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  • Have You Eaten Your Nanos Today?

    By STEPHANIE STROM

    Nanomaterials, substances broken down by technology into molecule-size particles, are starting to enter the food chain through well-known food products and their packaging, but there is little acknowledgment by the companies using them, according to a new report from a nonprofit group that works to enhance corporate accountability.

    Some companies may not even know whether nanomaterials are present in their products, the corporate accountability group As You Sow said.

    Only 26 out of 2,500 companies, including PepsiCo, Whole Foods and the corporate parent of Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, responded to a survey from As You Sow about their use of nanomaterials.

    “Only 14 said they don’t use nanomaterials, and of those only two had any policies on the use of nanomaterials,” said Andy Behar, chief executive of As You Sow. Various food companies have said they are interested in nanotechnology, which can help make products creamier without additional fat, intensify and improve flavors and brighten colors.

    Their small size allows nanoparticles to go places in the body where larger particles cannot and enter cells. They have been found in the blood stream after ingestion and inhalation, and while research on their health effects is limited, studies have shown them to have deleterious effects on mice and cells.

    “We’re not taking a no nano position,” Mr. Behar said. “We’re saying just show it’s safe before you put these things into food or food packaging.”

    He noted that the European Union requires labeling of foods containing nanomaterials and that the European Food Safety Authority has published guidance for assessing nanomaterials in food and animal feed.

    Last April, the Food and Drug Administration issued an unusually emphatic statement on nanomaterials, saying it did not have enough data to determine the safety of nanomaterials in food.

    The Environmental Protection Agency is evaluating various nanoparticles used in consumer products, like sunscreens.
    As You Sow tested 10 varieties of powdered doughnuts for the presence of nanoparticles. With the help of an independent lab, it found that Hostess Donettes and Dunkin’ Donuts Powdered Cake Donuts tested positive for the presence of titanium dioxide materials of less than 10 nanometers. Titanium dioxide is used to brighten white substances. The nano variety is under investigation by the E.P.A.

    Michelle King, a spokeswoman for Dunkin’ Donuts, said the company was working with its supplier to validate As You Sow’s findings. Hostess Brands went out of business during the test and closed its factories.


    With Prevalence of Nanomaterials Rising, Panel Urges Review of Risks

    By CORNELIA DEAN

    Tiny substances called nanomaterials have moved into the marketplace over the last decade, in products as varied as cosmetics, clothing and paint. But not enough is known about their potential health and environmental risks, which should be studied further, an expert panel of the National Academy of Sciences said on Wednesday.

    Nanoscale forms of substances like silver, carbon, zinc and aluminum have many useful properties. Nano zinc oxide sunscreen goes on smoothly, for example, and nano carbon is lighter and stronger than its everyday or “bulk” form. But researchers say these products and others can also be ingested, inhaled or possibly absorbed through the skin. And they can seep into the environment during manufacturing or disposal.

    Nanomaterials are engineered on the scale of a billionth of a meter, perhaps one ten-thousandth the width of a human hair, or less. Not enough is known about the effects, if any, that nanomaterials have on human health and the environment, according to a report issued by the academy’s expert panel. The report says that “critical gaps” in understanding have been identified but “have not been addressed with needed research.”

    And because the nanotechnology market is expanding — it represented $225 billion in product sales in 2009 and is expected to grow rapidly in the next decade — “today’s exposure scenarios may not resemble those of the future,” the report says.
    The panel called for a four-part research effort focusing on identifying sources of nanomaterial releases, processes that affect exposure and hazards, nanomaterial interactions at subcellular to ecosystem-wide levels and ways to accelerate research progress.

    “A lot of things are being done right, but we need to think about how to regroup those efforts to get more power from the punch,” said Mark R. Wiesner, an engineering professor at Duke University and a member of the panel. As director of the Center for the Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology at Duke, he leads a group studying the movement and effects of nanomaterials in the environment.

    “We cannot knock these things off on a case-by-case basis,” Dr. Wiesner said in a telephone interview. “The number and variety of nanomaterials that is possible is just mind-boggling. There are not enough beakers to do all the experiments required.”

    The last time the academy weighed in on this was in a report in 2008 that included a sweeping critique of the National Nanotechnology Initiative, the federal body that coordinates nano-related activities across agencies. In its report on Wednesday, the academy acknowledged the initiative’s progress, but added that “there has not been sufficient linkage between research and research findings and the creation of strategies to prevent and manage risk.”

    The report noted that the initiative lacked budget and management authority to direct research and added that its dual goals of promoting nanotechnology and mitigating its risks “impede implementation and evaluation” of risk research.

    The panel was convened by the National Research Council, the academy’s research arm, at the request of the Environmental Protection Agency. It posted its report on Wednesday.

    Dr. Jonathan M. Samet, an epidemiologist at the University of Southern California and the chairman of the panel, said his group would revisit the issue in 18 months. By then, he said, “We will hope the planning is in place and the N.N.I. and others are moving forward” with research.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/sc...anel-says.html

  • #2
    Re: Have You Eaten Your Nanos Today?

    Great......now I have to worry about Nano Aspestos flavor enhancers in my jelly donut.

    And I thought prescription drug interaction was a problem.......I guess now processed food interaction might have some future risk.

    Thankfully I avoid the processed stuff like cancer.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Have You Eaten Your Nanos Today?

      Sorry for the inappropriate post. I called Banana Boat by the way, HaHAHA! And I asked them if any of the chemicals in their sunscreens contain nano-particles, since it's an aerosol. The representative put me on hold, and told me that the particular product I use, doesn't. She also informed me that nano-particles have been approved by the FDA for use in their products.
      Last edited by ken; February 08, 2013, 05:43 PM.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Have You Eaten Your Nanos Today?

        Originally posted by ken View Post
        I wonder if certain government agencies are using this to selectively poison people, or if they are already conducting experiments on Mexicans and Blacks, a la the Bracero Program, and the Tuskegee Experiments.
        Don't worry . . . they don't want to kill off their Debt Slaves.
        raja
        Boycott Big Banks • Vote Out Incumbents

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Have You Eaten Your Nanos Today?

          Yeah, you're right. Thanks. (170 people are too afraid to comment).

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Have You Eaten Your Nanos Today?

            Originally posted by ken View Post
            Yeah, you're right. Thanks. (170 people are too afraid to comment).
            can't speak for others but not sure what to say. on the one hand, you are distressed & i naturally feel bad for you. your long comment was incoherent... mixes info re alcoholic army intel grandfather's abuse... comments from co-workers re stick shift vs auto cars... etc. the incoherence is in itself is worrying... not like your other posts, albeit others also have a paranoid theme.

            crazy family shit can catch up with you later in life & express as neurotic symptoms.

            is it possible you are having a paranoid episode of some sort? maybe try picking a psychologist at random out of the phone book & go see him or her?

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Have You Eaten Your Nanos Today?

              Originally posted by metalman View Post
              can't speak for others but not sure what to say. on the one hand, you are distressed & i naturally feel bad for you. your long comment was incoherent... mixes info re alcoholic army intel grandfather's abuse... comments from co-workers re stick shift vs auto cars... etc. the incoherence is in itself is worrying... not like your other posts, albeit others also have a paranoid theme.

              crazy family shit can catch up with you later in life & express as neurotic symptoms.

              is it possible you are having a paranoid episode of some sort? maybe try picking a psychologist at random out of the phone book & go see him or her?
              "I naturally feel bad for you." That's an interesting statement, because it doesn't sound natural, and feels condescending and completely devoid of any feeling. What other posts are you referring to? I haven't posted for at least 5 years. Yeah, I made my comment in an emotional rambling style, but it doesn't mean that I am paranoid, because you don't approve of my writing. You can totally define me based on your interpretation of my writing sample. I never knew my grandfather. I meant to imply that US military and government involvement tends to have a deleterious effect on people, including both of my grandfathers, and my father, others whom I sometimes read about in the corporate owned media. Why should I see a psychologist? I was just describing the deception and abuse I experienced when I worked in a government agency. So what, if I was emotional, or wrote in a scattered, brainstorming style. I don't enjoy thinking about the disappointment I feel, realizing how stupid people are in positions of power, and how they are ruining life for others, and themselves. I don't think I am having a paranoid episode at all, based on my observations. Isn't the videotaped evidence and eye witness accounts in the alternative media of the other episodes I mentioned persuasive enough? I really doubt you are a psychologist, and yet you freely diagnose my "symptoms" as "neurotic," because I am not expressing myself, the way you would express yourself.

              I have no idea if it is the intention of your response to belittle and discredit my statements, however that appears to be your only purpose in responding. I came here to delete my post, because it's not well-written, and because it sounds crazy, even though I know it's not. However, I really dislike it when people try to stigmatize and shame others. So, fuck it. I am leaving it here. Why not? What could be worse than being poisoned by nanotechnology and fracking? Sorry if I offend anyone, but I find nuclear accidents, and cover-ups, and the unaccountable agencies, and the people running them, FAR MORE offensive than I could ever be...Thanks for criticizing my post(s) and attempting to re-direct, re-frame, the explanation for the bizarre happening around me, as my fault. Maybe you should see a counselor for being so hostile towards me, and not towards the other issues I mentioned. I hate to be rude, but it's very difficult to broach these issues in the current fascist police state. Perhaps the scariest, most depressing thing about it, is the stupidity of it all.

              Check out the beginning, when the father asks if he should read from the cue card "start?"...

              http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMINqFGNr-w
              http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMINqFGNr-w
              Last edited by ken; February 08, 2013, 04:25 AM.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Have You Eaten Your Nanos Today?

                Originally posted by metalman View Post
                can't speak for others but not sure what to say. on the one hand, you are distressed & i naturally feel bad for you. your long comment was incoherent... mixes info re alcoholic army intel grandfather's abuse... comments from co-workers re stick shift vs auto cars... etc. the incoherence is in itself is worrying... not like your other posts, albeit others also have a paranoid theme.

                crazy family shit can catch up with you later in life & express as neurotic symptoms.

                is it possible you are having a paranoid episode of some sort? maybe try picking a psychologist at random out of the phone book & go see him or her?
                Metal the appropriate doc would be a psychiatrist not psychologist to diagnose mental problems I believe.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Have You Eaten Your Nanos Today?

                  Ken, metalman was expressing real concern, in my opinion. If you want to see him be a condescending $#&#$, you can certainly find that in some of his several thousands posts. It was not in this one.

                  I did not see your original post. But there have been a couple of people here who have shown signs of instability, and some of us try to reach out. Really, it is mostly a nice community. The shit is so bad it is probably insane not to "lose it" at times. I know I have been there.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Have You Eaten Your Nanos Today?

                    Like aaron said, I think metalman was genuinely concerned. I was concerned as well. Also, like he said, I have been there as well with things being as bad as they are. It is hard not to go off the edge at times when dealing with this world's insanity.

                    Comment

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