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Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Ava Devenport" <essenheal AT iname.com>
  • To: market-farming
  • Subject: FDA, NPR, Food irradiation
  • Date: Mon, 22 May 2000 16:1:46


Gee, step away from your computer for a few days...now that I've picked up
my messages, I'd like to respond to some issues.

#1. Any one who looks to the FDA regarding any type of safety issue (food
or otherwise) is foolish. The FDA does not do any testing, they 'receive
information' and decide whether or not you can market it. If there was any
safety testing within the FDA, we wouldn't have many of the drugs, etc.
that are so commonly used today. So many of our advanced pharmacueticals
have side-effects that can create symptoms, etc, that are much worse than
the so-called disease which they supposedly remedy.

Just take a look at some of the drugs that were passed back in the 50's for
morning sickness, one drug created children born with such horrific birth
defects that they only had flaps for arms, legs or both. Another set up a
wonderful genetic defiency that created female children which are born with
the probability of uterine cancer at such an early age, those women will
never conceive a child, if they would even live long enough to raise that
child.

Today we have drugs for 'male pattern baldness' which a female in her
child-bearing years (heaven forbid if she's pregnant!) can't even touch for
fear of birth defect. Listen to the ads on t.v. for some of the allergy
prescription drugs, I know I'd rather have a month or so of itching eyes
and stuffy nose than lose my liver to toxic poisoning. The only thing the
FDA is good for, is labelling. I'll take my chances on listening to my
body when it sends me symptoms (symptoms are your body telling you
something is not right), promoting my diet to help enhance my own immune
system, and I'll never fight a fever with meds, better to get in a hot tub
of water, soak for 20 minutes while drinking cinnamon or ginger tea and
bring my body temp up, not down. Fever is your body 'killing' the
bacteria, virus, etc. I'm going to give it all the help it needs. Got
allergies, take Bee Pollen, unhealthy liver, milk thistle. And wouldn't
you know that a dish of good fresh green beans will level out my
blood-sugar level in a couple of heart-beats, and God Bless epsom salts for
pulling the toxins and swelling right of my body and sea salt for putting
the minerals in!

#2. Food Irradiation: one of my pet peeves. Let's have a little lesson
here. Irradiation of food has become an 'economical' boon to the United
States as it is the only financially sound use of "radioactive waste"
instead of finding a way to get rid of (which is impossible as energy only
changes form, doesn't dissappear). Irradiation only kills bacteria,
nothing else. Irradiation creates "free radicals" within the food, which
we then consume. Free radicals do not dissipate! Free radicals cause
cancer! We are eating cancer-causing food when we eat irradiated food.

a. Radiation Biology: the branch of biology which is concerned with the
effects of radiation on living systems. X-rays are bundles of energy.
When x-rays interact with living matter (produce, animals, humans), these
energy bundles strike electrons that orbit the nuclei of atoms. The atom
is neutral in biologic tissue, and when it's electrons are struck by
x-radiation energy, they are ejected from their orbits. This process,
called 'ionization', initiates radiation damage.

b. Measurement of X-Radiation: this is done by placing an air-filled
chamber in the path of an x-ray beam, the x-ray ionizes the air, the amount
of ionization (detected electrically) yields a measure of x-ray exposure
known as the roentgen (R). One R is defined as 4.16 billion ionizations
produced by x-rays in one cubic cc of dry air at 0 degrees celsius (32
degrees F) at one atmosphere of pressure (760 millimeters of mercury (mm
Hg). X-ray absorption imparts energy to living tissue. The unit of
absorbed dose is the rad (radiation absorbed dose). A unit of energy used
in radiological physics is called the erg. One rad is 100 ergs of energy
absorbed by one gram (1/454 of one pound) of tissue. Some accuracy is
sacrificed to state that one R (air dose) is roughly equal to one rad
(tissue absorbed dose). Since ionizing radiation may be particulate (alpha
and beta) as well as x-ray or gamma ray, the unit rem (radiation equivalent
man) was formulated. This is the unit which provides a means of measuring
the differential effects of exposure to various types of ionizing
radiation. The prefix "milli" indicates a sub-unit, there are 1,000
millirems in one rem.

c. Biological effects of X-Rays: This applies to all forms of x-ray
including gamma-rays emitted by radioactive materials (biological effects
are important as it refers to the "harmful nature" of unnecessary radiation
exposure and procedures). All Radiation Damage Is Cumulative! Any Amount
Of Radiation Is Capable Of Producing Injury To The Organism!
When an organism (plant, animal, human) receives repeated doses of
radiation over any period of time, total amount of damage accumulated is
greater than that of any individual dose (1+1 still=2). The theory that
there is no amount of radiation so small as to be harmless is referred to
as a non-threshold dose-response relationship. That is, there may be no
absolutely "safe" dose below which we can be certain that no radiation
injury will be produced. Further, cells which are non-differentiated (ie:
primitive or non-specialized) are more sensitive to irradiation than those
which are highly specialized. Within the same cell families, the immature
forms, which are generally primitive and rapidly dividing (such as immature
produce, fruit, animals, people), are more sensitive to irradiation than
the older, mature cells which have specialized in function and have ceased
to divide. There are long-term and short-term effects of irradiation which
many investigations have provided convincing evidence that ionizing
radiation may result in an increased risk of certain disease long after the
initial exposure.

d. Genetic Long-term effects: Radiation striking sperm or egg cells
(plants have these!) can alter the genetic nuclei of these cells. This is
called genetic mutation. It is specificall y here that the change may be a
non-threshold phenomenon, meaning that mutations can be produced with VERY
SMALL doses of radiation and the possibility of mutation increases as the
radiation dose is increased. A mutation is a permanent, transmissable
change in the characteristics of an organism and are usually harmful,
increasing susceptibility to chronic disease and/or biochemical
abnormality. These somewhat harmful and very common mutations are the
cause of greatest concern as they are not easily diagnosed and neither are
they self-limiting. Genetic damage is faithfully reproduced. A mutation
in the plant world, pollinated with another mutation, then irradiated once
more sets up a diabolical process that can become so harmful as being
lethal! We won't even touch on the ramifications of human mutations (but
to all concerned, please be aware that the maximum annual permissable dose
for occupational radiation exposure is much lower than many x-ray
procedures that patients are exposed to)!

e. ION: an atom or molecule that has lost or gained one or more electrons
and is therefore electrically charged; also a "free-ion" or
"free-radical".
IONIZATION: the process of producing "ions".
IONIZING RADIATION: radiation that is energetic enough to produce
"ions".
ION PAIR: a closely associated positive ion and negative ion (usually an
electron) having charges of the same magnitude and formed from a neutral
atom or molecule by radiation.

Conclusion: If ANYONE tells you that irrdaiating fruits, vegetables, etc.
is not harmful, come back and read this again! And if you believe there is
a form of radiation ending in a process that is not ionizing, come back and
let me sell you the Brooklyn Bridge.

And Dave, you don't even need to ask me where my facts came from because
I'll tell you up front...ANY State Board of Health, Division of Industrial
Hygiene and Radiological Health, Radiological Health Section; of which I am
a Board Certified member. Also, I don't understand your need to feel that
you have to harrass members of this list for facts, figures, etc. when you
obviously haven't the facts yourself. This list bridges all aspects of
human interaction and when an individual "gives" you information, you
should take that bit of knowledge by the hand, be thankful of it and either
use it or not. And if you do "know better", then offer up your suggestions
instead of criticisms (but drop the sarcasms you seem to 'need' to attach).
You're gaining an extreme amount of education and information from this
list, why don't you start reciprocating instead of trying to demean. I
personally have stopped reading your posts, unless they are of common
interest to me that someone else has posted, because your negativity
regarding "everything and everyone" takes away from the joy and
enlightenment I receive here.

Blessings,
Ava




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