Activists

As a result of this oversupply, scrap values for many recyclable materials have fallen noticeably over the past few years. Further complicating matters are new efforts from regulators and environmental activists to mandate the reuse of certain materials (rates and dates) and that products be made with specified amounts of recycled material (product content laws). Such demand-side measures distort market forces and do not appear to be justified on either economic or environmental grounds. 

The core function of QRA is to provide information for decision making. QRA results in and of themselves cannot prove anything. However, decision makers can compare QRA risk estimates to their own risk tolerance criteria to decide whether a plant or operation is safe enough. The same QRA results can support both the plant manager s contention that the plant is safe, as well as the community activist s claim that the plant is unsafe. The difference lies in the individual s risk tolerance, not the QRA. 

Key customers —Local officials —Community activists —Neighbors... 

Activists are people who prefer to learn at the doing stage, i.e. at the point where the experience actually happens. 

Newman V. The Knowledge Activist s Elandbook. Oxford, Capstone Publishing Ltd. 

C22-0082. A river contains a high concentration of iron cations, and environmental activists contend that an industrial manufacturing plant is the source. The manufacturer says that although the plant generates aqueous iron waste, it is processed on site and does not contaminate the river. How might this disagreement be resolved using radioactive tracers ... 

The day after the fifth worker died in a tetraethyl lead factory, the U.S. Bureau of Mines announced blandly that the additive posed no peril. Enraged scientists, public health experts, and activists attacked the study. 

Lisa Lloyd I was just wondering how you can convince other scientists of any of what you said. I think there s a huge amount of interest in antireductionist and complexifying approaches to research in this room, and it makes me wonder what happens when everybody goes home. So if we go home and you think that what happens in the next ten years is going to have a huge influence, how exactly does the influence go This is an activist kind of question. 

Anonymous (2005). Activists push for no-GM zones , The Western Producer, June 9, 75. 

Because some people who self-disclose their vulnerability to chemicals become targets for hostility and violence, these narratives represent enormous acts of courage. When interviewing Katy Young, a single mother of two small children, I was deeply moved by her courage when she told me that after she received a death threat because of her work as an MCS activist, she tried to get out as much information as possible while she still could. 

Known far and wide for her success as an MCS activist and educator, Ann moved to New Mexico in the early 1990s in search of a safer house and environment. Santa Fe hasn t been the same since her arrival. She recently was recognized by leaders of the city for her contributions to the community. She was one of the founders of the Healthy Housing Coalition of New Mexico, a non-profit organization providing information on MCS and New Mexico, and tips for creating safe housing. 

As a student at San Francisco State University, Susan was a political activist during the Vietnam era. While on hiatus from school she traveled extensively in Southeast Asia, Europe and Central America. During that time she received numerous inoculations and used DEET-containing insect repellents daily on her body, hair and clothing. Now she wonders if that relates to the onset of her severe chemical reactions approximately one year after she returned to the U.S. in the early 80s. 

In Marin I ran into situations time and again when someone I knew couldn t enter the hospital because there was new carpet, or couldn t get a pap smear or a breast exam, or couldn t take kids to the ER or to a clinic because of chemical barriers. I began working with some of the disability activists in Marin County and San Francisco and tried to learn what the laws were. In 1985 I started a newsletter, called The Reactor, about civil rights and access rights for people with chemical and electric magnetic field sensitivities. 

MCS is not as horrible as you may think. I m glad I understand this important issue, and it s nice to be able to talk about it to groups. I ve met a lot of interesting people and learned something about politics. I was on the Northwest Afternoon show with Dr. Doris Rapp, and I ve been able to help my mom with activist work. For years my mother was consumed with working for the environment. Now, as others take over that work, she doesn t always have to be on the battlefield. 

I am also grateful to The growing circle of physicians, researchers, policymakers, activists and others who are responding to environmental health issues with right action. My family members and friends who honor my need for chemical- and fragrance-free encounters. And Bart Paff, Ph.D., for an incredible journey to joy and self. 

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