(Beyond Pesticides, May 31, 2012) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene have enrolled Maryland households in a study that involves spraying the controversial pesticide bifenthrinon their property to determine the efficacy of this approach in controlling Lyme disease. Now in the beginning of its second year, the study found no evidence in the first year that the spraying works to reduce the transmission of Lyme disease. Beyond Pesticides is concerned that study participants have not been provided complete information about bifenthrin’s potential health risks to people. According to the Baltimore Sun, the study is an effort to find new ways to combat the disease, which infected 1,600 people in Maryland in 2010. Half of the 185 families that have volunteered for the study will have water sprayed on their lawns to serve as a control group, while the other half will receive the bifenthrin treatment. The 185 families that have signed up so far this year get a $25 gift card, lowered from $40 given to the 440 participants last year. Last year, while the pesticide reduced the amount of ticks on treated lawns compared to the control group, […]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 16, 2012) With Congress considering drastic cuts to national clean water protections, and rivers nationwide facing threats from natural gas drilling, chemical pollution, and new dams, American Rivers yesterday released its annual list of America’s Most Endangered Rivers. ® It names the Potomac River, known as ”˜the nation’s river’ as it flows through the capital, the most endangered in the country. While the Potomac is cleaner than it used to be, the river is still threatened by urban and agricultural pollution —and it could get much worse if Congress rolls back critical clean water safeguards. As the country commemorates the 40th anniversary of the Clean Water Act this year, the Potomac is emblematic of what is at stake for rivers nationwide. American Rivers launched a national call to action, giving citizens the opportunity to contact members of Congress and speak up for clean water. The report, “America’s Most Endangered Rivers,” notes that urban development is funneling tons of polluted rainwater to the river, that chemical fertilizer and manure from farms make matters worse, and that wastewater overflowing from sewers, along with pharmaceuticals flushed down toilets, contribute to dead zones in which marine life dies and might cause […]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 14, 2012) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is accepting public comment on several complex regulatory issues related to the agency’s commitment to phase out the toxic fumigant sulfuryl fluoride. At one time EPA had supported sulfuryl fluoride as a replacement for a second fumigant, methyl bromide, which the United States is obligated under international treaty to eliminate due to its contribution to ozone depletion. However, EPA reversed that support once further research and a refined risk assessment established that aggregate exposure to sulfuryl fluoride does not adequately protect the health of certain population subgroups. Although EPA decided unequivocally in 2011 to phase out all food-related uses for sulfuryl fluoride, the current public comment opportunity revisits key elements of that decision and could open the door for an unwarranted and unnecessary extension of this toxic fumigant’s allowance. Initially registered in 1959 to kill termites and other wood-boring pests, sulfuryl fluoride gained attention as a potential alternative to methyl bromide as a broad spectrum insect fumigant in post-harvest commodity storage and food processing facilities. The need for such alternatives became more pressing as the U.S., a signatory of the Montreal Protocol, gradually reduced the amount of methyl bromide […]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 11, 2012) The Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB) has released the final version of the Canadian Organic Aquaculture Standard, a non-binding system for certifying farmed fish outside of official Canadian organic standards. The final standard is a revised form of a draft standard first proposed in 2010, which was subject to severe criticism from environmental advocates. The standard has been developed independently of Canadian organic standards for agriculture and is not currently included in official government regulations regarding organic agriculture. The release comes less than two weeks before the U.S. National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) will meet to discuss, among other topics, the ongoing process of developing a standard for organic aquaculture in the United States. The new standard was developed by under the auspices of the Canadian National Standards Board and is purely voluntary. In Canada, as in the U.S., fish are are explicitly excluded from federal organic regulations. This means that there can be no official, government-approved organic fish in either country currently. However, this also means that there is nothing stopping private entities from creating their own standard for certifying fish as “organic” according to whatever definition they choose. The fish can then be […]

(Beyond Pesticides, April 26, 2012) Beyond Pesticides joins over 30 co-sponsors for the 10th annual National Healthy Schools Day in urging Federal and State governments to step up to improve the environmental health of schools nationwide. Though a growing number of states are beginning to address risks to children in schools, more work must be done to protect children, faculty and staff from unnecessary exposure to harmful chemicals, toxic pesticides and allergens. According to the Healthy Schools Network, the organization that coordinates National Healthy Schools Day, more than two thirds of the nearly 100,000 public school buildings in the country have at least one dire infrastructure problem, however these schools are virtually unregulated by any agency for indoor environmental health and safety standards. Research shows direct links between a school’s poor indoor environment and higher rates of asthma and other respiratory ailments. Other studies show that improving indoor air quality has measurable impacts on student and teacher health and productivity. Children are especially vulnerable to negative effects of toxic pesticide and chemical exposure as they take in more toxins relative to their body weight than adults and have developing organ systems that are less able to detox. In a statement […]

(Beyond Pesticides, April 18, 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 announced new health and environmental benchmarks for acute pesticide effects, postponing action on chronic effects to an unspecified future date. While a step forward in identifying hazards associated with pesticide use and exposure, benchmarks have been notoriously limited in fully assessing risks because of ongoing deficiencies in analyzing the complexities associated with chemical exposure, specifically a failure to evaluate the effects of chemical mixtures, synergistic effects, and health effects associated with consistent low-dose exposure. EPA notes in a newly released April 2012 factsheet, “Human Health Benchmarks for Pesticides,” that, “EPA has developed a table of human health benchmarks for approximately 350 pesticides that are currently registered for use on food crops. The benchmarks are for pesticides for which the agency has not previously issued a drinking water health advisory or set an enforceable federal drinking water standard. These benchmarks for pesticides will enable states, water systems and the public to better determine whether the detection of a pesticide in drinking water or source waters for drinking water […]

(Beyond Pesticides, April 16, 2012) The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has released a draft Biological Opinion finding that three commonly used herbicides are increasing the chance of extinction for threatened and endangered Pacific salmon and steelhead runs. The NMFS assessment reverses earlier assurances from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that the pesticides are “not likely to adversely affect” the dwindling salmon populations. The draft Opinion also contains restrictions on applying the three pesticides near waterways in California, Washington, Oregon and Idaho that provide habitat for the threatened and endangered runs. Public comment on the draft is being accepted through April 30 and the restrictions on applying the pesticides will take effect no later than one year after the final assessment is released. NMFS prepared the draft Opinion in response to EPA’s initial assessment of the risk that current uses of the herbicides oryzalin, pendimethalin and trifluralin pose for the threatened and endangered salmon and steelhead species. NMFS’ findings contradict significant conclusions from EPA’s work and highlight weaknesses in the agency’s current ecological risk assessment process that underestimate risk and fail to meet modern standards of analysis. For example, NMFS cites EPA’s failure to provide any analysis of […]

(Beyond Pesticides, March 21, 2012) A half-century after California officials discovered that large amounts of the pesticide DDT had been discharged into a San Francisco Bay canal, the chemical is still poisoning fish and posing a threat to human health despite numerous cleanup attempts. After years of limited success with clean-up, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched a three-year plan to pinpoint the cause of continuously high DDT levels and engage the surrounding community in cleanup and education efforts. The former plant and the adjacent canal, called the Lauritzen Channel, an inlet of the greater San Francisco bay, is one of the most polluted places in the nation. DDT levels have not decreased in the channel even after numerous dredging and other mitigation measures. In fact concentrations have increased. By 2011, DDT concentrations exceeded 1994 levels and some fish have DDT levels in their tissues hundreds of times higher than their counterparts in the rest of the San Francisco Bay. EPA said earlier this month it is launching a three-year plan to help unravel the mystery of why cleanup attempts are failing, and will work with the city to increase awareness among anglers who rely on bay fish […]

(Beyond Pesticides, March 9, 2012) With Members of Congress attempting to gut pesticide protections from the Clean Water Act and state legislators threatening to repeal Connecticut’s historic pesticide ban on school grounds, environmentalists from the Northeast and beyond are joining with researchers, authors, beekeepers, organic business leaders, elected officials, and others to discuss strategies for protecting health and the environment. Healthy Communities: the 30th National Pesticide Forum will take place March 30-31 at Yale University in New Haven, CT. Register online. Fees start at $35 ($15 for students) and include all sessions, conference materials, and organic food and drink. A limited number of partial scholarships are available, contact Beyond Pesticides for details. Conference Highlights: Pesticide-Free Lawns and Landscapes With the Connecticut General Assembly’s considering legislation that would repeal the state’s ban on toxic pesticide use on school grounds by replacing it with a weak “integrated pest management” (IPM) system, this issue will be a central theme at the conference. Speakers on this topic include: Warren Porter, PhD, professor of Zoology and Environmental Toxicology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison with expertise in lawn chemicals, especially low doses and mixtures; Chip Osborne, national organic turf expert and president of Osborne […]

(Beyond Pesticides, February 27, 2012) For the first time since its initial evaluation almost 30 years ago, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has revised, despite objections from the chemical industry, its dioxin exposure assessment for acute human health risks –setting an “acceptable” level of 0.7 picograms per kilogram per day. Environmentalists said EPA’s estimated average exposure, currently at 0.5—3 picograms per kilogram per day, puts a portion of the population above the EPA danger threshold. Work on updating the health assessment began in 1991 and was partially completed with the February 12 release of the Final Non-Cancer Dioxin Science Assessment. While EPA characterized the findings as showing that “generally, over a person’s lifetime, current exposure to dioxins does not pose a significant health risk,” the Assessment establishes a daily “acceptable” exposure threshold, or reference dose, which the agency says is comparable to levels which people routinely experience. Beyond Pesticides reviewed the underlying chemistry and historical exposure patterns, including diet and human health effects of dioxins, in a recent Daily New blog entry leading up to the Assessment’s release. EPA’s decision to adopt its recommended reference dose of 0.7 picograms of dioxins per kilogram of body weight per day that […]

(Beyond Pesticides, February 15, 2012) California mosquito control agencies are charging that new NPDES permitting regulations would eliminate West Nile virus fogging and jeopardize public health. In response, the state of California has proposed to scale-back pesticide regulations, easing rules on fumigating adult mosquitoes. This is in spite of the high risk for further degradation of already contaminated surface waters in the state, and contrary to the stipulations and protections set out in the Clean Water Act. The current federal National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, which recently went into effect after much resistance from the pesticide and agriculture industry and intensive lobbying efforts in Congress, does not authorize the discharge of biological and residual pesticides or their degradation by-products to waters of the U.S. that are impaired by the same pesticide active ingredients or any pesticide in the same chemical family. ”˜Impaired waters’ are polluted waters, i.e. those waters not meeting water quality standards pursuant to section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act (CWA). The NPDES permit is authorized under the CWA to require pesticide applicators to apply for permits before applying pesticides on or near surface waters. This process involves keeping records of pesticides used and monitoring […]

Beyond Pesticides wishes our members and friends a healthy, happy and organic New Year! Beyond Pesticides’ Daily News is taking a holiday break and will return on Monday, January 3, 2012 with restored energy and vision to continue charging ahead. After three decades, we are in deep gratitude to our members for their continued support, as well as those who have joined us through online efforts to defend clean water from pesticides, get the antibacterial triclosan out of consumer products, or fight for strong organic standards as an alternative to pesticide-intensive and genetically engineered food. That’s why we’re reaching out to ask you, as we do twice a year, to support our work and make a donation this holiday season. Please consider a tax-deductible donation to Beyond Pesticides to help support work in these areas: ”¢ Children’s Health. Children are even more vulnerable to pesticides than adults. Studies link exposure to cancer, respiratory illness, neurological and immune system problems, ADHD, lower IQ and more. We fight to protect kids from pesticides at schools, in the community, and on the food they eat. ”¢ Organic Food. Pesticides pose a hazard to your family, as well as farmworkers and the environment. Our […]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 16, 2011) A group of U.S. Senators has drafted and sent a letter to the offices of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) in an attempt to convince them to set aside time in the Senate schedule for consideration of the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2011, H.R. 872. ACTION IS NEEDED to show Senators Reid and McConnell that the public does not want this bill and that pesticides should not be exempted from critical safety and environmental protections. Consideration of this bill would take valuable time out of the Senate’s schedule to debate a bill that would weaken important policies that protect human health and the natural environment. The letter, dated December 8th, aims to communicate a sense of bipartisan agreement that the issue should move forward. It was drafted by Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Kay Hagan (D-NC) and was signed by 13 other Republicans and 10 other Democrats. However, despite this apparent bipartisan support, many Senators have expressed serious concern regarding the effects that would result from passage of the bill. Your help is needed. Please call the offices of Senator Reid and Senator McConnell today and tell […]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 6, 2011) After three decades, we are in deep gratitude to our members for their continued support, as well as individuals who enjoy our online resources, like the Daily News Blog, or those who have joined us through online efforts to defend clean water from pesticides, get the antibacterial triclosan out of consumer products, or fight for strong organic standards as an alternative to pesticide-intensive and genetically engineered food. That’s why we’re reaching out to ask you, as we do twice a year, to support our work and make a donation this holiday season. Please consider a tax-deductible donation to Beyond Pesticides to help support work in these areas: — Children’s Health. Children are even more vulnerable to pesticides than adults. Studies link exposure to ADHD, lower IQ and more. We fight to protect kids from pesticides at schools, in the community, and on the food they eat. — Organic Food. Pesticides pose a hazard to your family, as well as farmworkers and the environment. Our work, including the online Eating with a Conscience guide, pushes for an end to chemical-intensive farming. — Protecting Pollinators. We need pollinators to grow many of the foods we eat. The […]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 5, 2011) On December 3, the 27th anniversary of the Bhopal pesticide plant disaster in Bhopal, India, a trial began in an international people’s court in India involving the world’s six largest pesticide companies: Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer, BASF, Dow and Dupont. These companies, collectively known as the “Big 6,” are cited by prosecutors for their human rights violations, including internationally recognized rights to life, livelihood and health. Beyond Pesticides joined Pesticide Action Network (PAN) and others in signing a joint statement demanding that these companies be held accountable for their human rights violations, which was presented at the trial. The trial, hosted by PAN International, is facilitated by the Permanent People’s Tribunal (PTT), an international opinion tribunal independent from State authorities. The prosecution’s 230-page indictment outlines the global threats to human rights. It begins: The victims and survivors of [pesticide industry] aggression are the poor peasants, small-scale farmers, agricultural workers, rural women, children, and indigenous and agricultural communities around the world. They are at the mercy of the expanding power of the agrochemical [corporations] and are losing their control over their seeds and knowledge, and suffering debilitating physical and chronic effects due to pesticide poisoning, including coping […]

(Beyond Pesticides, November 30, 2011) A federal judge in southern Illinois has ordered the Swiss parent company of Syngenta Crop Protection Inc. (SCPI), maker of the herbicide atrazine, to appear in court to defend its actions in a water-contamination lawsuit brought last year by Midwestern public water providers. The suit was filed by the law firm Korein Tillery of St. Louis, MO and holds that Syngenta is responsible for the costs the water utilities incurred in order to clean municipal drinking water supplies of atrazine. The order marked the first time the Swiss company has ever been held subject to the jurisdiction of U.S. courts. The notably detailed opinion by District Judge J. Phil Gilbert of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois was handed down the day before Thanksgiving and found that Syngenta AG (SAG) — the Basel, Switzerland-based international conglomerate — “has organized its group of subsidiary companies, including SCPI, purposefully to limit the jurisdictions in which it is subject to court authority.” Judge Gilbert focused on substance over form, however, and exercised jurisdiction because voluminous evidence revealed SAG’s pervasive operational control over SCPI — the agrochem giant based in Greensboro, N.C. that manufactures and […]

(Beyond Pesticides, November 17, 2011) Updated 1:00 p.m. – Thanks to everyone for taking action and putting pressure on your Senators. Senator Roberts filed an amendment yesterday to the Energy and Water Appropriations Bill opposing provisions to gut pesticide protections from the Clean Water Act. It is the same language we opposed this summer. He has tried to slip it into other bills as well. It’s important that we continue to put pressure on legislators to oppose the amendment offered by Senator Roberts and to support stronger pesticide restrictions around water. PLEASE CALL YOUR SENATORS(Senate directory) with the following message: “We urge you to oppose Senator Roberts’ amendment to the Energy and Water appropriations bill. Previously introduced as S. 718, the amendment would prevent the EPA from protecting our waterways from pesticide discharges. This bill will strip EPA’s ability to protect our waters from pollution by amending the Clean Water Act (CWA) and federal pesticide law to exempt applications of pesticides to waterways from CWA standards. There is already widespread contamination of our waterways by toxic pesticides, and we cannot rely solely on our weak pesticide law to protect those waters. This amendment is bad for public health and bad […]

(Beyond Pesticides, November 11, 2011) The National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) will meet this month to decide on a range of issues regarding the future of organic food and farming in the U.S. The NOSB will vote to allow or prohibit substances and practices in certified organic food and farming after considering input from the public. Your participation is vital to this process. Public input can be highly influential to the development of organic standards, as farmers and consumers relay their ideas to the board for consideration, but only if you speak up. The public comment period closes after this Sunday, November 13. Take Action. There is a wide range of issues that the board is considering for this meeting including pest control materials, inputs in processed food, internal board procedures, and many others. You can access background on these issues on our Keeping Organic Strong webpage and then send comments into USDA by the end of Sunday, November 13. It’s easy. Submit your comments using this form. This will bring you to a form in which to fill out your personal information and type your comment. When filling out your personal information, you only need to fill in the […]

(Beyond Pesticides, November 1, 2011) With negotiations to delay the court-ordered Clean Water Act (CWA) permits for pesticide applications breaking down in the U.S. Senate, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Pesticides General Permit (PGP) will take effect today. The PGP, a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) General Permit, covers most pesticide applications to water, including mosquito and other flying insect pest control, aquatic weed and algae control, aquatic nuisance animal control, and forest canopy pest control. Legislation to eliminate the permit requirement, the so-called Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act (HR 872), passed the U.S. House in April 2011. Similar legislation was introduced by Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) in the Senate and passed through the Senate Agriculture Committee under the leadership of Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), but a hold was put on the bill by Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Ben Cardin (D-MD). According to Environment and Energy (E&E) Daily, the four Senators’ staff have been working on a compromise, but negotiations have reportedly broken down. E&E Daily reports that last week, the two sides appeared to be close to a deal. In exchange for a two-year moratorium on the new permit requirement, a national survey would be conducted on pesticide […]

(Beyond Pesticides, October 20, 2011) With the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) set to meet next month to decide on a range of issues regarding the future of organic food and farming in the United States, the public is invied to weigh in on a set of issues that continue to shape organic standards. The 15-member board will vote to allow or prohibit substances and practices in certified organic production and consider the adoption of new rules that address the functioning of the board and public participation –after considering input from any interested members of the public, such as farmers, consumers, food processors, or professionals through written comments and/or public testimony. Public participation is vital to the development of organic standards, as farmers and consumers relay their ideas to the board for consideration. Take action now. The documents on the issues that will be considered at the Fall 2011 NOSB meeting (November 29-December 2, 2011 in Savannah, GA) are open for written public comment until November 13. To read all of the recommendations from the various board committees, go to this page and select the committees from the drop down menu. The proposed recommendations are then sorted by date. The […]

(Beyond Pesticides, October 19, 2011) The latest water pollution data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Region 9 office shows considerable increases of chemical pollution, including pesticides, in California water bodies. According to the report, which gathered monitoring data for 2008-2010, more than half of the state’s water bodies do not meet existing water quality goals and many still need federal pollution control standards. While federal officials maintain that the increases are due to improved monitoring and not new pollution, the data presents a more accurate representation of real world contamination. California’s list of impaired waters, finalized last week, shows significant increases compared with the 2006 list. According to the report, “Of the total 3 million acres of lakes, bays, estuaries and wetlands in the state, 1.6 million acres are not meeting water quality goals and of these 1.4 million acres still needs total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) to be set. Of the total 215,000 miles of rivers, streams and shoreline, 30,000 miles are not meeting water quality goals and of these 20,000 miles still need TMDLs. While more than 50% of the lakes, bays, estuaries and wetlands acres have been assessed, less than 20% of the coastline, rivers […]

(Beyond Pesticides, October 12, 2011) A new industry-funded study that claims to “Reaffirm Safe Use of Triclosan, Triclocarban in Antibacterial Soaps and Washes,” concludes that triclosan and triclocarban soaps do not facilitate antibiotic resistance and antibiotic cross-resistance. The study, sponsored by the American Cleaning Institute and the Personal Care Products Council, long supporters of the antibacterial pesticide triclosan, dismisses previous independent data that has identified triclosan as a promoter of antibacterial resistance and calls for precautionary measures against the unnecessary but widespread use of antibacterial agents. The study, “Investigation of Antibiotic and Antibacterial Susceptibility and Resistance In Staphylococcus From The Skin Of Users and Nonusers Of Antibacterial Wash Products In Home Environments,” found that there was no statistically significant difference in antibiotic resistance in the bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, exposed to triclosan and triclocarban soaps compared with those not exposed. The study collected swab samples from the forearms of participants that used triclosan, triclocarban, and a control group that used neither. The study’s conclusions are not surprising since this industry has been a vocal and active promoter of the antibacterial products they manufacture and represent. Beyond Pesticides has previously responded to the American Cleaning Institute’s (formerly the Soap and Detergent Association) […]

(Beyond Pesticides, October 11, 2011) U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) has offered an amendment to a currency bill in the Senate this week which would strip protections against pesticide contamination from the Clean Water Act (CWA). The language of the amendment is the exact same language as H.R. 872, which is currently working its way through the Senate and which environmental and public health advocates have been fighting against for much of the past year. Urgent action is needed to stop the amendment from successfully being attached to the larger bill, S. 1619. Click here to send an email to your Senators urging them to stand with you in opposing the Roberts amendment, Amendment 720, and ensuring our waterways are kept safe from pesticide contamination. Attaching the bill as an amendment to an entirely unrelated bill represents an attempt to slip the language in unnoticed and get it through without a fight. The language in the amendment, which has already passed through the U.S. House of Representatives as H.R. 872, and was voted out of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry as the stand alone bill S. 718 in June, but had since stalled in the Senate, would […]