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FISHFIGHT
Half of all the fish caught in the North Sea are thrown back overboard dead. To stop this ridiculous waste you can sign up to HFW's campaign. Go to www.fishfight.net. Your name will be added to a letter to Commissioner Maria Damanaki, members of the Common Fisheries Policy Reform Group, and MEPs.
BAN ENDOSULFAN
Next month parties to the Stockholm Convention will meet in Geneva to debate whether the manufacture and use of endosulfan should be globally restricted.
Endosulfan is an extremely hazardous chemical pesticide used on a wide variety of crops.
It is like DDT -- a persistent organic pollutant (POP). It takes a very long time to break down naturally once it has been released into the environment and it can be transported over long distances. Traces of endosulfan have been found in the blood of polar bears in Svalbard, the blubber of minke whales and even in grasses on Mt. Everest.
Human exposure to it has been linked to severe physical deformities, infertility and neurological disorders such as cerebral palsy and epilepsy. Unborn children and infants are particularly vulnerable because it accumulates in placental tissue, umbilical cord blood and breast milk. It has been found in samples taken from women in countries including Denmark, Finland, Spain, South Africa and the USA.
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