(Beyond Pesticides, March 2, 2007) The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Pesticide Data Program (PDP) recently released its latest annual summary detailing pesticide residues in the U.S. food supply. The data, from 2005, reveals approximately two-thirds of sampled foods contained one or more pesticides at detectable levels.

For the 2005 report, PDP sampled fresh and processed fruit and vegetables, soybeans, wheat, milk, heavy cream, pork, bottled water and drinking water. A total of 14,749 samples were tested for various insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and growth regulators. Twelve states reported data to comprise the report: California, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New York, Ohio, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin. Excluding drinking water, 84 percent of samples originated within the United States.

Foods most likely to be consumed by infants and children are analyzed to provide data that is used in the implementation of the Food Quality Protection Act. The data is used in this context to assess dietary exposure to pesticide residues by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Overall results show that, excluding drinking water samples, 36 percent of samples had more than one detectable pesticide, 30 percent had one detectable pesticide, and 34 percent did not have detectable levels of the analyzed chemicals. In fruits and vegetables, 73 percent of fresh and 61 percent of processed produce had detectable residues. Drinking water analyses primarily found widely used herbicides and their metabolites; forty-eight different residues were found in untreated intake water and 43 in treated water.

Residue detection varied widely depending on the commodity. The percent of samples with detected residues for all analyzed chemicals ranged from 8 percent for pork to 99 percent for milk. Other commodities of interest had the following percentages of samples containing one or more pesticide residues: bottled water-16, soybeans-22, wheat-75, apples-98, heavy cream-99. Samples for each commodity were analyzed for a unique list of pesticides, which were partially determined by the need for additional data regarding dietary exposure, and changes in pesticide use directions. Some prohibited pesticides (DDT, aldrin, dieldrin, heptachlor, chlordane) have been included in many commodity analyses due to their persistent nature.

The number of pesticides detected on specific commodities also varied. Seven different pesticides were detected in bottled water, 12 in milk, 18 in wheat, 18 in green beans, 30 in strawberries, 31 in grapes, 36 in apples, and 43 in lettuce. Specific figures of concern include:

• Malathion was found in 66.9 percent of wheat samples.
• DDE, a metabolite of DDT, remains in 85.4 percent of milk samples.
• 2,4-D, alachlor ethanesulfonic acid (alachlor metabolite), atrazine, imazapyr, metolachlor ethanesulfonic acid and metolachlor oxanilic acid (metolachlor metabolites), and prometon were found in over half of the treated drinking water samples.
• Acephate, chloripyrifos, and methamidophos residue levels were found to be above EPA tolerance levels in multiple samples. Additionally, many pesticide residues were found in commodities that have not had tolerances set by EPA.

Studies have shown pesticide residues are higher in children that are fed conventional versus organic foods, and that an effective way to reduce a child’s exposure to pesticide residues on food is to change their diet to organic.

TAKE ACTION: Buy organic foods for yourself and your family whenever possible. If organic foods are not easily accessible to you due to cost or distribution, consider buying organic for the foods you eat the most.

(Beyond Pesticides, March 1, 2007) In 24 states throughout the country, beekeepers have been shocked to find that bees have been inexplicably disappearing at an alarming rate, according to an article in the New York Times last week. This loss of honeybees threatens not only beekeeper livelihoods but also the production of numerous crops, including California almonds, one of the nation’s most profitable crops. Although the reasons for the honeybee disappearances are unknown, pesticides may be one of the culprits.

“I have never seen anything like it,” David Bradshaw, a California beekeeper, said. “Box after box after box are just empty. There’s nobody home.” Last month he discovered that half of his 100 million bees were missing. Beekeepers have fought regional bee crises before, but this is the first national affliction. Bees are flying off in search of pollen and nectar and simply never returning to their colonies. And nobody knows why. Researchers say the bees are presumably dying in the fields, perhaps becoming exhausted or simply disoriented and eventually falling victim to the cold.

As researchers scramble to find answers to the syndrome they have decided to call “colony collapse disorder,” growers are becoming openly nervous about the capability of the commercial bee industry to meet the growing demand for bees to pollinate dozens of crops, from almonds to avocados to kiwis.

A Cornell University study has estimated that honeybees annually pollinate more than $14 billion worth of seeds and crops in the United States, mostly fruits, vegetables and nuts. “Every third bite we consume in our diet is dependent on a honeybee to pollinate that food,” said Zac Browning, vice president of the American Beekeeping Federation. The sudden mysterious losses in honeybee populations highlight the critical link that honeybees play in the long chain that gets fruit and vegetables to supermarkets and dinner tables across the country.

The bee losses are ranging from 30 to 60 percent on the West Coast, with some beekeepers on the East Coast and in Texas reporting losses of more than 70 percent; beekeepers consider a loss of up to 20 percent in the offseason to be normal.

Along with recent stresses on the bees themselves and an industry increasingly consolidating smaller operations, some fear these losses may force a breaking point for even large beekeepers. Once the domain of hobbyists with a handful of backyard hives, beekeeping has become increasingly commercial. Over the last two decades, the number of beehives, now estimated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to be 2.4 million, has dropped by a quarter and the number of beekeepers by half.

“There are less beekeepers, less bees, yet more crops to pollinate,” Mr. Browning said. “While this sounds sweet for the bee business, with so much added loss and expense due to disease, pests and higher equipment costs, profitability is actually falling.”

Some 15 worried beekeepers convened in Florida this month to brainstorm with researchers how to cope with the extensive bee losses. Investigators are exploring a range of theories, including viruses, pesticides, a fungus and poor bee nutrition. Mites have also damaged bee colonies, and the insecticides used to try to kill mites are harming the ability of queen bees to spawn as many worker bees. The queens are living half as long as they did just a few years ago.

Researchers are also concerned that the willingness of beekeepers to truck their colonies from coast to coast could be adding to bees’ stress, helping to spread viruses and mites and otherwise accelerating whatever is afflicting them.

The news of honeybee losses comes amidst a recent trend of declining pollinator populations. An October 2006 report by the National Research council found that long-term population trends for some North American pollinators — including bees, birds, bats — are “demonstrably downward.”

The issue of protecting pollinators from pesticides and other environmental hazards has been heating up recently. In a landmark decision, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that landowners who spray pesticides on tree groves can be held liable for damages to beekeepers’ neighboring apiaries (Anderson, et al. v. International Paper, March 2005). The case was brought by three beekeepers who raise bees for honey and sale. This ruling sets a standard that could have dramatic ramifications for pesticide use across the country. For more information on this issue, see “The Minnesota Honey Bee Battle” printed in the Spring 2006 issue of Pesticides and You.

According to Ohio State University, over 75 commonly used pesticides are highly or moderately toxic to bees. The following pesticides are highly toxic to bees: 2,4-D (Weed-B-Gone), abamectin (Zephyr), acephate (Orthene), azinphos-methyl (Guthion), bifenthrin (Capture), carbaryl (Sevin), carbosulfan (Advantage), chlormephos (Dotan), chlorpyrifos (Lorsban, Dursban), cyfluthrin (Baythroid), d-phenothrin (Sumithrin), demeton-s-methyl (Metasystox (i), (50-% Premix), diazinon (Spectracide), dichlorvos (DDVP), dicrotophos (Bibrin), dimethoate (Cygon, De-Fend), esfenvalerate (Asana XL), ethion (tech), (Ethanox), etrimfos (Ekamet), fenitrothion (Sumithion), fenpropathrin (Farmatox), fensulfothion (Dasanit), fenthion (Baytex), fenvalerate (DMSO), (Belmark), flucythrinate (Pay-Off), fonofos (Dyfonate), heptachlor (Fennotox), lindane (Lindane), malathion (Malathion 50, Malathion ULV), methamidophos (Monitor, Tamaron), methidathion (Supracide), methiocarb (Mesurol), methyl parathion (Penncap-M), mevinphos (Phosdrin), monocrotophos (Azodrin), naled (Dibrom), omethoate (Folimat), oxydemethon-methyl (Metasystox-R), oxydisulfoton (Disyston S), parathion (Bladan), permethrin (Ambush, Pounce), phosmet (Imidan), phosphamidon (Dimecron), propoxur (Baygon), pyrazophos (Afugan), resmethrin (Chrysron), tetrachlorvinphos (Gardona), and tralomethrin (Scout X-TRA). The following are moderately toxic: Acetochlor (Acenit), Aclonifen (Challenge), allethrin (Pynamin), alphacypermethrin (Fastac), ametryn(Evik), bromopropylate (Acarol), cinmethylin (Argold), crotoxyphos (Ciodrin, Decrotox), DCPA (Dacthal), diphenamid (Dymid), disulfoton (DiSyston, Ekanon), endosulfan (Thiodan), endrin (Hexadrin), ethoprop (Mocap), flufenoxuron (Cascade), fluvalinate (tau-fluvalinate), (Mavrik, Spur), formetanate hydrochloride (Carzol), mancozeb (Manzate, Dithane, Fore), methanearsonic acid (MAA), neburon (Granurex, Propuron), pebulate (Tillam), phorate (Geomet, Thimet), pirimiphos-methyl (Acetellic), sethoxydim (Poast), sulfosate (Touchdown), terbufos (Counter), thiocyclam hydrogen oxalate (Evisect), thiodicarb (Larvin, Nivral), and triforine (Denarin, Funginex).

The U.S. Senate (S.Res. 580) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated June 24-30, 2007, as National Pollinator Week. The Pollinator Partnership offers resources, as well as a listing of Pollinator Week events happening across the country for those who want to be involved.

(Beyond Pesticides, February 28, 2007) Residents in the Canadian town of Pickering, Ontario, pleaded with their local government to ban the use of pesticides on public and private lands for cosmetic use with the exception of emergencies, infestations and agricultural uses. Meanwhile, well-known medical, public-health and environmental organizations have been lobbying Ontario officials to institute a provincewide ban on the aesthetic use of pesticides.

According to Durham Region News, Ward 1 City Councillor Jennifer O’Connell said she knew the mere mention that pesticides can cause a low sperm count would get Pickering City Council’s attention. At the February 19th meeting, the council unanimously passed the motion to have staff first investigate pesticide ban bylaws in other municipalities and then draft a Pickering bylaw. The draft will be brought back before the summer recess for council’s consideration.

The interest to introduce a bylaw to ban pesticides comes from Councillor O’Connell and Ward 3 Councillor David Pickles. Councillor O’Connell provided a presentation at the meeting on the chronic effects of pesticide use. Also supporting the ban, Gideon Forman, executive director of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment said, “There is a great body of science to support that it has negative health effects.” Mr. Forman continued, “We are not talking about mild problems but deadly things like leukemia.”

Lawn pesticides have been linked to lymphomas, increases in childhood leukemia, low birth weight, endocrine disruption, asthma and other respiratory illnesses, and ADHD (see fact sheet: Children and Pesticides DON’T Mix).

Mr. Forman said Canada has success stories to draw from that show non-toxic pest management practices work. He cited Toronto’s success with banning pesticides on their playing fields, and Parliament Hill and the Governor General’s house as examples of pesticide-free lawns. Although he appreciates the concerns of the lawn care business, Mr. Forman said that the future of lawn care is pesticide free.

Pickering residents such as Jeff Mojsovski said he wholly supports a ban. Mr. Mojsvoski said, “It is a risk to my children.” Christine Stockell, resident and volunteer with the Canadian Cancer Society said, “Appropriate action should be taken to limit the risk to human health.” Ms. Stockell continued, “Personally, I like bending over, it burns a few calories.”

Pesticides also pose chronic risk to pets. According to Pickering resident Dave Renaud, a General Motors employee and president of the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW), his Maltese dog died of a liver disorder, which the veterinarian attributed to pesticides. Mr. Renaud said, “This stuff has no boundaries.” Given the limitless boundaries, CAW has been visiting local schools for the past eight years to educate students on the dangers of pesticides.

Dave Ryan, Mayor of Pickering said, “I think the time has come that we need to address this issue.” Mayor Ryan continued, “But the real issue is that the other levels of government need to take action.” Although Pickering can ban cosmetic use, Mayor Ryan said they can’t stop stores from selling the product. The latter would be up to other levels of government.

Meanwhile, the Toronto Globe and Mail reports the Canadian Association of Physicians, Canadian Cancer Society’s Ontario wing, the Ontario College of Family Physicians, Pesticide Free Ontario, and the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario, have been working to lobby Ontario’s Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Health officials to seek a ban. A Pesticide Free Ontario poll shows 71 percent of Ontario residents support a ban, while 22 percent are opposed (margin of error of three percentage points).

If Ontario’s government accepts the idea, Ontario would be the second province, after Quebec, to take this action and it would mean that more than half of Canada’s residents live in areas where the use of pesticides for cosmetic reasons has been made illegal, based on health concerns. Over 120 communities across Canada, including the cities of Toronto and Halifax, also have bans.

TAKE ACTION: Support the need for healthy lawns and landscapes by joining the National Coalition for Pesticide-free Lawns and signing the declaration.

(Beyond Pesticides, February 27, 2007) Pesticide run-off is polluting larger areas of the Great Barrier Reef than originally thought, leading scientists to call for better land care practices. For the first time a new series of satellite images show that sediment plumes, containing pesticides and other pollutants from Australian river systems, travel to the outer Great Barrier Reef, and beyond. Originally, it was thought that the plumes only affected the inner Great Barrier Reef Lagoon and the inner reef corals.

The images, taken during the heavy rains in far north Queensland by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s MODIS satellite, show the pollutant plumes are travelling up to 135km offshore.

Recent studies have shown agricultural chemicals are so poisonous to coral that it can prevent spawning, even when only present in minuscule amounts. This was found to consequently hinder the reef’s ability to regenerate and protect itself.

Arnold Dekker, Ph.D., a scientist with the Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), said the images would change the way scientists analysed reef pollution and that they showed land care practices needed to be improved in order to save the reef from destruction. “This is the first time it’s been really proven that this is a phenomenon that we need to start incorporating into our studies of how we manage the land and what flows from the land, and how it affects the reef,” he said.

“It’s a good example of nature being a bit more complex than we think (and) we have to start studying how often these sediments and contaminants reach the outer reefs.”

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority is currently overseeing the implementation a 10-year, $40 million Reef Water Quality Protection Plan to improve land management practices. It’s a plan that Dr. Dekker believes should be supported by farmers, tourism authorities and government.

“It’s a no-brainer to say that if farmers are helped to farm as smart as possible, using as little fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides as possible, and only using what the vegetation will take up, then you will have much less run-off of this material,” he said.

Source: The Australian News

(Beyond Pesticides, February 26, 2007) The United States’ largest dairy company, Dean Foods, has adopted a policy statement rejecting milk from cloned cows. The decision, which joins those of the organic dairy community to reject animal cloning, reflects the publics’ demand for foods free of genetic manipulation and chemicals.

The food giant’s policy comes in the midst of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) open comment period on its evaluation of the safety of animal cloning. While FDA is expected to determine animal products from clones are as safe as those from naturally produced animals, Dean Foods’ stance is a clear message that the market is not interested in purchasing them. The statement reads:

“Based on the desire of our customers and consumers, Dean Foods will not accept milk from cows that have been cloned. If the FDA does approve the sale of milk from cloned cows, we will work with our dairy farmers to implement protocols to ensure that the milk they supply to Dean Foods does not come from cloned cows.

“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to conclude that milk from cloned cows is safe. Our decision not to accept this milk is based on meeting our consumers’ expectations. We see no consumer benefit from this technology.

“Numerous surveys have shown that Americans are not interested in buying dairy products that contain milk from cloned cows and Dean Foods is responding to the needs of our consumers.”

Market forces aside, milk from cloned animals (as well as other animal products) has already been rejected by numerous members of the organic community. Other dairy companies have pledged not to sell milk from clones, including Stoneyfield Farms, Organic Valley, Straus Family Creamery, and Dean Foods-owned Horizon Organic. The decisive word on cloned products comes from Organic Trade Association head Caren Wilcox, who stated, “The Organic Trade Association (OTA) only supports the use of natural processes for breeding and raising animals in the organic system.” She continued, “Organic animal products will not come from cloned animals.” Organic Valley’s CEO, George Siemon, added, “This is absolutely prohibited in our world. It goes against everything we believe. Organic is based on having plenty with what nature’s given us.”

Government officials, too, are in disagreement with FDA’s findings on cloned animals. Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) has introduced legislation that would require labeling on packages of cloned animal products: “This product is from a cloned animal or its progeny.”

The Department of Agriculture, while it has not reached a decision on the offspring of cloned animals, says cloning is forbidden in organic animals. Yet scientists’ inability to determine whether an animal is a clone makes tracking cloned animals through the food chain extremely difficult — posing future risk and expense to farmers, organic and conventional, as they try to comply with differing standards of label disclosure.

Sources: Chews Wise, Associated Press

TAKE ACTION: Tell FDA you support organic integrity and full disclosure on labels regarding cloned animals. FDA’s draft risk assessment on cloned animals has three documents open for public comment until April 2. To submit comments online, visit http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/oc/dockets/comments/commentdocket.cfm?AGENCY=FDA. Written comments may be sent to: Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD, 20852, and must include docket number 2003N-0573.

(Beyond Pesticides, February 23, 2007) The National Coalition for Pesticide-Free Lawns is pleased to announce our Organic Land Care Basic Training for Municipal Officials and Transitioning Landscapers. This three-part teleconference starts Wednesday, February 28, and there are only four days left to register! The training will explain the Simple Steps to start an organic turf program and will cover the basic concepts, methods, and materials you need to get started. It is geared toward school, and park and recreation officials. However, landscapers interested in transitioning are welcome to attend.

The market demand for organic land care and availability of organic land care products is following the path of organic food into the mainstream. However, there is still a lack of understanding about what organic land care is, and there are many myths about cost and feasibility. As you will see from the local success stories featured in our Grassroots Action Supplement, organic land care is both a socially responsible and fiscally responsible approach to land management.

To continue the strong trend towards pesticide-free land care, we need municipal officials and landscape professionals who are knowledgeable. Organic land care training opportunities are increasing in pockets of the country, but in general it is difficult for the interested turf manager to find the training and resources needed to get started on an organic land care program. That is why we are pleased to be offering the first online basic organic land care course.

The program will be taught by Chip Osborne, a professional horticulturist with over 30 years experience and an expert on building and transitioning turf to organic care. He is NOFA (Northeast Organic Farming Association)-accredited in organic land care, and has attended the University of Massachusetts Green School for turf management. Chip has hands-on experience, including the conversion of his retail greenhouse operation to an organic management plan, design and construction of Marblehead’s Living Lawn Demonstration site, and, as the elected Chairman of the Town of Marblehead, Recreation, Parks and Forestry Commission, is currently implementing an Organic Turf Management Plan for the town’s public lands, including all athletic fields.

The cost of the training is only $45 for municipal officials and $95 for professional landscapers. This course will be offered in three 75-minute online sessions: February 28, March 5, and March 14, 2007 (12pm- 1:15pm eastern standard time).

This course is approved for NOFA certification credits.

TAKE ACTION: Send announcement emails and flyers to your local school and park officials, and your local chemical landscaper companies. To register, sign up by Monday, February 26, at www.pesticidefreelawns.org/training or call 202-543-5450.

(Beyond Pesticides, February 22, 2007) On February 16, 2007, Representatives Hilda Solice (D-CA), Alcee Hastings (D-FL) and Mark Udall (D-CO) and Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and John Kerry (D-MA) introduced the Environmental Justice Act of 2007 to the 110th Congress. The legislation was introduced to protect communities of color and low-income communities from the on-going disproportionate burden of the negative human health and environmental impacts of pollution that they are exposed to.

The act was introduced as a way to fully implement the 1994 Executive Order 12898, Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations, an act to ensure that all federal agencies and their programs and rules are protecting our nation’s most vulnerable communities. The bill will require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to fully implement recommendations included in three recent government reports and it will create reporting requirements, including an update on the inclusion of environmental justice in EPA’s emergency command response structure.

The reports noted the failure of EPA to ensure that its policies, rules and regulations protect environmental justice communities. In 2004, the EPA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that the agency has not fully implemented the Executive Order nor has it defined or developed criteria for determining who is disproportionately impacted. In 2005, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that EPA failed to consider the impact of its air regulations on minority and low-income communities, and in 2006, OIG reported that EPA “cannot determine whether its programs cause disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects on communities of color and low-income populations.”

Rep. Solis said, “For far too long federal agencies have disregarded the health of minority and low-income communities, choosing instead to reinterpret the Executive Order so that it fits the policies they want to promote.” Rep. Solis continued, “This legislation is a critical first step to achieving real and lasting justice for minority and low-income communities across this country. Codifying the Executive Order will empower communities without a voice to join in the fight to protect their health and welfare.”

Senator Durbin said that, “Healthy communities are important to everyone. And the simple truth is that our most vulnerable communities have not been treated fairly.” Senator Durbin continued, “Minority neighborhoods, the elderly and low-income communities bear disproportionate environmental risks and hazards and the investments and benefits to fix these problems are not equally distributed. This bill will change that by requiring the EPA to act to protect these communities from additional sources of pollution.”

Rep. Hastings said, “More than a decade after Executive Order 12898, the time has come for federal agencies to truly embrace the vision of empowered citizens and healthy communities.” According to Rep. Hastings, “This legislation will mandate the EPA accountability that communities of color and low-income families have been dying to achieve for many years. Through the open process that brought forth this legislation, the people have spoken!”

Meanwhile Senator Kerry said the bill was introduced as a means to ensure environmental protection for all communities. Senator Kerry said that “it is not only unacceptable; it is immoral to leave minority and low-income families bearing the brunt of our nation’s pollution problems. Unfortunately, the Bush Administration has turned the very definition of environmental justice on its head. We can do better – and we should start by passing this legislation.”

Another bill sponsor, Rep. Udall said, “Too often, federal actions affecting the environment have hurt Americans in minority and lower-income communities that in some eyes have seemed expendable. Instead, federal policies must focus on providing clean, healthy and quality environments so these communities will have hope for the future and opportunities for their residents to improve their lives. Our bill is intended to help achieve that goal.”

The Environmental Justice Act of 2007 is endorsed by more than 15 organizations, including Beyond Pesticides, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Center for Health, Environment and Justice, Communities for a Better Environment, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University, Natural Resources Defense Council, Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic Justice, National Hispanic Environmental Council, National Small Town Alliance, Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment, Advocates for Environmental Human Rights, and Earthjustice.

For more information contact: Sonia Melendez in Rep. Solis’ office at (202) 225-5464; (202) 225-4573

(Beyond Pesticides, Feb 21, 2007) Exposure to environmental chemicals found in everyday plastics and pesticides while in the womb may make a person more prone to obesity later in life, new research indicates. Frederick vom Saal, Ph.D, professor of biological sciences at University of Missouri-Columbia’s College of Arts and Science, has found that when fetuses are exposed to endocrine-disrupting chemicals, the way their genes function may be altered to make them more prone to obesity and disease.

Dr. vom Saal presented his research last week at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in San Francisco. “Perinatal Programming of Obesity: Interaction of Nutrition and Environmental Exposures” is the title of Dr. vom Saal’s AAAS presentation.

“Certain environmental substances called endocrine-disrupting chemicals can change the functioning of a fetus’s genes, altering a baby’s metabolic system and predisposing him or her to obesity,” said Dr. vom Saal. “This individual could eat the same thing and exercise the same amount as someone with a normal metabolic system, but he or she would become obese, while the other person remained thin,” he said.

Obesity puts people at risk for other problems, including cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and hypertension.

Using lab mice, Dr. vom Saal studied the effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals, including bisphenol-A, which the city of San Francisco has banned in children’s toys starting December 1, 2006. Some polymers used in dental fillings also contain bisphenol-A, and epoxy resins containing bisphenol-A are commonly used to coat the inside of food cans.

Dr. vom Saal found that bisphenol-A and other endocrine-disrupting chemicals cause mice to be born at very low birth weights and then gain abnormally large amounts of weight in a short period of time, more than doubling their body weight in just seven days. Dr. vom Saal followed the mice as they got older and found that they were obese throughout their lives. Low-birth-weight children often show a similar overcompensation after birth, resulting in lifelong obesity.

“The babies are born with a low body weight and a metabolic system that’s been programmed for starvation. This is called a thrifty phenotype, a system designed to maximize the use of all food taken into the body,” vom Saal said. “The problem comes when the baby isn’t born into a world of starvation, but into a world of fast food restaurants and fatty foods.”

More research must be done to determine which chemicals cause this effect. According to Dr. vom Saal, about 1,000 of the approximately 55,000 human-made chemicals in the world might fall into the category of endocrine disruptors. These chemicals are found in common products, from plastic bottles and containers to pesticides and electronics.

“You inherit genes, but how those genes develop during your very early life also plays an important role in your propensity for obesity and disease. People who have abnormal metabolic systems have to live extremely different lifestyles in order to not be obese because their systems are malfunctioning,” Dr. vom Saal said. “We need to figure out what we can do to understand and prevent this.”

In the past 30 years, the prevalence of both overweight and obese adults and children in the United States has increased sharply, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a federal agency. Between the periods of 1976—1980 and 2003—2004, the prevalence of obesity among adults aged 20—74 years doubled, increasing from 15.0 percent to 32.9 percent.

Dr. vom Saal’s research is not the first to link pesticides and obesity. A study done in September 2006 linked a class of environmental contaminants known as organotins with excess weight gain and fat cell aberrations. Organotins are ingredients in many household products, including pesticides, wood preservatives, textiles, and plastics, and are persistent compounds found in low concentrations in most humans and animals.

Source: ENS Newswire

(Beyond Pesticides, February 20, 2007) With little oversight from the federal government, a myriad of chemicals are being injected underground in the name of energy exploration in the West. Among these chemicals, biocides are considered to pose a serious threat to environmental and public health.

Hydraulic fracturing, known as “fracking” or “frac’ing” for short, is the process approximately 90 percent of oil and gas wells in the U.S. undergo to facilitate extraction. Biocides are used to kill microorganisms that can interfere with other fluids and methods used to stimulate extraction, and to prevent corrosion to pipes.

Thousands of wells are popping up over Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, and New Mexico, many of which are located on private property, and some directly adjacent to homes. Many property owners do not own adequate mineral rights to what lies under their land and are rendered powerless to stop energy exploration. With minimal federal oversight, wells, roads and pipelines are established rapidly in these areas bringing heavy traffic, noisy equipment, and air, soil and water pollution.

In 2005, the oil and gas industry was granted an exemption from the Safe Drinking Water Act, allowing the injection of toxic fluids directly into groundwater without oversight by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Prior to enacting this policy, EPA conducted a study that concludes fracking poses a minimal threat to underground sources of drinking water and determines no further study of fracking is warranted; the study has raised criticism from both inside and outside of the agency. Despite concern from public health professionals and landowners who have experienced tainted water themselves (read Laura Amos’ story), the agency has continued to require minimal regulation of the industry.

Lack of oversight is a problem that is compounded at the state level. For example, Colorado allows oil and gas oversight to be headed up by those who have past and/or present employment in the industry.

Since there is no disclosure of the chemicals or amounts used in the process, it is not possible to determine how much of a threat these chemicals pose. However, from the analysis that has been conducted by the Endocrine Disruption Exchange (TEDX) on the limited information that has been obtained, it has been determined that the products labeled as biocides are among the most lethal.

One example is an ingredient used in some biocide formulations: 2-(2-methoxyethoxy) ethanol, diethylene glycol monomethyl ether. It is a suspected carcinogen, known to cause fetal deformities and organ malformations, and reduced male fertility.

Beyond the fact that only a fraction of injected chemicals can be recovered from the ground, those that are recovered have to be handled and disposed. Recovered fluids are often deposited in pits, where evaporation and leaching pose potential sources of pollution. Spills are also common. Dozens of people have reported experiencing health impacts they attribute to oil and gas development being conducted in their backyards.

See the Oil and Gas Accountability Project (OGAP) for more information on fracking.

More articles about fracking and its effects on the West:

• “EPA to Citizens: Frack You,” Salon (May 5, 2006)
  
• “How Halliburton’s Technology is Wrecking the Rockies,” On Earth (Summer 2006)
• Series: “Taking On Goliath,” Orion (November/December 2006)
• “Collateral Damage,” Aspen Times (December 3, 2006)

TAKE ACTION: Conserve energy and use renewable sources whenever possible. If your home is heated by gas, cut down on your use (and bill) by weather proofing your house and turning the thermostat down when you are not home.

(Beyond Pesticides, February 16, 2007) Changing Course in a Changing Climate: Solutions for health and the environment, the 25th National Pesticide Forum, will be held June 1-3 at Loyola University (Water Tower campus) in Chicago’s Magnificent Mile neighborhood. This exciting environmental health conference is convened by Beyond Pesticides and co-sponsored by Safer Pest Control Project, Nutrition for Optimal Health Association and others. The Forum begins Friday afternoon with a Chicago City Hall green roof tour and ends Sunday at noon. A Pesticide Working Group meeting will follow. See details below. Register online or call 202-543-5450 to register by phone.

Forum topics include Global warming: Consequences and the organic connection; Environmental justice; Elevated risks of pesticide mixtures; The hazards and fate of common antibacterials; The truth about nanotechnology; Asthma and the pesticide link; New legislative opportunities; Passing local policies; Great Lakes/water contamination; Sustainable agriculture, nutrition and urban gardens; Scientific integrity; Safer pest management strategies; and more.

Featured Speakers (see updated list with bios): Samuel S. Epstein, M.D. (2007 Dragonfly Award recipient), author of The Politics of Cancer, professor emeritus at the University of Illinois School of Public Health and chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition; Rolf Halden, Ph.D., P.E., professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Tyrone Hayes, Ph.D., professor of Integrative Biology at the University of California Berkeley; Paul Hepperly, Ph.D., Rodale Institute’s research and training manager; Peter Orris, M.D., associate director of the Great Lakes Center for Occupational and Environmental Safety and Health of the University Of Illinois School Of Public Health and director of its Occupational Health Service Institute and Global Toxics Policy Program; Lisa Madigan (invited), Illinois Attorney General; Jennifer Sass, Ph.D., Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) senior scientist and director of NRDC’s scientific integrity project; Peggy Shepard, executive director of West Harlem Environmental Action (WE ACT); and, Cynthia Willard-Lewis (invited), New Orleans City Councilmember.

Rates: Members: $65; Non-members: $75 (includes one-year membership); Business: $175 (includes one-year membership for non-members). Forum registration includes a welcome reception, breakfast and lunch on Saturday and breakfast on Sunday, plus all panel sessions, keynotes and workshops. All food will be organic. Register online.

Lodging: Hotels in Chicago are very expensive and extremely limited this time of year, so we highly recommend that you take advantage of our on-site university housing. On-site lodging (price is per person for two nights, including tax): “Single” (private bedroom, every two bedrooms share common space and bathroom, 2 people per bath): $232; “Double” (shared bedroom, every two bedrooms share common space and bathroom, 4 people per bath): $170. Book online. If you would prefer other lodging options, hotels listed on the lodging page may have vacancy.

Coming Clean Pesticide Working Group Meeting: The Pesticide Working Group (PWG) of Coming Clean will meet on Sunday, June 3rd at Loyola University (Water Tower Campus) immediately following the Forum. If you would like to attend this invitation-only meeting or would like more information on PWG, please contact co-chairs John Kepner ([email protected]) of Beyond Pesticides or Kristin Schafer ([email protected]) of Pesticide Action Network North America. All activists are encouraged to attend.

(Beyond Pesticides, February 14, 2007) Connecticut State Representative Livvy R. Floren (R-149th District) and a bi-partisan coalition of co-sponsors introduced a bill in January 2007 to extend the ban on the use of pesticides at day care and elementary schools to middle and high schools. House Bill 5234, An Act Banning Pesticide Use in Middle And High Schools, has been referred to the General Assembly’s Environment Committee.

Rep. Floren co-sponsored the initial law in 2005, which restricts the use of lawn care pesticides at public and private preschools, elementary schools, child day care centers and group day care homes. This law went into affect January 1, 2006, except for emergencies and completely bans their application starting July 1, 2008.

Rep. Floren said, “Pesticides are known to be detrimental to humans of all ages, and I do not want to see them used in areas that affect our young people. Future generations of children should be able to learn and play at school without threat of breathing in pesticides.” By extending the ban, Rep. Floren said more than 260,000 children attending sixth through 12th grade would be affected.

Rep. Floren told the Greenwich Post that she was first introduced to the problem of pesticides being used on school grounds by Greenwich resident Neil Lubarsky, an attorney who started researching the negative effects of pesticides while attending Harvard Law School.

“I have two small daughters and I was concerned about their health,” Mr. Lubarsky told the Post. “I’ve been involved in groups helping children with leukemia and lymphoma and I wanted to be able to do more than help them get their last wishes granted. I wanted to try and get their exposure to these diseases cut down. Kids spend their time at school and that’s where they were getting exposed to these chemicals.” Mr. Lubarsky said he feels the original ban has been effective and would be happy to see it extended.

“By impacting just a small percentage of the land in the state you’re cutting the exposure of children to cancer by half,” Mr. Lubarsky said. “This doesn’t come at a real cost to anyone in the lawn care industry and it has a real health benefit. There’s no reason not to expand it to other schools. This is where children spend their time. All it means is that there might be a few more dandelions on the school lawns, but when it comes to children’s health that’s not even something that should be an issue.”

Rep. Floren says that critics have now been won over by the original ban’s success.

TAKE ACTION: If you live in Connecticut, contact your state representative and ask them to support House Bill 5234. For information on passing a bill in your state, visit Beyond Pesticides Children’s Health program page.

(Beyond Pesticides, February 13, 2007) As Valentine’s Day approaches, dozens of roses and bouquets are being stocked at stores nationwide. The intentions may be sweet but many of the flowers are not — most of them have been treated with toxic chemicals.

Pesticides are used on most conventionally grown flowers. A good portion of this use takes place in the waterlogged savannah surrounding the capital of Colombia, which has the world’s second-largest cut-flower industry after the Netherlands, producing 62 percent of all flowers sold in the United States.

With 110,000 employees — many of them single mothers — and annual exports of US$1 billion, the industry provides an important alternative to growing coca, source crop of the Andean nation’s better known illegal export: cocaine. But these economic gains come at a cost to workers’ health and Colombia’s environment.

Colombia’s flower exporters association has attempted to respond by launching the Florverde program, but with limited success; its members have reduced pesticide use by 38 percent since 1998, to an average of 97 kilograms (213 pounds) of active ingredient per hectare (2.4 acres) per year. However, 36 percent of the chemicals used by Florverde farms in 2005 were still listed as “extremely” or “highly” toxic by the World Health Organization.

The low level of government regulation of these chemicals and accidents has negatively affected workers’ health. On Nov. 25, 2003, some 200 workers at Flores Aposentos were hospitalized after fainting and developing sores inside their mouths. Authorities determined this mass poisoning could have been caused by any number of pesticide-handling violations, but fined the company just US$5,770.

Carmen Orjuela began suffering dizzy spells and repeated falls in 1997, while working at a flower farm outside Bogota. During the peak season before Valentine’s Day, she said her employer forced workers to enter greenhouses only a half-hour after they had been fumigated. “Those who refused were told they could leave — that 20 people were outside waiting to take their job,” said Ms. Orjuela, who quit in 2004.

Such problems apparently aren’t isolated: a survey of 84 farms between 2000 and 2002, found only 16.7 percent respected Florverde’s recommendation that workers wait 24 hours before re-entering greenhouses sprayed with the most toxic of pesticides.

Growers apply a wide range of fertilizers and pesticides, some of which have been linked to elevated rates of cancer and neurological disorders and other problems. The Harvard School of Public Health examined 72 children ages 7-8 in a flower-growing region of Ecuador whose mothers were exposed to pesticides during pregnancy and found they had developmental delays of up to four years on aptitude tests (Pediatrics, March 2006).

Producers say they would love to go organic, especially given the high costs of pesticides. But their risks include infestations and stiff competition from emerging flower growers in Africa and China.

The good news is that U.S. consumers bought US$16 million in organic flowers in 2005, and demand is growing by 50 percent a year, according to the Organic Trade Association. That growth has been helped by “VeriFlora,” a certification and labeling program launched by U.S. consumers, growers and retailers. Some 32 farms in Colombia and Ecuador have earned the VeriFlora label, which requires a transition to organic production and, unlike the industry-backed Florverde, bans more than 100 chemicals outright.

Chocolate faces a similar set of problems with workers’ rights and pesticide use. Chocolate is conventionally grown in the sun. Since the canopy of shade that controls pests and weeds naturally is often destroyed to make way for sun grown crops like cocoa and coffee, the use of toxic pesticides is prevalent.

Source: Associated Press

TAKE ACTION: This Valentine’s Day, show your love for not only your friends and family, but also the earth and the global community. Buy organic and fair trade flowers and chocolate, both of which are more readily available than ever. Here are some resources of suppliers of organic flowers and chocolates:

Flowers

• Organic Bouquet
• California Organic Flowers
• Local Harvest
• Veriflora – check their list for third-party certified suppliers and distributors.
• Network for Good — your organic flower purchases help support charity.
  

Chocolate

• Lillie Belle Farms
• Dean’s Beans Java Drops — for the coffee lover, Vienna-roasted beans enveloped in rich dark chocolate.

If you don’t have access to organic flowers or chocolate, try other creative ways of expressing your love. A homemade card or picture collage, a poem, or a special homemade, organic dinner are all ways to show someone you care while spreading the love to the environment and society. Happy Valentine’s Day!

(Beyond Pesticides, February 12, 2007) John E. Franz, Ph.D., inventor of the toxic herbicide Roundup (active ingredient is glyphosate), is to be inducted in the National Inventors Hall of Fame, along with inventors of the MRI, the automotive airbag, vaccines, and various medicines. The honor is being awarded under the false claim that glyphosate is nontoxic.

The 2007 class of inductees was announced at an event Thursday, February 8, on Capitol Hill, and the induction ceremony will take place on May 5 in Ohio. The statement released by the National Inventors Hall of Fame says of Dr. Franz: “In 1970, while working at Monsanto, Franz discovered the glyphosate class of herbicides, later marketed under the brand name Roundup ®. Glyphosate herbicides eliminate more than 125 kinds of weeds and are nontoxic to animals.”

In fact, Roundup has been found to be harmful to animals and may pose a threat to humans as well.

Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, is the number one most commonly used pesticide in U.S. agriculture, and the second most commonly used in non-agricultural settings in the U.S. According to a Beyond Pesticides literature review (GATEWAY), glyphosate is linked to cancer, reproductive effects, neurotoxicity, kidney/liver damage, and asthma.

A study published by the American Cancer Society (1999) finds that people exposed to glyphosate are 2.7 times more likely to develop Non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Further, four peer-reviewed studies demonstrate the ability of glyphosate-containing herbicides to cause genetic damage to DNA (mutagenicity), even at very low concentration levels (source: Journal of Pesticide Reform). A 2005 study published in the peer-reviewed journal, Environmental Health Perspectives, found damaging endocrine effects of glyphosate and Roundup to fetal growth at levels 10 times lower than used in agriculture. The product formulation Roundup was shown to be at least twice as toxic as the active ingredient alone.

Glyphosate use directly impacts a variety of nontarget animals including insects, earthworms, and fish, and indirectly impacts birds and small mammals. A study conducted by the International Organization for Biological Control found that exposure to Roundup killed over 50 percent of three species of beneficial insects — parasitoid wasps, lacewings and ladybugs. Repeated applications of glyphosate significantly affect the growth and survival of earthworms. Studies have also shown that glyphosate, and in particular, the inert ingredients in the formulation of Roundup are acutely toxic to fish.

TAKE ACTION: Send a letter to the National Inventors Hall of Fame telling them that it is inappropriate to honor the inventor of a toxic chemical among the ranks of great medical inventors. Using the above points, write a letter to the editor/opinion responding to articles about Dr. Franz’s induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame (See list of newspapers covering the story: http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&ie=UTF-8&ncl=1113440420), including ABC News, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Seattle Post Intelligencer, Wyoming News, and others.

(Beyond Pesticides, February 8, 2007) Investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have shed new light on the suspected role of pesticides in the development of Parkinson’s disease (PD). The study, “GST expression mediates dopaminergic neuron sensitivity in experimental parkinsonism” appearing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (January 31, 2007), illustrates the mechanism of nerve cell damage by pesticide exposure.

The enzyme that prevents damage to the substantia nigra, the part of the brain where nerve cell damage associated with PD occurs, is called GST pi (“pie”). This enzyme stands like a sentry at the crossroads of several biochemical pathways, any one of which can lead to PD. GST pi protects the nerve cell from death caused by either environmental toxics, such as pesticides, or a self-destruction process called apoptosis (cell suicide), triggered by certain stressful conditions in the cell. If GST pi levels are reduced or this enzyme is overwhelmed by toxics, these nerves are at increased risk of death, according to studies in mouse models.

GST pi is one of a family of similar enzymes that eliminate free radicals generated by pesticides and other chemicals. Two members of this family are present in the brain, but only one of them, GST pi, is found in the dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra. When nerve cells in the substantia nigra region of the brain die, it results in a loss of dopamine, the nerve-signaling molecule that helps control muscle movement. The absence of dopamine from these cells, called dopaminergic neurons, causes the loss of muscle control, trembling and lack of coordination exhibited in PD.

The study explains the cause of most cases of PD. “The majority of these cases of Parkinson’s disease appear to arise because individuals who have a genetic susceptibility to the disease are exposed to environmental toxins such as pesticides and herbicides, which trigger the formation of free radicals that kill dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra,” according to Richard Smeyne, Ph.D., an associate member of the Department of Developmental Neurobiology at St. Jude and the report’s senior author.

In conducting the investigation, which led to these findings, the scientists treated mice with the substance MPTP, a by-product of a heroin substitute, in order to determine if levels of GST pi changed. MPTP is a mitochondrial complex 1 inhibitor as is the pesticide rotenone, a naturally occuring material used in organic production and products, that is also implicated in PD (Beyond Pesticides, November 8, 2004). Rotenone is used in common household garden products such as Garden Dust for insect control, for lice and tick control on pets, and for fish eradication. MPTP’s chemical structure also resembles that of the restricted-use herbicide paraquat. (Beyond Pesticides, January 22, 2002).

According to the British Medical Journal (January 22, 2007), many studies have found an association between pesticides and PD, but no one agent has been consistently identified. Those implicated include organochlorine insecticides (dieldrin), maneb and paraquat. Other researchers have documented low-dose effects of the insecticide permethrin, doses below one-one thousandth of a lethal dose for a mouse, on those brain pathways involved in PD. The effects are consistent with a pre-parkinsonsian condition, but not yet full-blown parkinsonism (Beyond Pesticides, March 31, 2003).

While researchers point to this discovery as helpful in risk assessment and therapeutic remedies, the medical community should equally promote reducing your exposure to pesticides as a preventative method.

Sources: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, British Medical Journal

(Beyond Pesticides, February 7, 2007) On January 19, 2007, the Environmental Protection Agency (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).

Martex has been found liable for 170 alleged violations of EPA’s worker protection standards. The farm owners also failed to display specific pesticide application information for its agricultural workers and pesticide handlers, failed to provide them with decontamination materials, and failed to provide handlers with personal protective equipment.

The recent decision, rendered by the ALJ, underscores EPA’s position that failing to provide agricultural workers and pesticide handlers with specific pesticide application information on the same application constitutes separate, independent violations. In addition, this ruling reaffirms the requirement that every handler applying pesticides must be provided with personal protection equipment.

In January 2005, EPA filed a complaint against Martex for improperly using pesticides and endangering worker safety. Martex Farms grows, processes, packs and ships tropical fruits and plants. The family-owned business was established in 1989, and employs hundreds of people at its numerous facilities in Puerto Rico.

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. Agricultural workers may be injured from direct spray, drift, or residue left by pesticide applications. Pesticide handlers face additional risks from spills, splashes, inhalation, and inadequate protective equipment.

In 2005, national and state farm worker organizations called upon Washington State Governor Gregoire and the Bush Administration to take immediate action to protect farm workers in light of disturbing medical monitoring results. The groups co-released the report Messages from Monitoring, which discusses the results and other studies bearing on exposures experienced by farm workers and their children. The report criticized state and federal agencies for failing to protect the farm worker community, and it identified several Washington State actions that rolled back protections (see Daily News).

TAKE ACTION: Write to U.S.EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson and demand adequate protection for farm workers from the dangers of pesticides.

(Beyond Pesticides, February 6, 2007) Conservation groups have challenged a government plan that would allow six more years use of a deadly pesticide it admits needs to be banned. The groups, represented by Earthjustice, have reopened a lawsuit in federal district court aiming at speeding up the removal of azinphos-methyl, commonly called AZM or guthion. The legal actions also takes aim at getting rid of two other deadly pesticides, phosmet and chlorpyrifos.

All three pesticides were developed from World War I-era nerve toxins. AZM is used primarily to kill insects on orchard crops such as apples, cherries, pears, peaches, and nectarines. The highest uses occur in Washington, Oregon, California, Michigan, Georgia, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Chlorpyrifos is used widely on corn and orchard crops. Use of phosmet on orchard crops and blueberries poses particularly serious risks to workers.

In November 2006, EPA decided that AZM poses unreasonable adverse effects and must be banned but allowed its continued use on fruit crops for six more years — until 2012 — and on nut crops for three more years — until 2009. “With safer alternatives already in widespread use, EPA has betrayed the trust of the men, women, and children whose health it is duty bound to protect by allowing this extremely hazardous pesticide to remain in use for six more years,” said Shelley Davis, attorney for Farmworker Justice. “It is time to make that shift now.”

The conservation groups contend this phase-out period is too long because of the immediate and severe risks it poses to farm workers and their families. EPA found that phosmet and chlorpyrifos pose “risks of concern” to workers for poisonings and to the environment in the form of water contamination and fish kills. However, it did not adopt sufficient mitigation measures to reduce or eliminate these risks.

“These pesticides put thousands of workers at risk of serious illness every year,�? said Erik Nicholson of the United Farm Workers of America. “It is inexcusable for EPA to allow AZM to continue poisoning workers for six more years.”

Between 1987 and 1998, between 21 and 24 million pounds of chlorpyrifos was applied to more than eight million acres of crops in the U.S. The largest use is on corn. Both AZM and chlorpyrifos have led to violations of water quality standards.

All three pesticides are highly neurotoxic organophosphate insecticides. Organophosphate insecticides attack the human brain and nervous system. Exposure can cause dizziness, vomiting, convulsions, numbness in the limbs, loss of intellectual function, and death. New alternatives have emerged that cost only slightly more and produce the same amount and quality of food crops. Farmworker families and communities are exposed to organophosphates through take-home exposures on clothing, contamination of cars and drift onto outdoor play areas. In the case of phosmet, residue in sprayed fields poses dangers to workers up to four weeks after application, but EPA allows workers to reenter most fields a week or less after application. Chlorpyrifos is commonly showered on fields from open cab tractors, yet EPA did not require closed cabs, which could eliminate severe poisonings risks.

In 2001, EPA found that AZM poses unacceptable risks to workers, but it allowed continued use of the pesticide for four more years because less toxic alternatives cost more to use. Farmworker advocates challenged that decision in federal court because EPA failed to take into account the costs of poisoning workers, exposing children, and polluting rivers and streams. To settle the lawsuit, EPA agreed to reconsider whether to ban AZM and announced its six-year phase-out last November. In January, EPA added some mitigation measures for phosmet, but far less than what it had previously deemed necessary to reduce worker risks. EPA has added no additional safeguards for workers applying chlorpyrifos.

“It is outrageous that EPA allowed continued use of AZM knowing that it would expose farmworkers to unacceptable risks of pesticide poisonings,” said Patti Goldman, an attorney for Earthjustice. “Since growers have already had five years to shift to other pest controls, there is no reason to subject workers and their communities to more poisonings for another six years.”

The groups bringing the lawsuit are the United Farm Workers of America, Sea Mar Community Health Centers, Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste, Beyond Pesticides, Frente Indígena Oaxaqueño Binacional, and Arnulfo Lopez, a farmworker in California.

(Beyond Pesticides, February 5, 2007) Due to opposition from Beyond Pesticides and citizen activists, EPA has withdrawn a rule that would have weakened the regulation of pesticide-treated food packaging. The rule sought to exempt from the definitions of “pesticide chemical” and “pesticide chemical residue�? under section 201(q) of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) food packaging (e.g., paper and paperboard, coatings, adhesives, and polymers) that is treated with a pesticide.

Many consumers took the opportunity to voice outrage at the notion that pesticides are allowed in food packaging products. Pesticide-treated food packaging is a potential threat to the public’s health. The average consumer is unaware of the potential dangers associated with pesticide food residues from packaging and will not be alerted if labeling is not required.

The proposed rule comes at a time when the agency has received increased applications for a wider variety of pesticide treated food packaging products. Due to this trend, Beyond Pesticides feels weaker regulation is inappropriate, citing existing gaps in the pesticide regulatory system, and has asked EPA and the Food and Drug Administration to require full reviews for pesticidal action of packaging, residues on food, and non-toxic strategies for food packaging.

The withdrawal of rule was announced February 2, 2007, in the Federal Register (72 FR 4963). While EPA has withdrawn the rule, it has declared it may repromulgate the rule provisions, but in doing so, EPA would address the adverse comments it has received.

(Beyond Pesticides, February 2, 2007) Joshua Grabowsky, a chef and CEO of busypeople inc., a suburban organic catering firm serving the Chicago area, is starting a business serving organic school lunches. Max’s Organic Planet, which he’ll run from within busypeople, is an effort to provide healthy, organic lunches to public and private schools in the city and on the North Shore. Mr. Grabowsky and busypeople, inc. will also be providing 100% certified organic meals at the upcoming 25th National Pesticide Forum convened by Beyond Pesticides in Chicago and co-sponsored by the Chicago-based Safer Pest Control Project.

For many children, including Mr. Grabowsky, school lunch was a thing of dread, often reviled and discarded by unappetized students. With two kids of his own, Mr. Grabowsky is turning his long-lived school-lunch fear into a business that he hopes will help both parents and kids banish the concept of cafeteria mystery meat from their collective memories.

Mr. Grabowsky is gearing up for the 2007—08 school year, gauging interest and offering pilot programs and weeklong taste tests, so that school administrators, parents and students will sign on for organic eats in September. One such test at Lake Forest Montessori resulted in kids eating double their average amount of food, he says.

“The difference was that the middle-elementary kids, who despised the traditional lunch and brought their own bagged lunches, caught wind of the organic offerings and starting eating like a pack of hyenas,” Mr. Grabowsky says. While the program can be adapted for kids ranging in age from 2 to 18 years old, Mr. Grabowsky thinks these middle schoolers may be the best audience for Max’s Organic Planet. “These kids are more picky than the five-and-unders, and they love to learn about food.” His response to picky eaters is what he calls the “three-ingredient rule,” simplifying dishes so they have as few ingredients as possible.

“People try to hide [vegetables] and make weird-looking concoctions. No way! Kids like to be able to recognize each ingredient on its own. If they have to ask ”˜What’s in that?,’ forget about it.” Mr. Grabowsky’s goal is to contract with schools for hot lunch every day, but the company is offering alternatives for communities that need more flexible plans. Those include a Monday, Wednesday, Friday plan; TGIOF (Thank God It’s Organic Friday); and Organic Week, providing one week of organic meals per month.

Cost varies based on the schools’ needs. Larger schools will be able to negotiate volume discounts, but lunches will average between $3 and $6 per student per day. Healthy cooking and gardening classes, as well as yoga and meditation, are add-ons to help give kids an integrated approach to healthy eating.

Down the road, Mr. Grabowsky hopes kids will grow most of the vegetables used in the lunches through the gardening classes. When schools sign on for a yearlong program, 20 weeks of cooking classes (one every other week during the school year) are included at no extra cost. Mr. Grabowsky has no fears of kids being served healthier lunches opting to trade them with others who brown-bag junk food. Meals will include chicken tenders baked (not fried) with olive oil, pasta with meat sauce (made from grass-fed sirloin) and salad with raspberry vinaigrette. Every menu includes a protein, starch, vegetable and fruit. “We’re trying to provide foods that are normal foods, that they’re used to,” he says, “but set the tone for the next ten years.”

Source: Timeout Chicago

TAKE ACTION: For more information on organic school lunches, school gardens, and getting organic food into your school, sign up for the School Pesticide Monitor or visit the archives. For more info on busypeople inc., visit www.busypeopleinc.com.

(Beyond Pesticides, February 1, 2007) Thirty-five years after the banning of DDT, extremely high concentrations of the pesticide are being found in fish caught in California’s Los Angeles county waters. According to a newly released federal survey by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the fish caught in the area contain the world’s highest-known DDT concentrations.

The survey was conducted in order to update health advisories on which fish are unsafe to eat and to help EPA decide whether to attempt a costly operation to reduce continued contamination from a deposit of DDT on the ocean floor. The findings contradict the belief held by some scientists that DDT on the ocean floor has been breaking down into less-toxic compounds and would soon disappear from marine life.

The contamination, most severe in the middle of San Redondo Bay, stems from a 100-ton deposit of DDT released by the Montrose Chemical Co. beginning in the late 1940s, which still covers several square miles of the ocean floor. The pesticide manufacturer had a plant near Torrance, California, from 1947 to 1971, releasing about 2,000 tons of DDT into county sewers that subsequently emptied into the ocean. The banned pesticide, classified as a probable human carcinogen and linked to liver disease, reproductive damage and altered hormones in lab animals and wildlife, adheres to sediment and continues to seep into marine creatures. EPA must now decide whether to attempt to seal off the ocean deposit with a thick cap of sand, which could cost tens of millions of dollars.

The survey looked at data from 2002, and identified the bottom-feeding white croaker the most contaminated fish, especially when caught in the middle of San Pedro Bay, about 1.5 miles offshore in an area called Horseshoe Kelp. Also highly contaminated were kelp bass, barred sandbass, scorpionfish and rockfish, some containing above half a part per million (ppm) of DDT. The average at Horseshoe Kelp was 3.2 ppm of DDT, with one fish reaching almost 13 ppm. Waters at the southern end of Santa Monica Bay, between Redondo Beach and Palos Verdes Estates, also had some highly contaminated croaker and barred sandbass. Pacific mackerel, opaleye and jacksmelt had the lowest concentrations.

In the past, the state of California has used 100 parts per billion of DDT as the threshold for acceptable cancer risk from eating fish, indicating that one of every 100,000 people who regularly eat such fish could contract cancer. The amount found in the average San Pedro Bay croaker was 30 times higher than this threshold. In response to the new federal findings, California’s environmental health agency is reevaluating the risks of eating locally caught fish, which could result in updates to a health advisory and a commercial fishing ban that have been in effect since 1991. Robert K. Brodberg, chief of fish and water quality evaluation at the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, said the agency will launch a reevaluation of the health risks this year, as soon as a federal report detailing the new data is complete. The aim is to develop new fish consumption recommendations and advise the Department of Fish and Game in updating its commercial no-fishing zone.

The data from the federal survey suggest that there has been no improvement in DDT contamination since the late 1980s, when the last regional fish survey was conducted. “Things have not changed a whole lot in the last decade or so,” said David Witting, a NOAA fish biologist who directed the survey. “The biggest concern is still lower Santa Monica Bay, Palos Verdes Shelf and much of San Pedro Bay. The species that is consistently the most highly contaminated is still white croaker.”

Mark Gold, executive director of the Santa Monica-based environmental group Heal the Bay, said the scope of the contamination revealed by the new fish data was worse than he thought. “Not only have things not improved for contaminated fish off Palos Verdes, but this data shows that the concern is more far-ranging than we originally thought,” Gold said. “Hot fish [highly contaminated fish] off Palos Verdes is no surprise, but we’re finding hot fish all the way from the Redondo Pier throughout San Pedro Bay, and it’s for a wide variety of species, not just the bottom-dwelling ones.”

An annual test of fish by the county sanitation department off the Palos Verdes Peninsula indicate conditions may have improved at the DDT deposit in the four years since the federal survey was conducted. David Montagne, supervising environmental scientist at the Los Angeles County Sanitation District, said that at least another year of data is needed before officials could be confident that the drop was permanent and not a temporary flux. “The trend we see ”” and we don’t know if it’s real or not ”” suggests that concentrations over the area of greatest DDT contamination are dropping,” he said. If that proves to be true, Mr. Montagne said, it supports the theory that the pesticide is degrading into less toxic compounds. For the past two years, average DDT concentrations in white croaker there declined substantially, from 33 ppm in 2002 to 4 ppm in 2005 ”” still a worldwide high.

In September 2006, the World Health Organization announced a new policy to support indoor application of DDT for malaria control in developing countries, despite the fact that it is classified as a class B “probable human carcinogen” by EPA and numerous studies have shown other adverse effects, such as endocrine disruption. Beyond Pesticides went on record disputing the logic behind continuing its use despite its known adverse health effects and persistence in the environment.

Source: Los Angeles Times

(Beyond Pesticides, January 31, 2007) On January 29, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) concluded a month-long review of the Department of Agriculture’s (NJDA) petition to waive the state’s ban on aerial-spraying of broad-spectrum pesticides. The state will uphold the ban, effectively blocking widespread use of the chemical Dimilin.

The ban affects towns seeking to reduce rising gypsy moth populations. Roughly 125,000 acres of trees suffered defoliation in the state as a result of gypsy moths, one of the worst years in recent memory. Gypsy moths have been in New Jersey since the 1920s, and their destruction peaking in 1981, with 800,000 acres defoliated.

Dimilin is a restricted-use pesticide (available only to certified applicators) that has been unavailable for broadcast use for decades. For the past 20 years, in lieu of aerial spraying of Dimilin — also known as diflubenzuron — the pesticide specified in NJDA’s request, New Jersey towns have used bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) , a bacterial agent. With gypsy moth populations expected to be higher in 2007 than in recent years, NJDA argued that Bt would be insufficient to protect hardwood trees across the state.

In a letter to NJDA, Marcedius T. Jameson, DEP’s administrator for pesticide control wrote, “The case for Bt being ineffective was not made since the municipalities in New Jersey are being offered Bt as a viable option for control in 2007.” NJDA also argued that the gypsy moth situation in the state could be categorized as an environmental emergency. Mr. Jameson responded, “The variable potential for tree loss and the nuisance that gypsy moth caterpillars pose do not rise to the level of an environmental emergency.” With the prohibition on aerial spraying of Dimilin still intact, towns have the options of spraying Bt, applying Dimilin in smaller amounts, or individuals can hire private applicators to treat their property with Bt as well.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classifies Dimilin as “moderately toxic” to humans. Jane Nogaki, of the New Jersey Environmental Federation, added, “The breakdown product is a probable carcinogen and it can rob blood cells of oxygen.” In addition, as a broad-spectrum herbicide, Dimilin affects both gypsy moths and beneficial organisms, such as aquatic crustaceans and other molting insects. “We’re pleased that the governor and the DEP weighed in on the side of the public and the environment,” said Ms. Nogaki.

See Beyond Pesticides’ January 16, 2007 story on New Jersey’s Dimilin.

(Beyond Pesticides, January 30, 2007) Breast cancer groups across the country have a new issue to add to the repertoire of risk factors: Pesticide use. A study published online in the American Journal of Epidemiology has found a strong link between residential pesticide use and breast cancer risk in women. Responding to the study, Susan Teitelbaum, Ph.D., assistant professor in the department of community medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, says the options are simple”” “Stop using pesticides.”

The study, published December 13, is the first to examine the relation between breast cancer and pesticides through self-reported residential pesticide use. Using women from New York, the study looks not at one or two incidents of pesticide contact, but at the impact of lifelong pesticide use in the home, lawn and garden. Using a sample of 1,508 women who were diagnosed with breast cancer between 1996 and 1997, the study compares these women to 1,556 control subjects who were randomly selected.

The results show that those women whose blood samples had higher levels of organochlorines are at an increased risk of breast cancer. Organochlorines are a broad class of chemicals, including DDT, dieldrin, and chlordane, and were found in a variety of insecticides, as well as some rodenticides and fungicides. The report also found that nearly all women use lawn and garden pesticides to some degree.

Although this study was the first to find an association through self reported use, the link between breast cancer and pesticides has been previously documented. In 2002, California officials focused on pesticides as a source of the rapid increase in breast cancer. A study from 2003 shows an increase in breast cancer risk from consuming fish contaminated with DDT (an organochlorine), PCBs, and PBDEs. In 2006, a study found that women who have been employed in agriculture are at a higher risk for breast cancer. Additionally, pesticides like dieldrin, DDT, heptachlor, and triazines have either been shown to increase the risk of breast cancer or are linked to the disease.

Although pesticides are used to control everything from ants and termites to weeds and garden pests, and are even found in products such as treated wood and hygiene products, alternatives do exist. An integrated pest management (IPM) program, which focuses on the root of the problem, is a safe and effective way to ward off unwanted creatures. IPM uses a more comprehensive approach, looking to prevent and control pest problems with non-toxic alternatives.

Source: United Press International