According to Carol Dansereau, an attorney with the Farm Worker Pesticide Project, and Liesl Zappler, PIRT Panel’s public member, the proposed cuts will eliminate half of the DOH’s Pesticide Program staff. DOH staff-time goes to pesticide incident interviews, toxicology research, sampling, gathering medical and spray records, analyzing and reviewing data, transmitting data, and writing reports including the PIRT report. DOH also works with growers and applicators to prevent accidental poisonings. The proposed DOH budget cuts also explicitly eliminate the PIRT Panel and its reporting requirements even though the PIRT Panel activities costs’ are minimal. Last year, DOH contributed $13,000 to PIRT; and with cuts instituted this year, the total cost is approximately $7,600 for a part-time coordinator. PIRT was created by the Washington State Legislature to address issues of health and environmental impacts from pesticide use and misuse.

PIRT has been under assault from pro-pesticide groups. In addition, controversy has surrounded the Panel’s toxicologist position. Last year, Governor Gregoire appointed Charles Timchalk, Ph.D., a scientist who works with Dow Chemical Company, to the Panel’s toxicologist position instead of reappointing Steven Gilbert, Ph.D., director and founder of the non-profit Institute of Neurotoxicology and Neurological Disorders. (Dr. Gilbert was instrumental in persuading PIRT to endorse pesticide drift monitoring.) After the news media reported on the new appointee’s financial conflicts of interest, he resigned before what would have been his first meeting. For over seven months, Governor Gregoire has left the toxicologist position on the Panel unfilled, despite available candidates without financial conflicts of interest.

“The elimination of PIRT,” states Ms. Dansereau, “is a political move falsely presented as a fiscal measure.”

The proposed budget cuts will also reduce funding for the Washington Poison Center by 50 percent to $1million although it is critical in referring pesticide poisoning cases to DOH. Poison Control Centers produce significant savings to the community by preventing expensive care at emergency rooms, and reducing the length of hospital stays.

“Washington State has one of the best pesticide poisoning surveillance programs in the country, it matches and may even exceed is some aspects California’s excellent program,” states Geoffrey M. Calvert, MD, MPH, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “It’s unfortunate it’s under attack.”

Data compiled from these Washington State programs are vital in establishing a statewide and national perspective on pesticides’ impact on public health and the environment. For instance, a recent multi-state assessment study of acute pesticide poisonings among agricultural workers by Dr. Calvert used data pooled from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) and NIOSH’s Sentinel Event Notification System for Occupational Risks-Pesticides (SENSOR-Pesticides) program, which collects information from ten state health departments, including Washington State’s. The study finds the pesticide poisoning incidence rate among U.S. agricultural workers to be thirty-nine times higher than the incidence rate found in all other industries combined. A 2005 study finding that that students and school employees are poisoned by pesticide use at schools and from drift off of neighboring farmlands also used surveillance data from Washington States’ DOH PIRT program as part of the SENSOR data, CDPR and Toxic Exposure Surveillance System (TESS).

A recently released Rodale Institute research paper, titled “The Organic Green Revolution” and reviewing replicated research, shows that the latest scientific approaches in organic agriculture offer affordable, immediately usable, and universally accessible ways to improve yields and access to nutritional food in developing countries.

A recent report cited in the paper from the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) notes that not only can organic agriculture feed the world but it may be the only way we can solve the growing problem of hunger in developing countries. UNEP states that its extensive study “challenges the popular myth that organic agriculture cannot increase agricultural productivity.” In an analysis of 114 farming projects in 24 African countries, UNEP reports that organic or near-organic practices result in a yield increase of more than 100 percent.

An Organic Green Revolution, using integrated farming practices such as cover crops, organic no-till and composting, not only substantially improves yields but it also protects and restores soil and environmental health.

“Yield data just by itself makes the case for a focused and persistent move to organic farming systems,” explains Tim LaSalle, Ph.D., co-author of the report and CEO of the Rodale Institute, a 60-year-old research and education nonprofit. “When we also consider that organic systems are building the health of the soil, sequestering CO2, cleaning up the waterways, and returning more economic yield to the farmer, the argument for an Organic Green Revolution becomes overwhelming. Since these methods build the soil they also increase drought and flood resistance as well as adaptability to climate change,” Dr. LaSalle added.

The term “Green Revolution” took hold in the 1960s to describe the combination of fertilizer, hybrid varieties and pesticides applied to single-crop fields to achieve maximum yield. Yet “the so-called Green Revolution was anything but green,” says Dr. LaSalle. “Initial production benefits have declined and societal costs increased. A paradigm shift, rather than incremental change, is therefore needed in the way we grow, buy and eat our food. The Organic Green Revolution provides that needed shift.”

A number of independent research studies shows that the commodity-oriented Green Revolution has not, and cannot, feed the world sustainably, the paper reports. Some 923 million people are seriously undernourished, 25,000 people die each day from starvation.

The Rodale Institute paper cites a major 2006 study which assessed results from 286 farms in 57 countries, finding that small farmers increased their crop yields by an average of 79 percent by using environmentally sustainable techniques, including organic farming and crop rotation. Organically managed soils have more physical soil structure, preventing erosion; more permeability, for healthier microorganism growth; and more availability of nutrients, which are vital for crop productivity. Furthermore, these soils sequester carbon in soil from carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, making organic farming the most available strategy to fight global warming.

The data and analyses compiled in the “Organic Green Revolution” report make a compelling case that organic agricultural practices are established, commercially successful and applicable at any scale of operation as shown by farmers across the United States – from family market farms to commercial operations of thousands of acres. Regenerative organic techniques can adapt to virtually any location, make best use of local inputs, and creatively transform carbon-based waste streams into valuable products.

Updating government agricultural policy that currently perpetuates unsustainable practices to a strategy appropriate to these times by providing incentives for ecological restoration could include paying farmers and other land managers for the soil carbon they store rather than the volume of commodities that they produce.

The researchers determined the potential implication of climate change on chemical and pathogen inputs in agricultural systems and explored the effects of climate change on environmental transport and fate of different contaminants. These data were combined to assess the implications of climate change in terms of indirect human exposure to pathogens and chemicals in agricultural systems.

The study concludes that climate change will result in an increase in risks of pathogens and chemicals from agriculture to human health. It will fuel increased use of pesticides and biocides as farming practices intensify. Increased use will lead to increased exposure through food air and water, as well as increased occupational exposure for farmworkers. Extreme weather events will mobilize contaminants from soils and fecal matter, potentially increasing their bioavailability.

According to the researchers, climate change will also affect the fate and transport of pathogens and chemical contaminants in agricultural systems. While increases in temperature and changes in moisture content are likely to reduce the persistence of chemicals and pathogens while changes in hydrological characteristics are likely to increase the potential for contaminants to be transported to water supplies.

This study follows new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) research shows weeds flourishing from increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Lewis Ziska, PhD, and his team of researchers, have found “noxious” weeds to be more adaptable to changing conditions than crops, predicting further growth of their productivity and range in urban and rural areas. Previous research by Dr. Ziska shows that common pollen allergens – including the troublesome ragweed pollen – may be getting worse as a result of global climate change.

The National Toxicology Program (NTP) conducted 2-year drinking water studies of chromium VI (as sodium dichromate dihydrate) in male and female F344/N rats and B6C3F1 mice. Exposure resulted in increased incidences of rare neoplasms of the squamous epithelium that lines the oral cavity (oral mucosa and tongue) in male and female rats, and of the epithelium lining the small intestine in male and female mice. The authors determined that chromium Vi is carcinogenic following administration in drinking water to male and female rats and mice.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) each have previously determined that hexavalent chromium is a known human carcinogen.

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry reports that breathing high levels of hexavalent chromium can cause irritation to the nose, resulting in runny nose, nosebleeds, and ulcers and holes in the nasal septum. Ingesting large amounts of hexavalent chromium can cause stomach upsets and ulcers, convulsions, kidney and liver damage, and even death. Skin contact with certain hexavalent chromium compounds can cause skin ulcers. Allergic reactions consisting of severe redness and swelling of the skin have been noted.

Chromium VI is still used as an ingredient in wood preservatives. Although, as of January 2004, most residential uses of CCA can no longer be manufactured for decks and patios, picnic tables, playground equipment, walkways/boardwalks, landscaping timbers, or fencing- already existing residential CCA-treated wood and structures may continue to be sold and used. Industrial uses, such as utility poles, continue to be manufactured and put workers and the public at risk.

Beyond Pesticides has called for a banning of these heavy duty wood preservatives and said that the voluntary phase-out of residential uses of these chemicals does not adequately protect public health or the environment. Occupational exposures increase the risk of cancers in workers. These chemicals also impact the environment and have been found in surface waters. In fact, the major source of contamination in surface waters and groundwater is wastewater from wood preserving facilities. Individuals living or working near wood preserving facilities are exceptionally susceptible to being exposed to surface water or groundwater, increasing their exposure and risk. These preservatives are also known to leach from previously treated wood. Children are also at risk if they put their unwashed hands in their mouths after touching soil or wood that is contaminated with these preservatives. As a result, public and environmental health continues to be compromised.

The incident reporting website is part of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) webpages. It was developed by the National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC) with input from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Pesticide Program, AVMA’s Clinical Practitioners Advisory Committee and Council on Biologic and Therapeutic Agents “to capture the optimal amount of relevant information using a form that is quick for busy practitioners to fill out.” The data is to be evaluated by EPA.

According to EPA, “Most of the reports of more severe pesticide-related incidents EPA receives are neurological or dermatologic in nature. The reports from veterinarians will help improve the quality of all animal incident data.”

Numerous studies have documented the risk of pesticides to pets over the years. A 1991 National Cancer Institute study, finds that dogs whose owners’ lawns were treated with 2,4-D, four or more times per year, are twice as likely to contract canine malignant lymphoma than dogs whose owners do not use the herbicide. Exposure to herbicide-treated lawns and gardens increases the risk of bladder cancer by four to seven times in Scottish Terriers, according to a study by Purdue University veterinary researchers published in the April 15, 2004 issue of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. Research published in the December 1988 issue of Preventive Veterinary Medicine links hyperthyroidism in cats to flea powders and sprays, lawn pesticides and canned cat food. Allethrin, a common ingredient in home mosquito products (coils, mats, oils and sprays) and other bug sprays, has been linked to liver problems in dogs, according to a 1989 study by the World Health Organization. The 1989 edition W.C. Campbell Toxicology textbook reports that chronic exposure to abamectin, an insecticide often used by homeowners on fire ants can affect the nervous system of dogs and cause symptoms such as pupil dilation, lethargy, and tremors. According to 2004 statistics compiled by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ Animal Poison Control Center, 22% of approximately 880 cases of pet birds being exposed to common household items involved pesticides (including rat bait and insecticides).

“I can think of numerous cases over the years of abnormal neurologic signs in dogs after exposure to ”˜benign’ herbicides and a pretty severe contact dermatitis in a cat after exposure to a pesticide,” states an ER vet in California. “I will try to encourage my colleagues to report any questionable adverse event in the future.”

If you suspect your pet has been poisoned, contact the Animal Poison Control Center at 888-426-4435. Encourage your veterinarian to document the pesticide poisoning through the new AVMA website. To be sure the incident does not go undocumented, complete Beyond Pesticides’ Pesticide Incident Report.

Daily News is taking a holiday break and will return on Friday, January 2, 2009 with restored energy and vision to keep charging ahead. In the meantime, we hope you will tell us your wishes and vision for change in the New Year as we seek to protect health and the environment. Please also consider a contribution to Beyond Pesticides this year. If you have already donated to the Beyond Pesticides’ program, we thank you deeply because you make it possible for us to continue our important work!

While you are writing your wish list for the New Year, consider Beyond Pesticides’ vision for the New Year:

1. Public recognition that it is a human right not to be poisoned by pesticides.

2. Engage residential, medical, public health and health-impacted communities in obtaining a pesticide-free environment and lead the pesticide reform movement.

3. Encourage individuals, institutions, corporations and local governments to routinely use least-toxic pest control methods.

4. Promote better understanding of the connection between chronic health issues, such as cancer, and pesticide exposure by the general public and health care community.

5. Help governments at all levels enact new laws and regulations prohibiting the use of toxic pesticides.

6. Ensure that there is an improved legal recognition of cradle-to-grave impacts of toxic chemicals (from production to use) and responsibility and accountability.

7. Organic integrity is expanded and strengthened.

Production agricultural use dropped by more than 11 million pounds, as did almost every other category. Reports in the state are mandatory for agricultural and pest control business applications, while most home, industrial and institutional uses are exempt.

“While pesticide use varies year to year based on weather conditions, economics, types of crops, acreage planted and other variable factors, the reduction in 2007 reflects the Department of Pesticide’s efforts to promote pest control through a combination of techniques that pose the lowest risk to public health and the environment” said DPR Director Mary-Ann Warmerdam. “I am especially encouraged to see an across-the-board drop in categories of pesticides with the greatest regulatory concern.”

Warmerdam referred to pesticides that have been identified as potential or known carcinogens, reproductive toxins, ground water contaminants, toxic air contaminants and chemicals that disrupt nerve function. All of these high-toxicity categories declined in 2007 as measured both in pounds applied and acreage treated.

DPR analysts noted that dry spring weather conditions in 2007 appear to have been a factor in reducing disease and weed levels and thus the need for pesticides compared with 2006, according to a DPR analysis of major crop applications prepared as part of the summary use data. Insect populations were generally lower in 2007 as well.

In addition to weather conditions, analysts attributed the drop in pesticide use to farmers continuing to do a better job of minimizing pesticide use when possible and shifting to newer products that are less toxic to people and the environment.

No rankings changed from 2006 to 2007 among the top five counties in order of most pesticide pounds applied. Fresno was first, followed by Kern, Tulare, San Joaquin and Madera. All are major producers of agricultural products. Sulfur was the most-used pesticide by total pounds applied. Other well known products like glyphosate, cloropicrin, and methyl bromide were also in the top ten.

Other details from DPR’s 2007 pesticide report compares 2006 and 2007 data:

*Use of organophosphate and carbamate pesticides — most of which are older compounds of high regulatory concern because of their toxicity and detection in surface water – continued to decline. In 2007, they declined by 1.1 million pounds and 756,000 acres treated, or 16 percent and 13 percent, respectively. For example, use of diazinon, an organophosphate insecticide that is mostly used on lettuce, almonds, broccoli and prunes, has been decreasing for years.

*Use of chemicals classified as reproductive toxins declined by 1.9 million pounds and 130,000 acres treated, or 10 percent and 7 percent, respectively. These chemicals are used on a variety crops.
Use of chemicals classified as probable or known carcinogens declined by 2.7 million pounds and 547,000 acres treated, or 10 percent and 15 percent respectively.

*Use of chemicals classified as toxic air contaminants declined by 2.5 million pounds and 452,000 acres treated, or 6.3 percent and 12 percent, respectively. These chemicals are used on a variety crops.

*Use of chemicals classified as ground water contaminants declined by 303,000 pounds and 275,000 acres treated, or 16 percent and 18 percent, respectively. These chemicals are used on a variety crops.

*Use of fumigants decreased by 294,000 pounds, or .8 percent, but acres treated increased by 1,235 acres, or .3 percent. Fumigants are gaseous pesticides that farmers use before planting to control disease, weeds and pests in the soil and mostly are used on strawberry, carrot and processing tomato fields and for structural pest control.

*Use of oil pesticides declined by 4.3 million pounds, or 13 percent, but increased by 118,000 acres treated, or 3.7 percent. Most oils serve as an alternative to high-toxicity pesticides.

Swanson’s Pest Management of Eugene, Oregon sent an employee to a home on June 29, 2005 to apply Conquer Residential Insecticide Concentrate, active ingredient esfenvalerate, and ULD BP-100 Contact Insecticide, active ingredient pyrethrin. The couple returned to their home two and a half hours later and immediately fell to the ground due to the fumes. Paramedics were called in and they too experienced respiratory distress or became ill when they entered the treated home. According to The Oregonian, Florence Kolbeck was 76 years old and died of cardiac arrest as a result of the exposure. Her husband, Fred, was hospitalized for respiratory distress.

The complaint was filed following a review of Swanson’s use of the two pesticides, finding that the company failed to properly ventilate the home prior to the occupants re-entering, and improperly applied Conquer as a “space spray” at nearly three times the allowable rate. All of which are violations of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The U.S. EPA complaint also contains alleged violations pertaining to an application at another residence that took place prior to the application that led to the women’s death. In this case, the applicator allegedly used the same tank mix of pesticides, though no adverse health affects were reported.

A 2006 article in the Seattle Times reported that Swanson’s general manager, Steve Fisher, “said his review of the case showed that the technician sprayed the home as he normally would”¦ ”˜Unfortunate things happen in just about every walk of life.’”

This past March, Fred Kolbeck settled a $2.5 million lawsuit against Swanson’s for an undisclosed amount, according to The Oregonian.

Swanson’s has 30 days from the day they received the U.S. EPA complaint to either arrange a settlement conference, file an answer to the Complaint, or pay the proposed penalty. Swanson’s operation manager, Joan Jensen told The Oregonian, “that the EPA’s allegations are not accurate” and that the “negotiations with the agency are ongoing.”

According to EPA, “The consequences of Swanson’s alleged violations were extremely serious,” yet the federal pesticide law limits the penalty EPA can seek to a maximum of $4,550.

With the phase-out of most residential uses of the common organophosphate insecticides, chlorpyrifos and diazinon, home use of pyrethrins and pyrethroids, such as the ones applied at the Kolbeck home, has increased. According to a 2008 report, pyrethrins and pyrethroids were responsible for more than 26 percent of all major and moderate human incidents involving pesticides in the United States in 2007, up from just 15 percent in 1998 – a 67 percent increase. This is based on an analysis of adverse reaction reports filed with the Environmental Protection Agency by pesticide manufacturers. While pyrethroids have been characterized as less toxic than organophosphates, the number of reported human health problems, including severe reactions and even deaths attributed to pesticides containing pyrethrins and pyrethroids, increased from 261 in 1998 to 1,030 in 2007, nearly a 300 percent increase. Pyrethrins and pyrethroids account for more incidents than any other class of pesticide over the last five years. EPA data shows at least 50 deaths attributed to this supposedly safer class of pesticides since 1992.

Pesticide products containing synthetic pyrethroids are often described by pest control operators as “safe as chrysanthemum flowers.” While pyrethroids are a synthetic version of an extract from the chyrsanthemum plant, they are chemically engineered to be more toxic, take longer to breakdown, and are often formulated with synergists, increasing potency and compromising the human body’s ability to detoxify the pesticide. Pyrethroids may affect neurological development, disrupt hormones, induce cancer, and suppress the immune system. Researchers at Emory University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) find that residential pesticide use represents the most important risk factor for children’s exposure to pyrethroid insecticides.

There are clear established methods for managing homes that prevent infestation of unwanted insects without the use of synthetic chemicals, including exclusion techniques, sanitation and maintenance practices, as well as mechanical and least toxic controls (which include boric acid and diatomaceous earth). Based on the host of health effects linked to pesticides, their use in the home is hazardous and unnecessary. Most pest problems can be solved without toxic pesticides, through sanitation, proper storage of food and trash, exclusion (sealing entryways), traps and non-volatile baits. For detailed information on preventing specific pests, see Beyond Pesticides’ Alternatives Factsheets.

Triclosan is a synthetic, broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent that in recent years has exploded onto the consumer market in a wide variety of antibacterial soaps, deodorants, toothpastes, cosmetics, fabrics, plastics, and other products. Studies link triclosan to a range of health and environmental effects, from skin irritation, allergy susceptibility, bacterial and compounded antibiotic resistant, and dioxin contamination to destruction of fragile aquatic ecosystems.

Many of Beyond Pesticides comments that were submitted on July 7, 2008 were considered and amendments were made to the risk assessment. However, despite many lingering issues related to triclosan continued threat to human and environmental health, the agency concluded that triclosan was eligible for reregistration. This means that the continued and expanding use of this chlorinated, bioaccumulative pesticide, with the ability to produce resistant strains of bacteria and cross resistance with antibiotics, with degradates unaccounted for is set to continue. EPA’s RED says that this is not a concern.

Please see comments on EPA’s Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) for Triclosan. If you’d like to have your organization sign on, please let Nichelle Harriott know by 3:00pm (EST), Monday, December 22, 2008.

Background
In July 2008, over 50 groups and distinguished individuals signed onto comments criticizing the preliminary risk assessment and urging the EPA to reconsider the reregistration of triclosan. Triclosan, which is expected to reach a market value of $930 million by 2009, exploded on to the marketplace in recent years, growing 5 percent annually, in products from soaps, cosmetic and personal care products, toothbrushes and toothpaste, to plastic toys and clothing. EPA believes that levels of concern for triclosan have not been exceeded even though this pervasive chemical is shown to threaten human health and the environment.

In the RED document, EPA acknowledges that triclosan interacts with androgen and estrogen receptors and has effects on thyroid homeostasis in rat studies. The agency also mentions that it is aware of research looking at triclosan’s link to antibacterial and antibiotic resistance. However, the agency continues to be negligent on these serious impacts on public health by stating that it will continue to “monitor the science.” EPA also continues to ignore triclosan’s degradates and has once again failed to conduct any risk assessments for these hazardous chemicals. Methyl triclosan, a degradation product of triclosan, has been found to accumulate in fish, while DCP (2,4-dichlorophenol), another degradation product, is listed as a potential endocrine disruptor by the European Union and is an EPA priority pollutant. EPA also continues to ignore triclosan residues in fish and drinking water. The agency’s approach to these issues are neglectful and an unnecessary threat to human health.

It is clear from the RED document that the EPA conducted its reassessment of triclosan inadequately and improperly. This violates requirements of FIFRA and other federal laws, and would allow widespread use of a substance that is demonstrated threat to human health and the environment.

Please let us know if you’d like to sign-on to the comments.

Also, you can send your own comments (Please send us a copy if you do). Submit your comments, identified by docket identification (ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2007-0513, by one of the following methods:

A coalition of groups, including the Pesticide Action Network Aotearoa New Zealand (PAN ANZ), Soil and Health Association and Safe Food Campaign, have long campaigned for the banning of endosulfan. Earlier this year, the three organizations carried out a number of residue tests on produce to draw attention to the extent of endosulfan residues, especially in tomatoes.

“We are delighted that ERMA has overturned its earlier ”˜proposed’ decision to keep using this pesticide,” stated Meriel Watts, Ph.D., co-coordinator of PAN ANZ. “It would have been deeply embarrassing for New Zealand to continue its use when the pesticide has entered the process for a global ban under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.”

In October the Review Committee of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) agreed that endosulfan meets the screening criteria for a POP, and is now undertaking an assessment preparatory to listing it for a global ban, alongside DDT and its other persistent organochlorine relatives.

“ERMA has made the right decision to get rid of a pesticide that is contaminating the global food supply,” declared Alison White of the Safe Food Campaign. “Endosulfan has been found in body fat, breast milk, placental tissue and umbilical cord blood, largely as a result of residues in food. We would also welcome an urgent reassessment of other hazardous pesticides still used in New Zealand, notably the herbicide 2,4-D and the organophosphate insecticide chlorpyrifos,” she added. “Like endosulfan, these pesticides can have an effect on hormone function even at minute doses. Chlorpyrifos and 2,4-D have both have been linked to brain damage in young animals, embryos and fetuses.”

“Organic foods produced without such pesticides are the fastest growing sector of the food and beverage trade internationally and have been identified as best value products for New Zealand to be exporting,” said Soil and Health Association’s spokesperson Steffan Browning.

The U.S. EPA is currently considering action on endosulfan in response to petitions submitted in February 2008 followed by a legal brief from the Natural Resources Defense Council, technical letters, and some 13,000 individual signatures on petitions. Last May, concerned scientists and public health professionals issued an open letter calling on the U.S. EPA to cancel all uses of endosulfan on the grounds that it is a highly toxic, bioaccumulative, and persistent chemical. In July a broad coalition of groups represented by Earthjustice filed a lawsuit against the U.S. EPA to protect children, farmworkers, and endangered species from endosulfan’s long tail of lingering effects. The coalition also called on EPA to revoke all tolerances for endosulfan even though the agency will not address cancellation until early 2009.

According to the U.S. EPA, annual usage of endosulfan in the U.S. is approximately 1.4 million pounds. Current top uses by volume in the U.S. include cotton, cantaloupe, tomatoes and potatoes. It is registered as an acute toxicity class I (the most toxic) pesticide, and must bear the label “Danger.” Endosulfan affects the nervous system and has been one of the most frequently reported causes of farmworker poisoning. In addition, farmworkers and their children exposed to endosulfan have experienced congenital physical disorders, mental retardation, and death. While farmworkers are the population group most susceptible to the deleterious effects of endosulfan because of their close contact with the toxic chemical, endosulfan also poses a risk to the population at large because of common food, air, and water contamination.

A study released in September confirms that school children in Florida breathe air contaminated by hazardous pesticides, including endosulfan that are drifting from neighboring farms. Air monitoring near South Woods Elementary School in Hastings detected four agricultural chemicals in the air, often at levels that pose unacceptable risks to children. Endosulfan, the pesticide of greatest concern, was found in 87% of the samples, and, on several days, exceeded levels of concern.

Although the Philippines banned the use of endosulfan in 1993, multi-national food companies Dole and Del Monte have maintained exemptions to the ban and continued to use endosulfan in the country. But since the sinking of the ship MV Princess of the Stars, whose cargo hull contained ten tons of endosulfan, these two pineapple growing companies, have agreed to stop using endosulfan on pineapples grown on their plantations in the Philippines beginning next year. The ship capsized and partially sank on June 21 in a typhoon, killing nearly 800 people onboard. In the wake of that tragedy, leaders in the Philippine government called for an end to endosulfan exemptions granted to foreign companies.

Endosulfan is an organochlorine pesticide, in the same family as DDT and lindane, and bioaccumulates and has been found in places as far from point of use as the arctic. Acute poisoning can cause headaches, nausea, vomiting, convulsions, and in extreme cases, unconsciousness and even death. It is also a suspected endocrine disruptor, affecting hormones and reproduction in aquatic and terrestrial organisms. At low levels of exposure in the womb have been linked to male reproductive harm, and other birth defects. Preliminary research from the California Department of Public Health into birth records and pesticide data reveal that mothers who were within 500 meters of fields sprayed with organochlorine pesticides during their first trimester of pregnancy are six times more likely to have children with autism compared to mothers who did not live near the fields.

Endosulfan mixed with other insecticides 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 by Rick Relyea, Ph.D. 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. Dr. Relyea also discovered that endosulfan is inordinately deadly to leopard frog tadpoles. By itself, the chemical caused 84 percent of the leopard frogs to die. This lethality was previously unknown because current regulations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) do not require amphibian testing. His results show that endosulfan was not only highly toxic to leopard frogs, but also that it served as the key ingredient of the pesticide mixture that eliminated the bulk of leopard frog tadpoles.

The study, to be published in the December 15th issue of the American Chemical Society’s journal, Analytical Chemistry, and entitled, “Determination of Pesticide Residues in Fruit-Based Soft Drinks,” screened for approximately 100 pesticides in fruit-based soft drinks purchased from 15 different countries from companies with brands distributed worldwide and found relatively large concentration levels of pesticides in most of the samples analyzed. The detected pesticides included carbendazim, thiabendazole, imazalil and its main degradate, prochloraz and its main degradate, malathion, and iprodione. These pesticides are normally applied to crops as post harvest treatments.

The researchers found relatively large concentrations of pesticides, in the micrograms per liter (ug/l) range, in most of the samples analyzed. Samples from Spain and the U. K. had the highest levels of pesticides, while samples from the U. S. and Russia were among the lowest. Many international brands are imported into the United States.

While pesticide regulations in the United States and the European Union set limits for pesticide levels found in fruits, vegetables and drinking water, little attention is paid to the presence of pesticides in to highly consumed derivate products, such as soft drinks made from fruits. The researchers of this study are concerned about the possible impact of pesticide-containing fruit juices on the health of children, who tend to consume large amounts of such soft drinks. Pound for pound, children take in more pesticides relative to their body weight than adults in the food they eat. The body of evidence in scientific literature shows that pesticide exposure can adversely affect a child’s neurological, respiratory, immune, and endocrine system, even at low levels.

In the United States, under the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must assess the cumulative risks of pesticides including exposures from food and drinking water and set chemical tolerances (the maximum amount of pesticide residue allowed to remain on food products) for pesticides. However, the cumulative effects of these allowed pesticide residues are not fully evaluated, nor are cumulative exposures to a mixture of many different pesticides and other toxics.

TAKE ACTION: Go Organic: Studies have found that diet is the primary route of exposure to pesticides, especially in children, and that switching to an organic diet decreases exposure substantially. The most important organic food products to purchase for children are those that they consume in great quantity. For example, if children drink a lot of juice, purchasing organic juice is particularly important to reduce their pesticide exposure.

Following the Environmental Protection Agency’s phase-out agreements with the manufacturers of organophosphate insecticides chlorpyrifos and diazinon in 2000 and 2001, the Columbia University researchers sought to determine the impact of the new regulations on pest infestation levels, pesticide use, and pesticides measured in indoor air samples. They enrolled 511 pregnant women from inner-city New York between 2000 and 2006. Permethrin, a pyrethroid insecticide; PBO, a pyrethroid synergist; chlorpyrifos; and diazinon were measured in 48-hr prenatal personal air samples. Data on pest infestation and pesticide use were collected via questionnaire.

88% of women report using pesticides during pregnancy and 55% report using higher-exposure pesticide applications (spray cans, pest bombs and/or professional pesticide applicators). Self-reported pest sightings and use of higher-exposure applications increased significantly after the regulations were implemented. PBO, cis-, and trans-permethrin were detected in 75, 19, and 18% of personal air samples, respectively. Detection frequencies of PBO and cis- and trans-permethrin increased significantly during this time period. Levels and/or detection frequencies of these compounds are significantly higher among mothers reporting use of high exposure pesticide applications. Chlorpyrifos and diazinon levels decrease significantly during this time.

PBO, a highly toxic substance that causes a range of short- and long-term effects, including cancer and adverse impacts on liver function and the nervous system, is one of the most commonly used synergists in pesticide products. Synergists are chemicals added to pesticide formulations to enhance the toxicity of the active ingredients. PBO is frequently used, especially in aerosol products and mosquito sprays, to increase the potency of pyrethrin and synthetic pyrethroids, as well as other types of insecticides. Products generally contain between five to ten times as much PBO as pesticide product active ingredient. PBO has been associated with decreased liver function.

Permethrin is a possible human carcinogen and exposure is linked to possible endocrine disruption, immunotoxicity, neurotoxicity and reproductive effects. It is also highly toxic to fish, aquatic organisms, and bees.

“This is one of the first studies examining the effects of real-world contaminant mixtures on growth and development in wildlife,” said study lead author David Ostrach, a research scientist at the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences. “If the fish living in this water are not healthy and are passing on contaminants to their young, what is happening to the people who use the water, are exposed to the same chemicals or eat the fish?…We should be asking hard questions about the nature and source of these contaminants, as well as acting to stop the ongoing pollution and mitigate these current problems.”

The new study, published online by the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is one of a series of reports by UC Davis researchers on investigations they began in 1988. Their goal is to better understand the reasons for plummeting fish populations in the estuary, an enormous California region that includes the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and San Francisco Bay.

The estuary is one of the world’s most important water supplies for urban use and agriculture, and is also one of the most contaminated aquatic ecosystems. The ominous decline in estuary populations of striped bass, delta smelt, longfin smelt and threadfin shad, named the “pelagic organism decline,” or POD, by the region’s environmental scientists, was first reported at the turn of the century. The UC Davis lab is part of the multi-agency POD research team and charged with understanding contaminant effects and other environmental stressors on the entire life cycle of striped bass. The new study details how the research team caught gravid female striped bass in the Upper Sacramento River, then compared the river fishes’ eggs and hatchlings (larvae) to offspring of identical but uncontaminated fish raised in a hatchery.

Studies of striped bass are useful because, first, they are a key indicator of San Francisco Estuary ecosystem health and, second, because contaminant levels and effects in the fish could predict the same in people. In the river-caught fishes’ offspring, the UC Davis researchers found harmful amounts of PBDEs, PCBs and 16 pesticides, including commonly used agricultural chemicals such as chlorpyrifos, and others banned decades ago, such as dieldren and DDT.

The compounds identified are known to cause myriad problems in both young and adult organisms, including skeletal and organ deformities and dysfunction; changes in hormone function (endocrine disruption); and changes in behavior. Some of the effects are permanent. Furthermore, according to the researchers, when the compounds are combined, the effects can be increased by several orders of magnitude.

“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 water in an Olympic-sized pool.

“Low level detection does not necessarily indicate a concern to human health, but rather indicates what types of chemicals we can expect to find in different areas of the country,” said USGS lead scientist, Gregory Delzer. “Recent scientific advances have given USGS scientists the analytical tools to detect a variety of contaminants in the environment at low concentrations; often 100 to 1,000 times lower than drinking-water standards and other human-health benchmarks.” Pesticides, however, have been found to cause long-term health effects from even very low doses and in combination. For more, see “Facing Scientific Realities: Debunking the ‘Dose Makes the Poison’ Myth.”

Testing sites include the White River in Indiana; Elm Fork Trinity River in Texas; Potomac River in Maryland; Neuse River in North Carolina; Chattahoochee River in Georgia; Running Gutter Brook in Massachusetts; Clackamas River in Oregon; Truckee River in Nevada; and Cache La Poudre in Colorado. The populations in communities served by these water treatment plants vary from 3,000 to over a million.

This study is among the first by the USGS to report on a wide range of chemicals found before and after treatment. The full source-water quality assessment and listing of chemicals are available online, as well as Mr. Delzer’s presentation from a December 5 press conference.

Chemicals included in this study serve as indicators of the possible presence of a larger number of commonly used chemicals in rivers, streams, and drinking water. The most commonly detected chemicals in the source water are herbicides, disinfection by-products, and fragrances. Herbicides include atrazine, metalachlor, and simizine. Many of these chemicals are among those often found in ambient waters of 186 rivers and streams sampled by USGS since the early 1990s, and are highly correlated with the presence of upstream wastewater sources or upstream agricultural and urban land use.

Measured concentrations of chemicals detected in both source and treated water were generally less than 0.1 part per billion. Although potential human-health effects and risk are not assessed in this study, USGS takes the position that adverse effects to human health is negligible based on comparisons of measured concentrations and available human-health benchmarks. Other scientists point to health effects associated low level exposures well below regulatory standards set by government and acknowledge serious and troubling uncertainties or unanswered questions associated with human health and environmental impact.

More than 75 percent of source- and treated-water samples in this study contained 5 or more chemicals. The common occurrence of chemical mixtures means that the total combined toxicity may be greater than that of any single contaminant present. The USGS report identifies the need for continued research because the additive or synergistic effects on human health of mixtures of synthetic chemicals at low levels are not well understood or regulated. The study also did not look at implications to ecosystems or aquatic health.

USGS findings are used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the States, utilities and many nongovernmental agencies to help protect streams and watersheds that serve as water supplies and to guide those involved in decisions on treatment processes in the future.

The USGS is a non-regulatory agency which often monitors the quality of available, untreated water resources. These studies begin to relate the quality of these resources to drinking water. USGS studies are intended to complement drinking-water monitoring required by Federal, State, and local programs, which focus primarily on post-treatment compliance monitoring.

The study, entitled, “The effects of triclosan on puberty and thyroid hormones in male wistar rats,” was reviewed by the National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and approved for publication in Toxicological Sciences. Researchers measured blood concentrations of testosterone and several other types of hormones and weighed a variety of organs that are essential for rat development and puberty, including the pituitary gland, the testes, the prostate gland and the liver of male rat pups fed an oral dose of triclosan for 31 days. The purpose of the experiment was to determine what effects triclosan would have on concentrations of thyroid hormones and the onset of puberty.

Results show a dramatic decrease in the thyroid hormone -thyroxine in rats exposed to increasing concentrations of triclosan, as well as significant increases in liver weights. This thyroid hormone is critical for normal development and to a properly functioning metabolism. When the thyroid produces lower than normal amounts of hormones, hypothyroidism occurs and this condition can lead to obesity, goiter, infertility, neurological problems and other serious concerns. Hypothyroidism during early development can change reproductive tract development, hormone concentrations and sexual maturation, including puberty onset. It is unclear whether triclosan acts directly on the thyroid gland to interfere with hormone production. Enlarged livers, observed in the exposed rats, may indicate excessive stress on the liver to remove triclosan from the body. Stressed livers enlarge to accommodate the higher production of the enzymes needed to detoxify substances.

Triclosan is found in a variety of household products and has been detected in human blood, urine and even breast milk. This study’s findings raise further concern for adverse impacts on humans. Although this study used rats, the similarities in how the thyroid systems between rats and humans function raises concerns as to whether people could share the same physiological fate. Conversely, it takes a far greater dose of a chemical to alter a rat’s biology than it would to change a human’s; so although the concentrations evaluated in this study were higher than normal human exposure, it is possible that the low doses that humans are currently exposed to are enough to cause similar problems.

Triclosan’s association with hormone disruption has been documented in other studies and has also been observed in amphibians. In a recent risk assessment conducted by the EPA for the reregistration of triclosan, the agency, after reviewing this study and others, agreed that there is “evidence that triclosan disrupts thyroid hormone homeostasis and interacts with the androgen and estrogen receptors.”

In comments submitted to EPA in July 2008 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, the agency was urged to use its authority to cancel the non-medical uses of the antibacterial chemical triclosan in order to protect human health and the environment. However, despite these comments and the mounting evidence against triclosan’s safety and efficacy, the agency approved triclosan and triclosan-registered products for reregistration in September. The Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) document is open for public comment until December 29, 2008. To view EPA’s documents click here.

TAKE ACTION: Let EPA know that it is not doing all it could to protect public health and the environment from the serious and long-lasting impacts of the continued and unnecessary use of triclosan. Submit your comments at www. regulation.gov using docket number ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-2007-0513 no later than December 29, 2008. Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.

You can also send your comments via mail to the Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) Regulatory Public Docket (7502P), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001.

Of the pesticides that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has registered for use on Christmas trees, most are linked to one or more adverse effects, including cancer, hormonal disruption, neurotoxicity, organ damage, reproductive/birth defects, asthma, environmental effects and more. Their use results in exposure to workers, wildlife, and waterways. Beyond Pesticides has compiled a list of 25 pesticides commonly used or recommended for use by state agricultural extension services, including: 2,4-D, bifenthrin, chlorpyrifos, diazinon, esfenvalerate, glyphosate, simazine and more.

Oregon, North Carolina, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Washington, New York, and Virginia are the nation’s top Christmas tree producing states, and together account for more than half of the trees grown in the U.S. The Cooperative Extension Service of North Carolina reports that glyphosate -a pesticide linked to increased risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and other health issues- was applied to nearly 90 percent of the state’s trees in the 2006 season, the most recent data collected by the state.

Because of concerns about household exposure, Christmas tree growers have been advised by North Carolina officials to use only pesticides “labeled for spraying in the home” after the trees have been harvested. However, the law establishes no such restriction and these pesticides are linked to respiratory and neurological effects. Many of the pesticides registered for Christmas trees have been banned or have always been prohibited in residential settings. While continuing to be used on Christmas trees, chlorpyrifos (Dursban), for example, was taken off the market in 2000 for home use because of its neurotoxic effects.

A Sense of Wonder: Rachel Carson’s love of the natural world and her fight to defend it, written by and starring Kaiulani Lee, is now available on DVD. Using many of Ms. Carson’s own words, Kaiulani Lee embodies this extraordinary woman in a documentary style film, which depicts Rachel Carson in the final year of her life. Struggling with cancer, Ms. Carson recounts with both humor and anger the attacks by the chemical industry, the government, and the press as she focuses her limited energy to get her message to Congress and the American people.

The film is an intimate and poignant reflection of Rachel Carson’s life as she emerges as America’s most successful advocate for the natural world. A Sense of Wonder was shot in HD by Oscar-winning cinematographer Haskell Wexler at Ms. Carson’s cottage on the coast of Maine.

Rachel Carson has been called the “patron saint” of the modern environmental movement. The Atlantic has listed her as one of the 40 most influential figures in American history. Praising Ms. Carson and her work, Al Gore wrote that, “Without [Silent Spring], the environmental movement might have been long delayed or never developed at all.”

As a scientist, a writer, and a woman, Rachel Carson has inspired generations. As an activist she fought governmental negligence and unbridled corporate interest. Through her scientific integrity and elegant prose she became one of the 20th Century’s most prescient scientific authors. And as an individual she battled economic adversity, family tragedy, and gender stereotyping. Ms. Carson reminds us that we each have not only the ability to make a creative difference in this world””we also have the responsibility to do so.

Rachel Carson graduated from Pennsylvania College for Women (now Chatham College), worked several summers at the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory, and then earned her Master’s in zoology from Johns Hopkins University. Ms. Carson worked for what was to become the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a writer and biologist for nearly 16 years. In 1962, she delivered her seminal work, Silent Spring, which alerted the world to the dangers of chemical pesticides and launched our modern environmental movement.

The stage version of A Sense of Wonder, written and performed by Kaiulani Lee, has been touring the United States for sixteen years. The play has been the centerpiece of regional and national conferences on conservation, education, journalism, and the environment. She has performed it at over one hundred universities, the Smithsonian Institute, the Albert Schweitzer Conference at the United Nations, the Sierra Club’s Centennial in San Francisco, the Department of the Interior’s 150th anniversary celebration, and in May 2007 Ms. Lee performed the play on Capitol Hill, bringing Miss Carson’s voice, once again, to the halls of Congress.

From 1998 to 2005, a total of 3,271 cases of acute occupational pesticide-related illness/injury among agricultural workers were identified in ten states. According to EPA, the Worker Protection Standards are designed to reduce the risk of injury or illness to agricultural field workers resulting from exposure to pesticides. Although the WPS was expanded in 1995 and in 2005 EPA developed a new WPS How to Comply (HTC) Manual, the NIOSH findings indicate that agricultural workers continue to have an elevated risk for acute pesticide poisoning. Furthermore, female agricultural workers experienced nearly twice the risk of pesticide poisoning of male agricultural workers. The most common factors that contributed to pesticide exposure included off-target drift, early reentry into a treated area, and use in conflict with the pesticide label. The study concludes that “[T]he rates provided should be considered low estimates of the magnitude of acute pesticide poisoning among agricultural workers.”

According to the lead author of the report, Geoffrey Calvert, MD, MPH, “The NIOSH findings reinforce the need for heightened efforts to better protect farmworkers from pesticide exposure. EPA is currently in the process of revising the Worker Protection Standard. The findings in this paper can help inform EPA about the most problematic risk factors that need to be targeted by the WPS.”

The study findings show that more than half of the pesticide poisoning incidents are attributed to insecticides, either by themselves or in combination with other pesticides) and just barely over half of incidents involved exposure to the most toxic category of pesticides by EPA, Toxicity Category I.

The 17 pesticides most commonly implicated in the study data include: sulfur, metam-sodium, glyphosate, chlorpyrifos, sodium hypochlorite, methamidophos, abamectin, imidacloprid, methomyl, myclobutanil, propargite, spinosad, methyl bromide, dimethoate, malathion, and diazinon.

The data was pooled from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation and NIOSH’s Sentinel Event Notification System for Occupational Risks-Pesticides (SENSOR-Pesticides) program, which collects information from ten state health departments. According to the study, 87 percent of poisoning incidents were of low severity illness, 12 percent were of medium severity, less than one percent was of high severity and one case was fatal. The criteria for each definition are stated in the study: “Low severity illness/ injury consist of illnesses and injuries that generally resolve without treatment and where minimal time (<3 days) is lost from work. Such cases typically manifest as eye, skin and/or upper respiratory irritation. Moderate severity illness/injury consists of nonlife-threatening health effects that are generally systemic and require medical treatment. No residual disability is detected, and time lost from work is less than 6 days. High severity illness/injury consists of life threatening health effects that usually require hospitalization, involve substantial time lost from work (>5 days), and may result in permanent impairment or disability.”

This past summer, Beyond Pesticides reported that EPA, which has long been criticized for its abysmal record of instituting and enforcing even the most basic human health protections from pesticides for those who are responsible for planting and harvesting much of the nation’s food, announced that, “Through recent settlements with four Puerto Rico farms, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is sending a message to farm owners that protecting their workers must be their first priority.” On January 19, 2007, EPA assessed the second highest penalty for violating worker protection provisions of U.S. pesticide laws to an agricultural company based in Puerto Rico. According to the EPA, Martex Farms has been ordered to pay a total penalty of $92,620 by EPA’s Administrative Law Judge (ALJ).

The study, “Biological effects of transgenic maize NK603xMON810 fed in long term reproduction studies in mice,” was sponsored by the Austrian Ministry of Health, Families, and Youth, and led by Dr. Jürgen Zentek, Professor of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Vienna.

Three series of experiments were done. The first was a multigeneration feeding trial in which the mice were fed and bred for four successive generations, beginning with the parents that were fed the diets from birth. The second was a multi-cycle breeding trial lasting 20 weeks in which breeding pairs of mice were fed beginning one week prior to co-habitation until the end of experiment, and allowed to go through four breeding cycles in the same generation. The third was a life-term trial involving feeding the mice without breeding from conception (via the pregnant mothers) to their eventual death.

The researchers report that it was not possible to obtain a GE test crop plus parental line from the agro-business companies, which was why the test diets consisting of 33 percent GE corn had to be compared with a non-GE corn variety (also at 33 percent) that was closely related to the GE corn. Both were grown under identical conditions. The GE corn was the transgene hybrid NK603 x MON810 containing three gene cassettes, two conveying glyphosate herbicide tolerance and one insect resistance coding for endotoxin Cry1Ab. The transgenic protein was estimated to be 0.11-0.24 microgram per gram of fresh grain.

In the multigeneration study, the parental generation was fed since birth with either GE or non-GE corn diet, and four generations were bred. Less pups were born in successive generations in both control and GE-fed mice. But the controls tended to do better than GE fed. The average litter size and weight as well as number of weaned pups were greater in the non-GE corn group, although the difference was not statistically significant.

Over all generations, about twice as many pups were lost in the GE group as compared with the control group (14.59 percent vs. 7.4 percent). More litters with eight or more pups were seen in the control compared with GE group. And a greater number of pups were lost at weaning in the GE fed.

Comparison of organ weights did not indicate direct dietary effects in the multigeneration study, except for the kidneys. Kidney weight of females in the GE-fed group were significantly lower in the F2, F3 and F4 generations than controls; and males in the GE-fed group also had significantly lower kidney weight than controls in the F2 generation

The electron microscope investigations revealed differences in the liver cells indicative of reduced core metabolism in the GE-fed mice. In addition, DNA microarray analyses showed important differences in gene expression between both groups fed non-GE corn and the group fed GE corn.

In the multi-cycle breeding trial, the same differences between GE-fed and controls were evident and reached statistically significant levels in the 3rd and 4th litters. There were clearly fewer and smaller litters in the GE-fed mice.

The average number of pups born was always lower in the GE fed but did not reach statistical significance before the 3rd and 4th deliveries. The number of pups at weaning was also always smaller in the GE-fed group. Over all the deliveries, more pups were born in the controls than in the GE group (1035 vs. 844).

Consistent with these findings, the life-term feeding trial showed no significant differences in the average life-span of the GE-fed mice compared with controls.

“This meticulous study suggests that a popular type of genetically engineered corn may harbor fertility-reducing substances,” said Bill Freese, Science Policy Analyst at the Center for Food Safety and co-author of a peer-reviewed study on GE crop regulation. “It’s no surprise to us that U.S. regulators did not catch this. None of our regulatory agencies require any long-term animal feeding trials before allowing genetically engineered crops on the market.”

The Center notes that the GE corn used in the study (NK603 x MON810) was developed by the Monsanto Company, and is sold under the brand names YieldGard (Plus)/Roundup Ready. Monsanto’s figures show that U.S. plantings of this GE corn have exploded in recent years, from just 2.2 million acres in 2002 to 38.2 million acres in 2008[2]. The corn is a so-called “stacked” variety with two traits: the Roundup Ready trait allows the corn to survive direct spraying with Roundup herbicide, while a built-in insecticide kills certain above-ground insect pests.

The Center further notes that U.S. regulators allow biotech companies to cross GE crops at will to develop “stacked” crops with virtually any combination of traits without any regulatory oversight, despite expert warnings that stacked crops may pose special risks.

“This study should serve as a wake-up call to governments around the world that genetically engineered foods could cause long-term health damage,” said Andrew Kimbrell, Executive Director of the Center for Food Safety. “The Center calls upon national and international authorities to place a moratorium on the distribution of GE products for human consumption unless or until their safety can be undeniably established.”

“We hope this study will finally persuade the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to completely overhaul its ”˜rubber-stamp’ regulatory process,” added Mr. Freese. “The FDA must stop letting biotech companies self-certify their GE crops as safe, and instead establish strict, mandatory testing requirements, including long-term animal feeding trials, for every GE crop,” he added.

For more information on GE crops, see Beyond Pesticides Genetic Engineering program page

The study, entitled, “Determinants of Health Insurance Status for Children of Latino Immigrant and Other US Farm Workers,” documents the findings of the U.S. Department of Labor’s National Agricultural Workers Survey which was administered to a total of 3136 parents with children younger than 18 years. The objective of the study was to characterize the health insurance status of farm workers’ children, which is currently an understudied topic. Researchers found that thirty-two percent of all farm worker parents, including 45% of migrant-worker parents, reported that their children were uninsured.

Farm workers’ children are uninsured at roughly 3 times the rate of all other children and almost twice the rate of those at or near the federal poverty level. Children were more likely to be uninsured if their parents were older, had less education, had spent less time in the U.S. and lived in the Southeast or Southwest, the study found. Researchers also noted that Mexican-American migrant children who travel across the U.S. with their parents are two to three times more likely to be in poor or fair health than non-migrant Mexican-American children.

“Health insurance improves children’s access to and use of health care services, making children’s health insurance an important proxy for children’s health care access,” wrote co-author Dr. Roberto L. Rodriguez, of the University of Texas Medical Branch, Austin and Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas, and colleagues.

“Our findings highlight the particular vulnerability of U.S. farm workers’ children regarding health insurance coverage,” the study authors wrote. “These findings have important policy implications. They suggest that the low parental education among many farm workers as well as more recent immigration, which may in part reflect acculturation, negatively affect their children’s health insurance status.”

The authors recommend that programs aimed at extending insurance coverage for children should consider the unique social barriers that characterize this vulnerable population of US children. Moreover, there is significant regional variation that may reflect varying levels of insurance resources and eligibility from state to state.

“These social disadvantages may warrant increased efforts to enroll and retain eligible children in health insurance programs. Outreach efforts would need to consider other barriers that impede insurance enrollment and retention, such as the complexity of applications, language barriers, the inaccessibility of enrollment sites in rural areas and parents’ fear of using services or misunderstanding of eligibility guidelines,” Rodriguez and colleagues concluded.

Farm workers are among the groups most at risk for pesticide poisoning and long term impacts from these chemicals. Their families can be exposed to pesticides through contact with them and their clothing. Pregnant women working in the fields unwittingly expose their unborn babies to toxic pesticides. Farmworkers’ children are exposed to pesticides and often do dangerous agricultural work themselves. Statistics on poisoning drastically underestimate the true number of poisonings, since many cases are never reported for a myriad reasons including lack of insurance, rising health care costs that have heightened reluctance to seek medical attention, misdiagnosis from medical professionals and failure of workers to report incidences due to their legal status. Nevertheless, many have taken up the fight to protect the health of farmworkers.

For more on the health risks farm workers face, read Baldemar Velasquez’s article in Pesticides and You entitled “Oppression and Farmworker Health in a Global Economy.”

The resolution does not set specific quotas for areas to be set aside as safe havens for bees, but its main proponent, British Member of Parliament Neil Parish, says he hopes European governments promote the creation of enough recovery zones within their borders to transform at least 1 percent of the continent’s cultivated areas into havens for bees.

“They are just grassy lands left uncultivated and unfertilized, where flowers can grow freely, to the benefit of insects who feed on them,” says Raffaele Cirone, president of the Federation of Italian Beekeepers. “Leaving areas uncultivated is part of the farming and beekeeping tradition in Italy and many other European countries.”

The resolution also promotes the idea of “compensation zones,” which would be cultivated with protein-rich flowers. Poor nutrition from monoculture crops is believed to be one factor contributing to bee population decline. The use of pesticides in many modern agricultural practices has also reduced the amount of bee-friendly landscapes, according to scientists. Switzerland already has a law setting mandatory quotas of “environmental compensation zones,” ranging from 1 to 2 percent of cultivated areas.

“In the past two decades, the improper use of pesticides has forced most of us to leave the areas close to cultivated fields and to move to the hills,” says Mr. Cirone, who is also a beekeeper. He welcomed the EU measure because it would encourage farmers to go back to traditional practices that benefit bees. “It’s the least we can do if we want to stop this emergency.”

The rapid decline of bee populations, also known as colony collapse disorder or CCD, continues to baffle scientists. Discovered by U.S. beekeepers two years ago, CCD has since spread across much of Western Europe. The causes of the disorder are not thoroughly understood but several suspects have been named including pesticides, mites, pathogens and even climate change. Some studies have pointed to a lack of nutritional food for bees. Certain kinds of flowers, including white clover and wild mustard, produce nectar that is particularly rich in protein and other nutrients that are useful to the well-being of insects, according to research. However, the cultivation of crops and vegetables that are favored by humans, but poor in nutritious nectars has deprived bees of a major protein source.

Europe-wide, an estimated $1.25 billion in agriculture has already disappeared with the bees. Many fruit and vegetable crops — from almonds and pears to soybeans and cucumbers — depend on bees for pollination. In fact, about three-quarters of all food grown in Europe is somehow dependent on bees. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) says that one out of every three mouthfuls of food is dependent on bee pollination, and globally up to two-thirds of all major crops relies on pollination, mainly by bees.

For more on CCD and the plight of the bees, read “Pollinators and Pesticides” published in the Fall 2008 issue of Pesticides and You.

Tributyltin affects sensitive receptors in the cells of animals, from water fleas to humans, at very low concentrations–a thousand times lower than pollutants that are known to interfere with sexual development of wildlife species. Tributyltin and its relatives are highly toxic to mollusks, causing female snails to develop male sexual characteristics, and it bioaccumulates in fish and shellfish. Recent research has found it in deep-sea squids and octopods, and it has been banned for maritime use by an international treaty.

The harmful effects of the chemical on the liver and the nervous and immune systems in mammals are well known, but its powerful effects on the cellular components known as retinoid X receptors (RXRs) in a range of species are a recent discovery. When activated, RXRs can migrate into the nuclei of cells and switch on genes that cause the growth of fat storage cells and regulate whole body metabolism; compounds that affect a related receptor often associated with RXRs are now used to treat diabetes. RXRs are normally activated by signaling molecules found throughout the body.

The BioScience article, by Taisen Iguchi and Yoshinao Katsu, of the Graduate University for Advanced Studies in Japan, describes how RXRs and related receptors are also strongly activated by tributyltin and similar chemicals. Tributyltin impairs reproduction in water fleas through its effects on a receptor similar to the RXR. In addition, tributyltin causes the growth of excess fatty tissue in newborn mice exposed to it in utero. The effects of tributyltin on RXR-like nuclear receptors might therefore be widespread throughout the animal kingdom.

The researchers discovered the mechanisms by which the UPS is impaired, showing that ziram and structurally related dithiocarbamates inhibit E1 ligase (a protein activating enzyme). Ziram is also found to increase alpha-synuclein (a protein expressed in the central nervous system) levels and selectively damages dopaminergic neurons in vitro. The study also cites unpublished data from a population-based study in central California that is determining pesticide exposure using state application registry, finding that individuals living within 500 meters of where ziram is applied are at three times the increased risk of developing Parkinson’s compared to those with lower exposure.

The second most common neurodegenerative disease affecting more than one million people in the U.S., Parkinson’s occurs when nerve cells in the substantia nigra region of the brain are damaged or destroyed and can no longer produce dopamine, a nerve-signaling molecule that helps control muscle movement. Individuals exposed to chemicals that have a particular affinity for the substantia nigra region of the brain are at risk for developing the disease.

This study builds on the existing body of evidence of animal data and epidemiological studies that links exposure to pesticides, as well as gene-pesticide interactions, to Parkinson’s. Published case-control studies show a statistically significant association and elevated odds-ratio (that determine the elevated disease rate above the norm of 1.0) for the disease and exposure to pesticides. A Harvard School of Public Health study of more than 140,000 adults found that those exposed to long-term, low levels of pesticides had a 70 percent higher incidence of Parkinson’s. Rural residency, well water consumption, and farming are all correlated with an increased incidence of developing Parkinson’s. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association finds a 70 percent increased risk of developing Parkinson’s for individuals that use pesticides in their home and a 50 percent increased risk for garden insecticides.

The United Nation’s World Health Organization report on children’s heightened vulnerability to chemical exposures at different periods of their growth and development states that “neurotoxic insults during development that result in no observable phenotype at birth or during childhood could manifest later in life as earlier onset of neurodegenerative diseases such as [PD].” Several studies show that exposure in utero, post-natal or in childhood affect the substantia nigra causing direct damage or increasing the susceptibility to additional exposures and neurodegenerative damage in adulthood. In addition, a number of genes are linked to Parkinson’s as they interact with toxic chemicals in such a way that they may not cause the disease directly, but cause subtle changes in the genes that can make individuals more or less likely to develop the disease later in life.

Although implicating specific pesticides is difficult in epidemiological studies, toxicological lab studies have been better apt to identifying specific pesticides linked to Parkinson’s. These studies have identified the mechanisms by which pesticides lead to Parkinson’s, such as protein aggregation (alpha-synuclein), effects on the striatal dopminergic system and altered dopamine levels, mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress.

This new UCLA study builds on existing data that shows that exposure to dithiocarbamates are linked to Parkinson’s disease. For example, Wang et al. found that ziram shows inhibitory effects on proteasome activities at low concentrations. Other dithiocarbamates, such as the fungicides mancozeb and maneb and the herbicide diethyldithiocarbamate, are implicated as well in published studies.

Besides being a neurotoxin, ziram is listed by the U.S. EPA as a likely human carcinogen, and is linked to reproductive effects and is a suspected endocrine disruptor. Ziram is mainly used on agriculture (mostly on almonds, peaches, nectarines, pears and grapes) but is also used on ornamentals and in landscape management. Ziram can be found in dog and cat repellents and microbiocides. Earlier this year, EPA was seeking public comments on a proposed list of 104 possible drinking water contaminants, one of which is ziram, that are currently unregulated and are known or anticipated to occur in public water systems and may require regulation (See Daily News Blog.)

Lea Brooks, assistant director of communications, stated in an article in The Fresno Bee highlighting the study that “The California Department of Pesticide Regulation has placed a high priority on assessing the risk of ziram.”

Take Action: Now let’s hold them accountable. Let the U.S. EPA Administrator and Deputy Administrator know that they have a duty to alert the public to the scientific findings that link pesticides with Parkinson’s. Urge these U.S. EPA officials to initiate an urgent and expedited review of pesticides’ link to Parkinon’s. Also let your elected members of Congress know how you feel. In addition, learn how you can protect your family, community and environment from the effects of pesticide sin food and water, at home, on lawns, parks and gardens, in schools, hospitals and other public buildings through resources available from Beyond Pesticides.

For more information on pesticides’ link to Parkinson’s disease, see Beyond Pesticides report Pesticides Trigger Parkinson’s Disease.