EPA to citizens: Frack you

“…the story of the hundreds of sick people who live near the former Kelly Air Force Base illuminates an entirely new manner in which the Bush administration has diluted science and put public health at risk. This year, largely in obeisance to the Pentagon, the nation’s biggest polluter, the White House diminished a little-known but critical process at the Environmental Protection Agency for assessing toxic chemicals that impacts thousands of Americans.”

Read the story here.

• Because of the high water content of iceberg lettuce and spinach,
  their radiation chemistry is dominated by the radiation chemistry of
  water, in which reactive hydroxyl and hydrogen radicals are the primary
  radiolysis products. These radicals are most likely to recombine to
  form water, hydrogen gas, or hydrogen peroxide. [Yum! How does HO taste?]
• …they [effects of radiation] may, however, also react with other
  components of iceberg lettuce and spinach (e.g.,carbohydrates).
  [They may? will? FDA doesn't know?]
• The overall effects of ionizing radiation on carbohydrates are basically
  the same as those caused by cooking…[So will irradiated lettuce be sold
  as fresh even though technically it's been cooked?]
• While all of the studies are not of equal quality or rigor, the agency
  has concluded that the quantity and breadth of testing and the number
  and significance of endpoints assessed would have identified any real
  or meaningful risk…FDA concludes that irradiation of iceberg lettuce
  and spinach under the conditions proposed in this petition does not
  present a toxicological hazard.

So, while there have been no long term tests on humans, the FDA thinks that irradiating lettuce and spinach poses no risk to infants, adults and the elderly. This rule is effective August 22, 2008. Submit written or electronic objections and requests for a hearing by September 22, 2008 (see docket).

The Organic Consumers Association has many issues with food irradiation and if you’re interested in this topic, you should peruse their site.

The suit, brought by the Sierra Club, was opposed by the EPA, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and the American Petroleum Institute. Jonathan Adler at The Volokh Conspiracy says it better than we can:

…it is fair to say that the D.C. Circuit has repudiated the vast bulk of the Bush Administration’s clean air regulatory reforms, which were the Administration’s most notable and significant (if not always wise) environmental policy initiatives. The Administration devoted more time and effort to these reforms than any other environmental initiative, and they have precious little to show for it.