(Beyond Pesticides, December 12, 2008) A new study has found pesticides in surface waters around the United States. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) analyzed water from nine selected rivers, which are used as a source for public water systems and found that low levels of certain xynthetic chemicals remain in public water supplies after being treated in selected community water facilities. “Most of the man-made chemicals assessed in the USGS study are unregulated in drinking water and not required to be monitored or removed,” says Tom Jacobus, General Manager of the Washington Aqueduct. “These findings are not surprising and they will be important in helping regulators and assisting water utility managers arrive at decisions about future water treatment processes.” Scientists tested water samples for about 260 commonly used chemicals, including pesticides, solvents, gasoline hydrocarbons, personal care and household-use products, disinfection by-products, and manufacturing additives. This study did not look at pharmaceuticals or hormones. Low levels of about 130 of the synthetic chemicals are detected in streams and rivers before treatment at the public water facilities (source water). Nearly two-thirds of these chemicals are also detected after treatment. Most of the chemicals found are at levels equivalent to one thimble of […]

(Beyond Pesticides, November 26, 2008) On November 10, two Alaskan environmental groups sued the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) for failing to conduct a proper assessment of the environmental consequences of using herbicides to kill non-native species in Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge and the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. The groups, Alaska Survival and Alaska Community Action on Toxics, allege that FWS sprayed hundreds of gallons of herbicide in the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge and the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge over the past several years. In the complaint to the U.S. District Court of Alaska, the groups say FWS violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by failing to conduct adequate investigations on the environmental impacts of pesticide use and by failing to inform the public of the practice. The lawsuit states, “(Fish and Wildlife) failed to consider the potential harm to aquatic organisms, fish, birds, insects and other non-target species, as well as the potential for adverse effects to humans visiting the area,” and that the “defendants failed to consider the effect of herbicide use on the commercial salmon fishing industry and on subsistence users.” Under NEPA, all federal agencies are required to conduct an Environmental […]

(Beyond Pesticides, November 21, 2008) On November 18, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) released a biological opinion that sets forth a plan for protecting Pacific salmon and steelhead from three toxic organophosphate pesticides. The decision comes after almost a decade of legal wrangling between salmon advocates and the federal government. In the biological opinion, federal wildlife scientists comprehensively reviewed the science regarding the impacts of pesticides on salmon and ultimately concluded that current uses of the insecticides chlorpyrifos, diazinon, and malathion jeopardize the existence of these imperiled fish. The biological opinion prescribes measures necessary to keep these pesticides out of water and to protect salmon populations in Washington, Oregon, California, and Idaho. The new mitigation measures must be implemented within one year. They include: * Prohibiting aerial applications of the three pesticides within 1,000 feet of salmon waters * Prohibiting ground applications of the three pesticides within 500 feet of salmon waters * Requiring a 20 foot non-crop vegetative buffer around salmon waters and ditches that drain into salmon habitat * Prohibiting applications of the three pesticides when wind speeds are greater than or equal to 10 mph “Keeping these pesticides out of the water is a major step […]

(Beyond Pesticides, November 17, 2008) A toxic soup of the most commonly used pesticides frequently detected in nature can adversely affect the environment and decimate amphibian populations even if the concentration of the individual chemicals are within limits considered safe, according to University of Pittsburgh research published in the online edition of Oecologia. The results of this study build on a nine-year effort to understand potential links between the global decline in amphibians, routine pesticide use, and the possible threat to humans in the future. Amphibians are considered an environmental indicator species because of their unique sensitivity to pollutants. Their demise from pesticide exposure could foreshadow the fate of less sensitive animals, according to study author Dr. Rick Relyea, Ph.D., an associate professor of biological sciences in the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Arts and Sciences. Leopard frogs, in particular, are vulnerable to contamination; once plentiful across North America, their population has declined in recent years as pollution and deforestation has increased. Dr. Relyea exposed gray tree frog and leopard frog tadpoles to small amounts of the ten pesticides that are widely used throughout the world. Dr. Relyea selected five insecticides: carbaryl, chlorpyrifos, diazinon, endosulfan, and malathion; and five herbicides: […]

(Beyond Pesticides, November 5, 2008) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) acknowledged in a recent Federal Register Notice that antimicrobial pesticides in wide use are not adequately tested for their impacts on human health and the environment. Controversy surrounding the impacts of many antimicrobials in the environment has arisen in recent times to due to the prevalence of these chemicals in surface and drinking waters. Antimicrobials are defined by the EPA as “pesticides that are intended to (1) disinfect, sanitize, reduce, or mitigate growth or development of microbiological organisms, or (2) protect inanimate objects from contamination, fouling, or deterioration caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa, algae, or slime.” For this proposal, the EPA is using the term antimicrobials to collectively refer to antimicrobial pesticides, antifoulant coatings and paints, and wood preservatives. The use of the controversial antimicrobial, triclosan, in inanimate objects, such as plastic and textiles, would be covered by these regulations, while those personal care products with the very same ingredient would not, since they fall under Food and Drug Administration authority. In the Federal Register last month, EPA, trying to play catch-up with the science while products continue in larger and larger numbers to incorporate the controversial antimicrobials, issues […]

(Beyond Pesticides, October 27, 2008) Six pesticides that threaten water quality and public health continue to be detected in groundwater samples, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study. Published in the Journal of Environmental Quality, the study evaluates groundwater contaminants from samples taken from over 300 wells across the U.S. Over the years, frequent research has detected pesticides in ground water around the country, including in aquifers used for drinking-water supply. Over the past few decades, the use of some pesticides has been restricted or banned, while new pesticides have been introduced. One goal of the study was to track the retention of various types of contaminants that would be found in the different pesticides used over the years. Original samples were taken from the wells from 1993-1995, and compared with samples taken from 2001-2003. Laboratory analysis was performed using methods that allowed detection of pesticide compounds at concentrations as small as 1,000 times below U.S. EPA drinking-water standards. Of the 80 compounds studied, six were detected in ground water from at least 10 wells during both of those sample periods. The six pesticide compounds detected are the triazine herbicides atrazine, simazine, and prometon; the acetanilide herbicide metolachlor; […]

(Beyond Pesticides, October 17, 2008) A study published in the September 15 issue of Environmental Science & Technology has found pyrethroid contamination in 100 percent of urban streams sampled. Synthetic Pyrethroids are one of the most widely used consumer pesticides, but recently they have been scrutinized for their resultant health and environmental effects. California is currently reevaluating certain pyrethroid-containing pesticides as a result of increasingly conclusive research. Entitled “Statewide Investigation of the Role of Pyrethroid Pesticides in Sediment Toxicity in California’s Urban Waterways,” the research included California’s most urbanized regions, as well as the less developed North Coast and Lake Tahoe areas. Thirty creeks in eight regions were selected from 90 screened sites, and bioassays were conducted at two temperatures, 23 and 15 degrees Celsius. Researchers found 25 samples to be toxic at the higher temperature and all 30 at the lower, which is where pyrethroids are more toxic. “Bifenthrin was the pyrethroid of greatest toxicological concern, occurring in all 30 samples,” wrote the team, and the Los Angeles, Central Valley, and San Diego regions showed the most severe contamination. The sampling included analysis for 8 pyrethroids, 30 organochlorine pesticides, and piperonyl butoxide, which helps to make pyrethroids toxic at […]

(Beyond Pesticides, October 6, 2008) University of Pittsburgh researchers have found that the commonly used insecticide malathion can decimate tadpole populations by altering their food chain. The study, published in the October 1 edition of Ecological Applications, finds that gradual amounts of malathion that were too small to directly kill developing leopard frog tadpoles instead sparked a biological chain of events that deprived them of their primary food source. As a result, nearly half the tadpoles in the experiment did not reach maturity and would have died in nature. The results build on a nine-year effort to investigate whether there is a link between pesticides and the global decline in amphibians, which are considered an environmental indicator species because of their sensitivity to pollutants. According to the researchers, their deaths may foreshadow the poisoning of other less environmentally-sensitivespecies, including humans. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), malathion is the most commonly used insecticide in U.S. agriculture and the third most commonly used insecticide in the U.S. home and garden sector. It has been detected in the wetlands where frogs and other amphibians live. The researchers created simulated ponds from 300-gallon outdoor tanks containing wood frog and leopard frog […]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 24, 2008) Pesticides used on peach orchards over 50 years ago have been detected in the groundwater of three North Carolina counties. Tests have detected 117 tainted wells in Montgomery, Richmond and Moore counties in the past year, 77 of those at unsafe levels. Public Health officials are scrambling to deliver safe water to those whose wells have been contaminated. However, the number of contaminated wells is forecasted to increase as more residents opt to have their groundwater tested, as the news of tainted wells continues to spread. Many residents are also wondering how they have been impacted as a result of their exposure to the tainted water. Local officials are also worried over how far and wide the contamination has spread. Contamination levels as high as 55 times the federal safe drinking-water standard have been detected. Households where concentrations are highest have been told not to drink or cook with their well water, and limit showers to 10 minutes. Peach orchards now grow on a modest 1,350 acres in North Carolina, but production in 1941 was 12 times greater. The chemicals now detected in groundwater were first used in the 1950s and include ethylene dibromide (EDB) […]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 23, 2008) According to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s 2007 Water Quality Monitoring Report, released in August 2008, the endocrine disrupting herbicide atrazine is detected in pristine lakes in northern Minnesota far from the agricultural fields where it is applied. Metolachlor, acetochlor and dimethenamid are also frequent contaminants, according to the statewide sampling. The report, which uses data collected by a collaborative program between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, analyzed samples from 55 of the state’s lakes. Atrazine was detected in approximately 87% of the 2007 samples, an increase from 2006. The presence of atrazine in such a large percentage of the lakes, many of which are located in non-agricultural areas of northern Minnesota, suggests widespread atmospheric deposition of this chemical (movement through wind and rain). “To some people, it is a bit of a surprise, but the concentrations are low, very low,” Steven Heiskary, a research scientist with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) told the Star Tribune. Unfortunately, this is not very reassuring, given the fact that many of the developmental impacts linked to atrazine are seen at very low levels, sometimes at just […]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 10, 2008) Following the report released by the National Marine Fisheries Service that identified 37 pesticides that pose risks to salmon and steelhead, Oregon state officials are moving ahead to set new safety benchmarks for seven pesticides of priority concern. A team from the Oregon Water Quality Pesticide Management Program identified seven priority hazardous pesticides: azinphos-methyl, chlorpyrifos, dacthal, diazinon, endosulfan, simazine and ethoprop, based on water-quality monitoring in five Oregon watersheds, including the Pudding River near Salem, as well as the Clackamas, Yamhill, Hood and Walla Walla watersheds. Three pesticides, azinphos-methyl, diazinon and chlorpyrifos have been detected at concentrations that exceed federal aquatic criteria in the Clackamas River Basin (See report here). Chlorpyrifos was detected at maximum levels more than twice the federal standard. The National Marine Fisheries Service report on the ecological damage associated with pesticide use reveals “overwhelming evidence” to suggest that 37 pesticides, including these seven, increase the chance of extinction for protected salmon and steelhead. The state is now turning to its own team of experts to set stringent benchmarks based on existing research on these chemicals of concern. Generally the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is charged with developing water quality standards […]

(Beyond Pesticides, August 14, 2008) The first report released by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) as a result of a lawsuit (NCAP et al. v. NMFS, No. 07-1791 RSL) settlement reveal “overwhelming evidence” to suggest that the pesticides chlorpyrifos, malathion, and diazinon increase the chance of extinction for protected salmon and steelhead. The report on the three pesticides and their effects on threatened fish is the first in what is expected to be a four year review process of 37 pesticides. “These are pesticides that EPA [the Environmental Protection Agency] has swept under the rug for years. These are three that stood out as the nastiest of the (pesticides) that are still in widespread use,” said Joshua Osborne-Klein, an attorney for Earthjustice who represented the plaintiff, Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP). The 377-page report is clear in its conclusion that current use patterns of these three toxic pesticides threaten the salmon and steelhead protected by the Endangered Species Act, but it does not delineate the next steps to reduce the risk. A report on mitigation measures, which could include restrictions or bans, is expected in the next few months. The timing of the report coincides with other […]

(Beyond Pesticides, August 6, 2008) On July 30, 2008, a coalition of fishing and environmental groups settled a lawsuit (NCAP et al. v. NMFS, No. 07-1791 RSL) that requires an impact analysis of 37 pesticides on protected salmon and steelhead in the Pacific Northwest and California. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the federal agency charged with protecting threatened and endangered salmon and steelhead, agreed to the settlement, which requires the design and adoption of permanent measures to help pesticide users minimize the harmful effects of those pesticides. The lawsuit, filed last year in the U.S. District Court in Seattle, petitioned the court to order the NMFS to uphold a five-year-old rule that directs the agency to identify measures needed to protect salmon from the pesticides. The petitioners pointed out that NMFS failed to carry out these measures. (See Daily News Blog of November 7, 2007.) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) determined that the 37 toxic pesticides at issue in the settlement may harm protected salmon and steelhead. Most of the pesticides have been detected in major salmon and steelhead rivers in the Pacific Northwest and California. Scientists have found that, even at low levels, toxic pesticides can harm salmon […]

(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, July 3, 2008) The results of a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study   investigating the occurrence of selected pesticides and their degradation products in groundwater shows that these chemicals can persist for years, depending upon the chemical structure of the compounds and the environmental conditions. The study, funded by the USGS National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program and published in the May-June issue of Journal of Environmental Quality, specifically examines several of the factors that can influence the likelihood of pesticides and their degradation products being detected in shallow ground water, including oxidation-reduction (redox) conditions and ground water residence times, at four study sites across the United States. Numerous studies over the past four decades have established that pesticides, which are typically applied at the land surface, can move downward through the unsaturated zone to reach the water table at detectable concentrations. The downward movement of pesticide degradation products, formed in situ, can also contribute to the contamination of ground water.The study reveals that the pesticides and degradation products detected most frequently in shallow ground water samples from all four areas are predominantly from two classes of herbicides””triazines and chloroacetanilides. None of the insecticides or fungicides examined are detected […]

(Beyond Pesticides, June 20, 2008) University of Massachusetts (UMass) researchers have identified certain plants that can absorb excess pesticides from soil and prevent their runoff into adjacent waterways. Golf courses typically use considerable amounts of herbicides and fungicides to maintain perfectly manicured greens, much of which ends up polluting water and harming aquatic organisms. This study found that plants like blue flag iris can act as “living filters” on the edge of greens.“ Studies from golf greens have shown that five percent to ten percent of the total pesticides applied are lost in runoff. In worst case conditions, this figure can be as high as 30 percent,” says John Clark, Ph.D., a professor of veterinary and animal science and a principal investigator on the grant. “We have identified plant species that can reduce the amount of certain pesticides in soil by up to 94 percent in the greenhouse.” Blue flag iris reduced chlorpyrifos by 76 percent and levels of chlorothalonil by 94 percent after three months of growth. The study was funded by the UMass Amherst Environmental Institute, the Massachusetts Pesticide Analysis Laboratory, and the U.S. Golf Association. Interest in “greener” turf management practices have risen lately along with golf’s […]

(Beyond Pesticides, June 18, 2008) On June 17, 2008,  the European Union (EU) voted and approved limits for chemical contaminants in surface waters. This measure would expand the EU’s campaign to protect the environment and also reduce the cost of producing drinking water.This new measure will set limits for 33 chemicals, including pesticides and heavy metals, in lakes, rivers and coastal waters that may endanger the survival of ecosystems and, via the food chain, human health. EU member states, which approved this legislation, will have until 2018 to meet these water standards. States will have to reduce pollution from “priority substances,” cease or phase out emissions, discharges and losses of “priority hazardous substances” in order to achieve good surface water chemical status and to be in compliance with the objectives set by the water quality standards.“This directive will guarantee a higher level of the protection of water by principally applying the principal of polluter-pays and corrects,” said rapporteur Anne Laperrouze of France, after the vote. Member states will have to establish an inventory, including maps, if available, of emissions, discharges and losses of all priority substances and pollutants for each river basin district or part of a river basin district […]

(Beyond Pesticides, June 12, 2008) A new study reports that pesticides, including DDT and tributyltin (TBT), have been found in deep-sea squids and octopods. This study is the first to analyze the chemical contamination of these deep sea organisms, and adds to the body of literature that demonstrates the far-reaching effects of pesticide use on global ecosystems. Pesticide contamination has been documented as far away from the point of use as the arctic and now the deep sea. In the study, to be published in the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin, Michael Vecchione of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and colleagues from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science of The College of William and Mary report finding a wide variety of chemical contaminants in nine species of cephalopods, a class of organisms that includes cuttlefishes and nautiluses along with squids and octopods. Cephalopods are important to the diet of cetaceans, which are marine mammals such as whales, dolphins and porpoises. Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the blubber of whales and some deep sea fish has already been documented. The twenty-two specimens analyzed were taken from depths between 1000 and 2000 meters (approximately 3,300 and 6,600 ft.) in the North […]

(Beyond Pesticides, June 10, 2008) According to scientists at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada, real-world pesticide combinations, such as those found in Canada’s Nicomekl River, may contribute to latest decline in the region’s endangered salmon populations. The study, published in Environmental Science and Technology (ES&T), a publication of the American Chemical Society, examines the impact by simulating the river’s low-level pesticide mixture to examine its effects on fish. The study used steelhead trout, a member of the salmon family, and found that the pesticide mix can deaden the trout’s sense of smell. This could harm the fish’s ability to avoid predators, find mates, and migrate back to sea, the researchers say, and could contribute to the threatened and endangered status of salmon species. “Most laboratory studies examine the effects of a single chemical, often at high concentrations, but real-world streams contain a mixture of chemicals at very low concentrations,” Keith Tierney, Ph.D., the study’s coauthor, told ES&T. Dr. Tierney and his colleagues re-created river water in the laboratory under controlled conditions with carefully measured levels of the 10 most frequently occurring pesticides in British Columbia’s Nicomekl River. The mixture contained four major classes of pesticides, including the commonly […]

(Beyond Pesticides, June 9, 2008) The General Services Administration (GSA) has begun using organic fertilizer on the grounds of all its federal buildings in the National Capital Region. The region, which is part of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, includes the District of Columbia, as well parts of Virginia and Maryland. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), GSA is using 100-percent organic pelletized chicken manure at 64 sites, covering 84 acres. The poultry litter is being collected by a private company and converted to usable organic fertilizer, then transported by truck to the region, and applied at the GSA properties. “Use of organic fertilizer is but one of many sustainable practices that GSA employs in our landscaping program,” commented GSA Regional Administrator Tony Reed. “In this first year of utilizing this approach for all of our buildings in the National Capital Region, we have applied 80 tons, enriching our landscapes at the same time we are helping to clean up Chesapeake Bay.” Chemical fertilizer, pesticides, animal manure, and poultry litter are major sources of excess nitrogen and phosphorus that cause water quality problems in the Chesapeake Bay. These pollutants get washed into local rivers, streams, and groundwater and eventually […]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 30, 2008) A recent study has linked the common herbicide atrazine with endocrine disruption in both fish and human cells. Entitled “The Herbicide Atrazine Activates Endocrine Gene Networks via Non-Steroidal NR5A Nuclear Receptors in Fish and Mammalian Cells,” the University of Califonia, San Francisco (UCSF) research examines the reaction of zebrafish to environmentally relevant levels of atrazine, and mirrors the study in human placental cells. The zebrafish, which are particularly sensitive to endocrine disruptors,  are “feminized”  in greater proportion than the unexposed control group. Fish exposed to atrazine for 48 hours at levels found in agricultural runoff produced twice as many female fish as male. “These fish are very sensitive to endocrine disrupting chemicals, so one might think of them as ‘sentinels’ to potential developmental dangers in humans,” said senior author Holly Ingraham, PhD. “These atrazine-sensitive genes are central to normal reproduction and are found in steroid producing tissues. You have to wonder about the long-term effects of exposing the rapidly developing fetus to atrazine or other endocrine disruptors.” In human cell studies, the researchers found that atrazine activates genes involved in hormone signally and steroid synthesis. “Endocrine-related cell types with a capacity for steroid generation appear […]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 19, 2008) A 20-year study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows that environmental laws enacted in the 1970s are having a positive effect on reducing overall contaminant levels in coastal waters of the U.S. However, the report points to continuing concerns with elevated levels of metals and organic contaminants found near urban and industrial areas of the coasts. The report, “NOAA National Status and Trends Mussel Watch Program: An Assessment of Two Decades of Contaminant Monitoring in the Nation’s Coastal Zone from 1986-2005,” findings are the result of monitoring efforts that analyze 140 different chemicals in U.S. coastal and estuarine areas, including the Great Lakes.“It’s interesting to note that pesticides, such as DDT, and industrial chemicals, such as PCBs, show significant decreasing trends around the nation, but similar trends were not found for trace metals,” said Gunnar Lauenstein, manager of the NOAA Mussel Watch program. “What is of concern is that there are contaminants that continue to be problematic, including oil-related compounds from motor vehicles and shipping activities.” Significant findings from this report include the following: Decreasing trends nationally of the pesticide DDT are documented with a majority of the sites monitored along the […]