Can Australians say that chemicals are being regulated in this nation???  Known dangerous chemicals banned in other nations are okay to use here and they can be applied where 198 other chemicals are also used.  Who knows what the effects of chemical combinations are.  And who in our government cares?

Two-headed fish in Noosa River.  Chemicals from the macadamia farms are susptected.  Primarily two (i) Endosulfan (an organochlorine insecticide recommended for banning by the Stockholm convention on Persistent Organic Pesticides that Australia is a signatory to. Studies have found that endosulfan - an organochlorine and part of the same family of chemicals as DDT - affects hormones and reproduction in aquatic and terrestrial organisms and is particularly deadly to amphibians. Endosulfan is under review by the US EPA and has been banned by the New Zealand Environmental Risk Management Authority) and (ii) carbendazim (fungicide being investigated by the APVMA over concerns the chemical could cause abnormalities in animals and withdrawn from sale in the US in 2001).  The chemicals have variously been banned in countries such as the US and New Zealand and in Europe. Endosulfan and carbendazim have been linked to birth and reproductive defects, liver toxicity and cancer.   “If the chemicals had been properly used but had led to adverse environmental impacts, the authority would consider a ban.” Said Dr Cubit spokesperson for the APVMA.  More than 200 chemicals were registered for use on macadamias.

Chemicals blamed for two-headed fish in Noosa River

Article from: The Courier-Mail

Brian Williams and Sophie Elsworth

January 16, 2009 11:00pm