Search Results
Monday, June 21st, 2021
(Beyond Pesticides, June 21, 2021) Pollinator Week reminds us that change is critical to the survival of the planet and that we can take action, both in our households and communities and in the state and federal policy arena. Here’s how YOU can take action… Create an organic habitat on your own property or a space in the communityâsuch as the library grounds, medians, and rights-of-way. Given that plant starts in many garden centers across the country are grown from seeds coated with bee-toxic neonicotinoid pesticides, or drenched with them, Beyond Pesticides has compiled a comprehensive directory of companies and organizations that sell organic seeds and plants to the general public. Included in this directory are seeds for vegetables, flowers, and herbs, as well as living plants and seedlings. [We are always updating the directory, so send us names of companies that should be added and we will.] Go organic in the management of all your town’s public spacesâparks, playing fields, school grounds, and open space. Check out the information on talking with your neighbors, local organizations, and elected officials about advancing our model local policy. Then you can see what other communities are doing across the country. Also, see the cost […]
Posted in Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Pollinators, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Monday, May 17th, 2021
(Beyond Pesticides, May 17, 2021) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has less than two months to decide whether to cancel or modify its registration of the brain-damaging organophosphate insecticide chlorpyrifos, following a decision from a federal appeals court. The ruling comes after more than a decade of delay from the federal agency tasked with protecting public health and the environment from the hazards of chemicals like chlorpyrifos. The decision now falls to the Biden Administrationâs EPA Administrator Michael Regan, after the previous administration reversed a proposal to ban agricultural uses of chlorpyrifos in 2017. Most residential uses of the chemical were banned in 2000. Tell EPA to ban chlorpyrifos and other neurotoxic pesticides. The target of action by which chlorpyrifos and many other pesticides kill is the nervous system. It is not surprising, then, that pesticides also target the nervous system in humans. They are particularly hazardous to children, who take in greater amounts of pesticides relative to their body weight than adults, and whose developing organ systems are typically more sensitive to toxic exposures. The body of evidence in the scientific literature shows that pesticide exposure can adversely affect a child’s neurological, respiratory, immune, and endocrine systems, even at […]
Posted in Agriculture, Brain Effects, Children, Chlorpyrifos, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Farmworkers, Nervous System Effects, Take Action, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Friday, May 7th, 2021
(Beyond Pesticides, May 7, 2021) Soil health is one of the linchpins on which the food production that sustains human life â as well as biodiversity, pollinator health, and carbon sequestration â depend. A recent meta-review of nearly 400 studies finds that, in 71% of the cases reviewed, pesticides kill or otherwise harm soil invertebrates that contribute mightily to soil health. In their paper, âPesticides and Soil Invertebrates: A Hazard Assessment,â published in Frontiers in Environmental Science in early May, the researchers write, âA wide variety of soil-dwelling invertebrates display sensitivity to pesticides of all types . . . [These results] support the need for pesticide regulatory agencies to account for the risks that pesticides pose to soil invertebrates and soil ecosystems.â Beyond Pesticides, which has long reported on impacts of pesticides on soil health, concurs with that conclusion, and adds that the real solutions to noxious pesticide impacts lie in the adoption of  regenerative organic approaches to all land management because they obviate any need for petroleum-based toxic chemical controls. The term âpesticideâ can refer to myriad kinds of chemical treatments â including antimicrobials, disinfectants, rodenticides, and others â but in the agricultural and land management realms, primarily means insecticides, […]
Posted in Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Uncategorized | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 5th, 2021
(Beyond Pesticides, May 5, 2021) As periodical cicadas begin to emerge throughout the central and eastern United States, many may be tempted to put a halt to their noisy mating calls by reaching for a spray bottle of pesticide. But besides violating local noise ordinances, cicadas are relatively harmless and play a critical ecological role. Environmental organizations are urging U.S. residents and communities not to spray cicadas with pesticides, noting that pesticide hazards will last longer than Brood X cicadas. Â Reports indicate that pesticide applicator groups and businesses agree that there is no need to spray for periodical cicadas. “We really want people to understand and know that pesticides are not the answer, which sounds really funny coming from a pest control company,” Frank Meek, a manager at Orkin, told CNET. “Pesticides are not the thing to use on this insect. They don’t work for it, and it’s a waste of product, and it’s a danger to the environment just to spray down because you’re afraid of the cicadas.” But while environmental groups and frontline applicators are working to educate the public over the futility of spraying, pesticide manufacturers like Ortho are encouraging homeowners to spend their money on […]
Posted in cicadas, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Synthetic Pyrethroid, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, May 4th, 2021
(Beyond Pesticides, May 4, 2021) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has less than two months to determine whether cancel or modify its registration of the brain-damaging, organophosphate insecticide chlorpyrifos, following a decision from a federal appeals court last week. The ruling comes after more than a decade of delay from the federal agency tasked with protecting public health and the environment from the hazards of chemicals like chlorpyrifos. The decision now falls to the Biden Administration’s EPA Administrator Michael Regan, after the previous administration reversed a proposal to ban agricultural uses of chlorpyrifos in 2017. Most residential uses of the chemical were banned in 2000.  âThe EPA has had nearly 14 years to publish a legally sufficient response to the 2007 Petition,â reads a 2-1 opinion from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco. âDuring that time, the EPAâs egregious delay exposed a generation of American children to unsafe levels of chlorpyrifos.â Chlorpyrifos is an organophosphate insecticide that is currently registered for use on a range of food crops, golf courses, and for public health mosquito control (in cases of mosquito-borne diseases). It is highly acutely toxic, causing numbness, tingling sensation, in-coordination, dizziness, vomiting, […]
Posted in Agriculture, Chlorpyrifos, Dow Chemical, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Litigation, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Friday, April 23rd, 2021
It all started with New York City public school teacher Paula Rogovin and her kindergarten class. They went down to city call, wrote letters, shared artwork, and got the attention of Council Member Ben Kallos, who sponsored reform legislation. (Beyond Pesticides, April 23, 2021) Yesterday, on Earth Day, the New York City Council passed landmark legislation to eliminate the use of toxic pesticides in parks and playgrounds. This new law eliminates the use of toxic pesticides, like glyphosate/Roundup, codifying a ban on pesticides with an allowance for only those permitted under federal organic standards. A few hours before passage of the bill, Intro. 1524 (see detailed factsheet below), the measureâs sponsor, Council Member Ben Kallos, and the Speaker of the Council, Corey Johnson,  were joined at a press conference by: Bertha Lewis, president of the Black Institute; those who began the movement for the legislation, retired teacher Paula Rogovin and some of her fomer students from Public School (PS) 290 in Manhattan; Jay Feldman, executive director of Beyond Pesticides; and, Patti and Doug  Wood, executive director and program director, respectively, of Grassroots Environmental Education. âParks should be for playing not pesticides,â said Council Member Ben Kallos. âAll families should be […]
Posted in Alternatives/Organics, Glyphosate, Lawns/Landscapes, New York, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
Friday, March 5th, 2021
(Beyond Pesticides, March 5, 2021) Pet owners will be alarmed to read the report, by USA Today, that a popular flea and tick collar â Seresto, developed by Bayer and sold by Elanco â has been linked to nearly 1,700 pet deaths, injuries to tens of thousands of animals, and harm to hundreds of people. At the time of publication, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which regulates pesticides, had issued no informational alert to let the public know about these risks to pets â despite many hundreds of incident reports in its Office of Pesticide Programs Incident Report database. Beyond Pesticides and other advocates have warned of the toxicity of pet pesticide treatments, not only to the animals themselves, but also, to children and other household members. There are nontoxic ways to protect pets from fleas and other pests, and to protect human family members at the same time. Beyond Pesticides is calling on EPA to recognize, finally, that the label on flea collars is not adequately protective, as evidenced by the number of deaths and 75,000 incidents. âEPA has the authority to act now, and it should use its powers to protect the health and lives of pets,â […]
Posted in Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Fleas, Flumethrin, Imidacloprid, Pets, Synthetic Pyrethroids, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
Thursday, January 7th, 2021
(Beyond Pesticides, January 7, 2021) Insecticides and road salts adversely interact to alter aquatic ecosystems, reducing organism abundance and size, according to a study in the journal Environmental Pollution. Pesticide use is ubiquitous, and contamination in rivers and streams is historically commonplace, containing at least one or more different chemicals. Although road salts can prevent hazardous ice formation during the colder months, the study raises critical issues regarding the adverse interaction between road salts and pervasive environmental pollutants that threaten human, animal, and environmental health and safety. Authors of the study note, âOur results highlight the importance of multiple-stressor research under natural conditions. As human activities continue to imperil freshwater systems, it is vital to move beyond single-stressor experiments that exclude potentially interactive effects of chemical contaminants.â To assess the impact of road salts and insecticides on aquatic communities, researchers created a mesocosm (controlled outdoor experimental area) to examines the natural environment under controlled conditions. These communities include zooplankton, phytoplankton, periphyton, and leopard frog (Rana pipiens) tadpoles. Researchers performed a toxicity evaluation of six insecticides from three chemical classes (neonicotinoids: thiamethoxam, imidacloprid; organophosphates: chlorpyrifos, malathion; pyrethroids: cypermethrin, permethrin). Additionally, researchers note the potentially interactive effects of these insecticides with three concentrations of […]
Posted in Aquatic Organisms, Pesticide Mixtures, synergistic effects, Water, Wildlife/Endangered Sp. | No Comments »
Monday, December 7th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, December 7, 2020)Â The Trump Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reversed in four years much of the progress made by EPA in decades, and that push continues. The Biden EPA needs to advance a new vision. Tell President-elect Biden to adopt a new direction for pesticide regulation. Challenge so-called âbenefitsâ of pesticides. The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) requires EPA to weigh risks against benefits when registering pesticides. Claimed âbenefitsâ for toxic pesticides need to be judged in comparison to organic production, which is able to produce all types of food and feed. The Organic Trade Association reports that organic sales now exceed $55 billion per year, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) finds that organic producers in the U.S. produced $9.9 billion worth of organic food on 5.5 million acres in 2019. EPA assumes benefits of pesticides, rather than measuring them, and does not take into account the development of resistance. The cost-competitive success of organic food production and nonagricultural land management practices make the case that toxic pesticides lack benefits. Protect pollinators. Agriculture relies on insect pollinators to facilitate fertilization and maintain annual crop yield. Globally, the production of crops dependent on pollinators is worth […]
Posted in Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), President-elect Transition, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Thursday, November 12th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, November 12, 2020) A new report from the University of Milan and Poison Control Center (CVA) in Milan, Italy suggests that domestic animals experience frequent environmental poisoning by household toxicants. This research highlights the significance of investigating methods to classify diseases shared across multiple species to reduce the adverse effects of toxicant exposure. Researchers note, âThese findings can provide useful information for the identification and monitoring of known and emerging toxicants, with positive repercussions on human, animal, and environmental health.â Veterinary toxicologists collaborated with the Poison Control Centre of Milan to analyze data related to animal poisoning episodes from January 2017 to March 2019. Evaluated data includes comprehensive information about animal species, potential poisoning agents, route of exposure, and clinical signs. Toxic chemicals (toxicants) considered include pesticides (insecticides, rodenticides, molluscicides, herbicides, and fungicides), drugs/medication (human and veterinary medicinal products, tobacco/nicotine, and drugs of abuse), household products (i.e., detergent, disinfectants), and other causative compounds. To analyze data results, researchers used IBMÂŽ SPSSÂŽ Statistics software and graphed findings using Prism by GraphPad. Researchers reported 442 animal poisoning episodes. Pesticides and medicine are the two major causes of domestic animal poisoning (34.1% and 33.5% of incidents, respectively). The remainder of animal poising incidents are from household […]
Posted in Household Use, Pets, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 28th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, October 28, 2020) This month the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized decisions allowing continued use of a range of highly toxic pesticides, including the herbicide paraquat, and the synthetic pyrethroid class of insecticides. The move has been met with stinging criticism from the health and environmental community, but the decisions come as no surprise. Continued allowance of hazardous pesticides is a result of a weak law, lax regulations, and an administration that has consistently refused to follow even deficient protections. âThe EPAâs pesticide office has sunk to a despicable new low in allowing farmworkers, small children and the environment to be sacrificial pawns in the profit schemes of its friends in the pesticide industry,â said Nathan Donley, PhD, senior scientist at Center for Biological Diversity. âIn rushing to reapprove these deadly chemicals, itâs ignored its own scientists and independent researchers, refused to protect human health and the environment, and shown itself to be the panting lapdog of a morally bankrupt industry.â EPA reregistered paraquat despite overwhelming evidence that the chemical cannot be used without âunreasonable adverse effects on the environmentâ — the lackluster standard in federal pesticide law to which the agency is required to regulate a […]
Posted in Agriculture, Fumigants, Methomyl, Paraquat, Synthetic Pyrethroid, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Monday, October 19th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, October 19, 2020) The COVID-19 epidemic has made clear to the general public what we at Beyond Pesticides have been stressing since our inceptionâsome populations have disproportionate risk of severe outcomes, exposures to toxic chemicals can affect susceptibility to disease, comorbidity increases risk, and bad government can kill you. As Trump declares that âunborn children have never had a stronger defender in the White House,â we are reminded of Erik Jansson, who ran the National Network to Prevent Birth Defects and helped to convene the founding meeting of Beyond Pesticides, and took on then-Administrator of EPA Anne Gorsuch, calling her a âbaby killerâ because of policies that allowed exposures to toxic chemicalsâexposures that endangered children and fetuses. Those were harsh words in the 1980s even when the Reagan administrationâs environmental and toxics policies were tied to elevated harm to people, and children in particular. In todayâs world, scientists and medical doctors are regularly linking elevated death rates from coronavirus to the federal governmentâs inadequate coronavirus policy and its attack on science. And, they are pointing to those in charge. Policies and decisions under the Trump administration that threaten the health of children and the unborn include: COVID-19 misinformation. […]
Posted in Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), US Department of Agriculture (USDA) | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 15th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, September 15, 2020) Both wild and captive primates are being exposed to hazardous pesticides and flame retardants, according to research published this month in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. This is the first study to look at the threat anthropogenic (man-made) chemicals may present for this important order of animals. “We think a lot about habitat disturbance, logging, and hunting as threats to these species, while pollution has been overlooked,” study co-author Michael Wasserman, told Environmental Health News (EHN). Scientists conducted their research by first obtaining fecal samples from three distinct primate populations: captive baboons from an Indiana zoo, wild howler monkeys from a research station in Costa Rica, and wild chimpanzees, red-tailed monkeys, and red colobus monkeys from a Ugandan national park. Samples were then tested for a range of chemicals, including 50 pesticides, and nearly 70 flame retardants. Scientists discovered legacy pesticides (such as heptachlor, DDT, hexachlorohexane, chlordane, and related compounds) in every species tested, with the highest levels found in red colobus and red-tailed monkeys. In particular, DDT and its related compounds (DDD and DDE) were found to be widespread, with red colobus monkeys registering a median of 260 ppb DDE in its waste. […]
Posted in Agriculture, contamination, International, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Friday, September 4th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, September 4, 2020)Â When pesticide drift is investigated, it is most often drift from agricultural fields that is examined. A new study shows that off-target drift of pesticides from greenhouses is also a reality. This research deduced such drift of organophosphate and carbamate pesticides from crop applications done in Ecuadoran floriculture greenhouses by evaluating the acetylcholinesterase enzyme (AChE) activity, necessary to the transmission of nerve impulses, in children residing nearby. The team finds that children living in homes near greenhouses in which these insecticides (widely recognized as cholinesterase inhibitors) are used exhibit reduced activity of this enzyme and abnormal functioning of the nervous system. Beyond Pesticides has monitored the pesticide drift issue intensively, and has long advocated for far better protections for farmworkers. This new information connects those issues, and expands the âdriftâ concerns to include risks to people working in greenhouses, and to those, especially children, who happen to live near greenhouse-type structures in which these toxic chemicals are used. The study evaluates data during three separate periods (2008, April 2016, and JulyâOctober 2016) on 623 children, aged 4â17, living in floricultural communities in Ecuador. The research is part of the study of the Secondary Exposure to Pesticides […]
Posted in Agriculture, Carbamates, Greenhouse, Nervous System Effects, organophosphate, Pesticide Drift, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Thursday, September 3rd, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, September 3, 2020) Occupational exposure to pollutants including, those from wood burning, pesticides, metals, and vehicle combustion, increases the risk of developing heart abnormalities among Latinx individuals, according to new research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. Although previous research focuses on the impact of pollutants on human health from occupational or residential exposure, this study highlights the risk chemical exposure can have on communities, especially for those underrepresented in conventional occupational health studies, such as those with Hispanic or Latinx backgrounds. People of color communities are already at greater risk of exposure to environmental and health harms, such as pesticide pollution, which has been identified as environmental racism. Additionally, not only are people of color at risk of developing various, serious health issues associated with additional or cumulative pesticide exposure, they disproportionately face an elevated risk from Covid-19 as essential workers or family members of those workers. According to the researchers, âThe objective of this study was to assess the relationship between occupational exposure to hazardous substances and cardiac structure and function in Hispanic/Latino participants in ECHOâSOL (Echocardiographic Study of Latinos).â It is significant as it highlights the regular/routine exposure to environmental pollutants, including pollution from […]
Posted in Agriculture, Cardiovascular Disease, Disease/Health Effects, Environmental Justice | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, September 2, 2020) Itâs being called the Monarch Massacreâhundreds of monarch butterflies found dead after the Vector Control Department of Cass County, North Dakota aerially sprayed the county for mosquito control. This incident occurred during a moment in history that is seeing monarchs at the edge of extinction, with the number of monarch butterflies overwintering in Mexico having declined 53% from last year, according to a count conducted by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Mexico. This tragedy happened as the nation and the world are experiencing an insect apocalypse and severe biodiversity decline, threatening the web of life. (See Study Predicts Demise of Insects within Decades if Pesticide Dependence Continues.) While it is critical that steps be taken by communities nationwide to protect their local ecology, the incident generated a response from Cass County that claims that the insecticides used are âthe lowest toxicity products on the market for mosquito control,â and points to the âmonarch migration [that] is a sporadic event that unfortunately occurred during the latest adult mosquito control application.â The County justifies the spraying because of nuisance mosquitoes and a finding in the âsurrounding communitiesâ of mosquitoes carrying West Nile virus (WNv). In its Facebook statement, the County […]
Posted in Mosquitoes, North Dakota, Permethrin, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Friday, August 14th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, August 13, 2020) Levels of the notorious herbicide compound glyphosate in the human body are reduced by 70% through a one-week switch to an organic diet, finds a new, peer-reviewed study published in August 2020 in the journal Environmental Research. This result emphasizes both the ubiquity of this compound in the human body, and diet as the primary source of exposure for most people. It also adds to the evidence for Beyond Pesticidesâ assertions that: (1) chemical-intensive agriculture must be abandoned, for a variety of reasons that include human health, and (2) in the lead-up to a transition to organic and regenerative agriculture, consuming organic foods as much as is practicable is powerful protection from glyphosate, and from the assault of multiple chemical pesticides to which most people are exposed. Glyphosate is the active ingredient in the popular weed killer RoundupTM, which has been used intensively in the U.S. and around the world, especially during the last couple of decades. It is very commonly used on crops grown from genetically engineered (GE) companion seeds for a variety of staple crops (e.g., soybeans, cotton, and corn). These GE seeds are glyphosate-tolerant, whose attribute has allowed growers to apply the herbicide and […]
Posted in Alternatives/Organics, Bayer, Genetic Engineering, Glyphosate, Monsanto, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Thursday, August 6th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, August 6, 2020) New research finds that a decline in wild pollinator abundance, notably wild bees, limits crop yields in the U.S., according to the study, âCrop Production in the USA Is Frequently Limited by A Lack of Pollinators.â The study results, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, find the annual, national average value of wild bee pollination for the most economically important and pollinator-dependent crops is approximately $1.5 billion, with the total value of all U.S. pollinator-dependent crops equaling $50 billion annually. The United Nations states that 75% of the 115 top global food crops depend on insect pollination, with one third of all U.S. crops dependent on pollinators, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). However, research finds that many insect populations are declining by half with a third threatened by extinction, including managed and wild pollinators, mainly due to habitat fragmentation, climate change, and extensive pesticide use. With the global reliance on pollinator-dependent crops increasing over the past decades, a lack of pollinators threatens food security and stability. The researchers in the study note, “Our findings show that pollinator declines could translate directly into decreased yields or production for most of the crops studied, […]
Posted in Agriculture, Alternatives/Organics, Pesticide Residues, Pollinators, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Monday, July 20th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, July 20, 2020) Does your community spray toxic pesticides for mosquitoes? In a well-intentioned but ill-informed attempt to prevent mosquito-borne illness such as West Nile virus, many communities spray insecticides (adulticides) designed to kill flying mosquitoes. If your community is one of these, then your public officials need to know that there is a better, more-effective, way to prevent mosquito breeding. Tell your public officials to stop spraying pesticides and adopt a mosquito management plan that protects public health and the environment. The problem with mosquito pesticides. Two classes of insecticides are favored by mosquito spray programsâorganophosphates and synthetic pyrethroids. In order to better target flying mosquitoes, adulticides are generally applied as ultra-low-volume (ULV) formulations that will float in the air longer than usual. Pesticides are toxic chemicals and can exacerbate respiratory illnesses like Covid-19.Organophosphates, which include malathion (Fyfanon), naled (Dibrom), and chlorpyrifos (Mosquitomist for public health uses only) are highly toxic pesticides that affect the central nervous, cardiovascular, and respiratory systems. Symptoms of poisoning in humans include numbness, tingling sensations, headache, dizziness, tremors, nausea, abdominal cramps, sweating, incoordination, blurred vision, difficulty breathing, slow heartbeat, loss of consciousness, incontinence, convulsions, and death. Some organophosphates have been linked to […]
Posted in Asthma, Cancer, Chlorpyrifos, Liver failure, Malathion, Mosquitoes, Naled, PBO, Synthetic Pyrethroid, Take Action, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Friday, July 10th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, July 10, 2020) A study published in June 2020 in Environmental Health journal is especially concerning for people who become, or plan to become, pregnant. It concludes that personal, agricultural, and household exposures to pesticides may increase the risk of a relatively rare fetal disorder called âholoprosencephaly.â The study finds that pre-conception and the first few weeks of pregnancy are the most vulnerable periods during which exposure can increase risk of this disorder, in which the embryoâs forebrain fails to develop into two distinct hemispheres. The studyâs results reinforce Beyond Pesticideâs long-standing warnings of the dangers of pesticides to children and the necessity of shifting to a precautionary approach to the introduction and use of synthetic pesticides (and other chemicals) across all sectors. The importance of this shift is perhaps no more poignantly illustrated than in the impacts that pesticide exposure can have on new life. The study, conducted from 2016 through 2019 by researchers from NIH (the U.S. National Institutes of Health) and the University of WisconsinâMadison, is a case-control study â one that compares subjects who have a disease or disorder with âcontrolsâ who do not have the disorder, comparing the frequency of exposure to a particular risk […]
Posted in Birth defects, Brain Effects, Children, DEET, organochlorines, organophosphate, Repellent, Synthetic Pyrethroid, Synthetic Pyrethroids, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 8th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, July 8, 2020)Â Efforts to control the transmission of malaria are encountering a big, though predictable, problem: the mosquitoes that transmit malaria are developing resistance to at least five of the insecticides that have been central to limiting transmission of the disease. A study released in late June reveals a dramatic increase in resistance to pyrethroid insecticides and DDT across sub-Saharan Africa. This signals the failure of a mainstay chemical approach to the spread of malarial mosquitoes; this same problem â resistance â is happening with chemical management of agricultural pests and weeds, and with antibiotics to treat human bacterial infections. This study underscores a point Beyond Pesticides has made repeatedly: resistance to pesticides (whether insecticides, herbicides, biocides, fungicides, or medical antibiotics) is nearly inevitable. The solution to containing the spread of malaria lies not in the use of more and different chemicals, but in nontoxic approaches that respect nature and ecological balance. Malaria is a sometimes deadly disease caused by female Anopheles mosquitoes infected with any of four varieties of the Plasmodium parasite. The disease kills roughly 400,000 people annually, with half that mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. The U.S. sees approximately 2,000 cases of malaria annually, primarily in […]
Posted in DDT, Deltamethrin, International, Malaria, Mosquitoes, Resistance, Synthetic Pyrethroid, Synthetic Pyrethroids, Uncategorized, World Health Organization | No Comments »
Thursday, June 11th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, June 11, 2020) Researchers at North Carolina State University (NC State) and Duke University found that dogs can potentially operate as a sentinel, or indicator, species for environmental contaminate exposure â and subsequent diseases â in humans using silicone monitoring devices (i.e., wristbands, collars, etc.), according to research published in Environmental Science & Technology. Although scientists commonly use silicone devices to gauge organic contaminant exposure levels in epidemiological studies, the identification of chronic human diseases from pollutants remains challenging. Anthropoid (human) diseases can take many years to develop, even after initial contaminant exposure. However, dogs can develop comparable anthropomorphic diseases from susceptibility to the same environmental contaminants, but at a much quicker pace. This research highlights the significance of researching disease identification methods, mutual amid multiple species, to mitigate challenges surrounding long disease latency periods. Matthew Breen, Ph.D., professor of comparative oncology genetics at NC State, asserts, âIf we develop ways to correlate dog disease with their exposures over time, it may allow human-health professionals to mitigate these exposures for both species. This study reinforces the concept of One Health, demonstrating that in addition to being our closest animal companions, our dogs are truly a sentinel species for health.â As […]
Posted in Biomonitoring, Disease/Health Effects, Integrated and Organic Pest Management, Permethrin, Pets, synergistic effects, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Friday, May 29th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, May 29, 2020) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)âs Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently released a report highlighting employee discontent with scientific integrity (SI) within the agency. While the number of official complaints about scientific integrity have been fairly minimal over the 8 years that the 2012 policy has been in placeâonly 85 complaints were filedâthe new survey found 400 EPA employees had experienced, but did not report, potential violations of EPAâs scientific integrity policy. Further, according to OIGâs findings, dissatisfaction regarding scientific integrity abounds within the agency. EPAâs 2012 Scientific Integrity (SI) Policy was instated to âensure scientific integrity throughout EPA and promote scientific and ethical standards, including quality standards; communications with the public; the use of peer review and advisory committees; and professional development.â EPAâs policy defines scientific integrity as âthe adherence to professional values and practices when conducting, supervising, communicating and utilizing the results of science and scholarship.â OIGâs performance audit took place from September 2018 to February 2019 and included a survey given between November and December of 2018. OIGâs report states, âThe survey was structured to examine (1) awareness of and familiarity with the SI Policy, (2) experience with the four focus […]
Posted in Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Uncategorized | No Comments »