Lawsuit: Antimicrobial Soaps Damage Reproductive Organs

Thursday, July 29, 2010

A nonprofit environmental group has sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, claiming the agency failed to regulate toxic chemicals found in "antimicrobial" soap and other personal care products.

The National Resources Defense Council alleges that two common ingredients, triclosan and triclocarban, can damage reproductive organs, sperm quality and the production of thyroid and sex hormones.

According to the suit, which also names U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius as a defendant, recent bio-monitoring results found "residues of triclosan in 75 percent of Americans over the age of 6."

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on Tuesday. Representatives of the FDA and the Department of Health and Human Services declined to comment, saying it was a matter of policy not to comment on lawsuits.

Plaintiffs contend that the FDA violated federal law in its delay over establishing safe conditions of use. More than 30 years ago, the agency first proposed to regulate such products for over-the-counter use, but they remain on the market and are unregulated, the group said.

"As a result of the FDA's lengthy delay, consumers remain exposed to triclosan and triclocarban through a variety of over-the-counter drug products, such as antimicrobial hand soaps, that proliferate on the market," the lawsuit stated.

The suit seeks an order requiring the FDA to finish its study on the conditions of use by a specific deadline.

No manufacturers or retailers were named as defendants or were cited in the lawsuit.

The FDA said in April it was reviewing the safety of triclosan. It noted there was no evidence it could be harmful to people and did not recommend changing consumer use of products that contain the agent.

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The popularity of antimicrobial products has grown in recent years and the products are increasingly found in homes and offices, where germs can easily be passed from person to person.

The lawsuit cites various recent studies that associate the chemicals with a host of health risks, from lower thyroid hormone levels to the disruption of testosterone production.

In 1978, according to the lawsuit, the FDA proposed to ban from interstate commerce both triclosan and triclocarban either six months or two years after publication of its final study, but no action was taken until 1994, when some ingredients were reclassified.

"Healthcare antiseptics containing these chemicals remained on the market and increased in prevalence" since 1994, the lawsuit said.

The National Resources Defense Council said it had met with the FDA to try to hasten the study, to no avail.

Responding to a letter from U.S. Rep. Edward Markey of Massachusetts in February, the FDA said it could not give a specific timeline, but said it was "working diligently" to publish the proposed rule. It also cited a lack of long-term data regarding potential health effects from exposure to the toxins.

The case is National Resources Defense Council v. USDA et al, 10 CIV 5690

Argentinian lawmakers voting on same-sex marriage.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: The Argentine Senate is debating a same-sex marriage bill
• The bill would give same-sex couples equal marriage rights and ability to adopt children
• Catholic and evangelical churches in Argentina have organized protest marches
• Thousands of protesters demonstrated in front of the Argentine Congress

(CNN) -- Debate was under way Wednesday in Argentina's Senate on a same-sex marriage bill that already has passed the lower chamber of Congress. A vote was expected later Wednesday.

The bill would give same-sex couples equal marriage rights, including the ability to adopt children.

Addressing claims that church leaders have been lobbying lawmakers about the proposal, Sen. Miguel Angel Pichetto told the state-run Telam news agency that he had not been pressured.

"There is some pressure in some provinces where the church plays a prominent role, but such is democracy," he said.

Thousands of people protested the measure Tuesday in front of Argentina's Congress in marches convened by Catholic and evangelical churches in the country.

"We don't want a negative tint, that's not the objective of the march, but to propose and promote marriage as we understand it, between a man and a woman," said Justo Carbajales, representative of the Episcopal Church in Argentina, according to Telam.

A smaller, but just as boisterous, group of counter-protesters in favor of the bill congregated in another part of the city.

On the eve of Wednesday's vote, Senate Provisional President José Pampuro told Telam that he would vote "affirmatively for gay marriage."

Last month's congressional vote and Wednesday's Senate vote are the latest moves in a pro-gay marriage trend in Argentine politics.

Last year, a judge in Buenos Aires ruled that a ban on same-sex marriage was illegal, paving the way for such marriages in the capital of Argentina. An injunction by another judge stopped what would have been the first same-sex marriage there.

Ultimately, Latin America's first same-sex marriage happened in Argentina in a southern state with a pro-gay marriage governor.

Now, the issue has reached beyond local and state politics to the national stage........By the CNN Wire Staff

July 14, 2010 -- Updated 1731 GMT (0131 HKT).

Hold the truth in unrighteousness.

Acts 1:18-32

1:18   For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
  1:19   Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed [it] unto them.
  1:20   For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, [even] his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

1:21   Because that, when they knew God, they glorified [him] not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
  1:22   Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
  1:23   And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
  1:24   Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:

 1:25   Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
  1:26   For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
  1:27   And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet.
  1:28   And even as they did not like to retain God in [their] knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

 1:29   Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
  1:30   Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
  1:31   Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
  1:32   Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

Europe's top court hears school crucifix case

By Richard Allen Greene, CNN

June 30, 2010 -- Updated 2059 GMT (0459 HKT)

A European court found in November that crucifixes in classrooms violate students' rights.

CNN) -- Italy pushed back Wednesday against a European court ruling that crucifixes in classrooms violate students' right to freedom of religion and education.

The European Court of Human Rights found unanimously in November that the display of a particular religious symbol -- such as the Christian cross -- in a classroom "restricted the right of parents to educate their children in conformity with their convictions, and the right of children to believe or not to believe."

But the court agreed in January to hear Italy's appeal.

Ten other European governments, dozens of European lawmakers and half a dozen nongovernmental organizations have also gotten involved in the appeal.

The original case was brought by an Italian woman, Soile Lautsi, who objected to the crucifixes on the walls in her two sons' classrooms.

She fought her way through the Italian legal system starting in 2001, arguing that she wanted to raise her children as secular, according to court documents.

Italian courts ruled earlier that the cross was a symbol of Italy's history and culture, prompting Lautsi to take her case to the European court in Strasbourg, France.

It awarded her 5,000 euros ($7,400) in damages in November.

The court does not have the power to force Italy to take down the representations of Jesus on the cross, but if its ruling stands and Italy does not comply, the door would be open for others to sue on the same grounds, said court spokesman Stefano Piedimonte.

Only Italy would be directly affected by the ruling if it loses the case, but all 47 countries that belong to the Council of Europe "might draw consequences from such a judgment," court spokesman Frederic Dolt added.

It could take the court six months to a year to rule, he said.

Leading Catholic figures expressed astonishment and anger at the ruling last year.

The Italian Conference of Bishops called it "cause for bitterness and many perplexities."

"It does not take into account the fact that in Italy the display of the crucifix in public places is in line with the recognition of the principles of Catholicism as 'part of the historical patrimony of the Italian people,' as stated in the Vatican/Italy agreement of 1984," the bishops said in a written statement.

Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re told the leading Italian daily La Repubblica he could not understand it, and that no one with common sense could have expected it.

"When I think that we are talking about a symbol, the crucifix, an image that cannot but be the emblem of a universally shared humanity, I not only feel disappointed but also sadness and grief," he said.

"The crucifix is the sign of a God that loves man to the point of giving up his life for him. It is a God that teaches us to learn to love, to pay attention to each man ... and to respect the others, even those who belong to a different culture or religion.

How could someone not share such a symbol?"

Seventeen judges heard the appeal Wednesday.

The governments of Russia, Greece, Armenia, Romania, Lithuania, Malta, San Marino, Bulgaria, Monaco and Cyprus are also involved in the appeal, the court said.

The European Court of Human Rights was set up in Strasbourg by the Council of Europe Member States in 1959 to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights.

CNN's Hada Messia in Rome contributed to this report.