This is the CWR news for the week of October 29, 2008.
But first, the CWR news for...

--BPA is OK, according to a chemical-friendly FDA,
--phthalate-laden toys are flooding the market,
--and The Other Debt Crisis -- How we're Overspending Our Ecological Budget.

We recently covered California's decision not to ban the endocrine disrupting chemical Bisphenol A after the Food and Drug Administration released a draft report downplaying its risks. The report claimed BPA levels in food containers were too low to harm human health. Now it turns out that the FDA report was written mostly by--the plastics industry. According to an investigative report by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel the study largely used material put out by the American Chemistry Council. A group of 36 international scientists blasted the report, calling it seriously flawed. BPA, which lines food cans among other products, is widely suspected by scientists of harming neural and behavioral development and may contribute to cancer, diabetes, heart disease and autism.

And another chemical found in plastics is in the news. The Wall Street Journal reports that toys containing phthalates are flooding the market to beat a ban that goes into effect on February 10. A grace period allows toy makers to sell off existing stocks, rather than frequiring their disposal. And the Philadelphia Inquirer reports the chemical is a suspect in the huge rise of penile deformities in boys born in that city's Children's Hospital--about 300 male infants per year. That's double the number from 30 years ago.

The global financial meltdown was triggered by a mountain of un-payable sub-prime mortgages. An un-payabale ecological debt is also mounting. Currently we're using one and a half planets' worth of resources. And, according to the biennial Living Planet Report released today by WWF and the Global Footprint Network, we're racing toward needing two planets to meet our insatiable appetites. The 2006 edition of the report projected 2050 as the date we'll need a second planet if we continue business-as-usual. But the new report reels in the date to 2030 -- around the time children born today will be entering the workforce. On September 23 we reached this year's Earth Overshoot Day. That's the date we used up one planet's worth of ecological resources and ability to absorb waste like carbon dioxide. From then until the end of the year, we're living off the resources of a second planet. That's as sustainable as Triple A-rated mortgage-backed securities.

For the CWR news, I'm BB and I'm FR

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