Search
E-News Signup
Sign up to receive email news updates and info on how you can help protect Maryland's air, water, and land.
We will protect your privacy and will not trade your email address!
In Their Words …
" Keeper of political scorecards on environmental votes, this small but feisty group actually endorses candidates who might be good for green causes. Its small staff proves that you don't need a huge budget to make a difference. Still, more money couldn't hurt. "
Chesapeake Life Magazine
Other Environmental Priorities
- Pesticides - Use, Release, Purchase And Sales Reporting Bill
Pesticides have a negative effect on public health and the environment and certain pesticides can be easily weaponized resulting in mass casualties. Pesticides have been widely detected in the watershed and are a contributing stressor on the Chesapeake Bay. For example, atrazine widely found in the Bay, has been shown to adversely affect reproduction of fish at concentrations below U.S. EPA's water-quality guidelines. Pesticides are also linked to chronic illnesses such as cancer, reproductive, respiratory, developmental and neurological diseases. Additionally under current Maryland law, a person can obtain a dealer permit to sell or distribute restricted use pesticides (RUPs) that can easily be weaponized for a $25 MDA fee with no background check. Government agencies, scientists and public health professionals need to be able to assess the impact of pesticides on our waterways, public health, and to work on strategies to minimize national security threats associated with these products. In order to meet these critical needs , the state needs a centralized database to track pesticide use and the purchase and sales of RUP sales, The state's previous MDA voluntary triennial surveys of pesticide use- which received approximately a 50% return (and proposed reinstatement of a voluntary survey to be published in hard copy once every 5 years) is a seriously inadequate system for collecting and providing timely data that does not serve the needs outlined above.
- Ban of Arsenic in Poultry Feed
Arsenic [ As(V) ] is a poison. It is one of the most toxic elements in nature. Orgno-arsenic is eventually transformed into Arsenate As(V) as the feed is digested by chickens. FDA has failed to properly evaluate Roxarsone use in poultry. A recent FDA study found arsenic in chicken meat, but they have failed to ban its use. The use of arsenic in poultry feed should not be left to the industry to decide. It's time to ban it from chicken feed. In 2011 this issue was sent for summer study to the Wye Research Center. While they have not released their findings yet, in a conference call last week, Wye scientists stated that their findings will confirm that the use of arsenic as a poultry feed additive is not sustainable.
RSS Available