(Beyond Pesticides, July 25, 2008) San Francisco, California —  On July 24, 2008,  a broad coalition of farmworker, public health, and environmental groups filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to stop the continued use of a hazardous pesticide called endosulfan. The coalition is demanding action from EPA to protect children, farmworkers, and endangered species. Endosulfan is an organochlorine, part of the same family of chemicals as DDT, which EPA banned in 1972. Like other organochlorine pesticides, endosulfan is persistent in the environment and poisons humans and wildlife both in agricultural areas and in regions far from where it was applied. “This dangerous and antiquated pesticide should have been off the market years ago,” said Karl Tupper, a staff scientist with Pesticide Action Network. “The fact that EPA is still allowing the use of a chemical this harmful shows just how broken our regulatory system is.” Acute poisoning from endosulfan can cause headaches, nausea, vomiting, convulsions, and in extreme cases, unconsciousness and even death. Studies have linked endosulfan to smaller testicles, lower sperm production, and an increase in the risk of miscarriages. One glaring omission in the EPA’s decision is its failure to consider risks to children. A […]

(Beyond Pesticides, July 24, 2008) Although the text of the Department of Labor’s proposal on workplace safety standards has not been made public, the Washington Post reports that the proposal will likely weaken an already inadequate risk assessment process, thus putting workers at an even greater risk of health effects from toxic chemical exposure. This proposal follows on the heels of news that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recently lowered its value of a human life, which will make it easier to avoid environmental regulations. Peg Seminario, director of health and safety policy at the AFL-CIO, accused the Department of Labor of secrecy and said, “They are trying to essentially change the job safety and health laws and reduce required workplace protections through a midnight regulation.” According to the Post, changing the risk assessment process for workplace safety has become the priority for the Department of Labor. Undoubtedly, this prioritization came under pressure from industries, which claim that the risk assessment process overestimates worker risk. However, risk assessments, like those that the EPA employs in regulating pesticides, already allow for a 10-fold increase in risk of health effects for workers than they do for the general public. Risk assessments […]

(Beyond Pesticides, July 21, 2008) Advocacy groups are encouraging California’s Senators to support Assemblywoman Fiona Ma’s bill (AB 977) that returns the ability to restrict pesticides to local jurisdictions. Currently, California and 40 other states have pesticide “preemption” laws that deny local authorities the right to pass pesticide restrictions that are more stringent than the state’s laws. Preemption laws are a result of intensive lobbying by the agrichemical industry, and groups in California and across the country believe the time has come to take back the democratic right for localities to adopt restrictions to protect environmental and public health. This authority enables local jurisdictions to respond to exposure scenarios that are not addressed by state law and address unique contamination or poisoning situations. California’s preemption law, passed in 1984, was the first of its kind in the nation and explicitly states that no local government “may prohibit or in any way attempt to regulate any matter relating to the registration, sale, transportation, or use of pesticides.” The state law nullified the first attempt at local pesticide regulation, which was a 1979 Mendocino County prohibition on aerial herbicide spraying that arose from an incident in which herbicide drifted almost three miles […]

(Beyond Pesticides, July 14, 2008) According to calculations by the Associated Press (AP), the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) “value of a statistical life” is $6.9 million in today’s dollars, a drop of nearly $1 million from just five years ago. The AP discovered the change after a review of cost-benefit analyses over more than a dozen years.According to the federal government, the statistical value of a human life is calculated in the following manner. Suppose a new pesticide regulation reduces the annual risk of dying from cancer by 0.00001. In a population of 100 million, the regulation is expected, in a statistical sense, to result in 1000 fewer deaths from that cancer risk each year. If each person in that population of 1 million is willing to pay 7 cents a year for the reduction in mortality risks, $7 million is said to be the value of a statistical life (VSL). While the $1 million devaluation of a statistical human life may seem like just another bureaucratic recalculation, it has serious consequences. The AP proposes the following example: a hypothetical regulation that costs $18 billion to enforce but will prevent 2,500 deaths. At $7.8 million per person (the old figure), […]

(Beyond Pesticides, July 11, 2008) According to an internal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) memorandum, a Supreme Court decision is undermining the agency’s ability to enforce the Clean Water Act (CWA). Two House Committee Chairmen have sent a letter to EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson for more information regarding EPA’s enforcement efforts in the wake of the 2006 decision Rapanos et ux., et al. v. United States. The Rapanos decision was split 4-1-4 over the question of Federal protections for waters of the United States, including wetlands, under the Clean Water Act. In the letter, Chairman James L. Oberstar of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and Chairman Henry A. Waxman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, explain that information has come to them indicating that enforcement of key clean water programs is faltering. The memo, obtained by Greenpeace and released by the Congressmen, was sent by EPA Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Granta Y. Nakayama and cites enforcement problems created by the Rapanos case and the subsequent guidance. In the memorandum, Mr. Nakayama states, “Data collected from the regions shows that a significant portion of the CWA docket has been adversely affected.” The letter from Congressmen Waxman […]

(Beyond Pesticides, July 8, 2008) In comments filed July 7, 2008 with the Environmental Protection Agency on its new risk assessment and evaluation of the widely used anti-bacterial chemical triclosan, found in a wide range of products including soaps, toothpastes and personal care products, plastics, paints and clothing, public interest health and environmental groups point to health effects, environmental contamination and wildlife impacts and call for consumer uses to be halted. The comments, submitted by Beyond Pesticides, Food and Water Watch, Greenpeace US, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club and dozens of public health and environmental groups from the U.S. and Canada, urge the agency to use its authority to cancel the non-medical uses of the antibacterial chemical triclosan, widely found in consumer products and shown to threaten health and the environment. Triclosan and its degradation products bioaccumulate in humans, are widely found in the nations waterways, fish and other aquatic organisms, and because of triclosan’s proliferating uses, are linked to bacterial resistance, rendering triclosan and antibiotics ineffective for critical medical uses. The chemical and its degradates are also linked to endocrine disruption, cancer and dermal sensitization. “The nonmedical uses of triclosan are frivolous and dangerous, creating serious direct health […]

(Beyond Pesticides, June 30, 2008) The European Union’s (EU) agricultural ministers have agreed to revise pesticide restrictions across the 27-member state. The draft proposals ban pesticides that are known to cause cancer, endocrine disruption, or reproductive harm in humans, affecting up to 15 percent of currently used products. However, in “exceptional cases, when available products do not offer sufficiently effective plant protection, other hazardous substances may be used, but only under strictly regulated conditions.” The agreement’s next step is parliamentary approval, where lawmakers could make the final rule even stricter.The proposal would push farmers and chemical companies to replace the most toxic products with alternatives, remove provisional licenses for pesticides not yet registered with the EU, restrict the use of crop-dusters, and ban pesticides near sensitive areas.“One of the main aims of the proposal is to maintain a high level of protection for humans, animals and the environment. This is essential for our citizens,” said EU Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou, who advocated for this ban in May. “We will not authorize what is known to be harmful for public health.” Hungary, the Irish Republic, Romania, and the UK abstained from voting, citing risk of crop yields and lack of research […]

(Beyond Pesticides, June 19, 2008) Rockland County, NY legislators passed a bill on June 17, 2008 to eliminate the use of toxic pesticides on all county-owned or leased land. Rose Marie Raccioppi, the community organizer behind the bill, is a member of Beyond Pesticides, the National Pesticide-Free Lawn Coalition, and Orangetown’s Environmental Committee. She brought her concerns about pesticide exposure to the Rockland County Legislature last year, and advocated strongly for the passage of the Rockland County Non-Toxic Landscape Maintenance Act. “This is the beginning of what is hoped to be a continuing campaign,” Ms. Raccioppi said. “We hope it moves from county to towns to school districts and eventually, the consciousness of the individual homeowner.” As the law currently stands in New York, and most other states, municipalities may not pass legislation regulating the use of pesticides on private land and buildings, reserving governance of such matters to the state government. However, towns and counties throughout the U.S. (See Daily News of April 15, May 12, May 13, and June 16, 2008) are passing regulations restricting the use of pesticides on publicly-owned land. For a list of these local policies, please visit Beyond Pesticides’ Tools for Change site. The […]

(Beyond Pesticides, June 16, 2008) Due to concerns of children being exposed to pesticides on the town’s fields, Rockport, Maine has adopted a new pest management policy that prohibits the use of toxic pesticides on town-owned property, according to the Knox County Times Reporter. The Rockport select board passed the policy unanimously. The policy mirrors that of Camden with a few slight changes concerning the pest management advisory committee. Alex Arau, the board member who introduced the policy, became concerned after realizing that pesticides were sprayed on the towns’ fields where children played in the grass and dirt. Steve McAllister, Rockport commission member, told the Knox County Times Reporter, “Sixteen years ago, the conservation commission asked the selectmen not to use [chemicals]. We were assured that it was OK and told it was more important to rid the town of dandelions than worry about chemicals.” “Times have changed and it is time for us to look at how we manage our fields differently,” Mr. Arau told the paper. The growth of the pesticide-free zone movement around the country and the passage of pesticide-free public land policies are very promising. Most recently, the General Services Administration has begun implementing an organic […]

(Beyond Pesticides, June 11, 2008) The House of Representatives has passed legislation that will provide nearly $7 billion in grants to help K-12 schools go green. Entitled, “21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act” (H.R. 3021), the bill, sponsored by Rep. Ben Chandler (D-KY), will help schools to become more energy efficient and healthier. There is a special emphasis on low-income schools where children are most at risk from unhealthy facilities and on schools that still suffer from the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. The legislation passed by the House on June 4, will allow the Secretary of Education to distribute funds to K-12 school districts according to a need-based formula, to make them more energy efficient, healthy, and high performing. Funding can also be used for asbestos removal services, energy efficiency improvements, lead abatements, and technology upgrades. The bill will also help school districts, which are struggling to make essential improvements, to create better school facilities and save significant amounts of energy and help to reduce greenhouse gases. Thirty-nine percent of greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings, and each green and energy efficient school will lead to annual emission reductions of 585,000 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) — the […]

(Beyond Pesticides, June 4, 2008) On May 29, 2008, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its final risk mitigation decision for ten rodenticides, which outlines new measures it says will help protect children and the public from accidental poisonings as well as to decrease exposures to pets and wildlife from rodent-control products. However, because the decision omits key uses, allows continued applicator use of dangerous formulations, and recognizes a lack of product efficacy without a fully integrated program (yet does not require it on the label), environmentalists feel the final risk mitigation decision falls short of adequately protecting the health of people, wildlife and the environment.EPA is requiring that ten rodenticides used in bait products marketed to consumers be enclosed in bait stations, making the pesticide inaccessible to children and pets, and is also prohibiting the sale of loose bait, such as pellets, for use in homes. These ten rodenticides are: ”¢ Brodifacoum ”¢ Bromadiolone ”¢ Bromethalin ”¢ Chlorophacinone ”¢ Cholecalciferol ”¢ Difenacoum ”¢ Difethialone ”¢ Diphacinone ”¢ Warfarin ”¢ Zinc phosphide Exposure to children is also a major concern for these chemicals. According to the 2006 Annual Report of the American Association Poison Control Centers’ National Poison Data […]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 29, 2008) A study published in the May issue of Environmental Health Perspectives shows a link between prenatal exposure to the pesticide DDT and poor attention-related skills in early infancy. This study follows in a long line of recent studies associated with the negative health effects of DDT including: diabetes; non-Hodgkin lymphoma; breast cancer; and autism. Despite the fact that DDT was banned in the U.S. in 1972, concentrations of this toxic chemical’s major metabolite, DDE, have remained alarmingly high in many ecosystems, including the waters of Los Angeles County, the arctic, and even U.S. national parks. All studies documenting the health effects of DDT and chemicals in the same family, organochlorines, are particularly important not just for understanding the lingering effects of DDT from days past, but because many countries continue to employ DDT as a method in controlling mosquitoes that transmit malaria, despite its toxicity, weakening efficacy, and availability of safer alternatives. Other organochlorines are still registered for use in the U.S.The study looked at 788 mother-infant pairs who met several criteria, which included living in a town adjacent to a Superfund site in New Bedford, Massachusetts, a location with known organochlorine contamination. Cord blood […]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 23, 2008) In the midst of dramatically declining bee populations, the German Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVD) has suspended the approval of eight toxic insecticides believed to be responsible for the fate of these important pollinators. The suspended products include pesticides containing imidacloprid and clothianidin, the majority of which are produced by Bayer Company and have been suspected for years of contributing to declining bee populations.France banned the use of imidacloprid on corn and sunflowers in 1999, and rejected Bayer’s application for clothianidin this year. Despite the call for prohibition of imidacloprid from German apiarists and environmental groups as early as 2004, a crisis in bee populations–a reported 50-60% loss, finally forced the government to take action. The U.S., where these products are still approved for use, has also been experiencing extremely alarming rates of bee colony collapse, while areas away from cropland have thriving bee populations. Imidacloprid and clothianidin are both neonicotinoids, meaning that they target nerve cells in a similar way to nicotine, acting as neurotoxins to sucking insects such as beetles and aphids. Clothianidin was approved for use in the U.S. in 2003 as a seed treatment for corn and canola, […]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 22, 2008) Before the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) yesterday released its scaled-back annual report on 2007 pesticide use in U.S. agriculture, a coalition of 44 environmental, sustainable farming, and health advocacy organizations, including Beyond Pesticides, called on USDA to reverse its plan to eliminate its pesticide reporting program in 2008. Elimination of USDA’s objective data will open the door wide to serious misinformation on pesticide use, charge the groups. USDA claims it lacks funding to continue the program. “Americans are rightly concerned about the adverse impacts of pesticides on human health and the environment,” said Charles Benbrook, PhD, chief scientist at The Organic Center. “Without USDA’s data, our organizations will be severely hampered in our ability to carry out research on the impacts of pesticides and offer informed input on decision-making regarding pesticide use and pest management systems in American agriculture.” Dr. Benbrook, former executive director of the Board on Agriculture of the National Academy of Sciences, has used USDA’s pesticide data extensively in his work for many years. “We strongly oppose this move by USDA to cut the legs off its publicly available database. Denying the public and regulatory agencies this critical information is bad […]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 21, 2008) Top European Union (EU) official, Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou, called on European governments to adopt tougher guidelines on pesticides and to ban the use of all potentially dangerous pesticides that can cause cancer, reproductive effects and hormone disruption.The Health Commissioner urged agriculture ministers of member states not to ”˜water down’ recommendations in the two-year-old draft plan to introduce tougher guidelines on the use of pesticides. The plan, which needs approval by EU governments and the European Parliament, aims to tighten rules for authorizing new pesticides that come on to the EU market. It would also include mandatory recordkeeping by farmers, restrict the use of crop-dusters, force pesticide makers to reduce animal testing of their products, and stop the use of pesticides in sensitive areas near nature reserves and parks. “The key aim of the proposal is to protect the health of citizens and the environment, we must not lose sight of this,” Mr. Vassiliou told the ministers. Commissioner Vassiliou also stressed that pesticides that are toxic to reproductive systems, that disrupt hormones and those that cause cancer, should no longer be used to spray crops because of the risks to human and environmental health. Statistics […]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 20, 2008) On May 19, 2008, scientists, Arctic tribal governments and Indigenous groups and environmental health advocates sent letters calling on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to phase out the organochlorine pesticide endosulfan.“It is time to take this dangerous and antiquated pesticide off the market,” says Jennifer Sass, Ph.D., a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council. “The scientific evidence clearly shows that the continued use of this chemical puts the health of exposed farmworkers, communities and the environment at risk.” Dr. Sass is one of over 55 international scientists, medical doctors, nurses, and other health professionals urging EPA to take action on endosulfan in a letter to Administrator Stephen Johnson. Prominent scientists endorsing the letter include Philip Landrigan, M.D., M.Sc., a pediatrician and Director of the Center for Children’s Health and the Environment at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Ronald Herberman, M.D. and Devra Davis, Ph.D., M.P.H., researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. Used in the U.S. on tomatoes, cotton and other crops, endosulfan harms the hormone system, and low levels of exposure in the womb have been linked to male reproductive harm, other birth defects and possibly autism. Acute poisoning […]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 16, 2008) Pressured by environmental organizations to protect children’s health and water quality in the Great Lakes, the Michigan House of Representatives has approved restrictions on the use of lindane, a toxic organochlorine pesticide used as a prescription drug to treat lice and scabies.  Under the legislation (HB 4569), the use of lindane  would be  prohibited except “under the supervision of a physician in his or her office if the physician considers the use of that product necessary for the treatment of a patient’s lice or scabies.” The Michigan Senate has not yet voted on the bill. Lindane has long been known for its neurotoxic properties, causing seizures, damage to the nervous system, and weakening of the immune system. It is also a probable carcinogen and endocrine disruptor. When used on people, lindane is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Despite the fact that it has been banned in 52 countries and restricted in over 30 more, FDA continues to allow its use in the U.S., albeit with a Public Health Advisory issued in 2003 that states, “Lindane should be used with caution in infants, children, the elderly, patients with skin conditions, and patients with […]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 15, 2008) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a plan to distribute pesticide labels electronically, in lieu of a traditional product labeling with use instructions, raising further safety concerns about consumer product choice and label compliance from public health and environmental advocates. The program, which is currently under development, will be an agenda item at the May 21-22 meeting of the Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee (PPDC) in Arlington, VA. “Benefits from using this system will include faster access to new pesticide uses, quicker implementation of protective measures for public health and the environment, improved compliance with label directions, and lower costs for industry and EPA,” the agency said May 12 in a statement on its pesticides website. The system will rely on users to contact either the pesticide labeling website or a toll-free telephone number to obtain the detailed-use instructions that previously were attached to pesticide containers, EPA said. The program is being discussed by EPA and “stakeholders, generally those that have approached the Agency.” EPA said it would develop a pilot program for the system in 2009. The PPDC, which will be presenting next week, comprises industrial, regulatory, and consumer members who provide feedback to […]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 12, 2008) Town officials in Camden, Maine passed a new policy that eliminates toxic pesticides from being applied to municipal parks and fields thanks to the grassroots efforts spearheaded by Citizens for a Green Camden. According to the Knox County Times Reporter, an advisory committee of citizens and town and school employees that are knowledgeable about organic pest management will oversee the policy’s implementation. The director of Camden’s Parks and Recreation Department, Jeff Kuller, stated that they will now look to mechanical methods and the use of vinegar to manage weeds on several of the town’s athletic fields.The policy states, “All pesticides are toxic to some degree and the widespread use of pesticides is both a major environmental problem and a public health issue. Federal regulation of pesticides is no guarantee of safety. Camden recognizes that the use of pesticides may have profound effects upon indigenous plants, surface water and ground water, as well as unintended effects upon people, birds and other animals in the vicinity of treated areas. Camden recognizes that all citizens, particularly children, have a right to protection from exposure to hazardous chemicals and pesticides.” The policy goes on to state, “Camden supports the […]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 2, 2008) The International Center for Technology Assessment (CTA) and a coalition of consumer, health, and environmental groups, including Beyond Pesticides, yesterday filed a legal petition with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), demanding the agency use its pesticide regulation authority to stop the sale of  250+ consumer products now using nanosized versions of silver. The legal action is the first challenge to EPA’s failure to regulate nanomaterials. Increasingly, manufacturers are infusing a large and diverse number of consumer products with nanoparticle silver (“nanosilver”) for its enhanced “germ killing” abilities. Nanosilver is now the most common commercialized nanomaterial. CTA found over 260 nanosilver products currently on the market, ranging from household appliances and cleaners to clothing, cutlery, and children’s toys to personal care products and coated electronics. Yet as the legal petition addresses, the release of this unique substance may be highly destructive to natural environments and raises serious human health concerns. Last summer, a coalition of 40 organization called for much more comprehensive evaluation and regulation of nanomaterials, citing these concerns. “These nanosilver products now being illegally sold are pesticides,” said George Kimbrell, CTA nanotech staff attorney. “Nanosilver is leaching into the environment, where it will have […]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 1, 2008) In testimony responsive to a request last year by Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Hillary Clinton (D-NY), the Government Accountability Office (GAO) told the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on April 29 that EPA’s risk review process is plagued by delays, a lack of transparency, and interference from the White House and other agencies. In short, GAO concluded that the agency’s science is politicized, outdated, secret, and threatens the protection of people and the environment from harmful chemical exposures. In its testimony, GAO’s director of Natural Resources and Environment, John Stephenson, urged Congress to suspend EPA plans for reform, which GAO believes would institutionalize bad science, and require the agency to adopt its recommendations. The testimony comes on the heels of an April 10, 2008 EPA decision, effective immediately, to revise its Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS). The program was severely criticized by GAO in a March 2008 report, Chemical Assessments: Low Productivity and New Interagency Review Process Limit the Usefulness and Credibility of EPA’s Integrated Risk Information System (GAO-08-440). While EPA said it would consider the report’s recommendations, GAO said in its testimony this week, Toxic Chemicals: EPA’s New Assessment Process Will […]

(Beyond Pesticides, April 25, 2008)  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 5 this week issued a “stop sale, use or removal” order against Scotts Miracle Gro Co. and three affiliates, all of Marysville, Ohio, for illegal, unregistered and misbranded weed and fertilizer products with a cancer causing and endocrine disrupting pesticide ingredient. EPA will also issue a stop sale order to Scotts Lawn Care Service.Scotts has agreed to recall two products from all retail locations across the United States and to set up a process for consumers to safely return any unregistered products they may have purchased. EPA ordered the companies, collectively an international producer and distributor of lawn care products, to immediately stop selling and distributing the products which can be identified by the invalid “EPA registration number” listed on the package. Invalid registration number 62355-4 is marketed under names including “Garden Weed Preventer + Plant Food” and “Miracle Gro Shake ‘n’ Feed All Purpose Plant Food Plus Weed Preventer.” The active ingredient of this product is trifluralin, an herbicide that is a possible carcinogen and probable endocrine disruptor, among its health effects. Invalid registration number 538-304 is used primarily by Scotts Lawn Service, a lawn care company. It […]

(Beyond Pesticides, April 24, 2008) An investigation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released yesterday finds that 889 of nearly 1,600 staff scientists reported that they experienced political interference in their work over the last five years. The report, Interference at EPA: Science and Policies at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), sparked the setting up of a May congressional oversight hearing on the issue.The study follows previous UCS investigations of the Food and Drug Administration, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and climate scientists at seven federal agencies, which also found significant administration manipulation of federal science. “Our investigation found an agency in crisis,” said Francesca Grifo, director of UCS’s Scientific Integrity Program. “Nearly 900 EPA scientists reported political interference in their scientific work. That’s 900 too many. Distorting science to accommodate a narrow political agenda threatens our environment, our health, and our democracy itself.” The UCS report comes amidst a flurry of controversial activity swirling around the EPA. Congress is currently investigating administration interference in a new chemical toxicity review process as well as California’s request to regulate tailpipe emissions. And in early May, the House Oversight and Government […]