A newly installed TransCanada natural gas pipeline exploded last Thursday morning in the remote Nixon Ridge area of Marshall County in West Virginia, sending a ball of fire shooting up into the sky. People as far away as Washington County reported seeing flames. WTOV-TV states that the explosion occurred in a TransCanada pipeline. No injuries have been reported.

It sounded like a freight train coming through, or a tornado, and the sky lit up bright orange, and then I got up and looked out the window and flames were shooting I don’t know how far into the sky.” – Tina Heath-Chaplin, of Moundsville

WTOV-TV in Steubenville, Ohio, reported that the explosion happened on June 7th shortly before 4:30 a.m.

Area police told CBS News “…if you can see it from your house, evacuate,” but reports showed that the flames could be seen from at least 20 miles away.

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This picture sent to me from a viewer in Short Creek, WV. Perspective: this is 20 MILES or more away, over a half hour drive! @WTRF7News pic.twitter.com/yAmFJUnKmO

— Tessa DiTirro (@TessOnTV) June 7, 2018

TransCanada is the company behind the infamous Keystone pipeline. Shortly after the explosion, the company stated that the situation had been contained.

As soon as the issue was identified, emergency response procedures were enacted and the segment of impacted pipeline was isolated. The fire was fully extinguished by approximately 8:30 a.m.”

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https://www.facebook.com/ruby.mason.54/videos/1587635261364082/

This pipeline is the Leach XPress. It was put into service January 1, 2018. TransCanada emphasized that the pipeline was built very quickly, but also safely.

We’re looking forward to generations of safe operations. This is truly a best-in-class pipeline and we look forward to many years of safe, reliable, and efficient operation on behalf of our customers.” – ” Scott Castleman, manager of U.S. Gas Communications for TransCanada

Related:

Keystone Pipeline Leak in South Dakota About Double Previous Estimate

Now that the merger between Bayer and Monsanto has been approved, the German pharmaceutical giant has announced plans to scrub the Monsanto name from their agrochemical products, selling them under the name Bayer Crop Science instead. After receiving the U.S. government approval for the merger, the company announced,

Bayer will remain the company name. Monsanto will no longer be a company name. The acquired products will retain their brand names and become part of the Bayer portfolio…”

The deal is scheduled to be completed on June 14.

The Benefits

In eliminating the name Monsanto, Bayer is getting rid of quite a bit of baggage. Monsanto is responsible for the introduction of several products that have done serious damage to the environment and public health, like Agent Orange, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), saccharin, aspartame, and recently designated carcinogen, glyphosate. Entire protest movements are dedicated to opposing Monsanto, and there’s always the possibility that the more stringent regulations of GMOs have been in response to their reputation. With this move, Bayer loses the liability of the Monsanto reputation while maintaining Monsanto’s profits and market control.

Must Read: How to Avoid GMOs in 2018 – And Everything Else You Should Know About Genetic Engineering

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-EW4XzQwRM

Holistic Profits

Bayer is remaking itself. Originally a pharmaceutical company, they’re now moving into agriculture. But not just any agriculture…they’re getting into agriculture with a company that has been definitively linked to making people sick. Which makes this an excellent move for Bayer. Step one, take control of the food system. Step two, make the food that causes cancer and disrupts the endocrine system impossible to avoid. Step three, sell the drugs needed to manage the conditions caused by unavoidable unhealthy food. Step four? Profit, clearly.

Sources:

• A glypho by any other name: Bayer to bury Monsanto brand after takeover – RT International
• Bayer Monsanto Merger Gets U.S. Approval, Conquering Last Regulatory Hurdle – Organic Lifestyle Magazine
• Monsanto’s Dirty Dozen: The 12 Most Awful Products Made by Monsanto – Collective Evolution

The biannual Puget Sound mussel monitoring study found that three of eighteen samples of native bay mussels contained trace amounts of oxycodone, the chemotherapy drug Melphalan, and antidepressants. Scientists from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) transplant uncontaminated mussels to various locations in the Seattle and Bremerton harbors and check them two to three months later. It is not unusual for pharmaceuticals and illegal drugs like cocaine to be found during these surveys, but this is the first time scientists have found opioids. Jennifer Lanksbury is a biologist at the WDWW.

What we eat and what we excrete goes into the Puget Sound…It’s telling me there’s a lot of people taking oxycodone in the Puget Sound area.”

Related: How Farmed Fish Degrades Our Health and the Environment – Better Options Included

How Do They Get There?

Opioid use in the U.S. has spiraled out of control, with deaths from pharmaceutical versions, heroin, and fentanyl nearly tripling since 2002. Finding evidence of that crisis in our waterways is a when, not an if. But how does that happen?

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The biggest culprits are wastewater plants discharging into the bay. Opioids enter the waste stream through human excrement and improperly disposed of pharmaceuticals (flushing them). An earlier study in the Great Lakes found that wastewater treatment facilities were only able to remove half of the prescription drugs that enter the plant. A quarter of chemicals had low removal rates, where there was less than 25 percent chance of removing 75 percent or more of the drug. Runoff from agricultural sources is also a contributor to the presence of harmful chemicals in aquatic environments.

What Do the Fish Think?

The bay mussels are not likely to metabolize these opioids, especially in the trace amounts found, but what about other fish? Zebrafish, although not a resident of the Puget Sound, learn how to dose themselves with opioids, and scientists surmise that salmon and other native species will have similar reactions. The effects of these drugs on the aquatic population will likely be more clear as the opioid crisis continues to gain momentum.

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The opioids were found in trace amounts, but the chemotherapy drug Melphalan was found in doses that correspond to a recommended dose in humans. This drug interacts with DNA and is a carcinogen. The National Institutes of Health notes that

…There is sufficient evidence for the carcinogenicity of melphalan from studies in experimental animals. When administered by intraperitoneal injection, melphalan caused cancer of lymphatic tissue (lymphosarcoma) in male mice, lung tumors in mice of both sexes, and cancer of the abdominal cavity (sarcoma of the peritoneum) in rats of both sexes…”

Water At Risk

Water is our most precious resource, and we have not been good stewards of it. The ecosystem that keeps our bodies of water and our very planet healthy is constantly being changed and manipulated without a way to correct for the changes. This is the first evidence of opioids in the water, but other drugs have become commonplace as we see with the Melphalan. There are no procedures in place to keep the same thing from happening with opioids.

Sources:

• Bay Mussels in Puget Sound Show Traces of Oxycodone – Puget Sound Institute
• Mussels off the coast of Seattle test positive for opioids – CBS News
• Overdose Death Rates – National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Melphalan – National Institutes of Health Report on Carcinogen 
• Only Half of Drugs Removed by Sewage Treatment – Scientific American

Last Tuesday Bayer AG received U.S. antitrust approval to takeover Monsanto, clearing the last major regulatory hurdle for the 66 billion dollar deal to happen. The deal has received antitrust approval from most jurisdictions around the world. Bayer is still waiting for Mexico and Canada’s approval, but according to a recent statement, the company believes the deal will close by the June 14 deadline. If the deal is not completed by June 14 Monsanto could pull out or seek a higher price.

Approval from the U.S. Justice Department is contingent on the sale of $9 billion in Bayer assets to BASF. The sales of those assets include the Liberty herbicide brand as well as the company’s canola, soybean, and vegetable seed businesses. These products compete with current Monsanto products.

Makan Delrahim, head of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, says that this is the largest divestiture in U.S. antitrust enforcement history.

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Acquiring Monsanto is the latest move in a series of steps to transform the 154-year-old company. Bayer used to be a plastics business. Now they are considered a “life-science” company. Bayer will be equal parts health industry and agriculture industry.

When the deal goes through there will be three massive global corporations that control the world’s agriculture industry: DowDuPont, Syngenta AG, and Bayer-Monsanto.

The DOJ’s weak divestment requirements will do nothing to stop Bayer-Monsanto from controlling more and more of our food system. This merger will damage the bargaining power of family farmers, prevent farmers from accessing diverse seed varieties, and allow seed prices to rise.” – Tiffany Finck-Haynes, senior food futures campaigner with Friends of the Earth via Bloomerg

Must Read:

• How to Avoid GMOs in 2018 – And Everything Else You Should Know About Genetic Engineering
• Scientists Against GMOs – Hear From Those Who Have Done the Research
• Doctors Against GMOs – Hear From Those Who Have Done the Research

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Fungal infections are demonstrating resistance to fungicides in the same way that bacteria react to antibiotics, warns a new report in Science magazine. Many perceive fungal infections like candida, athlete’s foot, and others to be relatively harmless, but an estimated 1.5 million worldwide die from fungal related causes. These microbes have slowly been building resistance to traditional methods of treatment, and according to the report, that’s scary news.

Fungal infections on human health are currently spiraling, and the global mortality for fungal diseases now exceeds that for malaria or breast cancer.”

How Did We Get Here

These potentially devasting microbial evolutions follow the same pattern. People and animals are given large amounts of unnecessary antibiotics or fungicides. Even if these drugs kill all of the pathogens they are meant to (and they don’t always), they also eliminate the beneficial bacteria as well. Once the beneficial bacteria is cleared out, bacteria and fungus left untouched by the treatment have a clear field to thrive. This allows the microbes strong enough to withstand the medication with the best possible environment for it to colonize.

Related: Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections

Scientists predict a yearly death rate of 10 million people from antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the year 2050 if things continue as they are. Currently, deaths from those bacteria number 700,000 people a year. Estimates for deaths caused by fungal infections this year are at 1.5 million. Fungus and their spores are causing more deaths, and the most commonly used treatments for fungal issues are being used more frequently and diversely than antibiotics are.

Burying the Lede

There are two reasons to be incredibly concerned about antifungal-resistance. We are using azoles, the most commonly used family of antifungals, as medicine for people and animals, as crop protection, for preserving lumber, and as antifouling coatings applied to the outside of ships. These fungicides are everywhere, and if we’ve learned anything from the widely published antibiotic-resistant superbugs, this is bad news.

Another reason? The fungus is impossible to contain, and fungi are better at becoming airborne than other pathogens like bacteria and viruses. Every inhale contains multiple fungal infections waiting to happen. Much of our food is grown with fungus specifically added to it. There is no escape.

Related: How to Kill Fungal Infections

Taking It Seriously

Agriculture has known about fungus resistance to azoles for more than a decade. We’ve been on this train for a while now, and no one is activating the brakes. How bad is the crash going to be?

Immune System Importance

Dangerous mycotoxins (toxic substances produced by fungi) can develop in the compost pile, household mold, grains like wheat and sorghum, pet food, and dietary supplements. More people die from fungal infections than from tuberculosis. People who are taking antibiotics or who have compromised immune systems are especially susceptible. Which boggles the mind really…antibiotic use leaves you at a greater risk for a potentially dangerous fungal infection.

Related: How To Heal Your Gut

We can’t always control what we’re exposed to. The most common (and frustrating) fungal infections are caused by candida, a necessary digestive microbe! What we can control is how our body reacts to them. Balancing your microbes is key to a healthy immune system and avoiding serious illness.

Sources:

• Deaths from fungal infections exceeding malaria, say researchers in new drug resistance warning – The Independent
• Worldwide emergence of resistance to antifungal drugs challenges human health and food security – Science Magazine
• How fungi kill millions globally – CNN
• Genesis of Azole Antifungal Resistance from Agriculture to Clinical Settings – Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
• Attacking fungal infection, one of world’s major killers – Science News

Whole Foods Market executives emailed suppliers last Friday to announce that the company will delay the rollout of its GMO Labeling Policy. The company’s comprehensive labeling policy was slated for September 1st. They have not announced a new timeline for the policy.

In a copy of the announcement obtained by The New Food Economy, Gallo and two vice presidents write that the pause is a response to suppliers’ concerns about having to comply with two competing sets of rules: Whole Foods’ own GMO labeling requirements, and rules newly proposed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which are currently open for public comment.”

The confusion is understandable. As currently proposed, the USDA policy would make several substantive changes to the way GMOs have traditionally been defined by the food industry—starting with the terminology itself. The government’s preferred nomenclature is “bioengineered” (BE), which only refers to a food that has had another organism’s genes spliced into it by a process called transgenesis. Other types of genetic modification, including some produced by gene-editing tools like CRISPR, would not need to be labeled. – New Food Economy

Whole Foods previously announced that it soon would require food suppliers to “label products that contain genetically modified (GMO) risk ingredients and were not third-party verified as non-GMO or organic.”

Whole Foods stated in a separate memo that all suppliers still must acquire third-party verification by a Whole Foods-approved program for any “non-GMO” claims on the food labels.

Be sure to check out How to Avoid GMOs in 2018 – And Everything Else You Should Know About Genetic Engineering.

A newly published study in Nature Communications has discovered that a peptide found in tobacco plants, NaD1, is able to combat Candida albicans cells. The compound is found in the plant Nicotiana alata, which is one of roughly 70 species of tobacco not grown for commercial use. The outer layer of Candida albicans, the most common cause of yeast infections, is torn apart by the peptide, causing the death and explosion of the fungus. According to Dr. Mark Hulett, a study author from the La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science,

They [the peptides] act in a different way to existing antibiotics and allow us to explore new ways of fighting infections. It’s an exciting discovery that could be harnessed to develop a new class of life-saving antimicrobial therapy to treat a range of infectious diseases, including multi-drug-resistant golden staph, and viral infections such as HIV, Zika virus, Dengue and Murray River Encephalitis.”

Candida’s Diet

Candida is an especially insidious fungus. Since the candida is always present in the body, keeping the opportunistic microbe in balance is key. Unfortunately, the standard American diet, high in sugar and processed foods, is incredibly suited to the fungus.

Recommended: Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections

Figuring out the Future

The discovery of this plant’s effectiveness in killing Candida could be a breakthrough in treating the fungus. Or it could be devastating in a way we haven’t anticipated. Candida serves a necessary function, aiding in nutrient absorption and digestion. It also releases toxins as it dies, and death by explosion seems guaranteed to cause significant die-off symptoms.

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Maybe this will work. Likely it won’t because it doesn’t deal with how the candida got out of control in the first place. The issue is diet, and that will take a more thoughtful and holistic approach than pharmaceuticals can offer.

Sources:

• La Trobe’s Infection-Busting Discovery – Latrobe.edu
• X-ray structure of a carpet-like antimicrobial defensin–phospholipid membrane disruption complex – Nature Communications
• 6 Most Common Types of Candida – yeastinfection.org
• Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections – Organic Lifestyle Magazine