Ganga river pollution in Kolkata, India on October 2019. Indranil Aditya / NurPhoto / Getty Images
By T. V. Padma
Studies increasingly point to the presence of pharmaceutical and personal care products in urban stretches along the Ganges River, which originates pristine in the Himalayas but is heavily polluted with industrial effluents and domestic sewage when it empties into the Bay of Bengal.
<p>Researchers from Doon University, Dehra Dun, India, have reported the presence of 15 pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) in the Ganges near two Hindu pilgrimage cities. These pollutants include caffeine, anti-inflammatory drugs, common antibiotics, beta blockers, antibacterials, and insect repellents.</p>
<p>Over three seasons, Doon scientists studied the river waters of two cities in the rapidly industrializing Himalayan state of Uttarakhand: Haridwar, where the Ganges enters India's northern plains from the Himalayas, and Rishikesh, 21 kilometers away. Haridwar and Rishikesh, with a combined population of 400,000, attract an estimated <a href="https://thewire.in/culture/kanwariyas-hindu-festival" target="_blank">20 million tourists and pilgrims</a> annually.</p><p>In particular, the scientists analyzed the water at its point of entry into the two cities and at sites before its entry into a sewage treatment plant and after sewage treatment. The study could provide useful baseline data for forecasting and evaluating the efficiency of future antipollution measures of the river basin restoration program, the authors added.</p><p>"Compared to previous studies that analyzed samples along various locations along the Ganges, this is the first comprehensive, intensive study in a particular city along the river," said <a href="http://www.doonuniversity.org/en/component/content/article/460.html" target="_blank">Surendra Suthar</a>, an associate professor at Doon University and one of the study's authors.</p><p>PPCP concentrations near the cities varied, with the highest measured concentration being 1,104.84 nanograms per liter. Researchers found higher PPCP concentrations at the lower, more populated reaches of the river. The concentrations, especially of anti-inflammatory drugs and antibiotics, were also higher in winter, possibly because of decreased biodegradation associated with lower temperatures and inadequate sunlight, the report said. The study also showed that PPCPs in the region were associated with a higher risk of algal blooms and a moderate risk to the health of river fish.</p><p>"The high load of PPCPs during summer and winter could be attributed to the excessive tourist visits for recreational activities and spiritual congregations during these seasons," according to the report, to be published in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0045653520335281" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Chemosphere</em></a> in April.</p>
Paucity of Studies
<p>There are few studies on PPCPs in Indian rivers. "Such studies are expensive, as they require sophisticated instruments," Suthar explained.</p><p>"Sewage, treated or untreated, flowing into the rivers is the main polluter," said <a href="https://manipal.pure.elsevier.com/en/persons/balakrishna-keshava" target="_blank">Keshava Balakrishna</a>, a professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, Manipal Institute of Technology. Sewage and effluent have <a href="https://eos.org/articles/drugs-in-our-water-can-leave-even-more-toxic-by-products" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">long been associated with chemical pollution</a>, as people flush medicines, cosmetics, and hygiene products down the toilet or throw them in the trash. The waste ends up in water treatment plants and landfills and then makes its way into water supplies such as the Ganges.</p><p>"Aquaculture, agricultural farms, and pharma industries can be other important sources," Balakrishna added.</p><p>In 2020, Balakrishna's team <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10661-020-08480-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a> the presence of PPCPs in two tropical rivers in southwestern India, the Swarna and Netravati, which empty into the Arabian Sea.</p><p>A 2017 <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0147651316304675?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">review</a> by a team of scientists including Balakrishna in <em>Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety</em> found higher levels of pharmaceuticals in Indian water treatment plants compared with developed countries. The review also pointed out the paucity of studies in India on the fate of pharmaceutical products in water bodies and their impact on human health, "despite India being one of the world leaders in pharmaceutical production and consumption."</p><p>The 2017 review reported that studies from other countries indicated that PPCPs in rivers could accumulate in aquatic organisms and enter the food web. Antibiotic resistance among microbes is the main threat to human and ecological health, Balakrishna said. "Low doses of antibiotics in a river can be consumed by pathogens in the river, [which then] become superbugs, and multiply."</p><p>Suthar, too, cautions about both toxicity in the food web and the emergence of antibiotic resistance in pathogens contaminating river waters. "If we add up all the individual contaminant levels for 1 liter of water, the collective dose will be very toxic, especially if they bioaccumulate in organisms, including some rare species in the Ganges such as the <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/ganges-river-dolphin" target="_blank">Ganges dolphins</a>," he said. "And microbes in the waters will become resistant to the drugs."</p><p>A 2019 <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.chemrev.8b00299" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">global review</a> of PPCPs in rivers reported that "no global legal maximum environmental concentrations exist for pharmaceutically active compounds," despite poor understanding of the combined acute and chronic effects of PPCPs on flora, fauna, and human health.</p><p>The global review went on to say that primary and secondary wastewater treatment plants "generally are unable to remove these pollutants, leading to their migration into drinking water supplies," and recommended advanced tertiary water treatment processes, such as oxidation and adsorption. It also suggested advanced methods for accurate and continuous monitoring of pharmaceuticals in the environment and strict regulations for effluent release.</p><p>In India, most antipollution efforts are directed at surface water treatment and focus on parameters such as chemical oxygen demand, biological oxygen demand, nitrates, and bacteria, said Suthar. "We need a policy that looks at PPCPs too."</p>Chemical Footprints
<p>The source of the Ganges is the Gangotri Glacier, high in the Himalayas less than 200 kilometers from Haridwar. The recent findings on PPCPs in the Ganges add to research documenting chemical and microplastic pollution throughout the mountain range, including the world's highest peak, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/nov/20/microplastic-pollution-found-near-summit-of-mount-everest" target="_blank">Mount Everest</a>, said <a href="https://science.jpl.nasa.gov/people/Miner/" target="_blank">Kimberley Miner</a>, a scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California and a research assistant professor at the Climate Change Institute, University of Maine. "Our team found PFAS [polyfluoroalkyl substances], DDT [dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane], and toxic metals on the mountain, suggesting that the chemical footprint left by trekkers may be as large as the visible trash and pollution footprint."</p><p>The new Ganges research also echoes recent studies tracing PPCPs on <a href="https://eos.org/articles/fragrances-in-an-ice-core-tell-a-story-of-human-activity" target="_blank">European glaciers</a>, where researchers traced chemical pollutants to the use of perfumes in personal care products like soap. Perfumed soaps and ointments are also associated with PPCPs in Haridwar and Rishikesh, where mass bathing events are part of tourism and pilgrimage activities.</p><p><em>This story originally appeared in <a href="https://eos.org/articles/pharmaceuticals-pollute-the-ganges" target="_blank">Eos</a></em> <em>and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.</em></p>
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Morning breaks over Smithfield Market, one of London's busiest Meat suppliers as an Extinction Rebellion environmental activist offshoot Animal Rebellion wake up after a night occupying the space which is usually open from 2 a.m. - 8 a.m. to supply London's wholesale food industries on Oct. 8, 2019 in London. Ollie Millington / Getty Images
"Industrial meat production is not only responsible for precarious working conditions, it also pushes people off their land, leads to deforestation, biodiversity loss and the use of pesticides — and is also one of the main drivers of the climate crisis."
Such were the words of Barbara Unmüssig of green think tank, the Heinrich Böll Foundation, at the Berlin presentation of the so-called "Meat Atlas 2021."
<p>Across 50 pages, the atlas — which is collaboratively published by the foundation, Friends of the Earth Germany (BUND) and the international monthly newspaper Le Monde diplomatique — outlines trends and the implications of global meat production on both human and planetary health. </p><p>It highlights, for example, how the over-use of antibiotics in <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/the-conditions-are-catastrophic-inside-germanys-factory-farms-on-the-green-fence/a-55349478" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">intensive animal farming</a> is leading to increasingly resistant germs, thereby threatening the effectiveness of drugs used for humans.</p><p>Similarly, the clearing of forests for animal feed is held up as a threat to human health. As habitat loss brings animals and humans into closer proximity with one another, <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-pandemic-linked-to-destruction-of-wildlife-and-worlds-ecosystems/a-53078480" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">viruses can be transmitted more easily</a>. This, in turn, can lead to new <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/after-coronavirus-our-relationship-with-meat-and-the-next-pandemic/a-55594449" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">pandemics</a>. </p><p>In a survey for the report, young people between the ages of 15 and 29 were asked about their thoughts on meat. The majority said they rejected the meat industry in its current form.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTI2MTI2My9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NDQ2NDg4Mn0.qN_OXydVYlh8UK0xFUW6LY5uEnreJtVEBX9y1AAdCzM/img.png?width=980" id="49a82" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a3dc0e46513e0db25cc4853f1199cc06" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1920" data-height="1738" />
Germany Plays Leading Role in the Meat Industry
<p><span>Olaf Bandt, chairman of BUND, says policymakers must take account of society's desire to </span><a href="https://www.dw.com/en/can-you-be-a-good-christian-and-eat-meat/a-55410685" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">restructure the sector</a><span>. "This requires far-reaching political realignment of agricultural policy," he said. "But there can be no agricultural transition without a food transition."</span></p><p>Bandt describes Germany as a key player in the production of pork and milk, with a 20% share of the EU market. </p><p>"Huge amounts of meat are exported," he said, adding that this reliance on international markets is having a detrimental effect on the environment, livestock and farms. "More and more animals live on ever fewer farms, further exacerbating the pollution of groundwater in those regions." </p>Meat Devours Rainforest
<p>Global population and economic growth are the drivers behind increasing demand for meat. In 1960, the planet was home to just 3 billion people and, according to the report, meat consumption at that time was around 70 million metric tons. That equated to an annual per capita global average of 23 kilograms.</p><p><span></span>By 2018, however, when the population had grown to 7.6 billion people, meat consumption had risen seven-fold to around 350 million metric tons — or a global average of 46 kilograms per person annually.</p><p>A key problem with this trend is that <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/eating-meat-is-no-longer-a-private-matter/a-55515722" target="_blank">meat production</a> requires vast areas of land. According to the German Environment Agency (UBA), the country's central environment authority, 71% of global arable land is currently used for livestock feed. That is four times the amount required for direct food growth (18%) or other raw materials such as cotton (7%) and energy crops like corn for biogas (4%). </p><img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTI2MTI4MS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMzY3ODE3M30.bzrJxdzNQIFQ6l70d2InrAMt_IPO68FjvCZuNbvtc5E/img.png?width=980" id="3601b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5e0bedbcf3921365156f8612ef04429b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1920" data-height="2414" /><p>As global demand for meat continues to grow, so does the pressure on available arable land. As a result, huge areas of forest in countries such as Brazil are being lost to create land on which to grow animal fodder.</p><p>In order to feed the world's population and stop rainforests from being cleared, while simultaneously designating land for reforestation, experts are calling for a dietary rethink: less meat and more <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/will-plant-based-meat-become-the-new-fast-food/a-55578740" target="_blank">plant-based foods</a> that require much smaller areas.</p><p>In a report on the health of the planet published last year, leading global scientists such as Johan Rockström, director at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) suggested dietary changes that would equate to an average of 16 kilograms of meat and 33 kilograms of dairy products per person per year. Current meat consumption in North and South America as well as in Europe can be as much as seven times that amount.</p>
The Problem With Pesticides
<p>Besides revealing the power and global impact of the international meat industry, authors of the "Meat Atlas" also illustrate links to the global chemical industry. They write that dangerous and sometimes banned pesticides are exported by large chemical companies. Among the producers and exporters of such chemicals are European players, Bayer Crop Science, BASF, and Syngenta, as well as U.S. companies Corteva and FMS. </p><img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTI2MTI5MC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2Njg2NDMxMX0.0aKA3OQjDEKgl9Y088j9WLfsB9H_ilSNhjgSmScpO6o/img.png?width=980" id="43f23" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4fb04eda49e57f1b7c4a6f05c7e56deb" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1920" data-height="2520" /><p>According to Unmüssig, the use of such pesticides threatens thousands of lives, which is why, Bandt says the "German government must do everything it can to ensure that German companies no longer export toxins that have been banned in the EU."</p><p>Unmüssig warns that the planned <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/merkel-amazon-deforestation-threatens-eu-mercosur-deal/a-54651194" target="_blank">EU-Mercosur agreement</a> would exacerbate the use of dangerous substances. "Dismantling tariffs would lead to more pesticides being delivered to Latin America and more <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/rainforest">rainforest</a> would be cleared for soy plantations and meat production."</p><p>The experts conclude that establishing a way to farm animals in a cruelty-free way that doesn't harm the climate or the environment, requires a far-reaching shift in agricultural policy as well a rethink in consumption and production. </p><p>"As yet, we have not seen the start of any real meat transition," Unmüssig said. </p><p><em>This article was adapted from German.</em></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/meat-atlas-its-time-to-rethink-what-we-eat/a-56145352" target="_blank">Deutsche Welle</a>.<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/2649770271#/" target="_self"></a></em></p>
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More and more Americans are retrofitting their bathrooms with high-end bidets, allowing them to enjoy cleanliness and hygiene without creating as much paper waste. Not all bidets are created equal, however, and before deciding on a particular brand, it's important to do your homework. Take a look at our comprehensive Toto bidet review, and our reviews of Tushy and Omigo, to learn more about all of their options.
<h2>Toto overview</h2><p>Toto is a company that has been around for over 100 years. They aim to improve people's quality of life, and they do that specifically by focusing on bathrooms. To that end, Toto is known for high-quality products including toilets, faucets, showers, bathtubs, and bidets. </p><p>Toto has also expressed an admirable commitment to ecological stewardship. As <a href="https://www.totousa.com/about-toto/toto-way" target="_blank">their corporate website</a> notes, they strive to "protect the global environment by conserving finite natural resources and energy." One example of this is their donation of any imperfectly fired porcelain products for recycling and reuse as porcelain floor tile. Their <a href="https://www.totousa.com/about-toto/living-toto-library/smart-sustainable-packaging-solution" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">packaging</a> uses differing levels of recycled post-consumer paper products while their forklifts operate using <a href="https://www.totousa.com/about-toto/living-toto-library/plant-based-hydraulics" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">plant-based hydraulics</a> made from soybean oil instead of traditional hydraulic oil.</p><p>Toto is definitely a company with a superior reputation when it comes to bathroom accessories in general, and bidets in particular. Here are reviews of some of the specific products in the Toto line.</p><h2>Toto bidet reviews</h2><p>There are two different bidet product families available from Toto: standalone bidets and bidet seat attachments. Their standalone models include the Piedmont bidet, the Lloyd bidet, and the Clayton bidet, while their bidet toilet seat offerings include a wide selection in the popular Washlet line. Here are details on the three standalone options and three of the most popular bidet seat attachments.</p><p><em>Each product featured here has been independently selected by the writer. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission.</em></p><h3>Toto standalone bidets</h3><h4></h4>
<h2>Toto bidet pros and cons<br></h2><p>Whether you're considering a standalone bidet or a bidet seat attachment, here are some of the pros and cons to help you compare your options.</p><h3>Pros</h3><ul class="ee-ul"><li>Standalone bidets, such as the ones offered by Toto, are designed in a wider range of elegant, contemporary styles. If you are looking to remodel your bathroom, splurging for a standalone bidet makes sense.</li><li>Toto offers a wide selection of bidet and bidet attachment options. Some of their more advanced units feature night lights, adjustable nozzle positions, warm air dryers, and adjustable settings for the temperature of the water.</li><li>All of the Toto bidet attachments we reviewed include self-cleaning nozzles for added hygiene. They are also designed for DIY installation, and easily connect to your existing toilet's water supply without the need for a plumber or electrician.</li></ul><h3>Cons</h3><ul class="ee-ul"><li>Toto's line of standalone bidets and bidet seat attachments are more expensive than some other brands, especially some of their more high-end models.</li><li>Standalone bidets may not be as convenient for those who have mobility issues.</li><li>All of Toto's bidet seat attachments are electric, and don't feature an eco or energy-saving mode like some other options.</li></ul><h2>The benefits of buying a bidet</h2><p>Why buy a bidet at all? There are plenty of perks, both for you and the planet:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li>Bidets offer a more thorough, hygienic cleaning than toilet paper.</li><li>They're considerably more eco-friendly, using less water and paper.</li><li>Because you'll use so much less toilet paper, bidets are also more cost-effective.</li><li>Compared with TP, bidets can be really soothing to the skin.</li><li>They have special benefits for women, and especially pregnant women, helping minimize the risk of a UTI.</li><li>Bidets are highly accessible, even to those with limited mobility.</li><li>A bidet makes it much easier to teach your children about proper bathroom hygiene.</li></ul><h2>Considerations when buying a bidet</h2><p>As you consider all of your options for getting a bidet, here are a few of the key factors to consider:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li>Look for a bidet with a self-cleaning nozzle. This will help keep things hygienic.</li><li>Electric vs. non-electric? Electric bidets can offer more comfort features, like a heated seat, but they also use more energy than a non-electric one.</li><li>Is it a standalone bidet, a bidet seat, or a bidet attachment? While a standalone bidet is a completely separate fixture from your toilet, a bidet seat will completely replace your existing seat and a bidet attachment will be installed onto your existing toilet seat. These are usually the least expensive, but also come with the fewest features.</li><li>Does the bidet connect to your home's hot water? If it doesn't, you will only be able to clean with cold water.</li><li>Make sure you can adjust the settings. For the most comfortable bidet, look for controls that let you customize the water pressure, the angle of the water stream, the temperature of the water, and the temperature of the seat, if it is heated.</li></ul><p>Use these questions to determine whether the bidets from Toto are right for you.</p><h2>Toto bidets: a leader in comfort and efficiency</h2><p>Toto makes durable, elegant, and highly functional products that will allow you to enjoy all the hygienic and environmental benefits of a bidet. You can also read our full review of the best bidets to compare with other brands like Brondell, Kohler, Tushy, and BioBidet.</p><p><em><strong>Josh Hurst </strong></em><em>is a journalist, critic, and essayist. He lives in Knoxville, TN, with his wife and three sons. His writing on natural health, nutrition, and supplements has appeared in Health, Shape, and Remedy Review.</em></p>
Piedmont
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY3MDgyMy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMjI3MjE3Nn0.QqBs95yaFQnGwAuf0t3XaSCc7pvrSEUalnl9UulrODg/img.jpg?width=980" id="a0c63" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9d10ad2b08c5d00642b44787c1b099ad" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />Toto USA
<p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/TOTO-BT500B-01-Piedmont-Vertical/dp/B00084P3GO/ref=sr_1_3?crid=ZG6AGN0U9VQL&dchild=1&keywords=toto+piedmont+bidet&qid=1613591898&sprefix=toto+piedmo%2Caps%2C188&sr=8-3" target="_blank">Toto's Piedmont bidet</a> offers an elegant, classic design, and it also comes with built-in safeguards that prevent it from ever overflowing. It is available in several color options, and will look good with any contemporary bathroom design.</p><p><strong>Why buy:</strong> This is the most affordable standalone bidet in Toto's catalog. This bidet is a good option if you are remodeling your bathroom or are building a home and want to save water and paper waste from the start. Priced starting at $533, you can find it through other retailers for around $280.</p>
$533
Lloyd
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY3MDgzMS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNTU0Nzk0Nn0.h9XeFBojZff_4Un8swlIoamX7xAwO1wH3RKAiiZb96k/img.jpg?width=980" id="e5d22" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="83ff9c9b3ed8f1b5e92ff99c14ad9b0c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />Toto USA
<p>The <a href="https://www.amazon.com/TOTO-BT930B-01-Vertical-Cotton/dp/B0015IVUOQ/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=toto%2Blloyd%2Bbidet&qid=1613592001&sr=8-2&th=1" target="_blank">Lloyd bidet</a> has a much bolder, "skirted" design, but it also shares the Piedmont's flushing rim and integral overflow features, which keep you from ever experiencing spillage.</p><p><strong>Why buy: </strong>This is a fancier product with a more striking appearance, and is mainly suited for a larger, more formal design. It retails for a slightly higher price point: The Lloyd model starts at $780 in total, but you can find it for $526 through other retailers.</p>
$780
Clayton
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY3MDgzMi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NTI4MTYyNn0.xNOnfejHaWbEVHRbO1vFVdUoWbFvevja40qRVr6L4dI/img.jpg?width=980" id="df200" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0cdb567e670fb2e46f50fbc43c99158c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />Toto USA
<p>The company's flagship standalone bidet is known as the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/TOTO-BT784B-01-Clayton-Vertical/dp/B0018L9JUC/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=toto+clayton+bidet&qid=1613592108&sr=8-2" target="_blank">Clayton</a>. It includes the same overflow safeguards as the other two, and of course, each of these products is backed by Toto's longstanding commitment to excellent craftsmanship.</p><p><strong>Why buy: </strong>This is the most traditional in its visual style, and, with a number of colors to choose from, it will look great in almost any bathroom design. The Clayton starts at $734, but is available through other retailers for around $426.</p>
$734
<h3>Toto bidet seats</h3>
Toto Washlet C200
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY3MDgzNi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MTY3OTY1M30.3coYAuyqJLBcw8hQszI8Shbcfyr6nn9V0ek-kXv2kgQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="61762" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b7c91d2511149e271c7f0139f1580788" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />Toto USA
<p>This electronic smart bidet seat fits onto your existing toilet bowl and offers a number of comfort features, including a heated seat, automatic air deodorizer, adjustable warm water, warm air dryer, self-cleaning wand, and a wireless remote control.</p><p><strong>Why buy:</strong> We chose the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UCIOX2Q/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&aaxitk=-XjvJQOmffOcAmiCOZvtAA&hsa_cr_id=7413316040901&pd_rd_plhdr=t&pd_rd_r=0e0e7f3d-0baf-4977-85d3-663f618a76d8&pd_rd_w=Yi3yF&pd_rd_wg=LUFHB&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_lsi3d_asin_1_img" target="_blank">Toto C200</a> as the overall best bidet in <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/best-bidet-toilet-seats-2650502928.html" target="_self">our review</a> of top brands. In addition to the features mentioned, its dual action oscillating and pulsating spray and pre-mist function provide a comfortable and sanitary clean.</p>
$715
Toto Washlet S500e with EWATER+
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY3MDgzOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MTgzNTIyMH0.idaacYO4MzHGTeajRkSCVHOo3TH7tehRN8TAH2s75ko/img.jpg?width=980" id="f6ed5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="87fa67b17e4c8e06f74bfbce87bf4809" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />Toto USA
<p>The <a href="https://www.amazon.com/TOTO-SW3046-01-Electronic-Contemporary/dp/B078GTKSXK/ref=sr_1_2?crid=15NGPC9YFANKH&dchild=1&keywords=toto+s500e&qid=1613960063&sprefix=toto+s500e%2Caps%2C171&sr=8-2" target="_blank">Toto Washlet S500e</a> bidet seat includes the features found in the C200, plus instantaneous water heating, front and rear wash functions, two-user preset memory, and the company's <a href="https://www.totousa.com/technologies/ewater" target="_blank">EWATER+ technology</a>. This system uses electrolyzed water to keep the wand and toilet bowl clean.</p><p><strong>Why buy:</strong> This high-end Toto electric bidet seat can help you reduce water and toilet paper use, and it can help reduce the need for chemical cleaning products with its EWATER+ technology.</p>
$1530
Toto Washlet A100
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY3MDg0Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MzU0OTU3MH0.g2PYzguGXvB1l7RvWBcw_xNtlpy8hsmcwui8Twr3CMA/img.jpg?width=980" id="08295" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d3d798b5d7737cddaadfd9f6fa5a84d6" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />Toto USA
<p>The <a href="https://www.amazon.com/TOTO-SW2014-01-Electronic-SoftClose/dp/B0165UFOGS/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=30E9Y1LAN9ZRW&dchild=1&keywords=toto+washlet+a100+elongated+bidet+toilet+seat&qid=1613589664&sprefix=toto+washlet+a100%2Caps%2C167&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFBR1FMUTdJR1hXNUEmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTAyNjIwOTkxUE1EWk5CQjg2QTZPJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA0NDc1MzExSk1UMk5CQzJYVUhVJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==" target="_blank">A100</a> is an entry-level Washlet bidet attachment, but still offers numerous comfort features. It includes a heated seat with temperature control, aerated warm water with a dual action spray, and an attached arm control panel.</p><p><strong>Why buy: </strong>One of the most affordable Toto bidet options, it still lets you adjust the water temperature and pressure settings, and features rear and front cleaning functionality for a feminine wash.</p>
$499
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USDA NRCS Montana
By Dipika Kadaba
The emergence of multiple pandemics in the animal agriculture industry over the past few decades, coupled with COVID-19's suspected origins in wildlife meat markets, has prompted renewed calls from experts to transform the global food system to prevent diseases harmful to humans.
<p>Industrial agriculture puts humans in contact with scores of animals in cramped conditions, which is ideal for disease transfer.</p>
<p>But that's only one of the health dangers it causes. Antibiotics are used ubiquitously in all kinds of large-scale agriculture, causing antibiotic resistance and environmental toxicity that studies show <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC122845/" target="_blank">we're not prepared to combat</a>.</p>
<p>Watch our new video to learn more about issues arising from antibiotic use in agriculture.</p>
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5363447ee3ad107f98d95612dcc37888"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/G8Q07BHRUwc?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<p><em><a href="https://therevelator.org/author/dipikakadaba/" target="_blank">Dipika Kadaba</a> is an ecologist who uses data visualization and design to communicate environmental issues in her role as The Revelator's visual storyteller. Her interdisciplinary work originates in her background in environmental health research as a veterinarian, a graduate degree in conservation science, and a lifetime spent creating webcomics and animations for fun.</em></p><p><em><em>Reposted with permission from <em><a href="https://therevelator.org/antibiotics-agriculture-environment/" target="_blank">The Revelator</a>.</em></em><em></em></em></p>From Your Site Articles
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A girl wears a face mask while walking past a building shrouded in severe air pollution on Nov. 7, 2017 in Harbin, China. Tao Zhang / Getty Images
By Gudrun Heise
With an unknown lung disease apparently spreading in China, could there be a new outbreak akin to SARS? Not necessarily. Authorities have yet to identify it. And many respiratory illnesses are caused by viruses.
<h3>SARS</h3><p>SARS stands for "Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome." It is one of the most dangerous, recent diseases, which is often fatal. The first cases were diagnosed in 2002 in China and it spread from there. Experts say that was due in part to the rate of modern tourism and travel in general. More than 8,000 people contracted SARS across 30 countries, and about 1,000 people died. But until that outbreak SARS was an unknown illness. Studies showed that it was a Coronavirus. Researchers think the virus spread from animals to humans.</p>
<h3>MERS</h3><p>The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) was discovered in 2012. As with SARS, MERS is a type of Coronavirus. A Coronavirus can infect animals and humans. In humans, MERS mainly affects the respiratory system. The initial symptoms are similar to those of influenza — coughing, fever and shortness of breath. Later, patients can develop a lung infection and even kidney failure. But the illness can present itself and develop in different ways, depending on the patient, and can sometimes be fatal, as in 2015 in South Korea and China.</p><p>MERS is most common on the Arabian Peninsula, from where it gets its name. Studies suggest that it's often been spread from camels to humans. There is no vaccine against MERS or any other form of treatment.</p>
<h3>Avian Influenza</h3><p>Commonly called "bird flu," avian influenza is caused by the H5N2 virus, but there are variations of it. The "H" stands for hemagglutinin, a protein which helps the virus dock onto cells in a respiratory system. The "N" stands for neuraminidase. The virus needs a form of neuraminidase to reproduce itself and spread in an infected body. Bird flu often spreads in wild geese, but it can also spread on common poultry farms. In those cases, most of the affected birds die from the virus. The infection is caused by a range of viruses, including the influenza A virus.</p><p>Most types of bird flu do not affect humans. The only types that have so far been shown to spread from birds to humans are H5N1 and H7N9. Those two types can cause serious infections in humans and can be spread by infected birds. It has not been shown to spread from human to human. Humans can become infected through close contact with infected birds.</p><p>But all these viruses change and mutate constantly and that makes them even more dangerous.</p>
<h3>Legionnaires' Disease</h3><p>Legionnaires' disease is a severe form of lung infection. Symptoms include coughing, shivering, headache and high fever. In very bad cases, it can cause a patient to become confused or disorientated.</p><p>It is said the disease is spread via air conditioning systems, which distribute the bacteria. It is not transmitted from human to human.</p><p>Legionellosis was first discovered at a meeting of war veterans, the "American Legion," hence its name. The meeting was held in Philadelphia, where a number of the attendees became sick with an unknown lung illness. Two weeks after the meeting, further cases were diagnosed. In total 221 men were infected and 34 of them died. It was later determined that a bacteria known as legionella pneumophila was found in the air conditioning of a hotel and is said to have caused the outbreak.</p><p>But unhygienic water systems, such as showers in bathrooms, can also transmit the disease. Legionnaires' disease is found around the world. It is especially dangerous for people with weak immune systems. It is treated with <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/antibiotics">antibiotics</a>.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/unknown-lung-disease-in-china/a-51902586?maca=en-VAM_volltext_ecowatch-28485-html-copypaste" target="_blank">DW</a>.</em></p>Related Articles Around the Web
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Antibiotic Crisis Coming as Superbugs Gain Strength and Drug Companies Go Bankrupt
26 December 2019
Health + Wellness
A superbug resistant to all known antibiotics is spreading undetected through hospital wards across the world, scientists in Australia warned on Sept. 3, 2018. WILLIAM WEST / AFP via Getty Images
Countries around the world are seeing a mounting threat from antibiotic resistance. After decades of overprescribing antibiotics and overusing them in factory farming, rivers are polluted with antibiotics and complications from drug-resistant infections are projected to cost $100 trillion by 2050, according to Scientific American.
<p>The Centers for Disease Control released a <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/biggest-threats.html" target="_blank">report</a> last month that said more than 2.8 million people in the U.S. experience an infection from antibiotic resistant bacteria each year, leading to 35,000 deaths. The report also pointed out that this is a global crisis, not just a domestic problem.</p><p>In fact, this spring, the United Nations declared this problem an <a href="https://www.who.int/antimicrobial-resistance/interagency-coordination-group/IACG_final_report_EN.pdf?ua=1" target="_blank">urgent global crisis</a> in need of immediate action.</p><p>Just when the fight against <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/superbugs">superbugs</a> needs to ramp up, drug companies are either going bankrupt or refusing to invest in research, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/25/health/antibiotics-new-resistance.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>. <a href="http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2019/04/achaogen-bankruptcy-raises-worry-over-antibiotic-pipeline" target="_blank">Achaogen</a> and <a href="http://www.aradigm.com/" target="_blank">Aradigm</a>, two antibiotic start-ups, both went bankrupt. Pharmaceutical giants like Novartis and Allergan have stopped investing in antibiotic research. And one of the largest developers of antibiotics, <a href="https://melinta.com/" target="_blank">Melinta Therapeutics</a>, recently said it was running out of money.</p><p>The prospect of losing money has investors fleeing the sector, just when more money is needed, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/25/health/antibiotics-new-resistance.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>.</p><p>"This is a crisis that should alarm everyone," said Dr. Helen Boucher, an infectious disease specialist at Tufts Medical Center and a member of the Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria, to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/25/health/antibiotics-new-resistance.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>.</p><p>"Antibiotic resistance has long been a problem, but the threats we face are real, immediate, and demand immediate action. Antibiotic resistance threatens modern medicine — our ability to safely perform routine surgeries and complicated organ transplants, as well as <a href="https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/158401.php" target="_blank">chemotherapy</a>, all rely on the ability to prevent and treat infections," said Dr. Jesse Jacob from the Emory Antibiotic Resistance Center at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta to <a href="https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/327050.php#4" target="_blank">Medical News Today</a>.</p><p>The <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch/">Trump</a> administration has worsened the problem by cutting the budges of nationwide, hospital-based programs researching the issue. It has also ignored the World Health Organization's suggestions on reducing antibiotic use in livestock, as <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/deaths-antibiotic-drug-resistance-are-historic-highs-aided-trump-s-ncna1092766" target="_blank">NBC News</a> reported.</p><p>Companies that have spent billions to find a solution to the increasing strength of germs that have developed a resistance to common antibiotics have not found a market to recoup their investment into research. Most antibiotics are used for short durations, unlike profitable medicines for chronic conditions, and many hospitals are unwilling to pay the high price for new therapies, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/25/health/antibiotics-new-resistance.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>.</p><p>The story of Achaogen provides a cautionary tale. After spending 15 years and a billion dollars to win FDA approval for a drug that cures hard-to-treat urinary tract infections, the World Health Organization added the new drug to its <a href="https://www.who.int/medicines/publications/essentialmedicines/en/" target="_blank">list of essential new medicines</a>. But, by then, Achaogen was out of money. It fired all of its scientists and declared bankruptcy, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/25/health/antibiotics-new-resistance.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported.</p><p>"If this doesn't get fixed in the next six to 12 months, the last of the Mohicans will go broke and investors won't return to the market for another decade or two," said Chen Yu, a health care venture capitalist who has invested in the field, to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/25/health/antibiotics-new-resistance.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>.</p><p>"We need research to find new drugs but can't rely on a pipeline of new drugs alone to solve this problem, since resistance eventually happens to all drugs," said Dr. Jacob to <a href="https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/327050.php#8" target="_blank">Medical News Today</a>.</p>
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U.S. Sen. Cory Booker speaking with attendees at the 2019 California Democratic Party State Convention at the George R. Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, California on June 1. Gage Skidmore / Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0
New Jersey senator and presidential hopeful Cory Booker put forth the Farm System Reform Act of 2019, in recognition of the environmental impact of industrial agriculture, which would put a stop to any new factory farms, as The Hill reported.
<p>The bill will reform the agriculture system by breaking up monopolistic practices in the industry and holding large corporate farms accountable for the environmental impacts of their practices, according to <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/474685-booker-proposes-moratorium-on-expanding-large-factory-farms" target="_blank">The Hill</a>.</p>
<p>The proposal takes particular aim at <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/factory-farming" rel="noopener noreferrer">factory farms</a>, or concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), which are notorious for their detrimental environmental impacts, as well as the inhumane treatment of animals. Not only would the bill ban any new CAFOs, but it requires phasing existing ones out by 2040, according to the <a href="https://whistleblower.org/blog/senate-bill-to-overhaul-concentrated-animal-feeding-operations/" target="_blank">Government Accountability Project</a>. The bill will allocate $100 billion over a decade to entice farmers who want to transition out of running CAFOs.</p>
<p>CAFOs are known to generate an enormous amount of manure and waste, which frequently contaminates nearby <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/groundwater" rel="noopener noreferrer">groundwater</a>. They are also known to give farmers little freedom to change since farmers are often handcuffed by binding contracts with large corporations. The Department of Agriculture defines a CAFO as having 1,000 cattle, 700 dairy cows, 2,500 pigs, 125,000 chickens or 82,000 laying hens, as <a href="https://modernfarmer.com/2019/12/cory-booker-announces-legislation-to-scale-back-factory-farms/" target="_blank">Modern Farmer</a> reported. </p>
<p>Sen. Cory Booker's proposal aims to hold corporations responsible for pollution and other harm caused by their factory farm suppliers, even though the factory farms are independently owned and in a contract with the large corporations, according to <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/474685-booker-proposes-moratorium-on-expanding-large-factory-farms" target="_blank">The Hill</a>.</p>
<p>"Our independent family farmers and ranchers are continuing to be squeezed by large, multinational corporations that, because of their buying power and size, run roughshod over the marketplace. We need to fix the broken system – that means protecting family farmers and ranchers and holding corporate integrators responsible for the harm they are causing," said Booker, in a <a href="https://www.booker.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=1036" target="_blank">statement</a> put out by his office. "Large factory farms are harmful to rural communities, public health, and the environment and we must immediately begin to transition to a more sustainable and humane system."</p>
<p>Booker's <a href="https://www.booker.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=1036" target="_blank">statement</a> cited data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention that found large CAFOs produce as much as 1.4 billion tons of waste each year, but don't need to maintain a waste treatment facility. Their steady dramatic increase in numbers recently put rural communities at risk of severe environmental hazards and threatens the viability of family farms.</p>
<p>Furthermore, the crowded conditions of livestock means antibiotics have been overused, leading to the spread of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/antibiotic-resistance" rel="noopener noreferrer">antibiotic resistant bacteria</a>. That phenomenon pushed the American Public Health Association to urge federal, state and local governments as well as <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/public-health" rel="noopener noreferrer">public health</a> agencies to impose a moratorium on all new and expanding CAFOs last month, according to Booker's <a href="https://www.booker.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=1036" target="_blank">statement</a>.</p>
<p>"Senator Booker's Farm System Reform Act pushes back on the concentration of animal production and the devastating impact that has had on our rural communities," said Randy Dugger, Indiana Farmers Union Vice President, in a <a href="https://www.booker.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=1036" target="_blank">statement</a>. "Independent family farmers deserve an opportunity to be prosperous again. By providing fairness and transparency in the market, along with a significant investment to help those trapped in a broken system to get out, this bill can make a huge difference."</p>
<p>The bill also calls for restoring country-of-origin labeling for <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/beef" rel="noopener noreferrer">beef</a> and pork and expand to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/dairy" rel="noopener noreferrer">dairy</a> products. It would tighten labeling regulations so consumers know where meat was grown, slaughtered and processed, which would stop the Department of Agriculture from labeling imported meat as "Product of USA." Currently, meat grown, slaughtered and processed in Brazil, but packaged in the USA can be labeled as Product of USA, as <a href="https://modernfarmer.com/2019/12/cory-booker-announces-legislation-to-scale-back-factory-farms/" target="_blank">Modern Farmer</a> reported. </p>
<p>"I have seen first-hand how hard it is to challenge the multinational corporations who control the meat industry," said Mike Callicrate, a Kansas rancher in a <a href="https://www.booker.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=1036" target="_blank">press release</a>. "Farmers and ranchers need a marketplace that compensates them fairly and Senator Booker's Farm System Reform Act is a big step in the right direction. Things like country of origin labeling on meat, updates to the Packers and Stockyards Act, and resources to get folks out of a system that is bankrupting them will make a big difference."</p>
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Phages: Bacterial Eaters From Georgia to Fight Antibiotic Resistance
22 November 2019
Health + Wellness
By Tim Ruben Weimer
Tanja Diederen lives near Maastricht in the Netherlands. She has been suffering from Hidradenitis suppurativa for 30 years. Its a chronic skin disease in which the hair roots are inflamed under pain — often around the armpits and on the chest.
<p>€3,900 ($4,302) for treatment in Georgia</p><p>In August 2019, the now 50-year-old made a radical decision: she discontinued the antibiotics, which were becoming less and less effective. And she traveled to Georgia for two weeks to undergo treatment with bacteriophages (or phages for short).</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/phages-bacterial-eaters-from-georgia-to-fight-antibiotic-resistance/a-51350421" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Deutsche Welle</a>.</em><br/></p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA5OTMyNy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3NjY3OTA1MH0.bOIeajzk4lP2y_pyGtwYmBtIAXLYKDB8mB1d8aagBsI/img.jpg?width=980" id="756d2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7531a0ed541a5083cf8cc0896ad2ce3d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /><p>Such phage therapy is not yet approved in most Western European countries. She paid 3,900 euros out of her own pocket in the hope that the unconventional therapy would help her.</p><p>Bacteriophages are viruses that fight against the proliferation of their host bacteria. Therapy with bacteriophages involves the oral administration of a single, isolated type of phage. They attach themselves to their bacterial counterparts in the patient's body in order to survive. </p><p>The phages reverse the polarity of the bacterial cell in such a way that it produces further phages, filling up with more and more phages and finally bursts. Then, the released phages attach themselves to other bacteria until all of the bacteria has been destroyed.</p>
Journey Into the Unknown
<p>"It tastes a bit like mushrooms," Tanja Diederen remarked as she took her morning phage dose. "When I went to Georgia, I was at first very nervous and excited, but above all disappointed about the treatment here in Holland."</p><p>After antibiotics stopped working for her, her doctor suggested that she take biopharmaceuticals, i.e. genetically engineered drugs. He had never heard of bacteriophages.</p><p>Instead, Diederen decided to look for treatment options with bacteriophages on her own, which she had heard about in a television program. </p>The Doctor Never Heard of Phages
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA5OTMyOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMDkyNzg5Mn0.qRW81FnFddQeCHblPbinr-ITYYThWMzcTkmyJHkLYXU/img.jpg?width=980" id="50ae5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9ab12b7d5efd0f615a2c891f5341dd33" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />A phage model — phages are viruses, that multiply in bacteria and then destroy them.
<p>She came across the <a href="http://eliava-institute.org/research/" target="_blank">Georgi-Eliava Institute</a> in Georgia, which has been researching bacteriophages since 1923 — just a few years after their discovery. Georgia has since developed into the global center of phage therapy.</p><p>During the Cold War, antibiotics were difficult to get there or anywhere in the Soviet Union. Treatment with phages was the best way to cure infectious diseases. Today, the Eliava Institute has one of the largest therapeutic collections of bacteriophages in the world.</p><p>Tanja Diederen stayed in treatment for two weeks, after which she traveled back to the Netherlands with a large suitcase full of phage tins. Since she began taking two different phages a day and applying a cream, she feels better.</p><p>She has more energy again and the small inflammations on her chest and armpits have decreased. The large inflammations come and go, but not as severe as before.</p>"It Doesn't Feel Illegal to Me"
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA5OTMzMi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MjU0NDkyN30.m6j4X6PqTBv-ZDBRh63x9sycHk6LdrgT6KbJa1Lq7Tc/img.jpg?width=980" id="12346" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8800327639cc2ab041ea52667ce91e73" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Communicating with the Georgian doctors was difficult for Tanja Diederen. She needed a translator.
<p>Every three months Diederen travels to Belgium — 15 kilometers away — to pick up a new ration of bacteriophages sent from Georgia for 500 euros. Her health insurance doesn't pay for this. Belgium is the only Western European country where phages are allowed. In the Netherlands, as in all other countries, they can only be used in individual cases to save lives or relieve severe pain. </p><p>Her physician is solely responsible for the application.</p><p>"It doesn't feel illegal to me," said Diederen. "I am one hundred percent sure that this medicine will help many people."</p><p>Like antibiotics, bacteriophages can also lead to bacterial resistance. Their big advantage, however, is that they are always one step ahead of the bacteria and can overcome the resistance. In addition, they are always directed against a specific type of bacteria and thus leave useful bacteria undamaged, like in the intestine, for example.</p><p>Before phage treatment, it is always necessary to determine which bacteria actually trigger the disease. The phages are then produced individually for each patient — often in Georgia.</p>Bacteriophages Permitted in Belgium
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA5OTMzNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2ODMzNjYzOX0.NBOrxQgb5wGeSCGpuud-87UR_xPYi0_QZN9Nqm0bDpo/img.jpg?width=980" id="21c23" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1b9e9c2603898ec71e4d05666f26454f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Professor Jean-Paul Pirnay from the Queen-Astrid Military Hospital in Brussels works with bacteriophages.
<p>Such an individual medication does not meet the applicable regulations for medicinal products in any Western European country. It would take too much effort to have each individual phage formulation approved by the authorities.</p><p>Not so in Belgium. Since last year, this process can be legally circumvented by the Scientific Health Institute, in cooperation with doctors, patients, manufacturers, pharmacists and the Belgian Federal Office for Medicinal Products, issuing a certificate for the required phage ingredients. Pharmacists will then be able to use them for the manufacture of bacteriophages, subject to certain guidelines.</p><p>"We have used the existing legal framework to insert the bacteriophages," said <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/lab/Laboratory-for-Molecular-and-Cellular-Technology-Jean-Paul-Pirnay" target="_blank">Dr Jean-Paul Pirnay,</a> who works at the Queen Astrid Military Hospital in Brussels on bacteriophages.</p><p>Around 30 patients have already been treated there. Currently, the military hospital is the only place in Belgium where bacteriophages are produced.</p>Useful Supplement to Antibiotics
<p>"We need pharmaceutical companies to make the phage," says Pirnay. "A hospital can't produce all phages for a growing number of patients."</p><p>But industrial production of phages would require a clearer legal framework, and research is not yet ready.</p><p>"I believe that phages will not replace antibiotics," he said. "Both will be used together to make antibiotics more effective."</p><p>Tanja Diederen wants to continue her treatment in Brussels in the future. Communication with the Georgian doctors was difficult for her, she always needed a translator.</p><p>"I really hope that phages will soon be allowed in Europe," she said. "Going to Georgia is quite difficult and expensive."</p><p>Germany and the Netherlands are currently conducting pilot studies to see whether an individual prescription of bacteriophages would be possible. France has already imported Belgian phages and agreed to their use.</p>From Your Site Articles
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Drug-Resistant Salmonella Linked to Overuse of Antibiotics in Cattle Farming
23 August 2019
Health + Wellness
Salmonella bacteria, a common cause of foodborne disease, invade an immune cell.
National Institude of Allergy and Infectious Disease
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned Thursday of a drug-resistant strain of salmonella newport linked to the overuse of antibiotics in cattle farming.
<p>The strain sickened 255 people in 32 states between June 2018 and March 2019, leading to 60 hospitalizations and two deaths, the agency wrote in its <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/68/wr/mm6833a1.htm?s_cid=mm6833a1_w" target="_blank">Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report</a>. And the strain is still making people sick, lead report author and CDC epidemiologist Dr. Ian Plumb told <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2019/08/22/health/drug-resistant-salmonella-cdc-warning/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>.</p>
<div id="19865" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ZAG1KL1576661573"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1164591825346342914" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">New @CDCMMWR: Learn about #Salmonella Newport infections in the US that are resistant to some common #antibiotics a… https://t.co/nBYacDhQLO</div> — CDC (@CDC)<a href="https://twitter.com/CDCgov/statuses/1164591825346342914">1566495302.0</a></blockquote></div><p>"We are continuing to see cases occurring among patients," Plumb told CNN in an email. "The antibiotic resistance pattern of this strain is alarming because the primary oral antibiotics used to treat patients with this type of salmonella infection may not work."</p><p>Plumb told <a href="https://consumer.healthday.com/public-health-information-30/salmonella-news-775/cdc-warns-of-drug-resistant-salmonella-in-beef-cheese-749591.html" target="_blank">HealthDay Reporter</a> that the two patients who died had other illnesses as well, but that the drug-resistant salmonella did contribute to their deaths.</p><p>The strain has shown decreased susceptibility to azithromycin and does not respond at all to ciprofloxacin, the report said. Both are commonly used to treat the disease, and, before 2017, fewer than 0.5 percent of salmonella strains found in U.S. patients were resistant to azithromycin.</p><p>The outbreak has been linked to the consumption of U.S. <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/beef" target="_self">beef</a> and Mexican soft cheese, leading investigators to believe the strain is present in cows in both countries, CNN reported.</p><p>"The resistant strains developed in animals, and those strains can then be transmitted to humans," Plumb told HealthDay Reporter.</p>
<p>Dr. Marc Siegel, a professor of medicine at the New York University Langone Medical Center who was not involved with the study, told HealthDay Reporter that the best way to prevent drug-resistant infections like this is to change farming practices.</p><p>"Salmonella is a very common bacteria in livestock, and the problem is that we're overusing antibiotics to try to control this problem," Siegel said. He said that farmers also gave antibiotics to cattle to increase their size.</p><p>He said that better human treatments were not the solution, since most of the time the infection needs no treatment at all.</p><p>"It's really a change in farming practices that are needed—to stop giving these animals antibiotics," he said.</p><p>The CDC also stated that avoiding giving cattle unnecessary antibiotics, especially those also used to treat humans, would help prevent the spread of drug-resistant salmonella.</p><p>In the meantime, the CDC recommended that people protect themselves by avoiding soft cheese made with unpasteurized milk and using thermometers to make sure beef is cooked to the proper temperature: 145 degrees Fahrenheit for steaks and roasts and 160 degrees Fahrenheit for ground beef.</p>
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C. Diff Is Evolving Into Superbug in Response to Western Sugary Diets
16 August 2019
Health + Wellness
Clostridium difficile bacterium with peritrichous flagella, computer illustration. C. difficile is now becoming resistant to most antibiotics.
KATERYNA KON / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Getty Images
KATERYNA KON / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Getty Images
One of the most widespread bacteria known to cause serious gut infections is evolving to take advantage of high-sugar diets in the West and resist disinfecting methods used in healthcare settings.
<p>The diarrhea and colitis-causing bacteria <em>Clostridioides difficile, </em>or C. Diff<em>, </em>is common throughout our environment and results in nearly 500,000 infections in the U.S. each year, the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/cdiff/what-is.html" target="_blank">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a> says, which can be fatal for elderly and very sick people who have been hospitalized or given <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/antibiotics" target="_self">antibiotics</a>.</p><p>According to <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/c-difficile/symptoms-causes/syc-20351691" target="_blank">Mayo Clinic</a>, C. Diff spores are often spread orally by contact with feces, which makes its way to food and other surfaces when an infected person fails to wash their hands thoroughly. The spores damage the lining of your intestine, potentially leading to severely dehydrating diarrhea, inflammation of the intestines, toxic megacolon and sepsis.</p><p>C. Diff is <a href="https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/clostridium-difficile-an-intestinal-infection-on-the-rise" target="_blank">so common</a> in our surroundings that even some <a href="https://www.studyfinds.org/study-diarrhea-inducing-bacteria-c-diff-evolves-into-new-strain-that-thrives-in-hospitals/" target="_blank">healthy adults will carry it</a> in their system but are protected from severe symptoms by their healthy gut bacteria, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/12/obesity-antibiotics-microbiome/421344/" target="_blank">The Atlantic </a>reported. But antibiotics used to treat other infections can unintentionally eliminate the healthy bacteria, allowing C. Diff to thrive, cause an infection and spread to the environment when passed in diarrhea, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/dangerous-bacteria-can-survive-disinfectant-putting-patients-risk-n1029231" target="_blank">NBC News</a> reported.</p><p>Recent <a href="https://aem.asm.org/" target="_blank">research</a> has shown that C. Diff can spread to and exist for months on disposable hospital gowns, stainless steel and vinyl surfaces often found in health facilities, even after being hit with concentrated chlorine disinfectant. A <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/08/190812130914.htm" target="_blank">new study</a> by the Wellcome Sanger Institute and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine might have revealed why.</p><p>The study found that C. Diff has been evolving into two species over thousands of years, one of which is adapting into a superbug primed to spread in hospitals.</p><p>"The study shows how the pathogen <em>C. Difficile</em> is evolving in response to the Western sugary diet and common hospital disinfectants," study author Nitin Kumar, a senior bioinformatician at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, told <a href="https://www.popsci.com/c-diff-superbug-diarrhea-hospital-sugar-species-evolve/" target="_blank">Popular Science</a>.</p><p>For the study, published this week in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41588-019-0478-8" target="_blank">Nature Genetics</a>, the researchers sequenced the DNA of 906 different C. Diff strains from humans, other mammals such as dogs and pigs, and the environment. Kumar told <a href="https://www.livescience.com/evolving-superbug-sugar-diet.html" target="_blank">Live Science</a> that groups of organisms must share 95 percent of their genomes to be considered the same species, and based on the sequenced genomes, C. Diff is "on the verge of speciation."</p><p>The researchers found that one of the emerging species, <em>C. Difficile </em>clade A, was found in 70 percent of samples taken from hospital patients. A common trait of the new species was a mutation developed over thousands of years to improve sugar metabolism. When exposed to mice, the new species was more likely to flourish if the mice were fed diets enriched with simple sugars, like glucose and fructose, commonly consumed as part of the typical Western diet.</p><p>The <a href="https://nypost.com/2019/08/13/a-new-carb-loving-superbug-is-primed-to-target-hospital-food/" target="_blank">New York Post</a> reported that common hospital foods, such as pudding cups and mashed potatoes, could become hotspots for this new C. Diff. species.</p><p>The new species also had genetic mutations that changed how it formed spores, making it more resistant to disinfectants used in hospitals.</p><p>"Our study provides genome and laboratory based evidence that human lifestyles can drive bacteria to form new species so they can spread more effectively," senior author Trevor Lawley of the Wellcome Sanger Institute said in a <a href="https://www.sanger.ac.uk/news/view/diarrhoea-causing-bacteria-adapted-spread-hospitals" target="_blank">press release</a>.</p><p>"We show that strains of <em>C. Difficile </em>bacteria have continued to evolve in response to modern diets and healthcare systems and reveal that focusing on diet and looking for new disinfectants could help in the fight against this bacteria."</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Writing for <a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@EcoWatch</a>: An analysis looking for more than a dozen common antibiotics in 711 rivers in one-third of the world's countries found that concentrations in some rivers were more than 300 times higher than "safe" levels.<a href="https://t.co/gXaBeASQeQ">https://t.co/gXaBeASQeQ</a></p>— Madison Dapcevich (@madisondap) <a href="https://twitter.com/madisondap/status/1133772880183873537?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 29, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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What’s the Scoop on Kids and Dirt? Get Enough to Help, but Not Enough to Hurt, a Doctor Advises
03 August 2019
Health + Wellness
3sbworld / iStock / Getty Images Plus
By Cosby Stone
Whenever I am asked what I do for a living, the phrase "I'm an allergist" is almost immediately followed by "So, where are all of these allergies coming from?"
<p>Maybe I'll get sick of that question some day, but I haven't yet. As a clinician and researcher on allergies and public health, I first explain that when a society begins to become aware of a disease, the <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/1734702" target="_blank">reported prevalence will go up</a>. This is understandable. People who have medically unexplained symptoms wonder "Could I have this allergy that's being talked about?" and try on the diagnosis. Sometimes an allergy really is at the root of their problems, and sometimes it's not.</p><p>For example, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091674914006721" target="_blank">at least 50% of patient-reported</a> food allergies are only presumed. They have not been evaluated thoroughly enough to know for sure whether the patient is allergic. Research also demonstrates that, in many cases, we presume wrongly. The symptoms fit better with an intolerance than an allergy, or the events were coincidental. While 11 to 12% of patients currently report a food allergy, only about 5% of adults and 8% of children likely <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091674914006721" target="_blank">have true food allergy</a>. Around 8% of patients report a penicillin allergy, but fewer than <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/409362" target="_blank">five out of 100 patients</a> who report a penicillin allergy can be shown to be allergic when tested.</p><p>Many people next ask whether allergies are genetic, but allergies in one's family appear to explain only <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0749379702005895" target="_blank">10 to 40% of a person's</a> increased risk for allergies. Allergic diseases are also increasing at rates that are inconsistent with genetic diseases.</p><p>More interesting is that there appear to have been different waves in which <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091674915005849" target="_blank">allergies appeared in historical records</a>. Hay fever (environmental allergies) first appeared in the 1800s, followed by more recent increases in asthma and food allergy.</p>
<h2>What's Changed, and What's Dirt Got to Do With It?</h2><p>So if genetics don't fully explain the rise in allergy, what does? Some of the most consistent risk factors for allergic diseases include <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31149702" target="_blank">overuse of antibiotics</a>; <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29733679" target="_blank">acute viral respiratory infections</a> in childhood; birth by <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30322585" target="_blank">cesarean section</a>; nutritional disorders; second-hand smoke exposure; pollution; and the <a href="https://clintransmed.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40169-018-0195-4" target="_blank">environment where you grew up</a>.<br></p><p>To organize these risks into categories, two conceptual hypotheses currently seem to be of value — the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091674903023704" target="_blank">barrier hypothesis</a> and the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1838109/" target="_blank">hygiene hypothesis</a>.</p><p>Imagine that your immune system is an army behind a castle wall. The castle wall is your skin, your respiratory tract and your gastrointestinal tract. The army is composed of your white blood cells in addition to other cells in the body that can activate these gung-ho Marines to defend you.</p><p>The central tenet of the barrier hypothesis is that when our skin, respiratory tract and gastrointestinal tract are chronically injured, your castle wall is broken down. The soldiers of the immune system are activated to aggressive defense, yet allergens can penetrate, and people can begin to experience allergic inflammation in those areas. This has been most clearly demonstrated with the allergic skin disease known as <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091674903023704" target="_blank">eczema</a>.</p><p>Research has also shown that activities in these barrier sites can <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091674916304985" target="_blank">flavor the immune response and profile</a> of a person, especially in childhood. Many risk factors for allergic disease, such as viral infections, nutritional disorders, smoke exposure and pollution, affect the health of our barriers. Studies have indicated that up to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091674914011609" target="_blank">50% of childhood eczema,</a> a barrier disease, can be prevented simply by applying protective emollients like petroleum jelly to protect babies' skin when we bathe them.</p>
<h2>The Role of Hygiene in Allergy</h2><p>The central tenet of the hygiene hypothesis is that we have gone a bit too far and inadvertently killed off our good bacteria along with the bad. As our society progressed from one that was chronically burdened with infectious diseases caused by poor sanitation, the thinking goes, we reduced our exposures to the things that gave our immune system an appropriate training and tolerance. Historically, our totally rational fear of dying from a cholera epidemic led to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091674915005849" target="_blank">sewage and water management</a>, but may have kicked off the allergy epidemic.<br></p><p>Our overuse of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/antibiotics" rel="noopener noreferrer">antibiotics</a> and C-sections affects the set of organisms called the <a href="https://clintransmed.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40169-018-0195-4" target="_blank">microbiome</a> that an infant is exposed to growing up. Both have been shown to increase the risk of childhood allergic diseases.</p><p>Growing up in a rural area exposed to farm animals appears to confer a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1398-9995.2010.02397.x" target="_blank">decreased risk of allergies and asthma</a> for your entire lifetime, even among <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1508749" target="_blank">genetically similar populations</a>. Studies in mice have shown that inhaling certain molecules from soil-dwelling bacteria can set off a beneficial cascade promoting an immune system which focuses more on threats rather than nonthreats, such as <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/349/6252/1106.abstract" target="_blank">allergens</a>.</p><p>Vaccinations appear to be a crucial exception to the rule of the <a href="https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.94.6.985" target="_blank">hygiene hypothesis</a>. They confer protection against diseases without any associated increase in the risk of allergic disease, likely because they, unlike antibiotics, are very specifically targeting only the worst disease-causing organisms.</p>
<h2>Our Current Prescription</h2><p>The data currently paints a picture that we might prevent allergies in the future by protecting our barriers and introducing the right <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmoa1414850" target="_blank">tolerizing exposures at the right time</a>, such as early introduction of peanuts. However, I can't currently tell you how much dirt or what kinds of bacteria your child needs to safely experience while growing up. It's too soon for that, but many wonderful scientists around the world are working on these questions, thanks to support from a variety of governments and foundations.</p><p>Until then, I will share with you the broad-brush advice that I currently give my friends and patients.</p><ul><li>Let your kids play outside, get dirty, try new foods and be exposed to a variety of things. Advocate for them to have outside recess time in school as much as possible.</li><li>Use plain soap and water; you don't need to sanitize everything.</li><li>Talk to your doctor about watchful waiting to respond to an illness, rather than take antibiotics.</li><li>Be judicious about what you put on your body's barriers, and become an advocate for clean air, clean water and a clean environment for everyone.</li><li>Get all of your routine vaccinations. The healthiest children in the U.S. are the ones who are fully vaccinated.</li></ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">'The Dirt Cure': Why Human Health Depends on Soil Health <a href="https://t.co/5KewSKwfcy">https://t.co/5KewSKwfcy</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/OrganicConsumer?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@OrganicConsumer</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/regeneration_in?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@regeneration_in</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/kissthegroundCA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kissthegroundCA</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SoilHealth?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SoilHealth</a></p>— EcoWatch (@EcoWatch) <a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/status/969258905451757568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 1, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p><em>Cosby Stone is an instructor in allergy/immunology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Vanderbilt University.<br/></em><em>Disclosure statement: </em><em>Cosby Stone, Jr. MD, MPH currently receives funding from K12HS026395-0 via the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and has previously received funding from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences for his research in allergy.</em></p><p>
<em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-the-scoop-on-kids-and-dirt-get-enough-to-help-but-not-enough-to-hurt-a-doctor-advises-121029" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em>
</p><script async="async" data-counter="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121029/count?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" id="theconversation_tracker_hook" src="https://theconversation.com/javascripts/lib/content_tracker_hook.js" type="text/javascript"></script>From Your Site Articles
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A vegetarian bowl with quinoa fritters. Westend61 / Getty Images
By Ketura Persellin
You've likely heard that eating meat and poultry isn't good for your health or the planet. Recent news from Washington may make meat even less palatable: Pork inspections may be taken over by the industry itself, if a Trump administration proposal goes into effect, putting tests for deadly pathogens into the hands of the industry.
<p>In spite of that, global consumption of beef, lamb and goat is expected to <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2018/12/how-sustainably-feed-10-billion-people-2050-21-charts" target="_blank">rise by almost 90 percent</a> between 2010 and 2050. This may not surprise you, given how many kids love burgers and fries. With that in mind, here are seven reasons you and your family might want to become a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/vegetarian">vegetarian</a> — or at least cut down on how much meat you eat.</p>
<p>1. Environmental damage. Industrial-scale <a href="https://www.ewg.org/release/new-investigation-recent-explosion-poultry-factory-farms-nc-piles-manure-515m-chickens-waste" target="_blank">meat and poultry production</a> harms the <a href="https://www.ewg.org/meateatersguide/a-meat-eaters-guide-to-climate-change-health-what-you-eat-matters/" target="_blank">environment</a> — from the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/pesticides">pesticides</a> used to grow feed and the manure that runs off into waterways to the fertilizer that releases greenhouse gases and then pollutes rivers, lakes and oceans. You know the slime covering the lake where you spend time every summer? Tell your kids that large-scale meat and dairy production connects directly to the sign at the lake saying it's not safe for them to swim. And it's not just a matter of your vacation plans: That slime can cause permanent harm to people and animals and destroy marine ecosystems.</p>
<p>2. <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change">Climate change</a>. Kids love fart jokes, but cow flatulence isn't just a laugh line, but a significant contributor to climate crisis. Cow burps play an even bigger role, producing <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-18/could-less-gassy-livestock-be-a-cash-cow" target="_blank">22 percent</a> of U.S. emissions of <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-livestock-emissions/fighting-global-warming-one-cow-belch-at-a-time-idUSKBN1K91CU" target="_blank">methane</a>, a gas with a worse effect on the climate crisis than carbon dioxide. Eliminating or reducing meat from your diet is the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/30/dining/climate-change-food-eating-habits.html" target="_blank">biggest contribution an individual can make</a> to helping mitigate climate disaster. And because of their developing bodies, children are more vulnerable to the harmful chemicals emitted by pesticides and fertilizer, as well as disproportionately affected by the impact of climate change.</p>
<p>3. General health. The <a href="https://www.ewg.org/meateatersguide/a-meat-eaters-guide-to-climate-change-health-what-you-eat-matters/other-meat-concerns-antibiotics-hormones-and-toxins/" target="_blank">hormones</a> fed to animals on <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/factory-farming">factory farms</a> can increase the chance of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/cancer">cancer</a> in people who eat it. Red and processed meat have been linked to <a href="https://www.ewg.org/meateatersguide/a-meat-eaters-guide-to-climate-change-health-what-you-eat-matters/meat-and-your-health/" target="_blank">chronic disease</a>, including cancer. Meat is a primary source of <a href="https://www.ewg.org/research/dirty-dozen-list-endocrine-disruptors" target="_blank">dioxins</a>, a group of pollutants connected to reproductive and hormonal issues, and negative impacts on the developing fetus. By contrast, a plant-based diet can help reduce the <a href="https://www.ewg.org/cancer/keys-to-a-healthy-diet" target="_blank">risk of cancer</a> and lower the incidence of heart disease. One large study shows vegetarians tend to have a lower body mass index than meat eaters and are one-fourth less likely to <a href="https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/becoming-a-vegetarian" target="_blank">die</a> of heart disease.</p>
<p>4. Expense. The cost of meat is coming down as demand for it grows, but a diet that doesn't include meat is <a href="http://money.com/money/4066188/vegetarians-save-money/" target="_blank">easier</a> on the wallet. For instance, as a source of protein, legumes are far less expensive than meat and poultry.</p>
<p><br>5. <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sustainability">Sustainability</a>. Production of meat and dairy hogs resources. It uses grassland inefficiently, and a tremendous amount of water, and that's just for starters. Cutting it out entirely, or just reducing your consumption, will benefit the environment.</p>
<p><br>6. Drug resistance. Most kids are untroubled by the abstract idea of drug resistance, but Mom and Dad should worry. Animal overcrowding in factory farms increases livestock's risk of illness. Farmers try to "solve" the problem by routinely dosing even healthy animals with <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/antibiotics">antibiotics</a>, which can lead to antibiotic-resistant "<a href="https://www.ewg.org/childrenshealth/22153/how-prevent-dangerous-salmonella-infections-children/" target="_blank">superbugs</a>." Over time, with the overuse of antibiotics, these bacteria, such as salmonella, become resistant to the many forms of antibiotics commonly used to treat sick children. According to a recent EWG report, 20 percent of <a href="https://www.ewg.org/childrenshealth/22153/how-prevent-dangerous-salmonella-infections-children/" target="_blank">salmonella</a> strains found on grocery store chicken were resistant to the drug. This makes it far more difficult to treat children, who are more likely than adults to get salmonella in the first place.</p>
<p>7. Environmental justice. Your family's meat consumption makes an immediate impact on the people, including kids, living near the <a href="https://www.ewg.org/childrenshealth/22647/what-parents-need-know-about-factory-animal-farms" target="_blank">factory animal farms</a> where most meat is produced. The stench of manure that reaches for miles is something the people who live nearby — often <a href="https://www.ewg.org/research/under-radar" target="_blank">people of color</a> of lower economic means — can't escape. When it rains, it's likely the ensuing runoff will flood the neighborhood with manure, fertilizer and other debris. In addition to nausea, headaches and other health problems, factory farm neighbors see increases in the cases and severity of respiratory illnesses, including asthma, to which children are especially vulnerable. Unable to spend time outside, residents feel trapped indoors. Their drinking water wells can be contaminated, and so can the rivers and streams where they fish.</p>
<p>Not ready to eliminate meat entirely? Resolve simply to eat less of it. Consider meat a meal's side show, for instance, instead of the star. Or make some meals completely meatless. If you eat one less burger a week, it's as if you'd taken your car off the road for 320 miles or line-dried your clothes half the time. That's the thinking behind the New York school district's <a href="https://www.meatlessmonday.com/" target="_blank">decision</a> to institute <a href="https://www.meatlessmonday.com/" target="_blank">Meatless Mondays</a>, and it's a good rule of thumb: Small changes do add up.</p><p>And there's no need to worry your kids won't get enough protein if you cut the meat and dairy. Americans eat too much meat, and <a href="https://www.healthychildren.org/English/healthy-living/nutrition/Pages/Portions-and-Serving-Sizes.aspx" target="_blank">too much protein</a> in general. The average child age four to six years old needs just two small servings a day — one ounce of meat or fish, or an egg, is one serving — and age seven to 10, a slightly larger portion of two to three ounces.</p><p>Most adults eat too much protein too, so while you're at it, you may want to take a look at your own portion control. Here are the USDA's <a href="https://www.choosemyplate.gov/protein-foods" target="_blank">protein guidelines</a>.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Vegan Meat Substitutes: The Ultimate Guide <a href="https://t.co/FBOSU1BMV9">https://t.co/FBOSU1BMV9</a></p>— Vegan Future (@veganfuture) <a href="https://twitter.com/veganfuture/status/1092521150243057665?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p><em>Ketura Persellin is the editor at <a href="https://www.ewg.org" target="_blank">Environmental Working Group</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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If We Want Antibiotics to Work, Consumers Have to Put Big Pressure on Factory Farms
05 June 2019
Insights + Opinion
More than 27 percent if all medically important antibiotics sold in the U.S. are used to raise pigs. North Dakota Department of Agriculture
By Christy Spees
On March 1, Denny's stopped purchasing chicken treated with medically important antibiotics for its U.S. restaurants. Many consumers might expect to see such promises at Whole Foods or their local farm-to-table restaurant, but why is a chain like Denny's (i.e., one that is enjoyed more for its assortment of inexpensive breakfast foods than its moral standards) joining the trend to reduce antibiotics in meat?
<p>In fact, Denny's joins a growing group of major fast food and fast casual chains (<a href="https://www.asyousow.org/press-releases/mcdonalds-eliminate-overuse-antibiotics-beef" target="_blank">McDonald's</a>, Wendy's, <a href="https://www.asyousow.org/press-releases/kfc-plastic-pollution-pledge-antibiotics-use" target="_blank">KFC</a>, Chipotle and others) that have established policies prohibiting the use of medically important antibiotics in chicken. This is not the same as "antibiotic-free" claims, to be clear ("medically important" antibiotics are those used in human medicine; there are other antibiotics only used in animals), but it is a critical change that has been rippling through the food system for the past several years to protect human health. To explain the significance of this trend, a quick history of the problem that companies are trying to address is useful.</p>
<p>According to the World Health Organization, antibiotic resistance is one of the <a href="https://www.who.int/emergencies/ten-threats-to-global-health-in-2019" target="_blank">top 10 threats to global public health in 2019</a>. When antibiotic medications are overused or misused, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/video/health/100000005932983/bacteria-antibiotics-war.html" target="_blank">resistant bacteria can spread</a>, causing treatments for common (and often serious) illnesses to become ineffective. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/about.html" target="_blank">2 million Americans contract an antibiotic-resistant infection every year</a> and 23,000 will die from it.</p><p>The use of <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/07-11-2017-stop-using-antibiotics-in-healthy-animals-to-prevent-the-spread-of-antibiotic-resistance" target="_blank">antibiotics in animal agriculture</a> is a major part of the problem. <a href="https://advocacy.consumerreports.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/ChainReaction4_Report_FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">More than 70 percent</a> of the medically important antibiotics sold in the U.S. are sold for use in food animals. This is not because cows are particularly susceptible to strep throat; the majority of antibiotics used on animal farms are not used as treatment for diagnosed diseases in animals. Rather, most animals raised for food are raised on factory farms, or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). To produce animal products cheaply and on a large scale, animals are packed together, creating crowded, stressful and unsanitary conditions. Such conditions are inherently disease-promoting for animals. To deal with the likelihood of infections and disease associated with poor conditions without actually changing those conditions, antibiotics have become a convenient Band-Aid. As factory farming has become the predominant model for raising animals for food, more farmers have resorted to practices of routinely administering antibiotics (sometimes even delivering drugs to chicks still in the egg) to keep animals "healthy" enough to bring to slaughter. As more antibiotics are used in these conditions, more antibiotic-resistant bacteria are released into the environment.</p><p>Pressure from public interest organizations, consumers, scientists, investors and government has led to significant reductions in the use of antibiotics in food animals over the past several years, though much work remains. Consumer demand for meat raised without medically important antibiotics has steadily risen as awareness of the threat of antibiotic resistance has grown. According to <a href="https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/food-safety/most-burger-chains-get-failing-grades-for-antibiotics-use" target="_blank">Consumer Reports</a> surveys from last year, almost <a href="https://advocacy.consumerreports.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/ChainReaction4_Report_FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">80 percent</a> of Americans think meat producers should stop giving antibiotics to healthy animals and almost <a href="https://advocacy.consumerreports.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/ChainReaction4_Report_FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">60 percent</a> of survey respondents said they would be willing to pay more for meat raised without antibiotics. Consumer Reports and five public interest groups have jointly published four editions of their <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/restaurants-antibiotic-use-report-2018.pdf" target="_blank">Chain Reaction report and scorecard</a>, which urges fast food chains to respond to changing consumer preferences and reduce the impacts of their meat supply chains on antibiotic resistance.</p><p>In line with growing public concern and the rampant growth of antibiotic-resistant superbugs, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines, which <a href="https://www.fda.gov/downloads/AnimalVeterinary/GuidanceComplianceEnforcement/GuidanceforIndustry/UCM216936.pdf" target="_blank">took effect in 2017</a>, eliminated the use of medically important drugs for the purposes of growth promotion or feed efficiency. Voluntary changes by large meat purchasers are also propelling this downward trend.</p><p>The good news is that there is momentum for shifting the industry towards a healthier, more sustainable and less destructive future. The FDA <a href="https://tinyurl.com/yyavm2of" target="_blank">recently reported</a> that from 2015 to 2018, sales of medically important antibiotics for use in farm animals declined by 43 percent. Consumer demand, federal regulatory trends, advocacy group pressure and shareholder action have combined to fuel this progress.</p><p>The bad news is that the uphill battle to change the food system gets a bit steeper from here. Much of the progress made so far has come from the chicken industry. While <a href="https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/food-safety/most-burger-chains-get-failing-grades-for-antibiotics-use" target="_blank">chicken producers have been able to make fairly swift changes to reduce their antibiotics use in recent years</a>, this is not the case for other industries like beef and pork. The supply chains for those animals are more complex. So far, in the fast food industry, which has made so much progress establishing policies to avoid chicken raised with antibiotics, McDonald's is the only major company to set meaningful standards for the use of antibiotics in the beef it purchases.</p><p>Ultimately, eliminating antibiotics in the rest of the meat supply chain will require real changes in the way conventional farming works. Furthermore, the problem of antibiotic resistance is only one of many negative consequences of the factory farming system. Factory farms are major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, air and water pollution and deforestation; and from a moral standpoint, the quality of life for animals raised in factory farming conditions is shockingly poor.</p><p>Antibiotics provide a window into the deep problems in the animal agriculture system that produces the majority of our meat. The current model is broken. At the same time, the progress in reducing medically important antibiotics in the chicken industry over just a few years sheds light on the potential for change. When consumers demand more responsibly raised meat, the market will respond.</p><p>Power to drive change comes in several forms. Consumers can vote with their dollars every time they purchase food that is safe, nutritious, sustainable and transparent. Purchasing food from companies that are working to support these values will help create a food system which prioritizes health and sustainability. Health and environmental advocacy groups voice concerns on behalf of consumers and communities, helping to drive policy change. Investors in food companies also have the <a href="https://www.asyousow.org/shareholder-advocacy-1" target="_blank">ability to weigh</a> in on the risks of poor company policies through engaging with the companies they own and voting in favor of resolutions requesting healthier, less harmful practices. When all of these advocates work toward a common goal, a better food system seems possible.</p>
<p><em>Christy Spees works to promote corporate accountability to ensure a safe and sustainable food system for <a href="https://www.asyousow.org/our-work/environmental-health" target="_blank">As You Sow</a>.</em></p><p><em>This article was produced by <a href="https://independentmediainstitute.org/earth-food-life/" target="_blank">Earth | Food | Life</a></em><em>, a project of the Independent Media Institute.</em></p>
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