05
Jul
(Beyond Pesticides, July 5, 2012) After a 2006 cancellation of uses due to unreasonable risks to farmworker health and the environment, and a 6-year phase out scheduled to conclude this September, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is conducting a risk-benefit analysis to make a determination whether to keep in place or amend the cancellation order for the organophosphate azinphos-methyl (AZM), citing new information on the economic costs of using alternatives. In 2001, EPA found that insecticides azinphos-methyl (AZM) posed unacceptable risks to farmworkers and announced that 28 crop uses were being canceled, seven crop uses were to be phased-out over four years, and eight crop uses were to be allowed to continue under a “time-limited” registration for another four years. Farmworker advocates challenged that decision in federal court citing that EPA failed to take into account the costs of poisoning workers, exposing children, and polluting rivers and streams. A settlement agreement effectively stayed the legal challenge pending EPA’s reconsideration of the “time limited” uses of AZM. In November 2006, EPA decided that AZM poses unreasonable adverse effects and issued a final decision to cancel AZM, but allowed continued use on some fruit crops (apples, cherries, pears) for six more […]
Posted in Alternatives/Organics, Autism, Azinphos-methyl, Biofuels, California, Disease/Health Effects, Farmworkers, International, Pesticide Regulation, Take Action | 3 Comments »
10
May
(Beyond Pesticides, May 10, 2011) In three new studies published in the May issue of the journal Health Affairs (Vol. 30, No. 5), Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers reveal the staggering economic impact of toxic chemicals and air pollutants in the environment, and propose new legislation to mandate testing of new chemicals and also those already on the market. The studies, “Environmental Disease in Kids Cost $76.6 Billion in 2008,” “Children’s Vulnerability to Toxic Chemicals,” and “Pollutants and Respiratory Illness in Infants,” are available on the Health Affairs website. Leonardo Trasande, MD, Associate Professor of Preventive Medicine and Pediatrics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, analyzed the costs of conditions — including lead poisoning, childhood cancer, asthma, autism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) — associated with exposure to toxic chemicals. Dr. Trasande and his team calculated the annual cost for direct medical care and the indirect costs, such as parents’ lost work days, and lost economic productivity caring for their children, of these diseases in children. The researchers found the annual cost in the United States to be an estimated $76.6 billion, representing 3.5 percent of all U.S. health care costs in 2008. The breakdown includes: lead poisoning […]
Posted in ADHD, Asthma, Autism, Cancer, Children/Schools, Disease/Health Effects | 1 Comment »
23
Jan
(Beyond Pesticides, January 23, 2009) A study by researchers at the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute has found that the seven- to eight-fold increase in the number children born in California with autism since 1990, a trend which shows no sign of abating, cannot be explained by either changes in how the condition is diagnosed or counted, and that environmental factors must be looked at more closely. Published in the January 2009 issue of the journal Epidemiology, the study is entitled “The Rise in Autism and the Role of Age at Diagnosis.” Results from the study suggest that research should shift from genetics to the host of chemicals and infectious microbes in the environment that are likely at the root of changes in the neurodevelopment of California’s children, including pesticides and household chemicals. “It’s time to start looking for the environmental culprits responsible for the remarkable increase in the rate of autism in California,” said UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute researcher Irva Hertz-Picciotto, PhD, a professor of environmental and occupational health and epidemiology and an internationally respected autism researcher. Dr. Hertz-Picciotto said that many researchers, state officials and advocacy organizations have viewed the rise in autism’s incidence in California with skepticism. The […]
Posted in Autism, California, Children/Schools | No Comments »
27
May
(Beyond Pesticides, May 27, 2008) A population-based study looking at how genes and environmental factors interact shows that pet shampoos containing insecticides may trigger autism spectrum disorders (ASD), reports New Scientist. The study findings, presented at the International Meeting for Autism Research, show that mothers of children with an ASD are twice as likely to have used an insecticidal pet shampoo during the prenatal and/or postnatal period when compared to mothers of healthy children. The strongest association was during the second trimester of pregnancy. According to the researchers, pet shampoos often contain pyrethrins and previous animal research has found that pyrethrins are designed to target the central nervous system in insects, rodents and other species and can cause death of neurons and compromise the blood-brain barrier in early life.Examining participants in the Childhood Autism Risks from Genetics and the Environment (CHARGE) study, researchers from the University of California, Davis looked at 333 children with ASD and 198 healthy children between the ages of two and five, and their families. In-depth questionnaires and blood and urine samples were collected. Isaac Pessah, Ph.D., a researcher involved in the study and professor in the Department of Molecular Biosciences, College of Veterinary Medicine at […]
Posted in Autism, Pets, Pyrethrin | 2 Comments »
07
Feb
(Beyond Pesticides, February 7, 2008) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded more than $500,000 in federal grant funds to several states and non-profit organizations to be used for programs to educate health care providers and women of childbearing age on environmental health risks.The grants were provided to five states and non-profit organizations in Ohio, Michigan, Oregon, Florida, and Texas, and are to focus on educating women, especially pregnant women, on the hazards of environmental contaminants and hazards to children. Health issues such as exposure to mercury, lead, environmental tobacco smoke, chemicals, pesticides, drinking water contaminants, and indoor and outdoor air contaminants have been especially targeted. These grants are estimated to benefit 3,000 health care providers and 10,000 women of childbearing age.“We’re giving pregnant women information on how to avoid exposure to certain environmental hazards to give children a healthy start to life,” said Dona Deleon, acting director, Office of Children’s Health Protection and Environmental Education. “These grants help the public health community reach women during this important time in their lives.”According to the EPA, pregnancy is a time for joy and celebration, but it is also a time to be especially careful about the environment in which one […]
Posted in Alternatives/Organics, Asthma, Autism, Disease/Health Effects, Lymphoma | 1 Comment »
13
Nov
November 13, 2007) Autism is on the rise, both in prevalence and incidence, and there is growing evidence that environmental insults, such as pesticides, are linked to this developmental disability. According to the latest study, published in the October issue of Environmental Health Perspectives, children born to mothers living near fields where pesticides are applied are more likely to develop autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). The authors of “Maternal Residence Near Agricultural Pesticide Applications and Autism Spectrum Disorders among Children in the California Central Valley” compared maternal pesticide exposure for 465 children with ASDs and 6,975 children without ASDs living in the same area. The research reveals that mothers who lived within 500 meters of fields sprayed with organochlorine pesticides, specifically endosulfan and dicofol, during their first trimester of pregnancy had a six times higher chance of having children with autism compared to mothers who did not live near the fields. Mark Horton, M.D., director of the California Department of Health, said the findings are exploratory and indicate that more research of the relationship between organochlorines and ASDs is needed. (See Daily News Blog posting from July 31, 2007 for further reactions from health care officials and more details about this […]
Posted in Autism | 1 Comment »
31
Jul
(Beyond Pesticides, July 31, 2007) Preliminary research into birth records and pesticide data reveal that mothers who were within 500 meters of fields sprayed with organochlorine pesticides during their first trimester of pregnancy were six times higher to have children with autism compared to mothers who did not live near the fields. Scientists from the California Department of Public Health conducted the study, which is available online in Environmental Health and Perspectives, entitled, “Maternal Residence Near Agricultural Pesticide Applications and Autism Spectrum Disorders Among Children in the California Central Valley.” The study, initiated to “systemically explore the general hypothesis that residential proximity to agricultural pesticide applications during pregnancy could be associated with autism spectrum disorders in offspring,” found that 28% of the mothers studied who lived near fields in Central Valley, which were sprayed with organochlorines, such as endosulfan and dicofol, have children with autism. However, officials are quick to point out that their findings are preliminary. “We want to emphasize that this is exploratory research,” says Dr. Mark Horton, M.D., director of the California Department of Health. “We have found very preliminary data that there may be an association. We are in no way concluding that there is a […]
Posted in Autism, California, Children/Schools, Disease/Health Effects, Endosulfan | 2 Comments »
