(Beyond Pesticides, November 13, 2025) A study in Environmental Science & Technology shows that maternal exposure to organophosphate (OP) and pyrethroid insecticides adversely affects newborn health. Through amino acid and acylcarnitine metabolomics (the study of small molecules known as metabolites) with over 400 mother-infant pairs, this research analyzes metabolic pathways linking pesticide exposure to negative birth outcomes. “To our knowledge, this study is the first to reveal the effect of OP and pyrethroid insecticide exposure on neonatal metabolic signatures, which may elucidate a key role of metabolites in insecticide exposure and birth outcomes,” the authors state.

In collecting maternal urine samples in the first and third trimesters, as well as neonatal blood samples after birth, OP and pyrethroid metabolites and metabolomic biomarkers are assessed. Notably, the authors report: “Results indicated that third-trimester maternal urinary levels of 3- phenoxybenzoic acid (3-PBA) and diethyl dithiophosphate (DEDTP) were negatively associated with birth weight. Specifically, a one-unit increase in their ln-transformed [natural logarithm form] concentrations was associated with a 1.508% decrease in birth weight for 3-PBA and a 1.366% decrease for DEDTP.”

Additionally, the analyses show that OP and pyrethroid exposure is associated with “disrupted neonatal amino acids and acylcarnitine profiles, with patterns varying by trimesters and sexes.” As a novel study, this research reveals a link between neonatal metabolomics and OP/pyrethroid exposure to developmental toxicity not previously seen, which, as the authors explain, suggests “that disruptions in acylcarnitine-mediated energy metabolism may contribute to adverse birth outcomes.”

Study Importance and Background

The widespread use of organophosphate and pyrethroid insecticides across the globe, for both agricultural and urban pest control, presents a threat to human health and the environment. Exposure to OPs and pyrethroids can occur through dietary intake, as well as through the air or skin with residential applications and agricultural activities. As Beyond Pesticides has documented (see below), these compounds have a wide range of adverse effects including neurotoxicity, cardiotoxicity, hepatotoxicity, and respiratory failure, among others.

The researchers note: “The detection rates of urinary OP and pyrethroid metabolites in general populations across different countries and regions typically exceed 60%, indicating widespread human exposure to these pesticides. OP and pyrethroid insecticides are able to cross the placental barrier into the fetal environment, and their metabolites have been detected in cord blood, placenta, and amniotic fluid. Therefore, continuous exposure to these insecticides indicates that potential health risks may be present, especially during pregnancy, as fetuses are highly vulnerable to the effects of environmental hazards.”

Understanding the effects of prenatal exposure to pesticides is crucial, as fetal and infant development influence long-term health outcomes. At delivery, important fetal growth measures are assessed, including birth weight, birth length, and gestational age, which are also risk factors for future morbidity (diseases) during infancy and adulthood.

Both amino acids and acylcarnitines are “key biomarkers reflecting the most critical determinants of neonatal development, particularly nutritional and metabolic status,” the authors share. While amino acids serve as the building blocks for protein synthesis and tissue supply, which plays an important role in maintaining protein homeostasis throughout the body, acylcarnitines are fatty acid metabolites that are involved with numerous processes for metabolism.

Methodology and Results

The researchers, in conducting a prospective cohort study of 406 mothers and their newborns, “investigate the associations between maternal exposure to OP and pyrethroid insecticides, neonatal birth outcomes, and alterations in neonatal amino acid and acylcarnitine metabolomic profiles.” By employing repeated biomarker measurements during both early and late pregnancy, this study provides “more precise epidemiological evidence for identifying critical exposure windows linking OP and pyrethroid exposure to adverse neonatal outcomes,” the authors state. They continue, “More importantly, our findings offer novel insights into how prenatal exposure to these insecticides in humans may disrupt fetal development through amino acid and acylcarnitine metabolic pathways.”

Maternal urine samples were collected during the first and third trimesters and analyzed for five nonspecific OP metabolites (dimethyl phosphate (DMP), diethylphosphate (DEP), dimethyl thiophosphate (DMTP), dimethyl dithiophosphate (DMDTP), and diethyl dithiophosphate (DEDTP)), as well as a nonspecific metabolite of up to 20 pyrethroids (3-phenoxybenzoic acid (3-PBA)) and a specific metabolite of cyfluthrin and flumethrin (4-fluoro-3-phenoxybenzoic acid (4F-3PBA)). 

After babies were born, trained medical staff collected the newborn data and heel-prick blood samples between 48−72 hours post-delivery. The blood samples were analyzed for a total of 12 amino acids and 26 acylcarnitines that play a role in metabolism and development.

The results include:

• A 100% detection rate of all metabolites.
• 3-PBA, DMP, DEP, DMTP, and DMDTP show detection in over 80% of urine samples.
• “[C]oncentrations of most OP metabolites (DMP, DEP, DMTP, and DMDTP) were significantly higher in the third trimester.”
• The highest concentration overall is observed for the OP metabolite DMP.
• Seven metabolites are significantly associated with first-trimester OP and pyrethroid insecticide exposure.
• “The analysis revealed significant negative associations between third-trimester insecticide metabolite levels and birth weight… Urinary insecticide metabolite concentrations exhibited a negative joint effect on birth weight during the third trimester of pregnancy and across pregnancy-average.”
• 3-PBA exhibits the strongest association for neonatal metabolites for pesticide exposures averaged over the entire pregnancy.
• “[T]he association between insecticide exposure and birth outcomes was statistically more significant in male infants. When analyzing the relationships between maternal urinary insecticide metabolites and neonatal endogenous metabolites by infant sex, DMP and DEP showed stronger associations with metabolites in male infants.”
• The data suggests that “third-trimester insecticide exposure may potentially impair fetal development by interfering with critical energy metabolism pathways, such as glucose metabolism and fatty acid β-oxidation.”

In summary, the researchers say: “Overall, our repeated measures revealed that third-trimester insecticide exposure had the most significant effect on birth outcomes. This could be largely attributed to the fact that the third trimester is a critical period in human fetal development, where fetal growth and birth weight exhibit the greatest susceptibility to environmental impacts.”

They continue: “Our metabolomics findings suggest that that OP/pyrethroid insecticide exposure throughout pregnancy may influence neonatal neurodevelopment, methylation processes, and energy metabolism… More importantly, our identification of metabolite-mediated pathways provides new insights into the potential mechanisms by which prenatal exposure to insecticides may affect fetal development.”

Previous Research

The authors cite numerous other biomonitoring and epidemiologic studies that support the findings of health threats from OP and pyrethroid insecticides. As they point out, however, many of the studies that also analyze urine samples rely on a single sample and could potentially underestimate exposure, while the current study captures multiple sampling periods. The referenced study results include:

• Prenatal insecticide exposure is linked to an increased risk of preterm birth and lower birth weight. (See research here, here, and here.)
• In one study, higher pyrethroid metabolite concentrations in maternal urine samples are associated with increased neonatal weight and gestational age.
• “Analysis of 858 mother−infant pairs in a Danish cohort revealed that male infants in the third tertile of maternal OP exposure exhibited a longer gestational age compared to those in the first tertile.”
• A study of 248 pregnant Thai farmworkers shows negative effects of prenatal OP and pyrethroid exposure on the placental transcriptome.
• Another study of pregnant Thai farmworkers, with elevated chlorpyrifos exposure, “observed perturbations in maternal serum metabolites involved in glutathione metabolism and fatty acid oxidation”, which relate to energy metabolism and oxidative stress pathways.
• Research regarding “dietary pesticide intake among U.S. adults reported alterations in energy and vitamin metabolism pathways, while an intervention study in children found that switching to an organic diet reduced urinary biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation. (See here and here.)
• One study demonstrates the “association between prenatal pyrethroid exposure and disrupted neonatal lipid metabolism, with elevated urinary metabolite concentrations correlating with increased levels of cord blood triglycerides,” among other results.
• “A cross-sectional study of pregnant agricultural workers in rural northern China showed that higher levels of total urinary pyrethroid metabolites at delivery were associated with lower birth weight.”
• Additional research finds positive correlations between first-trimester urinary 3-PBA concentration and birth weight in a pregnant women cohort in China.
• Another study from China “that measured 4F-3PBA levels only during the first trimester also reported a positive association between urinary 4F-3PBA levels and birth length.”

Previous coverage from Beyond Pesticides also documents the negative implications from exposure to organophosphate and pyrethroid insecticides, particularly regarding infant development. Recent Daily News includes Organophosphate Pesticide Drift from Agricultural Fields Elevates Risk for Pregnant Farmworkers, Study Finds Reproductive System Effects in Adolescents with Prenatal Pesticide Exposure, and Childhood, Prenatal Pesticide Exposure Impacts Immune System, According to Study, as well as coverage linking OPs and pyrethroids to ADHD and neurodevelopmental problems (see here, here, here, here, here, and here), lower IQs (see here and here), adverse birth outcomes (see here, here, and here), issues with sleep, rare eye cancer, behavioral issues, and decreased lung function.

The Organic Solution

The link between prenatal pesticide exposure and negative birth outcomes is one of many threats to health that has been linked to environmental contaminants for which safer alternatives exist. As shared during the first session of Beyond Pesticides’ 42st National Forum Series— The Pesticide Threat to Environmental Health: Advancing Holistic Solutions Aligned with Nature, we are all affected by how land is managed, food is grown, and nature is protected. Different experiences and perspectives may bring us to care about health and the environment and the devastating adverse effects of pesticides and toxic substances. However, ensuring a livable future requires us to cultivate a collective concern about daily decisions on the management of our personal and community spaces, the practices used to grow the food we buy, and the care that we as a society give to complex and fragile interrelationships that sustain the natural world on which we depend. 

A recording for the first session is now live! See how the four speakers at the Forum give us an opportunity to step back, widen the lens, and think about redefining our relationship with nature in all aspects of our practices and advocacy here. Register here for the second session on December 4^th from 1:00 – 3:30 PM Eastern.

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

Source:

Ma, Y. et al. (2025) Prenatal Insecticide Exposure and Adverse Birth Outcomes: Evidence for Mediation via Disruptions in Amino Acid and Acylcarnitine Metabolism, Environmental Science & Technology. Available at: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.5c13454.

(Beyond Pesticides, November 12, 2025) A ballot initiative to repeal a local ordinance in Maine that bans most uses of lawn chemicals was rejected by the voters last week by a 10-point margin. The voters of Falmouth, Maine, 55% to 45%, upheld an updated ordinance that was passed by the town council in February 2025 to protect the community’s health and the coastal environment from petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers, sending a strong message that ecological land management in conformance with organic standards is the responsible path, given pesticide-related health threats, biodiversity decline, and the climate crisis. The ordinance being challenged by the ballot initiative updated a 2020 rule with more stringent criteria and restrictions and the goal of ensuring a holistic approach to land management.

Maine has become the bellwether nationwide for communities seeking to eliminate the use of petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers on public and private property, including parks, playing fields, open spaces, and yards. When applied, pesticides move off the target site through drift, volatilization, runoff, and leaching, creating community-wide poisoning and contamination. However, unlike Maine and five other states, most state laws preempt local jurisdictions from restricting pesticides. These states have adopted preemption language at the behest of the chemical industry after the Supreme Court in Wisconsin v. Mortier (1991) (see court decision) upheld the right of local jurisdictions to restrict pesticides under federal pesticide law. Public and environmental health advocates are calling for the reversal of state preemption laws so that communities can decide whether to regulate pesticides and fertilizers more stringently than their state in order to protect their residents, consistent with planetary and human health.

Falmouth Ordinance

Several years after the adoption of the original lawn care ordinance in Falmouth, Maine (2020), the town’s Conservation Commission studied the issues, the Town Council held hearings, and public input was collected, leading to the town’s adoption of a stronger ordinance in effective date that was later extended to 2026. See here for the testimony of Jay Feldman, executive director of Beyond Pesticides, delivered to the town council of Falmouth at an April 2024, hearing. 

The 2025 ordinance maintains the same core purpose of the original ordinance, however, it extends the ordinance’s restrictions to all potential pesticide and fertilizer users, including residents, commercial groups, and licensed applicators—the original ordinance just covered commercial applicators. The definitions section expanded to include over 20 new or significantly revised definitions, including commercial agriculture, commercial horticulture, EPA, golf course, golf course playing surfaces, Integrated Pest Management (IPM), invasive species, lawn, natural, organic, or “non-synthetic” matter, natural turf, neonicotinoid pesticide, Organic Landscape Management, person, pests of significant public health importance, public utility, retailer, storm drain, substance, synthetic matter, and water body.

The original ordinance only required commercial pesticide and fertilizer applicators to register annually between February and January of the next calendar year, whereas the new version broadens this registration requirement to any compensated service for pesticides and fertilizers. There is also an additional requirement to include a copy of a State of Maine Commercial Master Pesticide applicator license; the effect of this is a broader reach to include use areas by public utilities. In the new ordinance, retail pesticide users must label permitted products and display signage.

The original ordinance referenced organic federal law for the definitions of natural, organic, or “non-synthetic” substances without any explicit details; the new ordinance is explicit in restricting substances allowed for use to those identified on the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances as created under the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) and updated by the National Organic Standards Board. Synthetic substances are banned under OFPA unless they are listed on the National List. Neonicotinoid insecticides are specifically prohibited for outdoor use under the new ordinance, which is also the case under OFPA’s allowed and prohibited list.

Regarding fertilizer use and restrictions, the original ordinance had a ban on outdoor applications between December 1 and March 31; the fertilizer restrictions in the amended ordinance have additional detail, including the following provisions:

• “Application of fertilizer is prohibited within 75 feet of any water body and within 20 feet of any storm drain. Only non-water-soluble fertilizer, compost, or composted manure may be applied between 75 feet and 250 feet of any water body.
• Fertilizer containing nitrogen and phosphorus shall be applied on lawns and natural turf in Falmouth as follows:
  • A maximum of 2 pounds of nitrogen per 1000 square feet per year on established turf and new development. A maximum of 1 pound of phosphorus per 1000 square feet per year for new lawns or with a soil test that states phosphorus is needed.
  • Application is limited to two times per year.”

The new ordinance expands the list of exemptions for pesticide use from the original ordinance to fifteen additional categories, including:

• commercial agriculture and commercial horticulture;
• pet supplies;
• disinfectants, germicides, bactericides, miticides, and virucides (indoor household and sanitation);
• insect repellents;
• rat and rodent control supplies;
• swimming pool supplies;
• general use paints, stains, wood preservatives, and sealants;
• pesticides determined as “minimum risk pesticides” as defined by Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and 40 C.F.R. § 152.25(f)(1) or (2) (OFPA);
• pesticide use for “pests of significant public health importance such as ticks and mosquitoes” and “animals or insects that may cause damage to a structure, such as carpenter ants or termites”;
• golf course playing surface applications (as defined by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, Maine Chapter, Best Management Practices for Maine Golf Courses);
• grub control application (restricted use of chlorantraniliprole by a licensed applicator);
• invasive species application (Emerald Ash Borer, Asian Longhorned Beetle, Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, Browntail Moth, nematodes, and other insects identified as invasive by the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry);
• invasive terrestrial plant application (plants listed ” under the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry’s Natural Areas Program as currently invasive, potentially or probably invasive, and highly likely but not currently invasive in addition to those listed in the Div. 11-19-1-2 Definitions in the Code of Ordinances for the Town of Falmouth”);
• specific rights of way; and
• athletic fields managed by the town of Falmouth and the Falmouth School Department.

This successful defense of local restrictions on landscape pesticides and fertilizers follows another failed attempt to undermine the pesticide and fertilizer ordinance in Portland, Maine, earlier this year.

A proposed change to a model pesticide ordinance was soundly defeated in March 2025 after a near-unanimous vote of the Portland City Council. In a 6-1 vote, the council rejected the school district’s request for a waiver under the city’s pesticide use ordinance to use the insecticide chlorantraniliprole/Acelepryn (diamide insecticide). A campaign to reject the waiver was led by Avery Yale Kamila, cofounder of Portland Protectors, and supported by Beyond Pesticides. (See Daily News here.)

Local Authority and Preemption

State preemption of its local political subdivisions is governed by different approaches. Beyond Pesticides describes preemption as either explicit or limited. See State Preemption Law: The battle for local control of democracy for more information.

If a municipality votes to pass a pesticide ordinance, many states (including Massachusetts) restrict local government authority under a Home Rule structure that does not include the power to restrict pesticides. While some have pointed to legal doctrine, known as the Dillon Rule, which says that all local powers are derived from the state, virtually all states give their local political subdivision local “police powers” that enable elected bodies of the localities to protect the health and general welfare of their residents.

It is because of this that state legislatures seeking to rein in state authority have adopted legislation preempting local authority to restrict pesticides. A local ordinance in Montgomery County, Maryland, which is not explicitly preempted under state law from restricting pesticides, was upheld in state court after the chemical and allied industry challenged the ordinance under an “implied preemption” theory. See Court Upholds Right of Local Maryland County to Restrict Pesticides, Rejects Pesticide and Lawn Care Industry Stomping on Local Rights. (See court decision.) On Home Rule, see the report by the Massachusetts Division of Local Services in the Department of Revenue for more information and history. (See Daily News here.)

Failure-to-Warn and Corporate Accountability

On a related issue, Bayer/Monsanto and its allies have continued their efforts at the state and federal levels to take away the right of victims of cancer and other diseases to hold corporations liable for their harmful products in the courts. This is not surprising given recent reporting by Bloomberg suggesting that Bayer is considering dropping their glyphosate-based products, as potential legal settlements mount to upwards of $18 billion.

In this context, the chemical industry has successfully lobbied for what environmentalists and legal experts have called a weak federal pesticide law, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), and then argues in court that they comply with the law when sued for damages or for their “failure to warn” about their products’ hazards. Juries have ruled that chemical manufacturers fail to provide adequate warning through their product labeling, given the independent peer-reviewed science, including what the company knew or should have known, and a clinical assessment of the harm caused to plaintiffs. (See Daily News here for recent court updates.)

In a climate of deregulation and with the dismantling of many U.S. Environmental Protection Agency programs, the threat of litigation is an important check on manufacturers and an incentive to develop safer products. In Dow v. Bates (2005) (see court decision), the Supreme Court ruled that, “. . .Congress surely would have expressed its intention more clearly if it had meant to deprive injured parties of a long available form of compensation.” The court went on to say that the lawsuits for damages are important in “providing an incentive to manufacturers to use the utmost care in distributing inherently dangerous items.”

Under the Appropriations bill moving through Congress, the only permitted EPA-approved label language must be consistent with a human health assessment or carcinogenicity classification previously approved by EPA—freezing in place EPA’s position on a pesticide for possibly decades, and eliminating the ability to hold chemical manufacturers accountable for damages associated with their failure to warn on their product label. The bill language states: “None of the funds made available by this or any other Act may be used to issue or adopt any guidance or any policy, take any regulatory action…” without conducting an entirely new assessment—which takes “no less than four years, and sometimes over 12,” according to EPA. [The bill language is found here. Search on Section 453.] Under this provision, industry will argue that they, as registrants of pesticide ingredients, are unable to disclose potential harms that are different from the EPA-approved label. The industry is also pushing to amend the Farm Bill with similar language that shields chemical manufacturers from lawsuits on the harm caused by their products.

An industry-led campaign to quash lawsuits against chemical manufacturers because of their “failure to warn” about the hazards of their pesticide products has so far failed to move forward in nine state legislatures, including those with significant Republican majorities (Iowa, Missouri, Idaho, Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi, Wyoming, Montana, and Oklahoma). (See Daily News here.)

Call to Action

You can take action today by learning more about how to organize your local community against unnecessary toxic pesticide use through the Tools for Change resource hub.

If you are interested in learning more but are not sure where to start, contact Beyond Pesticides at [email protected] to discuss moving forward with local pesticide policy to restrict pesticides and a program to adopt organic land management.

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

Source: Falmouth 2020 Ordinance ; Falmouth 2025 Ordinance ; Portland Press Herald ; Bloomberg

(Beyond Pesticides, November 11, 2025) A study published in Cardiovascular Toxicology (July 2025) finds significant associations between Gulf War deployment-related toxic chemical exposure hazards and various adverse health outcomes, including heightened risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases (ASCVDs), such as “heart attack, coronary heart disease, stroke, transient ischemic attack, and peripheral vascular disease.”

While there were no significant associations found directly between pesticide products and these adverse health effects, researchers attribute this to limited sample sizes and wide confidence intervals as part of the study methodology. Further research is necessary to build on this study, given the preponderance of scientific evidence linking pesticide exposure to heightened health risks to the cardiovascular system. On the issue of statistical significance, the authors state the following: “There may be difficulty [for survey respondents] remembering the[ir] military exposure history since the survey was completed nearly 25 years after the Gulf War.”

While it is difficult to pinpoint pesticide exposure as a cause of illness among the toxic mixtures to which service members are exposed, there has been recognition by the Veterans Administration (VA) of diseases that are directly related to military service. Beyond Pesticides previously reported that the VA has established 20 burn pit and other toxic exposure presumptive conditions under the PACT Act, The Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022. Benefits established by the VA for Gulf War era and post-9/11 Veterans include the following (see Military.com for complete list here):

• Cancers of the brain, head, neck, and nervous system
• Brain and nervous system disorders (i.e., Parkinson’s Disease)
• Sarcomas
• Spinal cord cancers
• Gastrointestinal cancers
• Kidney cancers
• Lymphomas
• Melanomas
• Pancreatic cancers
• Reproductive cancers
• Respiratory cancers
• Various non-cancer conditions (High blood pressure/hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pulmonary fibrosis, among others)

Additionally, the following illnesses are now presumptive:

• Asthma that was diagnosed after service
• Chronic bronchitis
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• Chronic rhinitis
• Chronic sinusitis
• Constrictive bronchiolitis or obliterative bronchiolitis
• Emphysema
• Granulomatous lung disease
• Interstitial lung disease (ILD)
• Pleuritis
• Pulmonary fibrosis
• Sarcoidosis

The VA identifies specific areas of military service with time periods that are covered by the PACT Act. The Act includes other presumptive conditions, including, for example, exposure to Agent Orange (the mixture of herbicides 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T), used as a defoliant in the Vietnam War. See also PACT Act Success and Reflection Ahead of Veterans’ Day, Charts Pathway for Organic.

Although the latest study findings are not statistically significant after adjusting for other clinical risk factors (hypertension/diabetes/high cholesterol), it is important to note that the effects of pyridostigmine bromide pills resemble organophosphate pesticides. (See Daily News here.) In addition, some nerve gas agents, such as Sarin and VX, that Gulf War veterans were exposed to are structurally related to organophosphorus compounds. For the purposes of this study, the authors do not consider these to be forms of “pesticide” exposure or that the underlying risk factors may be associated with endocrine-disrupting effects of pesticides and other chemical exposures during military service. 

In recognition of Veterans’ Day, environmental and public health advocates continue to advocate for regulatory reform to protect service members from toxic exposures, both in the line of duty and at home.

Background and Methodology

“Our current study addresses these gaps in the literature by examining associations of GW [Gulf War]-related exposures with ASCVD [atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases] and established clinical risk factors for ASCVD,” say the authors in terms of their primary objective for this study.

The study’s methodology is based on survey data from VA Cooperative Studies Program (CSP) 585 Gulf War Era Cohort and Biorepository—consisting of 942 Gulf War veterans who deployed between August 1990 and July 1991 and completed surveys between 2014 and 2016. The exposure variables include the following:

• Smoke from oil well fires
• Chemical and biological warfare agents
• Pyridostigmine bromide pills
• Pesticide cream or liquid applied to the skin
• Uniform treated with pesticides
• Insect baits/no-pest strips in living areas

In the survey, veterans categorize their exposure as “no,” “not sure,” and “yes,” with duration subcategories including “1-6 days,” “7-30 days,” and “+31 days” for all “yes” responses. Meanwhile, the health outcomes are clinician-diagnosed cases. Adjustments were made for covariates, including age, sex, race and ethnicity, smoking history, and body mass index (BMI). To learn more about the statistical analysis, see pages 2-3 (1,264-1,265) of the study.

The researchers are based at Baylor College of Medicine (Texas), Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center (Texas), Million Veteran Program (MVP) Coordinating Center at the VA Boston Healthcare System, and Cooperative Studies Program Epidemiology Center-Durham at the Durham VA Medical Center (North Carolina).

Results

The researchers ran separate models to ascertain the duration and forms of toxic exposures and their potential significant associations with severe adverse health effects linked to the cardiovascular system. Another round of modeling was conducted to run exposures significantly associated with ASCVDs after adjusting for other clinical risk factors.

The study identifies a significant association between ASCVDs in surveyed veterans who reported over 31 days of exposure to chemical and biological agents. The authors also reference several notable limitations to their study:

• “There may be difficulty remembering the military exposure history since the survey was completed nearly 25 years after the Gulf War. Further, there may be selection bias since veterans with high disease burden may have been more motivated to participate in the CSP 585 survey compared to healthier veterans.”
• “Despite the large sample overall, the infrequency of some outcomes limited certain statistical testing, i.e., the association between uniform treated with pesticides and ASCVD and insect baits in living areas and any of the health outcomes could not be tested. These limitations may also explain the apparent inconsistencies of some findings, such as why only intermediate duration of exposure to smoke from oil well fires and PB pills were significantly associated with some health outcomes.”

Previous Coverage

The PACT Act and its successful rollout represent a model for addressing the needs of a systemically neglected subpopulation—veterans. (See Daily News here.)

The legacy of toxic burn pits (open air areas where the military has burned toxic waste) and other avenues of toxic exposure in military bases oversees, as well as within the United States in Hawai’i (see coverage on asbestos exposure continuously impacting veterans, as reported on by Honolulu Civil Beat) and Puerto Rico (see peer-reviewed literature review here on toxic heavy metals in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health), among other areas, has been identified by social critics as integral to country’s history of imperialism. The law recognizes the toxic exposure from smoke and fumes generated from open burn pits. In Iraq, Afghanistan, and other areas of the Southwest Asia theater of military operations, open-air combustion of chemicals, tires, plastics, medical equipment, and human waste in burn pits was a common practice, according to VA. The Department of Defense says it has now closed most burn pits and is planning to close the remainder.

As of mid-August 2025, Department of Veterans Affairs approved 61.8 percent of disability claims to provide benefits to “nearly 1.3 million veterans or family members,” according to reporting by Military.com. 42 percent of approved claims in FY25 were related to the PACT Act. Claims as of late August amounted to approximately 675,319, down from 1.1 million in 2023—the first year after passage of PACT.

According to VA Pact Act Third Anniversary Performance Dashboard (see here), over 1.9 million claims have been approved since the passage of PACT Act in 2022. When conducting health screenings to confirm their eligibility to receive PACT benefits, 650,354 (10 percent) veterans experienced more than one potential toxic exposure, emphasizing the significance of the need to assess cumulative exposure.

There are numerous peer-reviewed studies associating pesticide exposure with adverse cardiovascular health outcomes, as compiled in the Pesticide-Induced Diseases Database section on cardiovascular diseases. A study published earlier this year in Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology finds that “higher pesticide exposure was significantly associated with elevated blood pressure and greater risks of hypertension.” More specifically, “[t]he results indicated that exposure to PNP [para-nitrophenol/parathion] and 2,4-D may contribute to an increased risk of hypertension.” (See Daily News here.) In the same vein, an editorial in Expert Review of Cardiovascular Therapy earlier this year finds that triazole fungicides, such as tebuconazole, propiconazole, and difenoconazole, pose a significant risk of cardiotoxicity with “growing concerns regarding their safety for human health, especially in long-term exposure,” the authors share. After analyzing the known mechanisms of cardiotoxicity of triazole pesticides in mammals, they conclude that “the most effective approach to mitigating triazole-induced cardiotoxicity lies in prevention.” (See Daily News here.)

Call to Action

You can take action today by learning more about nontoxic alternatives to pest management through Beyond Pesticides’ programs on Mosquito Management and Insect-Borne Diseases, Nontoxic Lawns and Landscapes, and other resources based on your interest.

See here to access additional Daily News and to learn more about the scientific literature on synthetic pesticides, as well as our What the Science Shows on Biodiversity webpage.

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

Source: Cardiovascular Toxicology

(Beyond Pesticides, November 10, 2025) With a small but growing organic beer market, Beyond Pesticides is urging breweries to align with ecological farming practices and to seek out organic sources for their ingredients. In a June 2025 release, the marketing research firm Data Bridge reports that, “The global organic beer market size was valued at USD 7.24 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach USD 11.90 billion by 2032, at a CAGR [Compound Annual Growth Rate] of 6.4% during the forecast period.” The company attributes the growth to “health-conscious and environmentally-aware consumers” and finds “rising consumer preference for organic and clean-label beverages,” with consumers “actively seeking beer options made with organic hops, malt, and natural ingredients, free from synthetic pesticides or GMOs  [genetically modified organisms].”

Harmful pesticides, including glyphosate, 2,4-D, and other toxic herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides, are used in the production of the ingredients of beer. Residues may remain in barley, oats, wheat, and hops used to make beer. Not only do the residues pose a risk to beer drinkers, but growing these crops nonorganically threatens farmworkers, waterways, wildlife, and pollinators.  

More than 800 million pounds of pesticides are used each year in U.S. agriculture, with devastating impacts on soil life, pollinators, and ecosystem health. Harm to the soil microbiome and invertebrates like worms and beetles is magnified by synergistic interactions with chemical fertilizers, undermining the foundation of our food system. Agriculture is implicated in the “insect apocalypse,” which has seen one-quarter of the global insect population lost since 1990. When pesticides run off into our waterways, they threaten aquatic wildlife like fish and pollute our drinking water. 

• There are 58 pesticides with established tolerance for barley, 22 are acutely toxic creating a hazardous environment for farmworkers, 53 are linked to chronic health problems (such as cancer), 18 contaminate streams or groundwater, and 49 are poisonous to wildlife, and 19 pesticides used on barley are considered toxic to honey bees and other insect pollinators. 
• There are 56 pesticides with established tolerance for oats, 20 are acutely toxic creating a hazardous environment for farmworkers, 53 are linked to chronic health problems (such as cancer), 18 contaminate streams or groundwater, and 49 are poisonous to wildlife, and 23 pesticides used on oats are considered toxic to honey bees and other insect pollinators. 

• There are 68 pesticides with established tolerance for wheat, 25 are acutely toxic creating a hazardous environment for farmworkers, 61 are linked to chronic health problems (such as cancer), 23 contaminate streams or groundwater, 57 are poisonous to wildlife, and 26 pesticides used on wheat are considered toxic to honey bees and other insect pollinators.  

• There are 74 pesticides with established tolerance for hops, 28 are acutely toxic creating a hazardous environment for farmworkers, 65 are linked to chronic health problems (such as cancer), 18 contaminate streams or groundwater, 63 are poisonous to wildlife, and 26 pesticides used on hops are considered toxic to honey bees and other insect pollinators. 

Regenerative organic farming is the gold standard, and organic is backed by a rigorous legal standard. Synthetic fertilizers and more than 900 synthetic pesticides otherwise allowed in agriculture are prohibited in organic. Regenerative organic agriculture is a holistic and natural approach that enhances biodiversity, water retention, and crop yields. It also protects farmworkers, like those who care for and harvest hops, from exposure to harmful pesticides.

The use of toxic pesticides is at odds with growing consumer concerns about health and the environment. Beer drinkers are increasingly seeking sustainable options, as evidenced by the growth in organic and craft beers that emphasize natural ingredients and environmental stewardship. 

For more information on organic beer, see As Organic Beer Market Grows, Connoisseurs of Organic Cold Ones Can Be Proud of This Story.

Letter to Beer Producers
I urge your company to protect the health of people, pollinators, and the planet by eliminating the use of harmful pesticides in your supply chain, starting with barley and hops. The harm to biodiversity caused by common pesticides is a material risk for brewers. Barley, oats, wheat, and hops, the key ingredients in beer production, rely on healthy soil and healthy ecosystems to grow.

Over 800 million pounds of pesticides used each year in U.S. agriculture have devastating impacts on soil life, pollinators, and ecosystem health, magnified by synergistic interactions with chemical fertilizers. Agriculture is implicated in the loss of one-quarter of the global insect population since 1990. Pesticides running off into our waterways threaten aquatic life and pollute our drinking water.

*58 pesticides have established tolerances for barley; 22 are acutely toxic creating a hazardous environment for farmworkers; 53 are linked to chronic health problems (such as cancer); 18 contaminate streams or groundwater; 49 are poisonous to wildlife; and 19 are toxic to honey bees and other insect pollinators.

*There are 74 pesticides with established tolerance for hops, 28 are acutely toxic creating a hazardous environment for farmworkers, 65 are linked to chronic health problems (such as cancer), 18 contaminate streams or groundwater, 63 are poisonous to wildlife, and 26 pesticides used on hops are considered toxic to honey bees and other insect pollinators. 

I appreciate the sustainability efforts that your company has already undertaken and urge you to build on this foundation by implementing ecological pesticide management and working with suppliers of barley, hops, and other grains to phase out the use of harmful pesticides associated with widespread harm to biodiversity and human health. 

Regenerative organic farming is the gold standard, and organic is backed by a rigorous legal standard that prohibits synthetic fertilizers and over 900 synthetic pesticides used in agriculture. Regenerative organic agriculture is a holistic and natural approach that enhances biodiversity, water retention, and crop yields. It also protects farmworkers, like those who care for and harvest hops, from exposure to harmful pesticides. 

The use of toxic pesticides is at odds with growing consumer concerns about health and the environment. Beer drinkers are increasingly seeking sustainable options, as evidenced by the growth in organic and craft beers that emphasize natural ingredients and environmental stewardship. Overall, organic sales growth outstrips that of the total food marketplace—with $71.6 billion in sales in 2024, a 5.2% increase from the previous year.

As a significant player in the beer industry, you have an opportunity to lead the way on sustainable agricultural practices protecting people, pollinators, and water quality while meeting consumer demand for environmentally responsible products. I urge you to:

*Make a time-bound and measurable commitment to eliminate harmful pesticides from the company’s supply chains, beginning with barley and hops.

*Work with suppliers to implement alternative, least-toxic pest management strategies, starting with IPM and including organic farming practices.

*Act with transparency by publicly disclosing company policies, actions, and progress toward these goals. 

I see these actions as part of a broader effort to adopt sustainable agriculture practices across your entire supply chain, to benefit your brand’s reputation, product quality, and long-term business resilience.

Thank you. 

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

(Beyond Pesticides, November 7, 2025) There is little dispute that modern industrial culture has produced a constellation of related chronic conditions contributing powerfully to human disease. In recent decades, attention has begun to focus on the developmental origins of health and disease—prenatal exposures to pesticides, for example, that contribute to diseases in adulthood, such as cardiovascular and metabolic problems, along with the combination, known as cardiometabolic syndrome. Cardiometabolic disorders include obesity, hypertension, cholesterol imbalances, and insulin resistance. The usual suspects blamed for the syndrome are poor diet, physical inactivity, and genetic predisposition. These are all well-established risk factors, but they fail to fully account for the sharp rise in cardiometabolic syndrome globally. Obesity prevalence has doubled and diabetes quadrupled over the last 40 years, according to the Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) Risk Factor Collaboration.

In a study on early life exposure to a pesticide mixture, researchers analyze sex differences in cardiometabolic outcomes from prenatal and early life. The study was conducted by an international team of scientists led by Ana M. Mora, M.D., of the Center for Environmental Research and Community Health at the University of California, Berkeley, using data from the Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas (CHAMACOS) cohort—a long-term project covering more than 20 years and 300,000 biological samples of Latino mothers and children in an agricultural community. 

Their findings include a clear association between metabolic disorders and exposure to pesticide mixtures—for young men, but not for young women. The primary anomaly for young women was higher levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) associated with pesticide exposures. Of this finding, the authors stress that further research is necessary, as its explanation is not obvious from their data. While high HDL is often considered protective against heart disease, it is not always healthy.

Pesticides have been strongly linked to factors involved in cardiometabolic syndrome in previous studies. For example, see Beyond Pesticides’ February 27, 2024, news brief analyzing a Chinese study linking pesticide exposure to obesity, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic disease in seniors. The news brief of September 27, 2023, analyzes a review of insulin-related metabolic disorders and exposure to organophosphates, organochlorines, and pyrethroid pesticides. Links were found with obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and chronic kidney disease. Beyond Pesticides’ Pesticide-Induced Diseases: Diabetes resource covers many other studies linking metabolic disorders with pesticide exposures.

In the current study, the researchers studied a sample of the CHAMACOS cohort comprising 505 children prenatally exposed and 381 postnatally exposed to pesticides who had reached the age of 18. They defined metabolic syndrome as having blood pressure higher than 130/85, waist circumference over 40 inches for males and 35 inches for females, fasting glucose over 100 mg/dL, and triglycerides over 150 mg/dL. Low HDL was defined as under 40 mg/dL for males or 50 mg/dL for females. All the participants had at least one of these cardiometabolic measures at age 18.

Although the CHAMACOS data include biomarkers of pesticides, the authors did not use them to estimate pesticide exposures because the biomarkers most commonly measured and used to infer exposures to organophosphate, organochlorine, and pyrethroid pesticides are not sensitive enough to identify specific compounds. Further, few cardiometabolic studies have included newer pesticides such as the weed killer glyphosate and neonicotinoid insecticides. Therefore, the authors explain, the current study used participants’ residential histories because these could be geocoded to estimate pesticide exposures using California Pesticide Use Reporting data. They gathered all the addresses where each participant had lived during the study period and estimated pesticide use within 1 kilometer of each residence. This distance is strongly correlated with pesticide levels in house dust.

Based on quantities applied, the researchers identified a subset of the California Pesticide Use Report (PUR) data comprising 11 pesticides for both prenatal and postnatal analysis (acephate, chlorpyrifos, diazinon, malathion, oxidemeton-methyl, dimethoate, methomyl, permethrin, neonicotinoid insecticides, manganese-containing fungicides such as maneb, and glyphosate) with the addition of naled in the postnatal group.

They analyzed the relative contributions of the 11 individual pesticides to mixture exposures, and which pesticide combinations were correlated with cardiometabolic indicators in males and females. The results of exposure to mixtures were quite different between males and females. For females, higher prenatal exposure was associated with higher HDL levels, and the pesticides contributing most to the mixture effect were glyphosate, neonicotinoids, and acephate. There was no such association among prenatally-exposed males. For them, higher prenatal exposure was associated with a higher likelihood of metabolic syndrome, and the bad actors here were glyphosate and the insecticides malathion and permethrin. For males, higher postnatal exposures to glyphosate, malathion, and naled also increased the risk of metabolic syndrome. There was no postnatal association with metabolic syndrome for females.

The authors write that, “Hormonal influences and sex-specific differences in detoxification and metabolic regulation during critical developmental windows may contribute to these divergent effects.” Other research has produced strong evidence that endocrine-disrupting chemicals affect “prenatal growth, thyroid function, glucose metabolism, obesity, puberty, and fertility through several mechanisms,” according to a 2022 review.

Yet the differences in effects by sex and developmental stage have barely been explored. See Beyond Pesticides’ August 7, 2024, news brief analyzing an intriguing study of French children’s hair samples. In that study, sex-specific differences were found for 26 biomarkers of pesticides, most of which were endocrine disruptors. Fifteen biomarkers showed significantly higher levels in males compared to females. Interestingly, for pyrethroid insecticides, boys’ hair samples contained predominantly metabolites, while the girls’ hair contained more of the parent compounds.

The mechanisms and health implications of this difference are unclear. Pyrethroid insecticides are known endocrine disrupters; one study found higher pyrethroid exposure was associated with obesity in females but not males; but, pyrethroids have also been linked to high prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels and higher risk of prostate cancer. Exposure to endocrine disruptors also clearly affects testicular function and sperm counts.

Just how the timing of pesticide exposures during development affects males and females differently needs far more attention, but there is sufficient evidence of early endocrine disruption affecting not only reproductive health but cardiometabolic status in adulthood to enact protective policies for the earliest, and most critical, developmental stages.

Public health advocates maintain that no one should be condemned to preventable chronic and life-threatening health conditions initiated before they were born, least of all the people who grow everyone’s food. One way to reduce the risk factors for cardiometabolic syndrome is to eat organic as much as possible. A 2021 study of seniors in the European Journal of Nutrition found organic food correlated with smaller waist circumference, blood pressure, blood glucose, and HDL, but these findings did not persist after adjusting for confounding factors. However, a 2024 review in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition found “[a] significant inverse relationship between organic food consumption and cardiometabolic risk factors, including obesity, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia.” That is, eating organic reduces the risk of cardiometabolic syndrome.

This choice should be extended to the people who live and work in agricultural areas. Nearly half of the mothers and children in the current study are living below the poverty line, and many reported marginal food security. Access to organic food could help mitigate the risks from proximity to pesticide applications. Even better would be the conversion of all agriculture to organic, eliminating the workers’ environmental exposures. Ensuring that the communities that grow everyone’s food have access to the healthiest choices for themselves should be a high policy priority.

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

Sources:
Sex-Specific Associations of Early Life Exposure to the Pesticide Mixture with Cardiometabolic Outcomes in CHAMACOS Young Adults
Cheng-Yang Hu, Ana M. Mora,* Robert B. Gunier, Stephen Rauch, Katherine Kogut, Jill K. Gregory,
Ayca Erkin-Cakmak, Brenda Eskenazi, and Maria José Rosa
Environmental Science & Technology October 2025
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.5c06486

Over 60 Biomarkers of Pollutants and Pesticides Found in Hair Analyses of French Children
Beyond Pesticides, August 7, 2024
https://beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/2024/08/over-60-biomarkers-of-pollutants-and-pesticides-found-in-hair-analyses-of-french-children/

Pesticide Exposure Linked to Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes, and Metabolic Disease in Seniors
Beyond Pesticides, February 27, 2024
https://beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/2024/02/pesticide-exposure-linked-to-obesity-type-2-diabetes-and-metabolic-disease-in-seniors/

Metabolic Diseases, Including Diabetes and Obesity, Driven by Pesticide Exposure
Beyond Pesticides, September 27, 2023
https://beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/2023/09/metabolic-diseases-including-diabetes-and-obesity-driven-by-pesticide-exposure/

Pesticides’ Role in Lower Sperm Counts and Reproductive Harm in Men Again in Science Literature
Beyond Pesticides, January 10, 2024
https://beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/2024/01/pesticides-role-in-lower-sperm-counts-and-reproductive-harm-in-men-again-in-science-literature/

(Beyond Pesticides, November 6, 2025) The report, Designed to Kill: Who Profits from Paraquat, and accompanying interactive storymap, unpacks the supply chain of the infamous herbicide paraquat and underscores the true costs of pesticide products, from manufacturing to use in the fields. This report is part of a larger initiative, the Pesticide Mapping Project—“a collaborative research series that illustrates the health and climate harms of pesticides across their toxic lifecycle: including fossil fuel extraction, manufacturing, international trade, and application on vast areas of U.S. land.”

Top Highlights

This report highlights, among other notable points, “that every stage of the paraquat supply chain—which spans the globe—emits greenhouse gases and toxic air pollutants.” With SinoChem as the lead producer and player in the paraquat market, the Chinese government-owned pesticide company’s supply chain “includes fossil fuel extraction in Equatorial Guinea and Saudi Arabia, chemical manufacturing in India, Germany, and the United Kingdom, international chemical shipping, and final formulation and distribution in the United States.”

Paraquat is not currently manufactured in the U.S., accounting for imports of “between 40 and 156 million pounds of paraquat each year, according to the last eight years of pesticide import records available from the private database.” Despite the publicity surrounding “Making America Healthy Again,” the Trump administration exempted China from “reciprocal” tariffs on paraquat dichloride imports in April 2025, according to the report.

The authors note “a large discrepancy” in U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data on paraquat use in 2018, “between the amount of paraquat the U.S. imported in 2018 (approximately 95 million [pounds]) and the amount of paraquat USGS estimates were used on agricultural lands in 2018 (17 million [pounds]).” Several rationales could explain this phenomenon:

• “USGS estimates of paraquat use on agricultural lands are too conservative;
• substantial quantities of paraquat are applied each year on non-agricultural lands such as rights of way, and/or;
• that substantial quantities of imported paraquat are being stored in U.S. warehouses.”

The rise in demand for paraquat stems from an issue endemic to synthetic pest management—pest resistance to herbicides. The growth of “superweeds,” after decades of spraying controversial herbicides like glyphosate, has led to corporations like Syngenta (which sells paraquat under the trade name Gramoxone) framing their product as “a tool for environmental sustainability” because, it says, “it enables farmers to avoid tilling weeds and disrupting soil life.”

The authors explain the global agrochemicals industry as being structured like an oligopoly—meaning that just four companies (Corteva, BASF, Bayer, and Syngenta) account for “more than 62 percent of global agrochemical sales in 2020.” When SinoChem merged with fellow state-owned company Chem China, the former already owned “Syngenta pesticide manufacturing and formulation facilities in the U.K. and U.S. and continues to operate them under the name Syngenta.”

Fossil fuel extraction from reserves in Equatorial Guinea and Saudi Arabia is “used to produce the chemical building blocks of paraquat.” The main ingredients for paraquat include methyl chloride (which is derived from methanol) and pyridine.

Atlantic Methanol Production Company (AMPCO) produces methanol, which is then exported to Port Rotterdam, Netherlands, by Solvadis—a chemical distribution company. Nobian, a chemical manufacturing company, accepts the methanol in Frankfurt, Germany, once it arrives from its journey on the Rhine River and then processes the material into methyl chloride. The authors of the report highlight data on chlorine compounds from National Center for Biotechnology Information and a peer-reviewed study (here and here) stating the severe occupational health and public safety consequences of these chemicals, including its ability to “harm the nervous system and cause convulsions and coma” and that “[f]acilities that produce or store mass quantities of chlorine pose a high disaster potential, because chlorine gas is an explosive and potentially fatal respiratory toxin.”

Pyridine, meanwhile, begins with fossil fuel extraction from shale gas fields supplied by Saudi Aramco. It is important to note that 70 percent of the fossil gas that is eventually processed into pyridine is methane; the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that methane has a global warming potential (GWP) of 27 to 30 over 100 years (or 30 times more potent than carbon)—with “the larger the GWP, the more that a given gas warms the Earth compared to CO₂ over that time period.”

The methane is processed into methanol by Sahara International Petrochemical Company (Sipchem) in Saudi Arabia. Sipchem then transports methanol to Gajraula, India, where “Pyridine is synthesized through a reaction between formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and ammonia” at the Jubilant Ingrevia facility. The authors cite a peer-reviewed study and publicly available data (here and here) linking pyridine exposure to “skin irritation, eye and throat burns, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, dizziness…” and “Long-term exposure to pyridine can also damage the kidneys and affect brain function,” respectively.

Pyridine is then transported to the UK, where it is combined with methyl chloride at the Syngenta Huddersfield Manufacturing Center. Gramoxone (paraquat) is then transported to the Port of New Orleans, U.S., where “Sinochem/Syngenta has exported more than 1,000 shipments of paraquat from Huddersfield to Louisiana since 2017, collectively valued at more than $642 million USD.” This system is profitable because “SinoChem holds Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) privileges for importing paraquat dichloride into Louisiana.” FTZ privileges, as the authors describe, “allow companies to lower, defer or avoid taxes and tariffs on chemicals, lowering costs and increasing profit margins.” This raises the economic advantage that policymakers give to petrochemicals, as opposed to creating the conditions for FTZ privileges for organic-compliant inputs.

The Syngenta agrochemical facility in St. Gabriel, Louisiana, “formulates and packages Gramoxone and more than a dozen other herbicides for sale.” This area is located squarely in Cancer Alley, home to “about 200 fossil fuel and petrochemical operations” that contribute to cumulative toxic exposure across multiple classes of chemicals. Simultaneously, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) in 2022 identified the Syngenta facility in St. Gabriel “for heightened risk of a chemical disaster” since communities living in proximity face significant damage from “flooding, storm surges, and category 4 and 5 hurricanes.” The facility “stores large quantities of ammonia, chlorine, sulfur dioxide, and hydrocyanic acid on an industrial campus in the direct path of frequent hurricanes.”

In addition, the authors report, “The total annual carbon emissions of Syngenta Group, which includes supply chain emissions of its upstream manufacturing sites, purchased energy and goods, and chemical transportation, are 14.7 million tons [as of 2024].”

The report addresses the consequences of occupational exposure to petrochemical pesticides. The health harms are exacerbated by broken links in the social safety net, resulting in a harm multiplier effect.

“Farmworkers who develop serious conditions after working with pesticides frequently face barriers to healthcare. It is estimated that nearly half of farmworkers lack health insurance, preventing many from receiving a diagnosis and treatment,” according to the report. The authors continue: “And farmworkers face other barriers to care, such as getting approved time off from work without risking job loss, finding transportation to clinics, and navigating the complex U.S. medical system to get appointments.”

Farmworker Statements

Alianza Nacional de Campesinas interviewed farmworker community members on the impacts of likely paraquat exposure, which led to numerous testimonies included in the final report highlighting the disproportionate risks of this harmful chemical and its real-world consequences:

“My cousin, who is 55 years old, was a pesticide applicator for about 25-30 years on farms in New York, Florida, and maybe other states, too. During the time that he was a farmworker, his primary job was to apply paraquat with a tractor. About 13 years ago, he started having seizures and his hands would shake a lot. He was soon after diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, which his doctor confirmed was very likely caused by exposure to paraquat while he was a farmworker. I don’t know how long he has actually had Parkinson’s because he began feeling ill before he was diagnosed, but the past 13 years have been very difficult for him and our family.”

“At one point, he was a pesticide applicator and I specifically remember he would wear white jumpsuits, at the time he was probably around 30 years old. We knew he worked with chemicals that could be unsafe to us and he took precautions to make sure we didn’t come in contact with the chemicals. I knew that we couldn’t hug him when he picked us up after work, he never wore his jumpsuit in the home and would leave it outside the house. We also washed our clothes separately. My dad started showing symptoms of Parkinson’s disease over several years, starting with his nervous system. It started with his nerves and trembling hands and then he began to stutter. We started taking him to the doctor and he was eventually diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. I don’t remember for how long he had symptoms before he was diagnosed but I do remember how hard it was for my dad.”

The full statements from impacted families can be read on pages 2-9 (pdf pages 6 –13) of the report.

Previous Coverage

“Germany and European Union countries ban all uses of paraquat, but supply one of paraquat’s primary building block chemicals, methyl chloride, to the UK, where paraquat is manufactured,” say the authors in the report, highlighting the double standards and environmental injustice facing communities in Global Majority nations like Equatorial Guinea.

Communities and farmers continue to speak up across the globe and protest the importation of pesticides banned in the European Union, the U.S., and other countries. Organized by the Women on Farms Project, farmworkers in Paarl, South Africa, took to the streets on Friday, September 8, 2023, demanding an end to the indiscriminate importation and use of pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides containing substances prohibited by the European Union (EU). This protest is part of a broader global trend of outcry against systemic issues of environmental racism that disproportionately burden communities with environmental and health risks. (See Daily News here.) BBC’s (British Broadcasting Corporation’s) recent coverage of Di-bromochloropropane (DBCP) exposures and impacts on banana plantation workers in multiple Latin American countries. A significant number of those male workers became sterile, and many charge that their exposures to DBCP in the 1970s were responsible. A 1979 ban on uses of DBCP on the U.S. mainland by the EPA did not immediately stop manufacturers from exporting the toxic insecticide to (primarily) Central American countries, nor did it stop its use in U.S. fruit corporations. (See Daily News here.)

In 2020, Unearthed, a Greenpeace UK journalism arm, and Public Eye, a Swiss NGO (non-governmental organization) that investigates human rights abuses by Swiss companies, revealed that companies in the UK, as well as in some European Union (EU) countries, are exporting massive amounts of pesticides — banned in their own jurisdictions — to poorer countries. More than 89,000 (U.S.) tons of such pesticides were exported in 2018, largely to countries where toxic pesticide use poses the greatest risks. The UK has been the largest exporter (15,000+ tons, or 40% of the total in 2018); other significant exporters include the Netherlands, France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, and Belgium. (See Daily News here.)

A study in Environmental Science and Technology Letters, funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is the first to find halogenated organic compounds (HOCs) in deep ocean sediment and biota off the coast of California. The test area, known as the Southern California Bight (SCB), is home to historic offshore DDT waste dumping, with part of the SCB designated as a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund site. 49 HOCs were detected in the sediment and biota, many of which are DDT-related and not previously monitored. The presence of these “unmonitored compounds can significantly contribute to the contaminant body burden across a range of marine taxa,” the study states, which leads to impacts on critical food webs and biodiversity. While this study is the first to specifically analyze previously overlooked DDT+ compounds, the results are nothing new. (See Daily News here.)

Call to Action

Taking action is an antidote to despair. If you do not know where to begin, consider subscribing to Action of the Week and Weekly News Updates to learn more about how to engage in advocacy.

If you are interested in going to the next level, consider signing up to become a Parks for a Sustainable Future advocate and learn how to support your community to expand organic land management ordinances to public green spaces. Just because federal policy is not feasible at the moment does not mean your city council or state legislature is not capable of transformative change.

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

Source: Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, Coming Clean Network, and Pesticide Action & Agroecology Network

(Beyond Pesticides, November 5, 2025) Environmental and public health advocates, farmers, and business leaders are raising a glass to the expansion of organic hop production, which aims to boost the viability and growth of organic-certified beer products in the UK. A 2024 report by UK-based Organic Research Centre, in partnership with farmers, follows three years of field trials to assess the suitability of various hop varieties in organically managed systems. At a time when organic hops production in the UK has dropped significantly due to varieties that are vulnerable to downy mildew and hop powdery mildew, the report offers a blueprint for additional on-farm, applied research in the United States, including from groups such as the Organic Farming Research Foundation’s (OFRF) Farmer-Led Trials Program. The report cites promising results for new hop varieties.

The continuous use of pesticides not only contributes to biodiversity collapse, public health deterioration, and the climate crisis, but also to the ability to enjoy a beer without fear of exposure to toxic chemicals, including evidence of glyphosate residues found in popular beer and wine brands. (See Daily News here and here.)

Background and Methodology

The authors of this report reflect on their years-long field trials and the value of peer-to-peer learning in informing medium- to long-term decision-making for their agricultural operations.

“To overcome the barriers to making a successful organic UK hop industry, new hop varieties that are tolerant of disease and climatic conditions as well as suited to agricultural systems that have a positive effect on the environment are required,” say the authors in the introduction of the report. They continue:

“Hop farmers need better access to information on hop performance in organic systems. Hop merchants and brewers wishing to sell and use organic hops need organic farmers to help test new varieties for their adaptation to low-input farming systems. This field lab is overcoming some of the challenges faced in the UK organic hops industry by using participatory variety testing to find suitable breeding lines for organic farming systems with whole supply chain collaboration.”

The following aims of the field lab included:

• “Bring[ing] together key stakeholders in the organic hops supply chain including breeders, merchants, farmers and brewers to address the issues collectively.
• Identify[ing] varieties and breeding lines suitable for organic production and test these in field trials in commercial organic hop gardens.
• Assess[ing] hop variety characteristics and qualities for brewing through lab analysis and brewing tests.
• Develop[ing] assessment tools to quantify the performance of hop varieties grown in field trials in commercial organic hop gardens.”

Eight participants engaged in the organic hops field lab, including Greg Pilley of Stroud Brewery (Group coordinator and Brewer); Will Rogers of Charles Faram—a global hops supplier based in the UK — (hop merchant/technical expert); Peter Glendening of PGhops/Charles Faram Hop Development Programme (research agronomist); John Walker of Tedney House Farm, Worcestershire (farmer); Tom Upton of Woodlands Farm, East Sussex (farmer); and Dominic Amos, Henny Lowth, and Isabel Mackintosh of Organic Research Centre (crops researchers).

“The hop varieties were tested at two farms in the predominant hop growing regions in England: the West Midlands and South East counties. Both tested different varieties of hops to suit the tall and dwarf hop systems in place,” says the authors in the methodology section. They continue: “Plants for the trial were sourced from Wye Hops Ltd and British Hop Association (BHA) breeding programme bred by Dr Peter Darby and from the Charles Faram Hop Development Programme. The varieties trialed at Tedney House Farm were all bred by Wye Hops and were selected by John Walker from the trials carried out at Dormington by Peter Glendinning for Wye Hops. Table 2 and 3 summarises the varieties that were selected at each farm for testing.” (See pages 5 to 6 of the report for additional details on the thirteen specific varieties.)

The researchers, in their field assessments over the course of three years, observed the following variables in assessing the suitability of the selected hop varieties in organic systems:

• Phenology: “Crop stage at key timings, ripening and harvest window.”
• Vigor: “Early season [vigor] assessed visually as days to reach top wire.”
• Disease resistance: “In comparison to farm control varieties, identification of foliar disease symptoms and severity assessment.”
• Pests: “In comparison to farm control varieties, identification of pest presence and damage assessment.”
• Weed cover: “Most abundant weed species present noted.”
• Number of hops and strength of plants: “The number of hop bines that were successful and their strength.”
• General establishment: “How well established the variety is compared to the control, visual observation.”

Results

There are four varieties – Endeavor, Sovereign, Harlequin, and “3294” – that farmers identified as having “promising suitability for organic systems due to their good performance in [these] field lab trials, [and] they will continue to be grown by the farmers.”

• Endeavor & Sovereign Varieties: “At Tedney House Farm, John Walker has decided to continue to grow and monitor Endeavour; this is the only 2022 planted variety that will be continued in addition to the control, Sovereign. From the results in Table 5, Endeavour showed good disease resistance in year 2 but was susceptible to slugs, aphids, downy mildew and hop powdery mildew in year 3. Despite this, a 65 kg yield was obtained and a pilot brew was [evaluated]. John Walker hopes that the downy mildew will be less prevalent with drier weather and in a better location too. The Endeavour planted in February 2023 has been clear of aphids and hop powdery mildew as well as having minimal downy mildew damage.”
• Harlequin and 3294 Varieties: “Harlequin is going to be trialed again at Woodlands Farm; Tom Upton would like to double its planted area. Table 6 shows that the variety has been relatively disease free throughout the three years and the yield [is] reliable due to the good sized and fast-growing bines and heavy cones. Also, variety 3294 will be grown and monitored for another year with several rows planted this coming spring. Despite not looking promising at the start of the trials it recovered quickly from disease infection and was free of downy mildew in the final year despite the wet conditions.”

This cohort hopes to access funding in the near future to better understand “the environmental and carbon footprint of organic hop farming compared to conventional…to improve the marketability of organic beer.” This organic-conventional comparative, peer-reviewed analysis has been conducted on other commodities, including coffee. Researchers in a different study published in Cleaner and Circular Bioeconomy found in the new coffee production study that certified organic coffee producers in Peru have a lower carbon footprint than transitional organic coffee farmers. More specifically, “The results indicate that the average emissions for the production units classified as in transition are equivalent to 1.11 kg CO₂e per kilogram of green coffee, while for the organic production units, the average emissions associated with 1 kg of green coffee are equivalent to 0.68 kg CO₂e.” (See Daily News here.)

Previous Coverage

In the last year, businesses such as Patagonia Provisions and Brooklyn Brewery have invested in organic beer, which is increasingly evident given the interest by brewing and food companies. It is important to note that the expansion of hops production for the organic beer market in the United States would not have been possible without the leadership of advocates, farmers, breweries, and the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), which led to the strengthening of organic standards for beer back in 2010. The growth of this sector and transition to truly organic beer speaks to the spirit of “continuous improvement,” the original design of the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA), and the importance of mobilizing the public to engage in the public input process that continues to keep organic law strong in opposition to those seeking an easier path to the organic label.

In the original drafting of OFPA, advocates came together to determine how to encourage the development of certified organic sectors despite the lack of available, verifiable organic inputs for many products—beer included. With this spirit in mind, the improvement of standards for beer encapsulates the significance of OFPA in the context of its principles, incentives, and the statutory intent to encourage public input to strengthen the integrity of organic standards. This oversight process—with public, organic grower, and scientific input, and the authority of the stakeholders (environmentalists, consumers, growers, retailers, certifiers, and scientists) on the NOSB to manage the allowed substances in organic production and processing—operationalizes the underlying principle of continuous improvement in the law. Nonorganic ingredients, up to five percent of total product ingredients, are allowed in products labeled organic the showing that these ingredients are not “commercially available.” This allowance was intended by the drafters of the law to incentivize innovation, development of environmentally sensitive materials, and expansion of organic production by those seeking a market opportunity for organically produced ingredients. In the spirit of continuous improvement, the American Organic Hop Growers Association and its formal 2009 petition urged the removal of the exemption that allowed nonorganic hops in organically labeled beer.

Beer producers could rely on nonorganic hops since this ingredient was listed as an allowed nonorganic agricultural ingredient, given that it was less than five percent of the product ingredients and not commercially available as an organically grown product.  The situation created a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem, because as long as the law allowed the use of nonorganic hops, brewers were not looking for organic hops, and growers did not produce them in large quantities. In other words, even though growers of hops showed that the crop could be grown organically, it was not produced to supply the market because lower-cost, conventional (nonorganic) hops were permitted in processing organic beer. In addition, many breweries and wholesalers were locked into contracts with conventional hop growers. As a result, after the filing of the petition and getting the issue on the agenda of the NOSB, organic hop growers descended on the 2010 NOSB meeting, testifying to the fact that they could fill the demand for organic hops and challenging their “not commercially available” status.

The process of continuous improvement worked as intended. Listening to the facts, the NOSB passed a recommendation to phase out hops grown with chemical-intensive practices from the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances by adopting language that, by January 1, 2013, removed hops from 7 CFR § 205.606 (Nonorganically produced agricultural products allowed as ingredients in or on processed products labeled as “organic”) under OFPA. This gave the breweries time to transition from organic-labeled beer to organically grown hops without breaking existing production contracts. (See Daily News here.)

In 2012, two years after Beyond Pesticides (as an NOSB board member at the time), growers, and advocates across the nation came together to speak out against chemical-intensive hops in “organic” beer, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced in a new rule that hops must be grown in compliance with the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances in order for beer products to meet USDA organic certification standards. (See Daily News here and here.) 

Call to Action

See Eating With A Conscience to access a tool where you can click on different produce, vegetables, and other food products and identify which likely pesticide residues would be detected in non-organic versions, highlighting the significance and value of organic as the only legally defined and accountable form of sustainable agriculture in the U.S. Currently, there are 91 listed food items, including barley.

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

Source: Organic Research Centre

(Beyond Pesticides, November 4, 2025) A study of earthworms published in Environmental Science & Technology highlights how chemical mixtures can have both synergistic and species-specific effects, threatening the soil microbiome and overall soil health. In exposing two species, Eisenia fetida and Metaphire guillelmi, to the weed killer glyphosate alone and in combination with urea, a form of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer, the researchers find enhanced toxicity with co-exposure as well as varying health effects between the two species. These results emphasize the need to test a wide variety of nontarget organisms for impacts from environmental contaminants, since species, even within the same genus or family, can exhibit vastly different effects.

Glyphosate, as one of the most widely used herbicides worldwide, is highly researched, with a multitude of studies linking the weed killer to effects on humans, wildlife, and soil ecosystems. Since simultaneous application of glyphosate and urea frequently occurs in agriculture, the effects of this mixture on earthworms are crucial for understanding the overall impacts on soil health. In exposing the two species to the individual compounds and as a mixture, the authors report increased glyphosate residues in earthworm gut contents, reduced body weight, aggravated intestinal tissue damage, sharply decreased digestive enzyme activity, and intensified gut microbiota dysbiosis, among other health effects.

In highlighting the species-specific impacts, the researchers state, “Besides these same impacts, E. fetida exhibited more severe oxidative damage and energy metabolic disorders under co-exposure, while M. guillelmi showed greater sensitivity in intestinal tissue and microbial responses.” These results, in simulating the widespread co-exposure of glyphosate and urea in agricultural soils, shows the “markedly intensified glyphosate-induced growth inhibition and intestinal toxicity in earthworms.”

The authors continue, saying: “Co-exposure facilitated the accumulation of glyphosate in earthworm gut contents, triggering a cascade of more severe intestinal damage, immune activation, and gut microbiota destabilization… [O]ur results highlight the underappreciated risks of such combined exposures for key soil fauna that regulate nutrient cycling and soil structure.”

Study Importance

As Beyond Pesticides has previously reported, healthy soil contains millions of living species that form microbiomes. Most of the biodiversity in soil consists of bacteria and fungi, and their number and type are regulated partially by predatory protists and nematodes that feed on bacteria. In working together, these tiny organisms determine the health of the soil for plant growth. The soil microbial community is an important indicator of soil health, and pesticide residues in the soil can change its structure and promote resistance in some microorganisms. The soil microbiome requires balance, and contamination from toxic chemicals can affect the stability of the soil ecosystem with cascading impacts, ultimately, to human health. (See Daily News here, here, and here.)

Recent research published last month links pesticides, antibiotics, and nitrogen fertilizers to the extreme global crisis of antibiotic resistance, raising serious concerns about the adverse impacts of conventional (chemical-intensive) agricultural practices. In a particularly novel and significant finding, the researchers found that nitrogen is a strong driver of resistance processes. The influence of nitrogen fertilizers adds an important dimension to the role of agricultural practices in generating antibiotic resistance. Nitrogen benefits some soil microbes, but it is a stressor for many others. It increases antibiotic-resistance gene (ARG) abundance and can enhance uptake of the heavy metals cadmium and copper by crops. Other effects include reducing enzyme activity and acidifying the soil. (See Daily News here.)

For the current study, two earthworm species are analyzed. As the authors point out, earthworms play critical roles in various key soil ecological processes, with a wide body of science showing the toxic effects of glyphosate on earthworms. “[A]n increasing number of studies have emphasized that both short-term and long-term exposure to glyphosate can reduce earthworm survival, decrease biomass, suppress reproduction, and induce oxidative damage and reproductive impairment,” the researchers state. They continue, “These findings highlight the potential toxic effects of glyphosate on earthworms, which may further impair their ecological functions within soil systems.”

Urea is one of the most widely used nitrogen fertilizers and is often used in conjunction with glyphosate in agricultural soils. The authors note, “Urea can change soil pH, nitrogen forms, and microbial communities, thereby influencing glyphosate adsorption, degradation, and persistence.” (See research here and here.) Since fertilizers are often applied alongside pesticides, understanding how these mixtures interact and impact soil health is imperative.

Methodology/Results

In the study, E. fetida and M. guillelmi were exposed to soils treated with environmentally relevant concentrations of glyphosate, urea, or a combination of both for 28 days. After which, the “concentrations of glyphosate and its metabolite aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) in both soil and gut contents were quantified, gut microbiota via 16S rRNA sequencing was characterized, and toxicological effects, including growth inhibition, intestinal barrier histopathology, and oxidative and energetic imbalance, were evaluated.”

The researchers find:

• Co-exposure with glyphosate and urea increases glyphosate residues in earthworm gut contents by 9.89−40.23% and reduces the body weight of the earthworm by 17.86−21.05%.
• “At 10 mg/kg glyphosate, urea co-application markedly increased glyphosate residues in soil and earthworm gut contents, potentially aggravating glyphosate toxicity to earthworms.”
• In comparison, the guillelmi treatment group exhibits generally higher glyphosate residues in both soil and intestinal contents than E. fetida.
• Co-exposure also “aggravate[s] intestinal tissue damage, sharply decreased digestive enzyme activity, upregulated lysozyme [an enzyme that plays a crucial role in the immune system] expression by more than 150.28%, and raised LPS content [lipopolysaccharide; linked to gut dysbiosis] by over 10.08%.”
• Gut microbiota dysbiosis is intensified, with the bacteria inflammatory marker phylum Proteobacteria increasing by 6.98−17.52%.
• The body length and weight of the earthworms decreased after 28 days of exposure, with co-exposure causing the largest weight loss.
• “M. guillelmi is more sensitive to the combined effects of glyphosate and urea than fetida, exhibiting a more pronounced growth inhibition.”
• Co-exposure with urea further aggravated tissue damage in both earthworm species when compared with glyphosate alone, “causing intestinal wall thinning, hemocoel congestion, and increased epidermal muscle congestion.”
• “M. guillelmi exhibited more severe intestinal damage, particularly degeneration and loss of chloragogenous tissue” than fetida.
• Urea co-exposure also aggravates mitochondrial dysfunction under glyphosate stress, disrupts antioxidant defenses and energy metabolism more severely, and “alters the effect of glyphosate on the gut microbiota composition in both earthworm species, with a more pronounced differentiation observed in fetida.”

The species-specific results highlight the importance of studying a wide range of nontarget organisms. As the authors summarize: “The sensitivity and key damaging mechanisms differed between the two earthworms: oxidative damage was predominant in E. fetida, whereas gut barrier disruption and gut microbiota alterations were more critical for M. guillelmi. Our findings highlight that urea co-exposure amplifies glyphosate toxicity risks in earthworms and underscore the necessity of considering the differential responses of earthworm ecological types in future soil ecological risk assessments.” (See Beyond Pesticides’ coverage on the deficiencies of risk assessments and regulatory failures here, here, and here.)

Previous Research

Included in the current study, the authors cite a wide body of science on not only the effects of glyphosate and other pesticides on health and the environment, but also particularly for synergy and impacts on soil organisms. This research includes:

• The extensive use of glyphosate is linked to effects on nontarget soil organisms, with the risks to soil ecosystems widely studied. (See here, here, here, here, and here.)
• One study shows that frequent application in tropical systems of glyphosate “reduced soil macroarthropod richness by 21% and altered community composition.
• “A recent global risk assessment of glyphosate further estimated that 67−93% of soils pose high risks to Collembola [springtails] and 43−67% pose medium to high risks to earthworms.” (See here.)
• Studies show that glyphosate combined with microplastics causes notable synergistic effects. (See research here and here.)
• “Co-exposure to polyethylene microplastics and glyphosate aggravates neuro-behavioral disorders, intestinal barrier injury, and gut microbiota imbalance.” (See here.)
• One study shows that urea co-exposure increases glyphosate and AMPA residues in soil.
• “[C]ommercial glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs) contain surfactants, such as polyethoxylated tallow amines, which have been shown to amplify the risks associated with glyphosate.” (See here.)
• Studies show guillelmi exhibits greater toxicity and ecological sensitivity than the E. fetida with organophosphate pesticide exposure.
• “[C]ombined exposure to imidacloprid and PLA [polylactic acid] microplastics, fluindapyr and microplastics, or tebuconazole and polyethylene microplastics causes more severe epidermal and intestinal damage and heightened immune responses. Damage to the epidermis and intestinal wall, the main barriers against contaminants, is closely linked to digestive disorders and impaired immunity in earthworms.” (See studies here, here, here, and here.)

The Alternative: Organic Land Management

To protect soil health and ensure a balanced soil microbiome, a holistic solution is available. This involves eliminating the use of petrochemical pesticides, including glyphosate, and synthetic fertilizers that contain urea, and adopting organic methods. Countless studies confirm the soil health benefits of organic agriculture, as it can improve ecological functions damaged by chemical-intensive farming practices. (See a small subsample of research here and here.) Beyond Pesticides advocates for organic land care in all areas, including agriculture, public parks and places, as well as residential areas.

Additional information, shared in Daily News entitled Organic Farming Competes with Chemical-Intensive Practices on Resilience, Input Costs, and Profitability, highlights the multifaceted benefits of organic. Visit Products Compatible with Organic Landscape Management and Fertilizers Compatible with Organic Landscape Management, as well as Cost Comparison: Organic vs. Chemical Land Management, for more information on transitioning to organic practices.

By focusing on a healthy system that starts with the soil, the use of petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers becomes obsolete. To learn more about the health and environmental benefits of organic land management, see here and here. Help support Beyond Pesticides’ mission by becoming a Parks Advocate with the Parks for a Sustainable Future program, becoming a member, or making a gift contribution today.

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

Source:

Li, P. et al. (2025) Urea Co-exposure Increases Glyphosate Toxicity in Earthworms: Evidence from Species with Distinct Sensitivities, Environmental Science & Technology. Available at: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.5c10842.

(Beyond Pesticides, November 3, 2025) After a series of legal setbacks for the nation’s cornerstone law of environmental protection, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Beyond Pesticides has joined a call for members of the U.S. Congress to oppose weakening amendments to the statute—H.R. 4776, the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act. Environmental advocates say the bill, introduced by U.S. Representatives Bruce Westerman (R-AR) and Jared Golden (D-ME) in July 2025, is a fossil fuel and agriculture industry wish list that will weaken NEPA protections. In recognition of “the profound impact of man’s activity on the interrelations of all components of the natural environment,” NEPA’s statement of purpose “declare[s] a national policy which will encourage productive and enjoyable harmony between man and his environment.” By requiring environmental assessments (EAs) or environmental impact statements (EISs) for federal actions, it creates a procedural barrier to environmentally damaging proposals.  

The requirements of NEPA go beyond the production of reports. In the process of producing EAs and EISs, NEPA requires the agency to define the purpose and need for the project and examine all reasonable alternatives. This alternatives assessment is a model for environmental policy that should be adopted by agencies regardless of whether it is considering actions that meet NEPA’s thresholds. Imagine what agriculture might look like if pesticide registration required a statement of the purpose and need—not to kill “pests,” but to produce healthful food! And if the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had to consider alternatives to chemical-intensive production! It might look like organic agriculture. 

NEPA’s force has already been weakened by two court decisions. In Marin Audubon Society v. Federal Aviation Administration (November 2024), U.S. Court of Appeals, November 2024, (District of Columbia) found that, “The CEQ [Council of Environmental Quality] regulations, which purport to govern how all federal agencies must comply with the National Environmental Policy Act, are ultra vires [beyond its legal authority],”  meaning that CEQ does not have rulemaking authority. In Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado, the Supreme Court, May 2025,  found that NEPA’s scope is limited to “the agency’s regulatory authority” when affecting a separate project outside its jurisdiction.

In January 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14154, Unleashing American Energy, which requires the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to rescind its regulations and change priorities and analysis. A CEQ memorandum on the implementation of NEPA was issued in September 2025. Instead of CEQ regulations, agencies must develop their own guidance for implementing NEPA, eliminating the consistent application of NEPA policy goals. 

The underlying purpose of NEPA was expressed in Calvert Cliffs’ Coordinated Committee v. Atomic Energy Commission, 449 F.2d 1109 (D.C. Cir. 1971), cert. denied, 404 U.S. 942 (1972), in which the court found: “NEPA, first of all, makes environmental protection a part of the mandate of every federal agency and department. The Atomic Energy Commission, for example, had continually asserted, prior to NEPA, that it had no statutory authority to concern itself with the adverse environmental effects of its actions.  Now, however, its hands are no longer tied. It is not only permitted, but compelled, to take environmental values into account. Perhaps the greatest importance of NEPA is to require the Atomic Energy Commission and other agencies to consider environmental issues just as they consider other matters within their mandates.“

Changes to NEPA in the SPEED Act could drastically limit public participation, government transparency, and access to legal recourse for affected communities. Some impacts could be:  

• Limiting environmental reviews and their scope.   

• Allowing agencies to disregard new scientific research when making environmental reviews.   

• Imposing barriers to legal challenges of inadequate assessments, thus restricting the ability of courts to stop harmful actions.   

Beyond Pesticides is joining with people and organizations nationwide, asking members of the U.S. House of Representatives to oppose the SPEED Act. 

U.S. House of Representatives
I urge you to oppose the SPEED Act (H.R. 4776). This bill proposes to gut the National Environmental Policy At (NEPA), our nation’s most important environmental law. For more than 50 years, the NEPA has been a cornerstone of environmental protection in this country. In recognition of “the profound impact of man’s activity on the interrelations of all components of the natural environment,” NEPA’s statement of purpose “declare[s] a national policy which will encourage productive and enjoyable harmony between man and his environment.” By requiring environmental assessments (EAs) or environmental impact statements (EISs) for federal actions, it creates a procedural barrier to environmentally damaging proposals. Now, a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives, H.R. 4776 proposes to weaken NEPA’s protections.

NEPA ensures agencies consider environmental impacts before acting, a protection that is vital for our communities, public health, and the environment. The SPEED Act’s proposed changes to NEPA could drastically limit public participation, government transparency, and access to legal recourse for affected communities. The SPEED Act proposes to seriously limit the type of actions that would trigger environmental review under NEPA while limiting the scope of the reviews, creating accountability blind spots. It could allow agencies to disregard new scientific research when making environmental reviews, thus risking uninformed decisions that harm public health. Furthermore, it could impose extreme barriers to legal challenges of inadequate assessments and restrict the ability of courts to stop harmful projects, shifting power from the public to project developers. 

Thank you.

(Beyond Pesticides, October 31, 2025) A review in Lancet Neurology provides a clear snapshot of the state of scientific understanding of Parkinson’s disease and how medicine and policy could be improved by shifting focus to the primary causes of the disease, namely environmental toxicants, and to emphasize prevention rather than devoting resources only to treatments and a cure. The study, led by Ray Dorsey, M.D. of the Atria Research and Global Health Institute and the University of Rochester Medical Center, focuses on three classes of environmental toxicants: pesticides, dry cleaning and degreasing chemicals, and air pollution. Because these are pollutants introduced by humans, the authors say, they should be controllable, and “Parkinson’s disease could be thus largely preventable.”

According to the review, in the last five years, new evidence has accumulated about three types of pesticides of particular concern. They are not all insecticides, which is the pesticide category most associated with neurological damage. Paraquat is a herbicide used on corn, soybeans, and cotton. Rotenone is used to kill rats and insects. Organochlorine insecticides comprise the third class. The review notes that there are many other pesticides that are neurotoxic and may have common mechanisms of action leading to Parkinson’s and other neurological diseases. The degreaser trichloroethylene (TCE) and the dry cleaning agent perchloroethylene (PCE, aka tetrachloroethylene) round out the group of bad actors.

James Parkinson, M.D., first described the disease in 1817. The knowledge that 85% of cases had no family history came in 1893; today it is estimated that only 5%-15% of people with Parkinson’s outside Africa have a genetic cause or risk factor, according to the Dorsey review.

Symptoms of Parkinson’s, such as tremors, stiffness, slow movement, and balance issues, emerged in cases of exposure to paraquat and TCE during the 1960s and to MPTP, a synthetic opioid, in the 1980s. Beginning in the late 1990s, more evidence surfaced of pesticides’ role—including rotenone and organochlorines—along with air pollution. In 2017, the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries and Risk Factors Study identified Parkinson’s as the world’s fastest-growing neurological disease.  

One of the striking aspects of these toxicants is their long chemical histories, including knowledge of their toxicities. The organochlorine DDT was first synthesized in 1874. Its usefulness as an insecticide was discovered in 1939. By the end of World War II, its toxicity to non-mosquitoes was evident; another organochlorine, dieldrin, had already been developed in the 1940s as an alternative. Even before Rachel Carson published Silent Spring in 1962, DDT was known to bioaccumulate in humans and public suspicion was mounting.

Paraquat was synthesized in 1882 and used as a dye initially. The first evidence of its human toxicity, which is severe, appeared in 1964, only two years after its commercial introduction as a pesticide. It remains legal for use in the U.S. Beyond Pesticides has consistently campaigned to ban paraquat, showing that EPA failed to meet its mandates under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act and the Food Quality Protection Act. See Beyond Pesticides’ April 16, 2024, Daily News Blog for a detailed analysis of paraquat’s health hazards and regulatory status. In late 2024, California passed a bill to evaluate whether paraquat should be banned with a deadline of January 2029. 

Rotenone, derived from several plants including jicama vines, has long been used by indigenous peoples to kill fish. It was isolated by a Japanese chemist in 1902 and was registered as a rodenticide and insecticide under FIFRA from 1947. EPA continues to allow its use to kill fish, but not as an insecticide.

TCE and PCE are very closely related and well-known neurotoxicants. The authors cite the heartbreaking study from 2023 of service members at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, who were exposed to both chemicals, along with others, both occupationally and in their drinking water, through ingestion, dermal absorption, and inhalation. The cohort were service members, with an average age of 20, who were at the base for at least three months between 1975 and 1985. They were found to be at 70% higher risk of Parkinson’s than military workers at Camp Pendleton in California, which had much less pollution. Nationally, TCE contamination is now widespread: by 2000, 30% of the groundwater in the U.S. was polluted with it, and EPA estimates between 9% and 34% of drinking water sources contain some TCE.

TCE came into commercial use in the 1920s in the U.S. It has been used as a nerve pain reliever and an obstetrical anesthetic. Today it is used as a solvent in paint, ink, and adhesive formulation and as a degreaser for metal parts. EPA prohibited TCE for all uses effective January 16, 2025, but President Trump froze the action a week later, and there is a judicial stay in place. PCE became the leading dry cleaning solvent in the 1940s. It has also been used in textiles, in the manufacture of ozone-depleting CFC refrigerants, as a treatment for hookworms, and in shoe polish. EPA has set a 10-year phaseout of PCE in dry cleaning and prohibited its use by consumers.

For Parkinson’s and other neurological diseases, inhalation is a crucial route of exposure; inhaled substances—vapors, gases, and ultrafine particles—travel up the olfactory nerve in the nose to the olfactory bulb in the brain, avoiding metabolism by the liver. The olfactory bulb is a particular site of Parkinson’s pathology, and serves as a gateway to the rest of the brain.

There are other routes as well. Ultrafine particulates in air pollution can reach the brain from the lungs or digestive tract to the blood and then across the blood-brain barrier. Dr. Dorsey has proposed a connection between Parkinson’s, the gut microbiome, and the parasympathetic and enteric nervous systems. See Beyond Pesticides’ Daily News Blog of April 19, 2024, for a detailed analysis of his thesis, as well as how toxicants reach the brain and affect multiple neurological processes and structures.

Parkinson’s is a disease of industrialization. The authors note that the disease’s prevalence in Canada is five times higher than in sub-Saharan Africa, but that rapidly industrializing countries like China and India have the fastest-growing prevalence. Within less-industrialized countries, air pollution may be the primary route of toxicant exposure, as there is a strong gradient of poor air quality across the development divide. Studies in the last four years have found significant associations between PM_2.5) (particulate matter) and Parkinson’s risk. The magnitude of risk is not as big as that for pesticides and dry cleaning chemicals, but the risk is very widespread because nearly everyone breathes polluted air.

The review authors also stress that while the prevalence of Parkinson’s is fairly well measured, incidence is something else. Prevalence is the current number of cases in a population in a given time period, while incidence is the number of new cases arising. In other words, we know more or less how many people have Parkinson’s, but not how many people are on the way to or newly being diagnosed with active disease. In the U.S., about a million people suffer from the disease, and almost 60,000 new cases are diagnosed annually. Prevalence could indicate increased incidence or longer survival times, so that more people are living with the disease, although a 2021 study in Neurology found that the death rate from Parkinson’s in the U.S. had more than doubled between 1999 and 2019. Thus, the relationships among incidence, prevalence, and mortality rate are still unclear. In any case, while we may have been able to increase life expectancy, we cannot yet prevent disease initiation, onset, or ultimate outcome.

Parkinson’s shares with several other neurological diseases a late-onset pattern, with many years possible between toxicant exposures and manifestation of symptoms. For example, exposures that produce Parkinson’s may occur prenatally or in early childhood. Many pesticides and solvents cross the placenta. Fat-soluble pesticides are present in breast milk. Tragically, a Marine’s son, exposed at Camp Lejeune as a three-year-old, developed Parkinson’s at age 36. The primary cohort of Camp Lejeune service members, exposed briefly in their 20s, is expected to produce many more Parkinson’s cases as the group ages into its 70s.

The Dorsey review authors stress, therefore, that more research must be conducted, preferably with biomonitoring, to detect precursor indicators that Parkinson’s is brewing, long before it becomes symptomatic.

So far, little emphasis has been placed on prevention by researchers, chemical producers, or regulators. According to the authors, nearly 60% of funding for Parkinson’s research comes from the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device sectors, which are vested in treating, not preventing, the disease. Similarly, foundations focus on finding a cure rather than prevention. Of all the research on Parkinson’s in the U.S., a mere 2% is dedicated to prevention. Further, genetic studies outnumber environmental studies by six to one, even though only a small percentage of Parkinson’s cases are genetically determined. “Cures in medicine are visible, laudable, and memorable,” the authors write. “By contrast, prevention is nearly invisible.”

It is time for the medical establishment and the federal regulatory system to acknowledge the environmental sources of Parkinson’s disease, to determine the magnitude of disease incidence increases along with the explosion of chemical exposures to humans and the biosphere, and to take immediate action to rectify the situation. The most urgent, obvious and direct way to do this is to get these toxicants out of our environment—out of golf courses, parks, schools, factories, homes, the air we breathe, and the food we eat—use only benign processes to clean our clothes, and to find acceptable substitutes for the poisonous compounds we use to keep our physical infrastructure functioning.

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

Sources:
Environmental toxicants and Parkinson’s disease: recent evidence, risks, and prevention opportunities
E Ray Dorsey et al.
The Lancet Neurology November 2025
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41109237/

Literature review and meta-analysis of environmental toxins associated with increased risk of Parkinson’s disease
Aravindan et al.
Science of the Total Environment 2024
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969724029851

Literature Reviews Add to Wide Body of Science Connecting Pesticides to Parkinson’s Disease
Beyond Pesticides, April 23, 2025
https://beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/2025/04/literature-reviews-add-to-wide-body-of-science-connecting-pesticides-to-parkinsons-disease/

Research Links Parkinson’s and Lewy Body Disease with Chemical Effects on Brain and Gut
Beyond Pesticides, April 19, 2024
https://beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/2024/04/research-links-parkinsons-and-lewy-body-disease-with-chemical-effects-on-brain-and-gut/

California Bill Would Ban Deadly Weedkiller, Paraquat, Linked to Parkinson’s Disease in Face of EPA Inaction
Beyond Pesticides, April 16, 2024
https://beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/2024/04/california-bill-would-ban-deadly-weedkiller-paraquat-linked-to-parkinsons-disease-in-face-of-epa-inaction/

Behind the Numbers Linking Pesticides to Neurological Disorders, the World’s Largest Source of Disability
Beyond Pesticides, July 29, 2025
https://beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/2025/07/behind-the-numbers-linking-pesticides-to-neurological-disorders-the-worlds-largest-source-of-disability/

Golf Courses Linked to Parkinson’s Disease and Pesticide Use
Beyond Pesticides, May 22, 2025
https://beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/2025/05/golf-courses-linked-to-parkinsons-disease-and-pesticide-use/ 

(Beyond Pesticides, October 29, 2025) A study published in Environment International evaluates residues of individual and mixtures of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), including pesticides, and finds an association between exposure and hyperactive behavior in children. The researchers evaluated urine samples from over 800 preschoolers, identifying and statistically analyzing concentrations of 22 EDCs, and finding that nine of these chemicals are significantly associated with hyperactivity trajectories and EDC mixtures are positively associated with hyperactive behavior, noting the strongest association in girls. 

“The current study indicates the adverse health effects of exposure to mixtures of EDCs among preschoolers, and suggests gender specificity in these effects,” the researchers state. They continue, “This highlights the importance of focusing on multi-pollutant exposure in early childhood.” 

Study Importance 

“Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder in children, which has become one of the main factors leading to the burden of disease in children and adolescents worldwide.” The authors continue: “Its core symptoms are high levels of inattention and/or hyperactivity/impulsivity during the preschool period. A meta-analysis showed that the overall prevalence of ADHD in children in China over the past 15 years was as high as 6.2%, and has been increasing over recent years.” 

In comparison, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), data from 2022 suggests that in the U.S., an estimated 7 million (11.4%) children aged 3–17 years have ever been diagnosed with ADHD, based on a national survey of parents.  

Beyond Pesticides has previously reported that children are susceptible and vulnerable to exposure to harmful contaminants, including EDCs and pesticides. Children face much higher hazards than adults from exposure, with disproportionate risks due to their small size and developing organ systems, propensity to crawl and play near the ground, tendency for frequent hand-to-mouth motion, and greater intake of air and food relative to body weight. As shared in the Children and Pesticides Don’t Mix fact sheet, studies show children’s developing organs create “early windows of great vulnerability” during which exposure to pesticides can cause great damage. 

With the ubiquitous use of chemicals in commonly used consumer products and throughout the environment in agriculture and land management, EDCs are encountered every day and contaminate the air, water, soil, and food. Endocrine disruptors function by: (i) Mimicking the action of a naturally-produced hormone, such as estrogen or testosterone, thereby setting off similar chemical reactions in the body; (ii) Blocking hormone receptors in cells, thereby preventing the action of normal hormones; or (iii) Affecting the synthesis, transport, metabolism and excretion of hormones, thus altering the concentrations of natural hormones. Endocrine disruptors have been linked to ADHD, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, metabolic disorders, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, early puberty, infertility and other reproductive disorders, childhood and adult cancers, and other metabolic disorders. (See more on the Pesticide-Induced Diseases: Endocrine Disruption page.) 

The Endocrine Society says: “There are nearly 85,000 man-made chemicals in the world, many of which people come into contact with every day. Only about one percent of them have been studied for safety; however, 1,000 or more of these chemicals may be EDCs based on their probable endocrine-interfering properties.” A wide body of scientific literature finds that many pesticide active ingredients act as EDCs. 

As the current study shares, EDCs: “are a group of chemicals that are widely used in industrial production, building materials, cosmetics, pesticides, and insecticides. By altering the production, release, transport, metabolism, and binding of endogenous hormones, EDCs increase the risk of diseases across the human life cycle.” While there are various types of EDCs, the main chemicals assessed in this study include bisphenols (BPs), per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which include pesticides, organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs), and parabens. 

“At present, only a few studies have investigated the effect of EDC exposure on hyperactivity in preschoolers, and these studies have some limitations,” the researchers note. “For example, the effect of exposure to single types of EDC on hyperactivity in children is mostly investigated through cross-sectional design, which ignores the dynamic development of ADHD symptoms in children and the co-exposure of EDCs in children’s living environments.” (See here and here.) 

Methodology 

In collaboration with the Wuhu Maternal and Child Health and Family Planning Service Center, the researchers include 823 mother–child pairs from 13 urban and rural kindergartens across three districts and counties in Wuhu City, China. The mothers collected morning urine samples from preschoolers (aged 3–6 years old) and completed behavioral surveys. The urine samples were tested for 24 EDCs, including eight bisphenols, six PFAS, five organophosphate flame retardants, and five parabens. 

The final analyses included 22 of the 24 EDCS due to low detection rates of bisphenols. The preschoolers’ hyperactive behaviors are evaluated using the hyperactivity index scale in Conners’ Parent Rating Scale-Revised (CPRS-48). Data from the biomonitoring samples and surveys were used in statistical analyses to assess associations between hyperactive behavior and both single and mixture exposure to EDCs. 

Results 

“We identified two distinct hyperactivity classes (low and high) in line with previous studies,” the authors note. “Previous studies have confirmed that children with ADHD show some symptomatic features during the preschool period, and these symptoms can persist for a long time.” 

Based on the surveys, the study finds that boys are generally at a higher risk of following a high hyperactivity trajectory compared to girls. The researchers provide a plausible explanation in saying: “This disparity might be attributed to certain genes located on the Y chromosome, such as those involved in dopamine receptor function, which have been associated with an increased risk of developing hyperactive symptoms in males. Moreover, increased testosterone levels in boys may enhance dopamine system activity, contributing to heightened impulsivity and externalizing behaviors. Furthermore, this disparity may also be influenced by factors such as differences in the manifestation of hyperactivity symptoms between boys and girls, as well as diagnostic biases, including clinician-related prejudices and social expectations.” 

The mixture exposure modeling from the urine samples, however, reveals gender stratification with significant positive relations to hyperactivity trajectories only in girls. “The Q-gcomp model found that the EDCs mixture was significantly associated with hyperactivity trajectories in both boys and girls, but the effect was more pronounced in girls,” the authors explain. They continue, “This may be influenced by sex hormones. EDCs can mimic estrogen, bind to estrogen receptors, interfere with the hypothalamic-pituitary–gonadal axis, and affect normal hormone regulation, which may result in symptoms such as attention deficit and hyperactivity. Furthermore, Frederiksen et al. (2020) demonstrated that estrogen levels in prepubescent girls are significantly higher than those in boys. Therefore, the effect of exposure to the EDCs mixture may be greater in girls.” 

Previous Research 

Similar research, covered in previous Daily News, published in Environment International, finds that young children who exhibit higher levels of pesticide metabolites in their urine show more pronounced neurobehavioral problems at the age of ten. Researchers in China document how exposure during early childhood, especially during the sensitive window before the age of two, is linked to hyperactivity/inattention problems such as ADHD. While adding to the body of science connecting pesticide exposure to learning and developmental disorders, this study offers a “novel perspective on characterizing the fluctuation in repeated measurements of multiple environmental chemicals and identifying the potential critical windows,” the authors share.  

Additional scientific literature, cited within the current study, shows: 

• Exposure to EDCs is associated with ADHD in children, with some compounds showing a dose–response relationship.  

• In analyzing the relationship between 27 EDCs in breast milk and ADHD in children, one study finds “that the concentrations of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and β‑hexachlorocyclohexane (β-HCH) in breast milk were positively correlated with the risk of ADHD in children.” The study also shows that “early exposure to β-hexachlorocyclohexane (β-HCH) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) may increase the risk of ADHD in children, and the effect of PFOS is stronger in girls.” 

• A study of the relationship between urinary EDCs and hyperactivity in children shows that phthalate exposure is associated with impulsivity in children with ADHD. 

• “Maternal exposure to organophosphates during pregnancy or during childhood may disrupt neuronal migration, synapse formation, and myelination, thereby impacting brain development and resulting in long-term cognitive and behavioral deficits.” (See studies here and here.)  

• An analysis of urinary bisphenol exposure in 619 children aged 4–8 years reveals that these compounds are associated with ADHD in children at the age of 6 years. One bisphenol compound is positively correlated with hyperactivity scores in girls at the age of 6 years, but not in boys. 

• Urinary propylparaben residue is positively associated with attention problems in adolescents. 

• Exposure to phthalate mixtures is “related to ADHD symptoms in preschoolers, especially hyperactivity and impulsivity.” 

• Exposure to “PFAS mixtures at age 2 years was significantly associated with an increased risk of ADHD symptoms at age 8 years.” 

• Since PFAS can “cross the blood–brain barrier, accumulate in the brain, and induce neurotoxicity,” these compounds can alter brain structure and lead to hyperactive behavior. 

The Organic Alternative 

Chemical exposure at an early age increases the body burden of harmful toxicants, many of which can stay in the body for a lifetime, and escalates the risk for certain diseases such as cancer and Parkinson’s disease. With multiple routes of exposure to EDCs, reducing children’s exposure to harmful chemicals is critical. By adopting organic land management strategies, the exposure to endocrine-disrupting pesticides can be mitigated.  

Beyond Pesticides promotes healthy environments for learning and recreation for children. Alternatives are available for schools and for creating sustainable parks that do not unnecessarily put children’s health at risk. Make The Safer Choice to avoid hazardous home, garden, community, and food use pesticides to protect children as they grow and develop. 

THANKS FOR JOINING YESTERDAY’S WEBINAR on health protective practices that are cost-effective—Beyond Pesticides’ 42nd National Forum Series, The Pesticide Threat to Environmental Health: Advancing Holistic Solutions Aligned with Nature, October 29, 2025, 1:00-3:30pm (Eastern time, US). This Forum focused on aligning land management with nature in response to current chemical-intensive practices that pose a threat to health, biodiversity, and climate. The recording and chat from the session will be made available soon!

Your registration will also include the second session of the Forum, scheduled for December 4, 2025, 1:00 – 3:30 pm ET, featuring Carolina Panis, PhD and Jabeen Taiba, PhD, in a discussion centering on cancer and other diseases associated with pesticide use and exposure, which represent a problem of crisis proportions, and introducing a reorientation replacing toxic practices with the nurturing of natural systems that sustain life as part of the organic solution. The virtual Forum is free to all participants. Register here. 

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.  

Source: 

Li, R. et al. (2025) Effects of single and multiple endocrine-disrupting chemical exposures on hyperactivity trajectories among preschoolers: A cohort study, Environment International. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412025005768. 

(Beyond Pesticides, October 29, 2025) The latest research on bats and beavers, ecosystem services, and biodiversity adds to a wide body of science on the importance of a balanced ecosystem. In both the Bulletin of the National Research Centre and Journal of Animal Ecology, the researchers highlight the interconnectedness not only between wildlife species but to broader ecosystem functioning and human health implications. Researchers in the Journal article add to the growing body of science connecting an abundance of bat species in areas with established beaver dams, highlighting how interconnected wildlife is. The reporting on this recent research coincides with Beyond Pesticides’ 42^nd National Forum, The Pesticide Threat to Environmental Health: Advancing Holistic Solutions Aligned with Nature, scheduled for today, October 29.

As the author of the article in the Bulletin of the National Research Centre, entitled “The complex web between environmental disruption, pesticide use, and human health: lessons from the bat crisis,” states: “The close relationship between environmental balance, biodiversity, and human health has long been a concern of science and public policy. Disruptions in ecosystems often trigger cascading effects that extend far beyond the original ecological imbalance, affecting agricultural practices, food security, and public health.”

Bat Declines and Human Health

Previous research demonstrates the decline of bat populations in the USA resulting from the spread of white-nose syndrome (WNS), a lethal fungal disease caused by Pseudogymnoascus destructans. This mortality, due to the loss of ecosystem services that bats provide as natural predators, leads to dramatic increases in pesticide use. A 2024 study finds that as a result of these implications, a corresponding rise in infant mortality also occurs.

“This unexpected outcome illustrates how the loss of ecological agents can result in human health impacts through indirect mechanisms,” the current study authors state. “This wildlife epidemic, by decimating local bat populations, abruptly disrupted an invisible yet essential ecosystem service: the biological control of agricultural pests.”

Beyond Pesticides, in covering the study last year by Eyal Frank, PhD in Daily News, highlights how many farmers rely on bats as alternatives to pesticides to protect their crops from insects, but WNS has greatly impacted bat populations since 2006. With the collapse of many bat populations in counties in North America, these farmers turn to toxic chemicals to replace the ecosystem services bats usually provide. These chemicals, however, lead to ripples through the ecosystem and endanger human health. 

WNS is caused by an invasive fungus found in caves that affects bats during hibernation. As highlighted in an article in the New York Times, three species of bats in North America have been decimated by this syndrome, and bats with WNS have been confirmed in 40 states and nine Canadian provinces. According to bat experts, 52% of bat species in North America are also at risk of severe declines over the next 15 years.

Multiple crises impacting biodiversity, human health, and climate change are threatening ecological balance. Bats are one of many beneficial species that provide important ecosystem services, such as mosquito management and pollination, that are underappreciated until their services are no longer available.

As Dr. Frank highlights in his study, “Bats provide biological pest control through their high population size and predation rates on a variety of insects, many of which are crop pests. Insectivorous bats consume 40% and above of their body weight in insects each night.” When fewer bats are available to remove these insects, especially ones known to damage produce and other crops, farmers are left seeking other pest control options.

To determine the impacts on human health from these population declines, Dr. Frank collected data from counties experiencing WNS regarding insecticide use and infant mortality from 2006-2017. In comparing these numbers, “after the onset of bat die-offs, farmers in the county increase their insecticide use by 31.1%, on average,” he states. “Infant mortality rates due to internal causes of death (i.e., not due to accidents or homicides) increased by 7.9%, on average, in the affected counties. This result highlights that real-world use levels of insecticides have a detrimental impact on health, even when used within regulatory limits.” These rates correspond to an additional 1,334 infant deaths, which shows that for every 1% increase in pesticides, there is a 0.25% increase in the infant mortality rate.

This study calls attention to the observable and statistically significant increases in insecticide use in counties that document WNS compared to non-WNS counties, with increased infant mortality also occurring in those areas. This correlation highlights the direct agricultural and health benefits that bats provide, as these effects were not seen in the years preceding WNS detection. For additional information, visit Beyond Pesticides’ resource Benefits of Bats.

The Beaver-Bat Connection

Researchers from Switzerland, in the article published in the Journal of Animal Ecology, state: “As ecosystem engineers, Eurasian beavers (Castor fiber) modify aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, which can benefit the biodiversity and community composition of plant and animal species. However, in contrast to aquatic taxa, beaver engineering impacts on terrestrial taxa, like bats, are so far largely overlooked. While it has been shown that bats prefer beaver-engineered ecosystems, the reason for this choice is poorly understood.” (See scientific literature here, here, here, here, here, and here.)

In seeking to address this knowledge gap, the researchers recorded bat species richness and feeding activity in ecosystems with and without beavers along a stream in Switzerland. Beavers, as one of the most well-known ecosystem engineers working across aquatic-terrestrial habitats, impact biodiversity through direct and indirect mechanisms.

“Directly, ecosystem engineers modify or create habitats, increasing habitat heterogeneity and providing additional niches for plant and animal species,” the researchers state. They continue, “Indirectly, ecosystem engineers change the composition of local communities, which can lead to novel interactions among species.” For beavers, dam construction and tree felling are direct methods of enhancing biodiversity and promoting interactions among animals and plants.

In describing the study, the authors note: “Here, we assessed the effects of beaver engineering on bat species richness, bat activity, and bat feeding activity in eight stream ecosystems ranging from near-natural to heavily human-impacted, located across the Swiss midlands. We studied how beavers affected bats directly (e.g., through modifications of the habitat structure such as volume of standing deadwood or canopy heterogeneity) and indirectly (e.g., via altered food availability).”

Study Methodology and Results

Eight beaver-engineered ecosystems (referenced as “pool” within the study) were paired with control sites without beavers (“control”). Data on food availability for bats, with arthropod flight interception traps, and habitat suitability, with deadwood volume and vegetation surveys, was collected to compare with the bat richness and abundance noted in the areas.

After collecting bat calls during eight full nights in mid-June and eight full nights in late July and performing statistical analyses with the results, the researchers find that the food availability for bats (as arthropod abundance) is positively correlated with bat feeding activity and bat richness. Overall, “bat species richness, activity, and feeding activity were significantly higher in beaver-engineered Pool compared to Control areas.”

The researchers say: “Our models revealed that this higher bat richness, activity, and feeding activity were related to direct beaver engineering effects on standing deadwood density and canopy heterogeneity, as well as indirect effects through arthropod abundance. Notably, and against our expectations, the influence of standing deadwood density and canopy heterogeneity was overall more pronounced than that of arthropod abundance, indicating that habitat characteristics were a better predictor for bat activity than food availability (arthropod abundance).”

Standing deadwood, created by beavers, is a critical resource for bat roosting and foraging. With bat activity increasing 1.6 times and bat feeding activity 2.3 times in beaver-engineered systems when compared to controls, this highlights the relationship between beavers and bats that is underappreciated.

In summary, the study “findings suggest that beaver engineering created structurally diverse habitats that supported a broader range of bat species,” the authors conclude. They continue: “By modifying both habitat structure and prey abundance, beaver engineering affected bat activity, richness, and feeding activity directly and indirectly. These changes operated across aquatic–terrestrial boundaries, highlighting the cross-ecosystem influence and ecological complexity of ecosystem engineering.”

Importance of Biodiversity

Biodiversity is literally the diversity of life. In the most general sense, biodiversity refers to all the species that share a defined habitat to form a community of interdependence. Protecting all organisms that live in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems is imperative to a liveable future. As Beyond Pesticides advocates, environmental contaminants, through their production, use, and disposal, adversely affect the rich biodiversity on which life depends. Wildlife is particularly vulnerable to pesticide exposure as these toxic chemicals can accumulate in the body as well as the environment, threatening ecosystem services and global well-being.

Broad efforts are urgently needed to protect biodiversity. As entomologist Dave Goulson, Ph.D. writes in his book called A Sting in the Tale (2014), “We need worms to create soil; flies and beetles and fungi to break down dung; ladybirds and hoverflies to eat greenfl[ies]; bees and butterflies to pollinate plants to provide food, oxygen, fuel, and medicines, and hold the soil together; and bacteria to help plants fix nitrogen and . . . cows to digest grass. . . .[Yet] we often choose to squander the irreplaceable, to discard those things that both keep us alive and make life worth living.”

Biodiversity creates balance: organisms keep each other in check through systems of support and predation, and the habitat ensures nourishment for all living things. Each species within the diversity of organisms that share a habitat contributes to the integrity and endurance of the community as a whole. More specifically, research strongly indicates that biodiversity promotes productivity, stability, and resilience. In general, communities with greater biodiversity generate more biomass (the combined weight of all organisms) and are more resistant to environmental disturbances (such as drought or extreme temperatures) and regenerate more quickly after disturbances. This is increasingly important in meeting the challenge of the climate crisis.

Practices that protect biodiversity have a direct relationship to the protection of ecosystems, and to the de-escalation of global climate change. The recognition of ecosystem services, which are enabled by healthy biodiversity, requires a respect for the natural processes that support the diverse web of life in the environment. With the elimination of toxic pesticide use, the protection of biodiversity and soil biology supports clean air, water, and land, and enhanced atmospheric carbon sequestration, resulting in a slowing of global climate change and a sustainable future. Learn more about supporting the organic solution and taking action to improve your community.

Call to Action

ATTEND TODAY’S WEBINAR—October 29, 2025, 1:00-3:30 pm (Eastern time, US)—on health protective practices that are cost-effective—Beyond Pesticides’ 42nd National Forum Series. This Forum will focus on aligning land management with nature in response to current chemical-intensive practices that pose a threat to health, biodiversity, and climate while bringing together scientists and land managers working to recognize and respect the ecosystems on which life depends. The virtual Forum is free to all participants. See featured speakers! Register here.

The Call to the Forum states:

We are all affected by how land is managed, food is grown, and nature is protected. Different experiences and perspectives may bring us to care about health and the environment and the devastating adverse effects of pesticides and toxic substances. However, ensuring a livable future requires us to cultivate a collective concern about daily decisions on the management of our personal and community spaces, the practices used to grow the food we buy, and the care that we as a society give to complex and fragile interrelationships that sustain the natural world on which we depend. 

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

Sources:

Frank, E. (2024) The economic impacts of ecosystem disruptions: Costs from substituting biological pest control, Science. Available at: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adg0344.

Moser, V. et al. (2025) Habitat heterogeneity and food availability in beaver-engineered streams foster bat richness, activity and feeding, Journal of Animal Ecology. Available at: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2656.70136.

Silva, H. (2025) The complex web between environmental disruption, pesticide use, and human health: lessons from the bat crisis, Bulletin of the National Research Centre. Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s42269-025-01370-y.

(Beyond Pesticides, October 28, 2025) A California-based population study published in BMC Public Health finds that “7.5 [percent] of all pregnant people in California who gave birth in 2021 lived within 1 km [kilometer] of agricultural fields where OP pesticides [organophosphates] had been used during their pregnancy. . .” Despite a 54 percent decrease in overall use of the neurotoxic insecticide chlorpyrifos in the state between 2016 and 2021, after a statewide ban on the organophosphate insecticide in 2016, researchers found that in one California county, “more than 50 [percent] of pregnant people lived within 1 km of OP pesticide use.”

Significant disparities were found in terms of elevated exposure to pesticides, “with Hispanic/Latine, young people, and residents of the predominantly fruit and vegetable growing Central Coast region being most likely to live near OP pesticide applications during pregnancy.” The authors suggest that “regulatory changes to limit use or restrict applications in close proximity to residential areas could have a substantial public health benefit on children’s brain development.”

These findings add to the existing scientific literature on perinatal and maternal pesticide exposure associated with adverse long-term health effects for children and mothers. They also serve as a reminder to public health and environmental advocates of the importance of moving beyond individual pesticide bans and toward assessments of alternatives for non-synthetic solutions to pest management, including organic and least-toxic substances, as defined by federal law.

Background and Methodology

The researchers gathered data for agricultural OP pesticide use from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation’s (CDPR) Pesticide Use Reporting (PUR) program for datasets in 2016 and 2021. The OP pesticides for which data were gathered include: acephate, bensulide, chlorpyrifos, diazinon, dichlorvos, dimethoate, disulfoton, ethoprop, fenthion, malathion, methidathion, methyl-parathion, mevinphos, naled, oxydemeton-methyl, phorate, phosmet, tetrachlorvinphos, tribufos, and trichlorfon. OP pesticide spraying events were only recorded if they had a “valid location, application date, agricultural site, amount of active ingredient in the applied pesticide product, and acres treated…included” in the associated reports. PUR program data was cross-referenced with data from California Department of Water Resources’ (DWR) 2020 crop mapping dataset to “more accurately identify where the pesticides were likely applied.”

In terms of data sets for assessing pregnant individuals’ proximity to OP use over the course of their pregnancy, “All pregnancies were treated as 40 weeks long when calculating the date of conception and address on the birth record was assumed to reflect residence throughout the entire pregnancy.” The authors continue: “The 1 km buffer zone around the residence was chosen to be consistent with a cohort study [conducted at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health] which found associations between OP applications within 1 km of maternal address during pregnancy and reduced IQ in the children, and is a distance commonly used in other epidemiologic proximity studies in California [].”

The authors are researchers at University of California, Berkeley, and the Public Health Institute. The funding for data analysis and manuscript writing was provided by Natural Resources Defense Council and Californians for Pesticide Reform, respectively. Additional funding was provided through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) 2022 EH22-2202 cooperative agreement.

The following declaration was made in terms of “[e]thics approval and consent to participate”:

“This study was conducted in compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki’s requirements for secondary research on stored data. The study protocol and data handling were reviewed and approved by the California Health and Human Services Agency’s Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects— an Institutional Review Board (IRB) authorized by the United States Office of Human Research Protections (Federal wide Assurance #00000681). The IRB waived the need for consent to participate and determined that the project qualifies as “Not Research” under the US Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects (the “Common Rule”).”

Results

The main results of this study highlight the power of policy when used effectively and the importance of pairing the prohibition or reduction of toxic chemicals with increased access to alternative chemical and non-chemical pest management solutions that align with natural and organic principles.

Firstly, there is a direct link between prohibition and decreased use of pesticides:

• “In 2016, the San Joaquin Valley region used the largest amount of agricultural OP pesticides (605,116 kg). OP pesticide use in the San Joaquin Valley reduced 9% from 2016 to 2021 following the cancellation of chlorpyrifos, with the largest reduction in Kern County (−87%).
• Large reductions in OP pesticide use were also seen in most other regions of California, ranging from −30.7% to −76.0%. Only the Central Coast region measured an increase (+0.5%) in agricultural OP use during this time. Two of the five counties in the Central Coast region reported an increase in total agricultural OP pesticide use from 2016 to 2021: Monterey County (+26%) and Santa Barbara County (+4%) (See Supplemental Table 2).
• In 2021, the areas with the highest intensity of OP pesticide use were in Monterey County and Santa Barbara County (Central Coast), Imperial County (Southern California), and Kings County (San Joaquin Valley). The OP pesticide use in these counties was highly concentrated with areas reporting an intensity of 6250–13,550 kg per township (9.6×9.6 km).”

The 26 percent increase in OP pesticide use concerns public health professionals in the state, given previous research coming out of Monterey County that links maternal OP pesticide exposure to adverse effects on children. This includes a 2017 study published in Toxics by UC Berkeley researchers who found “residential proximity within 1 km of OP pesticide use during pregnancy was associated with lower IQ in children, with one standard deviation increase in total OP pesticide use near the home (237  kg) being associated with a 2-point decrease (15% of a standard deviation) in Full Scale IQ at age 7.” With more than half of all pregnant people in the county living within the identified elevated risk zone, researchers suggest “that a large population may be at increased risk of IQ decrements, autism, or other adverse neurodevelopmental impacts.”  

The researchers conclude that “OP use and residential proximity remain high [despite a state ban] in the Central Coast region with lettuce, cole crop, and strawberry cultivation.” They also “suggest that agricultural transition to non-chemical production and/or pesticides that are not reproductive toxicants could reduce adverse prenatal exposures for a large population in the Central Coast region of California.”

Previous Coverage + Updates

Organophosphate pesticide use has been linked to numerous adverse health effects highlighted in the scientific literature and recognized by various regulatory and international bodies, including the decision in May by United Nations’ Conference of Parties (COP) for the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) to move chlorpyrifos to Annex A (Elimination) with exemptions on a range of crops, tick control for cattle, and wood preservation, according to the POPs Review Committee. Chlorpyrifos is a highly neurotoxic organophosphate insecticide linked to brain damage in children. (See Daily News here.)

Researchers at UC Berkley, UC Merced, and Stanford University published a study in Environmental Research last year, finding that “early life organophosphate pesticide exposure has been linked with poorer neurodevelopment from infancy to adolescence.” Researchers in this study acknowledge that there is still much more to be done in furthering understanding of “neural mechanisms underlying these associations,” and yet there is “notable consistency” in their Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas (CHAMACOS) birth cohort study. (See Daily News here.) Studies have also linked organophosphate pesticide exposure to various other health effects, including elevated risk of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), depression and suicidal ideation, women’s reproductive health dysfunction, rheumatoid arthritis, and disproportionate DNA damage for Latine children from rural farmworker families relative to children in urban, non-farmworker families.

The state of California is taking numerous steps to address the concerns of frontline communities; however, public health and environmental advocates, as well as farmworker-advocacy groups, continue to call for transformational policies and programs rather than mitigation that permits the continuous poisoning of communities living and working near agricultural fields, or who may come in indirect contact with synthetic chemicals through other pathways.

In March, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) announced the launch of SprayDays California, “a first-of-its-kind statewide system designed to provide transparent, accessible and timely notifications and information about the use of specific pesticides[,]“ according to the agency’s press release. The state says that notification will occur in “advance of the scheduled use of California restricted material pesticides in production agriculture.” (See the Daily News here when the program was initially launched earlier this year.) On August 28, DPR updated the program by adding map-based sign-ups and additional visibility to highlight one-square-mile sections after public comments (including from farmworkers), which had at the time identified inadequate notice of pesticide use to those who work in or live in proximity to agricultural fields. (See Daily News here.) At the time, DPR shared that 3,700 users signed up for notification alerts; on the six-month anniversary of SprayDays, DPR issued a public release boasting a near identical figure in terms of total text and email sign-ups. This has been characterized as a lack of engagement by advocates who say it underscores the need to think about upstream solutions that get at the heart of the problem—a transition away from chemical-intensive practices.

Rather than focusing on individual responsibility to keep track of when chemicals are sprayed, frontline advocates are calling for more systemic change. In a recent interview published in The Urban Activist, Adam Scow—a music teacher in a school located near pesticide-intensive agricultural fields and lead organizer with the Campaign for Organic and Regenerative Agriculture—shares the importance of moving beyond toxic chemical reliance in addressing pesticide drift from Driscoll’s non-organic fields in Watsonville, California:

“There has been ongoing pressure for better notifications from Driscoll’s and farmers regarding the use of pesticides, along with certain restrictions—such as limiting applications to weekends at night. However, these measures do not adequately address the larger issue. The significant problem is the presence of these invisible gases in the environment. They can drift across the valley and remain in the air for up to 72 hours, or three days,” explains Scow. “There is no specific season; it is a continuous issue.” 

Call to Action

ATTEND TOMORROW’S WEBINAR—October 29, 2025, 1:00-3:30 pm (Eastern time, US)—on health protective practices that are cost-effective—Beyond Pesticides’ 42nd National Forum Series. This Forum will focus on aligning land management with nature in response to current chemical-intensive practices that pose a threat to health, biodiversity, and climate while bringing together scientists and land managers working to recognize and respect the ecosystems on which life depends. The virtual Forum is free to all participants. See featured speakers! Register here.

The Call to the Forum states:

We are all affected by how land is managed, food is grown, and nature is protected. Different experiences and perspectives may bring us to care about health and the environment and the devastating adverse effects of pesticides and toxic substances. However, ensuring a livable future requires us to cultivate a collective concern about daily decisions on the management of our personal and community spaces, the practices used to grow the food we buy, and the care that we as a society give to complex and fragile interrelationships that sustain the natural world on which we depend. 

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

Source: BMC Public Health 

(Beyond Pesticides, October 27, 2025) With the confluence of science and law, the spotlight is on sewage sludge fertilizer and its contaminants, including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Sewage sludge (biosolids) is a byproduct of sewage treatment and is used as a source of organic matter for amending soil in nonorganic agriculture and landscaping. In light of a recent settlement in a lawsuit filed by Beyond Pesticides against ScottsMiracle-Gro, ongoing litigation against GreenTechnologies, LLC, and a major study identifying 414 contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), Beyond Pesticides’ network is calling on Governors and local officials to ban the use of biosolids on farms and parks, until there is adequate testing of toxic residues—which does not currently exist.  

The lawsuits against producers of sewage sludge fertilizer cite test results showing PFAS residues in the companies’ products and numerous scientific studies on the adverse effects of PFAS to public health, wildlife, and pollinators. (See settlement statement recently reached with ScottsMiracle-Gro.) 

A literature review published in Frontiers in Environmental Chemistry identifies CECs in soils, untreated and treated sewage sludge (biosolids), and dust, across 151 peer-reviewed studies released between 2018 and 2023—emphasizing the range of potential exposure pathways across various products, including classes of pesticides like neonicotinoid insecticides. In Scientific Reports, researchers report their test results of biosolids-treated farmland in southeastern Pennsylvania that detected 14 different PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) above the limit of quantification (LOQ). This means that not only were they detectable, but also high enough in concentration to confirm contamination at a significant concentration.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)  has published a list of 726 chemicals found in biosolids in the National Sewage Sludge Surveys. This list does not include PFAS, which are emerging contaminants of biosolids. Sewage sludge (biosolids) is prohibited from use in certified organic agriculture under the Organic Foods Production Act.  

Despite dramatic findings of contaminants, EPA classifies the biosolids typically used by gardeners, municipalities, golf courses, and farmers as Class A, “virtually free of pathogens and can be applied without any site-specific restrictions.” Class B biosolids, used in agriculture and land reclamation, may contain pathogens, thus EPA stipulates restrictions on use. 

In addition to PFAS, persistent toxic pollutants found in biosolids include inorganic chemicals such as metals and trace elements; chemicals such as polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs, dioxins, pharmaceuticals, and surfactants; and pathogens including bacteria, viruses, and parasites. Regulation of biosolids by EPA has been found by the EPA Office of Inspector General (OIG) to be inadequate. Lacking sufficient oversight at the federal level, states and local jurisdictions must act to eliminate the hazards created by these contaminants. 

Land application of biosolids to farms and landscapes is considered the standard means of “disposal.” Chemicals such as PFAS have been found to migrate into food when grown on farms using contaminated biosolids. Over 60% of biosolids are used in crops, and the contaminants in them make their way into food and water. If biosolids are used in landscaping, the contaminants pose a hazard to landscapers and those using athletic fields and parks. In view of EPA’s failure to provide comprehensive identification, regulation, and elimination of potential contaminants, public health and environmental advocates are calling for the testing of biosolids to ensure safety and a prohibition of use on farms and landscapes without a finding that they are untainted. Of concern is acute toxicity, cancer, genetic mutations, birth defects, reproductive or developmental effects, neurotoxicity, endocrine disruption, or immune system effects. Otherwise, they should not be used on farms or landscapes. 

Beyond Pesticides’ campaign against sewage sludge (biosolid) fertilizer use urges the public to: Tell their Governor and local officials to ban the use of biosolids on farms and parks, until there is adequate testing of toxic residues—which does not currently exist.  

Letter to Governor and local officials
Sewage sludge, also known as biosolids, is a byproduct of sewage treatment and is used as a source of organic matter for amending soil in nonorganic agriculture and landscaping. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published a list of 726 chemicals found in biosolids in the National Sewage Sludge Surveys. This list does not include the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are emerging contaminants of biosolids. A recent study published in Frontiers in Environmental Chemistry identifies 414 contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in soils, untreated and treated sewage sludge (biosolids), and dust, across 151 peer-reviewed studies released between 2018 and 2023, emphasizing the range of potential exposure pathways across various products, including classes of pesticides like neonicotinoid insecticides, in conventional farm and land management. Sewage sludge (biosolids) is prohibited from use in certified organic agriculture under the Organic Foods Production Act.

The claim that biosolids-containing fertilizer products are “as eco-friendly” and “sustainable” was challenged in two consumer protection lawsuits in Washington, DC Superior Court against The Miracle-Gro Company and GreenTechnologies, LLC in October 2024. The complaints cite test results showing PFAS residues in the companies’ products and numerous scientific studies on the adverse effects of PFAS to public health, wildlife, and pollinators.

Despite dramatic findings of contaminants, EPA classifies the biosolids typically used by gardeners, municipalities, golf courses, and farmers as Class A, “virtually free of pathogens and can be applied without any site-specific restrictions.” Class B biosolids, used in agriculture and land reclamation, may contain pathogens, thus EPA stipulates restrictions on use. 

In addition to PFAS, persistent toxic pollutants found in biosolids include inorganic chemicals such as metals and trace elements; organic chemicals such as polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs, dioxins, pharmaceuticals, and surfactants; and pathogens including bacteria, viruses, and parasites. Regulation of biosolids by EPA has been found by the EPA Office of Inspector General (OIG) to be inadequate. Lacking sufficient oversight at the federal level, states and local jurisdictions must act to eliminate the hazards created by these contaminants.

Land application of biosolids to farms and landscapes is considered the standard means of “disposal.” Chemicals such as PFAS have been found to migrate into food when grown on farms using contaminated biosolids. Over 60% of biosolids are used in crops, and the contaminants in them make their way to our food and water. If biosolids are used in landscaping, the contaminants pose a hazard to landscapers and those using athletic fields. In view of EPA’s failure to provide comprehensive identification, regulation, and elimination of potential contaminants, the biosolids themselves must be tested to ensure safety. Biosolids should be tested to ensure that they do not cause acute toxicity, cancer, genetic mutations, birth defects, reproductive or developmental effects, neurotoxicity, endocrine disruption, or immune system effects. Otherwise, they should not be used on farms or landscapes.

Thank you for your attention to this urgent issue.

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

For discussion of eco-sensitive, health protective practices that are cost effective, consider attending Beyond Pesticides’ 42nd National Forum Series, The Pesticide Threat to Environmental Health: Advancing Holistic Solutions Aligned with Nature, which begins on October 29, 2025, 1:00-3:30pm (Eastern time, US) with a focus on aligning land management with nature in response to current chemical-intensive practices that pose a threat to health, biodiversity, and climate. The virtual Forum is free to all participants. Register here or by clicking on the banner below!

Source
Beyond Pesticides v. The ScottsMiracle-Gro Company
Beyond Pesticides v. GreenTechnologies, LLC 

(Beyond Pesticides, October 24, 2025) A literature review published in Science of the Total Environment reports numerous peer-reviewed studies associating prenatal and childhood pesticide exposure to measurable alterations to children’s immune systems, including indicators of immunosuppression and increases in pro-inflammatory cytokines, among other adverse health effects. These immune system alterations are linked to higher infection risk and potentially contribute to autoimmune diseases and allergies later in life.

For over four decades, Beyond Pesticides has tracked the peer-reviewed science and identified a preponderance of evidence linking pesticide and chemical-dependent pest management to adverse human and ecological health effects. In this spirit, public health and environmental advocates continue to call for a wholesale transition to organic land management and organic pest management as biodiversity, public health, and climate crises continue to mount.

This mission supports the growth of the Parks for a Sustainable Future Program, where nineteen cities in eleven states across the country engage in pilot projects to transition parks, playing fields, and schoolyards to organic management practices and protect the health of children.

Background and Methodology

“This study aimed to evaluate the extent of immunotoxicity and correlation between exposure to pesticides and immune system alterations in children under five years of age, including exposure during pregnancy,” say the authors. Researchers used a Population-Exposure-Comparator-Outcome (PECO) framework to gather relevant studies for this systematic review and meta-analysis, employed in previous literature reviews.

• The populations are “infants and children up to 5 years of age; pregnant mothers (if placental transfer or tissue was investigated);
• The exposure assessed is “pesticide exposure during prenatal and/or early childhood [perinatal] periods (0-5 years), including exposure through maternal blood, placental transfer, or breastfeeding.”
• The comparators within selected studies are “unexposed or low-exposure groups; mothers as comparators for their paired infants when applicable.”
• The outcome of selected studies must include “[i]mmunotoxcitiy endpoints including immune system function measures (cytokine profiles, immune cell counts, immune cell activity) and biomarkers of immune dysfunction.”

Studies were selected for analysis based on the following criteria:

• “original research published in peer-reviewed English language journals,
• observational and interventional research designs (cross-sectional, case-control, cohort studies, and RCTs) utilizing human biomonitoring to determine the prevalence, extent, and risk factors associated with immunotoxic pesticide exposure in children aged 0–5 years at [the] time of exposure, including maternal exposure during pregnancy when placental transfer was examined,
• and clear measurement of immunotoxicity markers.”

Research that was excluded includes:

• “Laboratory studies (in vitro, in silico, animal models), case reports, opinion papers, commentaries, correspondence, review articles, published abstracts, and conference presentations,
• research focusing solely on pesticide toxicities without examining unintended immunological effects,
• studies lacking specific immunotoxicity endpoint measurements, and
• research primarily investigating allergic conditions, infectious diseases, or pediatric malignancies including leukemia and lymphoma.”

Reviewers extracted data from the selected studies and employed Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) principles for assessing the quality of their methodologies. They tested this cross-sectional research on “six publications before implementation.” If two or more studies measured comparable health outcomes, the authors conducted meta-analyses based on the “random-effects model” to account for potential discrepancies across the diverse selection of studies. The review was also conducted using PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses) 2020 guidelines and registered in PROSPERO, “an international systematic review registry that aims to promote transparency and open science, reduce reporting bias and help prevent unintended duplication and research waste.”

The authors are researchers based in Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, including Benha University Departments of Anatomy and Embryology, Physiology, and Statistics; Central Clinical Pathology Labs in the Egyptian Ministry of Health, and the United Arab Emirates University’s Institute of Public Health. Several of the authors reported financial assistance through PathFinder Epidemiology Academy, Egypt; otherwise, all authors declared “no financial relationships with commercial interests.”

Results

“Prenatal exposure to organochlorine pesticides was associated with decreased lymphocyte counts, altered T-cell subpopulations, dysregulated cytokine production, and increased susceptibility to infections,” researchers conclude. They continue to summarize the main findings of their literature review: “Pesticide exposure was linked to both immunosuppression and pro-inflammatory/allergic responses, suggesting complex and potentially exposure-specific effects. This review provides evidence that prenatal and early childhood pesticide exposure is associated with measurable changes in immune system parameters.”

Seventeen studies (eight cohort, seven cross-sectional, and two case-control) were selected after an initial 2,291 records. The studies were published between 2000 and 2021, with sample sizes ranging from 31 to 1,363 (median study size population was 198). Fourteen of the seventeen studies investigated prenatal exposure to various classes of pesticides, including organochlorines (fourteen studies), organophosphates (three studies), pyrethroids (two studies), and carbamates (one study). The immune parameters measured across the studies included hematological markers (ten studies), various lymphocyte subtypes (ten studies), pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines (eight studies), immunoglobulins (four studies), functional outcomes (three studies), and clinical outcomes (two studies).

“Meta-analyses revealed significant reductions in neutrophil counts (effect size: −0.09, 95% CI: −0.17, −0.01; p = 0.02) and eosinophil counts (effect size: −0.06, 95% CI: −0.09, −0.03; p < 0.001),” according to the authors. The 95 percent confidence interval (95% CI) offers a parameter for measuring the likelihood that the associated finding (i.e., drop in neutrophil counts) is likely to be true 95 percent of the time. Additionally, a p-value of 0.02 means that there is likely a two percent chance of observing data proving the null hypothesis valid; in other words, there is a high likelihood that the observed results are not random. For neutrophils, the selected studies show an overall negative net effect with pesticide exposure. Neutrophils are considered “the first line of defense against bacterial infections.” (Segal, 2005) Meanwhile, a “reduction in eosinophils could have implications for allergic responses and parasite defense mechanisms.” The overall effect size was also negative, with a p-value representing a probability of one in a thousand that the observed data is due to random chance.

They continue: “Pro-inflammatory cytokine production was significantly increased (effect size: 0.18, 95% CI: 0.08, 0.28; p < 0.001).” In short, the overall effect is significant across the selected studies. Separately, organochlorines were associated with decreased lymphocyte counts, while a metabolite of DDT (p,p’-DDE) “was associated with increased lymphocyte [white blood cell] counts.” Additionally, exposures to a mixture of pesticides “showed elevated immunoglobulin responses.”

Previous Research & Commentary

Advocates continue to sound the alarm and call for an organic transition, given the preponderance of evidence linking pesticide exposure to adverse health effects in children and childhood development.

A report by Environmental Working Group (EWG) in 2023 identified 200 hundred-foot pesticide spray “buffer zones” around 4,028 U.S. elementary schools contiguous to crop fields, emphasizing the disproportionate risks that U.S. children face to pesticide exposure. (See Daily News here.) Just this month, additional EWG analysis (see here) found that 24,471 public elementary and middle schools are located within a quarter mile of chemical-intensive cropfields. Meanwhile, recent research published in Environmental Science and Technology finds that there are 47 current-use pesticides—products with active ingredients that are currently registered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—detected in samples of indoor dust, drinking water, and urine from households in Indiana. (See Daily News here.)

Meanwhile, regulatory experts at Natural Resources Defense Council, Center Biological Diversity, and Center for Food Safety have pointed to serious flaws in the pesticide registration process at EPA with an in-depth evaluation of the agency’s failure to protect the public from the harmful effects of five neonicotinoid (neonic) insecticides—as mandated by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), as amended by the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) of 1996. All five neonicotinoids evaluated—acetamiprid, clothianidin, imidacloprid, thiacloprid, and thiamethoxam—are associated with significant shrinkage of brain tissue at the highest dosage, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data reports. (See Daily News here.)

This is also an international crisis. A commentary published in Science of The Total Environment earlier this year showcases the occupational and environmental exposure pathways of fossil-fuel-based pesticide and fertilizer products that children across the globe face, particularly in rural areas of low- and middle-income countries. (See Daily News here.) Two decades after the introduction of genetically engineered, herbicide-tolerant crops and the consequential exponential growth in weed killers, Brazil has seen an increase in childhood cancer between 2004 and 2019. (See Daily News here.)

Researchers based in Spain found that children with higher levels of certain insecticide metabolites (chlorpyrifos, diazinon, general organophosphate, general pyrethroid metabolite, general organophosphate metabolite, and ethylene-bis-dithiocarbamate fungicides) are more likely to experience early puberty. (See Daily News here.) A study published in Antioxidants finds that prenatal and early life exposure, usually after birth (perinatal), to glyphosate-based herbicides (GBH) induces oxidative stress in the brain, causing damage and negatively affecting melatonin levels. This, in turn, can have developmental implications in the long term, as the disruption of melatonin levels also has implications for the development of age-associated neurodegenerative diseases, as melatonin is a neuroprotector against neurodegenerative diseases associated with aging. (See Daily News here.) Meanwhile, exposure to glyphosate and its breakdown products is associated with an increased risk of liver and metabolic disorders in children and young adults. (See Daily News here.) Another study published in 2022 in Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology came to a similar conclusion on perinatal exposure to glyphosate and perinatal liver damage. (See Daily News here.)

Call to Action

See Beyond Pesticides’ Eating with a Conscience tool, where you can select over 90 individual fruits, vegetables, and other whole foods and identify which combination of pesticide residues (and links to their associated health effects) are found in non-organic versions.

For discussion of eco-sensitive, health protective practices that are cost effective, consider attending Beyond Pesticides’ 42nd National Forum Series, The Pesticide Threat to Environmental Health: Advancing Holistic Solutions Aligned with Nature, which is scheduled to begin on October 29, 2025, 1:00-3:30pm (Eastern time, US) with a focus on aligning land management with nature in response to current chemical-intensive practices that pose a threat to health, biodiversity, and climate. The virtual Forum is free to all participants.  Register here.

Plus, take action here on organic bills that have recently been introduced in the first year of the 119^th Session of Congress.

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

Source: Science of the Total Environment

(Beyond Pesticides, October 23, 2025) A global literature review of pesticide residues in marine seaweed, published in Marine Pollution Bulletin, highlights the widespread presence of pesticides in bioindicator species. As vital coastal primary producers, seaweed acts as a key indicator for regional pesticide contamination patterns. The bioaccumulation within seaweed species also threatens consumers, including humans, as the chemicals can biomagnify as they move through the food web. Pesticide contamination in waterways allows residues to bioaccumulate in seaweed species, presenting risks to public health, biodiversity, and ecosystem functioning.

In addition to the support seaweeds provide for ecosystems, they provide food sources for a multitude of organisms and are of growing socioeconomic importance. “This systematic review identifies, critically evaluates, and synthesizes recent global literature (2015–2024) on pesticide residues detected in seaweeds to delineate contamination patterns,” the authors share. The findings highlight the harmful impacts of petrochemical pesticides on multiple species. Many aquatic species rely on seaweed as a food source, including fish, sea urchins, crabs, snails, brittle stars, and marine mammals such as manatees and sea turtles. Even bacteria and filter feeders consume seaweed when it is decomposed. Birds and land mammals also consume seaweed, including humans who utilize seaweed in various food products due to its high nutritional value.

The literature review incorporates results from twelve studies that assess pesticide residues in multiple seaweed groups, including Chlorophyta (green algae), Rhodophyta (red algae), and Phaeophyceae (brown algae). Overall, despite the most commonly used organochlorine insecticides being banned in many countries, this class of pesticides, with the active ingredients hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH), aldrin, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), and endosulfan, is the most frequently detected, highlighting the legacy of persistent contamination. Throughout different regions, the pesticide concentrations vary significantly, and the differences noted when comparing algal species can be attributed to the properties of the pesticides and the morphology and lipid content of the algae that can impact bioaccumulation.

Importance of Seaweed

As the researchers state: “Seaweeds constitute a diverse group of photosynthetic organisms that play crucial ecological and socioeconomic roles in coastal ecosystems worldwide. Beyond being fundamental primary producers, seaweeds act as true ecosystem engineers. Their structural complexity creates vital habitats for numerous species of invertebrates and fish.”

“[C]oastal ecosystems face multiple anthropogenic threats, among which pesticide contamination stands out,” the authors note. They continue: “The intensive and widespread use of pesticides in agriculture, as well as in other human activities, constitutes the main source of these compounds in the environment. The presence of these contaminants in marine ecosystems is a matter of growing scientific concern due to their potential adverse effects on organisms and overall ecosystem health, potentially leading to changes in community structure, loss of biodiversity, and imbalances in ecological interactions.”

As seaweed species are able to act as effective bioindicators of marine pollution, the detection of pesticide residues highlights the contamination within waterways that impacts multiple nontarget organisms and threatens ecosystem stability. “[T]he bioaccumulation of persistent pesticides in seaweed tissues represents not only a key metric for monitoring ecosystem health but also a potential vector for contaminant transfer into the human food chain, given the growing global market for edible seaweeds,” the researchers state. (See research here and here.)

Literature Review Methodology and Results

In searching for full articles published in English within peer-reviewed journals between the timeframe of January 2015 and December 2024, the authors found twelve articles that met the eligibility criteria and were used to extract twenty data points for the macroalgal groups. This resulted in eight records for Chlorophyta, seven for Rhodophyta, and five for Phaeophyceae. The discrepancy between the twenty data points and twelve studies is due to multiple species being addressed within individual studies.

As the authors point out, there are limitations within this review when comparing studies with differing methodologies and in the low number of total studies that met their criteria. “The scarcity of research addressing pesticide contamination in seaweeds, with only 12 studies spanning a full decade, reveals fundamental gaps that demand strategic intervention,” the authors state. Additionally, they continue by saying: “Perhaps the most significant research gap is the disconnect between contamination quantification and ecological impact assessment. Current studies document the presence and concentrations but rarely establish causal relationships with physiological or ecological effects. Future research should prioritize mechanistic studies examining how pesticide exposure affects seaweed growth, reproduction, biochemical composition, and ecosystem functions.”

The authors note that the articles included in the review incorporate two studies each that analyze five, four, three, and two distinct species, with four studies examining only a single species. In total, this includes fourteen species of green algae, ten species of red algae, and eight species of brown algae that are contaminated with one or more pesticides.

Notably, out of the twelve studies, seven are focused in India, which the researchers attribute to multiple factors. Since there is a “significant and expanding seaweed cultivation sector, strongly supported by governmental initiatives and investment in research and development,” in India, it is an area with rising concerns over pesticide contamination in coastal zones. The underrepresentation, however, of other areas around the globe in recent research is a limitation within the current literature review.

The analysis of the studies shows a varying number of distinct pesticide types identified within different chemical classes in seaweed samples, with organochlorines representing the most diverse class. Ten different organochlorine pesticide (OCP) residues are identified among all of the seaweed species, highlighting their status as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that “exhibit exceptional environmental stability, long half-lives, and high lipophilicity, leading to significant bioaccumulation in organisms and biomagnification.” (See studies here, here, and here.)

Within Chlorophyta, current-use pesticides (CUPs), including the pyrethroids bifenthrin and cypermethrin are also detected. Since pyrethroids tend to have lower persistence than POPs in the environment, their presence in seaweed samples shows recent or ongoing contamination in coastal environments.

In Rhodophyta, the concentration of detected pesticides varies significantly. Endosulfan, for example, is prominent in Indian seaweed samples, most likely as a result of its intensive agricultural use in coastal catchments like the Gulf of Mannar. Cypermethrin is also noted in several Indian studies, which “points to more contemporary pollution from its widespread agricultural application and subsequent runoff, given its moderate persistence.” In contrast, a study in Egypt shows higher concentrations of aldrin, HCH, and another organochlorine chlordane, possibly as a result of long-standing contamination from past extensive agricultural use in the Nile Delta and industrial discharges into depositional basins like El-Mex Bay.

Studies of brown algae (Phaeophyceae) “demonstrate a greater overall bioaccumulation capacity for OCPs when compared to green and red algae,” the authors say. “This enhanced capability is likely influenced by their distinct biochemical and morphological characteristics, as well as their interactions with lipophilic compounds present in the environment.”

The data within all studies, despite differing methodologies and limitations, consistently show how seaweed species bioaccumulate several pesticides, many of which are banned in multiple countries, highlighting the contamination in aquatic ecosystems and adding to the existing body of science on how pesticides threaten health and the environment.

Previous Research

A multitude of studies, referenced in the current literature review and in coverage by Beyond Pesticides, showcase the cascading negative impacts on marine biodiversity and ecosystem functioning that occur with pesticide contamination in coastal ecosystems as a result of agricultural runoff. (See studies here, here, and here, as well as the Daily News archive on water contamination here.)

As highlighted in Daily News, toxic pesticides harm all beings and ecosystems, including coral reefs. Large benthic foraminifera (LBF) are single-celled organisms found on reefs that face adverse metabolic impacts after exposure to the weed killer glyphosate, fungicide tebuconazole, and neonicotinoid insecticide imidacloprid, according to a study published in Marine Pollution Bulletin. The study found that “even the lowest doses of the fungicide and herbicide caused irreparable damage to the foraminifera and their symbionts.”

Another study, published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology Letters, funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is the first to find halogenated organic compounds (HOCs) in deep ocean sediment and biota off the coast of California. The test area, known as the Southern California Bight (SCB), is home to historic offshore DDT waste dumping, with part of the SCB designated as a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund site. Forty-nine HOCs were detected in the sediment and biota, many of which are DDT-related and not previously screened for. The presence of these “unmonitored compounds can significantly contribute to the contaminant body burden across a range of marine taxa,” the study states, which leads to impacts on critical food webs and biodiversity. (See Daily News here.)

Additional coverage, in Daily News, entitled Ocean Mammals Genetically Vulnerable to Certain Pesticides, notes how pesticides drain from agricultural fields, poison waterways and coastal areas, and harm wildlife. A study in Science finds that a gene that helps terrestrial mammals break down certain toxic chemicals appears to be faulty in marine mammals — potentially leaving manatees, dolphins, and other warm-blooded aquatic life more sensitive to toxic pesticides, especially organophosphates.

These studies, and more, represent the extensive threats from pesticides to aquatic environments and all of the lives that depend upon them. Learn more from Beyond Pesticides’ Pesticides and You article entitled Pesticides Wreak Havoc on Ecosystems and see additional research on water contamination and impacts on aquatic organisms here and here.

The Organic Solution

Clean water is essential for human health, wildlife, and a balanced environment. Yet, water is being polluted at unprecedented rates, with pesticides, industrial chemicals, nutrients, metals, and other contaminants. To protect water resources, aquatic organisms, and human health, the elimination of petrochemical pesticides and synthetic fertilizers is urgently needed. Removing the sources of agricultural and land management pesticide contamination and adopting organic methods is the holistic solution that benefits both aquatic ecosystem health and overall public health.  

For more information on the health and environmental benefits of organic, see here and here. Start by buying organic products and growing your own organic food. To make a difference in your community, become a Parks Advocate for the Parks for a Sustainable Future program. For more information, please email our team at [email protected].

Take action each week to have your voice heard on governmental actions that are harmful to the environment and public and worker health, increase overall pesticide use, or undermine the advancement of organic, sustainable, and regenerative practices and policies. See the Action of the Week archive here and sign up now to get our Action of the Week and Weekly News Updates delivered right to your inbox!

 Tell your U.S. Representative and Senators to ensure that agencies reaffirm U.S. commitment to restoring and maintaining the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of all the nation’s protected water resources.

️ Join the webinar next Wednesday! To advance principles of land management that align with nature, Beyond Pesticides is convening the 42^nd National Forum, The Pesticide Threat to Environmental Health: Advancing Holistic Solutions Aligned with Nature, bringing together scientists and land managers working to recognize and respect the ecosystems on which life depends. Scheduled to begin on October 29, 2025, 1:00-3:30 pm (Eastern time, US), the virtual Forum is free to all participants. See featured speakers!  ➡️ Register here.

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

Source:

Azevedo, G. et al. (2025) Global patterns of pesticide residues in seaweeds: A systematic review, Marine Pollution Bulletin. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X25011841.

(Beyond Pesticides, October 22, 2025) The release of scientific studies on contaminants in sewage sludge (biosolids) used as fertilizers coincides with two lawsuits filed by Beyond Pesticides against ScottsMiracle-Gro and GreenTechnologies, LLC, in which the organization alleged that each defendant engaged in false and deceptive marketing and sale of fertilizer products that were marketed as environmentally friendly, despite containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”). PFAS have been linked to cancer and other adverse effects. (See settlement statement recently reached with ScottsMiracle-Gro.) Biosolids are widely used in agricultural production and nonagricultural land management, including parks and playing fields, but  prohibited from use in certified organic agriculture under the Organic Foods Production Act.

Two recent studies raise serious concerns about a range of contaminants in treated sewage sludge. While widely advanced as supplementing organic matter with macro- and micro-nutrients, treated sludge “harbor[s] a concentrated presence of contaminants that have adsorbed onto the soil post-wastewater treatment,” according to a literature review published in Frontiers in Environmental Chemistry. The researchers identify 414 contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in soils, untreated and treated sewage sludge (biosolids), and dust, across 151 peer-reviewed studies released between 2018 and 2023—emphasizing the range of potential exposure pathways across various products, including classes of pesticides like neonicotinoid insecticides. In Scientific Reports, researchers report their test results of biosolids-treated farmland in southeastern Pennsylvania that detected 14 different PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) above the limit of quantification (LOQ). This means that not only were they detectable, but also high enough in concentration to confirm contamination at a significant concentration.

PFAS are a group of synthetic chemicals that are extremely resistant to degradation, persist indefinitely in the environment, bioaccumulate in blood and body tissues, and can be harmful to humans and the environment, even at very low levels.

Biosolids (Sewage Sludge) Lawsuits
Beyond Pesticides filed two consumer protection lawsuits in Washington, DC Superior Court in October, 2024, in which it alleges that both companies market their sewage sludge-containing fertilizer products “as eco-friendly and  “sustainable,” when, in fact, the products contain hazardous substances. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Product, EcoScraps, was advertised as having a mission “to make sustainable living easy.” The Greentechnologies, LLC product, GreenEdge, is advertised as an “eco-Friendly product[] for a healthier planet,” and a “sustainable fertilizer that enhances environmental quality.” Beyond Pesticides alleged in the lawsuits that reasonable consumers encountering representations emphasizing that these products are “eco-friendly” and “sustainable” do not expect the products to contain environmentally damaging, unsustainable chemicals.” The complaint cites test results showing PFAS residues in the companies’ products and numerous scientific studies on the adverse effects of PFAS to public health, wildlife, and pollinators.

“Companies that market hazardous substances while claiming environmental and health benefits are misleading consumers who seek out products to protect themselves, their families, and the ecosystems in which they live,” said Jay Feldman, executive director of Beyond Pesticides. “Our litigation seeks to put a stop to this deceptive practice in the marketplace, where there are products and practices that are truly healthful and protective of nature,” Mr. Feldman continued. (The action was brought under the District of Columbia Consumer Protection Procedures Act (“CPPA”), D.C. Code §§ 28-3901–13. Beyond Pesticides was represented by Richman Law and Policy.

Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CEC) Study Results
Despite these dramatic findings of contaminants, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the authors of the CEC review explain, classify the biosolids typically used by gardeners, municipalities, golf courses, and farmers as Class A, which are “virtually free of pathogens and can be applied without any site-specific restrictions.” The authors explain that Class B biosolids, used in agriculture and land reclamation, may contain pathogens and stipulates restrictions on use.

The study authors conducted a literature search strategy using databases like Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar. They utilized combinations of keywords including contaminants of emerging concern, biosolids, sewage sludge, soil, wastewater, pharmaceuticals, hormones, bisphenols, phthalates, parabens, neonicotinoids, etc.). They then screened and selected 151 articles to include studies reporting quantifiable data on CECs in sewage sludge or soils and relevant information on transport mechanisms or compound properties. The researchers included field and laboratory studies. CECs were grouped into several major categories, including pharmaceutical products, personal care products, hormones, plastic-related compounds, polymer additives and antioxidants, and insecticides (neonicotinoids).

Once the studies were identified, researchers analyzed data on quantifiable concentrations of the listed CECs. They were summarized as median and mean values for each category in sewage sludge, biosolids (treated sewage sludge), and soils. The top fifty most prevalent compounds were identified by frequency and degree of concentration; the relative contribution of CEC by mass was also determined. Qualitative data on transport mechanisms like adsorption, leaching, degradation, and plant uptake was considered in their analysis as well. The researchers did note that there are knowledge gaps in their review, including the fact that various CECs fall below quantification levels in soil, metabolites have limited data, and the lack of standardized methods across the scientific literature.

Phthalates (PAEs) dominated the bulk of CECs, representing more than 97 percent of the total mass of CECs in sewage sludge and biosolids. Phthalates are hydrophobic compounds that lend themselves to strong retention in sewage sludge or soil. Meanwhile, conventional wastewater treatment processes only partially remove CECs, with many portioned into both treated and untreated sludge.

This literature review finds that neonicotinoid insecticides are also detectable in biosolids, sewage sludge, and soils across the globe, including China, Belize, and the Philippines (see subsection 8.3 for specific citations), indicating widespread environmental contamination even at low concentrations. The authors attribute the high-water solubility of neonicotinoids as a major contributor to its widespread runoff and leachability. Matched with poor plant absorption, the continuous use of neonicotinoids can lead to persistent residues in the soil.

This CEC study was published by researchers in the Department of Chemistry at Université de Montréal. The lead scholar is Sébastien Sauvé, PhD, professor of Environmental Chemistry with expertise in environmental analysis of CECs, including pesticides and PFAS. The authors declared that there were no competing commercial or financial conflicts of interest in conducting this study; they also “declare that no Generative AI was used in the creation of this manuscript.” The research was funded in part by Ministry of the Environment, Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks (MELCCFP) of Quebec (Canada).

PFAS, known as “forever chemicals” due to their ability to persist in the environment, are endocrine disruptors linked to developmental issues, cancers, metabolic, cardiovascular and reproductive harm, damage to the liver, kidneys, and the respiratory system, as well increased chances of disease infection and severity. The chemicals’ immunotoxic effects threaten human health.

PFAS in Farmland Soil
Biosolids contaminated with PFAS have become an increasingly prevalent issue for farmers grappling with reliance on synthetic inputs. This study was conducted by researchers at Stroud Water Research Center and Center for PFAS Solutions, independent nonprofit research organizations based in Pennsylvania and Delaware, respectively. The study focused on 10 farms in southern and central Pennsylvania (Berks, Lancaster, Bedford, and Chester counties). The field design included pairings of treated and control fields (history of biosolid treatment and no biosolid treatment), with all fields no-till or reduced-till in terms of cultural practices. For treated fields, most had been covered with biosolids between two to 26 years, with some farms not keeping historical records. Six farms used biosolids from private applicators while four sourced from municipal sewage treatment facilities, which will often distribute the biosolids as “fertilizer” or “compost” free of charge. Biosolids can also be purchased from commercial companies at local nurseries or hardware stores under different trade names with environmental claims.

PFAS is conventionally known as a legacy contaminant in firefighting foam, nonstick cookware, and other commercial and consumer products; however, there is less public awareness on the dangers of PFAS and agrichemical products (i.e., pesticides) that share its fluorinated chemistry. Concern among safety advocates continues to mount this year as EPA escalated registration approvals for four new active ingredients – Cyclobutrifluram, Diflufenican, Isocycloseram, and Trifludimoxazin – that “qualify as PFAS.”

The researchers collected ten soil samples (called “cores”) from each field. Biosolids were collected from storage piles at Farms #2 and #10 and stream water (duplicate samples) were collected downstream of treated fields. Cornell Soil Health Laboratory tested the soil chemistry for a standard analysis for nutrients, pH, organic matter, organic carbon, total carbon, and total nitrogen.

The researchers used “USEPA Method 1633” to target 40 PFAS, including:

• 11 PFCAs (perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids)
• 8 PFSAs (perfluoroalkane sulfonic acids)
• 3 FTSAs (fluorotelomer sulfonic acids)
• 3 perfluorooctane sulfonamides
• 2 perfluorooctane sulfonamidoacetic acids
• 2 perfluorooctane sulfonamide ethanols
• 5 per- and polyfluoroether carboxylic acids
• 3 ether sulfonic acids
• 3 FTCA (fluorotelomer carboxylic acids)

For further details on PFAS analysis, quality control, and additional methodological background, see page nine of the study.

Researchers concluded that biosolids are a demonstrable source of PFAS contamination in agricultural soils, affected by soil properties, depth, and the source of the biosolid-based fertilizer. PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) and PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonate), forms of PFAS, ranged 1-24 ng/g, which is much higher than reported background levels in forest soils (less than 0.01 ng/g). PFAS concentrations in surface soils shared a positive correlation with increased zinc, copper, and sulfur levels; conversely, PFAS concentrations correlated negatively with pH (6.1-7.5 range), with lower pH favoring PFAS partitioning (or distributing) into soil systems rather than water. The majority of farms found PFAS in the surface (0-15 cm) and subsurface (15-30 cm) soil samples, but the researchers reported detectable migration between surface levels.

Fields treated with biosolids had significantly higher PFAS concentrations than non-treated fields at most farms. Soils with biosolids sourced from private applicators were higher in median PFAS concentrations than those from municipal applicators, which the authors indicate is an effect of private applicators sourcing from multiple waste streams to create biosolid products that increase contamination risks.

A Total Oxidizable Precursor (TOP) Assay was conducted to confirm preexisting PFAS levels that may not be captured in the study analysis; after oxidation, the sum of the concentrations of 40 PFAS increased across water, soil, and biosolid samples.

In farms #2 and #10, concentrations of PFAS in biosolids, soil, and water samples were below EPA’s proposed draft acute and chronic water quality criteria; however, researchers documented higher detection levels of PFAS in stream water surrounding contaminated farmland compared to average reporting for that waterbody—975 ng/L (Farm #2) and 158 ng/L (Farm #10) relative to the typical reported environmental levels (0.8-112 ng/L).

Environmental and public health advocates emphasize the importance of identifying how chemicals of concerns, like PFAS, move between mediums (soil, water, fertilizer product, etc.). They say that this understanding should inform regulatory agencies’ efforts to protect the public and ecosystems from further harm.

Previous Daily News Reporting
There are numerous peer-reviewed studies that associate PFAS contamination through contaminants of concern detected in sewage sludge and biosolids. One contaminant of concern that was not explored in either of the highlighted studies is microplastic. A literature review of over 90 scientific articles in Agriculture documents microplastics’ (MPs) increase in the bioavailability, persistence, and toxicity of pesticides used in agriculture. The interactions between MPs and pesticides exacerbate the impact of pesticide exposure to nontarget organisms, perpetuate the cycle of toxic chemical use, and decreases soil health that is vital for productivity. (See Daily News here.) 

Biosolid-based fertilizer products like Milorganite, often sold to consumers as “organic,” are contaminated with dangerous PFAS chemicals, according to a report published by Sierra Club and Ecology Center. (See Daily News here.) Community concerns mounted during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic when SARS-CoV-2 was being detected in wastewater, sewage sludge, and biosolids. (See Daily News here.)

For additional analysis on biosolid sewage sludge and potential toxic contamination, see this previous Pesticides and You article, Biosolids or Biohazards?

For discussion of eco-sensitive, health protective practices that are cost effective, consider attending Beyond Pesticides’ 42nd National Forum Series, The Pesticide Threat to Environmental Health: Advancing Holistic Solutions Aligned with Nature, which is scheduled to begin on October 29, 2025, 1:00-3:30pm (Eastern time, US) with a focus on aligning land management with nature in response to current chemical-intensive practices that pose a threat to health, biodiversity, and climate. The virtual Forum is free to all participants.  Register here.

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

Source
Beyond Pesticides v. The ScottsMiracle-Gro Company
Beyond Pesticides v. GreenTechnologies, LLC 

(Beyond Pesticides, October 21, 2025) A study, published in International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, calculates cumulative dietary pesticide exposure and finds a significant positive association between pesticide residues in food and urine when analyzing over 40 produce types. The research uses data for 1,837 individuals from the 2015–2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and compares them to biomonitoring samples of the participants. According to the researchers, “Here we show that consumption of fruits and vegetables, weighted by pesticide load, is associated with increasing levels of urinary pesticide biomarkers.”

They continue, “When excluding potatoes, consumption of fruits and vegetables weighted by pesticide contamination was associated with higher levels of urinary pesticide biomarkers for organophosphate, pyrethroid, and neonicotinoid insecticides.” The NHANES data is derived from a national biomonitoring survey from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which collects information about consumption of fruits and vegetables as well as urine samples.

Background

As the study authors explain: “Hundreds of millions of pounds of synthetic pesticide active ingredients are used every year in the United States, and pesticide exposure can occur through food, drinking water, residential proximity to agricultural spraying, household pesticide use, and occupational use. Pesticide usage to grow and store food often results in contamination of commodities with pesticide residues, particularly fruits and vegetables, that reach store shelves and persist after rinsing produce.” (See study here.) With that being said, dietary exposure is a critical route in which the public is subjected to pesticide residues and at risk of subsequent negative health effects, including increased risk of cancer, neurological harm, and reproductive toxicity, among others. (See the Pesticide-Induced Diseases Database (PIDD) here.)

A previous report in 1993, entitled Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children, set the groundwork for the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) of 1996 that “established the need for pesticide regulations to protect children’s health from cumulative toxicity associated with pesticide mixtures.” However, as the researchers point out, “the U.S. government pesticide risk assessments and legal limits for pesticides in food, also known as pesticide tolerances, generally continue to be conducted with a focus on individual pesticides and fail to consider cumulative toxic effects from exposure to mixtures of pesticides.” This data gap fails to address the potential additive and synergistic effects that can be seen with pesticide mixtures, which more realistically represents how consumers are exposed to combinations of pesticides rather than in isolation.

Study Methodology and Results

“Here, we present a methodology to rank fruits and vegetables based on overall pesticide load, including metrics of pesticide number, detection frequency, concentration, and a measure of toxicity,” the authors note. They continue: “This approach builds on the prior work of Hu et al. (2016) by incorporating pesticide toxicity reference values into the pesticide load indicator and using more recent pesticide and biomonitoring data to reflect changes in pesticide use, toxicity, and exposure.”

In ranking the commodities (produce) and their consumption, as obtained through the NHANES questionnaire, the researchers are able to calculate dietary pesticide exposure score for participants that then can be compared to urinary pesticide biomarker levels. This methodology intends to estimate overall dietary pesticide exposure and provide insight into how consuming specific fruits and vegetables might elevate urinary pesticide levels.

In addition to NHANES data, the study incorporates national pesticide residue data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Pesticide Data Program (PDP) to analyze the association between estimated dietary pesticide exposure and measured levels of internal pesticide exposure through the urine sample biomonitoring.

For each commodity from the PDP, pesticide contamination is calculated based on the detection of 178 unique parent pesticides, with 42 parent pesticides matching biomarkers in the urine samples. For more information on the methodology and statistical analyses, see here.

Biomarker concentrations of various pesticides, including organophosphate insecticides, neonicotinoids, pyrethroids, and herbicides, are detected in the urine samples. When comparing the biomarker data with the pesticide load index for the produce consumed, but with excluding potatoes due to their strong attenuating effect, a significant positive association is noted.

The researchers report: “Pesticide residues, representing 222 analytes corresponding to 178 unique parent pesticides, were detected across 44 food commodities analyzed in our study, and utilized in calculating the pesticide load indices. While pesticide residues varied greatly by commodity, the most commonly detected pesticides (>10% of samples across all commodities) were the fungicides thiabendazole, boscalid, pyraclostrobin, fludioxonil and azoxystrobin, and the insecticide imidacloprid.” The data reveals that consumption of both high and low residue fruits and vegetables is associated with increasing rank for cumulative pesticide exposure, though a single serving of high residue foods presents a greater impact.

In summary, the authors state. “Here, we developed a method to estimate cumulative dietary pesticide exposure by weighting fruit and vegetable consumption by the pesticide load for 44 different commodities, termed a dietary pesticide exposure score.” They continue, “We further demonstrated the utility of this method as a pesticide exposure metric, showing that increasing dietary pesticide exposure score, or consumption of produce, excluding potatoes, with higher pesticide load, is associated with pesticide biomarker concentrations in urine, when matching pesticides measured in produce to urinary biomarkers.”

Within the study, there are many limitations, some of which the authors address, that could impact the findings and their ability to capture the true level of adverse health impact of dietary pesticide residues. As the researchers reference, these include limited data availability and analytical limitations of the public datasets, which incorporates a lack of data on key pesticides like 2,4-D and glyphosate. Additionally, deficiencies in regulatory reviews, given the lack of complete adverse health data on endocrine disrupting pesticides as well as synergistic effects of pesticide mixtures, ultimately result in an underestimation of the harm caused by residues in the diet.

Previous Research

The current study findings are consistent with other research that identifies dietary exposure as a key contributor to measured pesticide concentrations in urine. Relevant scientific literature cited within the study includes:

• Biomonitoring studies of human urine samples identify “dozens of co-occurring exposures, and hundreds of pesticide residues have been detected in foods.” (See here and here.)
• Studies in humans link “dietary exposure to pesticide mixtures with increased risk of breast cancer, Type II diabetes, impacts on body weight, all-cause mortality, poor fertility outcomes, and cardiovascular.”
• “Laboratory animals exposed to mixtures of pesticides, often at doses below the exposure levels set by national and international regulatory agencies for which no adverse effect is expected to occur, experience health harms including decreased motor activity, changes to memory and behavior, body weight gain and impaired glucose tolerance, and reproductive tract malformations.”
• Individuals who report eating conventional food show increased levels of urinary organophosphate metabolites and higher estimated dietary exposure. (See study here.)
• Two studies (see here and here) find that “consuming high residue fruits and vegetables – notably also without considering potatoes – was associated with increasing levels of urinary metabolites for organophosphate and both organophosphate and pyrethroid insecticides respectively.”
• Research identifies associations between the consumption of high residue fruits and vegetables with lower sperm count, poorer semen quality, impacts on fertility, and increased risk for glioma. (See studies here, here, and here.)
• Pesticide mixtures of chlorpyrifos, imazalil, malathion and thiabendazole are associated with postmenopausal breast cancer risk, while mixtures of azoxystrobin, chlorpyrifos, imazalil, malathion, profenofos, and thiabendazole were associated with type two diabetes. However, “[i]n both studies, diets low in pesticide levels were associated with a reduction in risk of the studied health effects.”
• “Dietary intervention studies demonstrate that switching from a conventional diet to organic food consumption is an effective way to reduce synthetic pesticide exposure and possibly accrue health benefits.”

Benefits of an Organic Diet

As the study authors note, diet is a modifiable factor that can be adjusted to reduce exposure to harmful contaminants. Scientific literature supports a shift to an organic diet, with research finding lower pesticide residues within the body after switching to organically grown food. Previous research finds that levels of the widely used weed killer glyphosate in the human body are reduced by 70% through a one-week switch to an organic diet. (See Daily News coverage here.)

Beyond Pesticides has also reported on additional biomonitoring studies that confirm these results. See Daily News Of Note During Organic Month, Study Finds Organic Diet and Location Affect Pesticide Residues in the Body, Review of Pesticide Residues in Human Urine, Lower Concentrations with Organic Diet, and Study Demonstrates Health Benefits of Organic Diet Over That Consumed with Toxic Pesticides for more information.

In recent Daily News, organic diets promote higher cognitive scores. A study published in European Journal of Nutrition finds that consumption of organic animal-based and plant-based foods is positively associated with higher cognitive scores. Among women, there was both better cognitive function before testing (at baseline) and up to a 27 percent lower MCI [mild cognitive decline] score over the course of the study period for participants identifying as organic consumers, even if there was consumption of just one of the seven food categories. Additional health benefits of organic can be found here.

A Path Forward

In the current study, the researchers state: “Our findings suggest increased biomonitoring for pesticides is essential for public health protection. Development of analytical methods to measure internal exposure to a broader range of pesticides would also aid in understanding health effects associated with these exposures.” These authors are not the first to call for additional research and better analytical methods, but while these options may increase knowledge regarding pesticide exposure, they do not provide a holistic solution. Even scientists and advocates that stress the need for enhanced risk assessments fail to acknowledge that there is not adequate information available for accurate risk assessments that include all possible cumulative, additive, and synergistic effects from pesticide mixtures for all possible health effects including cancer and endocrine disruption. This is why many advocates call for the adoption of the precautionary principle to protect health and the environment. (See here and here.)

The data more fully confirms that pesticide reduction strategies are not fully protective of health, with this study adding to the complexities that exist in attempting to develop tools to calculate acceptable levels of risk associated with dietary exposure to pesticides. Given the efforts captured by this paper, taken together with the extensive research in PIDD and the daily tracking of scientific studies linking pesticides to cancer, birth defects, immune system disorders, endocrine disruption, sexual and reproductive dysfunction, learning and developmental effects, and nervous system implications, among others, the public can take no comfort in ‘acceptable’ levels of pesticides in food and the environment.

This research adds more urgency to the need to transition agriculture, and all land management, to organic systems. Visit the Eating with a Conscience database to learn more about why food labeled “organic” is the right choice. For more on this subject, consider attending Beyond Pesticides’ 42nd National Forum Series, The Pesticide Threat to Environmental Health: Advancing Holistic Solutions Aligned with Nature, which is scheduled to begin on October 29, 2025, 1:00-3:30pm (Eastern time, US) with a focus on aligning land management with nature in response to current chemical-intensive practices that pose a threat to health, biodiversity, and climate. The virtual Forum is free to all participants. ➡️ Register here.

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

Source:

Temkin, A. et al. (2025) A cumulative dietary pesticide exposure score based on produce consumption is associated with urinary pesticide biomarkers in a U.S. biomonitoring cohort, International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1438463925001361.

(Beyond Pesticides, October 20, 2025) With the release of a study that links the use of nitrogen fertilizer in combination with antibiotic pesticides to escalating bacterial resistance, public health advocates are renewing their call for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Congress to eliminate antibiotic pesticide use in land management. This action comes on the heels of a World Health Organization (WHO) study finding that antibiotic resistance is evolving even faster than previously thought.

WHO finds, “One in six laboratory-confirmed bacterial infections causing common infections in people worldwide in 2023 were resistant to antibiotic treatments. . .. Between 2018 and 2023, antibiotic resistance rose in over 40% of the pathogen-antibiotic combinations monitored, with an average annual increase of 5–15%.” 

These findings, linking pesticides, antibiotics, and nitrogen fertilizers to antibiotic resistance, again raise serious concerns about the deadly impacts of conventional (chemical-intensive) agricultural practices on human health. The researchers found that nitrogen is a strong driver of resistance processes. The richness and diversity of phages—viruses that attack bacteria and can transmit antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs)—is highest in the groups exposed to both nitrogen and combined pesticides, and the abundance of ARGs in phages becomes “markedly elevated” in those same exposure conditions. 

Bacterial resistance to antibiotics for medical purposes is rising to dangerously high levels in all parts of the world. Globally, about five million deaths in 2019 are associated with antibiotic-resistant microbial infections, including 1.27 million deaths attributable to bacterial AMR. We cannot afford to ignore any cause of resistance, given the health implications of ineffective treatments for bacterial and fungal diseases. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “More than 2.8 million antimicrobial-resistant infections occur in the U.S. each year, and more than 35,000 people die as a result. When Clostridioides difficile—a bacterium that is not typically resistant but can cause deadly diarrhea is associated with antibiotic use—is added to these, the U.S. toll of all the threats in the report exceeds 3 million infections and 48,000 deaths.” According to a 2021 article in Current Research in Microbial Sciences, “Antibiotic resistance in agriculture: Perspectives on upcoming strategies to overcome upsurge in resistance,” the leading consumers of antibiotics in developed countries are U.S. consumers. So, the U.S. population may have the most to lose from antibiotic resistance. 

By 2050, various sources estimate that antibiotic resistance could increase global health care costs by $1 trillion to $100 trillion. While the world slowly realizes the urgent need to counter antibiotic resistance, the role of pesticides in generating it has received less political and public attention. But there is no doubt that pesticides are strongly implicated. In fact, the resistance of microbes to antibiotics is no different from the well-documented resistance of insects and plants to pesticides. 

When antimicrobial or antibiotic pesticides are sprayed on a crop, they induce antibiotic resistance in bacteria that are present by killing susceptible bacteria—which may or may not be pathogenic—and allowing resistant bacteria to proliferate. Those resistant bacteria move off the site on produce, workers’ clothing, and the wind. Prevention of chemical drift is therefore inadequate to protect against the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The now well-known phenomenon of horizontal gene transfer—the movement of genes in bacteria from one bacterial species to another, which is facilitated by phages—means that ARGs in those (possibly harmless) bacteria can move to bacteria that cause disease in plants or humans. 

A recent study “elaborate[s] the mechanism underlying the effects of pesticides on bacterial antibiotic resistance acquisition as well as the propagation of antimicrobial resistance. Pesticide stress enhanced the acquisition of antibiotic resistance in bacteria via various mechanisms, including the activation of efflux pumps, inhibition of outer membrane pores for resistance to antibiotics, and gene mutation induction.” Furthermore, the study found, “Pesticides promoted the conjugation transfer of ARGs [antibiotic resistance genes] by increasing cell membrane permeability and increased the proportion of bacterial mobile gene elements, which facilitate the spread of ARGs.” 

The presence of both pesticides and antibiotics in water bodies—lakes, rivers, and oceans—and especially those receiving both agricultural runoff and hospital waste—multiplies the risk of antimicrobial resistance. Further, the waters of the world are largely connected, from snow zones to oceans, so that in many cases what enters one body of water affects everything downstream. 

The antibiotic streptomycin has been banned for agricultural use on crops in many countries, and, after the Ninth Circuit’s December 2023 decision vacating the 2021 registration amendments for streptomycin because of the Agency’s failure to comply with the Endangered Species Act, is no longer registered by EPA. The antibiotic oxytetracycline hydrochloride is registered for use on tree crops. The antibiotic kasugamycin is also registered by EPA. Oxolinic acid and gentamicin are registered as antimicrobials in other countries. All of these have therapeutic uses in humans. 

In addition to use on crops, antimicrobials used to manage synthetic turf for bacteria, mold, and fungus raise serious health issues and represent a threat that does not exist in organic land management. A builder of sports facilities, American Athletic, states, “Beyond surface cleaning, the artificial turf should be sanitized weekly or monthly to protect the players’ and coaches’ health. This disinfection requires special solvents, cleansers, and anti-microbial products to remove invisible particles and bacterial growth. You should strive to sanitize the field after every game and throughout the school day if it’s used for physical education classes.” 

Finally, two facts lead to the conclusion that focusing on materials sold as antibiotics or antimicrobials is too shortsighted. First, science shows that use of any antibiotics anywhere can increase antibiotic resistance everywhere. Second, many pesticides not intended to kill microbes—such as the herbicides glyphosate, 2,4-D, and dicamba—also induce antibiotic resistance in deadly human pathogens. These two facts lead to the conclusion that we must stop broadcasting pesticides in the environment and applying them to food. The crisis in antibiotic resistance, which creates a threat of another pandemic, is ignored in the registration of pesticides. The antibiotic impacts of pesticides cited above were discovered only after the pesticides had been disseminated in the environment for decades. 

In response to these new studies, Beyond Pesticides issued the following action: EPA must not register pesticides unless they have been demonstrated not to contribute to antibiotic resistance and must cancel the registration of those that do. 

Letter to EPA
Antibiotic resistance is rising to dangerously high levels in all parts of the world—according to the World Health Organization, even faster than previously thought. Globally, about five million people died in 2019 from antibiotic-resistant microbial infections. We cannot afford to ignore any cause of resistance, given the health implications of ineffective treatments for bacterial and fungal diseases. According to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “More than 2.8 million antimicrobial-resistant infections occur in the U.S. each year, and more than 35,000 people die as a result. When Clostridioides difficile—a bacterium that is not typically resistant but can cause deadly diarrhea is associated with antibiotic use—is added to these, the U.S. toll of all the threats in the report exceeds 3 million infections and 48,000 deaths.”

When antimicrobial pesticides are sprayed on a crop, they induce resistance in bacteria that are present by killing susceptible bacteria—which may or may not be pathogenic—allowing resistant bacteria to proliferate. The resistant bacteria move off the site on crops, workers, and the wind. Prevention of chemical drift is thus inadequate to protect against the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The fact of horizontal gene transfer means that antibiotic resistance genes in those (possibly harmless) bacteria can move to pathogens.

In addition, pesticides produce enhanced antibiotic resistance in bacteria by activating efflux pumps, inhibiting outer membrane pores for resistance to antibiotics, promoting gene mutation, and increasing conjugation transfer of antibiotic resistance genes through increased cell membrane permeability and a greater proportion of bacterial mobile gene elements.

In addition to crops, antimicrobials are used to manage synthetic turf. A builder of sports facilities, American Athletic, states, “Beyond surface cleaning, the artificial turf should be sanitized weekly or monthly to protect the players’ and coaches’ health. This disinfection requires special solvents, cleansers, and antimicrobial products to remove invisible particles and bacterial growth. You should strive to sanitize the field after every game and throughout the school day if it’s used for physical education classes.”

Finally, focusing on materials sold as antibiotics or antimicrobials is too shortsighted. First, science shows that use of any antibiotics anywhere can increase antibiotic resistance everywhere. Second, many pesticides not intended to kill microbes—such as the herbicides glyphosate, 2,4-D, and dicamba—also induce antibiotic resistance in deadly human pathogens. Thus, we must stop broadcasting pesticides in the environment. The crisis in antibiotic resistance, which creates a threat of another pandemic, is ignored in the registration of pesticides. The antibiotic impacts of pesticides cited above were discovered only after the pesticides had been disseminated in the environment for decades. 

EPA must not register pesticides unless they have been demonstrated not to contribute to antibiotic resistance and must cancel the registration of those that do.

Thank you.

Letter to U.S. Congress
Antibiotic resistance is rising to dangerously high levels in all parts of the world—according to the World Health Organization, even faster than previously thought. Globally, about five million people died in 2019 from antibiotic-resistant microbial infections. We cannot afford to ignore any cause of resistance, given the health implications of ineffective treatments for bacterial and fungal diseases. According to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “More than 2.8 million antimicrobial-resistant infections occur in the U.S. each year, and more than 35,000 people die as a result. When Clostridioides difficile—a bacterium that is not typically resistant but can cause deadly diarrhea is associated with antibiotic use—is added to these, the U.S. toll of all the threats in the report exceeds 3 million infections and 48,000 deaths.”

When antimicrobial pesticides are sprayed on a crop, they induce resistance in bacteria that are present by killing susceptible bacteria—which may or may not be pathogenic—allowing resistant bacteria to proliferate. The resistant bacteria move off the site on crops, workers, and the wind. Prevention of chemical drift is thus inadequate to protect against the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The fact of horizontal gene transfer means that antibiotic resistance genes in those (possibly harmless) bacteria can move to pathogens.

In addition, pesticides produce enhanced antibiotic resistance in bacteria by activating efflux pumps, inhibiting outer membrane pores for resistance to antibiotics, promoting gene mutation, and increasing conjugation transfer of antibiotic resistance genes through increased cell membrane permeability and a greater proportion of bacterial mobile gene elements.

In addition to crops, antimicrobials are used to manage synthetic turf. A builder of sports facilities, American Athletic, states, “Beyond surface cleaning, the artificial turf should be sanitized weekly or monthly to protect the players’ and coaches’ health. This disinfection requires special solvents, cleansers, and antimicrobial products to remove invisible particles and bacterial growth. You should strive to sanitize the field after every game and throughout the school day if it’s used for physical education classes.”

Finally, focusing on materials sold as antibiotics or antimicrobials is too shortsighted. First, science shows that use of any antibiotics anywhere can increase antibiotic resistance everywhere. Second, many pesticides not intended to kill microbes—such as the herbicides glyphosate, 2,4-D, and dicamba—also induce antibiotic resistance in deadly human pathogens. Thus, we must stop broadcasting pesticides in the environment. The crisis in antibiotic resistance, which creates a threat of another pandemic, is ignored in the registration of pesticides. The antibiotic impacts of pesticides cited above were discovered only after the pesticides had been disseminated in the environment for decades. 

Please ensure EPA does not register pesticides unless they have been demonstrated not to contribute to antibiotic resistance and cancels the registration of those that do.

Thank you.

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

Source: PNAS, World Health Organization

(Beyond Pesticides, October 17, 2025) Earlier this week, on October 13, the fossil fuel industry, commodity crop groups, and their political allies celebrated Global Fertilizer Day. The industry is celebrating the widespread (and growing) use of petroleum products, including synthetic, nitrogen-based and fossil-fuel derived fertilizers. As a response to industry claims that petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers are critical to ensuring global food security, Beyond Pesticides and a broad coalition spanning civil society, scientists, farmers, farmworkers and working people are pushing back against toxic chemical dependency and advancing organic land (agricultural and nonagricultural) management as cost-effective, productive, and protective of health and the environment.  

A review last year in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) highlights the urgent need to address the widespread chemical pollution stemming from the petrochemical industry, underscoring the dire implications for public health. Tracey Woodruff, PhD, author and professor at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), emphatically states, “We need to recognize the very real harm that petrochemicals are having on people’s health. Many of these fossil-fuel-based chemicals are endocrine disruptors, meaning they interfere with hormonal systems, and they are part of the disturbing rise in disease.” (Watch Dr. Woodruff’s talk to the 41^st National Forum, Fossil Fuels and Toxic Chemicals, last year.)

Earlier this year, a cohort of leading climate scientists and environmental justice leaders, including Robert Bullard, PhD, published a report in Oxford Open Climate Change, warning about the continuous use of fossil fuels across the global economy and its contribution to existential and “interlinked crises that jeopardize the breadth and stability of life on Earth.” The authors specifically delve into the latest peer-reviewed science on adverse effects of synthetic agrochemicals and propose solutions, including “more localized organic agriculture are [some] of the farming systems we must adopt as a society to increase food security and mitigate agriculture’s impact on the global climate crisis and biodiversity decline.”

The growing awareness and acknowledgement by the scientific community of organic regenerative agriculture and criteria as a solution to the interlinking health, biodiversity, and climate crises is built on decades of legacy activism not only by pioneering farmers, but farmworkers, and farmworker justice groups who have been calling for food systems to transition away from poisonous products.

Agrochemicals, Adverse Effects, and Organic and Agroecological Solutions

The study’s authors are experts at research institutions and nonprofits organizations, including Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute and Environmental Health Program, Texas  Southern University Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice, Boston University School of Public Health, Cawthron Institute, University of California, Berkley, School of Public Health, Harvard University Department of the History of Science, Oregon State University Forest Ecosystems & Society, Conservation Biology Institute, and University of Montana Environmental Studies Program.

In the study’s section on agrochemicals, the authors emphasize the dependency on fossil fuels in the food system with astounding statistics. They write: “Agrochemicals, consisting mainly of synthetic chemical fertilizers and pesticides, are widely used in modern-day industrial agriculture. An estimated 99 [percent] of synthetic chemicals are derived from fossil fuels [381], with synthetic pesticides and nitrogen-based fertilizers derived mainly from petroleum, fracked gas and coal [324, 382, 383].”

There are several other important figures to consider in terms of the history of petrochemical dominance in the conventional food system:

• “In 2015 alone, the USA used over 26 billion pounds of nitrogen fertilizer [384]. With just over 80 pounds of nitrogen fertilizers used per acre of cropland on average [385], that translates to approximately 322 million acres of land in the USA treated with this fossil fuel product.
• “In 2021, around one billion pounds of pesticides were used in US agriculture in over 1.3 billion acre-treatments, which accounts for the number of US acres treated with pesticides multiplied by the number of applications made to that acreage [386].
• “The USA is the world’s third largest user of nitrogen-based fertilizers [387] and the second largest user of pesticides [388], indicating that it is a significant driver of the demand for fossil fuel-derived fertilizers and pesticides.”

Regarding corporate concentration in agribusiness, ETC Group and GRAIN assembled the following statistics on the degree of monopolization in the sector as of 2025:

• Four firms maintain control of half the global commercial seed supply and pesticide markets—Bayer, Syngenta, Corteva, and BASF;
• Two firms control 42 percent of the global commercial seeds market, with Bayer controlling 23 percent of the total market;
• Two companies control 40 percent of the global pesticides market, with Syngenta controlling approximately one quarter;
• Six companies supply 62 percent of the world’s potash fertilizers; China, Morocco, U.S., and Russia supply over 70 percent of global total phosphate fertilizers.

Pesticides that are sprayed and become airborne significantly disrupt ecological balances and affect nontarget species that are crucial for maintaining biodiversity, according to an article in Environmental Pollution. In this review of studies throughout countries in North and South America, Europe, and Asia, among others, researchers from Germany, Norway, the United Kingdom, and Poland reinforce the science about pesticides’ direct effect on species and the cascading effects of pesticide drift through various trophic levels within food webs that lead to overall devastating population effects. (See Daily News here.)

A comprehensive study released in Journal of Cleaner Production in August 2023 identifies the potential for organic agriculture to mitigate the impacts of agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the fight to address the climate crisis. The authors determined that “a one percent increase in total farmland results in a 0.13 percent increase in GHG emissions, while a one percent increase in organic cropland and pasture leads to a decrease in emissions by about 0.06 percent and 0.007 percent, respectively.” (See Daily News here.)  Another study in Conservation Genetics showcases the negative effect of chemical-intensive, conventional farm management on insect populations when compared to organically managed meadows. The researchers find that the diversity and biomass of flying insects are higher with organic land management by 11 percent and 75 percent, respectively. (See Daily News here.)

A study published in European Journal of Agronomy, based on a 16-year, long-term experiment (LTE), finds that organic crops (cotton production with wheat and soybean rotations) in tropical climates are competitive with chemical-intensive (conventional) practices when evaluating resilience (to weather and insect resistance), input costs, and profitability. The underlying assumption that continuous pesticide use is an effective weapon in a never-ending war against insects, weeds, and fungal diseases is not borne out by the facts on economic viability, externalities, and sustainability of chemical-dependent farming operations. While organic systems faced reduced yields due to pest pressures from pink bollworm infestations, their relative decline is much smaller than that of the chemical-intensive operations. (See Daily News here.)  Peer-reviewed research published in European Journal of Agronomy determines that “organic farming equals conventional yield under irrigation and enhances seed quality in drought, aiding food security.” (See Daily News here.)

Call to Action

To advance principles of land management that align with nature, Beyond Pesticides is convening the 42^nd National Forum, The Pesticide Threat to Environmental Health: Advancing Holistic Solutions Aligned with Nature, bringing together scientists and land managers working to recognize and respect the ecosystems on which life depends. Scheduled to begin on October 29, 2025, 1:00-3:30 pm (Eastern time, US), the virtual Forum is free to all participants. See featured speakers! Register here.

The Call to the Forum, states:

We are all affected by how land is managed, food is grown, and nature is protected. Different experiences and perspectives may bring us to care about health and the environment and the devastating adverse effects of pesticides and toxic substances. However, ensuring a livable future requires us to cultivate a collective concern about daily decisions on the management of our personal and community spaces, the practices used to grow the food we buy, and the care that we as a society give to complex and fragile interrelationships that sustain the natural world on which we depend.  

Additionally, Beyond Pesticides has developed and actively maintains the Keeping Organic Strong resource hub, a one-stop shop for you to learn about changes in organic regulations. There is currently an opportunity for the public to weigh in on the integrity of national organic standards, as the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) convenes to discuss key issues and allowed materials in organic agriculture. Public Comment Webinars are scheduled to be held on October 28 and 30, 2025, from 12 pm to 5 pm EDT, pending updates on the government shutdown. 

For more background, see Keeping Organic Strong and the Fall 2025 issues page. The Fall NOSB meeting will be held both in person in Omaha, Nebraska, and virtually, via live-stream from November 4, 2025, to November 6, 2025.

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

Source: Oxford Open Climate Change ; ETC Group and GRAIN

(Beyond Pesticides, October 16, 2025) An important new study links pesticides, antibiotics, and nitrogen fertilizers to the extreme global crisis of antibiotic resistance, raising serious concerns about the adverse impacts of conventional (chemical-intensive) agricultural practices. The research team, from several Chinese universities and laboratories and Queen’s University in Belfast, conducted a three-year study in China using soil bacteria and phages (bacteriophages, or viruses that invade bacteria) from an experimental field, exposing them to a variety of conditions ranging from the control (no exposures) to various combinations of nitrogen fertilizer and two categories of pesticides (the insecticide chlorpyrifos and a blend of the fungicides azoxystrobin and propiconazole).

Phages are viruses that eat bacteria. They invade the bacterial cell and, in various ways, cause the death of the bacterium. Some viral genes cause the cells to lyse, or dissolve, releasing their genetic material into the surrounding environment, where other organisms can pick up new genes. In this way, phages are a major pipeline for horizontal gene transfer (movement of genes in bacteria from one bacterial species to another) among microbes. This phenomenon is of increasing concern because the genes circulating in this marketplace include many that enhance antibiotic resistance.

The researchers were interested in whether the combination of nitrogen and pesticide mixtures affected the transfer and use of antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs). The ARGs of most concern are those that are highly mobile, pathogenic, and resident in human environments.

They found a number of remarkable associations:

• In a particularly novel and significant finding, the researchers found that nitrogen was a strong driver of resistance processes. The richness and diversity of the phages were highest in the groups exposed to both nitrogen and combined pesticides, and the abundance of ARGs in phages was “markedly elevated” in those same exposure conditions. They also observed higher abundance of auxiliary metabolic genes, including those associated with virulence and gene transporters, under those conditions. The abundant presence of the ARGs and the auxiliary genes indicates that both viruses and bacteria are trying to survive under adverse conditions. They are at least in part responses to challenges to human-made soil inputs.
• The researchers found 41 high-risk ARGs, about a quarter of the total number of ARGs. The high-risk genes included those conferring resistance to tetracycline and bacitracin, and two genes for multidrug resistance.
• The number of high-risk ARGs in the group exposed to the highest levels of mixed pesticides plus nitrogen was more than three times the number in the control group.
• The phages found in the various test groups included those found in the human gut, forest soils, tundra and permafrost, and deep-sea sediments. Some of the phage types overlapped these environments, indicating the widespread occurrence of phages with the potential to distribute resistance genes to microbes.

The influence of nitrogen fertilizers adds an important dimension to the role of agricultural practices in generating antibiotic resistance. Nitrogen benefits some soil microbes, but it is a stressor for many others. It increases ARG abundance and can enhance uptake of the heavy metals cadmium and copper by crops. Other effects include reducing enzyme activity and acidifying the soil.

The problem of antibiotic resistance, like the resistance of target organisms to pesticides, is an urgent global phenomenon. The pharmaceutical industry has not been able to keep up with the inevitable development of microbial resistance by developing new antibiotics. One expert defined the antibiotic era as lasting from the 1930s, when sulfa drugs were introduced, to 2005, when daptomycin was introduced. Daptomycin is a last-resort treatment for resistant bacterial infections, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci. Resistance to daptomycin has been reported clinically and in a Staphylococcus strain common in industrial pig farms. In fact, a 2021 study found the resistance gene in multiple geographically distant species and traced its origin to the pig microbe, showing how horizontal gene transfer in microbes can distribute genes far and fast, and how industrial agriculture threatens food security worldwide.

The use of antibiotics as pesticides has contributed to the resistance problem. Currently, EPA has registered only three antibiotics for application to crops, mostly for use on fruits, some tree nuts, a few vegetables, and some ornamentals. The antibiotic streptomycin has been used as a pesticide against greening on Florida citrus crops. In 2021, Beyond Pesticides joined with other groups in a lawsuit against EPA to stop the practice, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in the plaintiffs’ favor in 2023, saying EPA had not shown that streptomycin would be effective or that the agency had taken steps to protect against the emergence of resistance. EPA could have and should have known. As one review in 2024 put it, “In almost every region where streptomycin has been used to control bacterial diseases in the United States, bacterial populations resistant to this antibiotic have been detected.” Beyond Pesticides continues to urge EPA to cancel all uses of a pesticide when resistance is discovered or considered likely based on its chemical structure.

But in addition to using antibiotics as pesticides, pesticides can trigger resistance to antibiotics all by themselves. Beyond Pesticides’ July 11 Daily News reports on a study from India finding that glyphosate, 2,4-D, and dicamba help bacteria become resistant to tetracycline and ampicillin; previous research has shown that these pesticides create resistance in Salmonella and E. coli. The Indian study also found that chlorpyrifos increases the circulation among microbes of multidrug-resistant plasmids, and azoxystrobin strengthens Pseudomonas aeruginosa’s ability to pump threatening molecules like antibiotics and pesticides out of its cells. P. aeruginosa causes many hospital-acquired infections and is highly resistant to many antibiotics.

The situation with bacteriophages is made more complex by another and increasingly popular idea to cope with the resistance crisis: that these phages could be used to combat multidrug-resistant bacteria.

They do, after all, attack and kill bacteria. The idea was first proposed in 1917 but ignored in favor of antibiotics until the recent resistance crisis, except in the former Soviet Union and its satellite countries. In the U.S., there is increasing interest as more desperate cases of bacterial infection failing to respond to any antibiotics or combinations thereof arise in the medical system.

Phages are far more selective than antibiotics, attacking specific types of bacteria rather than killing off entire microbiota, but this means scientists must search through thousands of phages to find the ones effective against a particular bacterium. Yet at the same time, while there is a risk that the bacteria will become resistant to the attacking phages, in some cases, that resistance has made the bacteria more sensitive to antibiotics.

Suffice it to say that phage therapy against resistant microbes is in its infancy, and in any case, does not directly address the interactivity of pesticides, antibiotics, and nitrogen fertilizers in the agricultural system. While it may prove beneficial in clinical settings, the crisis in these settings is the end result of the vast uncontrolled use of both antibiotics and industrial chemicals, such as pesticides and fertilizers in the ambient environment. Both antibiotics and pesticides are notoriously misused around the world, and without removing both from agriculture, there is no control over how living organisms—bacteria and viruses comprising the vast majority of these – will make use of the resulting opportunities.

The Organic Foods Production Act does not allow the use of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers or antibiotics and restricts the use of synthetic chemicals–including pesticides–to those on the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances. Allowed materials on the National List must be approved by the National Organic Standards Board, based on a finding that they are not harmful to humans or the environment, necessary for organic production and handling, and consistent with organic practices.

Pesticides, antibiotics, and climate change are a triple threat to humanity and the biosphere. Every interaction between pesticides and antibiotics – and, it is now known, nitrogen fertilizers – that increases microbial resistance raises the threat of new pandemics that cannot be controlled.

📣 Stay tuned for the upcoming Action of the Week to take action on antibiotic resistance in agriculture, lawns, and landscapes!

Join us on October 29, 2025, for the first session of the National Forum Series! [Virtual]

🌱 The 42^nd National Forum Series, The Pesticide Threat to Environmental Health: Advancing Holistic Solutions Aligned with Nature—scheduled to begin on October 29, 2025, 1:00-3:30pm (Eastern time, US), will focus on aligning land management with nature in response to current chemical-intensive practices that pose a threat to health (see Pesticide-Induced Diseases Database), biodiversity, and climate. It challenges participants—as concerned families, community residents, purchasers of products, advocates for policy, decision makers, and workers—to think holistically about ways we can join together to solve the existential threats to health, biodiversity, and climate for which petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers are major contributors. 

➡️ Join the virtual Forum as participants and featured speakers come together to empower effective action and chart a path for a livable and sustainable future. Registration provides access to all sessions of the Forum. The virtual Forum is free to all participants.  Register here.

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

Sources:
Combined pesticide pollution enhances the dissemination of the phage-encoded antibiotic resistome in the soil under nitrogen deposition
Shen et al
PNAS October 2025
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41042849/

Court Finds EPA Allowance of Antibiotic Streptomycin Use on Citrus Illegal
Beyond Pesticides, December 20, 2023
https://beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/2023/12/court-finds-epa-allowance-of-antibiotic-streptomycin-use-on-citrus-illegal/

Adding to Wide Body of Science, Study Finds Pesticide Residues Threaten Health of Soil Microbiome
Beyond Pesticides, May 13, 2025
https://beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/2025/05/adding-to-wide-body-of-science-study-finds-pesticide-residues-threaten-health-of-soil-microbiome/

Exploring Bacteriophage Therapy for Drug-Resistant Bacterial Infections
Schooley Robert T
Bacteriophages March 2023
https://www.iasusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/31-1-23.pdf

National Organic Standards
Beyond Pesticides
https://www.beyondpesticides.org/programs/organic-agriculture/keeping-organic-strong/national-organic-standards

Phage Therapy: Past, Present and Future
Madeline Barron
American Society for Microbiology 2022
https://asm.org/articles/2022/august/phage-therapy-past,-present-and-futures

(Beyond Pesticides, October 15, 2025) The latest Scientific Investigations Report for 2025 from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), entitled “National Water Quality Program: Multidecadal Change in Pesticide Concentrations Relative to Human Health Benchmarks in the Nation’s Groundwater,” finds moderate concentrations of five pesticides, with the highest percentages in agricultural wells, and concentrations of the carcinogenic soil fumigant DBCP (1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane), which also causes infertility, that are greater than the maximum containment level, despite being banned over 45 years ago. These results highlight the persistence of pesticides used in agriculture and the elevated risks of pesticide contamination in agricultural areas.

This report monitors concentrations of pesticides in well networks across the U.S. in decadal intervals, with this last one incorporating data ranging from 1993-2023. Additionally, DBCP in one well network in the San Joaquin-Tulare River Basin in California continues to be assessed due to previous levels exceeding the human health benchmark (HHB) established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The limitations of the study are disclosed in the text of the report. As the authors state: “Only pesticides with an HHB were included in the multidecadal pesticide change analysis… The total number of pesticides included in this study is less than the previous national assessment (n=80), because only 21 compounds were included in laboratory analysis from 1993 to 2023 and also had HHBs to evaluate potential risk to human health.” This limitation restricted the study, which only includes 22 pesticides in their analysis from 1993 to 2023. The 22 pesticides in which concentrations were measured in groundwater include: the degradate deethylatrazine (DEA) and the parent compounds acetochlor, alachlor, atrazine, azinphos-methyl, carbaryl, chlorpyrifos, cis-permethrin, diazinon, fonofos, malathion, methyl-parathion, metolachlor, metribuzin, pendimethalin, phorate, prometon, propyzamide, simazine, tebuthiuron, terbufos, and 1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane (DBCP). This list does not include many pesticides with a history of high use, such as glyphosate, 2,4-D, dicamba, or paraquat.

Furthermore, the limitation of HHBs as a measure of safety has been raised as a concern by Beyond Pesticides. HHBs, like other regulatory measures of risk, do not take into account certain adverse health outcomes, such as endocrine disruption, for which EPA has not established a completed protocol for regulatory review. Additionally, EPA does not fully evaluate the effect of pesticide mixtures with other pesticides and other chemicals like pharmaceuticals. Exposure to mixtures can cause both cumulative and synergistic effects, as captured by the independent peer-reviewed scientific literature.

Overview of Groundwater Contamination

The widespread use of pesticides in both agricultural and urban environments has led to the contamination of groundwater, which threatens human health when the contaminated groundwater is a source for drinking water. As the authors state, “In the United States, groundwater from domestic supply wells is used as a drinking-water source for 13 percent of the U.S. population.” Since domestic supply wells are not regulated by state or federal law, this leaves residents accountable for not only maintenance but for monitoring these drinking-water sources. (See here, here, and here.)

Fifty-nine well networks, each including 20 to 30 wells, are monitored for pesticide concentrations by USGS. These well networks are “distributed throughout eight aggregated ecoregions (Pacific Northwest, Pacific Coast, Arid West, Semiarid West, Mountain West, Midcontinent, South Atlantic Gulf, and Northeast)… [and] represent a range of soils, climate, and landforms in the conterminous United States.” The USGS National Water Quality Network for Groundwater (NWQN-GW), according to the report, is the largest spatially distributed groundwater-quality monitoring network in the world.

This monitoring is a result of the 2009 SECURE Water Act, where the U.S. Congress tasked USGS to perform regular, comprehensive water availability assessments. The USGS National Water Quality Network-Groundwater (NWQN-GW) began in 1991, operating as a part of the larger National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project, while the National Ground-Water Monitoring Network (NGWMN) is a separate network specifically for monitoring groundwater that began with a pilot network in 2009 and began full implementation in 2015.

 “Groundwater quality is a key water resources domain that can affect water availability trends, and the purpose of this multi-decadal groundwater pesticide trends study is to assess changes in concentrations within the NWQN-GW,” the authors note. Changes in relative concentrations are noted when the percentage of wells with pesticide contamination exceeds human health benchmarks (HHBs). The HHBs in this report, those available from EPA, incorporate legally enforceable drinking-water standards and nonenforceable drinking water levels.

Study Methodology

The analysis of the 22 pesticides in groundwater is separated into decadal intervals, with decade 1 from 1993–2001, decade 2 from 2002–2012, and decade 3 from 2013–2022. The quality of groundwater is assessed in 24 agricultural wells, 15 urban wells, and 20 domestic supply wells within 25 principal aquifers of the U.S. that have been monitored since 1993. The additional analysis of DBCP in California includes data collected in decades 1-3, as well as decade 4 (2023–onward) within one well network comprised of 36 wells.

The authors state: “Samples collected in decades 1 and 2 were analyzed using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry or high-performance liquid chromatography… Decade 3 samples were analyzed at the NWQL using a broad-spectrum liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method.” They continue: “The change in laboratory analytical methods between decades 2 and 3 has the potential to introduce bias into the analysis of datasets that span all three decades.” This raises concerns about the ability of the reported data to reflect accurate risks to human health.

After sampling the wells and performing analyses in the lab for concentrations of the 22 pesticides included in the study, the relative concentrations, as compared to HHBs, classified the results into one of four categories. Pesticide concentrations above the HHB are high, while those “that exceeded 0.10 of the HHB but were lower than or equal to the HHB were moderate. Concentrations that exceeded 0.05 of the HHB but were lower than or equal to 0.10 of the HHB were defined as low-moderate. Concentrations lower than or equal to 0.05 of the HHB were low.”

Study Results

In the main sampling for decades 1-3, no pesticides are detected at high concentrations, but five pesticides are detected at moderate concentrations, including alachlor, atrazine, deethylatrazine (DEA), prometon, and simazine. The authors also report: “The percentage of all wells that had pesticide concentrations in the moderate category decreased each decade, from 7 percent in decade 1 to 2 percent in decade 3… The agricultural wells were the well type that had the highest percentages of moderate concentrations, and these percentages decreased each decade.”

This reported decrease raises many questions. Are the numbers lower in the latest decade due to the replacement of the tested pesticides with other pesticides not accounted for? Is there actually a reduction in pesticide use as organic agriculture is being adopted? Are there limitations within the study, in addition to the change in analytical methods mentioned above, that do not accurately reflect the concentrations of pesticides within the wells?

The authors say: “We hypothesize that one of the processes that may have contributed to the reduction of pesticide concentrations in groundwater include degradation through abiotic or biotic processes in soils or groundwater. Alternative explanations for the decrease include reduction in pesticide use or a change in the transport of pesticides to groundwater over time. Changes in pesticide use and soil management, coupled with changes in precipitation and temperature, can vary over time, affecting pesticide transport to groundwater.” (See here and here.)

Additionally, four pesticides, including alachlor, atrazine, DEA, and simazine, are detected at low-moderate concentrations, with the highest percentages of low-moderate concentrations occurring in the agricultural wells and remaining constant for each decade.

The additional analysis of DBCP in California for decade 4, which was conducted since this is the only pesticide that previously exceeded its respective HHB, shows that despite being banned over 45 years ago, DBCP concentrations are greater than the maximum contaminant level of 2 micrograms per liter (µg/L) for all four decades. The number of exceedances decreased from 1993 to 2023, but is still higher than the HHB overall.

In summary, the authors say: “In our study, pesticides were detected at moderate concentrations in domestic supply wells in three aggregated ecoregions: the Arid West, Northeast, and Semiarid West. The domestic-well networks within the NWQN-GW cover areas that supply groundwater to more than 6 million people, or about 13 percent of the total number of people relying on domestic supply in the United States, and these networks cover at least part of the principal aquifers that together represent 99 percent of the withdrawals for domestic supply.” (See here, here, and here.)

Previous Research

Beyond Pesticides extensively covers pesticide contamination throughout air, water, soil, and food, as well as within human and wildlife bodies that are subjected to pesticides through multiple exposure routes. As shared in Daily News, the toxic soup in many U.S. waterways is unsustainable and threatens the foundation of many food chains. Imbalances in aquatic environments can ripple throughout the food web, creating trophic cascades that further exacerbate health and environmental damage. Studies of major rivers and streams find that 90% of fish, 100% of surface water samples, and 41% of major aquifers contain one or more pesticides at detectable levels. Almost 90% of water samples contain at least five or more different pesticides.

Daily News from 2021 reports on a study published by the USGS in which they determined that millions of people are drinking from groundwater reserves riddled with pesticide and pesticide metabolites or breakdown chemicals. More specifically, USGS researchers found that 41% of public drinking water supply wells are contaminated with pesticides. USGS, in a 2023 study published in Environment International, found that nearly half (45%) of U.S. tap water is contaminated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Researchers note that USGS can only detect 32 of the more than 12,000 different types of PFAS and PFAS breakdown chemicals, thus indicating the number is most likely higher. (See Daily News here and additional coverage in the groundwater archive here.)

The Organic Alternative

This USGS report further highlights the need for a holistic solution to pesticide contamination. The limitations highlighted within this study show how the true risks from pesticide exposure to human health are not fully evaluated. The authors themselves say, “Currently, groundwater contaminants from either geogenic or anthropogenic origin are very likely to coexist in groundwater, and there is a scientific gap in understanding about the combined effects of these groundwater contaminants on human health.” The inability to consider the cumulative exposure to pesticides, where additive or synergistic effects can occur, threatens the health of the public, wildlife, and the environment.

Additive effects of pesticide mixtures occur when the combined effect is equal to the sum of the individual effects, while synergistic effects occur when the combined effect is greater than the sum of the individual effects. In a Pesticides and You article, Beyond Pesticides reports that pesticide exposures in the real world are not isolated incidents. Rather, they are a string of incidents marked by combinations of exposures. As a result, scientists have argued for years that toxic exposures to pesticides should be measured as they would normally occur, in combination with one another. Yet, current federal law does not require this type of testing for pesticides on the market, except in very limited instances.

In Daily News titled “Scientific Studies Identify EPA Deficiency in Evaluating Safety of Toxic Chemical Interactions,” Beyond Pesticides references a plethora of scientific literature in calling on Congress to require EPA to incorporate real world science into its evaluation of pesticide safety calculations by recognizing that daily exposure involves multiple chemicals and synergistic interactions— a magnified effect greater than the individual chemical effects added together. As noted by Maricel Maffini, PhD, and Laura Vandenberg, PhD, in a commentary in Frontiers in Toxicology, “Current approaches also rely on the assumption that testing chemicals one at a time is appropriate to understand how chemicals act under real-world conditions. Numerous mixture studies, including ones that demonstrated cumulative effects, have disproven this assumption.” (See additional coverage on synergistic effects here.)

Despite the limitations of the target chemicals in the report and the regulatory standards supporting the HHBs, the authors feel: “The rarity of HHB exceedances and the national-scale decrease in moderate concentrations of pesticides can be viewed as encouraging results from a human-health standpoint. However, continued monitoring and assessment of groundwater pesticides is warranted, as many negative human-health effects have been linked to pesticide exposure, and these negative effects can occur when pesticide concentrations are below the human health benchmarks used in this study.” (See research here, here, and here.)

Taking into consideration all of the adverse health effects that peer-reviewed scientific literature connects to pesticide exposure, as well as all of the effects that have yet to be fully studied, the only way, according to Beyond Pesticides, to ensure that any level of pesticide contamination within groundwater or any other resource causes no harm is to transition fully to organic agricultural and land management practices. The health and environmental benefits of organic methods are widely documented and supported by science. (See here, here, and here.)

Take action today by telling your local officials to make your parks organic. Does your community have a pesticide-free park managed with organic practices? Do you wish it did? The time to take action to protect those parks and create new ones is now. With Beyond Pesticides’ supporters, including the retailer Natural Grocers in the Midwest and west, the Beyond Pesticides’ Parks for a Sustainable Future program provides in-depth training to assist community land managers in transitioning two public green spaces to organic landscape management, while aiming to provide the knowledge and skills necessary to eventually transition all public areas in a locality to these safer practices.

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

Source:

Stackpoole, S., Lindsey, B. and Nell, C. (2025) National Water Quality Program: Multidecadal Change in Pesticide Concentrations Relative to Human Health Benchmarks in the Nation’s Groundwater, U.S. Geological Survey. Available at: https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2025/5081/sir20255081.pdf.

(Beyond Pesticides, October 14, 2025) With escalating environmental, health, climate crises tied to petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers, Beyond Pesticides is calling the transition to organic land management a mandate, not a choice. Additionally, as a solution, organic agriculture has returned competitive yields with chemical-intensive farming and higher profitability. In this context, Beyond Pesticides and its network are supporting the Organic Science and Research Investment (OSRI) Act, S.1385 and H.R. 5703, to help grow the organic sector and are asking members of Congress to cosponsor the legislation. If passed, OSRI will make strategic investments into the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) organic agriculture research, assisting farmers to meet the growing demand for organic products and keep organic dollars circulating in rural and regional economies. The House and Senate bills include the same legislative language. 

As the health, biodiversity, and climate crises escalate, Beyond Pesticides views organic agriculture and nonagricultural land management as a social good, necessary to a sustainable future. Given the dismantling of many federal environmental programs and the weakening or undermining of pesticide regulation, the transition to the organic alternative has taken on increased importance, according to public health and environmental advocates. The true cost of conventional, petrochemical pesticide and fertilizer use is integral to any calculation of the overall economic benefit of organic practices. Most of the costs of chemical-intensive land management are not borne by the pesticide user or chemical companies, but by society or taxpayers who bear the cost of environmental and human health harms, lost ecosystem services such as die-off of pollinators, water contamination, and the cost of fighting climate-induced fires and flooding. 

Research in recent months finds: consumption of organic animal-based and plant-based foods is positively associated with higher cognitive scores; organic rice paddies in the Mediterranean region have greater ecosystem biodiversity than their chemical-intensive counterparts; “organic farming equals conventional yield under irrigation and enhances seed quality in drought, aiding food security;” organic corn outcompetes with chemical-intensive corn in Kenya; organic agriculture fosters insect biodiversity that provides ecosystem services like pollination and biocontrol; and, organic grain cropping systems contain higher concentrations of total nitrogen and soil organic carbon, exceeding those found in chemical-intensive systems. 

OSRI (H.R. 5703) was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on October 6 by Representative Eugene Vindman (D-VA), with co-sponsor Michael Lawler (R-NY), and reintroduced in the U.S. Senate (S.1385) in April by sponsors John Fetterman (D-PA) and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA), and cosponsors Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Tina Smith (D-MN), Peter Welch (D-VT), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Angus King (I-ME). The legislation seeks to ensure “organics research is prioritized at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and [increased] funding for research agencies and universities, [as well as ] provid[ing] much needed support to the organic farming industry.” 

Specifically, OSRI strengthens federal commitments to organic agriculture by: 

• Creating the Coordinating and Expanding Organic Research Initiative at the USDA to assess and efficiently expand the agency’s organic research portfolio. 

• Increasing funding for the Organic Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) from its current budget of $50 million annually to $100 million by the end of the next Farm Bill. 

• Formally authorizing the Organic Transition Research Program to support farmers transitioning to organic practices, renaming the program to the Researching the Transition to Organic Program (RTOP). 

• Doubling Farm Bill support for the Organic Production and Market Data Initiative to improve market transparency, help inform targeted market development investments, and improve risk management tools. 

• Directing the USDA’s Economic Research Service to evaluate the full economic, ecological, and community impacts of organic agriculture. 

At a time when food security and economic resilience are more important than ever, OSRI helps ensure that U.S. producers, not foreign suppliers, are meeting the needs of American consumers. 

Letter to U.S. Congress
A growing body of evidence demonstrates the environmental, health, climate, and economic benefits of organic agriculture. As crises escalate, organic agriculture and nonagricultural land management must be viewed as a social good, necessary to a sustainable future. Societal transition to organic practices requires a reorientation to its value as a public good. Given the dismantling of many federal environmental programs and weakening or undermining of pesticide regulation, it is critical to support the organic alternative. The true cost of conventional, petrochemical pesticide and fertilizer use is integral to any calculation of the overall economic benefit of organic practices. Most of the costs of chemical-intensive land management are not borne by the pesticide user or chemical companies, but by society or taxpayers who bear the cost of environmental and human health harms, lost ecosystem services such as die-off of pollinators, water contamination, and the cost of fighting climate-induced fires and flooding. 

Research in recent months finds: consumption of organic animal-based and plant-based foods is positively associated with higher cognitive scores; organic rice paddies in the Mediterranean region have greater ecosystem biodiversity than their chemical-intensive counterparts; “organic farming equals conventional yield under irrigation and enhances seed quality in drought, aiding food security;” organic corn outcompetes chemical-intensive corn in Kenya; organic agriculture fosters insect biodiversity that provides ecosystem services like pollination and biocontrol; and organic grain cropping systems contain higher concentrations of total nitrogen and soil organic carbon, exceeding those found in chemical-intensive systems.

Fortunately, members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate have reintroduced the Organic Science and Research Investment (OSRI) Act, S.1385 and H.R. 5703, which will make strategic investments into USDA organic agriculture research, assisting farmers to meet the growing demand for organic products and keep organic dollars circulating in rural and regional economies.

In April, Senators John Fetterman (PA-D) and Sen. Adam Schiff (CA-D), reintroduced OSRI, S.1385, to ensure “organics research is prioritized at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and [increased] funding for research agencies and universities, [as well as] provid[ing] much needed support to the organic farming industry.” The bill is co-sponsored by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Tina Smith (D-MN), Peter Welch (D-VT), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Angus King (I-ME). Representatives Lawler (R-NY) and Vindman (D-VA) have introduced a House version, H.R. 5703.

Specifically, OSRI strengthens federal commitments to organic agriculture by:

*Creating the Coordinating and Expanding Organic Research Initiative at the USDA to assess and efficiently expand the agency’s organic research portfolio.

*Increasing funding for the Organic Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) from its current budget of $50 million annually to $100 million by the end of the next Farm Bill.

*Formally authorizing the Organic Transition Research Program to support farmers transitioning to organic practices, renaming the program to the Researching the Transition to Organic Program (RTOP).

*Doubling Farm Bill support for the Organic Production and Market Data Initiative to improve market transparency, help inform targeted market development investments, and improve risk management tools.

*Directing the USDA’s Economic Research Service to evaluate the full economic, ecological, and community impacts of organic agriculture.

At a time when food security and economic resilience are more important than ever, OSRI helps ensure that U.S. producers, not foreign suppliers, are meeting the needs of American consumers.

Please cosponsor OSRI.