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Free Women

Mar 27 2009
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In the face of many obstacles, we meet a courageous group of women who have organized to change their world.

Throughout India, women are forming 'self-help groups' (SHGs) to combat the many issues facing them. With the great help of Vani Chenguttuwan, we spoke at length with the SHG in Kalugumalai, in the state of Tamil Nadu, about their successes.

Many of these women's organizational successes came after intensive work with the DHAN Foundation and its Kalanjiam Community Banking program ('Wealth' in the Tamil language).

These organizations provided on-the-ground support for the women, micro-finance for small-business start-ups, and extensive education in crafts production and marketing - traditional skills enhanced by good business practices.

Produced by PierreTerre.com as part of our public service programming.

Canada: Fetuses Have Widespread Pesticide Residues

Pesticides associated to genetically modified foods (PAGMF), are engineered to tolerate herbicides such as glyphosate (GLYP) and gluphosinate (GLUF) or insecticides such as the bacterial toxin bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation between maternal and fetal exposure, and to determine exposure levels of GLYP and its metabolite aminomethyl phosphoric acid (AMPA), GLUF and its metabolite 3-methylphosphinicopropionic acid (3-MPPA) and Cry1Ab protein (a Bt toxin) in Eastern Townships of Quebec, Canada. Blood of thirty pregnant women (PW) and thirty-nine nonpregnant women (NPW) were studied. Serum GLYP and GLUF were detected in NPW and not detected in PW. Serum 3-MPPA and CryAb1 toxin were detected in PW, their fetuses and NPW. This is the first study to reveal the presence of circulating PAGMF in women with and without pregnancy, paving the way for a new field in reproductive toxicology including nutrition and utero-placental toxicities.

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