(Beyond Pesticides, October 10, 2012) U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)-certified organic growers in the United States sold more than $3.5 billion organically grown agricultural commodities in 2011, according to the results of the 2011 Certified Organic Production Survey, released by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). The data shows a general upward trajectory for certified organic production and produce in the U.S. NASS conducted the survey for USDA’s Risk Management Agency to help refine federal crop insurance products for organic producers.

Organic sales totaled more than $3.53 billion last year, about 0.9 percent of total U.S. farm receipts, and an increase from 2008 reports. The 2011 Certified Organic Production Survey provides acreage, production, and sales data for a variety of certified organic crops and inventory and sales data for selected certified organic livestock commodities. In addition, data on land in farms, participation in federal farm programs, and marketing practices on certified organic farms are included.

The 2008 Certified Organic Production Survey, the first organic production survey conducted by NASS, reported certified and exempt organic farms had $3.16 billion in total sales —$1.94 billion in crop sales and $1.22 billion in sales of livestock, poultry and their products. In 2008, organic farms had average annual sales of $217,675, compared to the $134,807 average for U.S. farms overall. However, the 2008 survey included farms that were not certified as organic, but produce commodities classified as organic. This 2010 survey collected data only from certified organic operations. Similarly, according to a 2011 report from the Organic Trade Association, U.S. sales of organic food and beverages grew from $1 billion in 1990 to $26.7 billion in 2010. According to this report, sales in 2010 represented 7.7 percent growth over 2009 sales. Total U.S. organic sales, including food and non-food products, were $28.682 billion in 2010, up 9.7 percent from 2009.

“This is the first time we have conducted a survey focused solely on the USDA-certified organic producers,” said Hubert Hamer, Chairperson of NASS’s Agricultural Statistics Board. “With this survey’s results, policymakers will be able to better assess the Federal Crop Insurance program and its impact on the organic industry.”

At least 3.65 million acres were used to raise certified organic crops and livestock, approximately 0.4 percent of the 917 million acres of farm and ranchland in the U.S. Crops accounted for $2.22 billion, or 63 percent, of total organic sales, followed by livestock, poultry and their products at $1.31 billion. Mirroring its conventional counterpart, corn leads organic field crops in sales and accounted for more than $101.5 million in 2011. The only other field crops to have more than $50 million in sales were alfalfa dry hay and winter wheat, accounting for $69.5 million and $54 million in sales respectively. When it comes to organic field crops acreage, Wisconsin leads the nation with more than 110,000 acres harvested in 2011. Wisconsin is followed by New York, with organic growers harvesting more than 97,000 acres. California closely follows the Empire state growers with more than 91,000 acres of organic field crops harvested in 2011. These top three states illustrate just how geographically diverse organic crop production is in the U.S.

In addition to looking at organically produced crops, the survey also gathered information on the organically raised livestock, which accounted for $1.31 billion in sales in 2011. Organic milk was the top livestock commodity last year, accounting for $765 million in sales. The other key organic livestock commodities were chicken eggs and broiler chickens, earning $276 million and $115 million in sales respectively.

Despite tough economic times, consumers continue to buy organic products. Most venues now offer organic products so more consumers now have the option of including organic products into their shopping carts. Increased use of coupons, the proliferation of private label brands, and value-positioned products offered by major organic brands all have contributed to increased sales.

Organic foods have been shown to provide numerous benefits to human and environmental health. A recent review conducted at Stanford University sparked headlines nationwide questioning the value of purchasing expensive organic food, despite its findings that consumers are exposed to higher levels of pesticides from conventionally grown food, while also ignoring the benefits of organic food and the hazards of pesticide residues on food, and the broader benefits of organic practices that protect farmers and farmerworkers, air and water quality, wildlife and biodiversity. Organic foods have been shown to reduce dietary pesticide exposure and children who eat a conventional diet of food produced with chemical-intensive practices carry residues of organophosphate pesticides that are reduced or eliminated when they switch to an organic diet.

There are numerous health benefits to eating organic, besides a reduction in pesticide exposure. Unlike the findings of the Stanford study, research from the University of California, a ten-year study comparing organic tomatoes with standard produce finds that they have almost double the quantity of disease-fighting antioxidants called flavonoids. A study out of the University of Texas finds organically grown fruits and vegetables have higher levels of antioxidants as well as vitamins and minerals than their conventionally grown counterparts. A comprehensive review of 97 published studies comparing the nutritional quality of organic and conventional foods shows that organic plant-based foods (fruits, vegetables, grains) contain higher levels of eight of 11 nutrients studied, including significantly greater concentrations of the health-promoting polyphenols and antioxidants. The team of scientists from the University of Florida and Washington State University concludes that organically grown plant-based foods are 25 percent more nutrient dense, on average, and hence deliver more essential nutrients per serving or calorie consumed. A study by Newcastle University, published in the Journal of Science of Food and Agriculture, finds that organic farmers who let their cows graze as nature intended are producing better quality milk.

In addition, the adoption of organic methods, particularly no-till organic, is an opportunity for farming both to mitigate agriculture’s contributions to climate change and to cope with the effects climate change has had and will have on agriculture. Good organic practices can both reduce fossil fuel use and provide carbon sequestration in the soil through increased soil organic carbon. Higher soil organic carbon levels then increase fertility and the soil’s ability to endure extreme weather years.

Beyond Pesticides advocates through its Eating with a Conscience website for consumers to choose organic because of the environmental and health benefits to consumers, workers, and rural families. The Eating with a Conscience database, based on legal tolerances (or allowable residues on food commodities), describes a food production system that enables toxic pesticide use both domestically and internationally, and provides a look at the toxic chemicals allowed in the production of the food we eat and the environmental and public health effects resulting from their use. For more information on the benefits of organic agriculture, see Beyond Pesticides’ Organic Food program page.

Source: USDA Newsroom

(Beyond Pesticides, October 9, 2012) Sewage sludge is big business in Channahon, IL, but many residents who live near fields treated with the fertilizer believe they’re the ones paying the price. Farms in the area began applying the “biosolids” in 2010, and residents say that’s when their health issues began, according to Morris Daily Herald.

Biosolids, otherwise known as sewage sludge, are composed of dried microbes previously used to process wastewater in treatment plants. The material is increasingly being used in conventional agriculture, but its application is explicitly forbidden in organic production. This is because the sludge can contain high concentrations of toxic contaminants, such as pesticides, detergents, estrogenic hormones, antibiotics, dioxins, PCBs, flame retardants, and heavy metals.

Past research gives credence to Channahon residents’ claims of adverse health effects as a result of living near sludge coated fields. A 2002 study revealed the material to be associated with an increased prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus infections, a condition known to cause skin rashes and respiratory problems, for people located in close proximity to biosolid application sites.

“What they are doing is making a toxic dump of our area. It’s disgusting,” said Channahon resident Pat Budd in an interview with Kris Stadalsky of Morris Daily Herald. Residents are particularly concerned about run-off reaching local streams and polluting their well water, although studies from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found no evidence of this occurring. Additionally, students at nearby schools routinely jog on the road near the farms, and have been seen running through the treated fields.

Channahon resident Mary Lou Bozich was diagnosed with a duodenum tumor this year after having no signs of the tumor the year before. “I just find it very weird that two years ago I had no problem,” Ms. Bozich said to the Herald. “Is it from that (biosolids)? I don’t honestly know. How would they prove it one way or another?”

Resident Pearl Addington makes particular note of the smell emanating from the sludge treated fields. “I have asthma and I can’t even leave my house,” she said to the Herald, “I am scared (because) I can’t breathe.” Although EPA requires sewage sludge to be immediately incorporated into the soil, in the words of Jeff Hutton of the Illinois EPA (IEPA), “[T]here’s still going to be an odor. Odors are hard to quantify.”

According to the Herald, of the 400 thousand tons of sewage sludge produced in Illinois, 75 percent of it is used in conventional farming, and a total of 280 acres of Channahon are now treated yearly with the material. Spreading companies are paid around $15 per cubic yard to haul away the treated sludge from Metro Chicago’s Water Reclamation District, and during an application up to 70 trucks will line up around a field to dump the material. The Herald indicates that a local company applies between five and ten dry tons of per acre of farmland. Some residents believe that the biosolid industry is more about making a profit than the health of local citizens. “There’s an enormous amount of money here,” said Pat Budd.

Studies are revealing disturbing trends associated with the use of sewage sludge. A 2009 study out of Sweden and a 2011 study in the journal Environmental Science and Technology indicate that sewage sludge may be contributing to the rise of antibiotic resistant bacteria. A 2010 study shows that when biosolids containing the chemical triclosan are applied to agricultural fields there is a potential for the material to break down into dioxin, a highly carcinogenic substance linked to decreased fertility, weakened immune system functions, altered sex hormones, miscarriages, and birth defects.

Sewage sludge also has a detrimental impact on the environment. Beyond Pesticides recently reported on how nanoparticles in biosolids, present due to their use in sunscreen, lotions, and cosmetics, and certain diesel fuels, can effect plant growth and development. The nanoparticles in sewage sludge can block leguminous crops from forming a symbiotic relationship with the beneficial bacteria that allow it to fix nitrogen from the air. This could cause farmers to apply increasing amounts of synthetic fertilizers to make up the difference. Additionally, sludge nanoparticles were shown to be taken up by the plant and located in the edible pods of soybeans, with unknown human health effects.

You can show that you disagree with the use of sewage sludge in agriculture by eating certified organic food, which does not allow the use of dried municipal waste microbes in its production. Additionally, be wary of any lawn fertilizers which claim to be “organic” or “natural” but list ingredients such as “biosolids,” “dried microbes,”, or “activated sewage sludge,” To find out more about the benefits certified organic products and production systems, visit Beyond Pesticides’ organic food program page, and keep up to date on the upcoming October 15-18, 2012 National Organic Standards Board meeting at our Keeping Organic Strong action page.

Source: Morris Daily Herald

Photo Credit: Florida Department of Environmental Protection

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

(Beyond Pesticides, October 5, 2012) Researcher Paul Kendra of the Agricultural Research Service’s Subtropical Horticulture Research Station and others are investigating natural essential oils as traps for Red Bay Ambrosia beetles, the primary vector of laurel wilt fungus, which attacks trees, including avocado trees in the southeastern U.S. Building on previous research, the researchers have identified two important oils, phoebe oil and manuka oil, as potent antifungal agents that can be applied to avocado trees. They have gone so far as to start shipping fungicide-treated avocado trees from the Miami avocado germplasm collection to disease-free sites.

The invasive beetle from Asia has spread to the Carolinas, Florida and west to the Mississippi, killing 90 to 95 percent of infected trees and significantly altering forest ecosystems. Scientists are concerned that the beetles will soon reach Mexico and California, which are major avocado production areas. If only half of California’s commercial avocado trees died, estimates indicate it would mean a total economic impact of about $27 million. In response to growing concerns, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is researching alternative strategies to monitor and eventually control the spread of the ambrosia beetle.

Both manuka oil and phoebe oil are sourced from plant based materials, that are readily available and effective alternatives as a trap bait for monitoring distribution and population trends. Manuka oil is sourced from a shrub native to New Zealand. Research at the New Zealand Cawthron Institute indicates that its primary components, leptospermone and flavesone, are 5 to 10 times more effective at treating fungal infections than Australian tea tree oil.

But it’s the longevity of phoebe oils, sourced from the Brazilian walnut tree, that have researchers excited. Phoebe lures not only capture significantly more ambrosia beetle than manuka lures, it also is effective for up to 12 weeks while the manuka lures last only about three weeks. Knowing how long the manuka lures work will be useful for officials to set up early monitoring programs.

Essential oils are complex mixtures of different organic components, the most prominent single substance is triketone leptospermone in manuka oil. This combination gives a high level of antimicrobial activity. However, few studies have analyzed the toxicity of manuka oil outside the cosmetic and medicinal industry. Those that have indicate that it in comparison to other myrtaceous essential oils, manuka demonstrates moderate toxic behavior in cell cultures.

Phoebe oil on the other hand, is primarily composed of α-copaene, cadinene, and α-humulene which all attract beetles. Again, the chemical, physical, and toxicological properties of the active ingredient have not been thoroughly investigated.

Beyond Pesticides has long been an advocate for the use of non-toxic and least toxic pesticide alternatives. However, while essential oils are traditionally classified as a least-toxic method for pest management, products that are designed to kill living organisms should always be treated with caution. The concern with essential oils is its volatility and ability to vaporize into the air. It is important to remember that there is still a potential to cause harm to human and environmental health and consumers should read labels on all products to make sure it does not also include any toxic pesticides, synergists, or non-disclosed inert ingredients.

Previous research shows that bark beetles, like the Redbay ambrosia beetle, “sniff out” particular compounds within manuka oil and phoebe oil. Field experiments were conducted at a Florida conservation area where the beetle has infested trees since 2007. By comparing the number of Redbay ambrosia beetles attracted to manuka oil lures, phoebe oil lures, and bolts of wood cut from lychee, researchers discovered not only that beetles prefer phoebe lures, but that they also prefer lychee trees. The results indicate that there are three compounds that particularly attract the beetle, and the lychee wood has large amounts of all three. Just as roses are planted by grape vines to warn of infestations, so lychee trees could be planted to signal the need for beetle management.

These mechanisms are a way forward in organic agricultural systems. Currently, conventional avocados are grown with a wide variety of toxic chemicals. Though avocados grown on conventional farms show low pesticide residues on the finish commodity, there are 32 pesticides with established tolerances (residue limits for pesticides used in the U.S. or by countries exporting to the U.S.). There are 13 pesticides registered for use that are considered acutely toxic, 29 are linked to chronic health problems, five contaminate streams or groundwater, and 29 are poisonous to wildlife. Clearly there is a need to move beyond conventional agricultural system that poison our food and sickens agricultural workers and nearby residents.

Beyond Pesticides works extensively to promote organic practices and policy throughout the country. With proper design and preventive practices, there is little to no need to use any pesticide product.

Source:Science Daily, Journal of Economic Entomology, Environmental Entomology
Photo Source: The Sentinel, University of California Riverside

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

(Beyond Pesticides, October 4, 2012) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released updated tables for its Fourth National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals, which was released in 2009. The new data includes updated tables for 119 chemicals and tables for 34 new chemicals, including updates for 2,4-D and triclosan and their metabolites. New metabolites of organophosphorous insecticides are added for the first time.

Notably, the report found that concentrations of four metabolites of organophosphates generally increased among nearly all groups CDC measured, while levels for two generally decreased. Organophosphate pesticides, such as chlorpyrifos, are highly toxic to humans and the environment. Chlorpyrifos is a frequent water contaminant and a long range toxicant, exposing communities and polluting pristine areas far from where it was applied. Volatilization drift ””the evaporation of the pesticide after application”” is also part of the problem for chlorpyrifos. A 2009 study found the pesticide to have significant impacts on the growth and development of amphibians miles away from the site where it was first applied. A USGS study in 2007 concludes that the breakdown products of chlorpyrifos are up to 100 times more toxic than the original.

The Updated Tables, September 2012, present data from the 2005-2006, 2007-2008, and 2009-2010 survey periods and data for a few chemicals from the 2003-2004 survey period. The Updated Tables are cumulative and include data reported in earlier updates. This publication is the most comprehensive assessment to date of the exposure of the U.S. population to chemicals in our environment. CDC measures chemicals in people’s blood and urine. The data analyzed in the Fourth Report are based on blood and urine samples that were collected from approximately 2400 people who participated in CDC’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2003 through 2004. NHANES is an ongoing national health survey of the non-institutionalized U.S. population that includes collecting and analyzing blood and urine samples to help further research involving exposures and health effects.

The types of exposure information found in the report can help physicians and public health officials determine whether people have been exposed to higher environmental chemicals as well as help scientists plan and conduct research about health effects. Much of the information has been previously published, but this is the first publication of all the data in one place. The report does not provide new health effects information. Research separate from that compiled in the Fourth Report is needed to determine whether higher levels of environmental chemicals in blood or urine are related to health effects.

Sources: Bloomberg BNA, CDC

(Beyond Pesticides, October 3, 2012) A study published this week by Washington State University’s research professor Charles Benbrook, PhD, finds that the use of herbicides in the production of three genetically engineered herbicide-tolerant crops -cotton, soybeans and corn- has actually increased, contrary to industry claims that the technology would reduce pesticide applications. While Dr. Benbrook’s analysis is the first peer-reviewed, published estimate of the impacts of genetically engineered (GE) herbicide-tolerant crops on pesticide use, scientists have been raising the alarm over the mounting numbers of herbicide resistant weeds.

This herbicide resistance finding, which contradicts chemical industry claims, is based on an exhaustive analysis of publicly available data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agriculture Statistics Service. In the study, “Impacts of genetically engineered crops on pesticide use in the U.S. — the first sixteen years,” which appears in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Sciences Europe, Dr. Benbrook writes that the emergence and spread of glyphosate-resistant weeds is strongly correlated with the upward trajectory in herbicide use. Marketed as Roundup and other trade names, glyphosate is a broad-spectrum systemic herbicide used to kill weeds. Approximately 95 percent of soybean and cotton acres, and over 85 percent of corn, are planted to varieties genetically engineered to be herbicide tolerant. The annual increase in the herbicides required to deal with tougher-to-control “superweeds” on cropland planted to GE cultivars has grown from 1.5 million pounds in 1999 to about 90 million pounds in 2011.

“Resistant weeds have become a major problem for many farmers reliant on GE crops, and are now driving up the volume of herbicide needed each year by about 25 percent,” Dr. Benbrook said.

According to the study, the emergence and spread of glyphosate-resistant weeds is by far the most important factor driving up herbicide use on land planted to herbicide-tolerant crops. Glyphosate-tolerant weeds were practically unknown before the introduction of Roundup-tolerant crops in 1996. But heavy reliance on the herbicide Roundup, whose active ingredient is glyphosate, has placed weed populations under progressively intense and unprecedented selection pressure, triggering a perfect storm for the emergence of glyphosate-resistant weeds. In general, in regions of the U.S. where Roundup-tolerant crops dominate, there are now evolved glyphosate-resistant populations of economically-damaging weed species. Resistant species like ryegrass and horseweed have been found in crop and non-crop areas, and now grow robustly even when sprayed with four times the recommended quantity of Roundup.

Scientists from USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) have noted that the relatively rapid evolution of glyphosate-resistant weed populations provides further evidence that no herbicide is invulnerable to resistance, and new weed management systems involving GE crops must be evaluated for the potential to create resistant species. Evidence suggests that GE corn plants can cross-pollinate non-GE corn plants beyond 200 meters. In order to limit gene flow between plant species several “best practice methods” are employed, such as maintaining isolation distances to prevent pollen movement from GE sources; planting border or barrier rows to intercept GE pollen; employing natural barriers to pollen, and field monitoring. However it can be concluded that these efforts are not effective, given the spate of genetic contamination and resistant weeds.

Herbicide-tolerant crops worked extremely well in the first few years of use, Dr. Benbrook’s analysis shows, but over-reliance have led to shifts in weed communities and the spread of resistant weeds that force farmers to increase herbicide application rates, spray more often, and add new herbicides that work through alternate modes of action into their spray programs. The study determined that herbicide-tolerant crop technology has led to a 527 million pound increase in herbicide use in the U.S. between 1996 and 2011, while Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) crops have reduced insecticide applications by 123 million pounds. Overall, pesticide use increased by an estimated 404 million pounds, about 7%. Meanwhile, insects are beginning to show resistance to Bt-incorporated plants, jeopardizing a biological control that is sparingly used in organic production.

Dr. Benbrook concludes that, contrary to often-repeated claims that today’s genetically-engineered crops have and are reducing pesticide use, the spread of glyphosate-resistant weeds in GE weed management systems has brought about substantial increases in the number and volume of herbicides applied. Farmers have become increasingly critical of both GE seed (as it goes up in price) and herbicides like Roundup, as “superweeds” become prevalent in treated fields. The growth of pigweed, which can quickly reach widths of six inches at the stalk, and other glyphosate-resistant species increases farmers reliance on more high-risk herbicides, including 2,4-D, dicamba and paraquat, and has resulted in a return to hand harvesting and even the abandoning of fields. Dow AgroSciences and Bayer CropScience recently petitioned the USDA to deregulate 2,4-D GE corn and soybeans in order for 2,4-D and other herbicides to be used to tackle weeds resistant to glyphosate. However, according to Dr. Benbrook, if new GE forms of corn and soybeans tolerant of 2,4-D are approved, the volume of 2,4-D sprayed could drive herbicide usage upward by another approximate 50%.

Earlier this year, Beyond Pesticides wrote to USDA that the introduction of these new varieties of GE crops was “severely misguided and lacking forethought.” Arguably, by introducing 2,4-D GE corn into the environment, a new generation of resistant weeds will develop, leaving a legacy of “superweeds” resistant to both glyphosate, 2,4-D, and others, and a retrogression to even more toxic herbicides to control these weeds. 2,4-D, which constituted half of the ingredients in “Agent Orange,” used to defoliate forests and croplands in the Vietnam War, is a chlorophenoxy herbicide. Scientists around the world have reported increased cancer risks in association with its use, especially for soft tissue sarcoma and malignant lymphoma.

The prevalence of glyphosate-tolerant crops has also contributed to the high rates of glyphosate contamination in the environment. In 2002, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collected 154 water samples from 51 streams in nine Midwestern states and glyphosate was detected in 36% of the samples, and aminomethylphosphonic acid or AMPA (a degradation product of glyphosate) was detected in 69% of the samples. Glyphosate and its formulated end-use products have been proven to be toxic to aquatic organisms and can be “extremely lethal” to amphibians in concentrations found in the environment. A 2012 study found that Roundup, in sublethal and environmentally relevant concentrations, caused two species of amphibians to change their shape by interfering with the hormones of tadpoles, and potentially many other animals.

This is not the first time that Dr. Benbrook has reported on the increased use of pesticides in the wake of increasing GE crops. In 2009, he wrote, “Impacts of Genetically Engineered Crops on Pesticide Use in the United States: The First Thirteen Years,” which first explored the impact of the adoption of GE corn, soybean, and cotton on pesticide use in the U.S. At the time, it was reported that GE crops were responsible for an increase of 383 million pounds of herbicide use in the U.S. over the first 13 years of commercial use of GE crops (1996-2008). The report identified, and discussed in detail, the primary cause of the increase—the emergence of herbicide-resistant weeds. Another 2009 report by the Union of Concerned Scientists, A Failure to Yield: Evaluating the Performance of Genetically Engineered Crops, reached similar findings.

Noteworthy is that while herbicide use has climbed, insecticide use has dropped. The adoption of GE corn and cotton that carry traits resistant to insects has led to a reduction in insecticide use, even though resistant insects like the corn rootworm have increased in numbers. However, this may be about to change since farmers in the Midwest are seeing severe rootworm damage in fields planted in Monsanto’s Bt corn, which was engineered to thwart these very same voracious bugs, now resistant to Bt. And in 2010, Monsanto also acknowledged that in industrial-agriculture regions of India, where Monsanto’s Bt cotton is a dominant crop, the cotton-attacking bollworm had developed resistance. Earlier this year, a group of 22 prominent entomologists, including researchers from land grant institutions in the Corn Belt and the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS), submitted formal comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that cast doubt on the future viability of certain varieties of GE Bt corn.

Currently, there are commercially available Roundup-tolerant seed varieties for corn, soybeans, canola, sorghum, and cotton, in addition to sugar beets, and recently USDA-allowed Roundup-tolerant alfalfa. Due to serious questions regarding the integrity of USDA’s environmental evaluations, public interest groups, led by the Center for Food Safety and including Beyond Pesticides, have filed suit against the agency to stop its full deregulation of GE alfalfa. For more on genetically engineered agriculture read Beyond Pesticides’ article “Ready or Not, Genetically Engineered Crops Explode on Market.“

Source: Washington State University News Room

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

(Beyond Pesticides, October 2, 2012) The herbicide atrazine may be linked to an amplified risk of choanal atresia, a congenital abnormality of the nasal cavity, according to researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and other Texas institutions. Choanal atresia is recognized when tissue formed during fetal development blocks an infant’s nasal cavity. Though it is a rare condition, it is considered quite serious because it can affect an infant’s ability to breathe.

The study, scheduled for publication in The Journal of Pediatrics, focused on atrazine because, although there are very few risk factors for choanal atresia, endocrine disrupting chemicals are suspected to be associated with the condition. “Endocrine disrupters aren’t fully understood, but it is believed they interfere with or mimic certain hormones, thereby blocking their proper function and potentially leading to adverse outcomes,” said Dr. Phillip Lupo, lead author of the study. Looking at mothers from Texas counties with the highest levels of estimated atrazine application, researchers discovered that they are 80 percent more likely to have children with choanal atresia or stenosis (a less severe form of the condition) than compared to mothers who live in counties with the lowest levels.

The herbicide atrazine and over 50 other active pesticide ingredients have been identified as endocrine disruptors by the European Union and endocrine disruptor expert Theo Colborn, PhD. The body’s hormone producing glands -the thyroid, gonads, adrenal and pituitary glands- produce hormones such as thyroxine, estrogen, testosterone, and adrenaline in order to guide human growth, development, reproduction, and behavior. These glands and the hormones they produce comprise our endocrine system. Endocrine disruptors are a serious cause for concern due to their potential for wide ranging effects on our health. These chemicals have the potential to mimic human estrogen, block the reception of certain hormones, and effect the concentration of natural hormones in our body. Endocrine disruption is implicated in numerous adverse health effects. Suspected endocrine disrupting chemicals have been linked to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Parkinsons, diabetes, Alzheimers, cardiovascular disease, obesity, early puberty, infertility, and childhood and adult cancers. A 2004 study links endocrine disrupting pesticides to birth defects and adverse impacts on neurological development in infants whose mothers have been exposed to the chemical.

A more recent 2012 study reveals that even minute doses of endocrine disrupting chemicals can have significant effects on human health. Unfortunately, our regulatory structure does not adequately protect people from these possible human health effects. Given reports finding traces of these chemicals in indoor air, schools, drinking water supplies, and urine, many Americans are in uncharted territory when it comes to the future of their health. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) largest move in this area came in 2007; a full 10 years after Congress mandated regulatory authorities to determine a mechanism to screen for these chemicals. When EPA did propose testing, the experiments performed were criticized by many as being outdated.

Atrazine is used nationwide to kill broadleaf and grassy weeds, primarily in corn crops, but also in turf management. Beyond endocrine disruption, the chemical has been implicated in a wide range of human health effects, including cancer, neurotoxicity, and kidney and liver damage. A study by the U.S. Geological Survey found atrazine in approximately 75 percent of stream water and 40 percent of groundwater sampled near agricultural areas. Earlier this year, U.S. Representative Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) reintroduced a bill that (H.R.4318) would ban the production, sale, importation or exportation of any pesticide containing atrazine. However, as it currently stands, nearly 10 years after atrazine was banned in the European Union, the chemical is still sold in the United States.

Beyond Pesticides urges concerned citizens to contact their member of Congress and ask them to support a ban on atrazine.

For more information on endocrine disrupting chemicals, see Beyond Pesticides’ webpage on endocrine disruption in our Pesticide-Induced Diseases Database (PIDD).

Source: Baylor College of Medicine Press Release
Photo Credit: Kidshealth.org

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

(Beyond Pesticides, October 1, 2012) O’Hare International Airport in Chicago is planning to sign on a shepherd and approximately 30 goats and sheep to graze on overgrown brush at the perimeter of the airport later this fall. The animals are expected to clear about 250 square feet of vegetation per day. Airport officials sought out the goats in order to eliminate an overgrowth of poison ivy and poison oak, and reduce the habitat for wildlife hazardous to airport operations, such as birds or deer. Chicago will join a list of other cities, including Atlanta and San Francisco, that use grazing animals to help maintain portions of their airport and a multitude of other cities that use goats as part of their weed management plans.

The choice to use goats at O’Hare was made because, according to Department of Aviation spokeswoman Karen Pride, the overgrown property is difficult for machinery and pesticide applicators to reach because of hills and standing water. The area where the goats will be grazing is outside the security fence, so there’s no danger of goats straying onto the runways. “The animals are a more cost-efficient and environmentally friendly alternative for brush removal,”Ms. Pride said. Five potential vendors already have been identified, and the department hopes the three-week pilot program can get started before the weather gets too cold.

Beyond Pesticides has long been an advocate for the use of goats and grazing animals as a least toxic solution for weed management. Goats are often more efficient at eradicating weeds, and are more environmentally sustainable than using harmful pesticides and chemicals. When goats are used for weed management the first thing they do when they walk through the pasture is snap off all the flower heads. Then they pick the leaves off one at a time, very quickly, leaving a bare stock. Once goats graze a weed, it cannot go to seed because it has no flower and cannot photosynthesize to take in sunlight and build a root system because it has no leaves. Grasses are a last choice for goats, which means the desirable grass species are left behind with natural fertilizer to repopulate the land. Goats are notorious for eating poisonous plants, such as poison ivy and poison oak, and can handle them without getting sick. Goats can also be helpful in recycling Christmas trees. They will strip the whole tree leaving just the trunk, which can be turned into firewood.

Chicago O’Hare is not the only airport using grazing animals to deal with difficult lawn maintenance problems. This year, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport also adopted a pilot project where 100 grazing sheep (plus a few goats) are being used to eat invasive plants such as kudzu. In just two days, a herd ate through nearly half of the waist high weeds in a test acre near the airport. The sheep were hired from Ewe-niversally Green and are part of the “Have Ewe Herd?” program hosted by Trees Atlanta, a nonprofit group dedicated to planting and conserving trees.

Goats have been used for eight summers as part of the weed management program at San Francisco International Airport. Goats are used because the property is an environmentally sensitive area that contains two endangered species, the San Francisco garter snake and the California red-legged frog. The goats are used to eat the vegetation along the property lines on the west side of the airport property and can go into places where the airport cannot use heavy machinery or personnel, similar to the situation in Chicago. The goats used in San Francisco come from Goats R Us, which hires out goats to homeowners, private land managers, and public agencies to graze sites ranging from neighborhood yards to 30,000 acre ranches.

Goats and grazing animals are being used across the United States for a variety of weed management programs from Hempstead, New York to Cheyenne, Wyoming. Even Google hired 200 goats instead of a mowing crew to manage the weeds and brush growing on their corporate campus in Mountain View, California. Google used them in order to reduce fire hazard, according to Dan Hoffman, Google’s Director of Real Estate and Workplace Services. The company’s hiring of the goats costs about the same as mowing.

For more information on natural, non-chemical land management strategies, read “Successfully Controlling Noxious Weeds with Goats: The natural choice that manages weeds and builds soil health” and see Beyond Pesticides’ Lawn and Landscape pages.

Sources: The Chicago Tribune , NBC News

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

(Beyond Pesticides, September 28, 2012) Over the last few months, heated debate over toxic pesticide use in school buildings and grounds have dominated discussion in Maine. Unfortunately, proposed amendments to Maine’s school pesticide regulations make no mention of safer, preventive pest management practices, or the use of least-toxic pesticides only as a last resort, setting back efforts to reform pesticide legislation for schools in Maine. Should these new amendments be approved, students in Maine will not receive the same protections as students in other states that have been eliminating unnecessary pesticide use by adopting pest prevention practices and using least-toxic pesticides as the last resort. Tell the Maine Board of Pesticide Control to keep pesticides out of Maine Schools by today, September 28, 2012.

Integrated pest management (IPM) is a program of prevention, monitoring, and control that eliminates or drastically reduces the use of pesticides. This is accomplished by utilizing a variety of methods and techniques, including cultural, biological, and structural strategies. It also stipulates the use of least-toxic chemical options only as the last resort. The amendments to Maine’s Chapter 27, which in 2007 established integrated pest management (IPM) procedures and standards for school buildings and on school grounds, do not make provisions for instituting preventive pest management practices nor the use of least-toxic options, which means the officials will still be able to spraying school property with potentially toxic pesticides, contrary to IPM. At the very least, provisions need to provide safe alternatives that will protect students, teachers, and community members alike.

The proposed rulemaking provides wide latitude for discretion on the part of the IPM coordinator and exterminator to determine whether pesticides should be applied to meet cosmetic threshold levels, (allowing pesticide management practitioners (PMPs) to decide whether dandelions are unsightly or spiders are undesirable), contrary to integrated pest management (IPM) practices. IPM should not support the application of pesticides for cosmetic purposes. The new amendments to Chapter 27 will exempt certain indoor pesticide use and mosquito spraying from advanced parental notification, and also exempt agricultural and horticultural educational centers from proper notification and the use of IPM techniques, further exposing students to potentially toxic pesticides.

The proposal allows pesticide management practitioners (PMPs) to decide whether dandelions are unsightly or spiders are undesirable. Most egregious of all, is the pointed lack of concern for personal safety and environmental fate that are intrinsic to herbicide and insecticide application. At the very least, provisions need to provide safe alternatives that will protect students, teachers, and community members alike.

Equally alarming is that the proposed rulemaking would exempt greenhouses, nursery plots and other agricultural educational centers from notification requirements prior to pesticide spraying. The proposal goes on the state “students entering treated areas must be trained as agricultural workers, as defined by the federal Worker Protection Standard.” However, students are not agricultural workers and must not be considered as such. Children are especially vulnerable to chemicals due to physiological, metabolic, and behavioral characteristics that differ from adults. Training students as agricultural workers does not mitigate the unique circumstances that surround children’s exposures to pesticides.

Even without the proposed changes, persistent pesticide violations at schools highlight the need to strengthen existing policy. To name just one example, in June 2012 Tripp Middle School of southwestern Maine was fined $250 for a violation that sent five school employees to a medical facility. After school hours, a school employee applied Misty Wasp/Hornet Killer IIb to the school kitchen to control a fly problem. Exposure to Misty Wasp, active ingredient permethrin, may lead to headaches, dizziness, anesthetic effects, nausea, respiratory depression. Chronic exposure has other serious health impacts, including central nervous system damage. The following morning employees who intended to clean the application area reported seeing pools of pesticides, smelling chemical fumes and feeling ill. They were examined at a nearby medical facility.

Schools and day care centers must nurture a healthy environment in which children can grow and learn. Children are especially sensitive to pesticide exposure as they take in more pesticides relative to their body weight than adults and have developing organ systems that are more vulnerable and less able to detoxify toxic chemicals. Even at low levels, exposure to pesticides can cause serious adverse health effects. Numerous studies document that children exposed to pesticides suffer elevated rates of childhood leukemia, soft tissue sarcoma and brain cancer. Studies also link pesticides to childhood asthma, respiratory problems, and learning disabilities and inability to concentrate. For more information, see Beyond Pesticides’ Children and Schools page. To see more scientific research on the effects of pesticides on human health, see our Pesticide-Induced Diseases Database.

While the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National PTA, among others, recommend schools adopt pesticide-reduction programs, without minimum federal standards, such as those contained in the proposed School Environment Protection Act, the protection provided children is uneven and inadequate across the country. SEPA provides basic levels of protection for children and school staff from the use of pesticides in public school buildings and on school grounds by requiring schools to implement a strictly defined IPM system and identify allowed least-toxic materials as a last resort for building management and organic practices for school grounds.

Aside from the serious concerns associated with pesticide use, it also should be noted that it has been repeatedly demonstrated that organic land management, when properly applied, can result in full, healthy, and weed-free turf. Organic land management is not simply a “hands-off” approach in which one is expected to sit back and do nothing to maintain the area. It requires careful fertility management, monitoring, and examination of weed and pest issues to diagnose problems, determine their source, and alter maintenance practices accordingly. Additionally, it has been shown that this approach can actually lower maintenance costs in the long term. Beyond Pesticides maintains numerous resources regarding research and guidance on organic lawn care.

Beyond Pesticides, founded in 1981, has worked extensively to promote sound IPM and organic policy in communities throughout the country. To this end, we support the implementation of strong Integrated Pest Management (IPM) policy in Maine and throughout the U.S., although the term IPM has been misused to characterize pesticide-dependent management systems. With proper design and preventive practices, there is little to no need to use any pesticide product. Existing buildings can be repaired and retrofitted and grounds can be planted with tolerant, native species, with nonsynthetic fertilization that supports healthy soils and virtually eliminates the use of pesticides. Join us in our fight against toxic pesticide use!

Take Action: Let the Maine Pesticide Control Board know that students are not “mini adults” and should be protected from pesticides on school grounds with strategies that eliminate pesticide dependency.

Send an email to the Maine Pesticide Control Board by TODAY – Friday, Sept. 28, if you are concerned about pesticides on school grounds.

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

(Beyond Pesticides, September 27, 2012) Manitoba will likely join the majority of Canada’s provinces in banning cosmetic pesticides next year, according to Conservation Minister Gord Mackintosh. The minister made his announcement on Monday after a coalition of health and environment groups, Cosmetic Pesticide Ban Manitoba, delivered a letter with over 1,000 signatories that calls on the government to ban the sale and use of cosmetic pesticides.

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

(Beyond Pesticides, September 26, 2012) A citizen’s group in Washington State submitted to its county commissioners a petition that urges a ban of all herbicides or other chemicals on county rights-of-way. The group, which opposes all roadside pesticide spraying, is calling for the adoption of safer management alternatives, citing dozens of studies showing cumulative and recurring damage that may be expected with the continued use of herbicides.

(Beyond Pesticides, September 25, 2012) According to a report from New York City’s Department of Health, Roundup, Monsanto’s most popular and widely used product is also the most frequently applied herbicide in the city. This has occurred in violation of the spirit and intent of the 2005-passed the Pesticide Useage Law (Local Law 37), which put New York City on track to eliminate dependency on hazardous pesticides, and submit a city integrated pest management (IPM) plan to the mayor every January. The report, Pesticide Use by New York City Agencies in 2011, indicates that over 500 gallons of Roundup in various formulations was applied to city ground in the year 2011.

While the city is required to report on the total amount and number of herbicide applications, according to an article from Mother Jones, information on the location of these applications is harder to come by.

“Parks also declined my request for a sample of the warning sign or safety protocols that it posts around areas where Roundup is sprayed, though signs from previous years noted that Roundup applications, at sites like Central Park’s Turtle Pond and Metropolitan Museum grounds, were done at 4 a.m. Parks didn’t answer my question about how long it warns passers-by away from sprayed areas,” author Anna Lenzer indicated.

City data confirms that 34.2% of herbicide applications included Roundup last year, a 40% increase from 2010.

Given the resources of the city, and recent actions from New York state to protect its citizens and the environment from nutrient pollution and exposure to toxic pesticides, the city’s reaction to its data is alarming. Two years ago, the state of New York passed the Child Safe Playing Field Act, which requires that all schools, preschools, and day care centers both public and private stop using pesticides on any playgrounds or playing fields. The bill allows pesticides to be used for infestations only if the County Health Department, the Commissioner of Health, the Commissioner of Environmental Conservation or the school board deems it an emergency. Also in 2010, the state passed a bill limiting the sale of phosphorous-based detergents and fertilizers, an act which is intended to clean up local lakes and reservoirs by decreasing overall nutrient loads. However, according to Mother Jones, New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection has supervised the use of Roundup around sensitive environmental areas such as the Pepacton Reservoir, which supplies 25% of the city’s water.

In 2005, the New York City Council enacted Local Law 37 which states that no city agency or contractor shall apply to any property owned or leased by the city any pesticide classified as Toxicity Category I by the United States environmental protection agency [ §17-1203 (a)]; a human carcinogen, likely to be carcinogenic to humans, a known/likely carcinogen, a probable human carcinogen, or a possible human carcinogen by the office of pesticide programs of the United States environmental protection agency [ §17-203 (b)]; or by the California office of environmental health hazard assessment as a developmental toxin [ §17-203 (c)].
Monsanto’s Roundup is formulated with the chemical glyphosate and the “inert” ingredient polyethoxylated tallowamine, or POEA, which, as opposed to being innocuous, has in fact been shown to increase the toxicity of glysophate. Research on POEA has also shown it to kill human embryotic cells. The chemical is of particular concern due to its toxicity to aquatic species as well as instances of serious human health effects from acute exposure.

New York City’s report states, “The active ingredient glyphosate poses little risk of acute poisonings or chronic health effects and has not been shown to be carcinogenic.” While no studies have shown glyphosate to be a direct carcinogen, research has indicated that the chemical increases the risk of cancer. Glyphosate has also been linked to neurotoxicity, birth defects, and eye, skin, and respiratory irritation.

Roundup has also been studied for its impact on the environment, particularly in respect to wildlife. A study from earlier this year linked exposure to the product to shape changes in frogs at sub-lethal and environmentally relevant concentrations. Last year, a Canadian federal court ordered Health Canada to take a second look at the impacts of Roundup on amphibians.

Unfortunately, Roundup is not the only toxic product New York City has applied to its public lands. For a full list, view the report here.

Of 30 commonly used lawn pesticides, 19 are linked with cancer or carcinogenicity, 13 are linked with birth defects, 21 with reproductive effects, 26 with liver or kidney damage, 15 with neurotoxicity, and 11 with disruption of the endocrine (hormonal) system. Of those same 30 lawn pesticides, 17 are detected in groundwater, 23 have the ability to leach into drinking water sources, 24 are toxic to fish and other aquatic organisms vital to our ecosystem, 11 are toxic to bees, and 16 are toxic to birds.

Organic land management is practical and economical, and we hope New York City will consider transitioning to this system. Opponents may claim that organic management will cost more money, or put the fields at risk for disease and weed infestation; however, in a Cornell University study of turf, chemically maintained turf is more susceptible to disease. Another report prepared by Grassroots Environmental Education and Beyond Pesticides’ Board Member Chip Osborne for the New York State legislature concludes that organic approaches can save money. The report compares the relative costs of maintaining a typical high school football field using a chemical-intensive program and an organic program over a five-year period and finds that the annual cost of maintaining an organic field can be as much as 25% lower than the cost of chemical-based programs.

Furthermore, Harvard University saved two million gallons of water a year by managing the grounds organically, as irrigation needs have been reduced by 30 percent. Previously, it cost Harvard $35,000 a year to get rid of “landscape waste” from its campus grounds. Now that cost is gone because the school keeps all grass clippings, leaves and branches for composting and making compost teas. This in turn saves the university an additional $10,000 from having to purchase fertilizers elsewhere.

For more information on organic-based, pesticide-free lawn and landscape management, see Beyond Pesticides Lawns and Landscapes program page.

Source: Mother Jones

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

(Beyond Pesticides, September 24, 2012) In the face of widespread pesticide contamination of U.S. waterways and the lack of drinking water standards for hundreds of pesticides, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has devoted a $499,778 grant towards developing low-cost water decontamination facilities serving less than 10,000 people. Though conventional water treatment facilities remove many contaminants including suspended solids, bacteria, algae, viruses, fungi, and some chemical pollutants they do not remove many pesticide or antibiotic contaminants. Led by Professor Christopher Bellona, PhD of Clarkson University Civil and Environmental Engineering Departments, research into new water treatment technologies will aim at eliminating these antibiotics and pesticides from potable water.

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

(Beyond Pesticides, September 21, 2012) A new French study reports that rats fed a diet of Roundup-tolerant genetically modified (GM) corn had an increased risk of developing tumors, suffering organ damage and dying prematurely. The study is the first animal feeding trial studying the lifetime effects of exposure to Roundup tolerant GM corn and has prompted the European Food Safety Authority to look into the study’s results. However, it is also being criticized by some other scientists who said the methodology was flawed and that other research had not found similar problems.

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

(Beyond Pesticides, September 20, 2012) Raising questions about the adequacy of pesticide regulation, historically and ongoing, Consumer Reports published a new study yesterday that finds “worrisome” levels of inorganic arsenic in rice products. Arsenic is a known human carcinogen. This new report follows its earlier one that finds high levels of arsenic in apple and grape juice. The report finds elevated arsenic levels across organic and conventional products, raising serious questions about widespread environmental and soil contamination from past and continuing arsenical pesticide use.

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

(Beyond Pesticides, September 19, 2012) The environmental news magazine Earth Focus has launched a new video through Link TV that examines the threat of colony collapse disorder (CCD), and the roll that our regulatory systems and industry plays in the loss of honey bees. The video, Killing Bees: Are Government and Industry Responsible?, features interviews by Beyond Pesticides’ Executive Director Jay Feldman, beekeepers Tom Theobald and David Hackenberg, as well as other experts.

(Beyond Pesticides, September 18, 2012) Take Action! On September 25, EPA will close its public comment period for the petition requesting the agency to suspend the bee-killing pesticide clothianidin. The U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has failed to recognize that pollinators face unique hazards from clothianidin, a neonicotinoid pesticide which is linked to disruptions in bee mobility, navigation, and feeding behavior. So far thousands of concerned beekeepers, gardeners, hobbyists and folks like you have told EPA to suspend clothianidin and protect pollinators now!

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

(Beyond Pesticides, September 17, 2012) Citizens in rural Oregon are concerned for their health after discovering that several major timber companies —Weyerhaeuser, Roseburg Resources, Stimson Lumber, Seneca Jones and others— have been spraying millions of pounds of herbicides on their private forestland since the 1970s. The pesticides were aerially sprayed after the area had been clear-cut of Douglas fir. This process of clear-cutting and aerial spraying for lumber production is ubiquitous on private forest land in Oregon’s $13 billion timber industry. In practice, pesticides are sprayed twice a year, usually in the fall and spring, and the spraying can last for several hours. It is unclear how many residents have been affected by the spraying, though a rough estimate based on U.S. Census data shows about 100,000 residents live near these privately owned forests.

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

(Beyond Pesticides, September 14, 2012) The State of Massachusetts has been unable to produce the records backing up its claim that the biggest aerial spraying of pesticides in Commonwealth history this July significantly reduced mosquito-borne disease risks, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Further, the state has no proof aerial spraying is an effective safeguard against Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE).

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

(Beyond Pesticides, September 13, 2012) Are you concerned about industry’s attacks on organic? Do you want to make sure that organic meets your expectations for safety and environmental protection? Do you care about the health of those who grow and harvest the food you eat?

Do you want to keep hazardous synthetic substances out of organic food production and processing? Do you want to ensure that all ingredients, including “inert ingredients,” are reviewed? And that your concerns are heard by regulators through an open process with maximum public input?

If so, then take a few minutes to let the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) and USDA know what you think. Let it be your voice rather than your silence that influences the future of organic as it grows. Submit your comments by September 24, 2012.

Keep Hazardous Synthetics Out of Organic
Your voice is needed to ensure that the NOSB keeps out of organics synthetics that do not meet the core principles and values of organic because they are:
(i) hazardous to the environment or people,
(ii) incompatible with organic principles and systems, and
(iii) not essential and therefore not needed to produce organic food.

These core principles apply across the board to proposals under consideration by the NOSB at its upcoming October 15-18, 2012 meeting and during the public comment period ending September 24, 2012.

In this context, we need your help in order to keep new proposed synthetic substances out of organics:
(i) In crop production –oxidized lignite from coal, sulfuric acid in poultry manure as a fertilizer, PGML as a broad spectrum miticide;
(ii) In livestock production -synthetic amino acids available from natural sources; and
(iii) In handling -synthetic ingredients in infant formula.

And ensure that all ingredients, including so-called “inert” ingredients, are fully evaluated as the organic law requires of all synthetic ingredients.

Improve Public Involvement and Transparency in the Decision Making Process
Make sure that as organic grows,
(i) the public and practitioners are able to inform the decision making process with timely and critical information, as proposed through the public communications recommendation before the NOSB, and
(ii) with full public disclosure by NOSB members of conflicts of interest.

How to Submit Your Comments

Go to the Beyond Pesticides’ Keeping Organic Strong webpage, to read about the issues before the NOSB, see our summary and positions on the issues, and follow the easy instructions and link to ensure your views are counted.

Why Your Voice Is So Important

Organic practices are the solution to pesticide pollution. It is critical, therefore, that public health and environmental advocates, and consumers of organic food protect and strengthen the integrity of organic certification -so that it grows to become the mainstream food production and land management system. More than other areas of standard setting, organic rules are subject to a transparent, public process with the oversight of the National Organic Standards Board. While the board is charged by law with maintaining the National List of allowed substances in organic production and making related recommendations to the Secretary of Agriculture, the board’s decision making process evaluates health and environmental issues, and limits the allowance of any synthetic input to only those deemed essential in a clearly defined organic system.

For more background and suggested language for your comments on organic, see Beyond Pesticides’ Keeping Organic Strong webpage. Submit your comments by September 24th. Thank you!

(Beyond Pesticides, September 12, 2012) Expectant mothers exposed to the pesticide additive piperonyl butoxide (PBO), widely used in synthetic prethroid insecticides and those ending in “thrin” (popular in mosquito spray programs), during pregnancy pass to their children a heightened risk of noninfectious cough at ages 5 and 6, according to researchers at the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health (CCCEH). These findings support the premise that children’s respiratory system is susceptible to damage from toxic exposures during the prenatal period.

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

(Beyond Pesticides, September 11, 2012) Lawn company giant, Scotts Miracle-Gro Co., pleaded guilty to numerous charges of misleading consumers with unapproved labels and falsifying insecticide registrations, including using toxic chemicals in wild bird food. Scotts was ordered to pay $12.5 million in criminal fines, the largest penalty ever set under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

(Beyond Pesticides, September 10, 2012) Traces of pesticides in drinking water were found in eleven rural elementary schools in Oregon, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) study released on August 30. The study shows a disturbing variety of pesticides that when combined could have dramatic impacts on the health of the children that consume this water on a daily basis.
The study found traces of several different types of pesticides in the drinking water of Dixie and Fairplay, the elementary schools that service Corvallis, Oregon.

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

(Beyond Pesticides, September 7, 2012) Yesterday, Beyond Pesticides joined with the Center for Food Safety and the Sierra Club, along with beekeepers from around the country, to file a 60-Day Notice letter with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announcing the intent to jointly sue the agency for Endangered Species Act (ESA) violations. The potential lawsuit highlights EPA’s continuing failure to ensure, through consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, that its numerous product approvals for the neonicotinoid insecticides clothianidin and thiamethoxam are not likely to jeopardize any federally-listed threatened or endangered species.

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.