Rachel Carson, a Voice for Organics - the First Hundred Years

Rachel Carson has been described as "an early supporter of organic farming". Publishing in 1962, she awoke a generation past, to the false promises of the “war on weeds”, the “war against the insects” and “better living through chemistry”. Carson wrote to a friend: “there would be no peace for me if I kept silent”. She asked the world to consider: “Can anyone believe it is possible to lay down such a barrage of poisons on the surface of the earth without making it unfit for all life?”. Carson has been described by TIME Magazine as one of “the 100 most influential people of the 20th century” and her book has been described as “the most influential book of the past 50 years”- yet on the occasion of the centenary of her birth, the author found that university students had "no idea" who she was, or what was "Silent Spring"

Certified Organic Forests & Timber: the Hippocratic Opportunity

Organic farming was proposed in 1940 by Lord Northbourne as a response to chemical agriculture. Since then, organic agriculture has developed into an international A$50 billion industry with annual growth reported up to 30%. Currently it is one of the fastest growing food sectors with demand exceeding supply in many markets, and price premiums averaging 80% in Australia. With economic, and now environmental, incentives for planting trees, there is the opportunity, and even imperative, for a new silviculture category that embraces the precepts of organic agriculture. There are environmental, economic and ethical issues with carbon offset programmes that seek to reduce, or erase, the carbon footprint of an activity, while collaterally increasing the pesticide footprint; this may be a Faustian bargain. Certified Organic Forestry standards have made a tentative start with a modest uptake. Organic forestry offers a clean green, rather than a dirty green, option for carbon offsets, and can appeal to those inclined to a precautionary principle rather than a postcautionary principle approach. As consumers who are already familiar with the premises and promises of organic food and agriculture are attracted to carbon offsetting, this customer group has the potential to drive demand for Certified Organic Forestry. Moving beyond the current chemical forestry and silviculture standards to an organic silviculture presents a matrix of new opportunities, implications, impediments and even stakeholders

Navigating public health chemicals policy in Australia: a policy maker’s and practitioner’s guide

Chemicals are ubiquitous in everyday life. Environmental health practitioners rely on a complex web of regulators and policy bodies to ensure the protection of public health, yet few understand the full extent of this web. A lack of understanding can hamper public health response and impede policy development. In this paper we map the public health chemicals policy landscape in Australia and conclude that an understanding of this system is essential for effective environmental health responses and policy development.   NSW Public Health Bulletin 23(12) 217-227 http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/NB1211

Transgenic varieties and productivity of smallholder cotton farmers in China

Genetically modified cotton varieties have greater production efficiency for smallholders in farming communities in China. We also find that the adoption of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton varieties leads to a significant decrease in the use of pesticides. Hence, we demonstrate that Bt cotton appears to be an agricultural technology that improves both production efficiency and the environment. In terms of policies, our findings suggest that the government should investigate whether or not they should make additional investments to spread Bt to other cotton regions and to other crops.Crop Production/Industries,

Exposure to pesticides, ill-health and averting behaviour: Costs and determining the relationships

Farmers\' exposure to pesticides is high in developing countries. As a result they suffer from ill-health, both short and long term. Deaths are not uncommon. The paper examines the cause of this high exposure by estimating farmers’ expenditure on precautions taken using the avertive behaviour approach. The data show that the expenditures on defensive behaviour are low. The paper then uses tobit regression analysis to determine factors that influence defensive behaviour. The results are useful, not only for Sri Lanka, but for many countries in South Asia, Africa and Latin America in reducing the current high levels of direct exposure to pesticides among farmers and farm workers using hand sprayers. Farmers\' exposure to pesticides is a major occupational health hazard in these countries.Exposure to pesticides, ill-health, defensive behaviour, influencing factors, developing countries

Hazard and risk assessment for indirect potable reuse schemes: An approach for use in developing Water Safety Plans

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Water Research. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2010 Elsevier B.V.This paper describes research undertaken to develop an approach for facilitating an initial hazard assessment and risk characterisation for a proposed indirect potable reuse scheme, as part of the water safety plan recommended by the World Health Organization. The process involved a description and evaluation of the catchment, which was the sewerage system supplying the sewage treatment works that would provide the effluent to supply the pilot scale indirect potable reuse water treatment plant. Hazards, sources and barriers throughout the proposed system were identified and evaluated. An initial assessment of the possible hazards, highlighted chemical hazards as predominating, and assessment of risks, using a heat map as output, categorised most hazards as medium or high risk. However, this outcome has been influenced by a precautionary approach which assigned a high likelihood to the occurrence of hazards where no data was available on their occurrence in the system. As more data becomes available, and the waster safety plan develops, it is anticipated that the risk heat map will become more specific. Additionally, high quality targets, to drinking water standards, have been set, although water from the potable reuse plant will be discharged to receiving waters where it will undergo natural attenuation prior to further treatment to potable standards before distribution. The assessment has demonstrated the usefulness of the approach where data is initially limited, in generating a heat map allowing for prioritisation of hazards to a practical level.Thames Water Utilities Ltd and Mexican Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologıa

A livelihoods study of farmers and fishers in Dang Tong Village Kampong Chhnang Province

This is the report of a livelihoods study team working together with villagers from Dang Tong Village in Kampong Chhnang Province, Cambodia. The study of the livelihoods of farmers and fishers is based on information provided by the villagers of Dang Tong, who shared their knowledge and raised real problems related to their livelihoods. [PDF contains 37 pages.

ACIAR Grain Storage Research Program: Research Report 1983-84

Crop Production/Industries,