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 »
22
Oct
(Beyond Pesticides, October 22, 2024) A recent study, published through the American Chemical Society, analyzes pesticide contamination in riparian soil and plants as a result of flooding from streams in Germany. The authors hypothesize, and then prove, that frequently flooded sites have higher levels of pesticides present due to the pesticides in surface waters contaminating the soil. Results show that the plant vegetation in the contaminated soil then takes up the pesticides, which bioaccumulate and lead to higher contamination that can further cascade throughout the ecosystem and affect terrestrial food webs. â[O]ur study provides evidence from the field that nontarget plant species typical for riparian stream sites receive considerable pesticide exposure via flooding events,â the authors share. This exposure, and subsequent bioaccumulation in plants, threatens the food web, as many riparian plants are a vital food source for insects. According to the authors, flooding events, and their impact on pesticide contamination within soil and plants, are rarely investigated. This study, âmeasur[ing] 98 pesticides and metabolites in plants and root-zone soils sampled at five streams situated in an area in Southwest Germany characterized by intensive agricultural land use,â highlights the differences in contamination between frequently flooded and rarely flooded areas and […]
Posted in Azoxystrobin, Biodiversity, boscalid, Climate Change, Pendimethalin, Pollinators, soil health, Soil microbiome, United Nations, Water, Wildlife/Endangered Sp. | No Comments »
23
Jan
(Beyond Pesticides, January, 23, 2019) Individuals that have been acutely poisoned by pesticides at some time in their life may be more likely to lose their sense of smell, according to a recent study published in Environmental Health Perspectives. Â Researchers focused on the effect of high pesticide exposure events (HPEE), such as a pesticide spill or other incident, on a farmersâ ability to smell later in life. This is the first study to indicate pesticide exposure may result in olfactory impairment. Farmers from Iowa and North Carolina enrolled in an ongoing U.S. Agricultural Health Study have been asked about their pesticide use roughly every 5 to 6 years since 1993. In the most recent survey, taken from 2013-2015, farmers were asked additional questions about HPEE in their lifetime and whether they had a significantly decreased or impaired sense of smell. âStudying farmers gives us more reliable data on pesticide exposures than if we had studied the general population,â says Honglei Chen, MD, PhD, lead author and professor of epidemiology at Michigan State University in a press release. âBecause they use pesticides more and itâs part of their job, theyâre more likely to remember what pesticides they used and in cases […]
Posted in 2,4-D, Agriculture, Alachlor, DDT, Lindane, olfactory effects, organochlorines, Pendimethalin, Uncategorized | No Comments »
06
Nov
(Beyond Pesticides, November 6, 2013) A federal district court approved a settlement Monday requiring the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to better protect California red-legged frogs from seven common pesticides known to be highly toxic to amphibians. The settlement gives the agency two years to prepare âbiological opinionsâ under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to analyze pesticide use in and near the frogâs aquatic and upland habitats. Â A 2006 legal settlement secured by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) required the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to assess pesticide impacts on red-legged frogs and to then formally consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) under the ESA. The EPAâs assessments found that widespread use of pesticides is likely harming red-legged frogs and the court ordered temporary pesticide use restrictions that remain in effect today. EPA determined that 64 other pesticides are âlikely to adversely affectâ or âmay affectâ red-legged frogs. Despite the EPAâs findings, however, FWS and EPA failed to complete the required consultation, resulting in the litigation by CBD that culminated in Mondayâs settlement. The court order gives FWS two years to complete biological opinions for seven pesticides: glyphosate, malathion, simazine, pendimethalin, permethrin, methomyl and myclobutanil. This […]
Posted in Chemicals, Glyphosate, Litigation, Malathion, Methomyl, Pendimethalin, Permethrin, simazine, Wildlife/Endangered Sp. | 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 »
30
Mar
(Beyond Pesticides, March 30, 2010) Searching for clues to the mysterious disappearance of bees, known as âcolony collapse disorderâ(CCD), Penn State University researchers have identified widespread pesticide contamination of beehives. The study, âHigh Levels of Miticides and Agrochemicals in North American Apiaries: Implications for Honey Bee Health,â was published March 19, 2010 in the scientific journal Public Library of Science (PLOS). The study finds 121 different types of pesticides within 887 wax, pollen, bee and hive samples from 23 states. The top 10 most frequently detected pesticides are fluvalinate, coumaphos, chlorpyrifos, chlorothalonil, amitraz, pendamethalin, endosulfan, fenpropathrin, esfenvalerate and atrazine. Miticides are the most common contaminant in the wax and bees, and fungicides are the most common contaminant of pollen. For the full results of the study, including several tables of wax, pollen and bee sample data, download the study from the PLOS website. “The pollen is not in good shape,” Chris Mullin, PhD, lead author of the study, told Discovery News. The authors state that the 98 pesticides and metabolites detected in mixtures up to 214 parts per million (ppm) in bee pollen alone represents a remarkably high level for toxicants in the brood and adult food of this primary […]
Posted in Agriculture, Atrazine, Chemicals, Chlorothalonil, Chlorpyrifos, Coumaphos, Endosulfan, esfenvalerate, fluvalinate, Pendimethalin, Pollinators | 3 Comments »
28
May
(Beyond Pesticides, May 28, 2009) Two commonly used herbicides, pendimethalin and EPTC, show a statistically significant exposure-response association with pancreatic cancer. The new study, âAgricultural Pesticide Use And Pancreatic Cancer Risk In The Agricultural Health Study Cohort,â published earlier this month in the International Journal of Cancer, is a case-control study of pesticide applicators and their spouses in Iowa and North Carolina. After controlling for age, smoking and diabetes, the study finds a three-fold increased risk with lifetime pendimethalin use and a two-and-a-half-fold increased risk with lifetime use of EPTC when compared to those that never used the chemicals. Among the 24 pesticides examined, having ever used one of five pesticides (trifluralin, chlorimuron-ethyl, pendimethalin, EPTC or heptachlor) shows at least a 40 percent excess risk of pancreatic cancer. According to the U.S. EPAâs pesticide sales and usage statistics, pendimethalin is the third most commonly used home and garden (and other non-agricultural use) herbicide and the 7th most commonly used herbicide in agriculture, totaling 21-30 million pounds applied annually in the U.S. Pendimethalin is listed by the U.S. EPA as a Group C – Possible Human Carcinogen and is a suspected endocrine disruptor. Pendimethalin has been found to cause central nervous […]
Posted in Cancer, Pendimethalin | No Comments »
