29
May
(Beyond Pesticides, May 29, 2025) A study, published in Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology, “investigates genotoxic effects on farmers in ParaĂba, Brazil, analyzing buccal mucosa cells [cells from inside the cheek] for DNA and cellular damage,” the authors write. In comparing data from 33 pesticide-exposed agricultural workers to 29 unexposed people in a control group, the researchers report that the “findings revealed significantly higher frequencies of cellular alterations and DNA damage among exposed farmers relative to the control group, with no significant impact from factors such as smoking, alcohol consumption, or family cancer history.” They continue, “These results underscore the genotoxic risks linked to prolonged pesticide exposure and highlight the necessity for stricter regulatory measures.” As Beyond Pesticides documents in Disproportionate Pesticide Hazards to Farmworkers and People of Color Documented… Again, farmworkers have been excluded from labor and occupational safety protection laws since their inception. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) defers all policy on pesticide protections to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which has been widely criticized for providing inadequate worker protection standards. This study focuses on workers in Brazil, but represents issues that impact communities worldwide. “The agricultural sector plays a pivotal role in Brazil’s economy, encompassing […]
Posted in 2,4-D, Abamectin, Agriculture, chlorfenapyr, Cyfluthrin, cypermethrin, Deltamethrin, Diuron, DNA Damage, Farmworkers, Glyphosate, hexazinone, Imidacloprid, Methamidophos, Methomyl, Occupational Health, Oxidative Stress | No Comments »
06
Feb
(Beyond Pesticides, February 6, 2025) Months after publishing a June 2024 study regarding concentrations of pesticides discovered in legal (and illegal) cannabis products in California, the Los Angeles Times has released a follow-up exposĂ© highlighting extensive pesticide contamination, including from “hidden” pesticides that regulators have not monitored. The authors conclude that in California’s legal weed market, over half of available smoking products are found to contain hidden chemicals—toxic pesticides present in products but not regulated or monitored by state authorities. Since 2015, Beyond Pesticides has laid out health, safety, and environmental concerns related to the contamination of cannabis by pesticides (and fertilizers) alongside an imperative need to mandate an organic systems approach to cannabis production. Yet ten years later, it appears nationally that California state regulators are alone in moving forward in 2021 with state organic cannabis certification. There are other marketplace-based cannabis certification labels that require comparable organic certification practices (see Beyond Pesticides reporting here and here). For more information, please see past Pesticides and You reporting here and here. The Los Angeles Times analyzed the results from state licensed laboratory testing of more than 370 legal cannabis products, representing 86 brands. In addition to the 66 chemicals required […]
Posted in Acephate, Agriculture, Alternatives/Organics, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), Bifenthrin, California, Cannabis, chlorfenapyr, contamination, Fungicides, Integrated and Organic Pest Management, National Organic Standards Board/National Organic Program, organophosphate, Pesticide Regulation, pymetrozine, trifloxystrobin, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
09
Jul
(Beyond Pesticides, July 9, 2024) Last month, California cannabis regulators recalled a pesticide-tainted vape, one of the contaminated products identified in a Los Angeles Times investigation. The report reveals that the California Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) has for months been aware of the presence of dangerous chemicals in legal cannabis sold to the public. Conducted by Los Angeles Times and WeedWeek, a cannabis industry newsletter, the investigation has uncovered alarming levels of the insecticide chlorfenapyr in legal cannabis products sold in state dispensaries. According to an article via the National Institutes of Health, “Although [chlorfenapyr] has been identified as a moderately toxic pesticide by the World Health Organization (WHO), the mortality rate of poisoned patients is extremely high. There is no specific antidote for chlorfenapyr poisoning.” The chemical is associated with adverse liver effects and is toxic to bees, birds, and aquatic organisms. Despite claims that the state’s cannabis is safe and regulated, many popular brands of vapes and pre-rolled joints were found to contain dangerous pesticides at levels exceeding state limits and federal standards for tobacco. This investigation comes on the heels of the discovery of large amounts of illegal Chinese pesticides at cannabis grow operations around the state. […]
Posted in Bifenthrin, California, Cannabis, chlorfenapyr, Developmental Disorders, DNA Damage, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Fungicides, Herbicides, Pesticide Drift, pymetrozine, Reproductive Health, spider mites, trifloxystrobin, Uncategorized, Washington | No Comments »
