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Monday, March 25, 2013

How US Companies Export Poisons To Africa

Read this story from Huffington Post:
""That is more or less the way we do things," said David Rosner, co-director of the Center for the History and Ethics of Public Health at Columbia University. "We end up exporting our poisons and try to make every last bit of profit we can."
The global spread of toxic lead paint follows an unfortunate pattern that covers everything from leaded gasoline to unsafe medications, according to Rosner and other public safety experts. Long after a product has been pulled from U.S. shelves, it still tends to appear in open markets elsewhere -- often in developing countries where few regulations protect public health.
Asbestos is another case in point. As the U.S. stopped most traditional uses of the microscopic mineral fibers due to their toxicity, companies continued to ship the substance elsewhere. In 2011, according to the United States Geological Survey, the U.S. exported about $27 million worth of asbestos products.
"It's every sort of toxic chemical you can think of," said Evan Mascagni, a producer of an upcoming documentary that highlights the global sale of pesticides banned in the U.S. and the health dangers those chemicals pose to unsuspecting farmers, agricultural workers and children."

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