19
Nov
(Beyond Pesticides, November 19, 2024) Researchers at Stanford University recently published a study in Cancer, an international interdisciplinary journal of the American Cancer Society (ACS), that reveals a correlation for numerous pesticides with increased prostate cancer occurrence and associated death. The study finds that exposure to 22 pesticides is positively associated with prostate cancer. The 22 pesticides include 2,4âD, acephate, azoxystrobin, bifenthrin, carbaryl, chloropicrin, cloransulamâmethyl, cyhalothrinâlambda, diflufenzopyr, diuron, glyphosate, hexazinone, linuron, methyl parathion, pendimethalin, propiconazole, sulfosate, thiamethoxam, thifensulfuron, tribenuron methyl, trifloxystrobin, and trifluralin. (See more on 2,4-D and cancer prevalence here and here.) As prostate cancer is a leading national health concern, the authors investigate agricultural pesticide exposure and compared it to prostate cancer incidence and mortality across counties in the contiguous U.S. âThe geographic variation in prostate cancer incidence and mortality suggests that regional environmental factors, such as pesticide exposure, may contribute to the development of prostate cancer,â the researchers postulate. In comparing countyâlevel associations of 295 pesticides and prostate cancer reports, the authors were able to conduct an environmentâwide association study (EWAS) to determine any statistically significant links. âWe acquired annual estimated total usage data (kg per county) for all pesticides reported and applied to agricultural crops grown […]
Posted in 2,4-D, Acephate, Azoxystrobin, Bifenthrin, Cancer, Carbaryl, chloropicrin, Death, Diuron, Glyphosate, hexazinone, Linuron, men's health, Parathion, Pendimethalin, Propiconazole, Prostate Cancer, Thiamethoxam, trifloxystrobin, Trifluralin | No Comments »
10
Apr
(Beyond Pesticides, April 10, 2024) Researchers in a 2024 Chemosphere study find synergistic relationships in certain chemical mixtures, particularly heptachlor and triallate and trifluralin and lindane at lower concentrations, respectively. âInvestigators should consider additional binary data for acute toxicity and potential chronic health impacts on these mixture…which showed synergism at low levels,â the researchers conclude. âAccording to a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) assessment, more than 50 pesticides are detected in blood or urine samples from the US population,â Researchers point to a cause for concern. The findings come as no surprise to advocates who have urged an assessment of the potential synergistic impacts of pesticide mixtures in the regulation of pesticides. Researchers âused the exposure data from a complex operating site with legacy pesticide pollution to evaluate if Inhalation of pesticide mixtures released from such contaminated sites could pose a risk to human health, The component-based risk assessment approaches that rely on additivity can predict the actual risk of pesticides in a mixture, and The legacy organochlorine pesticides banned many years ago interact with registered and supposedly safe herbicides in a mixture.â The study site is âa pesticide packaging and handling facilityâ contaminated with the following pesticides (âhistorical and […]
Posted in 2,4-D, Chemical Mixtures, contamination, Heptachlor, Lindane, Trifluralin, Uncategorized | No Comments »
23
May
(Beyond Pesticides, May 23 2023) New research is zeroing in on the role of 10 commonly used pesticides in the development of Parkinsonâs. Published in the journal Nature Communications by a team of scientists lead by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, the study focused on the toxicity of these pesticides to neurons that have been found to lead to the presentation of the disease. Research is increasingly focusing on environmental exposures, and pesticides in particular, as a major factor in the development of Parkinsonâs. This study adds further evidence that this line of research is a valid and worthwhile undertaking for the nearly one million people in the United States struggling with this incurable disease. [The authors note that the herbicide paraquat’s strong connection to Parkinson’s is not addressed in this study, but is the focus of a separate manuscript.] Scientists sought to further focus on which pesticides were most likely to be playing a role in Parkinsonâs development. Records from Californiaâs vast pesticide use database aided the search. From a comprehensive pesticide-wide association study, 53 of 288 pesticides screened were found to be linked to Parkinsonâs. Scientists then took these 53 pesticides and conducted live-cell imaging […]
Posted in copper sulfate, dicofol, Diquat dibromide, Endosulfan, endothall, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), folpet, Naled, Paraquat, Parkinson's, Propargite, Trifluralin, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
07
Mar
(Beyond Pesticides, March 7, 2017) Another study, published by a team of French scientists in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, links childhood behavioral problems to pyrethroid insecticide exposure. Synthetic pyrethroids are a class of insecticides that have increased in use over the past decade due to assumptions that they pose fewer risks to human health than older pesticide chemistries, such as organophosphates. However, this latest study is part of a growing body of research showing that pyrethroids share similar neurocognitive health concerns as these older pesticides. . In this research, scientists investigate the interplay between pyrethroid exposure and behavioral problems through a longitudinal cohort study, which tracks levels of pyrethroid metabolites, or breakdown products, in the urine of mothers beginning between six and 19 gestational weeks and then in their children up through six years of age. Childrenâs behavior is measured through a screening questionnaire known as the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). SDQ measures how social a child is (altruism), whether the child has difficulty sharing problems or asking for help (internalizing disorders), as well as how defiant or disruptive a child is (externalizing disorders). The study controlled for a number of confounding factors, such as weight, education, location (rural or […]
Posted in ADHD, Alternatives/Organics, Bifenthrin, Children/Schools, contamination, Cyfluthrin, cypermethrin, Deltamethrin, Developmental Disorders, Disease/Health Effects, esfenvalerate, fluvalinate, Permethrin, Pesticide Residues, Pests, Tebuthiuron, Trifluralin, Uncategorized | No Comments »
25
Jul
(Beyond Pesticides, July 25, 2012) A Texas border study has found that air samples in the homes of pregnant Hispanic women contain multiple household pesticides that could harm fetuses and young children. The first study of its kind conducted by the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, finds traces of both household and agricultural pesticides that have been linked to disorders such as autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The researchers sampled air in 25 households, finding at least five pesticides in 60 percent of the dwellings. Nine other pesticides were identified in less than one-third of the homes. All the women were in the third trimester of pregnancy, when the fetal brain undergoes a growth spurt. Numerous studies have reported birth defects and developmental problems when fetuses and infants are exposed to pesticides, especially exposures that adversely affect mental and motor development during infancy and childhood. This new report is in the summer issue of the Texas Public Health Journal sent to members this week. The study found 92 percent of air samples contained o-phenylphenol, which is used as a fungicide, germicide and household disinfectant, while 80 percent of samples contained chlorpyrifos, […]
Posted in Children/Schools, Chlorpyrifos, Diazinon, Propoxur, Texas, Trifluralin | No Comments »
16
Apr
(Beyond Pesticides, April 16, 2012) The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has released a draft Biological Opinion finding that three commonly used herbicides are increasing the chance of extinction for threatened and endangered Pacific salmon and steelhead runs. The NMFS assessment reverses earlier assurances from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that the pesticides are ânot likely to adversely affectâ the dwindling salmon populations. The draft Opinion also contains restrictions on applying the three pesticides near waterways in California, Washington, Oregon and Idaho that provide habitat for the threatened and endangered runs. Public comment on the draft is being accepted through April 30 and the restrictions on applying the pesticides will take effect no later than one year after the final assessment is released. NMFS prepared the draft Opinion in response to EPAâs initial assessment of the risk that current uses of the herbicides oryzalin, pendimethalin and trifluralin pose for the threatened and endangered salmon and steelhead species. NMFSâ findings contradict significant conclusions from EPAâs work and highlight weaknesses in the agencyâs current ecological risk assessment process that underestimate risk and fail to meet modern standards of analysis. For example, NMFS cites EPAâs failure to provide any analysis of […]
Posted in California, Idaho, Oregon, Oryzalin, Pendimethalin, Trifluralin, Washington, Water, Wildlife/Endangered Sp. | No Comments »
29
Sep
(Beyond Pesticides, September 29, 2008) A new study by Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA) confirms that school children in Florida continue to breathe air contaminated by hazardous pesticides. Air monitoring near South Woods Elementary School in Hastings detected four agricultural chemicals in the air, often at levels that pose unacceptable risks to children. The report mirrors the results of a similar study released in April 2007, confirming the existence of an ongoing problem of pesticide contamination that is more extensive than previously documented. The new test results show that in October, November and December 2007 the air in Hastings was contaminated with the pesticides endosulfan, diazinon https://www.beyondpesticides.org/gateway/pesticide/diazinon.htm, trifluralin and chlorothalonil. Of these, two are neurotoxins, two are suspected carcinogens, and three are or will soon be banned in Europe. Endosulfan, the pesticide of greatest concern, was found in 87% of the samples, and, on several days, exceeded levels of concern. The air monitoring was conducted by concerned area residents using a âDrift Catcherâ device, a simple air sampling system that sucks air into tubes, where the pesticides are absorbed and captured. The tubes are then sent to a laboratory, where the chemicals can be identified and the concentrations measured. […]
Posted in California, Children/Schools, Diazinon, Endosulfan, Florida, Pesticide Drift, Trifluralin | 1 Comment »
