The Monsanto Papers


Book Description

Lee Johnson was a man with simple dreams. All he wanted was a steady job and a nice home for his wife and children, something better than the hard life he knew growing up. He never imagined that he would become the face of a David-and-Goliath showdown against one of the world’s most powerful corporate giants. But a workplace accident left Lee doused in a toxic chemical and facing a deadly cancer that turned his life upside down. In 2018, the world watched as Lee was thrust to the forefront of one the most dramatic legal battles in recent history. The Monsanto Papers is the inside story of Lee Johnson’s landmark lawsuit against Monsanto. For Lee, the case was a race against the clock, with doctors predicting he wouldn’t survive long enough to take the witness stand. For the eclectic band of young, ambitious lawyers representing him, it was a matter of professional pride and personal risk, with millions of dollars and hard-earned reputations on the line. For the public at large, the lawsuit presented a question of corporate accountability. With enough money and influence, could a company endanger its customers, hide evidence, manipulate regulators, and get away with it all—for decades? Readers will be astounded by the depth of corruption uncovered, captivated by the shocking twists, and moved by Lee’s quiet determination to see justice served. With gripping narrative force that reads like fiction, The Monsanto Papers takes readers behind the scenes of a grueling legal battle, pulling back the curtain on the frailties of the American court system and the lengths to which lawyers will go to fight corporate wrongdoing.




Some Organophosphate Insecticides and Herbicides


Book Description

This volume of the IARC Monographs provides evaluations of the carcinogenicity of some organophosphate insecticides and herbicides, including diazinon, glyphosate, malathion, parathion, and tetrachlorvinphos. Diazinon acts on a wide range of insects on crops, gardens, livestock, and pets, but most uses have been restricted in the USA, Canada, and the European Union since the 1980s. Glyphosate is the most heavily used agricultural and residential herbicide in the world, and has been detected in soil, air, surface water, and groundwater, as well as in food. Malathion is one of the oldest and most widely used organophosphate insecticides, and has a broad spectrum of applications in agriculture and public health, notably mosquito control. The insecticide parathion has been largely banned or restricted throughout the world due to toxicity to wildlife and humans. Tetrachlorvinphos is banned in the European Union, but continues to be used in the USA and elsewhere as an insecticide on animals, including in pet flea collars. The IARC Monographs Working Group reviewed epidemiological evidence, animal bioassays, and mechanistic and other relevant data to reach conclusions as to the carcinogenic hazard to humans of these agents.




The Fight Against Monsanto's Roundup


Book Description

“We are being poisoned, and this book is sounding a well-informed alarm. Read it. Get educated and then join the thousands rising up against those who care more for profit than the health of our bodies and our earth.”–Eve Ensler, New York Times bestselling author Chemical poisons have infiltrated all facets of our lives – housing, agriculture, work places, sidewalks, subways, schools, parks, even the air we breathe. More than half a century since Rachel Carson issued Silent Spring – her call-to-arms against the poisoning of our drinking water, food, animals, air, and the natural environment – The Fight Against Monsanto's Roundup takes a fresh look at the politics underlying the mass use of pesticides and the challenges people around the world are making against the purveyors of poison and the governments that enable them. The scientists and activists contributing to The Fight Against Monsanto's Roundup, edited by long-time Green activist Mitchel Cohen, explore not only the dangers of glyphosate – better known as “Roundup” – but the campaign resulting in glyphosate being declared as a probable cancer-causing agent. In an age where banned pesticides are simply replaced with newer and more deadly ones, and where corporations such as Monsanto, Bayer, Dow and DuPont scuttle attempts to regulate the products they manufacture, what is the effective, practical, and philosophical framework for banning glyphosate and other pesticides? The Fight Against Monsanto's Roundup: The Politics of Pesticides takes lessons from activists who have come before and offers a radical approach that is essential for defending life on this planet and creating for our kids, and for ourselves, a future worth living in.




Emergency Response Guidebook


Book Description

Does the identification number 60 indicate a toxic substance or a flammable solid, in the molten state at an elevated temperature? Does the identification number 1035 indicate ethane or butane? What is the difference between natural gas transmission pipelines and natural gas distribution pipelines? If you came upon an overturned truck on the highway that was leaking, would you be able to identify if it was hazardous and know what steps to take? Questions like these and more are answered in the Emergency Response Guidebook. Learn how to identify symbols for and vehicles carrying toxic, flammable, explosive, radioactive, or otherwise harmful substances and how to respond once an incident involving those substances has been identified. Always be prepared in situations that are unfamiliar and dangerous and know how to rectify them. Keeping this guide around at all times will ensure that, if you were to come upon a transportation situation involving hazardous substances or dangerous goods, you will be able to help keep others and yourself out of danger. With color-coded pages for quick and easy reference, this is the official manual used by first responders in the United States and Canada for transportation incidents involving dangerous goods or hazardous materials.




Weed Management Handbook


Book Description

Weed Management Handbook updates the 8th edition of Weed Control Handbook (1990). The change in the title and contents of the book from previous editions reflects both the current emphasis on producing crops in a sustainable and environmentally-friendly manner, and the new weed management challenges presenting themselves. This landmark publication contains cutting edge chapters, each written by acknowledged experts in their fields and carefully drawn together and edited by Professor Robert Naylor, known and respected world-wide for his knowledge of the area. The sequence of chapters included reflects a progression from the biology of weeds, through the underpinning science and technology relating to weed management techniques including herbicides and their application to crops, leading to principles of weed management techniques. Finally a set of relevant case studies describes the main management options available and addresses the challenges of reduced chemical options in many crops. Weed Management Handbook is a vital tool for all those involved in the crop protection / agrochemical industry, including business managers, horticultural and agricultural scientists, plant physiologists, botanists and those studying and teaching BASIS courses. As an important reference guide for undergraduate and postgraduate students studying horticultural and agricultural sciences, plant physiology, botany and crop protection, copies of the book should be available on the shelves of all research establishments and universities where these subjects are studied and taught. Weed Management Handbook is published for the British Crop Protection Council (BCPC) by Blackwell Publishing.




Getting Risk Right


Book Description

Do cell phones cause brain cancer? Does BPA threaten our health? How safe are certain dietary supplements, especially those containing exotic herbs or small amounts of toxic substances? Is the HPV vaccine safe? We depend on science and medicine as never before, yet there is widespread misinformation and confusion, amplified by the media, regarding what influences our health. In Getting Risk Right, Geoffrey C. Kabat shows how science works—and sometimes doesn't—and what separates these two very different outcomes. Kabat seeks to help us distinguish between claims that are supported by solid science and those that are the result of poorly designed or misinterpreted studies. By exploring different examples, he explains why certain risks are worth worrying about, while others are not. He emphasizes the variable quality of research in contested areas of health risks, as well as the professional, political, and methodological factors that can distort the research process. Drawing on recent systematic critiques of biomedical research and on insights from behavioral psychology, Getting Risk Right examines factors both internal and external to the science that can influence what results get attention and how questionable results can be used to support a particular narrative concerning an alleged public health threat. In this book, Kabat provides a much-needed antidote to what has been called "an epidemic of false claims."







Special Report


Book Description




The Last Roundup


Book Description

Having saved the Federation one more time in Star Trek®: The Undiscovered Country™, Capt. James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise™ have finally gone their separate ways. Spock, McCoy, Sulu, and the others are spread out across the glaxy, pursuing their individual destinies -- until an interstellar crisis touches all their lives. Bored with retirement and ill-suited to teaching at Starfleet Academy, Kirk jumps at the chance to help his nephews colonize an uninhabited planet in a distant corner of the Alpha Quadrant. He even manages to persuade Scotty and Chekov to come along for the ride. But Kirk soon discovers that the hardy human colonists are not alone on the planet they call Sanctuary. An alien race, of whom little is known, has also established an outpost on Sanctuary for its own mysterious reasons. Suspicious, Kirk investigates, only to discover a terrifying threat that strikes at the secuity of the entire Federation. Light-years from Starfleet Command, without a ship or a crew to call his own, Kirk thinks he faces the menace alone. Yet the bonds of loyalty transcend even the awesome distances of space, bringing together a legendary crew for one final, fantastic adventure! Bridging the gap between two generations of Star Trek motion pictures, The Last Roundup fills in a missing chapter in Star Trek history -- and provides science fiction's greatest heroes with an unforgettable final hurrah.




Trace Determination of Pesticides and their Degradation Products in Water (BOOK REPRINT)


Book Description

Trace Determination of Pesticides and their Degradation Products in Water is a critical compilation of analytical methods for the monitoring of pesticides and their degradation products in water. It contains up-to-date material and is the result of the authors' experience in the pesticide analysis field. The book is structured in six chapters, starting from general aspects of pesticides like usage, physicochemical parameters and occurrence in the environment. A second chapter is devoted to sampling from water matrices, stability methods of pesticides in water and quality assurance issues. The general chromatographic methods for pesticides are reported, including the newly developed electrophoresis methods and GC-MS and LC-MS confirmatory analytical methods. Sample preparation methodologies, including off-line and on-line techniques are described in the next two chapters, with a comprehensive list of examples of pesticides and many metabolites, including the use of different GC-methods and LC-methods. The final chapter is devoted to the development of biological techniques, immunoassays and biosensors, for the trace determination of pesticides in water samples.