major setback as an administrative law judge for the U.S. Department of the Interior vacated a permit for the massive coal-mining complex. The judge vacated the permit in response to one of several appeals filed by Navajo and Hopi residents as well as a diverse coalition of tribal and environmental groups. The permit, issued by Interior's Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement, allowed Peabody to operate and expand the Black Mesa and Kayenta mines under a single permit.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
The Processes of Globalisation
The Processes of Globalisation
Boaventura de Sousa Santos
What is the current state of globalisation, how are we to understand the processes involved and where will a globalised world system lead us? These are some of the questions Boaventura de Sousa Santos aims to elucidate in a thorough and wide ranging essay. Arguing that our current globalisation is indeed something unparalleled in history, Santos discusses the unequal economic and political realities between North and South which globalisation enforces. Globalisation is to be understood as a non-linear process marked by contradictory yet parallel discourses and varying levels of intensity and speed. Even states however have to adopt as the supremacy of the nation state is eroded, giving way to new transnational alliances and the convergence of the judicial systems as the supreme regulator of a globalised economy. Will all these processes usher into a new model of social development, or will this lead to the crisis of the world system as others fear? Read the article at: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2002-08-22-santos-en.html
Boaventura de Sousa Santos
What is the current state of globalisation, how are we to understand the processes involved and where will a globalised world system lead us? These are some of the questions Boaventura de Sousa Santos aims to elucidate in a thorough and wide ranging essay. Arguing that our current globalisation is indeed something unparalleled in history, Santos discusses the unequal economic and political realities between North and South which globalisation enforces. Globalisation is to be understood as a non-linear process marked by contradictory yet parallel discourses and varying levels of intensity and speed. Even states however have to adopt as the supremacy of the nation state is eroded, giving way to new transnational alliances and the convergence of the judicial systems as the supreme regulator of a globalised economy. Will all these processes usher into a new model of social development, or will this lead to the crisis of the world system as others fear? Read the article at: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2002-08-22-santos-en.html
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Kinross to greenwash cyanide
Kinross to greenwash cyanide
By Sergio U. Dani, from Göttingen, Germany, December 24, 2009
Kinross Gold Corporation, a transnational Canadian company that pollutes the environment, robs drinking water and kills people in Paracatu-MG, Brazil, has announced its new greenswashing move this Tuesday [1]. Kinross announces “Cyanide Management Certification” in its gold mines in the Americas and Russia. Stephen Odoi-Larbi has written about this greenwashing modality in Africa in a recent article [2] attached hereto. It reproduces to perfection the pathetical and notious greenwashing move as has been observed in Paracatu and elsewhere: polluting companies’ self regulation; violation of human rights, despise of nations’ sovereignty; wrong voluntary code of conduct; greenwashing intended to better the interest of the mining companies operating in countries.
Sources:
[1] http://www.kinross.com/news-articles/2009/kupol-becomes-first-mine-in-russia-to-obtain-icmi-environmental-certification-.aspx, accessed December 24, 2009.
[2] http://allafrica.com/stories/200910210070.html, accessed December 24, 2009.
Read attachment [2] here:
By Sergio U. Dani, from Göttingen, Germany, December 24, 2009
Kinross Gold Corporation, a transnational Canadian company that pollutes the environment, robs drinking water and kills people in Paracatu-MG, Brazil, has announced its new greenswashing move this Tuesday [1]. Kinross announces “Cyanide Management Certification” in its gold mines in the Americas and Russia. Stephen Odoi-Larbi has written about this greenwashing modality in Africa in a recent article [2] attached hereto. It reproduces to perfection the pathetical and notious greenwashing move as has been observed in Paracatu and elsewhere: polluting companies’ self regulation; violation of human rights, despise of nations’ sovereignty; wrong voluntary code of conduct; greenwashing intended to better the interest of the mining companies operating in countries.
Sources:
[1] http://www.kinross.com/news-articles/2009/kupol-becomes-first-mine-in-russia-to-obtain-icmi-environmental-certification-.aspx, accessed December 24, 2009.
[2] http://allafrica.com/stories/200910210070.html, accessed December 24, 2009.
Read attachment [2] here:
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