26
Jul
Scientific Findings Call for Urgent Action in Just Released Issue of Pesticides and You
(Beyond Pesticides, July 26, 2024) Beyond Pesticides this week released the latest issue of Pesticides and You, a compendium of scientific research on pesticide threats to human and environmental health. The issue is a breathtaking warning from the science community that environmental, health, and labor laws are not protecting the public. Beyond Pesticides says in its introduction to the issue that a shift away from toxic pesticide use is urgently needed.
Included in this issue are scientific reviews of research reported by Beyond Pesticides in 2023, providing a critique of the independent peer reviewed literature with a shocking range of adverse effects, including cancer, neurotoxicity, brain effects, reproductive impacts, diabetes and obesity, chronic kidney and liver disease, Parkinson’s, respiratory illness and asthma, learning and behavioral abnormalities, and more, as well as disproportionate harm to people of color. In addition, the science documents pesticides’ catastrophic harm to the ecosystems that sustain life. In total, these dramatic findings call for an end to the use of toxic pesticides, incompatible with respect for living organisms and, to environmental, health, and labor advocates, unconscionable given the availability of viable, cost-effective organic practices.
This issue adds to the body of knowledge from two previous issues of Pesticides and You (Transformative Change: Informed by Science, Policy, and Action, and Retrospective 2021: A Call to Urgent Action) with scientific warnings that keep getting louder. The abject failure of the law and regulations to respond to the scientific warnings highlight in this issue has contributed to existential crises, including severe health threats, biodiversity collapse, and the climate emergency—and, as Beyond Pesticides states, calls for holistic solutions, rather than piecemeal approaches focused on individual chemical restrictions. In this context, articles about organic land management and crop production practices that are ecosystem compatible inform the path forward.
The issue includes five sections that track the science of the last year in five categories:
In Section 1, Toxicology—Human Health Threats, studies address breast cancer and other cancers, disruption of the endocrine system (the message system of the body leading to cancer and other effects), reproductive effects, Parkinson’s disease, liver damage, metabolic disorders, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, obesity, shingles, pregnancy and reproductive complications, developmental effects in children, nervous system disruption, neurodevelopmental problems, seizure disorders including epilepsy, gut-brain effects, behavioral effects, asthma and respiratory disorders, mast cells impact (immune system regulators), brain effects, pregnancy and fetal effects, PFAS (polyfluoroalkyl substances) contamination linked to a large range of effects including cardiovascular risks, and issues pertaining to indoor air contamination, highly destructive accidents, and regulatory weakness that questions scientific integrity conflicts of interest, and pesticide dangers at golf courses.
In Section 2—Disproportionate Harm, studies address global malnutrition linked to pollinator decline with highest threat to low-income people, governmental support of environmental justice to ameliorate disproportionate effects of pollution and climate change, history of disproportionate harm on Juneteenth, neurodevelopmental disorders, effects to farmworker pregnancy, and indigenous people’s knowledge applied to protecting biodiversity.
In Section 3—Threatened Biodiversity and Ecosystems, studies on limits of mitigation measure to protect pollinators, degradation of color discrimination in pollinators, fungicide linked to adverse brain effects through oxidative stress, impacts on bee gut microbiota, adverse impacts on birds, butterfly decline, insect decline, waterway contamination, dying oceans, threatened endangered species, and bee-toxic pesticides.
In Section 4—Pest Resistance and Failed Efficacy, studies on disease transmission through pesticide resistant mosquitoes, bed bug resistance, resistant Colorado potato beetle attacked with genetically engineered pesticides, incomplete data on RNAi, antibiotic resistance, glyphosate causing reduced crop yields and climate effects, organic compared to glyphosate on yields and climate, EPA failure to conduct pesticide efficacy reviews, and crop failure with genetically engineered plants.
In Section 5—Organic Transition and Nontoxic Practices, studies on soil health in climate debate, perennial crops to fight biodiversity collapse, crop diversification and Intercropping, cultivating natural predators, organic pilot sites in New York City parks, National Football League (NFL) call for end to synthetic turf, strengthened USDA organic enforcement exceeds chemical-intensive agriculture, National Organic Standards Board issues, challenging hydroponic organic, strengthen EPA’s Safer Choice with organic compatible practices and products, and California Roadmap weaknesses.
A Holistic Framework for Moving Forward
The intersectionality of the science on health threats, biodiversity collapse, and the climate emergency may not be captured by any one individual study in this issue, but, taken as a whole, what emerges from the body of science on pesticides and alternatives contained in this issue is a call to action. Threats in each category of harm are in and of themselves devastating, deadly, and unsustainable, whether the subject matter is health, biodiversity, or climate.
Beyond Pesticides on Change
According to Beyond Pesticides: The change needed requires collective action and a societal embrace of organic systems that put an end to the multiple toxic mixtures and involuntary exposure, from contamination of land, air, water, and food. Although we recognize the importance of attempts to restrict individual pesticides through improved chemical regulation and effective toxic pesticide use reduction strategies, a crosscutting national grassroots collaboration is critically needed, especially now, to help reframe the public debate to be holistic. A precautionary approach, embraced by organic principles, starts with the premise that we do not need toxic chemicals to achieve food productivity goals or beautiful landscapes.
Beyond Pesticides on this Issue: As with previous issues, Beyond Pesticides views this issue as a tool for empowering activism and the necessary dramatic changes in practices and policies. This issue alone does not capture the entire body of the scientific literature (which we strive to accomplish with our web-based databases and program pages), but it adds significantly to the documentation that must compel decision makers to take meaningful action in eliminating petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers. At the same time, it is intended to provide a path forward with organic practices and links to our hands-on development of organic models for land management in communities across the country.
For more: See Beyond Pesticides recording of the 40th National Forums, Forging a Future with Nature: The existential challenge to end petrochemical pesticide and fertilizer use (see recording at bp-dc.org/ Forum2023), where scientists and advocates discuss cutting edge science and strategies for change.
All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.
Source: Pesticides and You
