Greens urge health minister to block-out nano sunscreen

The Greens are calling on the NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner to pressure her Federal colleague Tanya Plibersek to regulate the use of nanoparticles in sunscreen, following the action taken today by Friends of the Earth, says Greens NSW MP John Kaye.
 
Dr Kaye said: "Friends of the Earth have courageously dressed up as the beach safety icon David Hasselhoff to show the state and federal governments people are very worried about the health impacts of nanoparticles in their sunscreen.
 
"The Greens support the calls from Friends of the Earth for  immediate regulation and labelling of nano-particles to allow consumers to protect themselves from the potentially adverse health effects of nanoparticles.
 
"Nanoparticles are similar in size and structure to asbestos particles.
 
"An Australian study found nanoparticles can easily be absorbed through the skin. Their effects from then on are potentially extremely harmful.
 
"The potential side effects from nano particles include damage to DNA and under the worse case scenario, cancer. Nanoparticles have no place in the sunscreens which are supposed to be protecting people.
 
"Companies are continuing to use nano particles in their products without having to state it on the label, let alone display a warning. This is unacceptable.

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Get trawling out of NSW marine parks

Greens MP and environment spokesperson Cate Faehrmann says that the NSW Government should take the advice of the five trawler operators from Nelson Bay who have declared their practice environmentally damaging, and move to ban trawling in the state's marine parks.

"Trawling is nothing less than land clearing with bulldozers and chains at the bottom of the ocean. It kills fish and destroys habitat indiscriminately. It has no place in a marine park," said Ms Faehrmann.

"If trawling is allowed to continue in key sensitive areas we are going to see a rapid decline of marine life. Both the commercial and recreational industries will suffer.

"While the federal government and the rest of the world is moving ahead on marine protection, this government is taking NSW backwards. Winding back measures at Solitary Islands and Jervis Bay Marine Parks that reduced the areas available for trawling is just one example of this.

"Now even trawlers are seeing the writing on the wall, but the NSW Government is more interested in appeasing extremists in the fishing
lobby.

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Hysterical gas industry attacks state government

The Greens NSW spokesperson on mining Jeremy Buckingham criticised the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA) for labelling the O'Farrell Government's Regional Strategic Land Use Policy as red tape and consistently attacking the media for reportage critical of the industry.

"The Greens are appalled that APPEA have started to criticise the O'Farrell Government's Strategic Regional Land Use Policy as creating a bureaucratic headache for industry," said Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham.

"There is clearly a high level of community and expert concern over the impacts of the coal seam gas industry, and it is entirely appropriate that the government acts to protect landholders, farmers and the environment through proper and considered regulation.

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