Category: Toxics

The Legacy of PFAS in Agriculture

The chemicals known as per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) continue to come to light as contaminants in agriculture. Maine farms, conventional and organic, are increasingly testing water, soil and crops to determine if PFAS contamination exists. As we wrote in a previous blog post, these forever chemicals persist in the environment decades after they were

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PFAS in Maine- What We Know Now

The chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been widely used since the 1950s in products ranging from food packaging to fire fighting foam. PFAS have recently been recognized as contaminants in agriculture and are believed to largely be entering soil through the application of biosolids, industrial sludges and ashes, which may contain

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PFAS in Maine- What We Know Now

The chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been widely used since the 1950s in products ranging from food packaging to fire fighting foam. PFAS have recently been recognized as contaminants in agriculture and are believed to largely be entering soil through the application of biosolids, industrial sludges and ashes, which may contain

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Treated Wood

Wood from white oak (shown here), black locust, cedar and honey locust can be used as an organic alternative to pressure-treated wood. English photo. By Eric Sideman, Ph.D. I have worked for MOFGA for nearly 20 years as the “answer man,” and questions about treated lumber have come in every spring when gardeners and farmers

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Sandra Steingraber

Noted author and biologist Sandra Steingraber talked about economic and ecological collapse – and about rescuing a farm – at a teach-in at the Common Ground Country Fair. English photo. By Sharon Tisher What if we paid as much attention to our global ecological crisis as we do to our global financial crisis? With this

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Healthier Homes

Teach-In at the 2005 Common Ground Country Fair By Jean English Copyright ©2006 by the author “Home is where the harm is,” said Mike Belliveau at a Public Policy Teach-In about healthy homes at the 2005 Common Ground Country Fair. The executive director of the Environmental Health Strategy Center and organizer of the Alliance for

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Politics

At the 2004 Toxics Action Conference, held at Bowdoin College, participants discussed persistent problems with institutions that are unwilling to tackle the problem of toxics in Maine and celebrated recent victories in fighting local pollution. State representative Joanne Twomey gave one keynote address. A representative since 1998 and a city council member in Biddeford six

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Fighting Toxics

Forging New Commitments to Fighting Toxics by Sharon Tisher More than 275 participants gathered at the University of New England in Biddeford on October 24 for the largest interdisciplinary gathering focused on environmental health ever held in Maine. Organized by UNE College of Osteopathic Medicine, Physicians for Social Responsibility/ Maine, and the newly organized Environmental

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Tackling Toxics

Toki Oshima illustration. Tackling Toxics: Go Beyond the Personal By Alice Torbert When my parents were young hippies, their rallying cry was: “The Personal is the Political!” This concept has become innate to progressive thinking: Almost any environmental pamphlet ends with a bulleted list titled “What You Can Do at Home.” However, the individualist approach

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