Coalition Including SF Bay PSR and NRDC Makes Strides Towards Raising CA Standard for Perchlorate

The article below outlines the developments, and includes quotes from SF Bay PSR Steering Committee Member Dr. Sarah Janssen.

State to re-assess perchlorate levels using new data on risks to fetuses

Thursday, July 17, 2008

By DAVID DANELSKI

The Press-Enterprise

Prodded by environmental groups, California health officials said they will re-evaluate the health effects of a rocket fuel chemical, taking into account research that wasn’t completed four years ago when they decided how much is safe in drinking water.

The re-examination could lead to stricter rules for the chemical perchlorate, which has contaminated several Inland drinking water supplies.

Health officials said Thursday that the new information on perchlorate includes a study by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which found that women with low levels of iodide in their bodies — roughly a third of women in the United States — were vulnerable to the chemical’s tendency to alter thyroid function. Inadequate thyroid function in pregnant women can harm their fetuses.

The CDC research, a federal study on perchlorate in food and other research had not been completed in 2004 when the state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment set its public health goal of 6 parts per billion for perchlorate in drinking water. A public health goal is a level considered safe for everyone and it serves as a guideline for enforceable regulations. Last year, the state made 6 parts per billion the legal limit for tap water.

A new draft health goal could be ready in 2009, said George Alexeeff, the agency’s deputy director of science affairs. He is not predicting whether the health goal will change up or down.

“It could go either way,” Alexeeff said Thursday. “We will keep an open mind.”

Whatever the number, it will be based on many more studies, giving the agency a higher level of confidence in its decision, he said.

Perchlorate contamination is widespread in Inland groundwater supplies and has forced water agencies to shut down some wells.

Some Inland providers treat the water or blend it with cleaner sources before sending it to customers.

The chemical has leached into aquifers from Cold War-era munitions plants and other industries. It also is found in some fertilizers.

A coalition of five environmental and health advocacy groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council and Physicians for Social Responsibly, contend the state’s standard is too lax and petitioned the health hazard assessment agency in May to re-evaluate the chemical’s health implications.

The petition letter said the CDC study and other research about the presence of perchlorate in food and human breast milk raises concern.

“The drinking water standard is not protective enough for fetuses and infants,” said Dr. Sarah Janssen, a physician with the Natural Resources Defense Council and co-author of the petition.

The CDC study, published in 2006, found that perchlorate exposure in women with low iodide levels inhibited their production of thyroid hormones. The hormones control the body’s metabolism, and, in pregnant women, guide essential brain and nerve development in their fetuses, Janssen said Thursday in a telephone interview.

The state agency faces a March 2009 deadline to review perchlorate research to determine if the state health goal is adequate. State law requires such re-evaluations every five years.

“It is a little frustrating that our state has to be pushed to do what they are required to do by law,” Janssen said.

Joan Denton, director of the health hazard assessment office, said in a letter to Janssen that review should be completed by the middle of next year.

The 2004 health goal relied heavily on an industry-funded study that observed the thyroid function in 37 adults who were exposed to perchlorate for two weeks.

The CDC study measured perchlorate in the urine of 2,299 people and monitored their thyroid function to determine how the chemical affected them.

Globalization and War

In early March, SF Bay PSR President, Robert Gould, MD and other PSR members participated in the 18th World Congress of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) held in New Delhi. The Congress, organized by the Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD), drew approximately 600 participants, including hundreds of medical students from South Asia and around the world.

Excellent symposia and workshops examined the persistent flashpoints for nuclear and conventional conflict, as well as the enormous challenges facing the region and the globe, as regards enormous poverty and economic disparity placed against the backdrop of an unfolding energy and global warming crisis.

Dr. Gould was impressed by a speech by Susan George entitled:

Globalisation and War

International congress of IPPNW, New Delhi, 10 March 2008

Corporate-led, finance-driven globalisation has successfully transferred wealth from labour to capital. This has resulted in inequality and exclusion on a massive scale which, combined with the pressure on water and other environmental resources, is likely to fuel new conflicts.

Full Speech here.

New Study: Extreme Weather Events More Frequent Due to Climate Change

On June 19, 2008, the US Climate Change Science Program released a new report, Weather and Climate Extremes in a Changing Climate, on past and expected changes in weather and climate extremes in North America and U.S. territories. The report projects that more extreme weather events — droughts, heavy downpours, excessive heat, and intense hurricanes — are likely to become more frequent as global warming takes its course. This analysis is the first of its kind, as there has been no comprehensive analysis specifically on how global warming will affect weather and climate in North America. The report can be viewed for free on the US Climate Change Science Program’s website.

SF Bay PSR Signs On to Petition for a Nuclear Free Europe

Saintes Appeal for a Nuclear-Free Europe

The 3rd Rally for International Disarmament, Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (3rd RID-NBC) was successfully held in Saintes
(Charente-Maritime, France) from May 9 to 11, 2008. At the close of proceedings, the participants adopted several resolutions, including “The Saintes Appeal,” which calls - among other things - for the removal of nuclear weapons from Europe;global abolition of nuclear weapons; cessation of nuclear energy promotion by the IAEA; and transforming Europe into a totally nuclear-free zone.

See full petition here.

SF Bay PSR Steering Committee Member Dr. Gina Solomon Directs UCSF Fellowship and Residency Program in Occupational and Environmental Medicine–Seeking Physicians

UCSF Fellowship and Residency in Occupational and Environmental Medicine

The Fellowship and Residency training program in Occupational and Environmental Medicine (OEM) at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) is accepting applications from June through September from qualified physicians for our post-graduate specialty training program beginning in July of 2009. Previous graduates of our program are leaders in environmental and occupational medicine in academics, government agencies, NGOs, and corporations.

Two-year sponsored training programs begin each year in July, and include a Master’s in Public Health degree from UC Berkeley, and a year of research, public policy and clinical experience that is tailored to the individual’s career interests. After completing the training, physicians are qualified to take the Board Examination in Preventive Medicine-Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Part-time training opportunities are available.

We are seeking physicians with a strong interest in environmental health, toxic chemicals, community health, and workplace safety. Preference is given to those who have completed a residency and are board certified in a primary specialty (such as Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, Ob/Gyn, or Emergency Medicine). In special circumstances we will accept individuals who have completed only a one-year internship but who have demonstrated leadership potential, interest and commitment to OEM.

For more information, visit our website

Contact:

Gina Solomon, MD, MPH, Program Director (Gina.Solomon@ucsf.edu)

Sarah Jewell, MD, MPH, Program Co-Director (Sarah.Jewell@ucsf.edu)

Join SF Bay PSR June 10: National Call-In for Diplomacy With Iran

Bombing Iran would bring disastrous consequences.

·The entire Middle East likely would descend into further violence putting the well-being of innumerable civilians at risk.

·U.S. standing in the world would plummet and oil prices would soar.
·A U.S. attack would only strengthen hardliners in Iran.

Current U.S. policies are not working. Threats of military attacks and regime change, while refusing to talk with Iran until they stop enriching uranium is only heightening tensions.

Call your Congressional Representatives on Tuesday, June 10th:

1-800-788-9372

·Tell them to work for direct and comprehensive talks without preconditions between the U.S. and Iran.

·The U.S. and Iran share common interests in a stable Iraq, Middle East and Afghanistan.

·The U.S. pursued negotiations with North Korea and Libya - it’s time to talk with Iran.

Iran Senate Bill to Promote:

S. 2130, introduced by Pennsylvania Senator Robert Casey with bipartisan support, calls for the inclusive regional diplomacy recommended by the Iraq Study Group to stabilize Iraq and the region and facilitate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.

The bill calls for a comprehensive diplomatic offensive with bilateral, regional, and international dimensions that includes all of Iraq’s neighbors; and asks the president and secretary of state to be personally involved in the diplomacy and to appoint a high-level presidential envoy for the Middle East.

Urge your senators to cosponsor S. 2130. Ask them to support what amounts to a dramatic reversal of the Bush administration policy of exclusion that threatens more violence in Iraq and a wider war with Iran

House Bill to Promote:

H. Con. Res. 321, introduced by a bipartisan group of representatives including Wayne Gilchrest (MD), Elijah Cummings (MD), Philip English (PA) and Jack Murtha (PA), calls for the inclusive regional diplomacy recommended by the Iraq Study Group to stabilize Iraq and the region and facilitate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.

The bill urges the administration to engage directly with Iran and Syria and implement a comprehensive diplomatic strategy with bilateral, multilateral, and international dimensions to stabilize Iraq and reduce regional tensions; and urges sustained commitment of the United States to work with Iraq, the neighboring countries, and the UN to cooperate in funding efforts for reconstruction and relief to the Iraqi people.

Five former U.S. secretaries of state — Madeleine Albright, James Baker, Warren Christopher, Henry Kissinger, and Colin Powell — have urged the U.S. to open a diplomatic dialogue with Iran. H. Con. Res. 321 would make clear that Congress expects no less.

Dr. Alvin Leonard–Longtime SF PSR Supporter and Public Health Advocate–Remembered in SF Chronicle and Oakland Tribune

All of us at SF Bay PSR mourn the loss of Dr. Leonard, a great friend and supporter of our chapter, husband of Steering Committee member Pearl Leonard, and a major contributor to public health.

Dr. Leonard was remembered in a piece in the SF Chronicle–reprinted below, and a piece in the Oakland Tribune. We will have more information about opportunities to honor Dr. Leonard as it becomes available.

Alvin Leonard dies - public health advocate
Sabin Russell, Chronicle Medical Writer
Thursday, May 29, 2008

Dr. Alvin Leonard, a onetime director of public health for the city of Berkeley who mixed his passion for medicine with a commitment to peace, has died of pneumonia. He was 90.

A lifelong advocate for public health, he urged employees in the city health department to run up and down stairs decades before the advice became trendy. He launched a campaign to promote use of seat belts before they were made standard equipment in U.S. automobiles.

He helped to establish the Berkeley Free Clinic, monitored sanitary conditions at the request of Native Americans during their 1969 occupation of Alcatraz, and counted among his most satisfying achievements his arrest during a protest at the Nevada Nuclear Test Site in 1988.

“He was the kind of person who engendered trust. He was clearly there to help people,” said his daughter, Cathy Leonard.

Dr. Leonard was Berkeley’s public health director from 1957 to 1970, and after teaching for five years at the University of Arizona he returned to California for a variety of posts in state and county health departments.

Dr. Dileep Bal, the former chief of the Cancer Control Section for the California Department of Health Services, remembered Dr. Leonard as a “friend, mentor and my guru.” An early anti-smoking advocate, Dr. Leonard advised Bal during the creation of the state health department’s tobacco control section.

“Al was a very low-key, understated, modest man - of giant intellect,” said Bal. “He was one of the unrecognized geniuses of public health in this country.”

Among his achievements was the establishment of statewide programs to control high blood pressure among different ethnic group.

Dr. Leonard retired in 1984, but continued to consult on public health affairs for decades. He was a picture of health himself, rising at 6 a.m. to jog through the Berkeley hills five days a week. He continued that ritual past his 90th birthday in January, until he fell ill with pneumonia in February. He died at Alta Bates Medical Center April 20.

Born in New York City, he was raised in Los Angeles and graduated from UCLA in 1938. He graduated at the head of his class at the University of Southern California Medical School in 1942.

He joined the U.S. Army in 1943, and served in Europe as an anesthesiologist in the 5th Auxiliary Surgical Group. His family said that the experience led him to become a pacifist. He was active in the organization Physicians for Social Responsibility, a leading organization of doctors opposing the use and spread of nuclear weapons.

Dr. Leonard is survived by his wife, Pearl of Berkeley; and daughters Barbara of Levallois-Perret, France, and Cathy of Richmond.

A memorial service is being planned. Donations can be made in Dr. Leonard’s name to Physicians for Social Responsibility, San Francisco Bay Area Chapter, 2288 Fulton St., Suite 307, Berkeley, Ca., 94704.

SF Bay PSR Steering Committee Member Dr. Thomas Newman Publishes Anti-Nuclear Proliferation Article in Influential Medical Journal

Dr. Newman’s article, “Taking a Stand Against Nuclear Proliferation: The Pediatrician’s Role,” was published in the May 2008 issue of the prominent medical journal, Pediatrics. Dr. Newman writes from the perspective of a pediatrician and public health physician, and appeals to his colleagues to speak out about the threat to children posed by nuclear weapons, and the need to strengthen the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

Dr. Newman has also been working through the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and recently authored and spearheaded the passage of a resolution opposing new nuclear weapons, and saving the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. The resolution was passed on March 15 at the AAP Annual Leadership Forum, and reads:

Resolved, that the Academy call on the United States and other governments to abandon plans to develop and deploy new nuclear weapons because of the threat they pose to children’s health and be it further Resolved, that the Academy call on the countries of the world to affirm their commitment to a world free of nuclear weapons for the protection of the lives and health of current and future generations of children.

Please see the full text of Dr. Newman’s article here, and the abstract below:

Nuclear weapons pose a grave threat to the health of children. The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which for almost 40 years has limited the spread of nuclear weapons, is in danger of unraveling. At the 2000 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference, 180 countries, including the United States, agreed on 13 practical steps to implement Article VI of the treaty, which calls for nuclear disarmament.

However, the United States has acted in contravention of several of those disarmament steps, with announced plans to develop new nuclear weapons and to maintain a large nuclear arsenal for decades to come. Pediatricians, working individually and through organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, can educate the public and elected officials regarding the devastating and irremediable effects of nuclear weapons on children and the need for policies that comply with and strengthen the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, rather than undermining it.

For the children of the world, our goal must be a nuclear weapons convention (similar to the chemical and biological weapons conventions) that would prohibit these weapons globally.

SF PSR President, Dr. Robert Gould and US Senator Feinstein Connect Regarding Policy for US-Iran Relations

Over the past year, PSR has been very involved in the campaign to prevent a military strike against Iran. PSR has brought the issue before Congress, been part of delegations traveling to Iran to meet with government and civil leaders there, written and spoken widely, and co-sponsored educational events.

Dr. Gould, along with PSR board member Dr. Vic Sidel, authored and spearheaded the passage of a resolution through the American Public Health Association (APHA) calling on the U.S. to “clearly state it will not launch a preemptive military strike on Iran.”

Dr. Gould continues his efforts with a note to U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein outlining PSR’s position. Her response to Dr. Gould appears below:

Date: Friday, May 9, 2008

Dear Dr. Gould:

Thank you for writing regarding U.S policy towards Iran. I appreciate your thoughts on this topic, and welcome the opportunity to respond.

In my capacity as a Unites States Senator I have sought to contribute to efforts to bring peace and stability in the Middle East. Through this experience I have come to believe that only by bringing to bear the best efforts of diplomacy can real progress be made towards this goal. I believe the United States should pursue a robust, diplomatic initiative with Iran on all issues and without pre-conditions.

We should put together a package of carrots and sticks that will serve as the basis for discussion with Iran, and encourage it to become a peaceful and positive member of the international community. Please know that I have noted your thoughts, and will continue to keep them in mind as the Senate continues to debate U.S. policy towards Iran.

Again, thank you for writing. I hope that you will continue to write on matters of importance to you. Should you have any further comments or questions, please feel free to contact my Washington, D.C. office at (202) 224-3841. Best regards.
Sincerely yours,

Dianne Feinstein

United States Senator

As Guest Commentator in Contra Costa Times, SF PSR Steering Committee Member Dr. Jeff Ritterman Opposes Local Chevron Expansion

In a guest commentary in the Friday 5-2-08 Contra Costa Times, Jeff Ritterman continues his activism opposing a proposed expansion of Chevron in Richmond. Dr. Ritterman has been arguing for several months, in letters to editors, and direct appeals to civic leaders, that the proposed expansion to include the refining of dirtier grades of crude will increase greenhouse gas emissions and environmental contamination.

Dr. Ritterman is developing the idea that beyond the prudence of minimizing pollution locally, opposition to this proposed expansion must become part of a larger grassroots effort to shift away from reliance on fossil fuels and to begin to rethink our priorities for a sustainable future.

See text of the article below. Follow this link for original posting at contracostatimes.com

Your Turn: By Jeff Ritterman

From the community

Guest commentary

Article Launched: 05/02/2008 11:05:22 PM PDT

Richmond is facing an enormous decision concerning whether to approve Chevron’s proposed expansion.

There is no debate that greenhouse gases will increase significantly as a result of this project. There is debate about the best plan for mitigation and about what level of crude slate should be allowed.

Everything we believed about climate change has now been proven to be hopelessly out of date. The problem is that we have not come to terms with the new information about climate change, and the new information is terribly frightening. We need to become familiar with it.

Simply stated, the melting of the North Pole ice came “100 years ahead of schedule.” We are in an emergency now. The current level of CO2 is 383 ppm. James Hansen, the world’s leading expert on climate change, now says that we have gone too far and need to lower CO2 concentration to 350 ppm, if we are to prevent a disaster. By disaster, Hansen means a 5-meter rise in sea level.

Much of the world’s population would not survive and most ecosystems would not either. This would result in tremendous species loss and an end to the world as we know it. It is simply a future we cannot allow to happen.

To prevent this, we need to lower CO2 emissions to zero and even find ways to sequester CO2 out of the atmosphere. We face a planetary emergency like no other emergency we have ever faced.

We cannot allow Chevron to increase its greenhouse gas emissions, if we want to prevent disaster. No one in government anywhere is taking the necessary leadership. It is imperative that we in Richmond say no increase in greenhouse gases is permissible.

Mitigation is not an answer. We need to mitigate the serious overshoot of atmospheric CO2 that already exists. We simply cannot allow any more to be produced.

It is imperative we follow Hansen’s leadership. Hansen, director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Science and one of the world’s leading climate scientists, had the following to say: “We have to figure out how to live without fossil fuels someday. . . . Why not sooner?”

We need our leaders to stand up for the planet and for a sustainable future, and say no to more greenhouse gas emissions. Richmond can model the kind of leadership we need on an international level.

Jeff Ritterman, M.D. is a physician who lives and works in Richmond.