Bayer Gobbles Up Monsanto

German pharmaceutical company Bayer has the go-ahead to acquire U.S. seed and agrochemical company Monsanto for $66 billion. The new firm will be called “Bayer” rather than “Monsanto” because Americans associate the former with children’s aspirin and the latter with Agent Orange, DDT, PCBs, glyphosate, GMOs, and other now-unpopular products.

Like many German corporations, Bayer has its own dark history. It was once part of the IG Farben conglomerate, which made Zyklon B gas for Third Reich death camps, and Bayer itself used Jewish slave labor in its wartime factories.

But memory is short, so “Monsanto” is out and “Bayer” is in. As Cory Doctorow of BoingBoing puts it, “Bayer and Monsanto merge into a new company called ‘Bayer’ because Nazis have a better reputation than Big Ag.”

More:

“Monsanto is about to disappear. Everything will stay exactly the same,” Zoë Schlanger, Quartz

“Why ‘Monsanto’ is no more,” Caitlin Dewey, Washington Post

“Monsanto to ditch its infamous name after sale to Bayer, Rupert Neate, The Guardian

“Bayer Can Drop The Name Monsanto, But Can’t Erase The Hate,” Elisabeth Dostert, Suddeutsche Zeitung, via Worldcrunch

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West Virginia: Life in the Spill Zone

“Life in West Virginia wasn’t all that easy to begin with. It is the third poorest state in the country; almost 18 percent of its population lives below the poverty line. Many people in the spill zone are now spending a chunk of their paychecks simply to have access to clean water — a necessity so fundamental it’s one that people in a developed country should expect.”

— “Don’t Drink the Water: West Virginia After the Chemical Spill,” Heather Rogers, Rolling Stone

Related:

“Chemical Valley,” Evan Osmos, The New Yorker

“What’s that smell in West Virginia water?” ScienceBlog

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Freedom is Negligent, Goes Bankrupt

This may be the closest thing to good news coming out of West Virginia this week: Freedom Industries has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.  But does the Elk River chemical spill mean we’ll finally get tough, meaningful regulation and inspection of chemical storage facilities? Probably not.

Wild, Wonderful West Virginia

The business-friendly, health-challenged state of West Virginia has still not recovered from the spill of 7,500 gallons of 4-Methylcyclohexane Methanol (MCHM) from Charleston’s Freedom Industries chemical plant into the Elk River, drinking water source for 300,000 people in nine counties. Some recent updates:

“Why So Many West Virginians Relied on Water from the Elk River: Industry Already Polluted the Others,” Nora Caplan-Bricker, The New Republic

“Safety violations found at another Freedom chemical facility,” Lindsay Abrams, Salon

“West Virginia chemical spill shines spotlight on loose regulation,” Alexandra Field. Meridith Edwards and Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN

“West Virginians Tolerate Chemical Spills Out of Fear of Losing Jobs,” Robert Reich, Moyers & Company

“I’m From West Virginia and I’ve Got Something to Say About the Chemical Spill,” Eric Waggoner, Huffington Post

“Thirsty in West Virginia,” Emma Fisher, Salon

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West Virginia Ministry of Truth Press Conference

In Charleston, the capital of West Virginia, a 48,000 gallon tank at the Freedom Industries plant dumped a chemical called 4-Methylcyclohexane Methanol (MCHM) into the Elk River, a water source for 300,000 people in nine counties. Residents have been warned not to drink or wash with their tap water. Officials from the West Virginia American Water Company and Freedom Industries immediately held a press conference to address this public health crisis.

Press conference speakers had been well-trained by Orwell’s Ministry of Truth, and adhered to its principles:

West Virginia American Water President Jeffrey McIntyre: “I can’t tell you that the water is unsafe … but I also can’t tell you it’s safe.”

Freedom Industries president Gary Southern: “Our intent is to be absolutely transparent and we’ll tell you what we know, as much as we know. … We have no information on that.”

Exploding Melons!

The melons of China are exploding. They’re not bursting with goodness, but with chemicals. Chinese farmers have been speeding the watermelon harvest by treating plants with a little too much Forchlorfenuron (FCF), a growth regulator.

New Car Smell

Automobiles are changing, but the 2010 models come equipped with many of the deluxe interior appointments to which we have grown accustomed: formaldehyde, naphthalene, phthalates, carbon disulfide, toluene, acetone, xylenes, 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, ethylbenzene, ethylene glycol butyl ether, bromine, lead, and other heavy metals and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These are the components of “New Car Smell,” the treasured aroma of factory-fresh automobiles, a true American aphrodisiac.

The poisonous perfumes emanate from the adhesives, paints, vinyls and plastics inside your new car’s passenger compartment, from carpet to headliner and dashboard to rear deck, for up to six months. The fragrant fumes may cause nausea, dizziness, asthma, and allergic attacks. One reporter compares the danger to glue-sniffing.  At higher concentrations than found in car interiors, some of these chemicals are know to cause liver, nerve and kidney damage, birth defects, and cancer.