Archive for the 'Antibiotic Resistance' Category
24
Jan
(Beyond Pesticides, January 24, 2023) Oral arguments begin this week in a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencyâs (EPA) approval of the antibiotic streptomycin as a pesticide on citrus crops. Brought forth by a coalition of farmworker, health, and environmental groups, the lawsuit aims to stop the use of a critical medical treatment for agricultural purposes. âHumanityâs dwindling supply of medically effective antibiotics is not worth sacrificing for an industry that has safer alternatives available,â said Drew Toher, community resource and policy director at Beyond Pesticides. âDespite the challenges, we know from the elimination of this material in organic production that we donât need antibiotics in order to produce a glass of orange juice.â Â In 2020, the Lancet published an article that identifies several of the multiple and interacting crises the U.S. and world face, with a focus on another âlooming potential pandemic . . . [a] rise in multidrug-resistant bacterial infections that are undetected, undiagnosed, and increasingly untreatable, [whose rise] threatens the health of people in the USA and globally.â It calls on leaders in the U.S. and beyond, asking that even as they address the current coronavirus pandemic, they also attend to the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) problem, […]
Posted in Agriculture, Alternatives/Organics, Antibiotic Resistance, citrus greening--Huanglongbing (HLB), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Florida, Litigation, Uncategorized | No Comments »
25
Aug
(Beyond Pesticides, August 25, 2022) A study published in World Journal of Pediatrics finds an association between antibiotic and neonicotinoid (neonic) exposure and onset of pediatric (childhood) type 1 diabetes (T1D) through effects on the gut microbiome. Individuals with type 1 diabetes are at higher risk of other autoimmune disorders, including thyroid and celiac disease. Ample evidence demonstrates environmental contaminants like pesticides and antibiotics negatively affect human mouth and gut microbes. Through the gut biome, pesticide exposure can enhance or exacerbate the adverse effects of additional environmental toxicants on the body. Moreover, studies find low levels of pesticide exposure during pregnancy or childhood cause adverse health effects from metabolic/immune disorders to mental and physical disabilities. Children are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of pesticide exposure as their developing bodies cannot adequately combat exposure effects. Although studies show how chemical exposures affect overall human health, more research is now questioning how these toxic chemicals influence gut health and subsequent occurrence of diseases. In children, gut microbiome disruption, or gut dysbiosis, has significant associations with type 1 diabetes development, and disruption of gut microbiota plays a role in type 2 diabetes development. Over 11 percent (>37 million) of individuals in the U.S. have diabetes, and cases are growing by millions annually. With increasing rates of type 1 and […]
Posted in Acephate, Antibiotic Resistance, Children, Diabetes, Microbiome, neonicotinoids | 1 Comment »
15
Apr
The organic solutions to problems highlighted in the latest issue of Pesticides and Youâbased on the importance of healthy ecosystems and public health protectionâare within reach, and the data creates an imperative for action now that phases out pesticides within a decade, while ensuring food productivity, resilient land management, and safe food, air, and water. (Beyond Pesticides, April 15, 2022) The current issue of Pesticides and You, RETROSPECTIVE 2021: A Call to Urgent Action, is a look at a year of science, policy, and advocacy that informs both the existential problems that the U.S. and the world are facing due to toxic pesticide dependency, and solutions that can be adopted now. The information in this issue captures the body of science that empowers action at the local, state, and federal level, and provides a framework for challenging toxic pesticide use and putting alternatives in place. The issue finds that 2021 was a pivotal year in both defining the problem and advancing the solution. This year in review is divided into nine sections that provide an accounting of scientific findings documenting serious pesticide-induced health and environmental effects, disproportionate risk to people of color and those with preexisting conditions, regulatory failures, at the same time […]
Posted in Agriculture, Alternatives/Organics, Antibiotic Resistance, Aquaculture, Aquatic Organisms, Asthma, Bats, Bayer, Biodiversity, Birds, Birth defects, Brain Effects, Breast Cancer, Cancer, Cardiovascular Disease, Chemicals, Chronic Kidney Disease, coronavirus, Corporations, COVID-19, Dermatitis, Developmental Disorders, Diabetes, Ecosystem Services, Endocrine Disruption, Environmental Justice, Farmworkers, Fertilizer, fish, Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), Herbicides, Kidney failure, Lawns/Landscapes, Learning Disabilities, Leukemia, Litigation, Lung Cancer, Lymphoma, Monsanto, Multiple Myeloma, National Organic Standards Board/National Organic Program, non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Obesity, Parkinson's, Pesticide Drift, Pesticide Regulation, Pets, Reproductive Health, Respiratory Diseases, Rodenticide, Skin Reactions, Thyroid Disease, Wildlife/Endangered Sp., Women's Health, Wood Preservatives | No Comments »
06
Apr
(Beyond Pesticides, April 6, 2022) Conventional apples sold at market and sprayed with synthetic fungicides may not only contain drug-resistant fungi, but function as a transmission reservoir and route to spread these dangerous pathogens, finds research published in mBio late last month by a team of researchers from India and Canada. As reports of fungal resistance rise, particularly in hospitals and among the immunocompromised, there is an urgent need to understand and address the root causes of these emerging disease threats. âWhen we look at human pathogens, we tend to look at whatâs immediate to us,â said study coauthor Jianping Xu, PhD. âBut we have to look at it more broadly. Everything is connected, the whole system. Fruit is just 1 example.ââŻÂ Researchers set out their research with the suspicion that stored fruits sprayed with synthetic fungicides were acting as a source and route of transmission for the deadly fungi Candida auris. This yeast is considered an âemerging fungal pathogenâ by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and has increased its rate of infection significantly since its initial identification in the mid 1990s. The fungi has been found in every continent save Antarctica. It has proven to […]
Posted in Agriculture, Antibiotic Resistance, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fungal Resistance, Resistance, Uncategorized | No Comments »
28
Feb
(Beyond Pesticides, February 28, 2022) When bacteria and fungi become resistant to pesticides, it is a signal that the toxic chemical approach to controlling pathogens does not work. But resistance also poses a direct threat to human health when the pesticide (or a related chemical) is used in human medicine. Tell EPA to cancel all uses of a pesticide when resistance is discovered or predicted to occur. Tell Congress to ensure that EPA protects public health from deadly antifungal and antibiotic resistance. The threat of resistance in bacterial human pathogens has long been widely recognized. Although research sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognizes the spread of resistance to antibiotics important in human medicine through horizontal gene transfer in the environment, EPA inaction both on antibiotic and antifungal resistance has become a growing crisis. EPA does recognize the existence of resistance to fungicides. It uses codes produced by the Fungicide Resistance Action Committee in decisions regarding fungicide registration. Although EPA says resistance âmay be considered in the risk-benefit decision-making process,â there is no evidence that the agency actually considers the failure of EPA-registered pesticides to control the target organisms in registering pesticides. That failure has a serious impact on […]
Posted in Antibiotic Resistance, Antimicrobial, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Fungal Resistance, Uncategorized | No Comments »
23
Nov
(Beyond Pesticides, November 23, 2021) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced, in mid-October, a revision of its guidance on the evaluation of antimicrobial pesticides used against Candida auris (C. auris). This pathogen is a type of fungus (a yeast) that can cause serious infection, and can spread readily among patients and staff in hospitals and other congregate healthcare settings (such as nursing homes). C. auris has developed resistance to what used to be the therapeutic impacts of major antifungal medications. (Resistance is a major and growing problem in healthcare and in agriculture, with the latter exacerbating the former.) Another moving part in this unholy development of âchemical compounds no longer workingâ is EPAâs failure to assess the efficacy of any pesticides that are not used for public health purposes; for example, EPA evaluates the efficacy of only those antimicrobial compounds whose use patterns classify them as human-health-related. This failure to evaluate efficacy of all other pesticide products leaves many people in the dark about whether what they may be using actually works â never mind the potential risks associated with that use. The antifungal medications that have been used for many years to treat Candida infections often no longer work for C. auris; […]
Posted in Antibacterial, Antibiotic Resistance, Antimicrobial, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Uncategorized | No Comments »
13
Sep
(Beyond Pesticides, September 13, 2021) The National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) is receiving written comments from the public through September 30. This precedes the upcoming public comment webinar on October 13-14 and online meeting October 19-21âin which the NOSB deliberates on issues concerning how organic food is produced. Written comments must be submitted through Regulations.gov. As always, there are many important issues on the NOSB agenda this Fall. For a complete discussion, see Keeping Organic Strong (KOS) and the Fall 2021 issues page. In the spirit of âcontinuous improvement,â we urge you to submit comments (please feel free to use our comments on the KOS page) that contribute to an increasingly improved organic production system. The Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) requires that all synthetic materials used in organic production be approved by the NOSB, included on the National List, and reassessed every five years. Among those up for sunset review this Fall are some controversial materialsâcopper sulfate, carrageenan, and list 3 âinerts.â In addition, the NOSB is once more considering a petition to allow the antibiotic kasugamycin in fruit production. Copper sulfate is used in organic rice production to control algae and an invertebrate known as tadpole shrimp. It […]
Posted in Antibiotic Resistance, copper sulfate, Inerts, Uncategorized, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) | 1 Comment »
18
May
(Beyond Pesticides, May 18, 2021) Organic meat is far less likely to be adulterated with multi-drug resistant bacteria (MDRB) than conventional meat, according a study published earlier this month in Environmental Health Perspectives. The research by experts at John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is the latest news on the health and safety benefits of choosing organic, which prohibits the regular use of risky antibiotics, for oneâs food purchases. Scientists indicate that contaminated foods pose serious dangers for consumers, public health, and the economy at large. “The presence of pathogenic bacteria is worrisome in and of itself, considering the possible increased risk of contracting foodborne illness,” senior author Meghan Davis, PhD, associate professor at the Bloomberg School said. “If infections turn out to be multidrug resistant, they can be more deadly and more costly to treat.” To determine the level of contamination in various packaged meats, scientists turned to the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS), a collaborative program between the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. For a five year period spanning 2012-2017, NARMS collected meat products (chicken breast, ground beef, ground turkey, and […]
Posted in Agriculture, Alternatives/Organics, Antibiotic Resistance, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Resistance, Uncategorized, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) | No Comments »
29
Apr
(Beyond Pesticides, April 29, 2021) Glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs) are incompatible with sustainable agriculture goals, according to a recent scientific literature analysis by scientists at Tufts University, Massachusetts. Glyphosate is the most commonly used pesticide active ingredient worldwide, appearing in many herbicide formulas, including Bayerâs (formerly Monsanto) RoundupTM. The use of this chemical has been increasing since the inception of crops genetically modified to tolerate glyphosate. However, studies demonstrate glyphosate is the main contributor to human, biotic, and ecosystem harms as toxicities from herbicides are now double what it was in 2004. The National Academy of Sciences identifies four goals of sustainable agricultureâproductivity, economics, environment, and social well-being for future generations. However, pesticides like glyphosate are ubiquitous in the environment, putting the health, economy, and food/resources for future generations at risk. Therefore, research like this is vital for understanding how chemical use can undermine sustainable agriculture goals to protect humans, animals, and environmental health. Researchers note, â[W]hether or not GBHs are viewed as essential or unessential to contemporary agriculture, and notwithstanding their role in non-tillage agriculture, this study shows that glyphosate-based herbicides do not reach the bar of agricultural sustainability, with respect to humans and the environment, making the system they are part of unsustainable.â Researchers thoroughly examined […]
Posted in Agriculture, Alternatives/Organics, Antibiotic Resistance, Antimicrobial, Birth defects, Brain Effects, Cancer, Disease/Health Effects, Glyphosate, Herbicides, Microbiata, Microbiome, Oxidative Stress, Pollinators, Resistance, Wildlife/Endangered Sp. | No Comments »
09
Apr
(Beyond Pesticides, April 9, 2021) In early April, the leaking, open-air, Piney Point storage pond near Tampa, Florida necessitated hundreds of resident evacuations over concerns that the âreservoirâ would breach and flood a three-county area with what was described as a potential â20-foot wall of water.â Ultimately, controlled releases from the 480-million-gallon âpondâ (into Tampa Bay) avoided such a flood, but the event underscores the âticking bombâ nature of such open-air, toxic-liquid-waste facilities, which are used by multiple industries in the U.S. Among those are, as in this case, the phosphate mining sector, and the synthetic fertilizer industry. The latter is tied directly to the chemical-intensive agriculture crisis, and to the exact kind of waste storage facility at issue in the Florida event. This âdouble whammyâ related to synthetic fertilizers further validates Beyond Pesticidesâ advocacy for a global transition to organic land management â which rejects the use of synthetic fertilizers for the myriad harms they cause. As reported by The New York Times, that Florida storage pond contains âlegacy processed waterâ â code for wastewater with traces of heavy metals and other toxicants â contained by walls of phosphogypsum tailings at least 70 feet high. Phosphygypsum tailings are the […]
Posted in Agriculture, Antibiotic Resistance, contamination, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Florida, Poisoning, Toxic Waste, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
02
Apr
(Beyond Pesticides, April 2, 2021) Having raised the alarm for many years (and most recently in November 2020) on the dangers of the burgeoning antibiotic resistance crisis, Beyond Pesticides has joined a coalition of public interest groups in a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its approval of use of the medically important antibiotic streptomycin on citrus trees. Beyond Pesticides executive director Jay Feldman comments: âIt is past time to take urgent action to transition away from practices in agriculture that are dependent on antibiotics, advance organic farm management, and avoid new deadly pandemics. This lawsuit is an important action to reverse the previous administrationâs decision to ignore the science and allow expanded use of an antibiotic in agriculture.â According to the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the suit charges that EPA âfailed to ensure that the approved uses of streptomycin as a pesticide would not cause unreasonable harm to human health or the environment and failed to adequately assess impacts to endangered species.â The coalition of plaintiffs includes Beyond Pesticides, NRDC, Center for Biological Diversity, Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida, Farmworker Association of Florida, Farmworker Justice, Migrant Clinicians Network, and U.S. PIRG. The coalition is represented […]
Posted in Agriculture, Antibiotic Resistance, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Litigation, Pesticide Regulation, Uncategorized | No Comments »
22
Mar
(Beyond Pesticides, March 22, 2021)Â The National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) is receiving written comments from the public through April 5. This precedes the upcoming public hearing on April 20 and 22âconcerning how organic food is produced. Also, by April 5, sign up to speak (3 minutes) at the virtual NOSB hearing. Written comments must be submitted through Regulations.gov. As always, there are many important issues on the NOSB agenda this Spring. For a complete discussion, see Keeping Organic Strong and the Spring 2021 issues page. The National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) is considering a petition to allow the antibiotic kasugamycin to be used in organic apple and pear production. Earlier NOSB members struggled long and hard to erase the stigma of antibiotic use in organic fruit productionâsomething that was left over from the transition of so many chemical-intensive fruit orchards after the Alar âscareâ in which apple and apple products were contaminated with the cancer-causing plant growth regulator daminozide. Do we now want to step on that treadmill again? The reasons for rejecting the kasugamycin petition are the same as the reasons for eliminating the antibiotics streptomycin and tetracycline in crop production. Now that we have learned what a pandemic […]
Posted in Alternatives/Organics, Antibiotic Resistance, Take Action, Uncategorized, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) | 4 Comments »
04
Mar
(Beyond Pesticides, March 4, 2021) A new study finds glyphosate use stimulates soil erosion responsible for releasing banned, toxic pesticide chlordecone (Kepone), which was used in banana production. For years, an unknown pollution source continuously contaminated water surrounding islands in the French West Indies (Martinique and Guadeloupe). However, researchers from the University of Savoie Mont Blanc in France have found that chlordeconeâextensively used on banana farms from 1972 to 1993âis the contamination culprit. Glyphosate is the most popular herbicide in the world, thus ubiquitous in the environment. Therefore, it is vital to understand the implication glyphosate use has on soil health and the potential re-release of soil-bound, toxic contaminants into the surrounding environment to safeguard human health. Researchers note, â[Chlordecone] fluxes drastically increased when glyphosate use began, leading to widespread ecosystem contamination. As glyphosate is used globally, ecotoxicological risk management strategies should consider how its application affects persistent pesticide storage in soils, transfer dynamics, and widespread contamination.â Conventional pesticide use contaminates soil and their respective Critical Zone (CZ) compartments. These CZ compartments interact between the four main spheres (i.e., hydrosphere, biosphere, lithosphere, and atmosphere) of the Earth to support life. Recent decades demonstrate an increase in soil erosion due to sediment changes […]
Posted in Agriculture, Alternatives/Organics, Antibiotic Resistance, Chlordecone, contamination, Disease/Health Effects, Glyphosate, Herbicides, Pesticide Residues, Water | 1 Comment »
24
Feb
(Beyond Pesticides, February 24, 2021) Soil sprayed with weedkillers glyphosate, glufosinate, or dicamba are likely to contain higher amounts of antibiotic resistant bacteria, according to research published earlier this month in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution. Each year in the United States, at least 2 million people develop an antibiotic resistant infection, and over 23,000 die. Authors of the study say widespread herbicide use is likely playing a role. “Our results suggest that the use of herbicides could indirectly drive antibiotic resistance evolution in agricultural soil microbiomes, which are repeatedly exposed to herbicides during weed control,â said Ville Friman, PhD of the University of York in the United Kingdom. Scientists began their investigation by looking at changes to soil communities in soil microcosms over the course of a roughly two months. Microcosms were grouped by the herbicide applied, while a control microcosm remained unexposed. Each microcosm had a single herbicide applied at a rate reaching 10 parts per million (ppm) in soil. The researchers replicated each treatment 12 times. Contrary to the pesticide industryâs claim that these chemicals break down quickly and become inert by binding to soil particles, large proportions of the herbicides remained in the soil at […]
Posted in Agriculture, Antibiotic Resistance, Glyphosate, Uncategorized | No Comments »
26
Jan
(Beyond Pesticides, January 26, 2021) As the world moves toward another pandemic associated with antibiotic resistance, Beyond Pesticides sued Sargento Foods, Inc. for misleading its customers with product label claims of âno antibiotics,â which is false according to the complaint. The lawsuit alleges that Sargentoâs cheese products are made with milk from cows raised with antibiotics and that antibiotics can be found in some of the companyâs finished food.   The use of antibiotics in agriculture is contributing to a âlooming potential pandemicâ worldwide, resulting from a ârise in multidrug-resistant bacterial infections that are undetected, underdiagnosed, and increasingly untreatable, [which] threatens the health of people in the USA and globally,â according The Lancet, a prestigious medical journal, in September. The World Health Organization has declared that, âAMR [antimicrobial resistance] is one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity.â The primary contributors to AMR identified in the scientific literature are antibiotic uses in agriculture and overuse in medicine. âThis lawsuit is motivated by the urgent need to transition away from practices in agriculture that are dependent on antibiotics, advance organic farm management, and avoid new deadly pandemics,â said Jay Feldman, executive director of Beyond Pesticides. âOne way to do this is to […]
Posted in Agriculture, Antibiotic Resistance, Litigation, Resistance, Uncategorized | No Comments »
25
Jan
(Beyond Pesticides. January 25, 2021) First registered in 1970 and voluntarily cancelled in 2010, aldicarb (Temik™) was being manufactured in Bhopal, India in 1984 when a leak of a precursorâmethyl isocyanate (MIC)âspread over the city, ultimately killing more than 25,000 people and leaving more than 120,000 people who still suffer from severe health problems as a result of their exposure. In 1989, Union Carbide Corporationâthe manufacturer of aldicarb at the timeâpaid $470 million (equivalent to $860 million in 2019) to settle litigation stemming from the disaster. Aldicarb has been allowed by the outgoing Trump EPA for use on oranges. >>Tell EPA to Reverse Approval of Highly Toxic Insecticide Aldicarb! No pesticide epitomizes the âcradle-to-graveâ dangers of pesticides better than aldicarb. The disaster in Bhopal was followed by others, including a leak in Institute, WV in 1985 that injured at least 135 people and a 2008 explosion in Institute, WV that killed two and injured at least eight. In use, it has been implicated in poisoning of workers and their children, poisoning deer and other game consuming contaminated seeds, and notably, poisoning food grown in soil treated with the chemical. The effects don’t stop thereâaldicarb is also notorious for contaminating groundwater. […]
Posted in Agriculture, Aldicarb, Antibiotic, Antibiotic Resistance, Bayer, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Take Action, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
22
Jan
(Beyond Pesticides, January 22, 2021) After the past four devastating years, hopes and expectations of the Biden/Harris administration abound among the environmental and public health communities. The ears and eyes of many advocates, as well as those in the agricultural community, are attuned (among myriad candidates) to the fate of the pesticide aldicarb. Although Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) registration of this terribly toxic insecticide was cancelled in 2010, various limited-use reapprovals since then have meant that the compound has found its way to increasing levels of use. On January 12, as another parting shot of midnight rulemaking, Trumpâs EPA approved expanded uses (see below). The $64,000 question is whether the new administration will use its authority under the Congressional Review Act â which enables Congress to pass a joint resolution (then signed by the President) to overturn a new federal agency rule and prevent its reissuance in the future â to get this pesticide retired for good. Beyond Pesticides urges President Bidenâs EPA to do so. Notably, the Trump administration used the Congressional Review Act to destroy myriad environmental rules when it came into power. This permitting of expanded aldicarb uses fits the pattern. Environmental Health News notes that, as of early […]
Posted in Agriculture, Aldicarb, Antibiotic Resistance, Bayer, Carbamates, Endocrine Disruption, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Uncategorized | No Comments »
09
Nov
(Beyond Pesticides, November 9, 2020)Â Now that we have learned what a pandemic looks and feels like, with the astounding levels of infection, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19, we must take serious steps to prevent another pandemic on the horizonâthis one tied to bacterial resistance to antibiotics. An important article in The Lancet points to a âlooming potential pandemicâ resulting from a ârise in multidrug-resistant bacterial infections that are undetected, underdiagnosed, and increasingly untreatable, [which] threatens the health of people in the USA and globally.â Tell your Congressional Representative and Senators it is urgent that the National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria be initiated. Two contributors to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) that are being highlighted are in agriculture and use of antibiotics in medicine when not warranted. The misuse of antibiotics in agriculture includes antibiotics used to control certain bacterial diseases in plant agriculture (especially oxytetracycline and streptomycin). While crop uses are important contributors to breeding bacterial resistance, they are small compared to their uses in livestock production. Antibiotics are used largely as additives to animal feed to ward off any potential infections and to promote unnaturally rapid growth (the latter of which translates to higher profits), rather than being used […]
Posted in Agriculture, Antibiotic Resistance, Antimicrobial, Take Action, Uncategorized | No Comments »
16
Oct
(Beyond Pesticides, October 16, 2020) The Lancet has published an article that identifies several of the multiple and interacting crises the U.S. and world face, with a focus on another âlooming potential pandemic . . . [a] rise in multidrug-resistant bacterial infections that are undetected, undiagnosed, and increasingly untreatable, [whose rise] threatens the health of people in the USA and globally.â It calls on leaders in the U.S. and beyond, asking that even as they address the current coronavirus pandemic, they also attend to the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) problem, which is a growing threat to public health. The co-authors outline a number of strategies for progress on AMR, including banning of medically important antibiotics in agribusiness, and promoting consumer, and supplier and private sector, awareness and action on food choices. Beyond Pesticides endorses these strategies, but insists that a genuine solution would include the transition to organic agriculture, not least for the health benefits it would provide. The introduction to the article adds another crisis layer â the climate emergency â and asserts that any resolutions of these crises will, or will not, unfold in a political context: âThe outcome of the U.S. election will have far-reaching consequences for planetary […]
Posted in Agriculture, Alternatives/Organics, Antibacterial, Antibiotic Resistance, Uncategorized, World Health Organization | 1 Comment »
06
Oct
(Beyond Pesticides, October 6, 2020) Despite the rapid rise of antibiotic resistance in the United States and throughout the world, new documents find the Trump Administration worked on behalf of a chemical industry trade group to weaken international guidelines aimed at slowing the crisis. Emails obtained by the Center for Biological Diversity through the Freedom of Information Act show that officials at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) worked to downplay the role of industrial agriculture and pesticide use in drug-resistant infections. âFrom everything weâve seen, itâs clear that this administration believes rolling back regulations and protecting industry profits is more important than protecting public health,â said Nathan Donley, PhD, senior scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity, to the New York Times (NYT). âBut what these emails show is that the Department of Agriculture isnât just soliciting their input. Theyâre seeking their approval on what the governmentâs position should be.â Ray McAllister, PhD, of the pesticide industry trade group Croplife America, sent an email in March of 2018 to U.S. officials, wanting to âmake certainâ that the United Nation’s (UN) Codex Alimentarius, a set of international guidelines and standards established to protect consumer health, made no mention of how […]
Posted in Agriculture, Antibiotic Resistance, International, Uncategorized, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) | No Comments »
21
May
(Beyond Pesticides, May 21, 2020) Use of the herbicide dicamba increases humans’ risk of various acute and chronic cancers, according to research published in the International Journal of Epidemiology by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Many pesticides are âknown or probableâ carcinogens (cancer-causing agents), and their widespread use only amplifies chemical hazards, adversely affecting human health. However, past research lacks comprehensive information regarding human health effects associated with long-term pesticide use. This study highlights the significant role that long-term research plays in identifying potential health concerns surrounding registered pesticides, especially as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to reaffirm its decision to allow dicamba use on genetically engineered (GE) crops. Nathan Donley, Ph.D., a scientist with the environmental health program at the Center for Biological Diversity, comments: âThis sweeping study exposes the terrible human cost of the EPAâs reckless decision to expand the use of dicamba. [âŚ]For the EPA to approve widespread use of this poison across much of the country without assuring its safety to people and the environment is an absolute indictment of the agencyâs persistent practice of rubber-stamping dangerous pesticides.â Dicambaâa benzoic acid chemical that controls broadleaf weedsâis one of the most widely applied herbicides in corn production. As a result of weed resistant to […]
Posted in Agriculture, Alternatives/Organics, Antibiotic Resistance, Cancer, Dicamba, Disease/Health Effects, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Genetic Engineering, Pesticide Drift, Pesticide Regulation, Pesticide Residues, Resistance, synergistic effects, Uncategorized | No Comments »
01
May
(Beyond Pesticides, May 1, 2020) As the globe settles in for a long summer of social distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19, experts warn that concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), more commonly referred to as âfactory farms,â are setting the table for the next pandemic. Crowded conditions and prophylactic use of antibiotics, scientists say, are creating an environment ripe for viruses and bacteria to evolve and jump from animal to human populations. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations said back in 2013, âLivestock health is the weakest link in our global health chain.â Alternatively, organic principles offer an existing federal guideline for ecologically and environmentally viable conditions for agriculture. Michael Greger, M.D., Ph.D., author of Bird Flu: A Virus of Our Own Hatching, explains, âWhen we overcrowd animals by the thousands, in cramped football-field-size sheds, to lie beak to beak or snout to snout, and thereâs stress crippling their immune systems, and thereâs ammonia from the decomposing waste burning their lungs, and thereâs a lack of fresh air and sunlight â put all these factors together and you have a perfect-storm environment for the emergence and spread of disease.â Dr. Greger notes that the spread of […]
Posted in Agriculture, Alternatives/Organics, Antibiotic Resistance, Livestock, Regenerative, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
16
Oct
(Beyond Pesticides, October 16, 2019) Organic poultry is far less likely than conventionally raised meats to contain antibiotic-resistant Salmonella, according to research presented last week at a conference for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. With bacterial resistance to common antibiotics on the rise, in large part due to misuse in agriculture, consumers are looking for the best choice to feed themselves and their families. While researchers did find organic poultry production to result in fewer instances of antibiotic resistance, there are still improvements that must be made in organic to further reduce and ultimately eliminate the threat of bacterial resistance and align organic standards with consumer expectations. âAlthough contamination of retail poultry was found in both conventionally raised and antibiotic-free samples, our results show that Salmonella in poultry produced without antibiotics â based on packaging claims â were significantly less resistant to antibiotics compared with poultry raised using conventional methods,â said Xin Yin, MPH, lead author of the study and DrPH candidate at Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania. âConsumers should read production labels and make informed choices based on the evidence about the risk of poultry contamination with drug-resistant Salmonella.â For the study, researchers analyzed samples conducted […]
Posted in Alternatives/Organics, Antibiotic Resistance, Uncategorized | No Comments »