06
Feb
(Beyond Pesticides, February 6, 2024) 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 exposĂŠ highlighting extensive pesticide contamination, including from âhiddenâ pesticides that regulators have not monitored. The authors conclude that in Californiaâs legal weed market, over half of available smoking products are found to contain hidden chemicalsâtoxic 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 | No Comments »
19
Nov
(Beyond Pesticides, November 19, 2024) Researchers at Stanford University recently published a study in Cancer, an international interdisciplinary journal of the American Cancer Society (ACS), that reveals a correlation for numerous pesticides with increased prostate cancer occurrence and associated death. The study finds that exposure to 22 pesticides is positively associated with prostate cancer. The 22 pesticides include 2,4âD, acephate, azoxystrobin, bifenthrin, carbaryl, chloropicrin, cloransulamâmethyl, cyhalothrinâlambda, diflufenzopyr, diuron, glyphosate, hexazinone, linuron, methyl parathion, pendimethalin, propiconazole, sulfosate, thiamethoxam, thifensulfuron, tribenuron methyl, trifloxystrobin, and trifluralin. (See more on 2,4-D and cancer prevalence here and here.) As prostate cancer is a leading national health concern, the authors investigate agricultural pesticide exposure and compared it to prostate cancer incidence and mortality across counties in the contiguous U.S. âThe geographic variation in prostate cancer incidence and mortality suggests that regional environmental factors, such as pesticide exposure, may contribute to the development of prostate cancer,â the researchers postulate. In comparing countyâlevel associations of 295 pesticides and prostate cancer reports, the authors were able to conduct an environmentâwide association study (EWAS) to determine any statistically significant links. âWe acquired annual estimated total usage data (kg per county) for all pesticides reported and applied to agricultural crops grown […]
Posted in 2,4-D, Acephate, Azoxystrobin, Bifenthrin, Cancer, Carbaryl, chloropicrin, Death, Diuron, Glyphosate, hexazinone, Linuron, men's health, Parathion, Pendimethalin, Propiconazole, Prostate Cancer, Thiamethoxam, trifloxystrobin, Trifluralin | No Comments »
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, âAlthough [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.â 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 »
