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Friday, December 21st, 2018
(Beyond Pesticides, December 21-31, 2018)  As we look ahead to the new year, we wish you good health, extend our appreciation for your being a part of the Beyond Pesticides network, and ask you to consider a contribution to Beyond Pesticides. Your support is critical to our program and deeply appreciated. We approach the new year with a sense of optimism that we will advance our collective will to solve devastating environmental problems. We believe it can be done! But, it takes us all joining together with a strong voice and unified action to stop hazardous practices, while putting safe and sustainable alternatives in place. With your support of Beyond Pesticides, we strive to reverse the destructive environmental and public health path that we’re on. As a grassroots organization, we work with community-based campaigns and organizations to put organic land management practices in placeâin our parks, on playing fields, school grounds, and throughout communities. Together, we eliminate practices that contaminate waterways, put poisons in the air, degrade and destroy life in the soil, and expose us to pesticides that cause or contribute to a range of dreaded diseases like cancerâParkinson’s, diabetes, reproductive disorders, autism, and more. We can change the current courseâtake the glyphosate/Roundup out […]
Posted in Holidays, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 5th, 2018
(Beyond Pesticides, December 5, 2018)Â The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has denied a petition seeking to ban M-44s â cyanide-spraying apparatuses used to kill coyotes, foxes, and wild dogs that may prey on livestock. Submitted to the EPA in August 2017 by the Center for Biological Diversity, WildEarth Guardians, the Humane Society of the U.S., Natural Resources Defense Council, Predator Defense, the Sierra Club, and a number of other conservation, wildlife, and environmental organizations, the petition sought cancellation of the registration of cyanide capsules used in M-44s and a functional ban on their use in the âlower 48â states because of their danger to non-target wildlife, domestic pets, and people. In its letter of denial, EPA noted that it âis currently reviewing these products using the Registration Review process and sees no reason, and the Petition provides none, to start a parallel process using Special Review proceedings to look at the same issues.â Although the word âpesticideâ generally conjures thoughts of a chemical meant to kill insect âpests,â whether sprayed on crops, coated onto seeds, or in the kit bag of an âexterminatorâ whose business it is to rout out some infestation in a home or building, these two compounds […]
Posted in Compound 1080, Cyanide, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Wildlife/Endangered Sp. | No Comments »
Monday, November 26th, 2018
(Beyond Pesticides, November 26, 2018) Organic consumers expect that the organic products they buy are grown without toxic chemical inputs. However, oil and gas wastewater (including fracking wastewater) is currently used to irrigate crops. Among the chemicals known to be present in oil and gas wastewater are heavy metals and other chemicals with carcinogenic, reproductive, developmental, endocrine-disrupting, and other toxic effects. When the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) was passed, and regulations adopted, there was no agricultural use of oil and gas wastewater, so the regulations did not address these hazards.  Tell USDA to Outlaw Fracking Wastewater in Organic Production! The Cornucopia Institute has filed a petition for rulemaking, asking that oil and gas wastewater be ruled a prohibited substance in organic production. This issue should be put on the work agenda of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), which advises the Secretary about issues concerning NOP. The petition from the Cornucopia Institute contains information that will serve as support for the work agenda item. Over the past several years, the NOSB has received many comments requesting them to address this issue Among the comments have been suggestions for guidance to farmers faced with contamination from oil and gas activities. The […]
Posted in Agriculture, Alternatives/Organics, Fracking, Take Action, Uncategorized, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) | 1 Comment »
Monday, October 15th, 2018
(Beyond Pesticides, October 15, 2018) As a leader in organic sales, it is critical that Kroger take additional expedited steps to increase the market share of organic food and eliminate the use of toxic pesticides harmful to public health and the environment. Kroger is among the major food retailers that sells food that has been grown with toxic pesticides, such as the extremely hazardous insecticide chlorpyrifos which causes neurological and brain damage in children. Kroger should immediately end its misleading and fraudulent advertising and labeling of food products as ânaturalâ and replace these with certified organic products. In fact, by misleading consumers with ânaturalâ labeling and advertising of food, Kroger supports chemical-intensive agriculture that poisons children, causes cancer, and threatens biodiversity through the use of toxic chemicals like chlorpyrifos, glyphosate, and neonicotinoids. This is unnecessary and unacceptable. Tell Kroger to stop selling food grown with toxic pesticides. Chlorpyrifos  is a highly neurotoxic organophosphate pesticide that is linked to neurologic developmental disorders in children. Exposure to even low levels of organophosphates like chlorpyrifos during pregnancy impairs learning, changes brain function, and alters thyroid levels of offspring into adulthood. EPAâs own assessment finds that children exposed to high levels of chlorpyrifos have developmental delays, attention problems, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder […]
Posted in Agriculture, Chlorpyrifos, Glyphosate, Kroger, neonicotinoids, Take Action, Uncategorized | 5 Comments »
Monday, May 14th, 2018
(Beyond Pesticides, May 14, 2018) Under EPA Administrator Pruittâs proposed âtransparencyâ plan, the public will still lack access to key data about the effects and efficacy of commercial poisons approved for sale and application in their communities and homes. Tell EPA to adopt a real transparency plan for pesticides! The proposed policy, posted on April 30 in the Federal Register, declares that it will âhelp ensure that EPA is pursuing its mission of public health and the environment in a manner that the public can trust and understand,â yet it applies only to a very limited set of studies used to support certain EPA regulations. The pesticide registration and review processes are particularly lacking in transparency, opportunity for public review, and access to data. Because pesticides are toxic chemicals broadcast into the environment, nowhere is transparency more important than in pesticide registration. The proposed new policy does not cover pesticide registrations, warning labels, use restrictions, or proof of effectiveness. In the current process, the pesticide manufacturer produces the underlying data for these EPA approvals and controls access to them. Thus, despite Pruittâs sweeping claims of âtransparency in regulatory scienceâ: The public does not have access to the underlying data provided by the manufacturer […]
Posted in Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Take Action, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Thursday, May 10th, 2018
(Beyond Pesticides, May 10, 2018) Rodenticides like bromadiolone, used to kill vole populations on farms, act like âsuper-predatorsâ that imperil ecosystem health, according to preliminary results published by researchers working for the European Union. âControlling voles with bromadiolone reduces the amount of food available to predators and increases their risk of secondary poisoning when they eat the contaminated rodents,â project researcher Javier Fernandez de Simon, PhD, said in a press release. The study provides a model that may alleviate the impact of rodenticide use and provide a balance between on-farm pest management and sustainability. There are several types of rodenticides available on the market, including acute poisons like strychnine, fumigants like phosphine gas, and anti-coagulants such as warfarin and bromadiolone. Anti-coagulants, the focus of the present study, work by blocking the ability of the body to form blood clots. Animals exposed to bromodialone and other anti-coagulants experience ruptured blood vessels, hair loss and skin damage, nosebleeds, and bleeding gums prior to death. These pesticides are generally applied through secured bait boxes that only allow rodent pests to feed, however secondary poisoning is a common occurrence, leading researchers to dub these rodenticides, in effect, as âsuper-predators.â Rodents that ingest anti-coagulant pesticides […]
Posted in btomsfiolone, Phosphine, Rodenticide, Rodents, strychnine, Uncategorized, Warfarin | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 8th, 2018
(Beyond Pesticides, May 8, 2018)Â U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruittâs controversial plan for disclosing the underlying data supporting its regulatory science has a big blind spot âpesticides. Â An analysis released today by Beyond Pesticides and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) points out that under Pruittâs plan the public will still lack access to key data about the effects and efficacy of commercial poisons approved for sale and application in their communities and homes. The proposed policy posted on April 30 in the Federal Register declares that it will âhelp ensure that EPA is pursuing its mission of public health and the environment in a manner that the public can trust and understand” yet it only applies to a very limited set of studies used to support certain EPA regulations. It does not cover pesticide registrations, warning labels, use restrictions, or proof of effectiveness. Â In the current process, the pesticide manufacturer produces the underlying data for these EPA approvals and controls access to it. Â Thus, despite Pruittâs sweeping claims of âtransparency in regulatory scienceâ â The public does not have access to the underlying data provided by the manufacturer to justify registering a new pesticide for commercial distribution; Industry […]
Posted in Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Pesticide Regulation, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 28th, 2018
(Beyond Pesticides, February 27, 2018) As stricter regulations and technological changes begin to decrease air pollution from cars and other vehicles, scientists are finding that the use of pesticides and other household chemicals represent an increasing proportion of smog-forming pollution in the U.S. Research published in the journal Science this month indicates that personal care products, cleaning agents, perfumes, paints, printing ink, and pesticides warrant greater attention from regulators for their ability to form toxic fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and tropospheric ozone (O3). âThe things I use in the morning to get ready for work are comparable to emissions that come out of the tailpipe of my car,â said Brian McDonald, PhD, the studyâs lead author and air-pollution researcher at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Boulder, Colorado to Nature. âI think thatâs what surprises a lot of people.â Recognizing a gap in emission data as pollution from cars and other mobile sources of fossil fuel has waned over the past several decades, researchers set out to determine what chemicals were contributing to smog that continues to plague cities throughout the U.S. Using data from energy and chemical manufacturing, combined with roadway pollution and laboratory measurements, scientists […]
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Monday, October 30th, 2017
(Beyond Pesticides, October 30, 2017)Â Tell the Arkansas State Plant Board to stand up to Monsanto, and protect farmers by banning dicambaâs use in Arkansas agriculture. Comment period closes today, Monday, October 30, 2017, at 4:30pm (Eastern Time). Your comments are needed to stop the disaster in Arkansas being created by Monsantoâs new genetically engineered (GE) cropping system, which relies on the toxic pesticide dicamba. If Arkansas bans dicamba, other states should and will follow âgiven the chemical industryâs takeover of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is allowing this extremely hazardous pesticide use. This is a problem that has regional and national implications, given the breakdown of the EPA and its pesticide program. We cannot let this failure of protection stand in Arkansas or anywhere in the country. Promoted by Monsanto as a way to address rampant Roundup (glyphosate) resistance, Monsantoâs new GE soybeans are now able to withstand both glyphosate and dicamba, an older herbicide with a range of documented health effects âfrom neurotoxicity to reproductive problems. Dicamba is also highly volatile and, as a result, has drifted across crop fields throughout the region, damaging high value fruit tree and organic operations. The Arkansas State Plant Board is […]
Posted in Agriculture, Contamination, contamination, Dicamba, Genetic Engineering, Monsanto, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 24th, 2017
(Beyond Pesticides, October 24, 2017) Over 75% of insect abundance has declined over the last 27 years, according to new research published by European scientists in PLOS One. The dramatic drop in insect biomass has led to equally dramatic pronunciations from highly respected scientists and entomologists. âWe appear to be making vast tracts of land inhospitable to most forms of life, and are currently on course for ecological Armageddon,â study coauthor David Goulson, Ph.D. of Sussex University, UK, told The Guardian. âIf we lose the insects then everything is going to collapse.â Looking at the range of mechanisms that could be driving this slow moving catastrophe, researchers could suss out only one plausible large-scale factor: agricultural intensification. The current study, which looked at 63 nature preserves located in Germany, follows a similar study released in 2013 that was conducted in a singular German nature preserve. That study, originally published only in German, but available translated by Boulder County Beekeepers, found that 75% of insect biomass declined in the Orbroich Bruch Nature Reserve in Krefeld, Germany from 1989 to 2013. That study was limited to a singular nature preserve, and while scientists who worked on the study described their results as […]
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Monday, September 25th, 2017
(Beyond Pesticides, September 25, 2017)Â As the comment period officially begins for the Fall 2017 National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) meeting, a major controversy is coming to a head on allowing hydroponics to be certified organic. Contrary to prior recommendations of the NOSB, the National Organic Program has allowed some hydroponics operations to be certified. The NOSB will consider motions at this meeting that could stop this practice. Make your voice heard on this and other issues by submitting comments NOW on what materials and practices are allowed in organic production! An easy way to speak out is to go to our website, find our positions, write your comments (using our summary âfeel free to cut-and-paste our comments), and submit your comments on the government website. [Unfortunately, for those who are not familiar with commenting on these critical organic integrity issues, this action requires that you post your comments on the governmentâs âregulations.govâ website. We have simplified this process through our Keeping Organic Strong webpage.] Submit your comments now. Beyond Pesticides provides you with our positions, which you can use as the basis for your comments. Please feel free to develop your own comments or cut and paste ours. If you […]
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Monday, September 11th, 2017
(Beyond Pesticides, September 11, 2017) Ten of 11 samples of Ben & Jerryâs ice cream tested positive for glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsantoâs dangerous Roundup herbicide. The ice cream brand says its social mission âseeks to meet human needs and eliminate the injustices in our local, national and international communities,â and that its focus is âon children and families, the environment and sustainable agriculture on family farms.â Send a message to B&J CEO now! Behind the iconic ice cream brandâs greenwashed façade is an unfortunate truth: its ice cream relies on a dairy industry that produces contaminated food, poisons Vermontâs waterways, abuses animals, exploits workers, bankrupts farmers, and contributes to climate change. Unless Ben & Jerry’s goes organic, its practices are responsible for: ⢠  Running Vermont family farms out of business. ⢠  Polluting Vermontâs waterways. ⢠  Abusing animals. ⢠  Exploiting farmworkers. ⢠  Contributing to climate change. ⢠  Putting human health at risk. In addition to the above problems, pesticides like Roundup, atrazine, and metolachlor âall carcinogens and endocrine disruptorsâ have devastating effects on human health. And they’re in Ben & Jerryâs ice cream. Yet, the Vermont brand that has used the image of cows […]
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Monday, August 28th, 2017
(Beyond Pesticides, August 28, 2017) School policies must protect children from pesticides by adopting organic land and building management policies and serving organic food in cafeterias. At the start of the school year, it is critical for school administrators to make sure that students and teachers are learning and teaching in an environment where no hazardous pesticides are used in the schoolâs buildings or on playing fields. It is also essential that children have access to organic food in food programs and manage school gardens organically. Send a letter to your local officials urging them to tell school districts to adopt organic management and serve organic food to students. In addition, there are other things you can do: Whether a parent, teacher, student, school administrator, landscaper or community advocate, there are steps that should be taken to make sure the school environment is a safe from toxic chemicals, as the new school year begins. For Parents and Teachers: Because children face unique hazards from pesticide exposure due to their smaller size and developing organ systems, using toxic pesticides to get control insects, germs, and weeds can harm students much more than it helps. The good news is that these poisons are unnecessary, given the availability of […]
Posted in Children/Schools, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Friday, May 5th, 2017
(Beyond Pesticides, May 5, 2017) Walmart and True Value have announced that beginning on Wednesday they will be phasing out neonicotinoid (neonic) pesticides from all retail supply chains. These announcements follow numerous scientific studies that have consistently implicated neonics in the decline of honey bees and other wild pollinators. The decision stems from an ongoing consumer and environmental campaigns urging retailers to stop selling plants treated with neonics and to remove products containing them from store shelves. Neonicotinoids are systemic pesticides, or whole plant poisons, taken up by a plantâs vascular system and expressed in the pollen, nectar, and dew drops. They are also highly persistent, with research showing the potential for certain chemicals in the class, such as clothianidin, to have a half-life of up to 15 years. Studies show significant cause for concern when it comes to pollinators and exposure to these pesticides. Although little substantive action on these chemicals has been taken by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the agency agreed that the pesticides do harm bees, though only in the limited situations and constrained scenarios that were actually investigated by EPA. The European Commission (EC) has proposed a complete ban of agricultural uses of the widely used […]
Posted in Announcements, Corporations, neonicotinoids, Pollinators, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Monday, April 24th, 2017
(Beyond Pesticides, April 24, 2017) After contributing $1 million to Donald Trumpâs presidential festivities, pesticide maker Dow Chemical Co. is asking the Administration to set aside previous findings of federal scientists across multiple agencies that confirm the risks that organophosphate pesticides pose to about 1,800 critically threatened or endangered species. This comes after the Administration abandoned plans to restrict the brain-damaging pesticide chlorpyrifos, also an organophosphate pesticide created by Dow, despite mountains of evidence that show the chemicalâs neurotoxic impacts on childrenâs brains. In letters sent to government officials, lawyers for Dow urge Administration officials and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set aside âbiological evaluationsâ that detail how three highly toxic organophosphate insecticides âchlorpyrifos, malathion and diazinonâ harm nearly all 1,800 threatened and endangered animals and plants, claiming the process to be âfundamentally flawed.â Federal agencies tasked with protecting endangered species âEPA, National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Department of Agricultureâ have worked for years to identify the risks posed by pesticides to threatened and endangered species under to the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Under Section 7 of ESA, states that any agency action must find that it âis not likely to jeopardize […]
Posted in Chlorpyrifos, Diazinon, Dow Chemical, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), Malathion, Pesticide Regulation, Wildlife/Endangered Sp. | No Comments »
Monday, January 23rd, 2017
(Beyond Pesticides, January 23, 2017) Last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)  released its final Biological Evaluations of Three Chemicalsâ Impacts on Endangered Species, which finds that chlorpyrifos and malathion likely have detrimental effect on 97 percent of all species listed and protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), while diazinon adversely affects 78 percent. According to EPAâs release on the subject, this is the âfirst-ever draft biological evaluations analyzing the nation-wide effectsâ of these registered chemicals on endangered species after decades of widespread use. The evaluations stem from a legal settlement with the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) in which CBD sued EPA in April 2014 for its failure to comply with ESA, which requires the agency to carry out consultations with federal wildlife agencies while registering pesticides. According to Nathan Donley, Ph.D., a CBD senior scientist, âWeâre now getting a much more complete picture of the risks that pesticides pose to wildlife at the brink of extinction, including birds, frogs, fish and plants. When it comes to pesticides, itâs always best to look before you leap, to understand the risks to people and wildlife before theyâre put into use. The EPA is providing a reasonable assessment of those risks, many of which can be […]
Posted in Agriculture, Alternatives/Organics, Announcements, Chemicals, Chlorpyrifos, contamination, Diazinon, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Increased Vulnerability to Diseases from Chemical Exposure, Malathion, Pesticide Regulation, Pesticide Residues, Pollinators, Wildlife/Endangered Sp. | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 10th, 2017
(Beyond Pesticides, January 10, 2017) Exposure to neonicotinoid (neonic) insecticides leads to a decrease in pollination frequency and fewer social interactions in bumblebees, according to research published by scientists from Harvard University and University of California, Davis. The study, released last year but presented this week at the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biologyâs annual meeting, underscores the need for regulators and policy makers to eliminate use of these chemicals, not only to protect honey bees, but also wild pollinators like the bumblebee. While worker bumblebees (Bombus impatiens) divide their tasks within the colony in a similar manner to honey bees, their nests appear quite different than their more structured cousins. “Bumblebee nests are not the organized, beautiful geometry of the honeybee,” said James Crall, PhD candidate in Harvard’s Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. Instead, “They’re more a hodge-podge of food and larvae in a pile in the middle of the nest space.” For their study, researchers placed four bumblebee colonies in a mesh enclosed area, tagged each bee, and observed them foraging on tomato flowers grown in a pollinator-excluding greenhouse (to ensure bees had freshly-opened flowers for pollination each day). After observing normal behavior, bees within each colony […]
Posted in Agriculture, Alternatives/Organics, Biodiversity, Chemicals, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Hydroponics, Imidacloprid, Increased Vulnerability to Diseases from Chemical Exposure, National Politics, Pesticide Drift, Pesticide Regulation, Pesticide Residues, Pollinators | 1 Comment »
Monday, January 9th, 2017
(Beyond Pesticides, January 9, 2017) After the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its recent human health risk assessment for the organophosphate insecticide (OP) tetrachlorvinphos (TCVP) on December 21, 2016, the agency announced it was allowing the continued use of the neurotoxic chemical to which children are widely exposed through pets’ flea collars and other flea treatments. According to EPA, ” TCVP is used as a direct animal treatment to livestock (i.e., cattle, horses, poultry and swine) and their premises, in kennels, outdoors as a perimeter treatment, and as a flea treatment [including flea collars] on cats and dogs.” In its announcement on January 4, 2017, EPA states, “We advise consumers to take certain precautions when handling TCVP products in residential areas. These precautions are listed on TCVP product labels, including: not allowing children to play with TCVP pet collar products, keeping TCVP spray and powder products out of reach of children, and washing hands thoroughly with soap and water after handling.” Advocates have raised concerns related to similar decisions on flea collars in the past in which EPA has issued warnings to mitigate risks, despite its inability to ensure children’s safety. Children typically come into close contact with pets and their […]
Posted in Announcements, Chemicals, Children/Schools, contamination, Disease/Health Effects, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Nervous System Effects, organophosphate, Pesticide Regulation, Pesticide Residues, Pets | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 4th, 2017
(Beyond Pesticides, January 4, 2017) The New Year saw its first pesticide-related tragedy yesterday when four children, ranging in age from 7-17, died from a toxic pesticide treatment on their house in Amarillo, Texas. The pesticide at issue, aluminum phosphide, was illegally applied under a mobile home where at least ten people were living. The chemical, classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a restricted use pesticide (RUP), is restricted for use by certified applicators (and those under their supervision) and it is a violation to use it within 100 feet of residential structures. CNN reports that a family member used water to try and wash away the pesticide after it was applied, and the combination of water and aluminum phosphide increased the release of toxic phosphine gas. The incident demonstrates the deficiency of managing risks of highly toxic chemicals by labeling them ârestricted use.â It has been Beyond Pesticides’ position that chemicals with aluminum phosphide’s level of toxicity should not be available on the market, even with restrictions. In making regulatory determinations on pesticide allowances, advocates have urged EPA to calculate the reality of misuse and accidents, instead of assuming 100% compliance with product label instructions. With this approach, the agency would […]
Posted in Alternatives/Organics, aluminum phosphide, Announcements, Chemicals, Disease/Health Effects, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Integrated and Organic Pest Management, Label Claims, Pesticide Regulation, Pests, Rodenticide, Rodents | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, November 1st, 2016
(Beyond Pesticides, November 1, 2016) A report published this weekend in The New York Times finds that the shift to genetically engineered (GE) crops in the United States and Canada over the past two decades has increased the use of pesticides in North America, and failed to produce any significant yield increases. When the technology was first introduced, multinational agrichemical companies claimed just the opposite would occur- yields would spike and pesticide use would be minimized. As far back as 1998, Beyond Pesticides asked, âIs the failed pesticide paradigm being genetically engineered?” As the Times and numerous other publications before it have found, the answer was and still is yes. The far-ranging expose by the Times on the state of the GE industry used publicly available data from the United Nations to compare yields between that of Europe and North America. Their data show âno discernible advantage in yields â food per acreâ for the United States and Canada over Western Europe during the time of GE crop adoption. A comparison between rapeseed yields in Canada and Western Europe shows increases in both regions, with Europeâs yields consistently higher, independent of the use of GE crops. For corn, gains in […]
Posted in Agriculture, Chemicals, contamination, Contamination, Corporations, Genetic Engineering, Glyphosate, Increased Vulnerability to Diseases from Chemical Exposure, Monsanto, Pollinators, Syngenta | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, October 19th, 2016
(Beyond Pesticides, October 19, 2016) Reckitt Benckiser, the company that fought tooth and nail to keep its highly toxic d-CON ÂŽ anticoagulant rodenticides on the market in the U.S., has recently issued an apology for another product of theirs that  is responsible for the deaths of pregnant women and children in Korea: humidifier disinfectants. According to The Wall Street Journal, 189 deaths and 506 injuries from humidifier disinfectants, primarily Reckitt Benckiserâs humidifier disinfectant, Oxy Sac Sac (Oxy). The main ingredient in the sanitizers found to be toxic is polyhexamethylene guanidine phosphate, or PHMG. In a statement on Wednesday, September 21, Reckitt Benckiser CEO Rakesh Kapoor offered his âdeepest sympathyâ for âthe pain and the irreparable damage suffered by many families.â The apology was made during a visit with Oxy victims and  families, as well as representatives of the Korean National Assembly Special Committee at the Companyâs headquarters in Slough, UK. Hazards associated with the humidifier disinfectants were first discovered in 2011 when seven pregnant women were hospitalized with acute respiratory disease, resulting in four deaths from  lung failure. Korean Center for Disease Control (KCDC) led an investigation that found that the chemicals used to clean humidifiers were to blame, and […]
Posted in Alternatives/Organics, Announcements, Corporations, International, Litigation, Pesticide Regulation, Pesticide Residues, Reckitt Benckiser, Rodenticide | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 16th, 2016
(Beyond Pesticides, August 16, 2016) Young children are disproportionately poisoned by toxic pesticides used indoors, according to a study published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health. Data analyzed from the Queensland, Australia Poisons Information Centre (QPIC) finds that 49% of 743 insecticide-related calls in 2014 concerned young children. Given that children are more sensitive to pesticide exposure than adults because they take in more of a chemical relative to their body size and have developing organ systems, this data underscores the importance of educating the general public about alternatives to the use of toxic pesticides in and around the home. A significant share of childhood pesticide poisonings occurred in very young children. âChildren in the one-year age group were at greatest risk â as theyâre at that stage where they spend a lot of the time on the floor and put things in their mouth,â said Karin English, PhD candidate at the University of Queensland. As a result of childrenâs propensity for hand to mouth motion, cockroach baits and ant liquid were found to be the most common source of insecticide exposure for kids under five, covering 39% of calls. However, Ms. English notes that enclosing […]
Posted in ADHD, Alternatives/Organics, Asthma, Cancer, Children/Schools, Developmental Disorders, Disease/Health Effects, International, Piperonyl butoxide (PBO), Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2016
(Beyond Pesticides, February 2, 2016) Boulder, Coloradoâs McGuckin Hardware is setting an example for hardware stores across the country by removing bee-toxic neonicotinoids from its store shelves, and working to reorient its customers toward natural, holistic practices. McGuckinâs change is the latest in a movement among local hardware businesses to take a stand against toxic pesticides that are harmful to pollinators and unnecessary to control problem pests. âWe wanted to be one of the first to get rid of them,â said Steve Wilke, McGuckins marketing communications specialist in a piece published in Hardware Retailing, a newsletter run by the North American Retail Hardware Association. Local and national advocates are praising McGuckinâs shift away from products that harm pollinators. âPeople are very excited about the dramatic steps McGuckinâs has taken to get neonics out of our environment,â said David Wheeler of the local pollinator-advocacy organization Bee Safe Boulder. Bee Safe Boulder is a coalition of concerned Boulder residents that successfully fought for the passage of a pollinator resolution in the City of Boulder, Layfayette, and Boulder County, Colorado. The organization also has a project aimed at encouraging local retailers to stop selling plants coated in neonicotinoids; 18 retailers in the area, […]
Posted in Alternatives/Organics, Announcements, Chemicals, Colorado, neonicotinoids, State/Local | No Comments »