Showing posts with label birds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label birds. Show all posts
2/3/17
6/11/15
The more they dig, the more they find: DDT cleanup continues for mid-Michigan town. http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/2015/jun/michigan-superfund-ddt-epa-birds-health-pesticide
ST. LOUIS, Mich. — During recent summers birds were found littered around the town, poisoned with a long-banned pesticide.
This summer? The school athletic grounds, where kids practice football and softball, are being dug up after it was discovered they too are contaminated with DDT.
It is the latest chapter in a seemingly endless effort to rid this small, rural mid-Michigan town of toxic chemicals that have plagued it since the 1960s. And, despite wildlife deaths and some lawns contaminated to levels deemed harmful to humans, no one is conducting health testing on DDT exposure in the community.
Schoolyard contamination
St. Louis, an hour drive north of state capital Lansing, has long dealt with contamination left behind by the Velsicol Chemical Corp., formerly Michigan Chemical, which manufactured pesticides until 1963 and abandoned loads of DDT, which was banned 40 years ago.
The pesticide was made famous by Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring, which exposed the hazards of DDT, especially for birds, in 1962. Populations of bald eagles and other birds crashed when DDT thinned their eggs, killing their embryos. Exposure also has been linked to multiple health problems in humans, especially developing babies.
*Read full article
Federal, state officials are making progress cleaning up harmful chemicals in St. Louis, Michigan, but more work remains and there is still no health study.*June 11, 2015 By Brian Bienkowski Environmental Health News
ST. LOUIS, Mich. — During recent summers birds were found littered around the town, poisoned with a long-banned pesticide.
This summer? The school athletic grounds, where kids practice football and softball, are being dug up after it was discovered they too are contaminated with DDT.
It is the latest chapter in a seemingly endless effort to rid this small, rural mid-Michigan town of toxic chemicals that have plagued it since the 1960s. And, despite wildlife deaths and some lawns contaminated to levels deemed harmful to humans, no one is conducting health testing on DDT exposure in the community.
Schoolyard contamination
St. Louis, an hour drive north of state capital Lansing, has long dealt with contamination left behind by the Velsicol Chemical Corp., formerly Michigan Chemical, which manufactured pesticides until 1963 and abandoned loads of DDT, which was banned 40 years ago.
The pesticide was made famous by Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring, which exposed the hazards of DDT, especially for birds, in 1962. Populations of bald eagles and other birds crashed when DDT thinned their eggs, killing their embryos. Exposure also has been linked to multiple health problems in humans, especially developing babies.
*Read full article
10/16/12
The BirdNote Story BirdNote.org
BirdNote
is the product and vision of a passionate group of individuals
dedicated to birds and the environment. This collaboration blends art,
science, hard work, and dedication to bring each story to life.
History – How it all began
BirdNote began in 2004 as a project under the auspices of Seattle Audubon. To bring BirdNote to life, Chris Peterson, Executive Director of Seattle Audubon, gathered a team. Writers began to craft compelling stories about the intriguing ways of birds, ornithological advisors ensured scientific accuracy, and dedicated staff, volunteers, and contractors helped form the final professional product.Advisors from Western Washington NPR affiliate KPLU 88.5FM, along with Seattle-area benefactors, helped make the idea a reality and brought BirdNote to the airwaves in February 2005.
Expansion – Spreading our wings, and our reach
With its success in the Puget Sound region, BirdNote explored the possibility of expanding throughout the western flyway and beyond. In 2006, Seattle Audubon made the decision to fledge BirdNote as a separate organization, free to pursue a focused creative effort. That nonprofit is known as Tune In to Nature.org. On its seventh anniversary in February, 2012, BirdNote had expanded to nearly 200 public radio stations across the country.BirdNote.org – The website
BirdNote.org, companion to the radio series, offers resources to dig deeper into the world of birds, birding, and conservation. We encourage you to learn more, share what you know, and what you’ve seen. Get in touch!(Special thanks to the Lufkin Family Foundation and the Peter Jay Sharp Foundation, for the 2012 upgrade to the site!)
6/1/12
Silent Spring
Courtesy Sterling College via Flickr
Fifty
years ago, Rachel Carson's book, "Silent Spring", woke the world up to
the perils of chemicals that promised food crops free of disease and
insects, and time outdoors free of mosquitoes. The book is credited with
starting the modern environmental movement. It was the birdwatchers
that first alerted the scientists about robins literally falling from
the sky soon after DDT was sprayed, as well as longer-term declines in
birds higher on the food chain. Rachel Carson cautioned that words like
“insecticide,” "herbicide" and "fungicide" suggest that poisons can be
targeted precisely at one type of pest. She proposed the word "biocide"
instead, to make the point that poisons have a much broader reach and
cumulative impacts. Her book stirred up a storm of criticism and
personal attack—and became a best seller.
Rachel Carson combined the discipline of a biologist, sound in her science, with a writing style that inspired many. Her message prevailed. DDT was banned in this country; recovery of peregrine falcons and brown pelicans eventually followed. "Silent Spring" was written at the dawn of the chemical age and chemicals permeate our world far more today, for example, in pharmaceuticals, household cleaners and processed foods.
Anniversaries help us remember events and people who shaped history. This 50th anniversary year for "Silent Spring" has already seen tributes as well as sober assessments of where we are today. The book's title, "Silent Spring", referred to a future without birdsong. In the 50 years since the book was published, birdsong has diminished, so we need to keep paying attention.
Rachel Carson combined the discipline of a biologist, sound in her science, with a writing style that inspired many. Her message prevailed. DDT was banned in this country; recovery of peregrine falcons and brown pelicans eventually followed. "Silent Spring" was written at the dawn of the chemical age and chemicals permeate our world far more today, for example, in pharmaceuticals, household cleaners and processed foods.
Anniversaries help us remember events and people who shaped history. This 50th anniversary year for "Silent Spring" has already seen tributes as well as sober assessments of where we are today. The book's title, "Silent Spring", referred to a future without birdsong. In the 50 years since the book was published, birdsong has diminished, so we need to keep paying attention.
1/6/11
Rachel warned us....
Massive Fish and Bird Kills Throughout Eastern U.S. |
By Teresa Bertossi
With the massive bird kills, Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, “A Fable for Tomorrow”, comes to mind: On the mornings that had once throbbed with the dawn chorus of robbins, catbirds, doves, jays, wrens, and scores of other bird voices ...
- http://headwatersnews.net/
By Teresa Bertossi
With the massive bird kills, Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, “A Fable for Tomorrow”, comes to mind: On the mornings that had once throbbed with the dawn chorus of robbins, catbirds, doves, jays, wrens, and scores of other bird voices ...
- http://headwatersnews.net/
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