(Beyond Pesticides, August 31, 2007) According the results of a survey by Mambo Sprouts research services released August 20, 2007, consumers are torn between buying local and buying organic food, but in the end want both. The results show that 36.1% of natural product consumers said they would choose local produce over organic items, while another 33.3% indicated the opposite. The remaining respondents said they were unsure which to choose, but overall, consumers reported a preference for food that was both local and organic.

Respondent comments reflected three distinct motivators for purchasing locally grown food: 1) better for the environment and sustainability due to reduced environmental impact of transporting food, 2) a belief that much local produce is fresher and healthier — even if not certified organic, and 3) a general mistrust or confusion regarding organic food labeling.

“This survey revealed that consumers are definitely looking for more clarity and definition in organic product classifications,” says Matthew A. Saline, CEO of Mambo Sprouts Marketing, a multi-faceted direct marketing company that operates exclusively in the health, natural and organic products arena. Regarding the USDA Organic seal, 46.7% of respondents thought it indicated 100% organic contents, 24.8% thought it meant at least 95% organic, 16% thought it was 70%+ organic, 12% felt it meant some organic. Some consumers also expressed concerns that the USDA standards were declining or weaker than they would like.

Currently, the standard behind the USDA Organic seal indicates that a processed product is 95-100% organic. A product that is 100% organic can be labeled as such. Organic produce marked with the seal is 100% organic. Beyond Pesticides believes that a strong organic standard backed by consumer confidence is key to eliminating toxic pesticides from our food production system, and encourages its members to buy both organic and local whenever possible.

When asked what label information would most influence organic food purchasing, seven in 10 cited “All Organic” while just 25% selected “USDA Organic”. More than half said they would be more confident about buying organics if stores had their own organic food standards in addition to the USDA seal.

To facilitate shopping, consumers asked for more information. Seven in 10 respondents asked for better in-store signage while 45% thought flyers and information pamphlets would be beneficial.

Based on the findings, Mambo Spouts — an organic, health and natural foods marketing service, had the following advice for retailers marketing and advertising organic products: feature organics and local products since the consumer ideal is local and organic; improve signage signifying organic and local food products; educate with colorful eye-catching placards at the point of purchase; label products as “All Organic” when possible; and, complement in-store strategies with other marketing and educational campaigns about organic products (i.e., mailings, newsletters).

Survey results courtesy of Mambo Sprouts’ online survey taken between July 26 and July 30, 2007””850 natural and organic product consumers responding.

For more information, see Beyond Pesticides Organic Food program page.

(Beyond Pesticides, August 30, 2007) Vetiver grass, a species native to India, may provide protection against two plagues facing recovery in New Orleans: termite infestations and floods, according to Dr. Gregg Henderson, Ph.D. Already known for its effectiveness in erosion and sediment control, vetiver is both a repellent and toxicant to termites, which cause an estimated $5 billion in structural damage per year in the U.S. The plant is highly tolerant to extreme soil conditions, which, along with its deep roots, make it ideal for rehabilitation of contaminated lands and holding soil together on hillsides and contours. However, Dr. Henderson, an urban entomologist with Louisiana State University’s AgCenter, is interested in what is inside vetiver’s roots, namely the chemical responsible for turning away termites, as well as cockroaches, ants, ticks, weevils, nematodes, mole crickets, and other insects.

His research team isolated several compounds from vetiver oils and determined that a chemical called nootkatone, is a repellent for Formosan subterranean termites. Dr. Henderson has been studying Formosan termites for years and is a strong advocate for taking advantage of the chemicals in vetiver grass to control the termites in many locations.

Throughout the world, termites have caused problems on levees by tunneling in the soil and weakening the integrity of the structures, Dr. Henderson said, including those that broke in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. “It’s almost certain termites contributed to the levees’ failure,” he said, noting that 70 percent of the seams of flood walls on the London Avenue canal, the site of breaches, showed signs of insect infestations.

Years before Katrina struck, Dr. Henderson cautioned that Formosan termites were undermining the protective system by eating the sugar-cane-based seam-filling material in the concrete dike walls and infesting mature trees along the levees. Experts suspect falling trees that pulled their roots out of the ground contributed to the weakening and eventual breaches of levees in New Orleans during Katrina. Planting vetiver grass, Dr. Henderson says, could not only provide erosion control and a breakwater barrier, but it could help prevent future damage by warding off termite infestations.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, charged with fortifying the city’s levees, though is skeptical that the grass can really live up to all its touted potential. The Corps regards termite infestations as only “a minor contributing factor” to levee failures, and officials remain concerned that vetiver could prove to have downsides that outweigh it benefits.

Vetiver is native to India, and the Corps is concerned that the plant might prove to be an invasive species. Government officials are still wincing from the aftermath of importing virulent kudzu””known as “the vine that ate the South”””for erosion control in the 1930s, and Corps planners are concerned about vetiver’s tendency to develop roots at its leaf joints. The plant could root elsewhere if pieces broke off and washed away during a flood.

Vetiver advocates point to hundreds of years of cultivation abroad to prove that the grass is not an aggressive plant. The grass has been a part of the New Orleans landscape for two centuries without becoming invasive, say local residents. “I grew up knowing about vetiver,” said Jean Fahr, president of the civic gardening group Parkway Partners. “My grandmother hung it in her closet to repel moths.”

The Corps still thought enough of vetiver to include it in a short list of 10 plants they are considering for vegetation along the New Orleans levees. “It has some characteristics worth exploring,” concedes Col. Murray Starkel, in charge of operations at the Corps’ New Orleans district office.

Vetiver grass may prove to be an integral piece to revitalizing the region and find its use as a non-toxic structural control against termites in private homes nationwide as well.

Sources: LSU Agricultural Center, Wall Street Journal

(Beyond Pesticides, August 29, 2007) Entomologists have recently begun studying whether increasing temperatures will attract more insects to the New England region, as scientists have begun reporting the appearance of new and more numerous unwanted insects. The colder winters of the New England region have historically limited insect populations, but in recent years as temperatures have warmed, the amount and variety of pests have increased. According to the government’s U.S. Global Change Research Program, in its New England Regional Assessment of the Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change, “A warming New England region (especially warming winters) will support the introduction and expansion of exotic pests into the region.”

Although scientists cannot definitively say that there is a relationship between increasing temperatures in the region and an increase in the number of insects, Vermont entomologist Jon Turmel, points out that ticks carrying lyme disease, as well as mosquitoes with West Nile virus (WNv) and encephalitis have been reported in the state. The Aedes japonicus, an Asian mosquito species, was first reported in Vermont five years ago. These mosquitoes can spread Japanese and St. Louis encephalitis, which are viral brain infections that can result in death, along with WNv.

Reported cases of lyme disease contracted in Vermont rose almost tenfold from seven in 1999 to 62 this past year; the 2007 figure so far is 49, the state Health Department says. However, experts cannot scientifically identify the cause of the spread of ticks to any one specific cause. “Could be milder winters and the warming weather, could be we have good deer populations, could be a number of things,” Mr. Turmel said.

Other problem insects, like tree-eating insects, should be of equal concern. The emerald ash borer, an Asian beetle discovered five years ago in the US, has decimated millions of ash trees and is making its way toward to Northeast. As for the hemlock woolly adelgid, many felt it could not survive the northeastern cold, however, it has made its appearance in the state this past summer.

“Temperature is a definite factor in keeping the hemlock woolly adelgid from spreading throughout the state,” Mr. Turmel said. “We think they’re at the northern end of their range, but with warm winters, they could continue to migrate up. Global warming would definitely have an effect on that one.” Researchers have found that rising temperatures were affecting species distribution where warm-water species of midges were replacing colder-water ones. Such scenarios have caused the Union of Concerned Scientists to be troubled over the effects of increasing temperatures.

“Global warming may also spur the earlier arrival of migratory insects and allow some species to produce more generations within a single season,” the union said in a recent report. “Plant-feeding pests may also eat more and cause greater crop damage as rising CO2 lowers the nutritional value of plant tissues.” The report adds, “It is reasonable to assume that other insect pests will similarly increase in population and expand in range as the Northeast warms.”

An increase in pest populations would affect not only native species but also the $3 billion dollar agricultural sector. Farmers may be prompted to increase pesticide use to control exotic pests. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, “Just as with weeds, increasing pest outbreaks and crop damage will quite likely lead to greater use of chemical controls and an increased risk of environmental damage.”

Mr. Turmel remains concerned. “When it comes to insects”¦[t]hey can fly, they can hide, they can multiply, they can become resistant, they can adapt to any environment. That’s why with global warming, things that aren’t a problem now could be down the road,” he said.

See Beyond Pesticides recent stories on pesticides and climate change: Climate Change Tied to Crop Losses, Increases in Pest Populations, Scientist Examines Global Warming’s Impact on Pollen Allergies, Climate Change and Pesticides Hot Issue for Fish.

Source: The Barre Montpelier Times Argus

(Beyond Pesticides, August 28, 2007) In a new study published in the August 2007 issue of the Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health (Vol. 33, No. 4), researchers from the Central American Institute for Studies on Toxic Substances (IRET) in Costa Rica find parental exposure to pesticides linked to the increased risk of leukemia. IRET researchers, based at the National University of Costa Rica in Heredia, identified cases of childhood leukemia (N=334), in 1995-2000, on the Cancer Registry and the Children’s Hospital. Population controls (N=579) were drawn from the National Birth Registry. Interviews of parents were conducted using conventional and icon-based calendar forms. An exposure model was constructed for 25 pesticides in five time periods.

Mothers’ exposures to any pesticides during the year before conception and during the first and second trimesters are associated with the risk [odds ratio (OR) 2.4, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.0-5.9; OR 2.2, 95% CI 2.8-171.5; OR 4.5, 95% CI 1.4-14.7, respectively] and during anytime (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.0-4.8). An association is found for fathers’ exposures to any pesticides during the second trimester (OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.0-2.3).

An increased risk with respect to organophosphates is found for mothers during the first trimester (OR 3.5, 95% CI 1.0-12.2) and for fathers during the year before conception and the first trimester (OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.0-2.2 and OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.0-2.6, respectively), and benzimidazoles during the first, second, and third trimesters of pregnancy (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.0-4.4; OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.0-5.0; OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.0-5.2, respectively).

There is a suggestion of an exposure-response gradient for fathers as regards picloram, benomyl, and paraquat. Age at diagnosis was positively associated with fathers’ exposures and inversely associated with mothers’ exposures.

Leukemias are the most common childhood cancers, accounting for 25-35% of the incidence of all childhood cancer in most populations. Costa Rica ranks among the highest incidence of childhood leukemia in the world. Agriculture is a major economic activity in Costa Rica and is characterized by intensive use of pesticides.

Previous studies have also linked parental exposure to leukemia. A 2006 French study published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, “Household Exposure to Pesticides and Risk of Childhood Acute Leukemia,” indicates that acute leukemia is observed to be significantly associated with maternal home pesticide use during pregnancy along with lawn chemical use and fungicide use during childhood. Research findings also show insecticidal shampoo treatment of pediculosis to be associated with childhood acute leukemia. Leukemia has also been linked to parental exposure to Agent Orange in children of Vietnam veterans.

(Beyond Pesticides, August 27, 2007) Santa Clara County agriculture officials are hopeful that “mating disruption technology” – not pesticides – will eradicate the light brown apple moth, a tiny invasive pest that has been found in several areas of the county and is a threat to crops and plants.

Eight-inch “twist-tie” dispensers, which contain an odorless, synthetic pheromone, have been placed on plants and objects such as fence posts in the area immediately around where a moth was found last month in the Santa Teresa area of San Jose.

In addition, it’s likely that a new quarantine area will be established in the Alum Rock area of San Jose, where a single moth was found recently.

Since late February, the moth – native to Australia but established in Hawaii, New Zealand and Great Britain, among other places – has been identified in 11 California counties. More than 40,000 traps have been placed in the affected counties.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) has posted maps of all the quarantine areas on its Web site and is urging residents in the affected areas to not remove plant materials from their homes. Instead people should dispose of green waste in an approved green waste bin provided by their county.

Kevin O’Day, deputy agriculture commissioner for Santa Clara county, said that the pheromone dispensers being used in Santa Teresa target adult male moths. The pheromone confuses them, impairing their ability to find mates. If this effort is successful, it will not be necessary to spray pesticides, he said. “Once the breeding cycle of the moth is broken, the light brown apple moth population is reduced and ultimately eradicated.”

Only the properties closest to where the moth was found will be treated with the twist-ties – not the entire quarantine area. About 40 dispensers will be placed at each property. After 90 days, they will be removed or replaced. Residents in the treatment area have been notified, Mr. O’Day said.

“In the treatment areas, we’ve had very little apprehension or concern,” he said. A meeting Monday at the Santa Teresa Library was sparsely attended, but Mr. O’Day said his department is “thrilled with the level of cooperation we’ve been receiving.”

“We’re excited to have the opportunity to try a new technology that has a great track record overseas,” Mr. O’Day said of the pheromone dispensers, which recently were given fast-track approval by federal and state pesticide regulators.

The half-inch-long light brown apple moth – which resembles many species of harmless moths – is making its first appearance in the continental United States. The pest is of particular concern because the moth’s larvae destroys, stunts or deforms young seedlings, spoils the appearance of ornamental plants and injures deciduous fruit-tree crops, citrus and grapes. The host list includes more than 250 species.

Agriculture officials want to eradicate the pest first in lightly infested areas around the edges of the region to curb its spread outward. This strategy is consistent with recommendations handed down in May by an international “technical working group,” a panel of nine scientists who met over three days in San Jose to study the infested areas.

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that it will supply $15 million to combat the moth’s infestation in California, which threatens the state’s $31.8 billion agricultural industry. The money will cover expenditures already incurred and projected expenses for the rest of 2007.

Source: San Jose Mercury News

(Beyond Pesticides, August 24, 2007) The Wisconsin Natural Resources Defense Board recently passed stricter limits on allowable groundwater levels of alachlor-ESA, the breakdown product of the herbicide alachlor, cutting in half the standard to 20 parts per billion (ppb). The reduction from the previous standard of 40 ppb was prompted by the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR), which has tried to pass a similar measure in recent years, only to be blocked by the Republican-controlled Senate. Officials hope that a Democratic majority will ensure adoption of the new standard.

The board voted 7-0 in favor of lowering the allowable groundwater level of alachlor-ESA, after DNR cited studies showing the chemical causes blood problems in rats. Department of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection (DATCP) tests in 2001 showed alachlor-ESA in 28 percent of private wells tested, in spite of its declining use (on less than a quarter of the state’s 100,000 acres of corn).

A similar proposal was rejected by the board in 2005, when DNR refused to agree to the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules’ request to allow Monsanto, manufacturer of alachlor, to fund a separate study in addition to the state’s data. Monsanto, as expected, issued a statement defending its product and supporting groundwater standards based on “sound science.” The Wisconsin Corn Growers Association also came out against the stricter rule, claiming competitive disadvantage for the state’s farmers. “It does not make it any easier for Wisconsin corn growers,” said Executive Director Bob Oleson.

But supporters of the outcome support the intention of the board. “I hope the Assembly committee will support the public health interests instead of Monsanto’s image interests,” said Rules Committee co-chairman Sen. Bob Jauch (D-Poplar). “We’re not here to do Monsanto’s bidding. We’re here to do the public’s bidding.”

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), parent compound alachlor’s health effects include skin and eye irritation, and long-term exposure can cause liver, kidney, and spleen damage, and is carcinogenic. EPA has found alachlor in water at levels over the Maximum Contaminant Level in at least fifteen states. It is a groundwater contaminant threat because “once alachlor enters ground water, its breakdown is very slow.”

For more information on groundwater contamination and the risks pesticides pose to water, download Beyond Pesticides’ brochure, Threatened Waters: Turning the Tide on Pesticide Contamination.
Sources: Associated Press, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, EPA

(Beyond Pesticides, August 23, 2007) With the joint release on July 31, 2007 of Principles for the Oversight of Nanotechnologies and Nanomaterials, a broad international coalition of 40 consumer, public health, environmental, and labor organizations called for strong, comprehensive oversight of the new technology and its products, citing risks to the public, workers and the environment.

Science and Environmental Health Network (U.S.)
Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (U.S.)
Tebtebba Foundation – Indigenous Peoples’ International Centre for Policy Research and Education (Philippines)
The Soils Association (United Kingdom)
Third World Network (China)
United Steelworkers (U.S.)
Vivagora (France)

(Beyond Pesticides, August 22, 2007) At least one farm in Sacramento, California, has been contaminated with aerial spraying of pesticides to control mosquitoes that may carry the West Nile virus (WNv). This claim is verified by lab results released Monday, which were carried out by an independent lab commissioned by a group against aerial spraying.

Insecticides were sprayed across 55,000 acres north of the American River from July 30 to August 1. At least one organic farm in Citrus Heights was covered with the chemicals.

Organic food is supposed to be grown without relying on synthetic chemical pesticides. Organic farmers are required by the National Organic Standards to prevent contamination of crops, soil, or water by plant and animal nutrients, pathogenic organisms, heavy metals, or residues of prohibited substances.

“The district’s spray-everything attitude put my business and health at risk,” organic farmer Steven Zien said in a statement.

The area is home to 375,000 residents and many are angry as well as concerned about possible health effects. Pesticides most commonly used across the country for mosquito control are neurotoxic and have been linked to cancer and other illnesses. Given the limited efficacy of adulticidal sprays (pesticides meant to target adult mosquitoes), it becomes even more important to recognize the public health hazards associated with widespread pesticide exposure.

“The district hasn’t taken enough precautions to protect the public from exposures to these pesticides,” said Paul Schramski, state director of the Sacramento-based Pesticide Watch.

Sacramento health officials have said that the chemicals sprayed were at low concentrations and not harmful to human health. However, aerial spraying for mosquito control is widely considered by experts to be the least effective and most risky response to this important public health concern. There is no credible evidence that spraying pesticides used to kill adult mosquitoes reduce or prevent WNv incidents or illnesses. A court settlement on April 12, 2007, affirmed that health concerns are real in a recent lawsuit against New York City. The settlement agreement stated that the pesticides sprayed might indeed be dangerous to human health as well as to the natural environment.

At least four people have contracted the virus in Sacramento and Yolo counties this year, according to the pest district. Statewide, 120 people in 21 counties have had confirmed cases of West Nile this year. Seven deaths have been reported in California, equaling the total from last year, according to a state web site that provides information about the virus. Less than 1 percent of those who contract the virus experience serious symptoms.

Source: Associated Press

TAKE ACTION: For responsible, safer and smarter control of mosquitoes and vector-borne diseases in your community see Beyond Pesticides’ Mosquito Activist page at www.beyondpesticides.org/mosquito/activist/index.htm.

(Beyond Pesticides, August 21, 2007) Last week, The Cornucopia Institute announced that Aurora Organic Dairy, one of the largest organic dairies in the United States, could soon lose its organic certification. Based on a private investigation as well as United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) documents, Cornucopia claims the industry giant does not comply with organic regulations regarding pasture grazing and cattle procurement.

Aurora has 12,000 milking cows on five farms in Colorado and Texas. The company claims that the cows have access to 5,700 acres of organic pasture land across those farms, and that all cows graze for at least 120 days per year. Among the brands Aurora supplies organic dairy products for are Target, Wal-Mart, Costco, Safeway, Wild Oats, Trader Joes, and other grocery chains.

According to Cornucopia’s senior farm policy analyst Mark Kastel, “After personally inspecting some of Aurora’s dairies in Texas and Colorado, we found 98 percent of their cattle in feedlots instead of grazing on pasture as the law requires.” While USDA’s investigation is ongoing, Cornucopia expects to hear of other missteps. “Our sources tell us that the USDA’s investigators found many other violations when conducting their probe of Aurora,” said Mr. Kastel.

Cornucopia’s original complaint with USDA was filed in 2005. Concerned at the length of time USDA has allowed the investigation, Cornucopia has filed a Freedom of Information Act request (FOIA) with USDA to ensure that Aurora is receiving no favoritism from the department. “We hope that the USDA will issue tough sanctions, if warranted,” said Mr. Kastel. “And we want the agency to know that the organic community is very closely monitoring this case.”

Aurora has responded to Cornucopia’s claims by defending its organic certification. In an email, it claimed, “We have been working cooperatively with the USDA for 18 months to resolve complaints made by Cornucopia Institute, and we are confident USDA will make a decision on the merits.”

The dairy’s statement closed by saying, “Aurora Organic Dairy is the only organic dairy to have the animal welfare standards and practices of all of its farms reviewed by the independent auditor, Validus Services, trained to international ISO [International Organization for Standardization] standards . . . Our retail customers and consumers have every reason to be confident in the quality and integrity of the organic milk and butter supplied by Aurora Organic Dairy.”

Regardless of the outcome of USDA’s investigation of Aurora Organic Dairy, the issue of organic integrity is critical to the industry’s success, as well as for consumer protection. For more information and articles on organic food, click here.

Sources: The Cornucopia Institute, Aurora Organic Dairy, Associated Content, Northern Colorado Business Report

(Beyond Pesticides, August 20, 2007) Environmental groups launched a public campaign last Wednesday to urge state officials to stop applying toxic herbicides for vegetation control along state roadways. Members of the Massachusetts Coalition for Pesticide Reduction maintain that herbicides, which the state resumed using in 2003, are harmful to people and the environment.

Sylvia Broude, community organizer for Toxics Action Center, said toxic chemicals such as the ones the Highway Department uses can harm more than just the intended target. The chemicals can run off highways, pollute drinking water and eventually lead to health problems in humans, ranging from eye problems and learning disabilities to some forms of cancer, she said. The group is asking the state to use organic herbicides or manual means, such as weed whackers or lawnmowers, which the state used exclusively in the early 2000s.

But state officials say affected areas are in small, controlled environments. The Highway Department says that it removes unwanted bushes and weeds manually or mechanically on the vast majority of the 48,200 acres it maintains but needs the herbicides for about 188 acres, less than half of 1 percent of the total. Spokesman John Lamontagne said removing weeds mechanically in some of those areas would require closing down a lane of traffic and hiring a police detail to ensure the safety of workers and motorists.

The Coalition for Pesticide Reduction, which includes Toxics Action Center and Environment Massachusetts, asked the public yesterday to join their campaign against toxic roadside herbicides. “This year we wanted to launch a broader message so the state knows people are not behind this,” Ms. Broude said.

A dozen lawmakers signed on to the campaign, and several said the state should use nontoxic herbicides as a precautionary measure when manual removal is not feasible.
“I just think you can’t exercise too much caution,” said state Representative Sarah Peake, a Democrat who represents several towns on Cape Cod. “When I was a child, DDT was thought to be safe,” she said. “And now we know better.”

The environmental groups met with Bernard Cohen, the state’s secretary of transportation and construction, asking that he use other methods to control vegetation, but a spokesman with MassHighway said plans are underway to begin using the herbicides, including glyphosate-based Accord ® Concentrate and Oust ® Extra (active ingredients sulfometuron methyl and metsulfuron methyl), later this month.

The Highway Department is operating under a five-year vegetation management plan adopted in 2003. It is scheduled to draft a new five-year plan that will go into effect in 2008 and will include a strategy to control “invasive species” and “nuisance species” of “weeds” along highways.

Every year, millions of miles of roads, utility lines, railroad corridors and other types of rights-of-way (ROWs) are treated with herbicides to control the growth of unwanted plants. Massachusetts law prohibits the handling, mixing or loading of herbicide concentrate on a ROW within 100 feet of a sensitive area, one “in which public health, environmental or agricultural concerns warrant special protection to further minimize risks of unreasonable adverse effects,” and the application of herbicides by aircraft for the purpose of clearing or maintaining a ROW.

Sources: Boston Globe (August 15, August 16), Worcester Telegram & Gazette News

TAKE ACTION (NATIONAL): For more information on herbicide ROW policies and tools on how to organize for the adoption of such policies at the state or local level, please contact Beyond Pesticides by email [email protected] or call 202-543-5450.

TAKE ACTION (LOCAL): Show your disapproval of toxic herbicide use by writing a letter to the Massachusetts Highway Department or call 617-973-7800. Contact the MassHighway districts directly.

(Beyond Pesticides, August 17, 2007) The widespread presence of pesticides and other agricultural runoff has been confirmed in the world’s largest coral reef system. Degradation of the system threatens not only a natural treasure but also the region’s economy.

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is the subject of a recent report by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. Entitled the “Annual Marine Monitoring Report 2006,” the study confirms extensive contamination in eight of the ten major tributaries into the marine park, much of which is fertilizer and pesticide runoff from the area’s farmland. Local environmental groups are calling for government protection of the reef from these pollutants, and tourism interests worry that damage to the reef will reduce the number of visitors to Australia. According to World Wildlife Foundation-Australia program leader Nick Heath, “Reducing pollution load is possible and will help us save the Reef, as well as the 60,000 tourism jobs based around the Reef.”

According to the report, “Water quality in the Great Barrier Reef is principally affected by land-based activities in its adjacent catchments, including vegetation modification, grazing, agriculture, urban development, industrial development and aquaculture. Nutrients, sediments and pesticides are the pollutants of most concern for the health of the Great Barrier Reef.”

Among the pesticides found in the waters sampled are diuron, which is found at the mouth of each tributary year round, atrazine, the other most commonly-applied pesticide, and other herbicides. Herbicides are also routinely found in inshore reef water samples.

Mr. Heath cited a 2004 report that found sugar cane farmers were over-applying pesticides by 75 percent as a contributing factor to the study’s results. “These pesticides are used on the ground to kill weeds and will have the same effect in the ocean,” he said.

Mud crabs were also tested for bio-accumulation of persistent organic contaminants like PCBs, dieldrin, and DDT, which is present in 33 percent of the crabs tested. While the concentration of these chemicals is relatively low and not in commonly eaten parts of the crab, the results indicate that long-since banned chemicals are still affecting the ecosystem.

In response, activists call for the Australian government to invest in protection of the Reef. “If nothing is done it’s quite a grim future for the reef,” said Mr. Heath. “Pollution will continue to stress corals, continue to feed wave after wave of crown of thorn starfish outbreaks, reducing coral cover and probably even worse reducing the resilience of the reef to be able to deal with the increased temperatures expected from climate change.”

Mr. Heath’s concern for the Reef’s future is corroborated by a University of North Carolina study, which found that over the past 20 years the Reef has reduced in size at five times the rate of the rainforests.

The continued documentation of environmental degradation throughout the globe in conjunction with pesticide contamination reinforces the need in a global economy to buy certified organic products and vote with your dollar by refusing to support companies that are not socially and environmentally responsible.

For past Daily News on the Great Barrier Reef and pesticides, click here.

Sources: The Sydney Morning Herald, Voice of America, The Herald Sun, WWF-Australia

(Beyond Pesticides, August 16, 2007) The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recent decision not to go through with a Special Review of 2,4-D’s carcinogenic properties is being touted by industry as the final word that the toxic chemical “has been found to have no human carcinogenic effects,” despite significant evidence to the contrary. The Special Review has been cancelled after an industry task force poured millions of dollars into industry funded research and a public relations campaign.

The pesticide 2,4-D, or 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, was first slated by EPA for Special Review in 1986. A few years later in a unique move, several large pesticides companies with a common interest in keeping 2,4-D on the market formed the Industry Task Force II on 2,4-D Research Data.

Since then, the task force reports it has funded nearly $30 million in new research on the chemical. Industry funded research is often biased and influential in the regulatory process. The results are reported to EPA, which provides a large portion of the data the agency relies on in order to make decisions under an inadequate risk assessment review process. The task force is currently comprised of the major pesticide producers Dow AgroSciences (U.S.), Nufarm Ltd. (Australia) and Agro-Gor Corp., a U.S. corporation jointly owned by Atanor, S.A. (Argentina) and PBI-Gordon Corp. (U.S.).

However while industry has been pouring millions into and making much more off of 2,4-D, several independent studies show the chemical is carcinogenic. Research links 2,4-D to various cancers, particularly non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (see “EPA Decides Not To Initiate Special Review for 2,4-D Cancer Risk“). Additionally, 2,4-D is a probable endocrine disruptor slated for the first tier of review under EPA’s long awaited screening program, can cause reproductive and developmental effects, neurotoxicity, kidney/liver damage, and is a sensitizer/irritant. Environmental effects of the chemical include leaching, groundwater contamination and toxicity to fish, birds and bees. 2,4-D is the third most widely used herbicide in the U.S. and the most widely used worldwide.

TAKE ACTION: Let the Bush Administration know that politics should not trump sound science. Tell EPA what you think about its decision to not initiate a Special Review for 2,4-D, despite overwhelming evidence of its carcinogenicity. Contact EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson by email or call 202-564-4700.