(Beyond Pesticides, August 7, 2009) A recent study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives has added to evidence that certain pesticides significantly increase one’s risk of developing Parkinson’s disease (PD). Researchers found that rural residents who drank private well water within 500 meters of fields sprayed with certain pesticides had an increased – up to 90 percent – risk of developing PD, and those with Parkinson’s “were more likely to have consumed private well water, and had consumed it on average 4.3 years longer.” The study evaluated more than 700 people, including carefully chosen controls, in Fresno, Kent, and Tulare counties. 17 percent reported drinking private well water between 1974 and 1999. Researchers focused on wells’ proximity to agricultural fields sprayed with pesticides, since private wells are not regulated, and many are shallow enough to be contaminated by pesticides seeping into groundwater. Researchers looked at 26 pesticides and six in particular, “selected for their potential to pollute groundwater or because they are of interest for PD, and to which at least 10% of our population were exposed.” Those are: diazinon, chlorpyrifos, propargite, paraquat, dimethoate, and methomyl. Propargite exposure was most closely correlated with incidence of PD, with a 90 […]

(Beyond Pesticides, July 31, 2009) A group of advocates and experts is warning that pesticide pollution from farm fields and households is contributing to the Chesapeake Bay’s decline, and may well be linked to declines in frogs across the region and intersex fish seen in the Potomac River. In a report released yesterday, the group calls on federal, state and local government to accelerate research into what threats pesticide contamination may pose to the bay, and to step up efforts to reduce such toxic pollution. “The thing that alarms us the most are the endocrine disruptors and the findings that have come out about intersex fish and frogs with reproductive problems,” said Robert SanGeorge, director of the Pesticides and the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Project. Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that mimic the natural hormones in humans or animals and can disrupt their growth and reproduction. The project is a partnership between the Maryland Pesticides Network and the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future. The group’s warning and recommendations are the product of a two-year study, in consultation with scientists, public health experts, government officials, watermen, environmentalists, farmers and pest management industries. The report comes as federal and state governments attempt […]

(Beyond Pesticides, July 30, 2009) A new report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and sponsored by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs finds suggestive but limited evidence that exposure to Agent Orange and other herbicides used during the Vietnam War is associated with an increased chance of developing ischemic heart disease and Parkinson’s disease in Vietnam veterans. The report is the latest in a congressionally mandated series by IOM that every two years reviews the evidence about the health effects of these herbicides and a type of dioxin – TCDD – that contaminated some of the defoliants. A finding of “limited or suggestive evidence of an association” means that the evidence indicates there could be a link between exposure to a chemical and increased risk for a particular health effect, though conflicting results from studies, problems with how the studies were conducted, or other confounding factors limit the certainty of the evidence. Until now, the cumulative evidence had been inadequate to draw conclusions about whether these two conditions may be associated with veterans’ exposures to herbicides or TCDD. Ischemic heart disease – a condition characterized by reduced blood supply to the heart, which can lead to heart attack and […]

(Beyond Pesticides, July 29, 2009) A new study by researchers at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University finds a higher level of common household pesticides in the urine of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a cancer that develops most commonly between three and seven years of age. The findings are published in the August issue of the journal Therapeutic Drug Monitoring. Researchers, in the study entitled, “Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and Exposure to Pesticides,” caution that these findings, which do not establish a cause-and-effect relationship, suggest an association between pesticide exposure and development of childhood ALL. “In our study, we compared urine samples from children with ALL and their mothers with healthy children and their moms. We found elevated levels of common household pesticides more often in the mother-child pairs affected by cancer,” says the study’s lead investigator, Offie Soldin, Ph.D., an epidemiologist at Lombardi. Dr. Soldin cautions, “We shouldn’t assume that pesticides caused these cancers, but our findings certainly support the need for more robust research in this area.” Previous studies have found that exposures to certain pesticides increases the risk of developing certain cancers and degenerative diseases. The study was conducted between January 2005 and […]

(Beyond Pesticides, July 28, 2009) A new study by researchers at the National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark shows that exposure to a mixture of pesticides and other chemicals has a synergistic effect on the development of male sex organs. Synergy occurs when the effect of multiple chemicals is greater than the sum of the individual effects. The study, “Synergistic Disruption of External Male Sex Organ Development by a Mixture of Four Antiandrogens,” was published July 15, 2009 in the online edition of Environmental Health Perspectives. The researchers designed their study to determine the consequences of simultaneous exposure to multiple “antiandrogens.” An antiandrogen, or androgen antagonist, is any of a group of hormone receptor antagonist compounds that are capable of preventing or inhibiting the biologic effects of androgens, male sex hormones, on normally responsive tissues in the body. Disrupting the action of androgens during gestation, certain chemicals present in food, consumer products and the environment can induce irreversible malformations of sex organs among male offspring. The team investigated the effects of mixtures of a widely used plasticizer, di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), used in medical devices such as IV bags and tubing, beauty products, PVC toys, vinyl shower curtains, car seats, […]

(Beyond Pesticides, July 14, 2009) With language to exclude farmworkers from coverage, on July 10, 2009, Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC) introduced Senate Amendment 200 to the Affordable Health Choices Act, the health care reform bill being considered in the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP). According to the advocacy group Farmworker Justice, her amendment would exclude from the definition of “employees” any “temporary or seasonal agricultural workers ”¦ for the purposes of determining the size of an employer.” Agricultural employers of seasonal farmworkers would not be required to participate in the system because they would be considered to be too small. Seasonal farmworkers would be denied health care coverage. “There can be no good explanation for why Senator Hagan thinks it would be a good idea to exclude seasonal farmworkers from access to affordable health care coverage, other than that she is pandering to agricultural employers and upholding the long tradition of excluding some of America’s lowest paid and hardest working employees from the benefits that other workers receive,” said attorney Kate Woomer-Deters of the North Carolina Justice Center. Farmworkers in the U.S. earn an average of $12,500 to $15,000 per year. They work in some of […]

(Beyond Pesticides, July 1, 2009) Researchers have found that one of the so-called “inert” ingredients in the popular herbicide product Roundup can kill human cells, particularly embryonic, placental and umbilical cord cells. Over 4,000 inert ingredients are approved for use in the U.S. and can be mixed with pesticide “active” ingredients; however these chemicals are not disclosed to consumers or users on pesticide product labels due to EPA’s intepretation (many would say incorrect interpretation) of federal pesticide law. Many inerts are classified as highly toxic, while others have not been adequately studied. About 100 million pounds of Roundup are applied to U.S. farms and lawns every year and until now, most health studies have focused on the safety of glyphosate the active ingredient in Roundup, rather than the mixture of “inert” ingredients found in the herbicidal product. In this new study, “Glyphosate Formulations Induce Apoptosis and Necrosis in Human Umbilical, Embryonic, and Placental Cells,” researchers found that Roundup’s inert ingredients amplified the toxic effect on human cells””even at concentrations much more diluted than those used on farms and lawns, and which correspond to low levels of residues in food or feed. One specific inert ingredient, polyethoxylated tallowamine, or POEA, was […]

(Beyond Pesticides, June 30, 2009) How much do we know about the food we buy at our local supermarkets and serve to our families? In Food, Inc., producer-director Robert Kenner and investigative authors Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation) and Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma) lift the veil on the U.S. food industry — an industry that has often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihoods of American farmers, the safety of workers, and our own environment. The movie reveals how a handful of corporations control our nation’s food supply. Though the companies try to maintain the myth that our food still comes from farms with red barns and white picket fences, our food is actually raised on massive “factory farms” and processed in mega industrial plants. The animals grow fatter faster and are designed to fit the machines that slaughter them. Tomatoes are bred to be shipped without bruising and to stay edible for months. The system is highly productive, and Americans are spending less on food than ever before. But, the film asks, at what cost? Cattle are given feed that their bodies are not biologically designed to digest, resulting in new strains of E. coli bacteria, which […]

(Beyond Pesticides, June 25, 2009) Although it is known that infants are more susceptible than adults to the toxic effects of pesticides, this increased vulnerability may extend much longer into childhood than expected, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley. Among newborns, levels of paraoxonase 1 (PON1), an enzyme critical to the detoxification of organophosphate pesticides, average one-third or less than those of the babies’ mothers. It was thought that PON1 enzyme activity in children approached adult levels by age two, but instead, the UC Berkeley researchers found that the enzyme level remained low in some individuals through age seven. Based upon the findings, reported in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, the study authors recommend that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) re-evaluate the current standards for acceptable levels of pesticide exposure. “Current EPA standards of exposure for some pesticides assume children are three to five times more susceptible than adults, and for other pesticides the standards assume no difference,” said Nina Holland, Ph.D., UC Berkeley adjunct professor of environmental health sciences and senior author of the paper. “Our study is the first to show quantitatively that young children may be more susceptible to […]

(Beyond Pesticides, June 22, 2009) In April 2009, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is intensifying its evaluation of spot-on pesticide products for flea and tick control for pets due to recent increases in the number of reported incidents. Adverse reactions reported range from mild effects such as skin irritation to more serious effects such as seizures and, in some cases, the death of pets. Incidents with flea and tick products can involve the use of spot-on treatments, sprays, collars and shampoos. However, the majority of the incidents reported to EPA are related to flea and tick treatments with EPA-registered spot-on products. Spot-on products are generally sold in tubes or vials and are applied to one or more localized areas on the body of the pet, such as in between the shoulders or in a stripe along the back. This advisory pertains only to EPA-registered spot-on flea and tick products; these products have an EPA registration number on the label. EPA now is evaluating all available data on the pesticides, including reports of adverse reactions, clarity of product use directions and label warnings, product ingredients, market share, and pre-market safety data submitted to the Agency. EPA says […]

(Beyond Pesticides, June 19, 2009) Farmworker unions, support groups, and worker advocacy organizations today asked Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa P. Jackson to stop the pesticide poisoning of farmworker communities and uphold the Obama administration’s commitment to environmental justice. Citing a long EPA history of “inhumane neglect of toxic pesticide effects on farmworker community health,” the groups asked the Administrator to amend a recent May 2009 decision that allows the continued use of hazardous soil fumigant pesticides. The chemicals when used in chemically treated crop production, such as tomatoes, carrots, strawberries and nuts, escape into the environment and drift into communities where the families and children of farmworkers live and play. The letter, signed by 28 groups from across the country, says that the new fumigants policy “continues an outdated EPA approach to pesticide regulation that adopts unrealistic and unenforceable standards as risk mitigation measures, in an age of safer, greener approaches to agricultural pest management.” EPA announced its decision May 27, 2009 to allow continued use of toxic soil fumigants with modified safety measures, falling far short of safety advocate efforts to adopt more stringent use restrictions and chemical bans. The rule was first proposed in July 2008, […]

(Beyond Pesticides, June 16, 2009) A study involving 678 individuals who apply pesticides, culled from a U.S. Agricultural Health Study of over 50,000 farmers, recently found that exposure to certain pesticides doubles one’s risk of developing an abnormal blood condition called MGUS (monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance) compared with individuals in the general population. The disorder, characterized by an abnormal level of a plasma protein, requires lifelong monitoring as it is a pre-cancerous condition that can lead to multiple myeloma, a painful cancer of the plasma cells in the bone marrow. The study will appear in the June 18 issue of Blood, the official journal of the American Society of Hematology. “Our study is the first to show an association between pesticide exposure and an excess prevalence of MGUS,” said lead author Ola Landgren, M.D., Ph.D., of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), which is part of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “This finding is particularly important given that we recently found in a large prospective cancer screening study that virtually all multiple myeloma patients experienced a MGUS state prior to developing myeloma.” “As several million Americans use pesticides, it’s important that the risks […]

(Beyond Pesticides, June 8, 2009) A new epidemiological study finds that Parkinson’s disease patients who have been exposed to pesticides through their work show elevated rates of the disease. The researchers find that French farmworkers have nearly double the risk for the disease if exposed to pesticides, with a dose-effect for the number of years of exposure. When they looked at the three major classes of pesticides (insecticides, fungicides and herbicides), they find that the farmworkers who used insecticides had over a two-fold increase in the risk of Parkinson’s disease. A slightly higher risk is found for exposure to organochlorine insecticides. According to the study, these associations are stronger in men with older onset Parkinson’s disease than in those with younger onset Parkinson’s. The study, “Professional Exposure to Pesticides and Parkinson’s Disease,” published in Annals of Neurology, involved individuals affiliated with the French health insurance organization for agricultural workers who were frequently exposed to pesticides in the course of their work. Occupational health physicians constructed a detailed lifetime exposure history to pesticides by interviewing participants, visiting farms, and collecting a large amount of data on pesticide exposure. These included farm size, type of crops, animal breeding, which pesticides were used, […]

(Beyond Pesticides, June 2, 2009) U.S. Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, along with Chair Emeritus John D. Dingell (D-MI), and Reps. Frank Pallone (D-NY), Bart Stupak (D-MI), Diana DeGette (D-CO) and Betty Sutton (D-OH), released a “discussion draft” of the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009, which they say will improve food safety by making the food supply more transparent, inspections of food facilities more frequent and requiring manufacturers to take steps to prevent food-borne illnesses. Sustainable agriculture advocates warn that a one-size-fits-all approach would require expensive investments beyond the reach of most small farms and processors, and could potentially put some out of business. The Committee has scheduled a legislative hearing for June 3, 2009. The draft language is largely based on the food provisions of H.R. 759, the Food and Drug Administration Globalization Act of 2009, introduced in January by Reps. Dingell, Stupak, and Pallone. The Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 incorporates technical assistance from the Obama Administration as well as other stakeholders. According to Rep. Waxman, the legislation grants the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authorities and resources it needs to better ensure the safety of the nation’s […]

(Beyond Pesticides, June 1, 2009) Many believe that nature’s best weed control is goats and that is why the Maryland Department of Transportation, town of Heampstead, New York, Google Corporate office campus in Mountain View, California, Mesa, Arizona Utilities Department and City of Cheyenne, Wyoming are putting goats to work this spring. Whether its 5 or 700 goats managing weeds, brush and grasses along highways, on a nature preserve, on a corporate campus or on a water reclamation plant property, goats are doing the work in an environmentally-friendly way. Goats eat unwanted plants, add fertilizer to the area and aerate the soil with their hooves, all at the same time. They show up every day to work, never complain, and they are tireless in performing their job. Maryland Department of Transportation The Maryland Department of Transportation’s State Highway Administration (SHA) had a major dilemma — how to mow the turf amid the meadows and bogs that protect the threatened Bog Turtle around a major highway bypass in the state. The best solution — use goats as lawn mowers. In late May, SHA enlisted a herd of 40 goats from a local farmer to begin a conservation grazing project on approximately […]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 28, 2009) Two commonly used herbicides, pendimethalin and EPTC, show a statistically significant exposure-response association with pancreatic cancer. The new study, “Agricultural Pesticide Use And Pancreatic Cancer Risk In The Agricultural Health Study Cohort,” published earlier this month in the International Journal of Cancer, is a case-control study of pesticide applicators and their spouses in Iowa and North Carolina. After controlling for age, smoking and diabetes, the study finds a three-fold increased risk with lifetime pendimethalin use and a two-and-a-half-fold increased risk with lifetime use of EPTC when compared to those that never used the chemicals. Among the 24 pesticides examined, having ever used one of five pesticides (trifluralin, chlorimuron-ethyl, pendimethalin, EPTC or heptachlor) shows at least a 40 percent excess risk of pancreatic cancer. According to the U.S. EPA’s pesticide sales and usage statistics, pendimethalin is the third most commonly used home and garden (and other non-agricultural use) herbicide and the 7th most commonly used herbicide in agriculture, totaling 21-30 million pounds applied annually in the U.S. Pendimethalin is listed by the U.S. EPA as a Group C – Possible Human Carcinogen and is a suspected endocrine disruptor. Pendimethalin has been found to cause central nervous […]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 26, 2009) On May 19, 2009, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) released a position paper on genetically engineered (GE) foods stating that, “Genetically engineered foods pose a serious health risk,” and calling for a moratorium on GE foods. Citing several animal studies, the AAEM concludes “there is more than a casual association between genetically engineered foods and adverse health effects” and that “GE foods pose a serious health risk in the areas of toxicology, allergy and immune function, reproductive health, and metabolic, physiologic and genetic health.” The AAEM’s position paper on genetically engineered foods can be found on its website. “Multiple animal studies have shown that GE foods cause damage to various organ systems in the body,” said Amy Dean, M.D., public relations chair and board member of AAEM. “With this mounting evidence, it is imperative to have a moratorium on GE foods for the safety of our patients’ and the public’s health.” The AAEM calls for: — A moratorium on GE food, implementation of immediate long term safety testing and labeling of GE food. — Physicians to educate their patients, the medical community and the public to avoid GE foods. — Physicians to consider […]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 22, 2009) A balanced, organic diet – both before and during pregnancy – can significantly reduce a child’s likelihood of being overweight, obese or developing diabetes. That, according to a literature review of over 150 scientific studies assembled by The Organic Center (TOC), an organic industry research institute focused on the science of organic food and farming. The TOC review”That First Step: Organic Food and a Healthier Future” documents that exposure to pesticides during pregnancy increases the risk of premature birth, low-birth weight, neurological problems and diabetes. Outlining six ways in which a balanced organic diet can contribute to healthy development, the report also examines how enzymes found in organic foods can slow and even reverse aspects of the aging process. With the time between initial conception to the early years of development being the most critical in establishing lifelong health, a well-balanced diet rich in organic fruits and vegetables helps establish healthy food-taste preferences, promotes healthy patterns of cell division and largely eliminates exposures to approximately 180 pesticides known to increase the risk of developmental abnormalities. Furthermore, this combination of reducing pesticide exposure and consuming nutrient-dense organic foods can help people manage weight and prevent diabetes. […]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 8, 2009) The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Health Organization (WHO), in partnership with the Global Environment Facility, have announced a renewed international effort to combat malaria with an incremental reduction of reliance on the synthetic pesticide DDT. As recently as two years ago, WHO was criticized for promoting DDT as the answer for malaria control in Africa, leading activists to call for increased use of alternatives. DDT has been recognized as a significant human and environmental health risk, including increased risk of breast cancer a wealth of other health concerns, and have built up in waterways and, in particular, the arctic. Now, ten projects, all part of the global program “Demonstrating and Scaling-up of sustainable Alternatives to DDT in Vector Management,” involving some 40 countries in Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean and Central Asia, are set to test non-chemical methods ranging from eliminating potential mosquito breeding sites and securing homes with mesh screens to deploying mosquito-repellent trees and fish that eat mosquito larvae. The new projects follow a successful demonstration of alternatives to DDT in Mexico and Central America. There, pesticide-free techniques and management regimes have helped cut cases of malaria by over 60 […]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 4, 2009) Targeting areas frequented by children, such as playgrounds, picnic areas, baseball fields, campgrounds, beaches, and hiking trails, New York Governor David A. Paterson announced an initiative to substantially reduce pesticide use throughout the State park system. “New York has a magnificent State park system that is a tremendous resource for all New Yorkers,” said Governor Paterson. “People visiting our parks, particularly children, should not be exposed to pesticides. This effort will reduce or, when possible, eliminate the use of pesticides in our State parks and historic sites.” The pesticide reduction policy is an outgrowth of Governor Paterson’s Executive Order No. 4, adopted in April 2008, which established procurement specifications to minimize State pesticide use by State agencies. The State Parks policy goes further than the Executive Order requirements by eliminating pesticide use to the maximum extent possible. The goal is to keep parks pesticide-free. The approach is outlined in the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation’s Sustainability Plan, an agency-wide strategy to improve energy conservation, improve the sustainability of parks and historic sites, improve waste reduction and recycling efforts, enhance green procurement, and incorporate sustainability in education, training and interpretation efforts. “Now that the […]

(Beyond Pesticides, April 29, 2009) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced earlier this month that it is finally ready to move forward with preliminary testing of 67 active and inert pesticide ingredients for possible endocrine disrupting effects. But, according to prominent researcher and author Theo Colborn, PhD, these tests are outdated, insensitive, crude, and narrowly limited, and will fail to detect many serious effects on human development. In an eye-opening opinion-editorial published in Environmental Health News, Dr. Colborn, founder and president of The Endocrine Disruption Exchange, and Co-author of Stolen Future, says that EPA’s testing protocol is “a pitiful skeleton” of what it needs to be. The tests to be used by EPA were first recommended in 1998. Since then the science has made progress and become more sophisticated. Current research is based on different assumptions than the toxicological assumptions that first drove the EPA test designs. However, EPA has not updated its protocol. Each of EPA’s tests and assays was designed under the surveillance of corporate lawyers who had bottom lines to protect and assorted toxicologists who were not trained in endocrinology and developmental biology. For over a decade, EPA ignored the vast wealth of information on endocrine […]

(Beyond Pesticides, April 22, 2009) The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) released its “Top Pesticide Blunders” report to remind the public to avoid illness and injury by using household cleaning and gardening products that pose the least risk to their health and the environment. The blunders also include situations in which users of toxic products fail to comply with product labels. “Disinfectants, mold and mildew cleaners, weed killers and pool chemicals are just a few of the many over-the-counter pesticide products available for home use,” DPR Director Mary-Ann Warmerdam said. “As people begin their spring cleaning and gardening, they should select products that best target the problem and then follow the label instructions carefully to prevent accidents.” Beyond Pesticides adds that people should consider non-chemical approaches that manage unwanted insects and plants with prevention-oriented practices. Ms. Warmerdam suggests the following precautions to prevent pesticide exposure in and around the home: *Select products that pose the least risk to your health and the environment — do you really need a pesticide for the task? *Never put pesticides in food or drink containers. Keep pesticides in their original containers so they are not mistaken for food or drink. *Store pesticides properly […]

(Beyond Pesticides, April 17, 2009) Thirteen years after the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) ordered EPA to develop a screening process for endocrine disrupting chemicals, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a final list of chemicals to be included in Tier 1 testing for endocrine disrupting effects of pesticides in use. While the list has been reduced from the 73 chemicals announced two years ago, trials will begin this summer to determine human risk from some of the chemicals to which we are most commonly exposed. “Endocrine disruptors can cause lifelong health problems, especially for children,” stated EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. “Gathering this information will help us work with communities and industry to protect Americans from harmful exposure.” EPA’s recent announcement of these chemicals can be found on EPA’s Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP) page. According to EPA, “The Agency deleted 6 chemicals from the draft list of 73 based upon recent information showing that the chemicals are no longer expected to be found in 3 exposure pathways.” To be included on the initial list, EPA established that chemicals need to be found in three of EPA’s four exposure pathways: food, drinking water, residential use, and occupational exposure. Azinphos-methyl […]