The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Bayer to pay more than $10 billion to settle cancer lawsuits

Bayer agreed to pay $10 billion over claims its herbicide Roundup causes cancer in people in a settlement announced Wednesday.

Most of the money will be sent to four leading plaintiffs’ law firms, who will distribute it to nearly 100,000 clients who were diagnosed with cancer after prolonged use of the weed killer. Bayer still faces at least 30,000 claims from plaintiffs who haven’t agreed to join the settlement.

The settlement also includes $1.25 billion for potential future claims from Roundup customers who may develop the form of cancer known as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Individuals, depending on the strength of their cases, will receive payments of $5,000 to $250,000, according to a New York Times article.

Most sunscreens provide poor protection or contain questionable ingredients, environmental group says

If you’re going to leave your home and go outside, remember to protect your skin from the sun’s rays. To help consumers select a sunscreen, the Environmental Working Group has released its 14th annual “Guide to Sunscreens.”

Researchers rated the safety and effectiveness of more than 1,300 SPF products – including sunscreens, moisturizers, and lip balms – and found that only 25 percent offer adequate protection and don’t contain worrisome ingredients such as oxybenzone, a potential hormone-disrupting chemical that’s readily absorbed by the body.

Despite a delay in finalizing rules that would make all sunscreens on U.S. store shelves safer, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is completing tests that highlight concerns with common sunscreen ingredients. Last year, the agency published two studies showing that, with just a single application, six chemical active ingredients, including oxybenzone, are readily absorbed through the skin and could be detected in bodies at levels that could cause harm.

For the first time in 20 years, AAA won’t make a Memorial Day travel forecast

Gas prices continue to increase across the country with nearly every state’s average increasing by an average of 4 cents. At the start of the Memorial Day work week, the national gas price average is $1.87.

The last time the national gas price average leading into the holiday was under $2 a gallon was in 2003. That year motorists paid, on average, $1.50 to fill-up.

“Gas prices around Memorial Day have not been this cheap in nearly 20 years,” said Jeanette Casselano, AAA spokesperson. “However, as the country continues to practice social distancing, this year’s unofficial kick-off to summer is not going to drive the typical millions of Americans to travel.”

During the coronavirus pandemic, Trump rolls back environmental laws

Auto fuel efficiency standards

The Trump administration released a final rule Tuesday rolling back auto fuel efficiency standards, which will let cars and light trucks emit about 1 billion more tons of carbon pollution over the lifetime of the vehicle fleet than under the standards set by the Obama administration.

“This is one of the most reckless and unconscionable decisions made by any president, and doing it in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis is doubly insidious,” said Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group.

The Obama-era fuel standards were the single largest effort by the federal government to fight global warming and the health hazards of carbon dioxide emissions, according to a New York Times article. Several automakers supported the standards, which required them to increase fuel efficiency to 54 miles per gallon by 2025. Under the Trump rollback, vehicle fleets will be required to average about 40 miles per gallon.

Baby boomers concentrate on keepin’ on during the coronavirus pandemic

I’m working on my book about my journalism career, so these days of staying at home are going by quickly for me. I have plenty of food (and toilet paper) and just found out I can order groceries, expect frozen food, from my local food co-op. I was ready to try Safeway or Fred Meyer thinking eating nonorganic food would be a lesser risk than going to the co-op to shop.

Then, I wrote about the Dirty Dozen, a list of the produce with the highest pesticide residues offered yearly by the Environmental Working Group. Topping the list are strawberries, spinach, and kale. The EWG recommends that whenever possible, consumers purchase organic versions of produce on the Dirty Dozen list.

Raisins, which hadn’t been tested by the U.S. Department of Agriculture since 2007, had the most pesticide residues. The EWG recommends eating organic raisins or prunes. Prunes, USDA tests found, had much lower pesticide residues than either conventional and organic raisins.

Meanwhile, boomer bloggers are writing about:

Strawberries, spinach, and kale top this year’s Dirty Dozen list for pesticide residue, but raisins are worse

Nearly 70 percent of the fresh produce sold in the United States contains residues of potentially harmful chemical pesticides, according to the Environmental Working Group’s 2020 Dirty Dozen. This year’s Dirty Dozen are:

1. Strawberries
2. Spinach
3. Kale
4. Nectarines
5. Apples
6. Grapes
7. Peaches
8. Cherries
9. Pears
10. Tomatoes
11. Celery
12. Potatoes

Scientists call for the elimination of hazardous chemicals that come in contact with food, such as in food packaging

Many chemicals can migrate into food from packaging and equipment used to manufacture and process food. Some of these chemicals are known to have hazardous properties such as carcinogenicity, toxicity for reproduction, persistence and bioaccumulation, or endocrine disruption. In addition, the safety of other chemicals hasn’t been adequately assessed.

Thirty-three international scientists published a scientific consensus statement on food contact chemicals and human health Monday in Environmental Health.

The statement sends a message that the system for protecting consumers from food contact chemicals is broken, said Lisa Y. Lefferts, senior scientist for the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Crystal Geyser pleads guilty to storing and transporting wastewater contaminated with arsenic

CG Roxane, the parent company of bottle water producer Crystal Geyser, has pleaded guilty to federal charges of illegally storing and transporting hazardous waste created from filtering arsenic out of spring water at its facility in Olancha, California. In a plea agreement recently filed in U.S. District Court, CG Roxane agreed to pay a criminal fine of $5 million.

CG Roxane obtained water by drawing groundwater from the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains that contained naturally occurring arsenic, according to court documents. The company used sand filters to reduce the concentration of arsenic so the water would meet federal drinking water standards. To maintain the effectiveness of the sand filters, CG Roxane back-flushed the filters with a sodium hydroxide solution, which generated thousands of gallons of arsenic-contaminated wastewater.

For about 15 years, CG Roxane discharged the arsenic-contaminated wastewater into a manmade pond – called “the Arsenic Pond” – at its Olancha facility along Highway 395.

The Thompson’s Co. recalls aerosol cans of wood and masonry protector due to fire hazard

The Thompson’s Co. is recalling about 852,000 Thompson’s waterseal waterproofing wood protector and masonry protector in aerosol cans.

The contents of the cans can react with the package, causing rust to form along the can seam, which could spread to other areas of the can and create pinhole leaks. Leaking propellant poses a fire hazard when it comes into contact with sources of ignition. Leaking sealer can also cause property damage. 

The Thompson’s Co. received about 18 reports of leaking cans from retailers. No injuries, fires, or property damage were reported.

FDA bans e-cigarettes that appeal to children, including fruit and mint

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an enforcement policy Thursday against some flavored e-cigarette products that appeal to kids, including fruit and mint flavors. Under this policy, companies that don’t stop the manufacture, distribution, and sale of unauthorized e-cigarettes, other than tobacco or menthol, within 30 days risk FDA enforcement actions.

“As we work to combat the troubling epidemic of youth e-cigarette use, the enforcement policy we’re issuing today confirms our commitment to dramatically limit children’s access to certain flavored e-cigarette products we know are so appealing to them – so-called cartridge-based products that are both easy to use and easily concealable,” said FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn, M.D.

Hahn said the action along with the recent legislation increasing the minimum age of sale of tobacco to 21 will address the public health threat of youth use of e-cigarettes.