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Daily News Blog

Archive for the '3-D' Category


02
May

Industry Foots Bill for EPA Travel

(Beyond Pesticides, May 2, 2007) A recent study completed by the Center for Public Integrity finds that industry, including pesticide companies, spent over $12 million on trips for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employees between October 1997 and March 2006. During that time, EPA officials took more than 10,000 privately sponsored trips totaling more than 40,000 days ”” a total of 110 years ”” away from their offices. While some of those trips were legitimate fact-finding missions paid for by companies, local governments, nonprofit organizations, universities and international environmental groups, many were funded by those with a financial stake in EPA decision-making, including groups and companies that receive EPA contracts and grants, groups lobbying the federal government and companies with ties to federally recognized toxic waste sites, according to disclosure documents. Although EPA’s authority is limited to the U.S., more than $6.6 million was spent on trips to other countries. Agency employees took more than $1 million in trips to France, Germany and Italy during the study period. East Asia was also a common destination – more than $1.4 million was spent on trips to China, Japan, Taiwan and Thailand. “While EPA is a domestic agency, it has international responsibilities,” […]

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27
Apr

Amvac Corporation Charts Risky Business Model

(Beyond Pesticides, April 27, 2007) Health risk, environmental risk and investment risk all have one thing in common — they are all part of Amvac Chemical Corporation’s business practices. According to a Los Angeles Times investigation earlier this month, this socially irresponsible business model has led Amvac to double-digit revenue growth and a toxic legacy. The Amvac homepage reads, “The Company’s chief strategy is to acquire niche product lines from multi-billion dollar companies that divest mature products to focus on newly discovered molecules. The Company’s products include insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, soil fumigants, defoliants, molluscides and growth regulators.” In actuality, Amvac buys the rights to older, high risk pesticides from larger companies. Many of these pesticides, which are some of the most toxic on the market, are likely to be banned or restricted due to safety concerns. Amvac hires scientists and lawyers to keep these dangerous chemicals on the market as long as possible. The company also often skirts regulatory issues by exporting products to countries with weaker regulatory systems. “There’s something here rather unique, which is a company that basically goes intentionally after chemicals that are in trouble because of health and safety concerns,” said Steve Schatzow, a former director […]

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26
Apr

Organic Baby Food Sales Soar

(Beyond Pesticides, April 26, 2007) As concerns about the effects of pesticides in children’s food grows, sales of organic baby food have increased dramatically. Although it still only accounts for a fairly small portion of the overall baby food market, the organic baby food sector is booming. Whole Foods Market Inc. said it has tripled the space allotted to organic baby products in the past five years. Last year, Gerber Products Company rebranded and broadened its organic line, and Abbott Laboratories introduced an organic version of its baby formula. Organic baby food sales soared 21.6 percent to $116 million this past year, after jumping 16.4 percent a year earlier, according to The Nielsen Company. Meanwhile, overall baby food sales rose 3.1 percent to $3.7 billion in the same period, after being essentially flat a year earlier. The data were gleaned from U.S. grocery, drug and mass-market retailers, excluding Wal-Mart. Big companies aren’t the only ones addressing the demand for organic baby products. Two years ago, Gigi Lee Chang started Plum Organics, a line of frozen baby foods that now is a very popular line, according to Whole Foods officials. Ms. Lee Chang got the idea to start the company when […]

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25
Apr

On Africa Malaria Day, Groups Say No to DDT and Advocate Safe Methods

(Beyond Pesticides, April 25, 2007) Public health and environmental activists call on the world community today to respect life, protect children, stop hazardous pesticide use, including DDT, and adopt what they call “sustainable programs that attack poverty and the conditions that give rise to insect-borne diseases such as malaria.” Africa Malaria Day is commemorated on April 25, a day set aside by African governments committed to rolling back malaria and meeting the United Nations malaria-related Millennium Development Goals. Last September, the World Health Organization came under heavy criticism from public health and environmental groups when it announced its new policy to promote the use of DDT for malaria control in developing countries. Environmental and public health advocates warn that good intentions are in this case misguided. According to the Washington, DC-based non-profit organization Beyond Pesticides, advocating a reliance on pesticides, especially DDT, as a silver bullet solution for malaria protection is extremely dangerous. When the underlying causes of pest problems are not adequately addressed, then a sustained dependence on toxic pesticides like DDT causes greater long-term problems than those that are being addressed in the short-term. “The WHO is misleading the world on DDT, which is a known cancer causing […]

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13
Apr

Groups Reject Flawed Nanotechnology Risk Assessment Framework

(Beyond Pesticides, April 13, 2007) A broad coalition of public interest, non-profit and labor groups, including Beyond Pesticides, have issued a letter calling the international nanotechnology community to join them in rejecting a voluntary risk assessment framework. The framework, developed under the leadership of industry in conjunction with the Environmental Defense Fund, is billed as flawed and as a public relations campaign. Nanotechnology, or nanotech, describes the design, production, and application of engineered nano-sized materials from known chemicals such as silver, carbon, iron, or titanium. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter, or around one ten-thousandth the diameter of a human hair. Concern over nanotech products comes from the fact that despite nano-sized chemicals have different properties compared with their bulk-sized counterparts, they are not being adequately regulated and may potentially pose health and environmental risks that are not being properly assessed. The letter states: We, the undersigned, submit this open letter to the international nanotechnology community at large. We are a coalition of public interest, non-profit and labor organizations that actively work on nanotechnology issues, including workplace safety, consumer health, environmental welfare, and broader societal impacts. DuPont Chemical Company (DuPont) and Environmental Defense (ED) jointly have proposed a […]

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11
Apr

EPA Fines Clorox Over Export Labels

(Beyond Pesticides, April 11, 2007) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced in an April 10, 2007, press release that it is seeking damages from the Clorox Company for violating pesticide regulations. Fines were levied for multiple violations that involved mislabeled pesticides intended for export. A fine of $177,300 is based on 38 alleged violations involving unregistered and mislabeled disinfectant bleach, originally intended for export to Asia. The bottles, according to the complaint, were missing appropriate directions for use and did not bear the required wording, “Not Registered for Use in the United States.” The bottles were discovered during an audit of the company, which was prompted by inconsistencies between production and distribution in the Clorox Company’s 2005 yearly report to EPA of its export-only, unregistered products. According to Clorox spokesman Dan Staublin, “The bleach in question was part of a charitable donation that Clorox made to two Los Angeles nonprofit organizations.” “Companies must ensure that all pesticides meant solely for export do not enter into the U.S. market,” said Enrique Manzanilla, EPA’s Community and Ecosystems Division director for the Pacific Southwest. “Selling or distributing unregistered, mislabeled pesticides is a serious violation that can result in harm to public health and […]

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05
Apr

Companies Face Shareholder Resolutions on Chemical Risks in Products

(Beyond Pesticides, April 5, 2007) In the wake of costly litigation, product sales bans, and reputation damage arising from asbestos, pesticides and other toxic materials in cosmetics and toys, and Teflon-related chemicals, U.S. investors are becoming increasingly wary of toxic chemical risks in products, in supply chains, and in their own portfolios. The number of shareholder resolutions dealing with toxic product risks jumped from three in 2004-2005 to 17 in 2006-2007, including 13 resolutions introduced for the 2007 proxy season at such leading U.S. corporations as Dow and DuPont, according to a press release. In response, the Investor Environmental Health Network (IEHN), which represents 20 investment organizations with $22 billion in assets under management, yesterday released the 52-page “Fiduciary Guide to Toxic Chemical Risk.” The guide for institutional investors examines the financial dimensions of toxic chemical risk, including how to quantify such risk, the theory behind the danger posed by toxic chemicals to the wealth of shareholders, and a comprehensive set of action steps that can be taken by investors to translate the long-term threats and opportunities associated with toxic chemical issues into prudent portfolio stewardship. The IEHN primer for institutional investors concludes: “Researchers are increasingly detecting scores of these […]

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28
Mar

Rodenticide Found in Recalled Pet Food

(Beyond Pesticides, March 28, 2007) Menu Foods, which markets cat and dog food in the United States under 95 brand names, has recalled 60 million cans and pouches of wet pet food. The deaths of fifteen cats and one dog are being blamed on an analog of folic acid, aminopterin, which is used overseas as rat poison. In high doses, the rodenticide causes acute kidney failure, which has been named as the cause of death in an estimated sixteen pets (as reported by Menu Foods; the Food and Drug Administration lists 14 dead; in contrast, the Veterinary Information Network, a website with 30,000 members in the profession, reported 471 cases of kidney failure, including 104 deaths, since the recall). The drug’s history includes uses for cancer treatment and, at one point, inducing abortions. The compound is banned in the U.S. for pesticide use, but is still used to kill rodents in other countries. Among aminopterin’s side effects in humans are cancer and birth defects. On March 23, scientists at the New York State Food Laboratory confirmed aminopterin as the toxic chemical present in the Menu Food samples, at levels of at least 40 parts per million. Regulators suspect that the […]

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01
Feb

LA County Fish Remain Highly Contaminated with DDT

(Beyond Pesticides, February 1, 2007) Thirty-five years after the banning of DDT, extremely high concentrations of the pesticide are being found in fish caught in California’s Los Angeles county waters. According to a newly released federal survey by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the fish caught in the area contain the world’s highest-known DDT concentrations. The survey was conducted in order to update health advisories on which fish are unsafe to eat and to help EPA decide whether to attempt a costly operation to reduce continued contamination from a deposit of DDT on the ocean floor. The findings contradict the belief held by some scientists that DDT on the ocean floor has been breaking down into less-toxic compounds and would soon disappear from marine life. The contamination, most severe in the middle of San Redondo Bay, stems from a 100-ton deposit of DDT released by the Montrose Chemical Co. beginning in the late 1940s, which still covers several square miles of the ocean floor. The pesticide manufacturer had a plant near Torrance, California, from 1947 to 1971, releasing about 2,000 tons of DDT into county sewers that subsequently emptied into the ocean. The […]

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31
Jan

New Jersey Rejects Toxic Sprays for Gypsy Moths

(Beyond Pesticides, January 31, 2007) On January 29, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) concluded a month-long review of the Department of Agriculture’s (NJDA) petition to waive the state’s ban on aerial-spraying of broad-spectrum pesticides. The state will uphold the ban, effectively blocking widespread use of the chemical Dimilin. The ban affects towns seeking to reduce rising gypsy moth populations. Roughly 125,000 acres of trees suffered defoliation in the state as a result of gypsy moths, one of the worst years in recent memory. Gypsy moths have been in New Jersey since the 1920s, and their destruction peaking in 1981, with 800,000 acres defoliated. Dimilin is a restricted-use pesticide (available only to certified applicators) that has been unavailable for broadcast use for decades. For the past 20 years, in lieu of aerial spraying of Dimilin — also known as diflubenzuron — the pesticide specified in NJDA’s request, New Jersey towns have used bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) , a bacterial agent. With gypsy moth populations expected to be higher in 2007 than in recent years, NJDA argued that Bt would be insufficient to protect hardwood trees across the state. In a letter to NJDA, Marcedius T. Jameson, DEP’s administrator for […]

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30
Jan

Study Links Breast Cancer with Pesticides

(Beyond Pesticides, January 30, 2007) Breast cancer groups across the country have a new issue to add to the repertoire of risk factors: Pesticide use. A study published online in the American Journal of Epidemiology has found a strong link between residential pesticide use and breast cancer risk in women. Responding to the study, Susan Teitelbaum, Ph.D., assistant professor in the department of community medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, says the options are simple”” “Stop using pesticides.” The study, published December 13, is the first to examine the relation between breast cancer and pesticides through self-reported residential pesticide use. Using women from New York, the study looks not at one or two incidents of pesticide contact, but at the impact of lifelong pesticide use in the home, lawn and garden. Using a sample of 1,508 women who were diagnosed with breast cancer between 1996 and 1997, the study compares these women to 1,556 control subjects who were randomly selected. The results show that those women whose blood samples had higher levels of organochlorines are at an increased risk of breast cancer. Organochlorines are a broad class of chemicals, including DDT, dieldrin, and chlordane, and […]

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22
Jan

Wal-Mart Accused of Labeling Nonorganic Food as Organic, Again

(Beyond Pesticides, January 22, 2007) When the staff at The Cornucopia Institute, an organic watchdog group, surveyed Wal-Mart stores around the country last September, analyzing the giant retailer’s announcement that they would begin selling a wide variety of organic food at just a 10% mark-up over similar conventional products, they were surprised to discover widespread problems with signage misrepresenting nonorganic food as “organic.” Now, four months after informing the company of the problems, which could be interpreted as consumer fraud, and two months after filing a formal legal complaint with U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), many of the deceptive signs at Wal-Mart stores are still in place. “It is unconscionable that rather than correct these problems, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. instead responded to our concerns by attacking our comparatively modest public interest group in an effort to discredit our organization in the media,” said Mark Kastel, co-director of the Wisconsin-based Institute. “It is not as if a product recall or store remodeling would have been required to correct Wal-Mart’s deceptive consumer practices. They could have simply sent out an e-mail to store managers and corrected the problem instantly.” New store inspections throughout Wisconsin have found that Wal-Mart stores are still selling […]

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16
Jan

NJ Groups Oppose Lifting 20-Year Ban on Chemical Gypsy Moth Control

(Beyond Pesticides, January 16, 2007) A proposal is underway within New Jersey’s Department of Agriculture (DOA) to lift a 20-year ban on the use of Dimilin (diflubenzuron) for gypsy moth suppression. The State’s DOA is proposing to amend its regulations (N.J.A.C. 2:23) to permit the synthetic chemical pesticide to be aerially sprayed over forested residential areas (estimated to be 50,000 acres) in 14 counties where egg mass counts are over 4,000 per acre. In addition, the Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Division of Parks and Forestry may propose using Dimilin in state park areas where the egg masses are 4,000 per acre or more — potentially treating up to an additional 28,000 acres.The New Jersey Environmental Federation (NJEF) has taken action to stop the plan. In a letter co-signed by an additional 25 organizations to the Commissioners of DEP and DOA, they state, “While gypsy moth is a nuisance pest and can contribute to oak tree mortality, it is not a human health threat, nor a disease vector. We believe that given the potential harm to human health and biodiversity by the chemical pesticide Dimilin, the Departments should err on the side of caution and stand by their regulations that […]

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