Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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Chemical Used on Crops could Make You Fat
Monday, December 08, 2008 by: Sherry Baker, Health Sciences Editor
http://www.naturalnews.com/025022.html

also see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tributyltin

Many people who eat organic food and use natural products are trying to avoid 
pesticides that are linked to cancer and other diseases. Now Japanese 
researchers say there is another advantage to "going green" and avoiding 
toxins and chemical additives in the environment. A common pollutant has been 
found to have a potent effect on gene activity and could be contributing to 
the obesity epidemic.

According to an article published in the December issue of the journal 
Bioscience, the chemical tributyltin affects sensitive receptors in the cells 
of a host of animals, ranging from water fleas to people. What's more, 
tributyltin has an impact at extremely low levels -- a thousand times lower 
than pollutants that are known to interfere with the sexual development of 
wildlife species, for example. The chemical is known to be damaging to the 
liver as well as the nervous and immune systems in mammals . But what has 
just been recognized is that tributyltin also has powerful effects on the 
cellular components known as retinoid X receptors (RXRs) in a range of 
species. That's important because RXRs can move into the nuclei of cells and 
turn on genes that cause the growth of fat storage cells and regulate whole 
body metabolism. This raises a disturbing possibility: The pollutant could be 
harming humans by causing slowed metabolism and weight gain.

Scientists Taisen Iguchi and Yoshinao Katsu of the Graduate University for 
Advanced Studies in Japan, who wrote the BioScience article, point out that 
effects of tributyltin on RXR-like nuclear receptors could be widespread 
throughout the animal kingdom, including the human species. And they note 
that the enormous rise in obesity over the past four decades coincides with 
the increased use of industrial chemicals over the same period.

Several other ubiquitous pollutants with strong biological effects, including 
environmental estrogens such as bisphenol A and nonylphenol, also have been 
found to stimulate the growth of fat storage cells in mice. In a statement to 
the mediam Iguchi and Katsu said it is "plausible and provocative" to 
associate the obesity epidemic to chemical triggers found in our modern, 
polluted environment.

Unfortunately, it isn't easy to avoid tributyltin -- it is frequently used as 
a preservative in paints for boats, wood and textiles and it is also used as 
a pesticide on high-value food crops. And if you are expecting the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make sure you are protected from 
this potentially dangerous chemical , think again.

A new report just released by the National Research Council warns the EPA's 
process of generating risk assessments of the adverse effects posed by 
harmful chemicals found in the environment is bogged down. The EPA is rarely 
able to connect available scientific data with the information officials need 
for an accurate risk assessment. The reports states the EPA is struggling to 
keep up with demands for hazard and dose-response information and doesn't 
have enough resources to adequately cope.

The risk assessment for trichloroethylene is an example cited by the report. 
A chemical used to remove grease from metal parts and an ingredient in 
adhesives, paint removers, typewriter correction fluids, and spot removers, 
trichloroethylene has been associated with cancer, heart problems and liver 
and lung damage for decades. However, although a risk assessment for 
trichloroethylene has been under development since the 1980s, official EPA 
risk management decisions about the chemical is not expected until 2010.