November/December 1988
By the Mother Earth News editors
Organic Mailbox
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Your mailbox may be the best of all possible health food stores, thanks to dozens of organic growers and natural foods distributors who sell chemical- and pesticide-free products directly to the consumer by mail. To help you locate sources for untainted food, the Center for Science in the Public Interest has published a guide listing 85 mail-order suppliers of organic meat, poultry, fruit, vegetables, herbs and grains. To get a copy, send 50Q and a stamped, self-addressed business-size envelope to Mail-Order Organic, CSPI, 1501 Sixteenth St. N.W., Washington, DC 20036.
Smoking Gun
The health hazards of smoking are well known, but cigarettes also present a significant and often-overlooked safety hazard: Fires caused by cigarettes account for more than 1,500 deaths and 7,000 serious injuries in the U.S. each year, according to Dr. Jeffrey R. Botkin of the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health. Fire-resistant fabrics and furniture stuffings have had "limited impact" on the problem, says Botkin, who suggests that the most promising solution to cigarette initiated fire "lies with the cigarette itself." A three-year study required by the federal Cigarette Safety Act of 1984 showed that it is possible and economically feasible for manufacturers to produce fire-safe cigarettes-which would be thinner, with less density of tobacco wrapped in a less porous, untreated paper. The fire-safe product would contain no more tar and nicotine than traditional cigarettes, according to the study, and would not have a negative effect on consumer prices, industry employment or manufacturing finances. Tobacco companies, however, are balking at the prospect, for fear of low consumer acceptance. "Surely," says Botkin, "government-mandated public protection from fire should not be slowed or abandoned because people might smoke fewer cigarettes." The best way to eliminate the fire hazard, of course, is not to smoke at all.
Lead Levels
