A grim reminder that almost anything, not just synthetic chemicals, can be toxic in extraordinarily large amounts:
A Florida baby sitter was charged with murdering a 3-year-old girl by forcing her to drink so much water that she died of "acute water intoxication," police said on Monday...the child, Rosita Gonzalez, died of hyponatremia, which occurs when the body contains so much water that sodium levels are dangerously diluted, causing cells to malfunction.
Reuters, March 10
A reminder that biotech fears can cause capitalists to demand regulation on other capitalists, and on themselves:
Plant-based drug development technologies promise substantial therapeutic and economic benefits. However, if not subject to stringent controls, the same technologies also threaten the integrity and safety of the United States food supply...the proposed guidance glosses over the severe regulatory and liability consequences if non-food products contaminate the food supply.
February 6 statement to the FDA by the Grocery Manufacturers of America and nine other trade associations (meanwhile, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and other activists call for an outright ban)
And a reminder that the best health advice is pretty basic:
If people would quit smoking, eat more healthily, and exercise, cancer deaths could be cut by nearly a third, a report...from the Institute of Medicine said..."What's new here is the growing body of evidence confirming that interventions that get people to change their behaviors do work," Susan Curry of the University of Illinois at Chicago, who helped write the report, said in a statement.
Reuters, March 10
