(Beyond Pesticides, February 28, 2022) When bacteria and fungi become resistant to pesticides, it is a signal that the toxic chemical approach to controlling pathogens does not work. But resistance also poses a direct threat to human health when the pesticide (or a related chemical) is used in human medicine.

Tell EPA to cancel all uses of a pesticide when resistance is discovered or predicted to occur. Tell Congress to ensure that EPA protects public health from deadly antifungal and antibiotic resistance.

The threat of resistance in bacterial human pathogens has long been widely recognized. Although research sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognizes the spread of resistance to antibiotics important in human medicine through horizontal gene transfer in the environment, EPA inaction both on antibiotic and antifungal resistance has become a growing crisis.

EPA does recognize the existence of resistance to fungicides. It uses codes produced by the Fungicide Resistance Action Committee in decisions regarding fungicide registration. Although EPA says resistance “may be considered in the risk-benefit decision-making process,” there is no evidence that the agency actually considers the failure of EPA-registered pesticides to control the target organisms in registering pesticides. That failure has a serious impact on human and environmental health as users of the chemical increase use and as medical uses of antibiotics and fungicides become ineffective.

The threat of resistance is evident with a number of fungicides, as well as bactericides and viricides. For example, Candida auris is an emerging fungal pathogen that threatens those with compromised or immature immune systems, such as infants, the elderly, people taking steroids for autoimmune disorders, diabetics, those undergoing chemotherapy, and even smokers. Nearly half of those who contract a C. auris infection die within 90 days. One of the factors making this fungus so deadly is that it has developed resistance to existing antifungal medicines, with 90% of infections resistant to one drug, and 30% to two or more. As is true for resistant bacteria, culprits in C. auris’s development of resistance include the use of antifungal medications in health care and reliance on fungicides in agriculture.

A recent study conducted by scientists at the University of Georgia finds fungicide use in agriculture is driving the spread of multi-fungicide resistant human pathogens. Of 700 Aspergillus fumigatus samples collected, nearly 20% (123) displayed some level of resistance to the commonly used azole fungicide tebuconazole. Twelve of the 123 were highly resistant at clinically relevant levels for human health care. No samples taken from organic sites contained  resistant fungi.

Azole-resistant strains also displayed resistance  to methyl benzimidazole carbamate (MBC) fungicides like carbendazim, and quinone outside inhibitors (Qol) like azoxystrobin.

A review of genome sequences shows that genetically those with broad resistance to azole fungicides show a close match between those discovered on farms and those found in human clinical settings. Of 25 pan-azole resistant samples analyzed, eight farm samples and 12 human clinical samples also display resistance to non-azole fungicides.

These results indicate a need for a shift toward eliminating reliance on toxic fungicides.

Unfortunately, regulators and politicians are neither heeding the science, nor listening to scientists. EPA’s recent response to the rise   of drug-resistant Candida auris is a case in point. The agency failed to assess the efficacy of any pesticides that are not used for public health purposes; EPA only evaluated the efficacy of antimicrobial compounds whose use patterns classify them as human-health-related—thus ignoring the impact of other antimicrobial pesticides on resistance in human pathogens.

At the international level, a Freedom of Information Act request revealed officials at the U.S. Department of Agriculture working to downplay the role of synthetic fungicide use in chemical agriculture as a factor in the rise of drug-resistant fungal infections worldwide by denying the truth on the ground and attempting to halt protective actions, as EPA did with pentachlorophenol (recently cancelled with a 5-year phaseout after the manufacturer pulled out of the market).  Prior research on resistance in agriculture has shown that the only true way to eliminate resistance is to stop using the material that was causing resistance to occur in the first place. Organic agriculture, with its strong restrictions on allowed synthetic materials, provides a path out of the industrialized chemical farming system that overtook agricultural production over the last century. Rising resistance, and the need to retain life-saving medications for protecting people’s health is another reason why investing in organic is the right choice for the future.

Tell EPA to cancel all uses of a pesticide when resistance is discovered or predicted to occur. Tell Congress to ensure that EPA protects public health from deadly antifungal and antibiotic resistance.

Letter to EPA:

When bacteria and fungi become resistant to pesticides, it signals that the toxic chemical approach to controlling pathogens does not work. But resistance also poses a direct threat to human health when the pesticide (or a related chemical) is used in human medicine. EPA must cancel all uses of a pesticide found to cause resistance.

The threat of resistance in bacterial human pathogens has long been widely recognized. Although research sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shows the spread of resistance to antibiotics important in human medicine through horizontal gene transfer in the environment, EPA inaction both on antibiotic and antifungal resistance has become a growing crisis..

EPA recognizes the existence of resistance to fungicides by using codes produced by the Fungicide Resistance Action Committee in registration decisions. Although EPA says resistance “may be considered in the risk-benefit decision-making process,” there is no evidence that the agency actually considers the failure of EPA-registered pesticides to control the target organisms in registration—a failure that affects human and environmental health because those who depend on the pesticide use ever-higher amounts, as medical uses of antibiotics and fungicides become ineffective.

The resistance threat to human health is evident with a number of fungicides, bactericides, and viricides. For example, Candida auris is an emerging fungal pathogen that threatens those with compromised or immature immune systems, such as infants, the elderly, people taking steroids for autoimmune disorders, diabetics, those undergoing chemotherapy, and even smokers. Nearly half of those who contract a C. auris infection die within 90 days. One of the factors making this fungus so deadly is that it has developed resistance to existing antifungal medicines, with 90% of infections resistant to one drug, and 30% to two or more. Culprits in C. auris’s development of resistance include the use of antifungal medications in health care and reliance on fungicides in agriculture.

A recent study conducted by scientists at the University of Georgia finds fungicide use in agriculture is driving the spread of multi-fungicide resistant human pathogens. Of 700 Aspergillus fumigatus samples collected, nearly 20% (123) displayed some level of resistance to the commonly used azole fungicide tebuconazole. Twelve of the 123 were highly resistant at clinically relevant levels for human health care. No samples taken from organic sites contained resistant fungi.

Azole-resistant strains also display resistance to methyl benzimidazole carbamate fungicides like carbendazim, and quinone outside inhibitors like azoxystrobin. A review of genome sequences shows that genetically, those with broad resistance to azole fungicides show a close match between those discovered on farms and those found in human clinical settings.

These results indicate a need for a shift toward eliminating reliance on toxic fungicides.

EPA’s recent response to the rise of drug-resistant C. auris demonstrates EPA’s failure to use the science. The agency failed to assess the efficacy of pesticides not used for public health purposes, only evaluating the efficacy of antimicrobial compounds whose use patterns classify them as human-health-related—thus ignoring the impact of other antimicrobial pesticides on resistance in human pathogens.

Research shows that the only way to eliminate resistance is to stop using the material that was causing resistance to occur in the first place. Organic agriculture, with its strong restrictions on allowed synthetic materials, provides a path out of the industrialized chemical farming system that overtook agricultural production over the last century.

Rising resistance, and the need to retain life-saving medications for protecting people’s health require that EPA cancel all uses of a pesticide found to cause resistance.

Letter to U.S. Senators and Representative:

When bacteria and fungi become resistant to pesticides, it signals that the toxic chemical approach to controlling pathogens does not work. But resistance also poses a direct threat to human health when the pesticide (or a related chemical) is used in human medicine. EPA must cancel all uses of a pesticide found to cause resistance.

The threat of resistance in bacterial human pathogens has long been widely recognized. Although research sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shows the spread of resistance to antibiotics important in human medicine through horizontal gene transfer in the environment, EPA inaction both on antibiotic and antifungal resistance has become a growing crisis..

EPA recognizes the existence of resistance to fungicides by using codes produced by the Fungicide Resistance Action Committee in registration decisions. Although EPA says resistance “may be considered in the risk-benefit decision-making process,” there is no evidence that the agency actually considers the failure of EPA-registered pesticides to control the target organisms in registration—a failure that affects human and environmental health because those who depend on the pesticide use ever-higher amounts, as medical uses of antibiotics and fungicides become ineffective.

The resistance threat to human health is evident with a number of fungicides, bactericides, and viricides. For example, Candida auris is an emerging fungal pathogen that threatens those with compromised or immature immune systems, such as infants, the elderly, people taking steroids for autoimmune disorders, diabetics, those undergoing chemotherapy, and even smokers. Nearly half of those who contract a C. auris infection die within 90 days. One of the factors making this fungus so deadly is that it has developed resistance to existing antifungal medicines, with 90% of infections resistant to one drug, and 30% to two or more. Culprits in C. auris’s development of resistance include the use of antifungal medications in health care and reliance on fungicides in agriculture.

A recent study conducted by scientists at the University of Georgia finds fungicide use in agriculture is driving the spread of multi-fungicide resistant human pathogens. Of 700 Aspergillus fumigatus samples collected, nearly 20% (123) displayed some level of resistance to the commonly used azole fungicide tebuconazole. Twelve of the 123 were highly resistant at clinically relevant levels for human health care. No samples taken from organic sites contained resistant fungi.

Azole-resistant strains also display resistance to methyl benzimidazole carbamate fungicides like carbendazim, and quinone outside inhibitors like azoxystrobin. A review of genome sequences shows that genetically, those with broad resistance to azole fungicides show a close match between those discovered on farms and those found in human clinical settings.

These results indicate a need for a shift toward eliminating reliance on toxic fungicides.

EPA’s recent response to the rise of drug-resistant C. auris demonstrates EPA’s failure to use the science. The agency failed to assess the efficacy of pesticides not used for public health purposes, only evaluating the efficacy of antimicrobial compounds whose use patterns classify them as human-health-related—thus ignoring the impact of other antimicrobial pesticides on resistance in human pathogens.

Research shows that the only way to eliminate resistance is to stop using the material that was causing resistance to occur in the first place. Organic agriculture, with its strong restrictions on allowed synthetic materials, provides a path out of the industrialized chemical farming system that overtook agricultural production over the last century.

Please ensure that in view of rising resistance, and the need to retain life-saving medications for protecting people’s health, that EPA cancels all uses of a pesticide found to cause resistance.

(Beyond Pesticides, February 25, 2022) Together, governments of the world over are spending at least $1.8 trillion annually — 2% of global gross domestic product — on subsidies that drive the destruction of ecosystems and species extinction, and exacerbate the climate crisis. This news comes from a study commissioned by The B Team and Business for Nature, and released in a joint brief, Financing Our Survival: Building a Nature Positive Economy through Subsidy Reform. The Business for Nature website offers a remedy to this entropy: “With political determination and radical public–private sector collaboration, we can reform these harmful subsidies and create opportunities for an equitable, nature-positive and net-zero economy.” To that end, the two organizations have issued, in their brief, calls to action to multiple sectors, including one to the governments participating in the coming UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15): “Adopt a clear and ambitious target within the Global Biodiversity Framework . . . that commits governments to redirect, repurpose, or eliminate all environmentally harmful subsidies by 2030 and increase positive incentives to enable an equitable, net-zero, nature-positive world.”

A press release from The B Team reports that the fossil fuel, agriculture, and water sectors are the recipients of more than 80% of all environmentally harmful subsidies (EHS) annually, thus “depleting natural resources, degrading global ecosystems, and perpetuating unsustainable levels of production and consumption, in addition to exacerbating global inequalities.” Other recipients of significant subsidy include the forestry, construction, marine capture fishery, and transport sectors. Business for Nature (BFN) comments, “In other words, public money is financing our own extinction.”

The release of the brief and study is timely, given the early March UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) COP15 Open Ended Working Group meeting in Geneva; the follow-on UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) scheduled for April 25–May 8 in Kunming, China; and the next UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt (rescheduled for November 2022). The study and report hope to inform decision makers in government and business on the case for, and how to, reform these environmentally damaging subsidies.

EHS, as the brief defines them, are government support programs that — though often established (at least ostensibly) to solve socioeconomic problems — ultimately encourage unsustainable production and/or consumption patterns, largely because they were deployed without consideration of environmental impacts. Beyond Pesticides notes that many of the health and environmental crises we face have arisen because of such a “siloed” approach to problems, and that broadly, precautionary and holistic approaches can avoid such unintended and harmful impacts; see “Scientific Findings Support Replacing Poisons with Precaution” (p. 9).

The World Economic Forum puts failure to act robustly on climate, resulting extreme weather events, and biodiversity loss as the leading threats to humanity — catalyzed in part by the enormous amounts of money given by governments to support harmful industries and practices. The research finds that globally, the fossil fuel industry receives $640 billion in EHS annually; the agriculture sector, $520B; water, $350B; forestry, $155B; construction, $90B; transport, $85B; and marine capture fisheries, $50B. (The report also mentions that, though no metrics are available on EHS for it, illegal gold mining accounts for billions of dollars in damage each year.)

These subsidies are significant contributors to many of the crises the world faces: the rapidly heating climate, ecosystem and biodiversity loss, air and water pollution, land degradation, and social and economic inequality. A UN Development Programme and Food and Agriculture Organization report suggests, for example, that of the subsidies provided to farmers, nearly 90% distort prices or cause other harm, and that most fossil fuel subsidies hamper the critical and urgent need to transition to a clean energy economy globally.

The report also scolds governments for terrible follow-through on pledges made — and then ignored or unrealized. It notes, “During the 2010 UN CBD Summit, 190 countries committed to phasing out or reforming subsidies harmful to biodiversity by 2020 as part of the Aichi targets. Governments missed the target, and we cannot afford for history to repeat itself.”

The brief acknowledges the extreme difficulty of reforming these subsidies: “Many of [them] are so deeply embedded in our economies that attempts to define, measure and track them often struggle to be comprehensive, and progress to reform them has been slow. This is due not only to the power of vested interests, but also because both the governments and beneficiaries — including business — are unaware of the full scale of the subsidies and their impacts. Businesses often lobby for continued or increased government support that often has negative unintended environmental consequences.”

Among its observations are the needs for greater public awareness and visibility of EHS, and much more transparency and disclosure about subsidies from governments and recipient businesses. In the U.S., such subsidies tend to be “worked out” behind semi-closed doors among legislators, federal agencies, lobbyists, and private business entities, and occasionally reported on by journalists — hardly the stuff of open, democratic, and accountable governance.

The report’s summary asserts that reform adequate to the goals of reversing “nature loss” by 2030, and achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050, will require roughly $700 billion annually — far less than is currently spent on funding climate- and nature-destructive governmental subsidy programs. The researchers and authors, Doug Koplow and Ronald Steenblik, say that these government efforts need to occur in parallel with (1) a realignment of all private financial flows so as to be “nature-positive,” and (2) increased public and private financing that can deliver innovative financial solutions to protect, restore, and conserve nature.

“Nature-positive” is not comprehensively defined in the brief, but these outcomes can be inferred, from the brief itself and commentary on the BFN and The B Team websites, as qualifying: emissions reductions and the transition to renewably powered economies; restoration of damaged ecosystems and initiatives to arrest further biodiversity loss and restore damaged and endangered populations; support of social and economic needs of human populations, including redress of economic and environmental inequities; and support of nature-based solutions broadly. Importantly, BFN asserts that EHS reform must consider social and economic forces at play as it pursues “the imperative for a just and equitable transition. Reform managed sensitively means providing support for the poorest households and most vulnerable communities, such as via targeted cash transfers.”

In the authors’ view, such redirection of resources from harmful subsidies toward nature-positive outcomes would:

• free up substantial government resources to support social needs and local livelihoods
• redirect capital toward ecological restoration, including nature-based solutions
• close the biodiversity finance gap by reducing environmental degradation and unlocking the funding needed to mitigate it
• send more accurate signals to public and private investors and producers on where to direct R&D efforts and future investments
• accelerate innovation to reduce greenhouse gases and environmental damage
• create a level playing field for businesses, which would further encourage rapid transformation of business models
• unlock social benefits such as poverty reduction, improvements in education and other social services, and more sustainable approaches to providing basic access to energy, clean air, and water

The brief calls on businesses and investors to advocate with governments for reform of EHS through their repurposing or redirection, or elimination, and funding of “an equitable, net-zero, and nature-positive world by 2030.” In addition, it asks that businesses (1) collaborate broadly to increase awareness of reputational, competitive, and investor advantages of subsidy disclosure, and (2) support the development of international standards, frameworks, and guidance for mandatory ESG (environmental, social, and governance) disclosures, including subsidies.

The report goes on to make a compelling business case for reforming systems of subsidies that fund destructive entities and practices by identifying risks and opportunities. Central to the risks is the inescapable fact that virtually all businesses rely on functional natural systems and resources for every aspect of their value chains. In addition, EHS, as noted above, distort pricing, investment decisions, and resource allocation; encourage unsustainable production and consumption (chickens will eventually come home to roost!), and unfair competition; and generate supply chain, reputational, and operational risks.

On the other side of the ledger, the draft points to opportunities that EHS reform and redirection of funding to nature-positive objectives would present. The authors assert that among those would be increased competitive positioning, increased ESG investor interest, reduction of the risks noted above, and progress on the “ambitions of the Paris Climate Agreement.” (Inadequate as that particular set of accords is, that would still be a giant step in the right direction for many private enterprises.)

The brief summarizes: “Informed reform of subsidies can boost business and investment opportunities, create jobs, reverse nature loss and help ensure a sustainable future for our planet. Businesses can mobilize and implement change with speed (often faster than policy-makers), setting a precedent for improvement across industry. Investors are starting to acknowledge the financial and sustainability risks of environmentally harmful subsidies and forward-looking companies recognize they need to prepare for subsidy reform.”

The brief ends with a slew of endorsing comments from members of The B Team, business leaders, and advocacy groups. Several stand out to Beyond Pesticides:

• “It’s time to stop the self-serving, short-sighted lobbying instead directing public money towards supporting responsible companies transition to nature positive business models.” — Paul Polman, business leader and The B Team member
• “It is more important than ever to put in place ambitious targets to reverse nature loss and to redirect, repurpose or eliminate all subsidies that harm our natural world.” — Marco Lambertini, Director General of World Wildlife Fund International
• “We must break down the siloed approach that has led to putting subsidies in place without consideration of their long-term environmental costs.” — Jennifer Morris, CEO, The Nature Conservancy

Activist 360 reports the comment of Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and member of The B Team: “Climate action is at a crossroads, in part because of the large scale of public money flowing to harmful industries and practices. We need to see thorough subsidy reform from governments and businesses, with social and environmental considerations at the heart, to ensure a just and equitable transition for all.”

Enacted, EHS reform could go a long way to mitigating climate and environmental harm, but such reform will likely be a slog, given the complexity and entrenched nature of national and international economic systems, the inherent conservatism — never mind the centrality of the profit motive — of most private enterprise, and the typically glacial pace of governments on reform efforts. Still, it is encouraging to see some portion of the business community stepping up to recognize its responsibility to remedy what it (as well as governments, militaries, and others) have caused, and advance the possibility of a livable and functional climate and environment.

Beyond Pesticides would add to the ambitious scope of this brief and its sponsors that EHS reform, and the implied reform of supply chains, should directly address the toxicity of so much of the global materials stream — particularly, synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, plastics, and chemical ingredients of industrial and consumer products (see, e.g., this Daily News Blog article on PFAS and other toxics). Multiple other articles have covered the need for companies to clean up their supply chains, and Beyond Pesticides advocacy on the issues — whether about garden center and other retail sale of plants treated with toxic pesticides, sale of contaminated “biosludge” as fertilizer, the ubiquity of untested chemicals, including those in plastics, or myriad others. Beyond Pesticides has also detailed the systemic ecosystem impacts of toxic chemicals and their damage to biodiversity.

Many, many products and ingredients are integral in causing the harms this brief addresses, and whose authors and supporters hope will inform decision makers at COP15 (the UN Biodiversity Conference). Beyond Pesticides encourages that the report be taken seriously, and that its influence leads to a genuine shift across the global business community toward nature-positive goals — redirection of policy and investment to repair and restore, rather than ravage, the climate and natural systems of this world.

Sources: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5d777de8109c315fd22faf3a/t/620d33b868c7486475f06303/1645032379783/Financing_Our_Survival_Brief_FINAL.pdf and https://www.businessfornature.org/news/subsidy-reform

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

(Beyond Pesticides, February 24, 2022) Widespread, intensive pesticide use for mosquito control has allowed genetic mutations to persist among mosquito populations, causing subsequent resistance to future chemical exposure. According to a study published in Scientific Reports, two common species of female mosquitoes learned to evade pesticides following non-fatal exposure through smell. More concerning is the survival rate of these pre-exposed mosquitoes, as it is more than double that of unexposed mosquitoes. Insects, including mosquitoes, use various sensory and cognitive abilities like vision, smell, and hearing to navigate the ecosystem for survival and reproduction. Mosquitoes associate sensory stimuli like smell to a positive or negative experience, thus facilitating a response. Considering the two species of mosquitoes in this study are a vector for numerous diseases in humans, including dengue and Zika and West Nile viruses. Hence, this study highlights the significance of addressing pest resistance in pest management strategies, particularly to mitigate disease exposure and effects. The study notes, “[The] findings highlight the importance of mosquito cognition as determinants of pesticide resistance in mosquito populations targeted by chemical control.”

It is essential to understand insect behavior that propagates vector-borne disease transmission that exacerbates the widespread public health crisis. Scientists attribute memory and associative learning to behavioral changes occurring in responses to chemical exposure. The study focused on female Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciastus mosquitoes that researchers exposed to a sublethal dose of five pesticide compounds. Using the World Health Organization (WHO) bioassays, researchers observe associative learning by exposing mosquitoes to sublethal doses of deltamethrin  (pyrethroid), permethrin (pyrethroid), lambda-cyhalothrin (pyrethroid), propoxur (carbamate), and malathion  (organophosphate). These chemicals represent the pesticides primarily used for vector control. Researchers then exposed female mosquitoes to the same chemical in the assay.

The result demonstrates that female mosquitoes previously exposed to a chemical avoid the same chemical when associated with adverse survival odds, seeking out blood to ensure survival. Thus, following a single exposure, mosquitoes can associate the smell of pesticides with their harmful effect to avoid contact with the said chemical. Female mosquitoes prefer to rest in a pesticide-free area rather than one prone to pesticide use.

This study resembles an all too familiar phenomenon of resistance among pest populations. Scientists note resistance is an entirely normal, adaptive phenomenon: organisms evolve, “exploiting” beneficial genetic mutations that give them a survival advantage. However, resistance is growing in all sectors of pest control, including critically needed agriculture and medicine. For nearly a century, the human response to resistance is the development of a compound that kills the resistant organism (whether pest or weed or bacterium or fungus), which works for a while. However, the dependence on chemical solutions is increasingly failing. Whether it is antibiotics for bacterial infections, herbicides for weeds/pests, or insecticides to mitigate vector-borne diseases, organisms are becoming resistant to usually toxic compounds. Once an organism inevitably becomes resistant to a particular chemical control strategy, people — the chemical industry, researchers, applicators, farmers, public health workers, clinicians, et al. — will have typically moved on to the subsequent chemical “solution.” Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA) notes, “The World Health Organization underscored the problem in their 2012 guidance on policymaking for Integrated Vector Management (IVM): ‘Resistance to insecticides is an increasing problem in vector control because of the reliance on chemical control and expanding operations…Furthermore, the chemical insecticides used can have adverse effects on health and the environment.’”

Beyond Pesticides has written extensively on the issue of resistance, particularly the relationship to the use of agricultural and other land management pesticides, with the central message: resistance is a symptom of the ineffectiveness of chemical-intensive agriculture and leads to increased use of more and more toxic pesticides. In addition, resistance in one of the “sectors” mentioned above can “crossover” to become problematic in another. Growing pesticide resistance often leads to an increase in chemical inputs to control pests. Exposure to permethrin already has implications for human health, including cancer, endocrine (hormone) disruption, reproductive dysfunction, neurotoxicity, and kidney/liver damage. Mosquito resistance can augment the use of chemical control methods, including the addition of toxic synergists like piperonyl butoxide (PBO), known to cause and exacerbate adverse health effects from exposure. Therefore, researchers need to understand the mechanisms prompting pesticide resistance among mosquito populations to safeguard human health from disease.

In the context of deadly pesticide use in developing countries, Jay Feldman, executive director of Beyond Pesticides, has noted, “We should be advocating for a just world where we no longer treat poverty and development with poisonous band-aids but join together to address the root causes of insect-borne disease because the chemical-dependent alternatives are ultimately deadly for everyone.” He also said, “We should focus on the deplorable living conditions and inequitable distribution of wealth and resources worldwide that give rise to squalor, inhumane living conditions, and the poor state of development that, together, breed insect-borne diseases like malaria.”

Even if dengue is not a local concern, there remains general concern surrounding the diseases mosquitoes can transmit, including the West Nile and Zika virus. Beyond Pesticides provides valuable information on mosquito management and insect-borne diseases on the Mosquito Management and Insect-Borne Diseases section devoted to these issues. Furthermore, keep up on pesticide-related science and news, including mosquitoes and pesticide resistance on Beyond Pesticides’ Daily News blog.

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

Source: ABC News, Scientific Reports

(Beyond Pesticides, February 23, 2022) Fungicide use in agriculture is driving the spread of multi-fungicide resistant human pathogens, finds a recent study conducted by scientists at the University of Georgia. While this occurrence has long been an assumption based on the rampant overuse of fungicides in chemical-dependent farming, scientists have now found clear evidence linking the development of widespread fungal resistance to farming practices, rather than health care use. Despite strong evidence that commonly used synthetic pesticides in chemical-intensive farming are driving resistance that threatens human health on a global scale, the U.S. government has not only failed to take action, it has fought against international efforts to slow the crisis, at the behest of the agrichemical industry.  

Scientists focused their research on Aspergillus fumigatus, a common mold that can infect humans and cause aspergillosis. Although some have problems with mild sensitivity to the fungus, virulent infections called invasive aspergillosis can occur in immunocompromised individuals and are on the rise. Cases of invasive aspergillosis increased 3% per annum between 2000 and 2013, and roughly 300,000 worldwide are diagnosed each year. On both farms and in human medical settings, antifungal compounds called azole fungicides are used in attempts to kill off A. fumigatus infection.

Samples were taken from soil, compost, or plant debris from 56 farms in Georgia and Florida, with 53 of those sites having previously used azole fungicides. Of the remaining three, two samples were taken from organic farms and one was taken from a compost pile.

Of 700 A. fumigatus samples collected, nearly 20% (123) displayed some level of resistance to the commonly used azole fungicide tebuconazole. Twelve of the 123 were highly resistant at clinically relevant levels for human health care. No samples taken from organic sites contained resistant fungi.

It was hypothesized that if the strain of A. fumigatus infecting people developed its resistance traits on a farm, that strain would also have developed some level of resistance to other, non-azole, agricultural fungicides. Sure enough, the azole-resistant strains also displayed resistance to methyl benzimidazole carbamate (MBC) fungicides like carbendazim, and quinone outside inhibitors (Qol) like azoxystrobin.

By sequencing the genomes of A. fumigatus samples both from the current study and those taken and stored  from clinical tests across the world, researchers were able to create a neighbor-joining tree — a sort of family tree of fungicide resistant A. fumigatus. That review showed that genetically, pan-azole resistant strains – those with broad resistance to azole fungicides – matched up closely between those discovered on farms and those found in human clinical settings.  Of 25 pan-azole resistant samples analyzed, eight farm samples and 12 human clinical samples also displayed resistance to non-azole fungicides.

“The strains that are from the environment and from people are very closely related to each other,” study co-author Marin T. Brewer, PhD, said. “It’s not like there are different strains that are developing resistance in people and in the environment. It’s all the same. So people who have these infections that are resistant have likely acquired them from the environment.”

Aspergillus fumigatus is commonly found both indoors and outside. Infection can occur by simply inhaling a small amount of the fungi.

This result is merely the latest resistant pathogen to trace its lineage back to on-farm use. Over the last decade, scientific evidence has built around the link between common herbicides and antibiotic resistant bacteria. A 2015 study found that Salmonella and E.coli exposed to the herbicides glyphosate, dicamba, and 2,4-D triggered a non-specific defense mechanism which, while building resistance to the toxic effects of the herbicides, also resulted in resistance to commonly used antibiotics. Subsequent research has found soil sprayed with these same herbicides to have higher numbers of antibiotic resistant bacteria than areas where the chemicals were not applied. The resistant genes move throughout the environment by ‘horizontal gene transfer,’ elevating the importance of land and agricultural management practices that eliminate antibiotics and fungicides. 

Another problematic fungal pathogen, the yeast Candida auris, continues to rapidly develop treatment resistance in human clinical settings, linked to the excessive use of fungicides.

Researchers say their results indicate a need for a shift toward less toxic fungicides that do not cause resistance to human pathogens. “This emergence severely limits the usefulness of fungicides to manage plant pathogens while still preserving the clinical usefulness of azoles,” Dr. Brewer said. “We urgently need effective agricultural fungicides that aren’t toxic to the environment that do not lead to the rapid development of widespread resistance in the clinic.”

While the call is laudable, regulators and politicians are neither heeding the science, nor listening to scientists. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s recent response to the rise of drug-resistant Candida auris is case in point. The agency failed to assess the efficacy of any pesticides that are not used for public health purposes; EPA only evaluated the efficacy of antimicrobial compounds whose use patterns classify them as human-health-related.

At the international level, a Freedom of Information Act request revealed officials at the U.S. Department of Agriculture working to downplay the role of synthetic fungicide use in chemical agriculture as a factor in the rise of drug-resistant fungal infections worldwide. Not only did they work to deny the truth on the ground, efforts were made to halt protective actions. Emails showed top level officials at industry trade group Croplife America urging USDA officials to “make certain” that the United Nation’s (UN) Codex Alimentarius, a set of international guidelines and standards established to protect consumer health, made no mention of how fungicides contribute to antibiotic resistance.

Prior research on resistance in agriculture has shown that the only true way to eliminate resistance is to stop using the material that was causing resistance to occur in the first place. Organic agriculture, with its strong restrictions on allowed synthetic materials, provides a path out of the industrialized chemical farming system that overtook agricultural production over the last century. Rising resistance, and the need to retain life-saving medication for protecting people’s health, not growing crops, is another reason why investing in organic is the right choice for the future. For more reasons to go organic, see Beyond Pesticides Why Organic webpage.

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

Source: University of Georgia press release, G3 Genes|Genomes|Genetics

(Beyond Pesticides, February 22, 2022) Regulation of toxic chemicals must recognize the reality that, “The cocktail of chemical pollution that pervades the planet now threatens the stability of global ecosystems upon which humanity depends,” as stated by The Guardian. When the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognizes the dangers of a toxic chemical—especially one persistent in the environment—it must take immediate action to prevent further contamination. So, allowing the phase-out of chemicals with long residual life can extend the poisoning and contamination for generations.

Tell EPA to immediately ban all uses of pentachlorophenol and other toxic wood preservatives. Tell Congress to ensure that EPA does its job. 

There is an ongoing crisis, widely reported, posed by the nearly ubiquitous presence of “forever chemicals”—poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and their relatives. A report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds that 97% of Americans have PFAS in their blood. The Safer States Network finds that more than 210 bills will be considered in at least 32 states in 2022 to try to address the problem. Even the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has confirmed that ‘forever chemicals’ are contaminating containers that store pesticide products, and subsequently the products themselves.

PFAS are only the most recent persistent toxic chemicals to achieve notoriety. Ever since its inception, Beyond Pesticides has shown the need to ban highly toxic wood preservatives. According to Koppers Recovery, “43% of all new poles are treated with penta; 42% are treated with CCA; and 13% are treated with creosote.”

EPA has long known about the dangers pentachlorophenol (penta) poses to health, particularly the health of workers in penta production or wood treatment plants and opposed worldwide action to ban the chemical. In 2008, the agency determined that these occupational handlers have a 1 in 1,000 risk of developing cancer. Rather than cancel the chemical at that time to protect worker health, the agency opted to attempt additional mitigation measures, requiring further personal protective equipment, engineering controls, and changes to treatment procedures. With no real-world evidence that this would make a difference, the agency expected these changes to drop the cancer risk to workers. However, in its most recent draft risk assessment, EPA found that this drastically high cancer risk remained the same. The agency’s current action to phase-out penta over five years came only when the manufacturer in North America stopped production after being shut down in Mexico.

Similarly, EPA has known about the dangers of creosote and arsenical wood preservatives. Despite a high-profile tour of communities affected by toxic chemicals by EPA Administrator Michael Regan, the agency still fails to make connections that could help protect against the poisoning of workers, fenceline communities, and others. As Mr. Regan, in November, visited Houston, Texas, where thousands of residents are suing Union Pacific Railroad Company for contaminating their properties with highly hazardous creosote wood preservatives, EPA is in the process of reauthorizing creosote use for another 15 years with the knowledge that it is virtually impossible to produce and use without causing contamination and poisoning. When EPA proposed interim decision for creosote, it wrote, “Creosote-treated wood offers unique benefits in the preservation of railroad crossties, wooden utility poles, and round timber foundation piles for land, freshwater, and marine use.” In light of these “unique benefits,” the agency did not even consider the viability of alternatives, such as steel, composites, and fiberglass that could replace the hazardous wood preservative process with non or less toxic materials.

All of the wood preservatives are broadly highly toxic and persistent. There is no safe way to dispose of treated wood. As was seen firsthand by EPA Administrator Regan, it is evident from both history and the present day that chemical corporations target low income, BIPOC neighborhoods to site hazardous industrial processes, creating fence line communities with higher rates of disease incidence and other health problems. EPA must not only clean up contamination caused by past injustices, but also stop future injustice directed toward black and brown communities by suspending the registration of hazardous wood preservatives like creosote.

Unfortunately, when EPA takes action, it is delayed. Although after nearly a century of use, EPA is officially cancelling the highly toxic wood preservative pentachlorophenol (penta), it has done so with a 5-year phase-out period. But the first step to removing these “forever chemicals” from our environment is to quit adding them.

Tell EPA to immediately ban all uses of pentachlorophenol and other toxic wood preservatives. Tell Congress to ensure that EPA does its job. 

Letter to EPA:

Regulation of toxic chemicals must recognize the reality that “The cocktail of chemical pollution that pervades the planet now threatens the stability of global ecosystems upon which humanity depends,” according to The Guardian. When EPA recognizes the dangers of a toxic chemical—especially one persistent in the environment—it must take immediate action to prevent further contamination.There is a widely reported ongoing crisis posed by the nearly ubiquitous presence of “forever chemicals”—poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and their relatives. 97% of Americans have PFAS in their blood, resulting in more than 210 bills that will be considered in at least 32 states in 2022 to try to address the problem.

But PFAS are only the most recent persistent toxic chemicals to achieve notoriety. Highly toxic wood preservatives pose a similar danger.

EPA has long known about the dangers pentachlorophenol (penta) poses to health, particularly the health of workers in penta production or wood treatment plants. In 2008, the agency determined that these occupational handlers have a 1 in 1,000 risk of developing cancer. Rather than cancel the chemical at that time to protect worker health, the agency opted to attempt additional mitigation measures, requiring further personal protective equipment, engineering controls, and changes to treatment procedures. With no real-world evidence that this would make a difference, the agency expected these changes to drop the cancer risk to workers. However, in its most recent draft risk assessment, EPA found that this drastically high cancer risk remained the same.

Similarly, EPA has known about the dangers of creosote and arsenical wood preservatives. Despite a high-profile tour of communities affected by toxic chemicals by EPA Administrator Michael Regan, EPA still fails to make connections that could help protect against poisoning of workers, fenceline communities, and others. As Mr. Regan, in November, visited Houston, Texas, where thousands of residents are suing Union Pacific Railroad Company for contaminating their properties with highly hazardous creosote wood preservatives, EPA is in the process of reauthorizing creosote use for another 15 years with the knowledge that it is virtually impossible to produce and use without causing contamination and poisoning. In its proposed interim decision for creosote, EPA wrote, “Creosote-treated wood offers unique benefits in the preservation of railroad crossties, wooden utility poles, and round timber foundation piles for land, freshwater, and marine use.” In light of these “unique benefits,” the agency did not even consider the viability of alternatives, such as steel, composites, and fiberglass that could replace the hazardous wood preservative process with non or less toxic materials.

All the wood preservatives are broadly highly toxic and persistent. As was seen firsthand by EPA Administrator Regan, it is evident from both history and the present day that chemical corporations target low income, BIPOC neighborhoods to site hazardous industrial processes, creating fence line communities with higher rates of disease incidence and other health problems. EPA must not only clean up contamination that caused past injustices, but also stop future injustice directed toward black and brown communities by eliminating the use of penta, creosote, and arsenical wood preservatives.

Unfortunately, when EPA takes action, it is delayed. Although after nearly a century of use, EPA is officially cancelling the highly toxic wood preservative pentachlorophenol (penta), it has done so with a 5-year phase-out period. But the first step to removing these “forever chemicals” from our environment is to quit adding them.

Please take action to eliminate use of these persistent toxic chemicals immediately.

Thank you.

Letter to U.S. Senators and Representative:

I am writing out of an urgent concern for our future, in view of increasing contamination with toxic “forever chemicals.”

Regulation of toxic chemicals must recognize the reality that, “The cocktail of chemical pollution that pervades the planet now threatens the stability of global ecosystems upon which humanity depends,” according to the Guardian. When EPA recognizes the dangers of a toxic chemical—especially one persistent in the environment—it must take immediate action to prevent further contamination.

Anyone who reads the news is aware of the crisis posed by the nearly ubiquitous presence of “forever chemicals”—poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and their relatives. 97% of Americans have PFAS in their blood, resulting in more than 210 bills that will be considered in at least 32 states in 2022 to try to address the problem.

But PFAS are only the most recent persistent toxic chemicals to achieve notoriety. Highly toxic wood preservatives pose a similar danger.

EPA has long known about the dangers pentachlorophenol (penta) poses to health, particularly the health of workers in penta production or wood treatment plants. In 2008, the agency determined that these occupational handlers have a 1 in 1,000 risk of developing cancer. Rather than cancel the chemical at that time to protect worker health, the agency opted to attempt additional mitigation measures, requiring further personal protective equipment, engineering controls, and changes to treatment procedures. The agency expected these changes to drop the cancer risk to workers. However, in its most recent draft risk assessment, EPA found that this drastically high cancer risk remained the same.

Similarly, EPA has known about the dangers of creosote and arsenical wood preservatives. Despite a high-profile tour of communities affected by toxic chemicals by EPA Administrator Michael Regan, EPA still fails to make connections that could help protect against poisoning of workers, fenceline communities, and others. As Mr. Regan visited Houston, Texas, where thousands of residents are suing Union Pacific Railroad Company for contaminating their properties with highly hazardous creosote wood preservatives, EPA is in the process of reauthorizing creosote use for another 15 years with the knowledge that it is virtually impossible to produce and use without causing contamination and poisoning. In its proposed interim decision for creosote, EPA wrote, “Creosote-treated wood offers unique benefits in the preservation of railroad crossties, wooden utility poles, and round timber foundation piles for land, freshwater, and marine use.” In light of these “unique benefits,” the agency did not even consider the viability of alternatives, such as steel, composites, and fiberglass that could replace the hazardous wood preservative process with non or less toxic materials.

All wood preservatives are broadly highly toxic and persistent. As was seen firsthand by EPA Administrator Regan, chemical companies target low income, BIPOC neighborhoods to site hazardous industrial processes, creating fence line communities with higher rates of disease incidence and other health problems. EPA must not only clean up contamination that caused past injustices, but also stop future injustice directed toward black and brown communities by eliminating the use of penta, creosote, and arsenical wood preservatives.

Unfortunately, when EPA takes action, it is delayed. Although after nearly a century of use, EPA is officially cancelling the highly toxic wood preservative pentachlorophenol (penta), it has done so with a 5-year phase-out period. But the first step to removing these “forever chemicals” from our environment is to quit adding them.

Please ensure that EPA takes action to eliminate use of these persistent toxic chemicals immediately.

Thank you.

(Beyond Pesticides, February 18, 2022) A new analysis conducted by Safer States, and reported on by Environmental Health News (EHN), concludes that in 2022, at least 32 states will consider 210 potential laws to ban or restrict one category of so-called “legacy” chemicals — the PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) family of compounds. “Legacy” or “forever” chemicals are those whose historical use, including many decades ago in some instances, has led to their toxic persistence in the environment and in organisms. In recent years, scientists, health and environment advocates, and policy makers have begun to recognize these as very serious contaminants, and to call attention to their ubiquity and impacts. Beyond Pesticides has identified multiple instances of such “legacies” (including those related to the production of pesticides and particularly, the infamous DDT), and will here discuss both PFAS, and concerns about such legacy chemicals as they may impact food producers.

The term “legacy” often connotes the ongoing influence or impact — generally salutary — of an individual’s activity, or a set of principles or activity inherited from one’s forebears. It is an apt description, minus the “salutary” part, for legacy chemicals — toxic “gifts that keep on giving” via persistent contamination of environments and bodies (human and other). In recent years, PFAS chemicals are increasingly being found in soil samples, in foods, in various kinds of water bodies and waterways, and in many drinking water sources. The environmental persistence of these compounds stems from the fact that they do not break down readily in the environment; hence, the “forever” moniker. Indeed, they accumulate in the human body (and no doubt in the bodies of other organisms, though that is less well studied) and are showing up many decades later in natural resources.

The highly toxic, fluorinated PFAS family of chemicals includes more than 9,000 compounds and two high-profile subcategories: PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonate) and PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid). PFAS compounds are associated, in humans, with occurrences of cancer (testicular, kidney, liver, and pancreatic), thyroid disease, high cholesterol, reproductive problems (pregnancy-induced hypertension, low birth weights, and decreased fertility), immune compromise, asthma, ulcerative colitis, developmental delays, and disruption of the endocrine system, which can have myriad systemic impacts.

PFAS are found in many industrial (aerospace, automotive, construction, electronics, and military) and consumer products, including personal care products and cosmetics, cleaning products, carpeting, cookware, stain- and water-resistant products (clothing, textiles, and furniture), firefighting foam, and food packaging, among others. Despite Congressional attempts to ban these compounds in consumer goods, their inclusion in food packaging and processing equipment, electronics, some cookware, cosmetics, and other goods continues to be legal federally. (See more on states’ responses, below.)

Historically, some of these compounds ended up as part of waste that was dumped after industrial and military uses. Perhaps not all misbehavior is historical: The Guardian has reported that the U.S. military very recently (2016–2020) incinerated more than 20 million pounds of PFAS foam next to environmental justice communities. This occurred despite the lack of any evidence that incineration destroys the PFAS compounds; indeed, burning it discharges these toxic chemicals “into the air and onto nearby communities, farms, and waterways.” These legacy industrial and consumer chemicals are currently released into the environment via such products and the waste stream. Human exposure to them happens primarily through personal use of PFAS-contaminated products, through consumption of contaminated water or food, or via occupational exposures.

Estimates put the number of people in the U.S. exposed to these chemicals via drinking water between 110 and 200 million. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) offers a PFAS map of the U.S. that shows just how pervasive the problem is. Areas with widespread PFAS contamination of drinking water include large swaths of the Northeast (especially Massachusetts, Rhode Island, southeast New Hampshire, eastern Pennsylvania, Long Island, New Jersey, and Delaware), as well as significant portions of Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, North and South Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Colorado, and California. Beyond those, the map represents military (and other) sites of PFAS contamination unrelated to drinking water.

There has been precious little activity at the federal level to deal with PFAS (and some other legacy chemicals.) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced in 2019 that a “Comprehensive Nationwide PFAS Action Plan” would be forthcoming. Since 1998, EWG notes, “despite mounting evidence of PFAS’ toxicity and contamination, EPA has inexcusably dragged its feet. The [agency] has failed to set a legal limit for any PFAS in tap water, and its non-enforceable health advisory level for PFOA and PFOS is 70 times higher than what independent studies show is needed. In 2019, EPA announced a toothless ‘action plan’ that would do nothing to reduce ongoing PFAS releases or clean up legacy PFAS pollution.”

One small example of such negligence: at the very end of the Trump administration, the agency issued confirmation that high-density polyethylene (HDPE) containers used to store and transport pesticides are commonly treated with fluorine compounds to reduce risk of changes in chemical composition of the pesticides. Such treatment meant that the pesticide containers likely leached PFAS compounds into the pesticides, representing a potential and significant source of PFAS exposure throughout the country’s conventional agriculture sector.

Another is the 2020 discovery that an EPA registered mosquito pesticide, Anvil 10+10, contained PFAS compounds — thus exposing the public broadly when- and wherever it was deployed. Beyond Pesticides Community Resource and Policy Director Drew Toher commented, “This is an issue that cuts to the core of what’s wrong with our federal system for regulating pesticides. The finding makes it imperative that EPA review and disclose full pesticide formulations before allowing the public to be exposed to unknown hazards.”

With the advent of the Biden administration, there has been more effort to address the problem. In the Fall of 2021, EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan announced an EPA PFAS Strategic Roadmap that purports to lay out a whole-of-agency approach to addressing PFAS. The EPA website notes, “The roadmap sets timelines by which EPA plans to take specific actions and commits to bolder new policies to safeguard public health, protect the environment, and hold polluters accountable. The actions described in the PFAS Roadmap each represent important and meaningful steps to safeguard communities from PFAS contamination. Cumulatively, these actions will build upon one another and lead to more enduring and protective solutions.”

For states and localities, who are on the front lines of PFAS contamination, this is welcome news and significantly tardy. Absent much protective action on forever chemicals at the federal level, including on persistent pesticides, states have been stepping up, particularly in the past five years or so, to deal with a problem that permeates many aspects of people’s lives.                                                                                                

The Safer States analysis sets out these particulars:

• At least 19 states will consider regulation of PFAS, such as restricting use when such use is avoidable, requiring disclosure of PFAS when present in consumer goods, or restricting use in specific categories (e.g., cosmetics, textiles, and food packaging). AK, CA, CO, HI, IA, IL, MA, MD, MI, MN, NH, NC, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT, WA, WI
• At least 17 states will consider policies on PFAS cleanup, management, and accountability, such as designating the chemicals as hazardous, restricting their disposal, or allocating resources toward cleanup. AK, CA, FL, IL, IN, MA, ME, MD, MI, MN, NH, NC, OK, RI, VT, WA, and WI
• At least 19 states will consider legislation related to contamination of drinking water, groundwater, or soil with PFAS. AK, AZ, CT, FL, IA, IN, KY, ME, MN, NC, NH, NY, OH, RI, SC, VA, VT, WV, WI
• At least three states will consider banning PFAS in products labeled as recyclable. HI, MD, NJ
• At least 6 states will consider policies to strengthen existing safe-chemical policies for cosmetics or children’s products. CA, MA, MI, NY, VT, and WA

According to EHN, Safer States National Director Sarah Doll commented: “State legislatures recognize the severity of the toxic PFAS crisis we’re facing and they’re taking action. . . . [They] continue to lead the way in addressing these serious problems with urgency and innovative solutions.” Michigan State Senator Winnie Brinks issued a statement saying, “In Michigan, PFAS and other ‘forever chemicals’ have impacted my community for decades. We’ve made significant strides in assessing the scope of the problem statewide and filtering PFAS out of drinking water.”

Not only is the public exposed to such chemicals; those who work in manufactories that create products that include PFAS, or workers who use such products regularly, have higher exposures. Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families noted in 2021, “Firefighting foams without PFAS are already used successfully around the world, but outdated federal guidelines have kept foams containing PFAS in use for training and firefighting at U.S. commercial and military airports.” Across multiple states, firefighters have begun to bring lawsuits against manufacturers of the foams, charging that the companies knowingly made and sold products with these forever chemicals that put the workers’ health at risk. Others who may be at greater-than-average exposure risk include pregnant or lactating people, and young children.

PFAS compounds are not the only ones that exhibit extreme persistence in the environment and accumulation in bodies. Some legacy pesticides, and notoriously, DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) and its breakdown metabolite DDE (dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene) are incredibly persistent in the environment. The insecticide DDT was banned in 1972, yet its impacts continue. Its primary metabolite, DDE, shows up in produce grown in soils that were treated — even decades ago.

Beyond Pesticides recently wrote about the Pesticide Data Program Annual Summary (conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture), which showed once again that residues of a number of legacy pesticides — including DDT and DDE — continue to be present in foods. (DDT and DDE were particularly present in collards, broccoli, carrots, radishes, and winter squash.) Beyond Pesticides has written about the ongoing impacts of legacy DDT/DDE exposure here, here, and here. It has reported on the impacts of POPs (Persistent Organic Pollutants), such as legacy and banned pesticides, on animals. Legacy impacts also show up, for example, as contamination of former fruit orchards that were treated with lead arsenate pesticides as much as 70 years ago.

Certainly, pesticides are found broadly in soils, as reported here and here. But the ongoing detection of PFAS in various environments and soils is now threatening the ability of growers, including organic growers, to produce food that doesn’t harbor these compounds. This contamination often occurs via the spreading of biosolids fertilizer (aka “biosludge”). This is how that happens: PFAS compounds are discharged in wastewater and solid waste (from consumer and other products), and move the problem “downstream,” such that these chemicals inhabit biosolids fertilizers. These products are then sold and spread on agricultural land, contaminating local ground and surface waters, as well as animals that graze on such land and plants that are grown in the contaminated soils.

Environmental Health News reported in 2019 on this growing problem in Pennsylvania; PFAS showed up in the Maine dairy and livestock sector in 2016. The issue, as reported by ECORI News, has migrated to the general consumer sector, as wastewater treatment operations are barely treating biosolids, and then repackaging the contaminated (with PFAS, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and more) material as home fertilizer and compost.

A prime and very recent example of this biosolids problem in agriculture is that of a diversified crop operation, Songbird Farm in Unity, Maine. Farmers Adam Nordell and Johanna Davis, growers of Certified Organic grains and vegetables, recently learned that their fields are victims to such legacy PFAS contamination. They write in their website statement about the matter: “We were just blindsided to learn that our home farm and primary lease field were licensed for the spreading of bio-solids in the early 1990s, (24 years before we purchased our farm and moved to Unity). Bio-solids have been in the news recently for their correlation with PFAS chemical contamination. We hired a private soil scientist to sample and test our well water, and soil and produce. All three tests came back positive [for PFAS]. Our well water read at 400 times the state’s recommended thresh-hold. The results are preliminary and need to be cross-checked, but we feel it is critical that we stop our sales and have requested that our retail outlets pull our products from their shelves for now. This is not a product recall. This is a precautionary product pause while we gather more info.”

This family’s livelihood, and their investment of dollars and sweat and heart, are all on the line. Part of the farmers’ statement to their consumers contains this telling paragraph: “I can’t tell you how heart wrenching this is for us learn and now to communicate. In a world where we can all buy conventional produce and out of state organic vegetables and grains at a cheaper price any day of the week, the one currency we have as local organic growers is our transparency and the trust of our customers. It’s hard for us to visualize right now what the future of our farm business might look like. But if there is a future for Songbird Farm, we think transparency is the way to get there.” They note that although Maine has no guidelines on acceptable levels of PFAS in vegetables, the state’s Center for Disease Control & Prevention has already begun work on establishing specific produce guidelines.

This situation exemplifies how “live” this PFAS issue is, and how behind the eight ball governments often are in contending with these emerging contaminants. The negligence and/or slow pace of EPA, FDA (the U.S. Food and Drug Administration), and Congress in addressing the PFAS problem has spurred many states to step in and up to do so themselves as this tranche of legislation reported on by Safer States illustrates.

These most-recent PFAS discoveries, and state legislative efforts to deal with them, underscore not only the federal failures, but also, the urgency and gravity of realigning federal and state agencies so that precaution becomes the guiding watchword. Legacy/forever chemical contamination is a dramatic demonstration of how the historical, non-precautionary ethic in the U.S. can cause egregious harm — even years and decades hence. Government regulation should, at the very least, stop making the problem worse through continued permitting of the use of PFAS compounds and toxic pesticides. See more at BeyondPesticides.org.

Source: https://www.ehn.org/pfas-regulations-2656548458/states-step-up-on-pfas

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

(Beyond Pesticides, February 17, 2022) Reusable plastic sports bottles can leach hundreds of different chemical substances into water, including a range of plasticizers, endocrine disruptors and surprisingly, an insect repellent. Researchers at University of Copenhagen, Denmark recently published their findings in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, calling for caution in the use of these products. “We were taken aback by the large amount of chemical substances we found in water after 24 hours in the bottles. There were hundreds of substances in the water – including substances never before found in plastic, as well as substances that are potentially harmful to health. After a dishwasher cycle, there were several thousand,” says Jan H. Christensen, PhD, Professor of Environmental Analytical Chemistry at the University of Copenhagen’s Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences.

Scientists used three types of reusable plastic sports bottles, split between newly purchased and bottles that had been in regular use before the experiment. Glass bottles were used as a control. First a migration experiment was conducted. Newly purchased bottles were rinsed with tap water (which was then disposed), and then refilled with tap water and stored for 24 hours. A second experiment placed all the bottles in the dishwasher and ran the dishwasher for 60 minutes, employing a typical dishwasher tablet, reaching temperatures of roughly 150 degrees Fahrenheit. One day after dishwashing, researchers filled the bottles with tap water and stored them for 24 hours. Lastly, researchers flushed all the bottles with tap water and shook them up, as might occur in a quick household rinse. After flushing, the bottles were filled with tap water and stored for a day.

Samples were analyzed using liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry in attempts to identify the materials leaching into water after the aforementioned experiments. In total, scientists found over 400 materials associated with plastics and greater than 3500 dishwashing compounds. For newly purchased bottles 350 unique chemical compounds were identified. Of these 150 were removed after use in a dishwasher, and 80 more were removed after a flushing, but a total of 31% of compounds remained after dishwashing and additional water flushing. For used bottles, analysis after dishwashing detected 3,436 chemical compounds. Of these roughly 2,780 were removed after flushing with water. Roughly 13% of dishwashing chemicals remained after flushing with water, while with glass bottles less than 1% remained.

“We were taken aback by the large amount of chemical substances we found in water after 24 hours in the bottles. There were hundreds of substances in the water – including substances never before found in plastic, as well as substances that are potentially harmful to health. After a dishwasher cycle, there were several thousand,” says Jan H. Christensen, Professor of Environmental Analytical Chemistry at the University of Copenhagen’s Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences.

Scientists detected surfactants (from the dishwasher), plastic oligomers (used to soften plastics), slip agents (fatty acids used to reduce friction), antioxidants/stabilizers (to avoid product oxidization), photoinitiators (inks to provide a glossy cover), plasticizers (to increase flexibility), a range of unknown aromatic compounds, and the mosquito repellent DEET. DEET was confirmed to be present in every plastic bottle tested. Scientists indicate that DEET’s presence is likely a result another chemical with a similar chemical structure to DEET. In particular, the plasticizer material laurolactam is implicated. Either the plasticizer was produced with impurities that mimic DEET, or it was transformed into DEET  in the dishwasher through a chemical reaction with other materials in the plastic bottles.

The scientists opine that the identification of DEET may in fact be the source of ubiquitous DEET detection in the environment. A phenomenon that has long been ascribed to its use as a repellent, the widespread presence of DEET in the natural world by chemical happenstance may be yet another side-effect of a world where chemical pollution has exceeded the safe limits for humanity.

“The study exemplifies how little knowledge there is about the chemicals emitted from the products that our food and drink come in contact with. And, it is a general problem that measurement regulations during production are very lenient. Fortunately, both in Denmark and internationally, we are looking into how to better regulate this area,” says Dr. Christensen.

In the United States, there is little evidence of government regulators embracing such a precautionary approach. To correct course, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other government regulators must embrace an approach that incorporates cutting-edge science into product approvals. Take Action today to urge the agency to adopt this approach.

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

Source: University of Copenhagen press release, Journal of Hazardous Materials

Image source: University of Copenhagen press release

(Beyond Pesticides, February 16, 2022) Pesticide exposure disturbs the gut microbiome of social bees, leading to a range of alterations that could affect fitness in the wild, finds a major literature review recently published by researchers at the University of Ottawa, Canada. With research on bee gut microbiomes is still in its infancy, the review provides a centralized overview of data collected to date, and highlights areas for further research to fill in remaining knowledge gaps. “Social bees have gut microbiotas that contribute to their health, just like we (humans) do,” said Michelle Hotchkiss, a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Science at the University of Ottawa. “Further research on the interactions between pesticides, bee gut microbiotas, and bee hosts will help us better understand how pesticides affect bee health and performance.”

To conduct their review, scientists collected research relating to bee gut over the last 50 years. “The earliest studies we found were published in the 1970s and the most recent ones in 2020,” said Dr. Hotchkiss. “We summarized what methods were used to collect data, including which bee hosts and pesticides were examined. To summarize how the abundances of core microbes changed after pesticide exposure, we looked at studies that used molecular methods to characterize changes in microbial abundances,” she added.

“Importantly, we determined which microbes are most commonly affected by pesticide exposure and how they are affected. For example, does abundance increase or decrease after exposure? To what extent?” said Dr. Hotchkiss.

Studies showed that pesticide use can disturb and shift the abundance of certain microbes in the bee gut microbiome, but rarely are these microbes completely eliminated. In general, researchers found declines in Bifidobacteriales and Lactobacillus bacteria to be the most common shifts observed.

Pesticides induced disturbances primarily in one of two ways – either directly harming microbes, and indirectly harming the host (bee) health and subsequently shifting the microbiome. Researchers cite glyphosate as an example of a pesticide that directly harms the growth of certain gut microbes. Indirectly, researchers cited a range of pesticides with the ability to impact the bee immune system. Further, studies highlighted show pesticides changing the physical and chemical conditions of bee guts, making their gut environment less suitable to certain microbes. These two forms of disturbances can also occur at the same time, resulting in a deleterious positive feedback cycle for host bees.

The literature review also found that, regarding the impacts of exposure, the duration of pesticide exposure was more important than the amount of pesticide to which a bee was exposed. Longer exposure times result in more significant disturbances, but likely vary by pesticide mode of action.

The impacts of pesticide-induced disturbances can be extensive, and have the potential to cause adverse effects throughout a bee’s entire life. While the review was able to capture a range of impacts, the work also highlighted how little data is available on these effects. Most studies are focused on the effects of insecticides, while research on herbicides and fungicides are few. And apart from one, the current data available do no delve far into how microbial shifts impact bee performance. For example, this 2016 study reveals a range of alterations to the honey bee microbiome after exposure to different pesticides, but can only speculate on the functional impact. However, researchers note this 2018 study, focused on the impacts of glyphosate on bee gut microbiota, did track and find performance declines correlated to herbicide-induced alterations to the bee microbiome.

The researchers conclude, as all scientists are wont to do, with a call for further investigation on the topic. “Social bees have gut microbiotas that contribute to their health, just like we (humans) do. Further research on the interactions between pesticides, bee gut microbiotas, and bee hosts will help us better understand how pesticides affect bee health and performance.”

The emerging data make it clear that for both humans and pollinators, chemical impacts on the microbiome should be taken into account by pesticide regulators. Currently, no studies are required to be performed on the impact of pesticide exposure on the gut biome by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Help us tell EPA to embrace cutting edge science in its pesticide reviews by taking action today.

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

Source: uOttawa press release, FEMS Microbiology Reviews

(Beyond Pesticides, February 15, 2022) A synthetic weed killer linked to cancer, endocrine (hormone) disruption, reproductive harm and birth defects can be found in the bodies of 1 in 3 Americans, according to research published in Environmental Health by scientists at George Washington University. The chemical in question is not glyphosate (though current data indicate similar results are likely) but 2,4-D, an herbicide that is increasingly used when weeds growing near genetically engineered  (GE) crops have developed resistance to the repeated use of Roundup and other glyphosate-based weed killers. “Our study suggests human exposures to 2,4-D have gone up significantly and they are predicted to rise even more in the future,” Marlaina Freisthler, a PhD student and researcher at the George Washington University, said. “These findings raise concerns with regard to whether this heavily used weed-killer might cause health problems, especially for young children who are very sensitive to chemical exposures.”

Researchers conducted their analysis based on data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which includes urinary concentrations of 2,4-D from 14,395 participants spanning 2001 to 2014. Between those years, the use of 2,4-D increased rapidly from its relative low point at the beginning of the century. “Roundup Ready” crops, introduced in the late 1990s, allowed farmers to broadcast spray both weeds and a genetically engineered, herbicide-tolerant crop with a Roundup (glyphosate) weed killer without killing the crop. Lacking any wisdom or forethought, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) deregulated the growing of these GE crops and permitted pesticide companies to create proprietary pesticides to go along with their engineered seeds. Vertical integration allowed an increasingly smaller number of agrichemical companies to dominate the market. According to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, over roughly 90% of corn, soy, and cotton produced in the United States is now GE. Unabated use of glyphosate-based herbicides has resulted in widespread damage, putting farmers, farmworkers, and the general public at increased risk of disease, and imperiling the environment.

Glyphosate’s success in its role as an all-in-one “silver bullet” weed killer has been predictably short-lived. Over the course of the 21^st century, glyphosate has delivered diminishing returns in its ability to control GE crop weeds. As a result, chemical farmers are rapidly moving back to older chemistries like 2,4-D in order to stem the crisis of glyphosate-resistant weeds.

As 2,4-D increasingly supplemented glyphosate use, its use in the environment rose in lock-step with the body burden examined by scientists. In 2001, at the beginning of the study, 17.1% of those tested had 2,4-D present in their urine. By 2012, 39.6% of tested individuals had detectable urinary levels of 2,4-D. On average 32.5% of American residents tested had 2,4-D in their urine.

The results are particularly concerning for children, pregnant mothers, and agricultural workers. Those working with 2,4-D on farm had over 2x the chance of having high levels of 2,4-D contamination. Disturbingly, these high risks were similar to those seen for women and children. Women aged 20-44 were 2x more likely to be contaminated with 2,4-D than men of the same age. And children between the ages of 6-11 years were over 2x more likely to have high levels of 2,4-D than individuals aged 20-59.

“Further study must determine how rising exposure to 2,4-D affects human health–especially when exposure occurs early in life,” Melissa Perry, ScD, MHS, a professor of environmental and occupational health and senior author of the paper, said.

Current research describes a range of unacceptable hazards from 2,4-D exposure. The chemical is considered a possible human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, with concerns particularly pronounced for soft tissue sarcoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. 2,4-D is also associated with neurotoxicity, kidney/liver damage, and harm to the reproductive system. Research by EPA finds that babies born in counties where high rates of chlorophenoxy class herbicides like 2,4-D are applied to farm fields are significantly more likely to be born with birth defects of the respiratory and circulatory systems, as well as defects of the musculoskeletal system like clubfoot, fused digits, and extra digits. Studies have further implicated 2,4-D as playing a role in the development of ALS, loss of smell, and antibiotic resistance in human pathogenic bacteria.

As Dr. Perry notes, these concerns are exacerbated by the multitude of other chemical exposures that can occur in the environment. “In addition to exposure to this pesticide, children and other vulnerable groups are also increasingly exposed to other pesticides and these chemicals may act synergistically to produce health problems.”

Despite only beginning to understand how expanded uses of toxic pesticides like 2,4-D are harming the American public, applied amounts are only expected to grow. In 2014, EPA greenlit the approval of Enlist Duo, a successor to glyphosate’s toxic legacy on GE farm fields. Enlist Duo contains a combination of both glyphosate and 2,4-D, and was developed to be applied to crops genetically engineered to tolerate repeated spraying of Enlist Duo. Beyond Pesticides and other organizations sued EPA for approving the product without adequate consideration for its impact on endangered species, including monarch butterflies. Although EPA prevailed, US 9^th Circuit Court Judge Paul Watford chastised the agency for its “scientifically unsound” approach that was criticized by the National Academies of Sciences as “not scientifically defensible.” In spite of these significant risks, EPA in mid-January 2022 renewed Enlist Duo for seven years, indicating that the changes made to the product’s label will somehow avert risks to endangered species, without any evidence of this happening under real-world conditions.  

The cropping systems 2,4-D use supports are anachronistic and, if America is ever to make agriculture and land care sustainable, must be consigned to the dustbin of history. Organic agriculture, and its application to organic land care, has provided proof of concept that chemical pesticides are not necessary to grow healthy food or maintain beautiful landscapes. Although this approach may cost a bit more at the onset, it simultaneously eliminates the spillover harms caused by conventional chemical management. In other words, the minor cost increase with organic stops the development chronic health conditions caused by pesticide use, the creation of dead zones caused by synthetic fertilizers, and the broadscale poisoning of endangered species and their ecosystems caused by GE cropping systems. Instead of growing food with chemicals linked to declines in children’s IQ, eating organic is associated with higher scores for children on cognitive tests.

The supply problems of the pandemic are further exposing the house of cards that is U.S. chemical farming. Recent data show that since 2019, prices for conventional products have risen nearly 14%, while the cost of organic products a mere 1.6%. Those worried about their body burden of synthetic pesticide contamination are strongly encouraged to move to an organic diet. Most 2,4-D is eliminated from the body through urine within the first week of exposure – highlighting the frequency through which 1/3 Americans are being exposed to this chemical, per the Environmental Health study. Subsequent research shows that it takes roughly the same time eating an organic diet to significantly reduce the levels of synthetic pesticides in one’s body.

For more information on the danger 2,4-D and GE cropping systems, see Beyond Pesticides herbicide analysis, and webpage on herbicide tolerant crops. Learn more about why organic is the right choice for the future of farming and landscaping on our Why Organic and Non-Toxic Lawns and Landscapes webpages.  

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

Source: George Washington University press release, Environmental Health

(Beyond Pesticides, February 14, 2022) When your food scraps are sent to the landfill, their anaerobic decomposition releases methane, a greenhouse gas with 84 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide over its first 20 years in the atmosphere. By composting those scraps instead, you not only reduce methane emissions, but also support organic practices that eliminate other greenhouse gases, like nitrogen fertilizer.

California’s SB 1383, signed into law in 2016, now requires individuals and businesses to separate food waste from trash. While individuals and businesses can compost their own food waste, local agencies also facilitate the process by providing separate bins for organic materials, including food waste, lawn and garden trimmings, and paper. The law also provides a means for collecting and distributing surplus edible food.

Tell your Governor and state legislators to follow the lead of California in fighting climate change with composting. If you live in California, thank your legislators and Governor for passing SB 1383.

Methane comprises 16% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but due to its greater warming potential, it affects climate change at least as much as carbon dioxide (CO₂). Agriculture, energy production, and landfills are among the greatest sources of methane emissions. Directing food waste from landfills to compost can reduce two of these sources. In addition, the use of synthetic fertilizers is a particular and noxious contributor to the rising planetary temperature, largely through these products’ emissions of nitrous oxide, or NO_x — another potent greenhouse gas that also pollutes the air and feeds the development of ozone. NO_x is roughly 300 times as potent in trapping heat as CO₂. Nitrous oxide levels have increased, compared to pre-industrial levels, by 20% from all sources.

Directing food waste to compost can support organic gardening, farming, and land management, thus reducing dependence on synthetic nitrogen fertilizer. As states follow the lead of California in mandating separation of compostable waste, they should also mandate the use of organic land management by public agencies on parks, playing fields, and other public lands.

You don’t need to wait for a law. Start composting now.

Tell your Governor and state legislators to follow the lead of California in fighting climate change with composting. If you live in California, thank your legislators and Governor for passing SB 1383.

 Letter to Governor and state legislators outside of California:

When our food scraps are sent to the landfill, their anaerobic decomposition releases methane, a greenhouse gas with 84 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide over its first 20 years in the atmosphere. By composting those scraps instead, we not only reduce methane emissions, but also support organic practices that eliminate other greenhouse gases, like nitrogen fertilizer.

California’s SB 1383, signed into law in 2016, now requires individuals and businesses to separate food waste from trash. While individuals and businesses can compost their own food waste, local agencies also facilitate the process by providing separate bins for organic materials, including food waste, lawn and garden trimmings, and paper. The law also provides a means for collecting and distributing surplus edible food.

Methane comprises 16% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but due to its greater warming potential, it affects climate change at least as much as carbon dioxide (CO₂). Agriculture, energy production, and landfills are among the greatest sources of methane emissions. Directing food waste from landfills to compost can reduce two of these sources. In addition, the use of synthetic fertilizers is a particular and noxious contributor to the rising planetary temperature, largely through these products’ emissions of nitrous oxide, or NO_x — another potent greenhouse gas that also pollutes the air and feeds the development of ozone. NO_x is roughly 300 times as potent in trapping heat as CO₂. Nitrous oxide levels have increased, compared to pre-industrial levels, by 20% from all sources.

Directing food waste to compost can support organic gardening, farming, and land management, thus reducing dependence on synthetic nitrogen fertilizer. Please draft and pass legislation following the lead of California in mandating separation of compostable waste and also mandate the use of organic land management by public agencies on parks, playing fields, and other public lands.

Please increase the impact of this legislation by using your leadership to require the management of our state parks with organic land management practices. Organic practices not only counter climate change, but they also protect us from the hazards of pesticides.

Thank you.

Letter to Governor and state legislators of California:

I wish to thank you for passing and implementing the 2016 SB 1383, which now requires individuals and businesses to separate food waste from trash.

When our food scraps are sent to the landfill, their anaerobic decomposition releases methane, a greenhouse gas with 84 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide over its first 20 years in the atmosphere. By composting those scraps instead, we not only reduce methane emissions, but also support organic practices that eliminate other greenhouse gases, like nitrogen fertilizer.

Please increase the impact of SB 1383 by using your leadership to require the management of our state parks with organic land management practices. Organic practices not only counter climate change, but they also protect us from the hazards of pesticides.

Thank you.

(Beyond Pesticides, February 11, 2022) A team of researchers has proffered a potential, biotechnical, way forward in the quest to reduce the scourge of malaria, which affects many people across the world. Their work uses the relatively new “Crispr” technique to address, and reverse, the growing problem of mosquito resistance to the pesticides that currently dominate control strategies for the insects that spread the disease. This innovation nevertheless raises concern about both the introduction of new, genetically altered organisms into the environment without sufficient information on the implications, and continued, intensive pesticide use. Beyond Pesticides recognizes, as do the researchers, that malaria-borne mosquitoes pose a serious public health problem; however, it advocates for alternatives to chemical approaches to managing the spread of the disease, and asserts that successful management strategies will contend with the underlying conditions that exacerbate that spread. In 2020, Executive Director Jay Feldman said, “We should focus on the deplorable living conditions, and inequitable distribution of wealth and resources worldwide that give rise to squalor, inhumane living conditions, and the poor state of development that, together, breed insect-borne diseases like malaria.”    

Malaria, which is spread by female Anopheles mosquitoes infected with a Plasmodium parasite, causes illness in more than 200 million people annually, and is lethal to more than 400,000, many of whom are children. (There are five types of Plasmodium that cause malaria.) Roughly half of the global population, across more than 100 countries and territories, is at risk of contracting the disease. Those areas at greatest risk include large swaths of Africa and South Asia, parts of Central and South America, the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Oceania. 

Beyond Pesticides wrote in 2020, “In such regions, primary control strategies for these mosquito vectors during the past couple of decades have been the insecticidal treatment of bed nets (known as ITNs), and indoor residual spraying (IRS) of insecticides on walls, floors, ceilings, and eaves prior to the intensive malaria transmission season.” However, Anopheles mosquitoes are increasingly developing resistance to at least two of the four insecticides most commonly used — pyrethroid insecticides and DDT — meaning that such controls are becoming far less effective. (Over the past two decades, deltamethrin and λ-cyhalothrin (synthetic pyrethroids), and DDT have been used for IRS, but other classes of insecticides, such as carbamates and organophosphates, are increasingly being added to the IRS “arsenal.”)

It is important to note the toxicity and persistence of DDT. It has been linked to cancer in humans and is acutely toxic to fish and marine invertebrates. Intensive global use of DDT (which was banned in the U.S. in 1972 in recognition of its extreme harms) has resulted in rapid development of resistance in some regions (as has the overuse of synthetic pyrethroids and DDT alternatives). The stability and persistence of DDT, and its decades-long use, now manifest in its presence everywhere, from the open oceans to Himalayan glaciers — even in Arctic polar bear populations Antarctic penguin colonies.

A 2020 Daily News Blog article and another in 2021 detail the rise of resistance to mosquito pesticides and the need to shift to alternative management strategies. Research in Kenya back in 2015 pointed to rapidly developing resistance in Anopheles gambiae to pyrethroids and DDT. A June 2020 research study revealed a dramatic increase in resistance to these insecticides across sub-Saharan Africa, where malaria is spread by A. gambiae. This widespread resistance means that the tools on which antimalarial public health measures have heavily relied are working less and less well. This subject study was conducted by a team out of the University of California San Diego and the Tata Institute for Genetics and Society in India; the study paper was published on January 12 in Nature Communications.

The Crispr gene editing used in this research allows the identification and alteration of a specific bit of DNA inside a cell. The team used Drosophila melanogaster (the common fruit fly) rather than mosquitoes in its lab experiments because of the greater base knowledge and protocols related to Drosophila (as compared with Anopheles). The research experiment replaced an insecticide-resistant gene mutation (kdr) that confers resistance to pyrethroids and DDT, the insecticides commonly used against Anopheles, with the normal form of the gene — thus restoring, temporarily, the efficacy of the insecticides.

The technique used is known as a “gene drive” — a type of biotechnology that “overrules the laws of heredity to spread a trait through a population more quickly than . . . would happen naturally, forcing that gene into a population’s offspring. In this case, the change essentially reboots the gene pool to what it was before the insects evolved resistance to a particular pesticide.” The gene drive used by the team uses a “guide RNA” molecule that tells the Crispr system to delete the unwanted gene variant — in this case, the one that causes resistance to these insecticides — and to replace it with the normal, or “native” gene variant (which does not exhibit pesticide resistance).

Thus, the Drosophila’s vulnerability to the chemicals’ lethality is restored, the normal variant gets copied, and all offspring inherit it. The authors write, “This successful proof-of-principle opens up numerous possibilities including targeted reversion of insecticide-resistant populations to a native susceptible state or replacement of malaria transmitting mosquitoes with those bearing naturally occurring, parasite-resistant alleles.”

The researchers began with a population of fruit flies in which 83% had the pesticide-resistant gene variant and 17% had the normal/native version. With the Crispr intervention, that ratio was reversed to 17% with the resistant allele and 83% with the normal version — in 10 generations. How to account for that 17% that continue to resist the pesticides? As Wired magazine coverage of the study notes, “Lab tests of gene drives have shown that it’s possible to spread a desired genetic trait through several generations. But studies have also found that resistance to gene drives can emerge because some mosquitoes don’t inherit the desired trait. In the wild, resistance is almost certain to occur, meaning that gene drives would probably still leave behind some mosquitoes that could bite humans and transmit disease.”

The authors posit that, because both fruit flies and Anopheles have two-week life cycles, it would take a few months to “re-jigger” the genetics of a population of Anopheles so as to restore vulnerability to pesticides. But the scientists agree that a single use of a gene drive on a population of Anopheles is not a long-term solution, because even if a local population of mosquitoes could be eliminated, insects “can travel halfway around the world, pop up in a new place, and establish a new population. A gene drive . . . might need to be applied seasonally, especially if multiple resistant genes are present within a population or new ones arise.”

Senior study author Ethan Bier, PhD commented, “This technology . . . offers a solution to the conundrum we’re facing now, which is that there hasn’t been a new category of insecticides developed for over 30 years. If you can go on using the ones you’ve got by re-sensitizing the mosquitoes to those, I think that would be an enormous benefit.” The team proffers the idea that employing this technology could both effectively control the spread of malaria and ultimately allow reductions in the amounts of insecticide used to manage local insect populations. Underscoring Beyond Pesticides’ point about resistance (see below), Dr. Bier added, “This is no silver bullet. You never win when you try to play the evolutionary game with insects.” His team is now working on translating the fruit fly gene drive into lab mosquitoes.

Other researchers are pursuing solutions that do not involve use of pesticides. In the summer of 2021, a research group out of the Polo GGB lab in Italy announced success in using the Crispr technique to introduce a mutation into female Anopheles that prevents the insects from biting, and therefore, from spreading the Plasmodium parasite that causes malaria. Another strategy is to genetically engineer mosquitoes to kill the malaria parasite they host. Yet another focuses on eradicating mosquitoes themselves via making mosquitoes infertile. “By using a gene drive to render males or females infertile,” Wired writes, “you could conceivably crash an entire population of mosquitoes.”

Beyond those, after three decades of research, the pursuit of a vaccine is finally yielding some benefit. Last October, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended limited use of the world’s first malaria vaccine for use in children living in sub-Saharan Africa and other regions with moderate to high transmission rates of Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest of the parasites that cause malaria. The recommendation opens the door to approval of a broader rollout of the vaccine program.

Co-authors of a 2011 study that addressed the use of DDT in malaria prevention captured the conundrum of pesticide-oriented solutions to malarial spread: “Overall, community health is significantly improved through all available malaria control measures, which include IRS with DDT. Is DDT ‘good’? Yes, because it has saved many lives. Is DDT safe as used in IRS? Recent publications have increasingly raised concerns about the health implications of DDT. Therefore, an unqualified statement that DDT used in IRS is safe is untenable. Are inhabitants and applicators exposed? Yes, and to high levels. Should DDT be used? The fact that DDT is ‘good’ because it saves lives, and ‘not safe’ because it has health and environmental consequences, raises ethical issues.” (There is no current and legitimate science that would defend DDT use as “safe.”)

The central issue, as Beyond Pesticides sees it, is that developing genetic engineering techniques to enable continued use of toxic pesticides is effort misplaced. Deployed, such strategies would not only cause collateral health and environmental harms from the continued use of pesticides, but also, could have unanticipated organismic and/or ecosystem impacts. As a professor of health law and ethics at Boston University, George Annas, JD, MPH (who authored a code of ethics for gene drive research), has said, “A lot of people think we shouldn’t use insecticides at all. The idea of using heavy-duty genetic editing so that we can continue using insecticides isn’t going to appeal to everyone. . .[C]onvincing the public to release genetically modified mosquitoes just to keep using insecticides, which come with a host of negative health and environmental effects, could be a hard sell.”

Mr. Annas is not the first ethicist to raise concern about unintended consequences of releasing gene drive technology into the wild, including a resurgence of resistance. According to Wired, he would like to see researchers work on some way to stop, or recall, a gene drive if an unsavory outcome develops. He said, “I’m not saying we’re going to develop a super mosquito, but that’s not out of the realm of possibility. A gene drive might make things worse and you certainly don’t want to do that.”

Beyond those concerns, as Beyond Pesticides has repeatedly identified, the pursuit of chemical fixes — whether for crop pests or for containing disease vectors — is ultimately a fool’s errand. In 2020, we wrote: “Resistance to pesticides is nearly inevitable. Development of resistance is an entirely normal, adaptive phenomenon: organisms evolve, ‘exploiting’ beneficial genetic mutations that give them survival advantage. For nearly a century, human response to this has been primarily a chemical ‘chasing’ of such evolutionary changes — developing a compound that kills the offending organism (whether pest or weed or bacterium or fungus) for a while. Organisms nearly inevitably change to become resistant to that particular chemical assault, whereupon people — the chemical industry, researchers, applicators, farmers, public health workers, clinicians, et al. — have typically moved on to the next chemical ‘solution.’”

In 2017, Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA) concurred, noting, “This highlights the problem of relying on insecticide-based strategies for vector control… Ultimately, disease vectors and parasites develop resistance to the insecticide and it becomes almost ineffective in the long run.” The sustainable solutions to containing the spread of malaria lie not in the use of more and different chemicals, but in nontoxic approaches that respect nature and ecological balance. More sustainable (and effective) approaches would include habitat modification, improved sanitation, and use of natural controls, such as larviciding with Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis).

Beyond Pesticides has chronicled that the most successful mosquito management programs combine multiple strategies and focus, as well, on community education — but also, require significant government commitment and political will. In 1991, Vietnam reduced malaria deaths by 97% and malaria cases by 59% when it switched from malaria eradication attempts using DDT to a DDT-free malaria control program. A program in Kenya uses livestock as bait, introduces biological controls, and distributes mosquito nets in affected areas. Management strategies to combat malaria cannot be successful if they are entirely chemical because such approaches ignore the underlying conditions that exacerbate disease spread.

Even if malaria is not a local concern in the U.S., most people are concerned about the diseases mosquitoes can transmit, including West Nile virus, Eastern Equine Encephalitis, and Zika fever. Learn more about mosquito management at Beyond Pesticides’ resources on Mosquito Management and Insect-Borne Diseases, and Public Health Mosquito Management Strategy for Decision Makers and Communities.

Source: https://www.wired.com/story/could-crispr-flip-the-switch-on-insects-resistance-to-pesticides/

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

(Beyond Pesticides, February 10, 2022) A National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)-funded study finds that patterns of pesticide exposure among farmers have geographical and temporal significance. Specific use of and exposure to organophosphate and carbamate chemicals decrease enzyme activity within the body, resulting in greater health anomalies among farmers, especially during agricultural seasons. The use of xenobiotic (foreign chemical compounds) substances like pesticides and fertilizers in agriculture are increasing. Thus, those working with and around these toxicants must have protection. Considering that agricultural workers often experience pesticide exposure at higher rates due to occupation, long-term research must identify potential health concerns surrounding common pesticides. The study author, Dana Barr, Ph.D., states, “The majority of farmers in this study reported that they had at least one health symptom associated with pesticide intoxication. This investigation can be used to promote safer use of pesticides among farmers and mitigate exposure among residents living near a rice field. The findings will be critical for establishing and launching several preventive programs in the future.”

Researchers evaluated the health effects of pesticide exposure among a cohort of farmers in Thailand during inactive and active rice farming periods. Using geographic information system (GIS) mapping, researchers compared acetyl- and butyryl-cholinesterase (AChE and BuChE) activities (a family of enzymes responsible for neurotransmission) among farmers across regions within the Ratchasima Province of Thailand. Scientists also collected data on the location of rice paddy fields. The results demonstrate that farmers exhibit higher adverse health symptoms from pesticide exposure during active farming periods. The main pesticides of concern are organophosphates and carbamates, due to the effects on enzyme function, as both AChE and BuChE activity decrease during active farming. Moreover, GIS mapping data shows enzyme inhibition within and adjacent to farms, indicating spatial and temporal changes in health.

The agricultural industry has a long-standing history of synthetic chemical use, which disproportionally affects farmworkers’ health. The journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine indicates that farmworkers and persons exposed to high levels of pesticides have an increased risk of developing brain tumors and over 45 different cancers. Farmworkers are at the highest risk of pesticide-induced diseases, and their average life expectancy bears this out. According to the National Farm Worker Ministry, farmworkers have an average life span of 49 years, a 29 year difference from the general U.S. population. Moreover, a recent study finds increased COPD for other pesticide-intensive occupations like landscapers (e.g., gardeners/landscapers). Although pesticide exposure through the skin or inhalation is most prevalent among individuals working around these toxic chemicals, pesticide exposure is ubiquitous and not only confined to a field. The general population can encounter toxic chemicals through residues in food and water or through chemical drift. Over 300 environmental contaminants and their byproducts—from chemicals in plastics to cosmetic/personal care products—are commonly found in water bodies, food commodities, and human blood/urine samples. These toxicants can alter hormone metabolism, producing endocrine-disrupting effects that put the health of animals, humans, and the environment at risk. Synthetic chemicals in pesticides can accumulate in bodies, causing an amalgamation of health effects. These effects can range from heightened risks of various cancers (i.e., prostate, hepatic, liver, etc.) and endocrine disruption to mental health problems (i.e., depression), respiratory illnesses (asthma), and many other pesticide-induced diseases. Therefore, understanding how pesticide exposure influences disease risk is essential in protecting the future of human, animal, and ecological health.

This study adds to the growing body of research demonstrating occupational exposure to pesticides contributes to higher disease prevalence among individuals working with and around these toxic compounds. Like this study, other researchers demonstrate that exposure to organophosphate insecticides, like chlorpyrifos, has endocrine disruption properties that induce neurotoxicity via acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition in the nervous tissue. Inhibition of AChE can cause a buildup of acetylcholine (a chemical neurotransmitter responsible for brain and muscle function). This chemical buildup can lead to acute impacts, such as uncontrolled, rapid twitching muscles, paralyzed breathing, convulsions, and, in extreme cases, death. However, the inhibition of AChE is non-specific, making the dispersal of pesticides with this biological activity a severe threat to wildlife and public health.

Although hesitation to eliminate pesticides surrounds crop yields, studies as recent as 2022 show a ban on even the most extensively used pesticides have no adverse impacts on yield. Although this study takes place in Thailand, the results apply to conventional farmers across the globe. Adverse health effects related to pesticide exposure can occur regardless of geographical location and agricultural practices. For instance, cancer incidents are consistent among women and men agricultural workers, regardless of location, suggesting an underlying common risk factor (i.e., pesticides). Although farmers in the study use personal protective equipment (PPE), the equipment does not always protect against dermal exposure and inhalation after application (i.e., residues on clothing, shoes, hair, etc.). Moreover, current legislation fails to encompass the full impacts of pesticides on farmworkers, especially underrepresented individuals who disproportionately experience more severe health issues.

The study concludes, “[F]armers should be made aware of the safety practices of pesticide handling and application and the proper use of PPE through effective education and training programs. Importantly, the government should consider changing the current policy to allow effective restrictions of pesticide importation, production, and application. In addition, GIS can assist the assessment of agricultural pesticide exposure in the general population and can enable the location verification and pattern visualization of the OP and carbamate poisoning cases. Our work can be used to assist the establishment of a pesticide application free zone to minimize pesticide exposures in the residential areas.”

It is essential to know and understand the effects pesticides have on human health, especially if pesticides increase the risk of developing chronic diseases, particularly among vulnerable individuals. GIS-based pesticide exposure data can help public health officials make more targeted decisions regarding human health concerns. Moreover, GIS can incorporate numerous sources involving location, chemical, and time-period specific data. Beyond Pesticides tracks the most recent studies related to pesticide exposure through our Pesticide Induced Diseases Database (PIDD). This database supports the clear need for strategic action to shift from pesticide dependency. For more information on pesticide exposure harms, see PIDD pages on cancer, endocrine disruption, and other diseases.

One way to reduce human and environmental contamination from pesticides is to buy, grow, and support organic. Numerous studies find that pesticide metabolites in urine significantly drop when switching to an all-organic diet. Furthermore, given the wide availability of non-pesticidal alternative strategies, families and the agricultural sector can apply these methods to promote a safe and healthy environment, especially among chemically vulnerable individuals. For more information on how organic is the right choice for consumers, see Beyond Pesticides’ webpage, Health Benefits of Organic Agriculture. Furthermore, learn more about farmworker protection by visiting Beyond Pesticides’ Agricultural Justice page.

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

Source: Environmental Factor-NIEHS, Scientific Reports

(Beyond Pesticides, February 9, 2022) Insecticide use during pregnancy significantly increases the occurrence of Otitis Media (OM) in infants, according to research published in Scientific Reports from a team of Japanese researchers late last month. Otitis Media, an infection of the space behind the ear drum, is a common disease among children. While most infections go away on their own, some children experience pain, fever, and in some cases complications that result in hearing loss. This research underscores the myriad of dangers and diseases that pesticide use can precipitate, which are not considered under risk assessments conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Scientists collected their initial data from the ongoing Japan Environment and Children’s Study, a national birth cohort study that evaluates environmental factors affecting children’s health in Japan. Data recorded include factors such as maternal age, birth weight, and gestation weeks, and mothers provided answers to a range of questionnaires, including one relating to exposure to insecticides during pregnancy. Study authors utilized a range of other covariates to control for further risk factors, such as family history of OM, living with other siblings, nursery attendance, parental smoking habits, and others.

The study determined that OM during an infant’s first year of life is most closely associated with insecticide use more than one time per week between conception and the first trimester of pregnancy. Insecticide use in the second and third trimester is not associated with OM. Researchers speculate that insecticide use causes OM due to weakened immune function in exposed individuals.

This is the first study to show a connection between ear infections in young children and pesticide exposure during pregnancy. Prior research, however, has provided some indication that pesticides can harm the ears and affect hearing. A 2020 study published in the Annals of Work Exposures and Health found that farmworkers exposed to a combination of pesticides and noise from agricultural machinery were at increased risk of hearing loss.

Roughly 1 in 5 children experience several episodes of OM in short spans during early life. The cost of these treatments can add up significantly, accounting for several billion dollars in health care costs. Additionally, “[p]reventing OM decreases the burden that is placed on parents who have to visit clinics and take time off work,” the authors indicate.

Results highlight the hidden risks that individuals tacitly accept when applying a substance intended to kill life. Chemicals like the increasingly common synthetic pyrethroid class of insecticides can remain on hard surfaces for over a year, providing continual, chronic exposure. These exposures can weaken immune system functioning and make individuals more susceptible to infection and other diseases.

Pregnant mothers, fetuses, and young children are at greatest risk from household pesticide use, as evidenced by a large and growing body of research. Exposure during and after pregnancy has been associated with increased risk of cancers, including infant leukemia and childhood brain tumors. Pregnant mothers exposed to pesticides are more likely to have preterm births and low birth weight, children with motor development problems, as well as children who go on to develop ADHD. These impacts are perhaps unsurprising given studies that show over 100 different chemicals detectable in pregnant women, including new or unknown compounds.

In general, this research does not distinguish between specific types of pesticides – at most breaking down exposures into basic pesticide types (e.g., herbicide, insecticide, fungicide). Thus, these tests are generally not reviewed by EPA during pesticide evaluations, and the agency rarely considers these cryptic chronic diseases that pesticide exposure can bring about. Under a precautionary approach, pesticides with evidence of chronic damage to pregnant women or young children would be denied registration for use. But EPA’s approach to tackling these problems has relied on simply reducing recommended application rates through “safety factors.” Moreover, the agency often doesn’t even follow this lackluster approach when the pesticide industry becomes involved.  

Pregnant women and households with young children are strongly encouraged to avoid all use or exposure to any pesticide products. Eating healthy, organic food is another factor that can reduce exposure and improve children’s well-being. New and expecting families can find more resources to keep your home child-safe on the Materials for New Parents webpage. For more information on the range of diseases associated with pesticide use, see Beyond Pesticides’ Pesticide Induced Diseases Database.

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

Source: Scientific Reports

Image Source: Luca Prasso, Flikr

(Beyond Pesticides, February 8, 2022) After nearly a century of use, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is officially cancelling the highly toxic wood preservative pentachlorophenol (penta). As one of the most dangerous pesticides ever produced, penta poses unacceptable risks to workers and surrounding communities, which often became superfund sites once manufacturing plants closed. According to the agency, “During the registration review process, EPA found that given the emergence of viable alternatives, the risks pentachlorophenol poses to workers’ health outweigh the benefits of its use.” Health and environmental advocates are pleased with the agency’s long overdue action on penta but remain incredulous that EPA has provided a generous phase-out for the utility and wood preservative industry, allowing use to continue for up to 5 years. Beyond Pesticides has been working to ban pentachlorophenol, creosote, and copper chromated arsenate since its founding in 1981. (See history of Beyond Pesticides’ work and litigation.)

EPA’s statement on alternatives and workers’ health is a telling example for the public regarding the way in which the agency consistently places economic decisions above American’s safety. EPA has long known about the dangers penta poses to health, particularly the health of workers in penta production or treatment plants. In 2008, the agency determined that these occupational handlers had a 1 in 1,000 risk of developing cancer. Rather than cancel the chemical at that time to protect worker health, the agency opted to attempt additional mitigation measures, requiring further personal protective equipment, engineering controls, and changes to treatment procedures. With no real-world evidence that this would make a difference, the agency expected these changes to drop the cancer risk to workers. However, in its most recent draft risk assessment, EPA found that this drastically high cancer risk remained the same. (EPA considers cancer risks between 1 in 10,000 and 1 in 1,000,000 to be “acceptable.”)

A close read of EPA’s statement makes it clear: workers were expendable until the wood preservative industry had economically viable alternative chemistries it could use. In fact, EPA’s cancellation decision still leaves workers at risk.  According to EPA’s decision document, the agency “considered requiring additional interim risk mitigation measures during the period prior to the cancellation,” but decided against doing so because they, “may take several years to adopt and require significant financial resources in order to implement.” Instead, EPA opted to provide the wood preservative industry five more years to transition to other materials.

The agency will require registrants to voluntarily cancel their penta products by February 29, 2024. EPA will then provide another 3 years for registrants to utilize their left-over stocks of penta, placing a hard end date on February 29, 2027. In a response to Beyond Pesticides comments, the agency does indicate it will require mandatory cancellation should current registrants not follow through voluntarily.

EPA’s rationale for their 5-year phase-out is not to protect health or the environment. Simply, it is what the industry told the agency it wanted. “The Agency does not, however, support a phase-out period of less than 5 years due to the potential disruption in the utility pole market,” the final decision reads. When Beyond Pesticides asked pointedly in comments to speed up the cancellation period, the agency indicated that 5 years was an acceptable compromise because some commenters requested a phase out period longer than five years.

It is worth noting that the agency has fully registered pesticides for time limits shorter than 5 years, and has the authority to immediately cancel hazardous chemicals – particularly those like penta, which has an immense body of data on its harm that could withstand industry legal challenges. In this context, EPA’s approach to protection has been more focused on the wood preservative industry than on the environment, worker, or resident health. At every turn, once risks were identified, EPA took steps to keep penta on the market, and protect industry interests over human health.   

In the late 1970s, an initial range of significant risks were identified, and penta underwent an EPA Special Review. The agency identified a range of chronic harms from penta exposure, including contaminants such as hexachlorobenzene, furans, and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, one of the most toxic substances known to humankind. But industry pressure resulted in a soft-pedal whereby EPA focused on “risk reduction measures” rather than elimination. Products were restricted from residential use, but significant use remained for railways and utility lines. And rather than require improved production processes that eliminated dioxin contamination, the agency negotiated with industry to allow it to phase down contamination levels over several years. (Despite decades of time to improve production processes, current EPA documents show hexachlorobenzene and dioxin remain at hazardous levels of contamination in penta treated wood [19.3ppm and .55ppm average in 2013]).

Beyond Pesticides then sued EPA in the early 2000s urging cancellation of the chemical, but the suit was ultimately struck down over administrative issues. In one notable instance, penta review documents from EPA calculated a 2.2 in 10,000 cancer risk to children playing around treated poles. This rate was 200 times above EPA’s acceptable cancer threshold for children. But rather than protect children, EPA simply removed the exposure scenario for children and echoed a claim by the Penta Council, an industry group, that “play activities with or around pole structures would not normally occur.”

Likewise, when the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants took up penta for consideration of an international ban, EPA and the U.S. government engaged in the process, and opposed listing penta despite not being a signatory to the Stockholm Convention. Ultimately, however, the US failed to convince other nations that the risks were worth the supposed benefits of penta use.

To finally ban penta in the United States, it took grassroots advocates, intrepid reporters, and courageous lawmakers to eliminate the wood preservative’s last economic opportunity. After the Stockholm Conventional listed penta, it set a clock ticking on production plants throughout the world. The last plant in Mexico was set to be shuttered, leaving the United States as the only possible location left where this internationally banned material could be produced. As a result, Gulbrandsen Chemicals, a multinational company with ties to India, attempted to supply the U.S. market by proposing a penta plant in the majority low-income African American community of Orangeburg, South Carolina. Residents and local lawmakers fought back. A series of high-profile investigative reports, community advocacy, and political action ultimately upset the plans laid by this corporation, and Gulbrandsen Chemicals withdrew its proposal.

EPA cited this fact under “other considerations,” it used to justify announcing the cancellation. In comments, Beyond Pesticides urged the agency to base its decisions not on the “uncertain future of pentachlorophenol production” and instead on the statutory requirements for FIFRA registration that the chemical poses an unreasonable risk. For EPA’s part, it denies that it based cancellation on the uncertain future of penta production – that point was simply noted to provide context, according to the agency. EPA reiterated that it based its decision off of its risk/benefit calculation, as well as international support to ban penta. Opining for wood preservative manufacturers, “EPA expects that industry’s decision to cease production of pentachlorophenol is a reflection, not a cause, of the same factors,” the agency’s final decision reads.

Despite its failure to take immediate action, the agency did say, “[E]PA is requiring cancellation of pentachlorophenol based on the Agency’s determination that the benefits of pentachlorophenol—in particular in light of the emergence of newer, safer alternatives. . .”

To truly show it is evaluating hazardous wood preservatives based on the letter of the law, rather than the reflections of industry, EPA should take immediate action on other wood preservatives that have viable alternatives. Chief among the remaining is creosote, which was recently featured as part of EPA Administrator Regan’s Journey to Justice tour, where he heard from residents of Houston, TX’s Greater Fifth Ward, which is still dealing with legacy contamination from a creosote railroad tie treatment plant.

Like penta, creosote production has resulted in immense suffering for workers and residents in fence line communities near these industrial sites. Like penta, there are a range of viable alternatives to its use, including alternative chemistries, as well as non-toxic products like steel, concrete, and fiberglass. And like penta, there is a small group of individuals profiting generously while people and the environment continue to be harmed. While EPA should be applauded for finally cancelling penta, its phase out period is far too generous. If the agency wants advocates to see it is serious about protecting health and the environment, this action can only be the first step as part of broader, long-overdue efforts to clean up the wood preservative market.

Beyond Pesticides has extensive documentation on the history of penta production and regulation. For more information see the following articles:

• Poison Poles (1997)
• Pole Pollution (1999)
• Beyond Pesticides comments to EPA on Wood Preservatives (2008)
• Beyond Poison Poles: Elected officials say no to toxic utility poles in their communities (2014)
• United Nations Committee Recommends Global Elimination of Toxic Wood Preservative (2014)
• EPA Seeks to Block a Worldwide Ban of a Highly Toxic Wood Preservative (2014)
• International Treaty Bans Pentachlorophenol, U.S. Continues Use on Utility Poles and Railroad Ties (2015)
• Settlement Reached in Lawsuit Over Dioxin Contamination from Poison Poles in Central California (2018)
• As the World Bans Highly Toxic Wood Preservative, Pentachlorophenol, a Low-Income U.S. Community May Be Home to the Last Production Plant (2020)
• Environmental Racism Strikes South Carolina Community with Siting of a Pentachlorophenol Wood Preservative Plant (2021)
• EPA Proposes Cancellation of Highly Toxic Wood Preservative Pentachlorophenol

See Beyond Pesticides Wood Preservatives webpage. 

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

Source: EPA Final Registration Review Decision for Pentachlorophenol (via Regulations.gov)

(Beyond Pesticides, February 7, 2022) Recent research on quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) shows the critical need for a reassessment of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) criteria for determining appropriate disinfectant products where coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19), is a concern. EPA maintains a list of disinfectants—List N—that it expects to kill all strains and variants of SARS-CoV-2. However, in creating List N, EPA fails to consider dangers posed by some of the chemicals. QACs, in particular, can cause serious acute and chronic health problems.

>>Tell EPA to reassess its criteria for List N and delist quaternary ammonia compounds. Tell Congress to make sure EPA does its job. 

Early in the pandemic, emphasis was placed on disinfecting surfaces, under the mistaken assumption that transmission of the virus was primarily through contact with contaminated surfaces, or fomites. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it is now known that, “The principal mode by which people are infected with SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) is through exposure to respiratory droplets carrying infectious virus. It is possible for people to be infected through contact with contaminated surfaces or objects (fomites), but the risk is generally considered to be low.”

 A study published in Environmental Science and Technology finds that concentrations of QACs in the human body have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, raising health and safety concerns. QACs include a variety of chemicals in personal care, pharmaceutical, and medical products used as disinfectants, sanitizers, antimicrobials. However, over the past 70 years, large-scale production and use of these compounds led to accumulation in the environment, including surface water, sediment, and soil. Previously, researchers thought most QACs lack the potential to bioaccumulate, but emerging evidence demonstrates that specific QACs bioaccumulate in blood and other body tissues and can cause a range of toxic effects. Therefore, studies like this highlight the significance of monitoring chemical exposure for adverse health effects. The researchers note, “Further efforts are needed to explore the relationship between the use of QAC-containing products and the levels of QACs in human blood or of their metabolites in urine. Considering the increased use of some QACs as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, our findings warrant further exposure and epidemiological research focused on QACs.” The results show 15 out of the 18 QACs are detectable in blood samples, with QAC concentrations significantly higher during the pandemic than prior to it. The main routes of exposure include diet, inhalation, ingestion, or the skin.

While EPA has certified several disinfectants as effective against COVID-19 (List N), many of these chemicals are hazardous. Quaternary ammonium compounds are among some of the most harmful disinfectants, as their “long-lasting” properties have adverse impacts on human health, which has extensive documentation in the scientific literature. Effects include mutations, lower fertility, and increased antibiotic resistance. QAC disinfectants’ overuse in U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) detainment centers caused nose bleeds and other adverse health effects. Furthermore, teachers are seeking less harmful disinfectants to use in the classroom, especially as many are experiencing adverse impacts of disinfectant use (e.g., chemical skin burns, respiratory issues). Since EPA has listed so many disinfectant products containing QACs, they remain ubiquitous in the environment as use continues.

EPA is currently promoting false reasoning that a chemical that kills a pathogen necessarily protects health. Although disinfectants like QACs, kill viruses, bacteria, and other microbes via cell wall and protein destruction, they can also negatively affect the immune system, thus reducing resistance to disease. People who have a preexisting condition or are of advanced age, who may have a weakened immune or respiratory system, are more vulnerable to the effects of the virus. When managing viral and bacterial infections, chemicals that exacerbate the risk to vulnerable individuals are of serious concern.

While Beyond Pesticides identifies “Disinfectants to Avoid,” including those with OACs, many safer disinfectants are, at the same time, listed by EPA as effective against the virus, including citric acid, ethanol, isopropanol, L-lactic acid, hydrogen peroxide, sodium bisulfate, dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid, and thymol. Products containing these chemicals are present on Beyond Pesticides’ list of “Disinfectants to Look for.” Avoid pressure to use toxic disinfectants, despite the availability of safer products. In fact, while [CDC] is recommending 70% alcohol for surface disinfection, [EPA’s] Office of Pesticide Programs promotes the use of unnecessarily toxic substances.

QACs are harmful to the respiratory system and have a long list of adverse effects from cancer and genetic mutations to lower fertility and increase antibiotic resistance. Most recently, the QAC antimicrobial cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) has raised concerns. The compound is present in mouthwashes, lozenges, toothpaste, and nasal sprays and is thus commonly encountered orally. A recent study finds CPC has associations with adverse respiratory effects (e.g., lung inflammation). Moreover, acute oral inhalation can be fatal. Since COVID-19 is a systemic (general) disease that overwhelmingly impacts the respiratory system, exposure to CPC presents a heightened risk of co-occurring symptoms. Damage to the respiratory system can also trigger the development of extra-respiratory systemic manifestations like rheumatoid arthritis, and cardiovascular disease. Check out our downloadable infographic The Dirty Side of Disinfectants & Sanitizers.

EPA must assess all risks associated with pesticide use, including the mode of action. EPA’s failure to respond to current science is a significant shortcoming of its risk assessment process, especially regarding disease implications. In contrast to EPA, Beyond Pesticides tracks the most recent health studies related to pesticide exposure through the Pesticide-Induced Diseases Database (PIDD). This database supports the clear need for strategic action to shift away from pesticide dependency. For more information on harms associated with pesticide exposure, see PIDD pages on asthma/respiratory effects and other diseases.

>>Tell EPA to reassess its criteria for List N and delist quaternary ammonia compounds. Tell Congress to make sure EPA does its job.  

Letter to EPA Administrator and Assistant Administrator Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention

Recent research on quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) shows the need for a reassessment of EPA’s criteria for determining appropriate disinfectants where SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19, is a concern. In creating List N of disinfectants to kill SARS-CoV-2, EPA fails to consider dangers posed by some of the chemicals. QACs, for example, can cause serious acute and chronic health problems.

Early in the pandemic, emphasis was placed on disinfecting surfaces, under the mistaken assumption that transmission of the virus was primarily through contact with contaminated surfaces, or fomites. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it is now known that, “The principal mode by which people are infected with SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) is through exposure to respiratory droplets carrying infectious virus. It is possible for people to be infected through contact with contaminated surfaces or objects (fomites), but the risk is generally considered to be low.” This means that elimination of fomites can no longer be used as the basis for allowing high risks of disinfectant chemicals.

 A study published in Environmental Science and Technology finds increased concentrations of QACs in the human body during the COVID-19 pandemic, raising health and safety concerns. QACs include a variety of chemicals in personal care, pharmaceutical, and medical products used as disinfectants, sanitizers, antimicrobials. Production and use of these compounds have led to their accumulation in the environment. Emerging evidence demonstrates that specific QACs bioaccumulate in blood and other body tissues, causing a range of toxic effects. The researchers note, “Considering the increased use of some QACs as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, our findings warrant further exposure and epidemiological research focused on QACs.” Results show 15 out of the 18 QACs are detectable in blood samples, with QAC concentrations significantly higher during the pandemic than prior to it. Routes of exposure include diet, inhalation, ingestion, and the skin.

Many disinfectants on List N are hazardous. QACs are among the most harmful, with effects including mutations, lower fertility, increased antibiotic resistance, and harm to the respiratory system. The antimicrobial QAC cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC), present in mouthwashes, lozenges, toothpaste, and nasal sprays, has been associated with adverse respiratory effects (e.g., lung inflammation). Acute oral inhalation can be fatal. Since COVID-19 is a systemic disease that overwhelmingly impacts the respiratory system, exposure to CPC presents a heightened risk of co-occurring symptoms. Damage to the respiratory system can also trigger the development of systemic disease, including rheumatoid arthritis and cardiovascular disease.

Outside of the lab, QAC overuse in U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) detainment centers caused nose bleeds and other adverse health effects. Teachers experiencing adverse impacts of disinfectant use (e.g., chemical skin burns, respiratory issues) are seeking less harmful disinfectants to use in the classroom. EPA’s listing of so many disinfectant products containing QACs contributes to their ubiquitous presence in the environment.

 Although disinfectants like QACs kill pathogens, they can also negatively affect the immune system, thus reducing resistance to disease. People who have a preexisting condition or are of advanced age, who may have a weakened immune or respiratory system, are more vulnerable to the effects of the virus. When managing viral and bacterial infections, chemicals that exacerbate the risk to vulnerable individuals are of serious concern.

EPA must assess all risks associated with disinfectant use and must reevaluate its assessment of their benefits. QACs do not belong on List N. EPA’s failure to respond to current science is a significant shortcoming of its risk assessment process, especially regarding disease implications.

Letter to U.S. Senators and Representatives:

Recent research on quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) shows the need for a reassessment of EPA’s criteria for determining appropriate disinfectants where SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19, is a concern. In creating List N of disinfectants to kill SARS-CoV-2, EPA fails to consider dangers posed by some of the chemicals. QACs, for example, can cause serious acute and chronic health problems.

Early in the pandemic, emphasis was placed on disinfecting surfaces, under the mistaken assumption that transmission of the virus was primarily through contact with contaminated surfaces, or fomites. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it is now known that “The principal mode by which people are infected with SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) is through exposure to respiratory droplets carrying infectious virus. It is possible for people to be infected through contact with contaminated surfaces or objects (fomites), but the risk is generally considered to be low.” This means that elimination of fomites can no longer be used as as the basis for allowing high risks of disinfectant chemicals.

 A study published in Environmental Science and Technology finds increased concentrations of QACs in the human body during the COVID-19 pandemic, raising health and safety concerns. QACs include a variety of chemicals in personal care, pharmaceutical, and medical products used as disinfectants, sanitizers, antimicrobials. Production and use of these compounds have led to their accumulation in the environment. Emerging evidence demonstrates that specific QACs bioaccumulate in blood and other body tissues, causing a range of toxic effects. The researchers note, “Considering the increased use of some QACs as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, our findings warrant further exposure and epidemiological research focused on QACs.” Results show 15 out of the 18 QACs are detectable in blood samples, with QAC concentrations significantly higher during the pandemic than prior to it. Routes of exposure include diet, inhalation, ingestion, and the skin.

Many disinfectants on List N are hazardous. QACs are among the most harmful, with effects including mutations, lower fertility, increased antibiotic resistance, and harm to the respiratory system. The antimicrobial QAC cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC), present in mouthwashes, lozenges, toothpaste, and nasal sprays, has been associated with adverse respiratory effects (e.g., lung inflammation). Acute oral inhalation can be fatal. Since COVID-19 is a systemic disease that overwhelmingly impacts the respiratory system, exposure to CPC presents a heightened risk of co-occurring symptoms. Damage to the respiratory system can also trigger the development of systemic disease, including rheumatoid arthritis and cardiovascular disease.

Outside of the lab, QAC overuse in U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) detainment centers caused nose bleeds and other adverse health effects. Teachers experiencing adverse impacts of disinfectant use (e.g., chemical skin burns, respiratory issues) are seeking less harmful disinfectants to use in the classroom. EPA’s listing of so many disinfectant products containing QACs contributes to their ubiquitous presence in the environment.

 Although disinfectants like QACs kill pathogens, they can also negatively affect the immune system, thus reducing resistance to disease. People who have a preexisting condition or are of advanced age, who may have a weakened immune or respiratory system, are more vulnerable to the effects of the virus. When managing viral and bacterial infections, chemicals that exacerbate the risk to vulnerable individuals are of serious concern.

Please ensure that EPA assesses all risks associated with disinfectant use and must reevaluate its assessment of their benefits. QACs do not belong on List N. EPA’s failure to respond to current science is a significant shortcoming of its risk assessment process, especially regarding disease implications.

(Beyond Pesticides, February 4, 2022) In January, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued its 30th Pesticide Data Program (PDP) Annual Summary report (which evaluates each year the presence of pesticide residues on produce) and misleads the public on the safety of food and agricultural practices. This 2020 report concludes that more than 99% of the produce samples tested showed residues below established U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) benchmark levels. At first blush, this sounds very reassuring, but Beyond Pesticides maintains that there is (always) more to the “safety” story, not least of which are serious deficiencies in EPA’s establishment of those “tolerances.” Those flaws include a lack of risk assessment for vulnerable sub-populations, such as farmworkers, people with compromised health, children, and perhaps, cultural/ethnic and regional sub-groups of the general population, and a failure to fully assess serious health outcomes such as disruption of the endocrine system (which contributes to numerous serious diseases). For everyone, Beyond Pesticides recommends choosing organic produce whenever possible — the vast majority of which does not contain synthetic pesticide residues.

The PDP report asserts that “the data . . . illustrate that residues found in agricultural products sampled are at levels that do not pose risk to consumers’ health and are safe according to EPA and FDA.” Blue Book Services/Produce reporting uses the cheery headline (borrowed from the Alliance for Food and Farming), “USDA PDP report results help ensure consumer confidence in produce.” The agribusiness media and lobbying outfit CropLife America, which represents manufacturers of pesticides and other agricultural chemicals (according to SourceWatch) is touting the report with the reassuring headline, “USDA Pesticide Data Program Report Confirms Food Safety.”

Annually, USDA (through AMS, its Agricultural Marketing Service) and EPA identify produce items to be evaluated (note that not every item is assessed every year). As Blue Book describes, “AMS partners with cooperating state agencies to collect and analyze pesticide residue levels on the selected food commodities. . . . EPA relies on PDP data to conduct dietary risk assessments and to ensure that any pesticide residues in foods remain at or below levels that EPA has set.” The report notes that, “PDP is a voluntary program and is not designed for enforcement of tolerances. However, PDP informs [USDA] and EPA of presumptive tolerance violations if detected residues exceed the EPA tolerance or if residues are detected that have no EPA tolerance established.”

The 2020 PDP analysis evaluated 9,600 samples of fresh and processed vegetables and fruits, including “apple juice, bananas, blueberries (fresh and frozen), broccoli, cantaloupe, carrots, cauliflower, collard greens, eggplant, green beans, kiwi fruit, orange juice, radishes, summer squash, sweet bell peppers, tangerines, tomato paste and winter squash.” The sources of those produce items were 59.5% domestic (U.S.), 34.9% imported, 4.9% of “mixed national origin,” and 0.7% of unknown origin.

The complete PDP database for 2020 (and for previous years) is available at http://www.ams.usda.gov/pdp. The current analyses yielded these top-level results:

• more than 99% of tested samples tested had pesticide residues below the established EPA tolerances; 30% had no detectable residue
• .49% (47 samples) showed residues exceeding established tolerances; of these, 74.5% (35) were domestic, 23.4% (11) were imported, and 2.1% (1) was of unknown origin
• residues with no established tolerance were found in 3.2% (303) of the 9,600 samples; of these, 65.7% (199) were domestic, 33% (100) were imported, and 1.3% (4) were of unknown origin

Organic produce was included in the PDP sampling. In 2020, 7.4% (706) of the tested samples were organic; nearly all organic samples were “zero detects,” but very small numbers of organic items sampled had detectable residues. This contamination can happen in a number of ways, including pesticide drift from conventional to organic fields, migration through soil or water, or infrequently, misrepresentation of treated produce as “organic.”

It is noteworthy that the PDP tests for pesticide residue, but also tests for what it calls “environmental contaminants” — pesticides that are “no longer used in the U.S., but due to their persistence in the environment, particularly in soil . . . can be still taken up by plants.” Such toxicants include aldrin, chlordane, DDT, DDD and DDE (metabolites of DDT), dieldrin (a metabolite of Aldrin), heptachlor, lindane, and others. Residue results for environmental contaminants can be found in Appendix C of the PDP report.

Among the examples of such “legacy” contamination documented in the report are these:

• Use of DDT has been banned in the U.S. since 1972, yet its residues (and those of its metabolite, DDE) continue to show up in food plants — in this report, particularly on collards, broccoli, carrots, radishes, and winter squash.
• Chlordane was found in apple juice, and in summer and winter squash.
• Dieldrin showed up on cantaloupe and on many winter squash samples.

In addition, particularly toxic chemical pesticides were found on a variety of samples, including atrazine (collard greens); bifenthrin (collard greens, tomato paste, eggplant); carbaryl (eggplant, apple juice); thiamethoxam (broccoli, cauliflower); cyfluthrin (bell peppers, collards); malathion (blueberries, eggplant); and chlorothalonil (green beans, bell peppers, summer and winter squash).

Many of the chemical residues found on produce items are fungicides; other dominant categories include organophosphate insecticides, synthetic pyrethroids, and neonicotinoids. All of these categories of chemicals have multiple members associated with noxious health and/or environmental impacts. Though this report focuses on food, it is critical to be mindful of the intersectional nature of many pesticides — which is to say that they cause harm to health, ecosystems, wildlife, and the environment and natural resources broadly. See, for example, the harm caused by methoxyfenozide to endangered species — in this case, the Karner Blue butterfly. Public concern over how food is grown thus extends far more broadly than the matter of what produce we put on our dinner plates.

There are some other notable observations from and “themes” discernible in the PDP report. For example, myriad residues were found in apple juice, which is consumed primarily by children. According to the PDP database, residues of at least 15 pesticides were found in apple juice samples; many of those are fungicides, which are associated with a variety of health problems, including asthma and other respiratory issues, neurological problems, and others. Neonicotinoids are well represented among the chemical residues found; these are destructive to pollinators and other insects, ecosystems, and human health — the last happening often via contamination of drinking water sources. As Beyond Pesticides wrote in 2020, health impacts can include neurotoxicity, reproductive anomalies, hepatic and renal damage, and potentially, a catalytic role in hormone-dependent cancer.

An additional striking result: boscalid residues show up frequently in the report; this may be concerning, given its association with kidney damage and the current elevated rates of kidney disease in the U.S. population. Another, identified by Beyond Pesticides Executive Director Jay Feldman, is that bell peppers seem to be particularly laden with residues. One sample of sweet bell peppers contained residues of 18 pesticides. None of the residues exceeded the established tolerances. Multiple residue detections can result from several factors: application of more than one pesticide on a crop during a growing season; unintentional pesticide spray drifting onto a field; planting of crops in fields previously treated with the pesticide; and/or transfer of residues of post-harvest fungicides or growth regulators applied to other commodities but stored in the same facilities.

Collard greens stand out as particularly contaminated, at various frequencies and levels, by residues of a large number of pesticides. Beyond Pesticides lists them here to demonstrate — for a single food item — the extent of pesticide use. The list from the 2020 PDP: acephate, acetamiprid, atrazine, azoxystrobin, bensulide, bifenthrin, boscalid, bromacil, buprofezin, carbaryl, chlorantraniliprole, chlorothalonil, chlorpropham, chlorpyrifos (only recently banned for use on food crops), clothianidin, cyfluthrin, cyhalothrin, cymoxanil, cypermethrin, cyprodinil, diazinon, dieldrin (banned since 1987), difenoconazole, dimethoate, dimethomorph, dinotefuran, diuron, esfenvalerate, famoxadone, fenamidone, flonicamid, flubendiamide, fludioxonil, fluopicolide, fluopyram, flutriafol, imidacloprid, indoxacarb, linuron, mandipropamid, metalaxyl, methamidophos, methidathion, methomyl, methoxyfenozide, novaluron, oxamyl, permethrin, pronamide, pyraclostrobin, spinetoram, spinosad, spirotetramat, tebuconazole, tetrahydrophthalimide (a metabolite of captan), thiamethoxam, trifloxystrobin, trifloxysulfuron, and trifluralin, and several others.   

This chronicle of chemicals points to one of the multiple flaws in EPA’s approach to assessing risks of pesticide contamination of the food supply (and of pesticides more broadly). As mentioned above, the agency does not consider variations in cultural/ethnic or regional consumption habits. For example, the prevalence of collard greens in U.S. Southern and African-American cuisine might mean disproportionate levels of exposure (to some or many of that list of pesticides above), and therefore, disproportionate risk than might be the case for the general population. Rather than evaluate such regional or ethnic group risks, EPA “normalizes” risk across the general U.S. population; this practice has the potential to “dilute” the apparent level of risk to some sub-groups.

In addition, EPA neglects to do adequate risk assessment, which underlies the establishment of “tolerances” for food, for other vulnerable sub-populations, such as farmworkers, people with compromised health, and children. EPA also fails to evaluate exposures to multiple pesticides, or to pesticide admixtures for their potential synergistic health impacts.

To these shortcomings Beyond Pesticides would add the agency’s failure, as noted by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and reported in this August 2021 Daily News Blog article, to make progress in protecting the population from potentially damaging endocrine disruption impacts of exposures to synthetic chemical pesticides (and other chemicals of concern). Many, many pesticides act as disruptors of the human (and other animal) endocrine systems. The GAO summarized its report: “Without the required testing and an effective system of internal controls, the EPA cannot make measurable progress toward complying with statutory requirements or safeguarding human health and the environment against risks from endocrine-disrupting chemicals.”

Absent adequate protection of the food supply by USDA and EPA, which would necessarily employ a far more precautionary approach to the use of pesticides broadly, and a more nuanced approach to the establishment of food tolerances, there are steps consumers can take to reduce the impacts of pesticide exposure through diet. Chief among those is to purchase and consume the bulk of household provisions, as much as possible, as organic. Beyond Pesticides offers guidance via its Eating with a Conscience and Buying Organic Products (on a budget!) web pages, and for would-be (and even experienced) backyard or community garden growers of food, Grow Your Own Organic Food.

Source: https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/2020PDPAnnualSummary.pdf

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

(Beyond Pesticides, February 3, 2022) A study published in the journal Thorax finds lifetime occupational (work-related) exposure to pesticides increases incidents of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), including emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Although research often attributes COPD risk to genetics or cigarette smoking, the increasing rate of COPD incidents indicates an external cause of disease development. Although an exact etiology (cause) of the increase in respiratory disease cases remains unknown, the connection between chronic respiratory diseases and exposure to pesticides continues to strengthen. Several circumstances, including smoking patterns, poverty, occupation, and diet, can influence disease prognosis. However, studies show that relative exposure to chemicals like pesticides can occur within each circumstance, making chemical exposure ubiquitous. Additionally, pesticide drift is an omnipresent issue impacting communities surrounding farming operations, and dust may harm humans, plants, and aquatic systems. Therefore, this review highlights the significance of evaluating the association between pesticide exposure and disease development, especially for diseases generally attributed to genetics or vices. Researchers in the study note, “[W]e found that cumulative exposure to pesticides is associated with an increased risk of COPD, with positive exposure-response trends. The unique large sample and the confirmation of our results in sensitivity analyses, in particular in never-smokers, support the validity of these findings and deserve further investigation.”

The respiratory system is essential to human survival, regulating gas exchange (oxygen-carbon dioxide) in the body to balance acid and base tissue cells for normal function. However, damage to the respiratory system can cause many issues—from asthma and bronchitis to oxidative stress that triggers the development of extra-respiratory manifestations like rheumatoid arthritis and cardiovascular disease. Many researchers, including those in this study, suggest an increase in environmental pollutants like pesticides may be responsible for the influx of respiratory diseases.

Using the UK Biobank, researchers collected data on age, sex, lifetime smoking history, current employment, and doctor-diagnosed asthma through a baseline questionnaire. The researchers employed the ALOHA(+)job-exposure matrix (JEM) that used an assessment by industrial hygienist experts to evaluate the occupational hazards for COPD in community-based studies. After completing the baseline questionnaire, participants underwent lung function testing. Researchers mainly relied on data from participants who never smoked or had asthma. Overall, the study confirms that pesticide exposure plays a role in COPD risk, especially for occupations with high cumulative exposure, including agriculture, fishing, gardening, and ground/park keeping. The association between pesticides and COPD is stronger among individuals who never smoked and who have no history of asthma.

The connection between pesticides and associated respiratory risks is nothing new. Although this study does not specify which pesticides increase respiratory risk, previous research demonstrates acetylcholinesterase inhibiting (AChE) pesticides (i.e., organophosphates and carbamates) can have the most influence on disease development. These chemicals bind to receptor sites for the enzyme acetylcholinesterase, which is essential in nerve impulse transmission. The inactivation of AChE through binding prevents the clearing of acetylcholine. The buildup of acetylcholine can lead to acute impacts, such as uncontrolled, rapid twitching of some muscles, paralyzed breathing, convulsions, and, in extreme cases, death. The compromise of neural transmission can have broad systemic impacts on the function of multiple body systems. Even exposure to fumigants, such as methyl bromide, can cause respiratory manifestations (e.g., dyspnea, cough, respiratory irritation, and pulmonary lesions) in conjunction with local or systemic systems like fatigue, headache, dizziness, vomiting, abdominal pain, seizures, and impairment of the function of other organs. However, individuals can still encounter pesticides outside of the work environment via pesticide drift or contamination. Communities adjacent to chemical-intensive farms or pesticide manufacturing plants experience higher levels of pesticide exposure than neighborhoods that are not. Furthermore, children living in homes near greenhouses that use these insecticides have abnormal nervous system function, including adverse pulmonary effects like asthma. Similar to asthma, COPD has the potential to cause disparities in morbidity and mortality that disproportionately impact low-income populations, people of color, and children living in inner cities. 

This study adds to the growing body of research demonstrating workplace or occupational exposure to pesticides increases COPD risk. Participants’ risk of COPD increased by 13 percent when accounting for cumulative exposure, with extensive, high concentrations of pesticide exposure resulting in a 32 percent increase in disease risk. Besides COPD, other common respiratory manifestations associated with occupational pesticide exposure are dyspnea and coughing, with coughing significantly higher among agricultural workers than nonagricultural. Although individuals working in the agricultural sector have a higher risk of COPD, this study is one of the first to demonstrate increased COPD for other pesticide-intensive occupations like landscapers (i.e., gardeners/groundsmen).

In the U.S., over 14 million individuals have COPD, with the disease being the sixth leading cause of death. The increasing rate of respiratory illnesses since the 1980s demonstrates a need for better environmental policies and protocols on contaminants like pesticides. Considering respiratory diseases represent a major health issue for agricultural workers—who often experience pesticides exposure at higher rates due to occupation—it is essential to understand the association between pesticide exposure and respiratory illness, or the study of causes and effects of respiratory diseases. With reports finding associations between air pollution and higher death rates related to the outbreak of COVID-19, global leaders must eliminate toxic pesticide use to mitigate further respiratory distress on human health. Considering COVID-19 is a systemic (general) disease that overwhelmingly impacts the respiratory system of many patients, exposure to pesticides presents a heightened risk of co-occurring symptoms.

It is vital to understand how exposure to pesticides can increase the risk of developing acute and chronic respiratory problems, especially if current policies fail to decrease the persistence of toxic chemicals in the environment. Beyond Pesticides tracks the most recent studies related to pesticide exposure through our Pesticide Induced Diseases Database (PIDD). This database supports the clear need for strategic action to shift from pesticide dependency. For more information on pesticide exposure harms, see PIDD pages on asthma/respiratory effects, cancer, endocrine disruption, and other diseases. Additionally, learn how to protect yourself from COVID-19 safely by visiting Beyond Pesticides’ webpage on Disinfectants and Sanitizers for more information. 

Buying, growing, and supporting organic can help eliminate the extensive use of pesticides in the environment. Organic agriculture has many health and environmental benefits, which curtail the need for chemical-intensive agricultural practices. Regenerative organic agriculture revitalizes soil health through organic carbon sequestration while reducing pests and generating a higher return than chemical-intensive agriculture. For more information on how organic is the right choice for consumers and the farmworkers who grow our food, see Beyond Pesticides webpage, Health Benefits of Organic Agriculture.

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

Source: Thorax, Health Day

(Beyond Pesticides, February 2, 2022) Over the last 40 years, dragonfly species have declined in the United States due to an interplay between increasing pesticide use and rising temperatures from climate change, according to a recent study published in Ecological Applications by researchers at the University of Ottawa. The study highlights the need to evaluate and address insect declines on a macroecological scale, as human activities over the last several decades have become key drivers of Earth system processes in the Anthropocene era. At this macroecological level, the authors call for analysis of multiple interacting stressors, including land use change, pesticide applications, precipitation, and temperature.

To conduct their macro-scale analysis, researchers used a dataset consisting of over 200,000 observation records for dragonflies in the U.S since 1980. Then, U.S. land was subdivided into 100 x 100 km (62 x 62 mile) quadrants, and observation records plotted and refined to ensure that at least 15 species were observed in each quadrant used. Datasets were also obtained on land use changes (via HYDE dataset), pesticide applications (via U.S. Geological Survey), and changes in precipitation and temperature (via Climatic Research Unit).

Review of the data found that out of 104 dragonfly species, each species experienced an average of 30% quadrant loss compared to previously occupied quadrants within the last 40 years. Researchers indicate this is likely an underestimate. During this same time, pesticide applications increased an average of roughly 38 kg (83 lbs) per quadrant. However these data were highly variable, with some regions seeing an increase of ~28,722 kg (63,000 lbs) per quadrant. Land use converted to cropland decreased an average of .7 km (.4 miles) within the study period. Precipitation increased by an average of .28 mm, and average temperature increased by .32°C (.58 °F) per quadrant.

Using this information, researchers constructed a series of models to test for potential interactions between the variables and dragonfly diversity and declines. Within the four factors analyzed, pesticides and temperature represented “the most informative interaction,” according to the study. Modeling also revealed the way dragonflies have shifted their range in response to rising temperatures. It is noted, “Overall, odonates had shifted their northern range limits by 158 km [98 miles] since 1980 in the USA.”

While precipitation and land use can negatively affect dragonflies, the modeling was mixed. Precipitation can cause volatilization of pesticides and other pollutants, but in models, increased precipitation improved dragonfly persistence. Because rain is expected to increase, but only in certain areas, researchers indicate that some populations may experience hardship while others increase range due to more rainfall. Land use was found to create minor negative impacts, but due to the way pesticides were separated from these effects in the modeling, the lower impact of these changes on aquatic environments, and the extent of land use change already ‘baked in’ prior to the dataset used, did not have an outsized impact.

The interaction between pesticide use and temperature results in a range of risks to dragonflies. Increasing temperatures alone mean that dragonflies will emerge from metamorphosis earlier and earlier, resulting in increased chance of death. As the authors note, “…species nearer the edge of their physiological capacities may have reduced capacities to tolerate additional environmental changes, such as pesticides.” Pesticides and temperature changes also put dragonflies in larval stage at significant risk. “Increasing temperatures combined with exposure to pollutants can alter the metabolic transformation of pesticide residues, especially among aquatic species,” the study indicates. Thus, pesticides and their breakdown products can become increasingly toxic in warming waters, putting even highly tolerant species at risk.

Previous research reinforces this finding, though at a much smaller scale. A study published in 2020 from Griffith University found that coral reef fish were significantly harmed when exposed to varying levels of water temperature increases alongside varying rates of the insecticide chlorpyrifos.

The authors conclude that “[c]limate change interacts with recent, rapid rises in pesticide applications to increase dragonfly and damselfly extinction risks, a clear demonstration that multistressor frameworks are vital for identifying risks related to global change.” Researchers reinforce the importance of a broadscale, multistressor approach to adequately identify future risks to species in a changing climate. The data indicate that dragonflies are under significant stress, but their ability to quickly disburse, and move northward into new habitats provides them with an opportunity to avoid extinction.

The work also underlines that while human activities occur locally, the combined impacts of these activities have existential consequences on entire orders of species. Although the lack of broad-scale federal action on either pesticides or climate change is distressing, certain states, like California have begun to look at pesticide use in the context of agriculture and other macroecological factors through the development of a Natural and Working Lands Climate Smart Strategy.

Take action today by calling on state leaders to address the multitude of stressors brought by climate change by urging them to adopt a similar Climate Smart Strategy for your state.

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

Source: Ecological Applications, The Fulcrum

(Beyond Pesticides, February 1, 2022) A study published in Environmental Science and Technology finds that concentrations of quaternary ammonium compounds (QUATs or QACs) in the human body have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, raising health and safety concerns. QACs include a variety of chemicals in personal care, pharmaceutical, and medical products used as disinfectants, sanitizers, antimicrobials. However, over the past 70 years, large-scale production and use of these compounds led to accumulation in the environment, including surface water, sediment, and soil. Previously, researchers thought most QACs lack the potential to bioaccumulate,  as the chemicals are highly water-soluble, while dermal and oral absorption rates are low. However, emerging evidence demonstrates that specific QACs bioaccumulate in blood and other body tissues and can cause a range of toxic effects. Therefore, studies like this highlight the significance of monitoring chemical exposure for adverse health effects. The researchers note, “Further efforts are needed to explore the relationship between the use of QAC-containing products and the levels of QACs in human blood or of their metabolites in urine. Considering the increased use of some QACs as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, our findings warrant further exposure and epidemiological research focused on QACs.”

Amidst the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), the global demand for disinfectants and sanitizers has increased substantially as a means of preventing illness in residential and non-residential settings. Initially, public health officials considered disinfecting highly trafficked areas as the most effective way to combat COVID-19. This notion has led to dangerous disinfectant practices in many countries where trucks, drones, or robots disperse massive amounts of disinfectants into public areas. Furthermore, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has reported a sharp increase in calls to Poison Control Centers regarding illnesses resulting from the use or misuse of toxic disinfectants during the pandemic. The World Health Organization (WHO) and other infectious disease specialists condemn indiscriminate and vast amounts of disinfectant spraying in public areas, deeming it ineffective and a health hazard on contact or when combined with other disinfectants.

The researchers performed an in vitro—in vivo extrapolation (IVIVE) model to determine the bioaccumulation potential of 18 QACs in blood samples from the liver, before (2019) and during (2020) the COVID-19 pandemic. The model determines the clearance rate in vivo (in the body), in which a slower clearance rate means higher bioaccumulation potential. The results show 15 out of the 18 QACs are detectable in blood samples, with QAC concentrations significantly higher during the pandemic than prior to it. The main routes of exposure include diet, inhalation, ingestion, or the skin.

More than a third of U.S. residents participate in high-risk COVID-19 practices, misusing toxic disinfectant cleaners and disinfectants to prevent infection. Quaternary ammonium compounds are among some of the most harmful disinfectants, as their “long-lasting” properties have adverse impacts on human health, which has extensive documentation in the scientific literature. Effects include mutations, lower fertility, and increased antibiotic resistance. QAC disinfectants’ overuse in U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) detainment centers caused nose bleeds and other adverse health effects. Furthermore, Beyond Pesticides receives questions from concerned teachers asking for less harmful disinfectants to use in the classroom, especially as many are experiencing adverse impacts of disinfectant use (e.g., chemical skin burns, respiratory issues). Since QACs are in most disinfectant products, it remains ubiquitous in the environment as misuse continues.

Although disinfectants, like QACs, kill viruses, bacteria, and other microbes via cell wall and protein destruction, they can also negatively affect the immune system, thus reducing resistance to disease. People who have a preexisting condition or are of advanced age, who may have a weakened immune or respiratory system, are more vulnerable to the effects of the virus. When managing viral and bacterial infections, chemicals that exacerbate the risk to vulnerable individuals are of serious concern.

QACs are harmful to the respiratory system and have a long list of adverse effects from cancer and genetic mutations to lower fertility and increase antibiotic resistance. Most recently, the QAC antimicrobial cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) has raised concerns. The compound is present in mouthwashes, lozenges, toothpaste, and nasal sprays and is thus commonly encountered orally. A recent study finds CPCs have associations with adverse respiratory effects (e.g., lung inflammation). Moreover, acute oral inhalation can be fatal. Although CPC also has uses as an “inert” or undisclosed ingredient in pesticide products, recent findings demonstrate CPC has more biological potential. The respiratory system is essential to human survival, regulating gas exchange (oxygen-carbon dioxide) in the body to balance acid and base tissue cells for normal function. Considering COVID-19 is a systemic (general) disease that overwhelmingly impacts the respiratory system of many patients, exposure to CPCs present a heightened risk of co-occurring symptoms. Damage to the respiratory system can also trigger the development of extra-respiratory systemic manifestations like rheumatoid arthritis, and cardiovascular disease.

While EPA has certified several disinfectants as effective against COVID-19 (List N), many of these chemicals are hazardous. These chemicals include QACs and other toxic compounds documented on Beyond Pesticides’ list of “Disinfectants to Avoid.” Although disinfection can kill pathogens, one must consider guidelines associated with proper selection and use of products. Conveniently, several safer disinfectants on EPA’s list are effective against the virus, including citric acid, ethanol, isopropanol, L-lactic acid, hydrogen peroxide, sodium bisulfate, dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid, and thymol. These chemicals are present on Beyond Pesticides’ “good” list of “Disinfectants to Look for” as natural-based substances tend to be safer while still effective at eliminating the virus on surfaces. Beyond Pesticides has said, “It is important during public health emergencies involving infectious diseases to scrutinize practices and products very carefully so that hazards presented by the crisis are not elevated because of the unnecessary threat introduced with toxic chemical use… There is tremendous pressure to use toxic disinfectants, despite the availability of safer products. In fact, while [CDC] is recommending 70% alcohol for surface disinfection, [EPA’s] Office of Pesticide Programs is advising the use of unnecessarily toxic substances, and reducing standards that govern their allowance on the market.”

This study is the first to comprehensively assess the bioaccumulation of QACs in blood via biomonitoring, demonstrating a difference in chemical concentrations before and during the pandemic. The study notes that frequent detection of QACs in blood reveals widespread exposure among the general population. The major QAC groups include benzylalkyldimethylammonium compounds (BACs), dialkyldimethylammonium compounds (DDACs), and alkyltrimethylammonium compounds (ATMACs). The results show that, of the three groups, ATMACs are most abundant in blood samples. The authors conclude, “[T]he higher QAC concentrations in blood collected during the pandemic suggest increased exposure during this period, possibly due to the increased disinfection of the indoor and outdoor environment.”

As the U.S. COVID-19 cases continue to rise, there is an urgent need to evaluate the effect pesticide exposure and uses have on health. Although some practices and products can prevent coronavirus infections, the continued use of toxic pesticides in the surrounding environment increases disease risk factors. When managing viral and bacterial infections, advocates say that we must not exacerbate the risk to animals and humans, while avoiding or controlling the threat. In the case of COVID-19, there exists measures of protection—both practices and products—that can prevent infection without using toxic products that increase risk factors. 

Advocates maintain that individuals and government officials alike should assess all risks associated with pesticide use, including the mode of action. However, EPA’s failure to respond to current science is a significant shortcoming of its risk assessment process, especially regarding disease implications. Individuals and government officials should observe all chemical ingredients on the disinfectant and sanitizer product labels and look at the use instructions to ensure that the method of use is safe for you. Beyond Pesticides tracks the most recent health studies related to pesticide exposure through our Pesticide-Induced Diseases Database (PIDD). This database supports the clear need for strategic action to shift away from pesticide dependency. For more information on harms associated with pesticide exposure, see PIDD pages on asthma/respiratory effects and other diseases. Additionally, learn how to protect yourself from COVID-19 safely by visiting Beyond Pesticides’ webpage on Disinfectants and Sanitizers for more information. 

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

Source: Environmental Science and Technology

(Beyond Pesticides, January 31, 2022) Public concern is now heightened as Florida manatees are facing extremely severe threats—so severe that wildlife officials have resorted to feeding them cabbage and lettuce in an attempt to keep their rapidly dwindling populations alive. Protecting manatees will require a multi-faceted approach, including upgrading their status to endangered and protecting their watery habitat from toxic threats.

Tell the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to upgrade the Florida manatee to endangered and require protection from chemical pollution. Tell your Congressional Representative and Senators to support H.R. 4946. Tell Florida’s Governor DeSantis to protect manatees.

Florida manatees, a subspecies of the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus), can live as long as 60 years old, weigh up to 1,200 lbs, and have no natural predators. The biggest threat to these peaceful marine mammals is human activity. Humans harm manatees directly through boat strikes and encounters with fishing equipment, canal locks, and other flood control structures, but the largest threat comes from chemical pollutants.

In 2017, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service downgraded Florida manatees from fully endangered to threatened status under the Endangered Species Act. However, with recent reports indicating that over 1,000 manatees died in just the last year alone, a bipartisan group of Florida Congressional Representatives, Rep Vern Buchanan and Rep Darren Soto, have introduced legislation (H.R. 4946) that would reclassify the sea cows as endangered.

Massive red tides exacerbated by runoff from urban and agricultural pollution have directly killed off dozens of manatees over the last several years, but the indirect effects of these harmful algae blooms have been most catastrophic, resulting in significant loss of the seagrass beds upon which manatees depend. Starvation resulting from the loss of seagrass beds has been a major cause of death of more than 1,000 manatees last year, prompting wildlife officials to feed them cabbage and lettuce as a last resort to keep them alive.

Exposure to contaminants like glyphosate (Roundup) herbicides, which persistently pollute Florida waterways, can increase manatee susceptibility to other natural causes of mortality—including  red tide, and cold stress in the winter months, as manatees are unable to survive in waters below 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Because manatees are the only marine mammals that drink freshwater, they are more likely to drink from highly contaminated runoff flowing directly into local waterways from lawns and landscapes, parks, golf courses, and farm fields. Research finds that 55.8% of manatees have glyphosate in their bodies.

Ongoing use of glyphosate and other herbicides on farms, turfgrass, and directly in waterways is particularly concerning in the context of the current crisis. Incidents of red tide and other harmful algae blooms are exacerbated by nitrogen and phosphorus runoff from industrial farms and highly manicured landscapes. The algae blooms cause a cascade of impacts. Floating on the surface, algae block sunlight to seagrasses and other submerged aquatic vegetation. As seagrass is lost, manatees and other animals that rely on it for food and habitat also suffer. In this context, glyphosate, a phosphorous-based herbicide, can either directly kill off more aquatic vegetation, or feed algae blooms as it breaks down. According to recent reporting, in just one region, Sarasota Bay, 18% of seagrass was lost between 2018 and 2020. The Florida Governor’s plan to target wastewater treatment is an important component of the solution, particularly in light of major incidents like the Piney Point spill, but more must be done to reduce use of toxics and clean up diffuse sources of pollution as well.

It is critical that lawmakers and the public take a holistic look at the problems facing manatees and other marine wildlife and take meaningful action to reduce the need to store tons of fertilizer in precarious lagoons, and spray these and other harmful chemicals broad areas of land throughout the state. Organic land management and organic agriculture are critical to the solution. By eliminating toxic pesticide and fertilizer use, and focusing on maintaining or improving soil health, organic practices can stop nonpoint source runoff from making its way into local water bodies.

Tell the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to upgrade the Florida manatee to endangered and require protection from chemical pollution. Tell your Congressional Representative and Senators to support H.R. 4946. Tell Florida’s Governor DeSantis to protect manatees.

Letter to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:

In 2017, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service downgraded Florida manatees from fully endangered to threatened status under the Endangered Species Act. However, with recent reports indicating over 1,000 manatees died in just the last year alone, it is clear that optimism over the status of the species was premature.

Massive red tides exacerbated by runoff from urban and agricultural pollution have directly killed off dozens of manatees over the last several years, but the indirect effects of these harmful algae blooms have been most catastrophic, resulting in significant loss of the seagrass beds upon which manatees depend. Starvation resulting from the loss of seagrass beds has been a major cause of death of more than 1,000 manatees last year, prompting wildlife officials to feed them cabbage and lettuce as a last resort to keep them alive.

Exposure to contaminants like glyphosate (Roundup) herbicides, which persistently pollute Florida waterways, can increase manatee susceptibility to other natural causes of mortality—including  red tide, and cold stress in the winter months, as manatees are unable to survive in waters below 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Because manatees are the only marine mammals that drink freshwater, they are more likely to drink from highly contaminated runoff flowing directly into local waterways. Research finds that 55.8% of manatees have glyphosate in their bodies.

Ongoing use of glyphosate and other herbicides on farms, turfgrass, and directly in waterways is particularly concerning in the context of the current crisis. Incidents of red tide and other harmful algae blooms are exacerbated by nitrogen and phosphorus runoff from industrial farms and treated landscapes. The algae blooms cause a cascade of impacts. Floating on the surface, algae block sunlight to seagrasses and other submerged aquatic vegetation. As seagrass is lost, manatees and other animals that rely on it for food and habitat also suffer. In this context, glyphosate, a phosphorous-based herbicide, can either directly kill off more aquatic vegetation, or feed algae blooms as it breaks down. In just one region, Sarasota Bay, 18% of seagrass was lost between 2018 and 2020. The Florida Governor’s plan to target wastewater treatment is an important component of the solution, particularly in light of major incidents like the Piney Point spill, but more must be done to reduce demand and clean up diffuse sources of pollution as well.

It is critical to take a holistic look at the problems facing manatees and other marine wildlife and take meaningful action to eliminate threats from harmful chemicals. Organic land management and organic agriculture are critical to the solution. By eliminating toxic pesticide and fertilizer use, and focusing on maintaining or improving soil health, organic practices can stop nonpoint source runoff from making its way into local water bodies.

Thank you for considering this request.

Letter to U.S. Representative and Senators (except Buchanan and Soto):

Florida manatees are facing severe threats—so severe that wildlife officials have resorted to feeding them cabbage and lettuce in attempts to keep their rapidly dwindling populations alive. Protecting manatees will require a multi-faceted approach, including upgrading their status to endangered and protecting their watery habitat from toxic threats. I am writing to ask you to support HR 4946 to re-classify manatees as endangered.

Florida manatees, a subspecies of the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus), can live as long as 60 years old, weigh up to 1,200 lbs, and have no natural predators. The biggest threat to these peaceful marine mammals is human activity. Humans harm manatees directly through boat strikes and encounters with fishing equipment, canal locks, and other flood control structures, but the largest threat comes from chemical pollutants.

In 2017, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service downgraded Florida manatees from fully endangered to threatened status under the Endangered Species Act. However, with recent reports indicating over 1,000 manatees died in just the last year alone, a bipartisan group of Florida Congressmembers, Rep Vern Buchanan and Rep Darren Soto, have introduced legislation (H.R. 4946) that would re-classify the sea cows as endangered.

Massive red tides exacerbated by runoff from urban and agricultural pollution have directly killed off dozens of manatees over the last several years, but the indirect effects of these harmful algae blooms have been most catastrophic, resulting in significant loss of the seagrass beds upon which manatees depend. Starvation resulting from the loss of seagrass beds has been a major cause of death of more than 1,000 manatees last year, prompting wildlife officials to feed them cabbage and lettuce as a last resort to keep them alive.

Exposure to contaminants like glyphosate herbicides, which persistently pollute Florida waterways, can increase manatee susceptibility to other causes of mortality—including red tide and cold stress in the winter months. Because manatees are the only marine mammals that drink freshwater, they are more likely to drink from highly contaminated runoff flowing directly into local waterways. Research finds that 55.8% of manatees have glyphosate in their bodies.

Ongoing use of glyphosate and other herbicides on farms, turfgrass, and directly in waterways is particularly concerning in the context of the current crisis. Incidents of red tide and other harmful algae blooms are exacerbated by nitrogen and phosphorus runoff from industrial farms and treated landscapes. Algae blooms cause a cascade of impacts. Floating on the surface, algae block sunlight to seagrasses and other submerged aquatic vegetation. As seagrass is lost, manatees and other animals that rely on it for food and habitat also suffer. In this context, glyphosate, a phosphorous-based herbicide, can both directly kill off more aquatic vegetation and feed algae blooms as it breaks down. In just one region, Sarasota Bay, 18% of seagrass was lost between 2018 and 2020. The Florida Governor’s plan to target wastewater treatment is an important component of the solution, particularly in light of major incidents like the Piney Point spill, but more must be done to reduce demand and clean up diffuse sources of pollution as well.

It is critical that lawmakers and the public take a holistic look at the problems facing manatees and other marine wildlife and take meaningful action to reduce the need to store tons of fertilizer in precarious lagoons, and spray these and other harmful chemicals broad areas of land throughout the state. Organic land management and organic agriculture are critical to the solution. By eliminating toxic pesticide and fertilizer use, and focusing on maintaining or improving soil health, organic practices can stop nonpoint source runoff from making its way into local water bodies.

Please support H.R. 4946.

Thank you.

Letter to U.S. Representatives Buchanan and Soto:

I am writing to thank you for introducing H.R. 4946 to re-classify manatees as endangered. Florida manatees are facing severe threats—so severe that wildlife officials have resorted to feeding them cabbage and lettuce in attempts to keep their rapidly dwindling populations alive. Protecting manatees will require a multi-faceted approach, including upgrading their status to endangered and protecting their watery habitat from toxic threats.

Florida manatees, a subspecies of the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus), can live as long as 60 years old, weigh up to 1,200 lbs, and have no natural predators. The biggest threat to these peaceful marine mammals is human activity. Humans harm manatees directly through boat strikes and encounters with fishing equipment, canal locks, and other flood control structures, but the largest threat comes from chemical pollutants.

In 2017, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service downgraded Florida manatees from fully endangered to threatened status under the Endangered Species Act. However, with recent reports indicating over 1,000 manatees died in just the last year alone, it is clear that optimism over the status of the species was premature.

Massive red tides exacerbated by runoff from urban and agricultural pollution have directly killed off dozens of manatees over the last several years, but the indirect effects of these harmful algae blooms have been most catastrophic, resulting in significant loss of the seagrass beds upon which manatees depend. Starvation resulting from the loss of seagrass beds has been a major cause of death of more than 1,000 manatees last year, prompting wildlife officials to feed them cabbage and lettuce as a last resort to keep them alive.

Exposure to contaminants like glyphosate herbicides, which persistently pollute Florida waterways, can increase manatee susceptibility to other causes of mortality—including  red tide and cold stress in the winter months. Because manatees are the only marine mammals that drink freshwater, they are more likely to drink from highly contaminated runoff flowing directly into local waterways. Research finds that 55.8% of manatees have glyphosate in their bodies.

Ongoing use of glyphosate and other herbicides on farms, turfgrass, and directly in waterways is particularly concerning in the context of the current crisis. Incidents of red tide and other harmful algae blooms are exacerbated by nitrogen and phosphorus runoff from industrial farms and treated landscapes. Algae blooms cause a cascade of impacts. Floating on the surface, algae block sunlight to seagrasses and other submerged aquatic vegetation. As seagrass is lost, manatees and other animals that rely on it for food and habitat also suffer. In this context, glyphosate, a phosphorous-based herbicide, can both directly kill off more aquatic vegetation and feed algae blooms as it breaks down. In just one region, Sarasota Bay, 18% of seagrass was lost between 2018 and 2020. The Florida Governor’s plan to target wastewater treatment is an important component of the solution, particularly in light of major incidents like the Piney Point spill, but more must be done to reduce demand and clean up diffuse sources of pollution as well.

It is critical that lawmakers and the public take a holistic look at the problems facing manatees and other marine wildlife and take meaningful action to reduce the need to store tons of fertilizer in precarious lagoons, and spray these and other harmful chemicals broad areas of land throughout the state. Organic land management and organic agriculture are critical to the solution. By eliminating toxic pesticide and fertilizer use, and focusing on maintaining or improving soil health, organic practices can stop nonpoint source runoff from making its way into local water bodies.

Thank you for your support of the Florida manatee.

Letter to Florida Governor DeSantis:

I am writing to ask you to take action to protect the Florida manatee by using your leadership to require the management of state parks with organic land management practices.

In 2017, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service downgraded Florida manatees from fully endangered to threatened status under the Endangered Species Act. However, with recent reports indicating over 1,000 manatees died in just the last year alone, it is clear that optimism over the status of the species was premature.

Massive red tides exacerbated by runoff from urban and agricultural pollution have directly killed off dozens of manatees over the last several years, but the indirect effects of these harmful algae blooms have been most catastrophic, resulting in significant loss of the seagrass beds upon which manatees depend. Starvation resulting from the loss of seagrass beds has been a major cause of death of more than 1,000 manatees last year, prompting wildlife officials to feed them cabbage and lettuce as a last resort to keep them alive.

Exposure to contaminants like glyphosate herbicides, which persistently pollute Florida waterways, can increase manatee susceptibility to other natural causes of mortality—including  red tide, and cold stress in the winter months, as manatees are unable to survive in waters below 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Because manatees are the only marine mammals that drink freshwater, they are more likely to drink from highly contaminated runoff flowing directly into local waterways. Research finds that 55.8% of manatees have glyphosate in their bodies.

Ongoing use of glyphosate and other herbicides on farms, turfgrass, and directly in waterways is particularly concerning in the context of the current crisis. Incidents of red tide and other harmful algae blooms are exacerbated by nitrogen and phosphorus runoff from industrial farms and treated landscapes. The algae blooms cause a cascade of impacts. Floating on the surface, algae block sunlight to seagrasses and other submerged aquatic vegetation. As seagrass is lost, manatees and other animals that rely on it for food and habitat also suffer. In this context, glyphosate, a phosphorous-based herbicide, can either directly kill off more aquatic vegetation, or feed algae blooms as it breaks down. In just one region, Sarasota Bay, 18% of seagrass was lost between 2018 and 2020. Your plan to target wastewater treatment is an important component of the solution, particularly in light of major incidents like the Piney Point spill, but more must be done to reduce demand and clean up diffuse sources of pollution as well.

It is critical to take a holistic look at the problems facing manatees and other marine wildlife and take meaningful action to eliminate threats from harmful chemicals. Organic land management and organic agriculture are critical to the solution. By eliminating toxic pesticide and fertilizer use, and focusing on maintaining or improving soil health, organic practices can stop nonpoint source runoff from making its way into local water bodies.

Thank you for acting to protect the Florida manatee.

(Beyond Pesticides, January 28, 2022) Do city dwellers, who typically have smaller-sized greenspaces on their lots, have any role to play in supporting pollinators? Absolutely, according to a recent study of Bristol, England residential gardens. The researchers find that the amount of “floral resource” — the abundance of actual blooms, which translates roughly to amount of nectar production — varies widely across gardens and yards, and that small urban gardens and greenspaces are actually some of the most pollinator-friendly resources. The study notes that that several factors influence how well these resources provide food for pollinators, most important among which are pollinator-friendly management practices. Beyond Pesticides notes that there are multiple resources in the U.S. on making gardens and greenspaces “friendly” and useful to pollinators, including its own BEE Protective guidance on garden and landscape management, and that employing organic management practices is critical.

The researchers hope to “develop evidence-based management recommendations to support pollinator conservation in towns and cities.” Their paper, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, reports that the size of the Bristol gardens they studied actually had minimal relationship to the amount of nectar produced by the plants in them. There are factors beyond size that determine the utility of urban gardens to pollinators, including specific gardening practices, the diversity of plantings, the match between local pollinators and the morphology of blossoms, and the timing (“temporal availability”) of various species’ efflorescence (floral blooming).

The study evaluated nectar quantities and timing, species variety (636 taxa), and number of “floral units” (more than 2 million) across the 59 surveyed gardens and yards, whose sizes ranged from 31.3m² to 407.7 m². According to the paper, “Garden nectar production peaked in mid-summer, but individual gardens differed markedly in both the magnitude of their nectar supply and its temporal pattern.”

In evaluating which kinds of flowers are available when — in terms of both levels of nectar sugar available and flower morphology, which dictates what kinds of pollinators can access the nectar — the authors make recommendations about plants residents can install to make nectar sugar as reliably available to multiple pollinators across the season as possible. (See section 4.3 of the study paper.)

A note on that morphology point: organisms and native flowering plants in a given ecosystem have tended to co-evolve, and thus, be well adapted to their symbiotic relationship — a concept called “niche complementarity.” Introduction of non-native species can interrupt this “harmonic balance” because not all flowering plants work for all pollinators. For example, hummingbirds tend to favor the color red, and — with their long beaks and tongues — blooms that have long, narrow shapes (such as honeysuckle, penstemon, trumpet flower, and bee balm, among others). Honeybees, on the other hand, cannot see the color red, and do not have such extensive “gear” with which to retrieve nectar from those kinds of flowers. Instead, they prefer flowers of other colors (especially yellow), and those with a more-open structure that provides a bit of a “landing pad.” Coneflowers, black-eyed Susans, poppies, lilacs, and sunflowers are among their favorites.

The researchers note some limitations to their study. First, although they observed no significant difference in nectar sugar production between urban greenspaces in Bristol and in three other cities in the United Kingdom (UK), analogous data for non-UK cities are unavailable, so the validity of the study for other regions is unknown. Also, the data for the study are from 2019; whether the authors’ observations and conclusions (based on those data) are valid for any other given year is not clear.

One of the study’s authors, Nicholas Tew, remarked, “Most of the nectar produced in gardens is by a shrub in the corner or a border around the edge of the garden. There are some very flower-rich small gardens and some very flower-poor big gardens.” He also noted that the biggest nectar producers were shrubs, many of which grow fairly compactly and when in bloom, provide very dense flower clusters, and — perhaps surprisingly — that “the diversity you get in urban areas is remarkably high, much higher than most natural habitats, even nature reserves.”

This diversity can, according to the authors, support a greater level of pollinator diversity than surrounding rural areas are able to do. By way of explanation, Mr. Tew asserts that the variety of plant species across urban gardens is greater than what would be found in a natural habitat, and adds that the crazy quilt of small gardens across a city “create[s] much richer nectar resources” than would a small number of larger planted parcels. The researchers assert that, across the UK, gardens and yards provide an estimated 85% of nectar in urban areas.

The paper concludes: “Urban residential gardens differ markedly in the magnitude and temporal pattern of nectar supply, but bigger gardens are not necessarily better for feeding pollinators. Instead, the management decisions made by individuals are particularly important, with gardeners able to control habitat quality if not quantity. By visiting multiple gardens which differ independently in plant species composition, pollinators have the potential to access a diverse and continuous supply of nectar in urban landscapes.”

In the context of the pollinator (and general biodiversity) crises, this study offers encouragement to everyone, and to urbanites in particular, to do whatever is possible to provide food sources for pollinators, who are under significant duress from a variety of factors, including pesticide use, land management practices, intensity of land uses and increasing fragmentation of habitat, and to some extent, the climate crisis.

Nearly everyone can create one or more oases of food and habitat for pollinators, whether through a giant wildflower meadow or a few potted plants on a fire escape. The Pollinator Partnership lays out the benefits to pollinators of urban “patches” of plants, including weeds: “Green space within cities surrounds us and provides pollinators with the pollen and nectar they need. City parks, home gardens, planted medians, manicured municipal spaces, rooftop gardens, and even weedy remnants are pollinator habitat within urban areas.”

Help with creating such oases can be found across multiple resources, including:

• Gardening for Biodiversity, Pollinator-Friendly Seeds and Nursery Directory, and a Resources and Educational Materials webpage, all from Beyond Pesticides
• Planting for Pollinators, from The Nature Conservancy
• Enhancing Urban and Suburban Landscapes to Protect Pollinators, from Oregon State University
• Pollinator-Friendly Native Plant Lists, from the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation

Additionally, see Beyond Pesticides’ BEE Protective Habitat Guide. Though an older resource, it nevertheless has great information on specific resource-rich species to support pollinators organized by bloom time.

Spring is coming, so now is a great time to make plans for whatever green space you may have available. Any gardener would concur: there is little so hopeful as planting and then watching Nature do her thing. Consider installing and caring for a few (or a whole bunch of) flowering plants that will help support stressed pollinators. Then grab some lemonade and enjoy the flower-and-pollinator show!

Sources: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jan/19/small-gardens-vital-as-big-ones- conserving-bees-bristol-university- study?utm_term=61e8ec53ac83a81938ee24ff2deb4078&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUK&utm_source=es p&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTUK_email and https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.14094

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

(Beyond Pesticides, January 27, 2022) Wildlife officials in Florida have resorted to supplementing starving manatees with cabbage and lettuce in an attempt to keep their rapidly dwindling populations alive. Massive Red Tides exacerbated by runoff from urban and agricultural pollution have directly killed off dozens of manatees over the last several years, but the indirect effects of these harmful algae blooms have been most catastrophic, resulting in significant loss of the seagrass beds upon which manatees rely. While Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has announced plans to spend $481 million on water quality improvement projects, conservationists note that the funds are primarily directed toward point source wastewater treatment, and more is needed to address nonpoint source herbicide and fertilizer runoff from agricultural, and urban and suburban yards.

Florida manatees, a subspecies of the West Indian manatee, can live as long as 60 years old, weigh up to 1,200 lbs, and have no natural predators within their range. The biggest threat to these peaceful marine mammals is human activity and environmental stressors. Unfortunately, the former is well-known to exacerbate the latter. Humans harm manatees primarily through boat strikes, but the animals can also die from eating or becoming entangled in fishing equipment, or become stuck in canal locks or other flood control structures.

There is evidence from the peer-reviewed literature that human-induced stressors like the use of glyphosate (Roundup) herbicides, which are a “pseudo persistent” (resulting from continuous runoff or exposure) pollutant in Florida waterways, can increase manatee susceptibility to other natural causes of mortality. This includes the effects of red tide and cold stress in the winter months, as manatees are unable to survive in waters below 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Because manatees are the only marine mammal that drinks freshwater, they are more likely to drink from highly contaminated runoff flowing directly into local waterways, such as home lawns, city parks, and golf courses. Research finds that 55.8% of manatees have glyphosate in their bodies.

Ongoing glyphosate and other herbicide use on farms, turfgrass, and directly in waterways to manage species identified as “invasive” is particularly concerning in the context of the current crisis. Incidents of Red Tide and other harmful algae blooms are exacerbated by nitrogen and phosphorus runoff from industrial farms and highly manicured landscapes. These algae blooms cause a trophic cascade. Floating on the surface, algae blocks sunlight to seagrasses and other submerged aquatic vegetation. As seagrass is lost, manatees and other animals that rely on it for food and habitat also suffer. In this context, glyphosate, a phosphorous-based herbicide, can either directly kill off more aquatic vegetation, or feed algae blooms as it breaks down. According to recent reporting, in just one region, Sarasota Bay, 18% of seagrass was lost between 2018 and 2020. The Florida Governor’s plan to target wastewater treatment is an important part of the puzzle, particularly in light of major incidents like the Piney Point spill, but advocates say that more must be done to reduce demand and clean up diffuse sources of pollution as well.

In 2017, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service moved Florida manatees from fully endangered to threatened status under the Endangered Species Act. However, with recent reports indicating over 1,000 manatees died in just the last year alone, a bipartisan group of Florida Congressional delegation, Rep Vern Buchanan and Rep Darren Soto, has introduced legislation that would reclassify the sea cows as endangered.

In the meantime, feeding programs appear to be at least partially successful, attracting a large number of manatees to a site, which may be expanded in the future. But this is a last resort scenario.

It is critical that lawmakers and the public take a holistic look at the problems facing manatees and other marine wildlife, and take meaningful action to reduce the need to store tons of fertilizer in precarious lagoons, and spray these and other harmful chemicals on expansive areas of land throughout the state. Organic land management and organic agriculture must be a large part of the solution. By eliminating toxic pesticide and synthetic fertilizer use, and focusing on maintaining or improving soil health, organic practices can stop nonpoint source runoff from making its way into local water bodies.

Residents in Florida and around the country are encouraged to contact their local and state lawmakers and urge them to move towards safer, natural practices that do not rely on toxic pesticides or fertilizers.

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

Sources: Washington Post, FL Gov press release, Herald-Tribune, FOX13 News, Save the Manatee

(Beyond Pesticides, January 26, 2022) Officials in New Jersey and New York are taking action to protect their states’ declining pollinator populations by restricting  outdoor uses of neonicotinoid (neonic) insecticides. In New York, the state Department of Environmental Conservation announced it would make these pesticides “restricted use,” and only available to state certified applicators. In New Jersey, A2070/S1016, sponsored by state Senator Bob Smith and Assemblyman Clinton Calabrese, was signed by Governor Phil Murphy last week after years of advocacy from national, state, and local pollinator and environmental groups. “The law relies on the most up-to-date science to ban the largest uses of neonics in the state,” said Lucas Roads, staff attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “This is great news for not just pollinators that are poisoned by neonics, but for all the farmers who depend on insect pollination and for all New Jerseyans that value thriving ecosystems.”

A2070/S1016 provides for a targeted phase-out of outdoor uses of bee-toxic neonicotinoids, chemicals implicated not only in the decline of pollinators, but also the collapse of entire ecosystems. Beginning 12 months after passage, the bill requires state agencies classify neonicotinoids as “restricted use.” Under this designation, only certified pesticide applicators would be allowed the apply these products, effectively eliminating consumer uses. Then, in late 2023, the bill prohibits all outdoor non-agricultural neonicotinoid uses. Exemptions are limited to vet care, wood preservation, outdoor applications within one foot of a building, and invasive species. The state agriculture commissioner may also grant a time-limited exemption for use only if an applicator can show that a “valid environmental emergency exists” and that no other less harmful pesticide is available for the given emergency.

New Jersey and Maine have now passed the strongest state pollinator protection laws in the country. While now in addition to New York, Connecticut, Maryland, Vermont, and Massachusetts have generally removed consumer neonic uses from the market, the NJ and ME bills represent another step forward by eliminating most outdoor non-agricultural uses. These changes will have major implications for pollinator and ecosystem health, reducing an even greater proportion of dangerous pesticide use. A report published by the NJ Department of Environmental Protection found that out of 250 surface water samples collected, at least one neonicotinoid was detected in over half of those tested. With even minute exposures to neonic products likely to kill off wild pollinators, any future uses that can be eliminated are a net positive for wildlife.

Although progress protecting pollinators in the U.S. has been slow in comparison to actions taken in the European Union, which has banned all outdoor neonicotinoid uses, including those in agriculture, the pesticide industry has focused considerable resources on halting U.S. policies. A 2020 report, “The Playbook for Poisoning the Earth,” published in the Intercept by reporter Lee Fang details a massive public deception campaign by the pesticide industry, aimed directly at stopping state and federal action protecting pollinators from these highly hazardous insecticides. As part of this playbook, the pesticide industry has worked to cast itself not as progenitor, but as the solution to pollinators’ plight. This approach has focused on spinning the science around neonics, diverting attention to pre-existing problems in beekeeping, like disease and mites, that are in fact exacerbated by neonic use, and using industry connected farmers, beekeepers, scientists and other influencers in attempts to confuse lawmakers and the public on the true cause of pollinator declines.

As far back as 2014, Beyond Pesticides asserted that this ongoing pollinator crisis is No Longer a Big Mystery. But meaningful action has been diffuse, and only seven states to date have enacted restrictions on neonicotinoid use. At the federal level, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) merely required non-committal “managed pollinator protection plans” from individual states (MP3s). These plans essentially handed off the baton to state pesticide lobby groups to address how to protect pollinators; unsurprisingly, pesticide use was not a major component of most of these plans. In fact, in 2019 the agency was cited for its failure to provide basic oversight for these state MP3s, with the EPA Office of Inspector General noting that the agency had no way to evaluate the impact of MP3s, that the agency focused too much on acute risks to pollinators, and an insufficient amount on chronic impacts. EPA’s inaction and inability to stand up to the pesticide industry means that pollinators and ecosystems continue to suffer throughout most of the U.S.

State action is urgently needed to fill in the gaps left by EPA inaction, and New Jersey and Maine represent a new high bar for neonicotinoid restrictions. But in the long term, it is critical to stop all neonicotinoid use in the U.S. and prevent the next round of pollinator toxic chemicals from becoming widespread. The Saving America’s Pollinators Act would accomplish this goal, side-stepping industry-influenced EPA and allowing a board of pollinator experts to make decisions around pesticide registrations. Ask your elected representative in Congress to support pollinators by cosponsoring Saving America’s Pollinators Act (SAPA). If they are already a cosponsor, use this occasion to thank them for their leadership on this critical issue.

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

Source: NRDC press release, New York DEC press release, A2070/S1016