Word: toxicants
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...products ranging from livestock feed to pet food - and now, apparently, to baby formula. In some tests used to determine the nutritional value of a foodstuff, melamine shows up as a protein - so manufacturers can use the compound to make their products appear more nutritious. Melamine is not toxic, but inside the body it can cause kidney stones and renal failure. In 2007, material containing melamine - but labeled as wheat gluten and rice protein - was shipped from Chinese manufacturers to pet food companies in the U.S. and elsewhere. After a Canadian pet food company announced it was voluntarily recalling food...
...generally sells credit-default swaps, thereby promising to insure others against defaults. It's a great business when defaults are low; when they rise it can turn toxic. AIG FP lost more than $10 billion in 2007 and $14.7 billion in the first six months of this year. That, along with losses in other investment portfolios, has cut deeply into the parent company's capital reserves. The credit-default-swap contracts decree that if AIG's credit rating drops below a certain level, it has to fork over $13 billion in collateral to the buyers of the swaps. Monday night...
...officials have once again come under intense scrutiny this week as the number of infants sickened by a batch of tainted milk powder expands daily. On September 17, Chinese Health Ministry authorities announced that over 6200 babies had fallen ill, many developing kidney stones, from drinking milk made from toxic powder. At least three have died, and more than 50 remain in serious condition. Officials have said the number of victims could climb, the China Daily reported...
...because the malnourished children developed swollen heads, touched off domestic demands for greater scrutiny of Chinese food products. Last year, the food supply chain became an international concern when a series of faulty export products were uncovered including fish contaminated with banned drugs, toothpaste and cough syrup made with toxic chemicals and lead paint used on toys. In March and April of 2007, Melamine emerged as the chief suspect in the poisoning of thousands of dogs and cats in the U.S. that were fed pet food made from Chinese ingredients. China responded by banning the substance for use in animal...
...Concerned researchers point to animal studies that indicate that even low-dose exposure to BPA may be associated with a variety of ills, including cancer and reproductive problems. But defenders - most prominently the chemical industry itself - argue that the average dose of BPA is far too low to be toxic, and that in any case, there have never been human studies implicating the chemical as dangerous. So far that argument has carried the day - the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) last month announced that the BPA wasn't dangerous to human health in small doses, and declined to regulate it. (Tuesday...