Search Results
Friday, March 27th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, March 27, 2020)Â Faced with the COVID-19 (coronavirus) threat, there is tremendous pressure to use toxic disinfectants, despite the availability of safer products. In fact, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is recommending 70% alcohol for surface disinfection, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencyâs (EPA) Office of Pesticide Programs is advising the use of unnecessarily toxic substances, and reducing standards that govern their allowance on the market. EPAâs pesticide program allowed 70 new disinfectants yesterday, at the same time that the agency overall announced that it is waiving enforcement of environmental standards during the coronavirus outbreakâa devastating blow to public health and environmental protection. Beyond Pesticides, in its factsheet, Protecting Yourself from COVID-19 (coronavirus) without Toxic Sanitizers and Disinfectants, says, âFight the coronavirus with common sense prevention and safer disinfection products. Avoid products that increase vulnerability to respiratory problems.â (See the factsheet below.) To some extent, the expanded allowance of disinfection products on top of the 281 disinfectants previously permitted has been made possible by relaxing oversight on so-called “inert” or other ingredients that are not disclosed on product labels and often highly toxic. The agency says it is allowing the use of these âinertsâ with “no […]
Posted in Antimicrobial, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), coronavirus, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, March 25th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, March 25, 2020) The Trump administrationâs U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is moving forward with a proposal to grow genetically engineered crops (GECs) on national wildlife refuges in the Southeast United States. The draft environmental assessment allows wildlife to consume pesticide-laden produce, considers chemical-intensive genetically engineered crops no less damaging to the environment than ânon-use of GECs,â and permits and escalation of climate change with toxic pesticide use increases. USFWâs proposal fails to mention the success of organic agriculture and consider it as one of the alternative management strategies. The proposal is up for public comment until April 10, 2020. In 2014, public pressure and lawsuits by environmental groups led to the Obama administrationâs decision to phase out GE crops and ban neonicotinoid insecticide use on national wildlife refuges. On August 2, 2018, the Trump administrationâs USFWS issued a memorandum that reversed the prohibition. The reversal allows the refuge system to make decisions on the use of GECs and neonics on a case-by-case basis in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which is also under attack by the Trump administration. The Center for Biological Diversity, Center for Food Safety, and others quickly challenged the 2018 […]
Posted in Agriculture, Bayer, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), Genetic Engineering, Monsanto, National Environmental Policy Act, neonicotinoids, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, March 24th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, March 24, 2020) Last week, Maryland became the latest state to prohibit use of the brain-damaging insecticide chlorpyrifos, after a measure cleared both the state Senate and House. Although the legislation implements a limited ban that sunsets after four years, advocates consider this action a step in the right direction that will protect the health and safety of Maryland residents. âEven amidst our current public health crisis, the Maryland legislature acted to protect all Marylandersâ health for years to come by banning this toxic pesticide, and we are so grateful,â said Ruth Berlin, Executive Director of the Maryland Pesticide Education Network to WBOC. Chlorpyrifos is an organophosphate insecticide known to inhibit the proper nerve functioning by affecting the enzyme acetylcholine esterase. The impacts of this pesticide are particularly concerning for young children, as research finds that children exposed to high levels of chlorpyrifos had mental development delays, attention problems, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder problems, and pervasive developmental disorder problems at three years of age. While Maryland is the fourth state to restrict the use of chlorpyrifos, it is the second to implement these restrictions through legislation. In California, the state Department of Pesticide Regulation is implementing a phase out of […]
Posted in Agriculture, Brain Effects, Children, Chlorpyrifos, Dow Chemical, DuPont, Environmental Justice, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Farmworkers, Maryland, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Friday, March 20th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, March 20, 2020) Support Organic Farmers as They Provide Nutrition that Heals As we all heed calls for social distancing to avoid spread of COVID-19, elected officials are looking for ways to support those who are suffering from adverse economic impact. In doing this, it is especially important to focus on those organic family farmers who grow our food and have had their markets disrupted. Tell Congress to Help Organic Farmers Hurt by the Pandemic Congress has already passed an $8 billion response package earlier this month and just passed H.R. 6201, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, providing additional appropriations to address testing, emergency nutrition assistance, temporary paid leave, and increased federal funding for unemployment insurance. Now a much bigger, trillion-dollar economic stimulus bill is in the works. Ideas for the trillion-dollar spending package are proliferating as fast as the virus. While direct payments to individuals have been mentioned, so have various subsidies to businesses. We need to warn politicians not to exploit the coronavirus pandemic to subsidize large corporations without protections for workers. Rather, our Representatives need to ensure that the money goes to help those who have been directly affected. In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, U.S. Representative Chellie Pingree detailed the […]
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Thursday, March 19th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, March 19, 2020) As communities across the U.S. brace for an unimaginable health crisis and difficult economic times in the wake of COVID-19, the Beyond Pesticides Hawaiâi team has linked arms with Mauiâs small farms and community organizations to make sure local farms have the support they need to feed communities and stay in business. The virus is causing shutdowns of everything from farmers markets to restaurants, but community organizers in Maui are making an effort to transform COVID-19 related challenges into a spring board for long-term increase in locally produced, organic foodâa sorely needed commodity in Hawaiâi. Hawaiâi is the most isolated island chain on the planet. Its fertile soil and climatic conditions coalesce to make Hawaiâi potentially a major producer of nutritious food for its residents and for export. However, a complicated plantation history and off-island investment influence has skewed the economy toward tourism and development. The current stark reality is that 85-90% of Hawai’i’s food is imported, making the islands particularly vulnerable to disasters and global events that might disrupt the economy or infrastructure. COVID-19 is now disrupting the economy and local infrastructure of Maui. Farmers markets and other public gatherings have closed. Tourism is […]
Posted in Agriculture, Alternatives/Organics, Hawaii, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, March 18th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, March 18, 2020) Freshwater habitats are threatened nowâmore than everâby the adverse effects of pesticide pollution, according to a report published in Scientific Reports by a collaborative research team from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) and the Kenya-based International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE). Pesticide pollution, attributed to runoff from agricultural farms, indirectly increased the rate of the tropical disease schistosomiasis, which infects over 280 million people (2018). This research underlines the range of uncertainties that exist as a result of pesticide contamination, making it critically important that subtropical areas where this disease threat exists move toward organic and pesticide-free approaches. Increased prevalence of this disease is devastating to socioeconomic development in affected regions, as life expectancy, employment rate, and gross domestic product (GDP) decreases. Schistosomiasis (snail fever), or bilharzia, is a tropical disease caused by parasitic flatworms (trematodes) in the genus Schistosoma and transmitted via freshwater snail (genus Biomphalaria) to its definitive human host. Freshwater snails act as a vector for schistosomiasis as they play a vital role in the lifecycle of the parasitic flatworm. Professor Matthias Liess (Ph.D.), Head of the Department of System Ecotoxicology at the UFZ, and his research team investigated pesticide pollutionâs […]
Posted in Agriculture, Alternatives/Organics, Aquatic Organisms, Beneficials, Biological Control, Chemicals, Disease/Health Effects, International, neonicotinoids, organophosphate, schistosomiasis, Water | No Comments »
Friday, March 13th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, March 13, 2020) The European Commissionâs proposed (post-2020) Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is a failure and must be dramatically changed to embrace organic practices and support small farmers, according to a paper written by 21 scientists and published in the British Ecological Societyâs journal, People and Nature. The authors point to provisions that permit anemic implementation of critical sustainability goals, and say that as it stands, the CAP fails âwith respect to biodiversity, climate, soil, [and] land degradation as well as socioâeconomic challenges.â The authors call on the European Parliament, Council, and Commission to adopt 10 urgent action points that advance a goal that âall CAP elements, without exception, should be aligned with the principles of sustainability, multiâfunctionality and public payments for public goods.â The paperâs authors say that the CAP continues, in fact, to support practices that exacerbate the climate emergency, soil erosion, land degradation, and biodiversity loss, and fails to fund initiatives that could address climate and other critical issues. Happening concurrently with the CAP is development of the European Commissionâs (ECâs) âEuropean Green Deal,â which the EC describes as a roadmap for making the EUâs economy sustainable, and making Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. […]
Posted in Agriculture, Alternatives/Organics, International, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Friday, March 6th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, March 6, 2020) Scientists from Imperial College London have just published their recent research on impacts of pesticides on larval bumblebees exposed through neonicotinoid-contaminated food sources. Many studies have looked at the devastating impacts of pesticides on adult insects, including pollinators â and bees, in particular. This research, however, examines how exposure to the neonicotinoid imidacloprid, through consumption of contaminated nectar and pollen during the larval stage, affects bumblebees (Bombus terrestris audax). It finds that these exposures cause abnormal brain growth in some parts of the beesâ brains, and significantly impairs learning ability compared to bees who were not exposed. Advocates maintain that neonicotinoid pesticides should be banned for their widespread and severe damage to insects and the environment broadly, in addition to human health concerns. Neonicotinoids (neonics) comprise a class of pesticide used intensively in many parts of the world. They may be applied to plant foliage, or directly to soils as a drench, but the predominant use is for seed treatment. These pesticides are banned or restricted in some places, including in the European Union, France, Germany, and Italy; some states have also worked to rein in their use. Previous research out of Harvard University has […]
Posted in Beneficials, Biodiversity, Imidacloprid, neonicotinoids, Pollinators, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 3rd, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, March 3, 2020) Pregnant mothers living in areas where carcinogenic pesticides have been used are at increased risk of their child developing an acute form of leukemia, according to research published last month in the International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles. The findings are based on a review of pesticide use data in rural, agricultural areas of California, where many minority, low-income and farmworking communities live. Under current laws, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) permits the use of cancer-causing pesticides with an expectation that a certain number of cancers (anywhere from 1 in 1,000 to 1 in 1,000,000, based on the pesticide in question) should be considered âacceptable risk.â While past studies have shown similar connections between pesticide exposure in the womb and the development of childhood cancer, this is one of the first to utilize geographic information systems (GIS) data, rather than parental interviews on past exposures. Researchers used California public records of cancer incidence from 1998-2011, alongside statewide pesticide use reports (California is the only state to make this information publicly accessible and searchable). A list of 65 pesticides were investigated for their specific connection […]
Posted in Agriculture, Cancer, Diuron, Leukemia, Linuron, Paraquat, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Monday, March 2nd, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, March 2, 2020) Deadline today! Tell EPA to Ban Atrazine; Protect Children and Frogs from this Endocrine Disrupting Pesticide. Atrazine, the second most-used herbicide in the U.S., is an insidious poison. Atrazine is known for producing developmental abnormalities in frogs. It also affects the endocrine system and reproductive biology of humans. In addition to its agricultural uses on corn, sorghum, and sugar cane, atrazine is also used on home lawns, school grounds, and parks, where exposure to children is common. Nontoxic alternatives are available for all of these uses. Act today, March 2. Sign the petition demanding that EPA ban atrazine and its cousins simazine and propazine. Act today! Beyond Pesticides will submit comments: Docket: EPA-HQ-OPP-2017-0750 (FRL-10002-92) Petition to EPAâs Office of Pesticide Programs: We have serious concerns with the proposed interim decisions on reregistration of three triazine pesticides: atrazine, simazine, and propazine. These triazines are highly mobile and persistent in the environment and have been linked to numerous adverse health and environmental effects which have motivated numerous public interest campaigns to ban their use in the U.S. as well as in Europe. The Draft Ecological Risk Assessments for the Registration Review of Atrazine, Simazine, and Propazine dated October 5, 2016 […]
Posted in Agriculture, Atrazine, Endocrine Disruption, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Propazine, simazine, Syngenta, Take Action, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
Thursday, February 27th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, February 27, 2020) A new report finds that as birds and pollinators continue to decline, and chronic diseases remain on the rise, the global agrichemical industry is raking in billions of dollars from hazardous pesticides that contribute to these crises. A joint investigation from Unearthed and Public Eye finds that 35% of pesticide sales from the largest agrichemical corporations are made from the most toxic pesticides on the market. Pesticide production was a $57.6 billion market in 2018, according to the report. While the profits of the industry are privatized, the public health and environmental effects are broad. Studies conducted over the last decade show that the impacts of hazardous pesticide use dwarf the market for these chemicals. The impact of pesticides on public health results in a drag on the economy. Earlier this year, research from the New York University Grossman School of Medicine found that childrenâs exposure to organophosphate insecticides was estimated to result in over 26 million lost IQ points and over 110,000 cases of intellectual disability, totaling roughly $735 billion in economic costs each year. A 2019 study from the same scientists determined that endocrine disrupting chemicals, including organophosphates and organochlorine pesticides, were attributable […]
Posted in Chemicals, contamination, Corporations, Disease/Health Effects, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, February 26th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, February 26, 2020) Agriculture both suffers from the impacts of the climate crisis and contributes significantly to global warming. Representative Chellie Pingree of Maine has introduced H.R. 5861 aimed at achieving a 50% reduction in agricultural emissions by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2040, relative to 2010 levels. Tell Your Congressional Representative to Cosponsor H.R. 5861. July of 2019 was the hottest month ever recorded on Earth. The last time atmospheric carbon dioxide levels were this high (over 415 ppm) was during the Pliocene period â between 5.3 and 2.6 million years ago. We have seen changing precipitation and temperature patterns, resulting in flooding of some agricultural regions and droughts in others, crops and livestock varieties no longer suited to the geographical area where they have been produced, and new problems with insects, weeds, and disease. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) finds that Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use contributes about 23% of total net anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases. At the same time, organic production can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and sequester carbon in the soil. Regenerative organic agriculture reduces emissions of carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide. In nonorganic, chemical-intensive agriculture, greenhouse gas emissions result from the use of nitrogen fertilizer, synthetic herbicides and insecticides, […]
Posted in Agriculture, Alternatives/Organics, Regenerative, Take Action, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Monday, February 24th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, February 24, 2019) With more than 90% of total pesticide use deployed in agriculture, organic farming is the keystone solution to the myriad health, environmental, and biodiversity harms of pesticides. A transition to organic and regenerative farming practices â across which there is great overlap â is critical and a tall order, given the entrenched, chemically intensive practices that currently dominate in the U.S. and much of the world. A long-standing research effort by the storied Rodale Institute â the Farming Systems Trial, which began in 1981â is demonstrating that organic agriculture is not only a nontoxic solution, but also, an economically viable one that is critical to a sustainable future. Through the Farming Systems Trial (FST), the Rodale Institute has collected data on crop yields, soil health, energy efficiency, nutrient density of drops, and water use and contamination in organic and conventional systems managed with different levels of tillage. Among the findings of the nearly 40-year research project are these: after a five-year transition period, organic yields are competitive with conventional yields⢠in drought years, organic yields are as much as 40% higher than conventional yields farm profits are 3â6 times higher for products from organically managed systems […]
Posted in Agriculture, Alternatives/Organics, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Thursday, February 20th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, February 20, 2020) Missouriâs largest peach farm, Bader Farms, is set to receive $265 million in compensation from two multinational agrichemical companies after the companies’ dicamba-based weed killers caused widespread damage to the farm’s fruit trees. Bayerâs Monsanto and BASF were found to be responsible for negligence in the design of their dicamba herbicides, and failure to warn farmers about the dangers of their products. The jury determined that the joint venture between the two companies amounted to a conspiracy to create an âecological disasterâ in the name of profit. In 2015, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved Bayer Monsantoâs release of a new line of genetically engineered (GE) seeds designed to tolerate repeated spraying of dicamba. With glyphosate resistant âsuper-weedsâ widespread and threatening GE farmerâs yields, the company aimed to redeploy dicamba, one of the oldest herbicides in the market, on cotton and soybeans throughout the U.S. Knowing the propensity of dicamba to drift for miles off site, Bayerâs Monsanto promised a new product line with much lower volatility. Â But as the company was waiting on approval for this product by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), it nonetheless began selling its dicamba-tolerant seeds. This led to […]
Posted in BASF, Bayer, Dicamba, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Genetic Engineering, Litigation, Missouri, Monsanto, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 18th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, February 18, 2019) As in the in the past, President Trump once more proposes a budget that slashes funding for essential scientific research and environmental protection. His budget proposal includes cuts of nearly 10 percent to Health and Human Services (HHS) and 26 percent to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). And in the Department of Agriculture (USDA), he would again attempt to cut back on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps). Climate change appears to be absent. Tell your Congressional delegation to hold the line on EPA’s budget to protect health, resources, and the economy! Although agency heads, like Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, support the President’s budget, nonprofit advocates for scientific research and environmental protection are more negative. âThe administration’s proposed budget cuts to research risk slowing our nation’s science just when it is reaping benefits for all Americans in the forms of better health, a stronger economy, a more sustainable environment, a safer world, and awe-inspiring understanding,â said Sudip Parikh, chief executive of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Even as the new coronavirus spreads, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is targeted for a 16 percent reduction. CDC has responsibilities that go well beyond infectious […]
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Friday, February 14th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, February 14, 2020)Â The weed killer dicamba has been blamed for killing or damaging millions of acres of nonâgenetically modified crops and other plants that have no protection against the compound. Litigation, legislation, and manufacturer machination abound as dicamba damage mounts. The trial in a suit filed in 2016 by a Missouri peach farmer against dicamba manufacturers Bayer and BASF has just begun; an Indiana state laboratory struggles to keep up with demand to evaluate dicamba damage; Idaho lawmakers are poised to weaken rules that protect farmworkers who apply dicamba (and other pesticides) aerially; agricultural officials in Missouri are pressuring the state legislature to increase funding to handle the exploding numbers of dicamba complaints; and Indianaâs legislature is considering two bills aimed at curtailing dicamba drift that kills neighboring crops. This Daily News Blog will round up the plethora of recent news on dicamba â the toxic and destructive culprit behind each of these stories. In the face of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencyâs (EPA) failure to mitigate dicamba hazards, states have been scrambling to enact limits on when and how dicamba can be used, amend buffer zones around application sites, and in some cases, ban its use outright. […]
Posted in Arkansas, Bayer, Dicamba, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Illinois, Indiana, Litigation, Minnesota, Missouri, Monsanto, North Dakota, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Thursday, February 13th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, February 13, 2020) Congress unanimously passed the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) in 1996 to increase protections for children from pesticide exposure. Unfortunately, according to a new study published in Environmental Health, the law is not being employed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to its full capacity. For most of the 59 pesticides reviewed by the study, EPA did not apply an additional FQPA safety factor and thereby missed an opportunity to protect childrenâs health. In fact, FQPA solidified EPA’s reliance on risk assessment calculations and mitigation measures that consistently fall short of adequate levels of protection because of serious data gaps, a failure to consider exposure to mixtures and synergistic effects, and a bias against consideration of alternatives (alternatives assessment) that show toxic pesticides to be unnecessary. FQPA establishes a safety standard applied to all food commodities that considers specific risks for infants and children. The law requires EPA to assess the âaggregate riskâ (considering exposure from multiple sources) and âcumulative exposureâ to pesticides that have a “common mechanism of toxicity.” FQPA mandates âan additional tenfold margin of safety for the pesticide chemical residue and other sources of exposure shall be applied for infants and children […]
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 12th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, February 12, 2020) Corteva, a company spun-off from DowDupont, will stop producing chlorpyrifos by the end of this year as a result of declining sales. Despite the move being in the interest of public health, the company is earning little praise from health advocates for what amounts to simply a shrewd financial decision. As news articles on the announcement have noted, Corteva will continue to support Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) registration of chlorpyrifos, which allows generic manufacturers to continue to sell this brain-damaging chemical. âOther people are going to continue to profit from harming children,â said Marisa Ordonia, an attorney with the group EarthJustice to Canadaâs National Observer. âIt is big that such a major player is saying no, weâre not going to do this any more. Itâs a great signal that people donât want brain-damaging pesticides on their food. But weâre going to continue to keep fighting to make sure children and farmworkers are protected.â At odds is the difference between halting production of chlorpyrifos and cancelling its EPA registration. While Corteva has the ability to voluntarily stop producing its own product, EPA registration permits other generic manufacturers to continue to producing the product. And, over the […]
Posted in Brain Effects, Chlorpyrifos, Dow Chemical, DuPont, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Nervous System Effects, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 11th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, February 11, 2020) A new study, published in the journal Cell Host & Microbe, homes in on the impact of the toxic herbicide atrazine on wasp gut microbiology and pesticide resistance. Intriguingly, researchers found that exposure to atrazine changed the composition of gut bacteria in individual wasps and shifts in gut flora were heritable. This study not only represents one of the first evolutionary studies on symbiont-mediated pesticide resistance, it also provides fodder for future research regarding the implications of exposure to xenobiotics (i.e., chemical substances like toxic pesticides foreign to an organism or ecosystem) for other gut bacteria hosts â such as honey bees and humans. Researchers utilized the hymenopteran insect model Nasonia vitripennis to analyze the effect of subtoxic exposure to atrazine across 36 generations. They reestablished a baseline of toxicity by experimenting with concentrations of atrazine to find the level at which 50% of the population died (LC50). During initial trials, some of the wasps were kept in a germ-free (GF) environment. The authors observed a higher mortality rate among the germ-free population, indicating that gut microbes assist with detoxification. Â Early generations of wasps in the study received a field-realistic dose of atrazine (300 […]
Posted in Atrazine, Microbiata, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Friday, February 7th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, February 7, 2020) Toxic pesticide use in New York City (NYC) parks would get the boot if a bill â Intro 1524 â being considered by the New York City Council passes. The bill âwould ban all city agencies from spraying highly toxic pesticides, such as glyphosate (Roundup), and be the most far-reaching legislation to implement pesticide-free land practices in New York City parks,â according to a press release from its sponsors, New York City Council members Ben Kallos and Carlina Rivera. The January 29 hearing on the bill in the councilâs Committee on Health was preceded by release of an important report from The Black Institute: Poison Parks, which calls out the NYC Parks Department for, in particular, its continued use of glyphosate-based herbicides. It also notes, âMinority and low-income communities suffer from the use of this chemical and have become victims of environmental racism.â NYC Council members Kallos and Rivera point out, in their joint press release, that Roundup is the pesticide most intensively used by city agencies, and that, âThe use of this pesticide poses a health risk for anyone who frequents city parks and playgrounds, as well as, city workers, including city parks employees […]
Posted in Children, Environmental Justice, Glyphosate, New York, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 4th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, February 4, 2020) It was a good day for Bayer/Monsanto. The chemical company’s weed killer glyphosate and its neonicotinoid insecticides are set for reapproval by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), according to interim decisions published last week. EPA reapproval of human carcinogens and chemicals contributing to the pollinator crisis is disappointing for health and environmental advocates, but not surprising to those watchdogging the agency during the current administration. âThis is how a captured agency behaves,â said Beyond Pesticides community resource and policy director Drew Toher. âWhen EPAâs decision making repeatedly reflects the exact wishes of the chemical industry, public trust erodes, and we must look to new policy mechanisms that support the protection of health and the environment.â Â On Glyphosate EPAâs glyphosate decision document glosses over the hazards of the chemical and is requiring very few new safety measures when using the herbicide. These measures are focused on agriculture, including minor label changes around drift, guidelines on resistance management, and a label advisory indicating the chemical is toxic to plants and may adversely impact pollinator foraging. The restrictions fail to match those proposed by Health Canada in 2015, which included buffer zones and restricted entry intervals. […]
Posted in Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Glyphosate, neonicotinoids, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Friday, January 31st, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, January 31, 2020)Â In the latest of a long litany of destructive decisions by the Trump administration, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced on January 23 the establishment of a new weaker federal rule on protection of U.S. waterways, which replaces the 2015 Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule that the agency repealed in September 2019. In an obeisant gesture to industrial interests â the agrichemical, construction, and mining sectors â Mr. Wheeler chose to announce the replacement rule, the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, at a Las Vegas National Association of Home Builders International Buildersâ Show. This decision will significantly weaken protections by drastically reducing the number of U.S. waterways and acreage of wetlands protected, and by jettisoning proscriptions on activities that threaten waterways from a variety of pollution harms. President Obamaâs WOTUS, aka Clean Water Rule, has provided protections from pesticide runoff and other pollutants to millions of acres of wetlands and thousands of miles of streams. According to Administrator Wheeler, ââAll states have their own protections for waters within their borders, and many regulate more broadly than the federal government. . . . Our new rule recognizes this relationship and strikes the proper […]
Posted in Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Uncategorized, Water, Water Regulation | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 29th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, January 29, 2020) A study of male breast cancer (MBC) in Scotland reports an alarming, increasing trend of this rare disease â especially in agricultural areas. While only accounting for 1% of diagnosed breast cancer, MBC forms in the breast tissue of men and is often fatal because of delayed diagnosis and lack of research on male-specific treatment. The authors point to risk factors that include increased exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals, such as pesticides, and a need for further study. Researchers analyzed data from the Information Services Scotland database spanning from 1992-2017. Results showed that incidence of breast cancer in men rose with age, and that the total number and age-adjusted incidence of MBC increased in the last 25 years. Overall, the incidence rose by 38.5%. There was a total of 558 diagnoses in Scotland in the entire period. The trend is clearest in certain regions, including the North of Scotland and some rural areas. âWithin the confines of this observational study, reasons for these regional differences are difficult to reconcile, but potential explanations are offered,â the authors write, âExposure to environmental compounds that mimic oestrogens (so-called Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals; (EDCs)) might be exacerbated in areas of higher agricultural […]
Posted in Breast Cancer, Endocrine Disruption, International, Uncategorized | No Comments »