(Beyond Pesticides, August 14, 2007) In an August 8, 2007 Federal Register Notice (72 FR 44510-44511), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its decision to not initiate a Special Review for the commonly used herbicide 2,4-D, as well as the related herbicides 2,4-DB and 2,4-DP (dichlorprop). Despite evidence to the contrary, according to the FR notice, “Based on extensive scientific review of many epidemiology and animal studies, EPA find that the weight of the evidence does not support a conclusion that 2,4-D, 2,4-DB and 2,4-DP are likely human carcinogens.” Although a mounting body of evidence links 2,4-D to various cancers, particularly non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, EPA has been reluctant to classify it as a carcinogen in the face of industry pressure. EPA lists the herbicide in class D for carcinogenicity. Chemicals in this class are considered to have inadequate evidence for carcinogenicity, or not enough data is available. However, the link between 2,4-D and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma has been demonstrated in the United States, Italy, Canada, Denmark, and Sweden. A 1986 National Cancer Institute (NCI) study found that farmers in Kansas exposed to 2,4-D for 20 or more days per year had a six-fold higher risk of developing non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma than non-farmers. The […]

(Beyond Pesticides, August 8, 2007) For the first time, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a report in July on children’s heightened vulnerability to chemical exposures at different periods of their growth and development. The organization cites over 30% of the global burden of disease in children can be attributed to environmental factors, including pesticides. The report, Principles for Evaluating Health Risks in Children Associated with Exposure to Chemicals, is a new volume of the WHO’s Environmental Health Criteria series. It highlights the fact that for children, the stage of their development when chemical exposure occurs may be just as important as the magnitude of the exposure. In respect to pesticides, the report cites several studies that tie pesticide exposure during key periods of development to neurobehavioral problems, Parkinson’s disease, and immunotoxicity, including respiratory diseases. “Children are not just small adults,” said Dr. Terri Damstra, Ph.D., WHO’s team leader for the Interregional Research Unit, in WHO’s press release. “Children are especially vulnerable and respond differently from adults when exposed to environmental factors, and this response may differ according to the different periods of development they are going through.” Air and water contaminants, pesticides in food, lead in soil, as well […]

(Beyond Pesticides, August 7, 2007) In a study that examines the influence of age of exposure on the magnitude of the association between DDT and breast cancer risk finds that women who were exposed to DDT before the age of 14 are five times more likely to develop breast cancer later in life. In contrast, the study finds exposure after adolescence does not increase risk. The data used in the study targets the age of a woman in 1945 as an indicator for the youngest possible age for a woman to be exposed to DDT, since DDT was first introduced to the U.S. for mosquito control in 1945. The researchers, from the Center for Research on Women’s and Children’s Health, Public Health Institute at Berkeley, California and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, analyzed blood that had been collected from women between 1959 and 1967 – years during which the use of DDT was at its highest. “DDT and breast cancer in young women: New data on the significance of age at exposure,” published last week in the online edition of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, is “the first study specifically designed, a priori, to consider whether age at exposure […]

(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 […]

(Beyond Pesticides, July 27, 2007) A new study, published in the British Journal of Nutrition, shows that organic dairy and meat products in a mother’s diet improve the nutritional quality of her breast milk – markedly increasing beneficial fatty acids. Specifically, a diet in which 90% or more of dairy and meat products are organic is correlated with measurably higher levels of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) than in a moderately organic diet or a conventional diet. CLA is a type of fat that is believed to have anti-carcinogenic, atherosclerotic (i.e. ability to prevent hardening of arteries), anti-diabetic and immune-enhancing effects, as well as a favorable influence on body fat composition. For newborns specifically, CLA is believed to especially aid immune system development. “These findings provide scientific support for common sense, by showing that organic foods are healthier,” says Dr. Lukas Rist, Ph.D., who is the lead author of the study and the head of research at the Paracelsus Hospital in Switzerland. The study, “Influence of organic diet on the amount of conjugated linoleic acids in breast milk of lactating women in the Netherlands,” involved 312 breastfeeding women with 1-month old infants from the Netherlands and compared mothers on a strict […]

(Beyond Pesticides, July 16, 2007) In its report released on Father’s Day 2007, “Men, Boys and Environmental Threats,” the Canadian Partnership for Children’s Health and Environment urges greater awareness among parents about environmental risks to boys. “All children are at risk from exposure to environmental hazards, but boys appear to be at greater risk,” said Dr. Lynn Marshall, MD, with the Ontario College of Family Physicians. The report summarizes the evidence about environmental risks to boys, specifically examining cancer, asthma, learning and behavioral disorders, birth defects and testicular dysgenesis syndrome. Below is a summary of the report’s findings. Cancer: Although cancer is rare among all children, more boys are diagnosed with cancer than girls. Among young adults (age 20—44) several cancers are on the rise, including testicular cancer. Concern arises over parents’ exposures before conception or during pregnancy. Childhood cancers are associated with exposures to pesticides, solvents, petroleum products, motor vehicle exhaust, benzene and other pollutants. Much remains unknown. Since cancer involves problems with cell division, it is logical that exposures during times of rapid cell division (especially in the womb) likely pose the greatest risk. Asthma: In the past 20 years there has been a dramatic rise in asthma […]

(Beyond Pesticides, June 12, 2007) More than 10 years after being directed to do so by Congress, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that it will test 73 pesticides for their potential to damage the endocrine system and disrupt the normal functioning of hormones in the body, the agency announced in a press release yesterday. EPA is seeking comments on the draft list of 73 pesticides to be evaluated under the new screening regimen. The 1996 Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) set a 1999 deadline for EPA to develop a battery of assays with which pesticide manufacturers will be required to screen their products as possible endocrine (hormonal) disrupters, similar to tests required to determine whether chemicals cause cancer, birth defects, genetic mutations, or other problems. EPA has repeatedly pushed back the deadline and despite claims to be “a leader in endocrine disruptor research,” EPA has yet to test a single chemical under the protocol. EPA draft list of 73 pesticide ingredients, including both active and inert ingredients, were chosen based on their relatively high potential for human exposure. According to the press release, priority was given “to pesticide active ingredients where there is the potential for human exposure […]

(Beyond Pesticides, June 6, 2007) The results of a recent study indicate that farm workers and persons exposed to high levels of pesticides have an increased risk of developing brain tumors, especially gliomas – a tumor of the nervous system, commonly found in the brain. The study, “Brain tumours and exposure to pesticides: a case-control study in southwestern France,” published online in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, suggests that not only are occupational pesticide exposure risks high, but indoor domestic uses of pesticides also increase the risk of developing brain tumors. Researchers conducted a population base control study with 221 incident cases of brain tumors and 442 individually matched controls selected from a population in Gironde, France between May 1999 and April 2001.The findings show that farm workers were three times more likely to develop gliomas, while persons treating indoor plants were approximately two and a half times more susceptible. However, the study was unable to identify individual pesticides or families of pesticides associated with this health risk. These findings add to the mounting evidence linking pesticide exposure to adverse human health effects. Recent studies have linked pesticide exposure to the increased likelihood of developing Parkinson’s disease. Other health […]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 31, 2007) Adding to the weight of the evidence tying pesticide use to Parkinson’s disease, a study by University of Aberdeen researchers has found that pesticide exposure increases the likelihood of developing the disease. The researchers also found that the risk factor for developing Parkinson’s increases with high levels of pesticide exposure. The European Commission funded study indicates that both pesticides and traumatic head injury play a causative role in Parkinson’s disease. The researchers found that exposure to low levels of pesticides increases the likelihood of being affected by the disease by 1.09 times compared to those with no reported exposure. Those exposed to high levels of pesticides were 1.39 times more likely to develop the disease. The study is one of the largest conducted to date of genetic, environmental and occupational risk factors for Parkinson’s disease and other degenerative parkinsonian syndromes. The researchers identified 959 cases of parkinsonism, 767 of which are diagnosed with Parkinson’s, and 1,989 control cases in Scotland, Italy, Sweden, Romania and Malta. Data on exposure was self-reported by the subjects. The results further compound previous studies suggesting a link between pesticides and Parkinson’s. Several recent findings have also revealed mechanisms that help […]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 22, 2007) In a study published in the latest issue of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, scientists found that seafood products from southern China contain high concentrations of DDT and hexachlorocylohexane (HCH). While banned in China since 1983, humans are being exposed to organochlorine pesticides (OCP) at rates high enough to pose health threats. The study responded to high rates of DDT and HCH found in sediment, water and biota in the Pearl River delta and neighboring coast, where land is being rapidly industrialized, urbanized, and transferred from agriculture to commercial development. Researchers tested 212 seafood products, including shrimp, crabs, and mollusks, from 11 coastal cities for 21 OCPs, including DDT, HCH, heptachlor, dieldrin, and endosulfan. The highest concentrations of DDT were found in four species of shellfish, although concentrations varied widely depending on sampling location. The study reported, “These results suggest that bioaccumulation of DDTs in seafood products was highly species-specific, probably due to different feeding habits and habitats.” By taking a large sample of one indicator species, it also concluded “the coastal region of southern China is probably one of the most DDT-polluted areas in the world.” Researchers also found HCH to be more widely prevalent […]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 15, 2007) According to a study commissioned by Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the Silent Spring Institute, 216 chemicals, many found in urban air and everyday consumer products, cause breast cancer in animal tests. The study, “Environmental Factors in Breast Cancer,” the most comprehensive review to date of scientific research on environmental factors that may increase breast cancer risk, was published in the online version of the American Cancer Society’s journal Cancer on May 14, 2007. The state-of-the-science review collected and assessed existing scientific reports on potential links between specific environmental factors and breast cancer. The researchers synthesized national and international data sources and identified 216 chemicals that cause breast tumors in animals, including ten pesticides. They used the information to create a searchable online database featuring detailed information on the carcinogens. The database, accessible at www.komen.org/environment, is available free of charge. The database includes references to 900 studies, 460 of which are human breast cancer studies that were critically evaluated by the research team. The studies measure breast cancer risk related to body size, physical activity, environmental pollutants, and prospective studies of diet. For each study, bibliographic information, key methods and findings, and a […]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 10, 2007) The risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is significantly increased with substantial exposure to pesticides, regardless of asthma or atopy history, according to findings from a study published in the May issue of the International Journal of Cancer. This study further strengthens the link between exposure to pesticides and cancer and specifically to lymphoma. “Occupational exposure to pesticides and a personal history of atopy have been widely examined as risk factors for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL), a neoplasm arising from cells of the immune system,” writes Claire M. Vajdic, Ph.D., of the University of New South Wales, Australia, and colleagues. “These studies have typically found that exposure to pesticides increases risk of NHL, while asthma, or atopy more generally, has been inconsistently protective.” In an Australian population-based, case-control study, the researchers examined the interaction between occupational pesticide exposure and atopy on the risk of NHL. Included in the study were 694 incident cases and 694 randomly selected controls that were matched to cases by age, sex, and state of residence. Participants completed telephone-administered job-specific questionnaires. Experts used the information collected to determine occupational pesticide exposure. History of atopy (including asthma, hay fever, eczema, and food allergy) was self-reported. […]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 8, 2007) A new study, presented yesterday at the Pediatric Academic Societies’ annual meeting, has found a strong correlation between the month of conception and both likelihood of premature birth and future academic achievement. Researchers found that students conceived in June through August, when statewide pesticide applications are at their highest, clearly scored the lowest on the Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress (ISTEP) examinations. Dr. Paul Winchester, M.D., of the Indiana University School of Medicine, studied over 1.5 million third- through tenth-grade students in Indiana. Dr. Winchester explained the correlation saying, “The fetal brain begins developing soon after conception. The pesticides we use to control pests in fields and our homes and the nitrates we use to fertilize crops and even our lawns are at their highest level in the summer.” The study also monitored levels of pesticide and fertilizer use during the year. He continued, “Exposure to pesticides and nitrates can alter the hormonal milieu of the pregnant mother and the developing fetal brain. While our findings to do not represent absolute proof that pesticides and nitrates contribute to lower ISTEP scores, they strongly support such a hypothesis.” In conjunction with the ISTEP study, the […]

(Beyond Pesticides, April 24, 2007) Three recent studies were presented earlier this month at the Parkinson’s Disease Environmental Research meeting in California strengthening the theory that pesticides increase risk of the disease. The studies clarify how pesticide exposure can lead to the development of Parkinson’s. Two pesticides named in the studies are paraquat and dieldrin, both of which have been linked to Parkinson’s in the past. The three new studies, however, combine information from human and animal studies to show how exposure can lead to onset of the disease. As William Langston, M.D., founder of the Parkinson’s Institute, told Reuters, “All of these pieces really look like they are coming together now.” The first study examined a cohort of 80,000 licensed private pesticide applicators and spouses. Researchers found farm workers exposed to paraquat had twice the expected risk of Parkinson’s. The second and third studies address a protein called alpha-synuclein. The second study shows the protein builds up in rodents exposed to paraquat. The third study connects this protein to Parkinson’s by finding that the protein kills the dopamine-producing brain cells affected by the disease. One common difficulty in tracking pesticide-induced diseases is the amount of time that passes between […]

(Beyond Pesticides, April 12, 2007) A new study has found the proportion of boys born over the past three decades has unexpectedly dropped in both the United States and Japan. In all, more than a quarter of a million boys are missing, compared to what would have been expected had the sex ratio existing in 1970 remained unchanged. The study’s authors hypothesize that the skewed sex ratio may be linked to prenatal exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals such as pesticides. Although the researchers do not know why boys are taking a hit, they suspect contributing causes could include widespread exposure to hormone-mimicking pollutants by women during pregnancy and by men before they conceive children. “We hypothesize that the decline in sex ratio in industrial countries may be due, in part, to prenatal exposure to metalloestrogens and other endocrine disrupting chemicals,” the authors note in the study, published this week in Environmental Health Perspectives, a peer reviewed journal of the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. These endocrine-disrupting chemicals include some pesticides, dioxin and methylmercury, a pollutant from coal-fired power plants and many industrial sources that is commonly found in seafood. The study also flagged a host of other possible factors, […]

(Beyond Pesticides, April 10, 2007) Scientists have reported several environmental estrogens can affect the immune system, promoting allergic diseases such as asthma. Researchers have observed this response using pesticides and other environmental contaminants. Focusing on six environmental estrogens (xenoestrogens), researchers were able to reveal how these contaminants affect the immune system. Using doses representative of present human exposures, these estrogen-mimics were tested on human and mouse cells. The observed effect of exposure was both an increase in speed and intensity of immune reactions. Three of the environmental estrogens tested were organochlorine pesticides or metabolites: endosulfan, dieldrin and DDE (DDT metabolite). The other contaminants included nonylphenol, a by-product of plastics manufacturing, and two PCBs. The study reveals that the accelerated and increased level of degranulation of mast cells is the mechanism that causes more severe allergic reactions than would otherwise take place. According to Environmental Health News, mast cells play a vital role in allergic reactions because they are primed by past experience with allergens to release inflammatory agents into the body, which causes an allergic reaction. If the mast cell has been primed to react to a specific allergen, it will degranulate, releasing molecules such as histamine. The more intense […]

(Beyond Pesticides, March 29, 2007) While it seems to allergy-sufferers that symptoms get worse year after year, most figure it’s all in our heads. However, research by Lewis Ziska, Ph.D., a plant physiologist with the USDA Agricultural Research Service’s Crop Systems and Global Change Lab and speaker at the upcoming National Pesticide Forum, shows that common pollen allergens – including the troublesome ragweed pollen – may be getting worse as a result of global climate change. The conventional response to unwanted plants is increased pesticide use, which raises concerns among environmental and public health advocates. According to Dr. Ziska’s research, elevated levels of carbon dioxide (CO2), the top greenhouse gas, and warmer temperatures appear to increase ragweed pollen production. Dr. Ziska’s research uses sealed growth chamber systems to simulate current levels of CO2 (370 parts per million by volume, ppmv) and that projected for the mid-21st century (600 ppmv). The ragweed increased pollen productivity by 131 and 3200% respectively, compared to ragweed grown at pre-industrial CO2 levels (280 ppmv). A recent two-year real-world observational study of ragweed also found that urbanization-induced increases in CO2 and temperature were associated with increased ragweed growth, pollen production and pollen allergenicity, suggesting a probable […]

(Beyond Pesticides, March 26, 2007) A new study finds exposure of pregnant women to agricultural pesticides during the first trimester may increase the risk of gestational diabetes. The over twofold increase in risk is associated with some of the most commonly used agricultural pesticides. The study, published in the March issue of Diabetes Care, used a study group comprised of wives of licensed pesticide applicators. Self-reported pesticide-related activities during the first trimester of the most recent pregnancy were analyzed for 11,273 women. Of this group, 506 women reported having gestational diabetes. Agricultural pesticide exposure during pregnancy, such as mixing or applying pesticides or repairing pesticide application equipment, resulted in an odds ratio of 2.2 [95% CI 1.5-3.3] for reporting gestational diabetes — in other words, the women were 2.2 times more likely to develop the disease. No association was found between residential pesticide exposure during pregnancy and gestational diabetes, but it should be noted that the study group is not necessarily representative of urban/suburban populations. The increased risk of developing gestational diabetes was associated with the frequent use of 2,4,5-T, 2,4,5-TP, atrazine, butylate, diazinon, phorate and carbofuran. The data for this study was collected through the Agricultural Health Study (AHS), […]

(Beyond Pesticides, March 23, 2007) Using advanced risk assessment techniques, researchers have shown pesticide usage in the Salinas Valley, California, exposes pregnant women to pesticides through air, water, and soil. The study tracks how agricultural pesticides can travel from the field into the body. A team of scientists investigating whether there is a correlation between the high levels of pesticides in pregnant women in the Salinas Valley and the high pesticide usage in the surrounding farmland has discovered important pathways of exposure that greatly inform traditional risk assessment. At first, applying a simple statistical model suggested no direct correlation, but upon applying advanced modeling techniques that combine multiple fate and exposure models with biomonitoring data they found that the study population of 600 Latina women have a significantly higher intake of organophosphorus (OP) pesticides from exposure to the surrounding air, water, and soil, but not food. The study, part of a larger study on women and children’s environmental health called the Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas (CHAMACOS) project, is conducted by Thomas McKone, Ph.D., and his colleagues at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California, Berkeley. Results are published in Environmental Science […]

(Beyond Pesticides, March 12, 2007) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Stephen Johnson appeared before the Environmental and Hazardous Materials and Energy and Air Quality Subcommittees of the House Energy and Commerce Committee on March 8, 2007 to discuss the EPA’s Budget for the first time in his six-year tenure as Administrator. Representative Hilda Solis (D-CA) pressed the Administrator for answers related to EPA’s Performance Track Program, the closure of EPA libraries, changes made to the Toxic Release Inventory, closure of Region 10’s Office of Environmental Justice, failure to implement the Executive Order 12898 on Environmental Justice (EJ), and the overall budget for environmental justice. According to Rep. Solis, three Monsanto facilities are members of the Performance Track Program, despite the fact that their parent company paid one million dollars in fines to the Department of Justice last year after being criminally indicted in 2005. Eligibility of the program requires that a company not be convicted of any environmental fines within the past five years. When asked why the three Monsanto facilities were members, Mr. Johnson deferred to staff from EPA to comment, at which time Rep. Solis was told they must review the documents and respond at a later date. […]

(Beyond Pesticides, March 9, 2007) New research shows that frogs are more sensitive to hormone-disturbing environmental pollutants than was previously thought. Male tadpoles that swim in water with environmentally relevant levels of such substances become females, according to the study that will be published in the scientific journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (ET&C) in May (See University Press Release). The results may shed light on at least one reason that up to a third of frog species around the world are threatened with extinction, suggests the study. In a laboratory experiment by researchers in Sweden, two species of frogs, the European common frog (Rana temporaria) and the African clawed frog (Xenopus tropicalis), were exposed to levels of oestrogen (estrogen or chemicals mimicking the effect of estrogen) similar to those detected in natural bodies of water in Europe, the United States and Canada.The results were startling: whereas the percentage of females in two control groups was under 50 percent – not unusual among frogs – the sex ratio in the groups of tadpoles who matured in water dosed with different levels of oestrogen were significantly skewed. Even tadpoles exposed to the weakest concentration of the hormone were, in one of the […]

(Beyond Pesticides, February 28, 2007) Residents in the Canadian town of Pickering, Ontario, pleaded with their local government to ban the use of pesticides on public and private lands for cosmetic use with the exception of emergencies, infestations and agricultural uses. Meanwhile, well-known medical, public-health and environmental organizations have been lobbying Ontario officials to institute a provincewide ban on the aesthetic use of pesticides. According to Durham Region News, Ward 1 City Councillor Jennifer O’Connell said she knew the mere mention that pesticides can cause a low sperm count would get Pickering City Council’s attention. At the February 19th meeting, the council unanimously passed the motion to have staff first investigate pesticide ban bylaws in other municipalities and then draft a Pickering bylaw. The draft will be brought back before the summer recess for council’s consideration. The interest to introduce a bylaw to ban pesticides comes from Councillor O’Connell and Ward 3 Councillor David Pickles. Councillor O’Connell provided a presentation at the meeting on the chronic effects of pesticide use. Also supporting the ban, Gideon Forman, executive director of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment said, “There is a great body of science to support that it has […]

(Beyond Pesticides, February 22, 2007) On February 16, 2007, Representatives Hilda Solice (D-CA), Alcee Hastings (D-FL) and Mark Udall (D-CO) and Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and John Kerry (D-MA) introduced the Environmental Justice Act of 2007 to the 110th Congress. The legislation was introduced to protect communities of color and low-income communities from the on-going disproportionate burden of the negative human health and environmental impacts of pollution that they are exposed to. The act was introduced as a way to fully implement the 1994 Executive Order 12898, Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations, an act to ensure that all federal agencies and their programs and rules are protecting our nation’s most vulnerable communities. The bill will require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to fully implement recommendations included in three recent government reports and it will create reporting requirements, including an update on the inclusion of environmental justice in EPA’s emergency command response structure. The reports noted the failure of EPA to ensure that its policies, rules and regulations protect environmental justice communities. In 2004, the EPA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that the agency has not fully implemented the Executive Order nor has […]