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Thursday, April 13th, 2023
(Beyond Pesticides, April 13, 2023) Representatives of the 1.2 million-strong âSave bees and farmers! Towards a bee-friendly agriculture for a healthy environment,â European Citizens Initiative (ECI) called on the European Commission in a public hearing âto propose legal acts to phase out synthetic pesticides in EU (European Union) agriculture by 80% by 2030, starting with the most hazardous, and to become free of synthetic by 2035.â Advocates outlined the scientific consensus that biodiversity loss is endangering both the environment and food security and urged the executive branch to take immediate action. [See Previous Article] The timing is opportune as the Commission recently announced a revised EU Pollinators Initiative (PI), aimed at reversing the decline in wild pollinators by 2030. Noted as âthe key instrument to reduce the risk and use of pesticidesâ by Environment and Oceans Commissioner Virginijus SinkeviÄius, the PI focuses on mitigating pesticidesâ impact on pollinators as vital components to food security alongside conservation and restoration efforts of species and habitats in agricultural landscapes, or in other words, âpollinator-friendly farming.â According to Martin Dermine, the executive director of PAN Europe, the hearing was a âstrong democratic signal to EU and national decision-makers to listen to citizens and move […]
Posted in Integrated and Organic Pest Management, Pesticide Regulation | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 12th, 2023
(Beyond Pesticides, April 12, 2023) Spring represents a period of increased water, soil, and general ecosystem pollution, correlated with increased pesticide use and increased rainfall. Thus, April showers bring May flowers, and often pesticides. We offer this overview to share with friends, family, and your community in an effort to elevate the urgent need to eliminate pesticides and make the shift to organic land management. Pesticides are pervasive in the environment, affecting all ecosystems, including air, water, and soil. Like clean air and water, healthy soils are integral to ecosystem function, interacting between Earth’s four main spheres (i.e., hydrosphere, biosphere, lithosphere, and atmosphere) to support life. Pesticide use results in pervasive contamination of treated and nontarget sites. Even organic farmers and gardeners globally suffer from the widespread movement of pesticides through the air, water, and runoff from land. Attempts to protect property and ecosystems from pesticide use are a difficult, some say impossible, challenge. Efforts to prevent contamination become a large burden, with attempts to curtail pesticide drift with buffer zone areas and eliminate fertilizers or soil supplements with pesticide residues (e.g., manure and compost). Furthermore, the effects of climate change only exacerbate threats to ecosystem health, as studies show a […]
Posted in Holidays, Pollinators, Seasonal | No Comments »
Thursday, April 6th, 2023
(Beyond Pesticides, April 6, 2023) A study published in Global Change Biology adds to research demonstrating that climate change can exacerbate the adverse impacts of pesticide exposure on managed and wild bees. Temperature can alter the sublethal effect pesticides, particularly the neonicotinoid (neonic) imidacloprid and the sulfoximine sulfoxaflor, have on bumble bee behavior tied to fitness and pollination services. Both an increase and decrease in temperature can cause diverging thermal responses in bumble bee behavior. However, increasing temperature bares more severe behavior abnormalities than cooler temperatures. The pervasiveness of pesticide exposure combined with climate change threatens global species biodiversity. As has been widely reported, pollinators (such as bees, monarch butterflies, and bats) are a bellwether for environmental stress as individuals and as colonies. Pesticides intensify pollinatorsâ vulnerability to health risks (such as pathogens and parasites), with pesticide-contaminated conditions limiting colony productivity, growth, and survival. Now more than ever, people are changing their sentiment toward sustainability, with two-thirds of consumers stating the importance of limiting climate change impacts and 88 percent supporting greater pollution reduction. The globe is currently going through the Holocene Extinction, Earthâs 6th mass extinction, with one million species of plants and animals at risk. With the increasing rate of biodiversity loss, advocates say it is essential for […]
Posted in Biodiversity, Climate, Climate Change, Increased Vulnerability to Diseases from Chemical Exposure, Pollinators | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 4th, 2023
(Beyond Pesticides, April 4, 2023) The pesticide industry focused the entirety of their âlegislative dayâ late last month on an effort to roll back local democratic decision making and implement federal pesticide preemption of local governance in the Farm Bill. âSomething that most people donât know,â J.D. Darr, the director of legislative and regulatory affairs for the National Pest Management Association told Pest Control Technology (PCT), âis that the Ag Committee does have oversight of a small sliver of FIFRA. So, the Farm Bill is a really good vehicle for us making regulatory decisions surrounding pesticide.â Contrary to Mr. Darrâs statement, pesticide reform advocates are well aware of the threat the pesticide industry poses in the 2023 Farm Bill, having defeated a similar effort in 2018, and repeated attempts to implement pesticide preemption in the preemption-free states of Maine and Maryland. Reform advocates are pushing Congress to include in the Farm Bill diametrically opposing language already contained with Senator Cory Bookerâs (D-NJ) Protect Americaâs Children from Toxic Pesticides Act. The pesticide industryâs lobby day attempted to soften the industryâ image in Congress by including a range of non-pesticide related issues, such as a âfriendly political discussionâ between conservative columnist Jonah […]
Posted in Preemption, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Friday, March 31st, 2023
(Beyond Pesticides, March 31, 2023)Â A report from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identifies the most recent event in the very long chronicle of EPA dysfunction that â put charitably â constitutes failures to enact its mission, and more accurately, sometimes crosses the line into malfeasance. In the report, OIG concludes that EPAâs 2021 PFBS Toxicity Assessment failed to âuphold the agencyâs commitments to scientific integrity and information quality,â and that the agencyâs actions âleft the public vulnerable to potential negative impacts on human health.â As reported by The Guardian, âTrump administration appointees at . . . EPA meddled in agency science to weaken the toxicity assessment of a dangerous chemical.â Last year, Beyond Pesticide concerns about the myriad risks and harms of pesticides intersected with those about the PFAS (Per- and Polyfluorinated Substances) family of chemical compounds, of which PFBS is a member, when a study found very high levels of PFAS in multiple pesticide products. The EPA OIG explains why it undertook the evaluation that led to this report: âto determine whether the EPA followed applicable policies and procedures to develop and publish the January 19, 2021 perfluorobutane sulfonic acid […]
Posted in Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 28th, 2023
(Beyond Pesticides, March 28, 2023) High concentrations of fully intact, never broken down DDT remain on the California seafloor decades after it was dumped off its southern coast in the middle of the 20th century. âWe still see original DDT on the seafloor from 50, 60, 70 years ago, which tells us that itâs not breaking down the way that [we] once thought it should,â University of California Santa Barbara scientist David Valentine, PhD, told the Los Angeles Times. âAnd what weâre seeing now is that there is DDT that has ended up all over the place, not just within this tight little circle on a map that we referred to as Dumpsite Two.â These findings underscore the enormity of legal and regulatory decisions to approve production of hazardous chemicals. While many may believe the legacy of DDT ended with its ban in the early 1970s, the California findings raise a deeper problem not only with U.S. chemical policy, but also the response from well-meaning environmental nonprofits that continues to play out to this day. As many in the environmental community invest tremendous resources in seeking to ban problematic pesticides or chemicals of the day after the contamination has occurred […]
Posted in creosote, DDT, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Pentachlorophenol, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Thursday, March 23rd, 2023
(Beyond Pesticides, March 23, 2023) A case report article published in Frontier in Public Health confirms one of the first reported deaths from inhalation of the fumigant 1,3-dichloropropene (1,3-D or Telone) during work, resulting in acute renal (kidney) failure, hyperkalemia (high potassium levels in the blood), and brain edema (swelling). 1,3-D is a highly toxic fumigant used on a variety of crops, but primarily on potatoes, tobacco, strawberries, peanuts, and tomatoes to manage unwanted nematodes in soils. The chlorine-containing compound used in a greenhouse space entered the body of a 50-year-old man in China, being absorbed through the respiratory tract. Despite dilution from his wife, the compound was still strong enough to cause harm to human health. Without proper ventilation and personal protective equipment, wearing merely a surgical mask did not adequately defend against exposure to 1,3-D. This case represents the broader issue of how toxic chemical compounds can enter the body, causing physiological damage. Specifically, pesticides can increase the permeability (absorptiveness) of the blood-brain barrier that filters various molecules entering the brain from the circulatory system. However, the permeation of pesticide molecules elevates the expression and accumulation of soluble proteins in the brain involved in neuroinflammation, which plays a critical role in […]
Posted in 1, 3-dichloropropene, Brain Effects, Death, Nervous System Effects | No Comments »
Friday, March 17th, 2023
(Beyond Pesticides, March 17, 2023) The U.S. House of Representativesâ Republican majority voted on March 9 to overturn a Biden administration rule that expands the definition of and protections for the âwaters of the United States.â The rule, Revised Definition of Waters of the United States, clarifies that thousands of wetlands, smaller streams, and other kinds of waterways are included under the Clean Water Actâs protection provisions. The overturning resolution now goes to the Senate, and is expected to be taken up very soon; President Biden has said he will exercise his veto power if it reaches his desk. Were that veto overridden, this rollback would put at greater risk the nationâs waterways, from all sorts of pollution, including the more than 90% of the nationâs rivers and streams that are contaminated with five or more pesticides, according to Beyond Pesticides 2020 coverage. You can contact your U.S. Senators HERE to let them know you want them to support Clean Water by voting against legislation that undermines protection of our waterways. The rules promulgated by EPA and other federal agencies to protect the nationâs waters arise primarily from 1972âs Clean Water Act (amended in 1977 and 1987). That act, although […]
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 15th, 2023
(Beyond Pesticides, March 15, 2023) In a move that will improve land access for MauiĘťs organic farmers, Maui County Council passed Bill 160 (Kula Agricultural Park Phase I Expansion Area), Â reserving 262 acres in the Kula Agricultural Park for practices that comply with the Organic Foods Production Act and USDA organic standards, and removing barriers in the application process in favor of emerging farmers. Councilmember Gabe Johnson, chair of the Agriculture, Diversification, Environment and Public Transportation Committee, sponsored the bill. âRegenerative agriculture is a forward-thinking system that works to nurture soil, protect water resources and biodiversity, and combat climate change,â said Mr. Johnson. âWe need to create an environment that supports our farmers and agriculture economy.â Maui County currently has an operational 445 acre Agriculture Park, available for lease at the affordable rate of $100 per acre per month. All users of the current Agriculture Park practice chemical-intensive methods, making it an unsuitable area for organic farmers. In 2018, Maui County purchased an additional 262 acres to expand the Agriculture Park, and Bill 160 reserves the expansion area for organic practices, giving organic farmers the same opportunity for affordable land access. The Kula Agriculture Park expansion will be available for […]
Posted in Alternatives/Organics, Hawaii, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Friday, March 10th, 2023
(Beyond Pesticides, March 10, 2023) Following years of discussions and negotiations, 193 United Nations member countries have just approved â for the first time â a draft treaty for protection of the globeâs âhigh seasâ and their denizens. The March 4 adoption of the draft marks the achievement of a potential legal framework for such protections, but is also the beginning of âa long journey to ensure the worldâs oceans are adequately protected for future generations,â according to coverage by NewScientist. As research out of Boston College identifies, our oceans are badly polluted by multiple substances â including pesticides and other agricultural runoff; industrial and petrochemical waste; and the synthetic chemicals embedded in plastics â that threaten human health. The treaty, which must be adopted by member states and then ratified by at least 60 countries to take effect could be a critical development for meeting the COP15 â30 by 30â goal of protecting 30% of the worldâs land and sea by 2030 to slow and arrest global biodiversity losses. Beyond Pesticides has long covered the ecological harms of ocean pollution. The treaty represents a step toward implementation of President Bidenâs 2021 âAmerica the Beautiful Initiative,â proclaiming âthe first-ever national conservation goalâ established […]
Posted in International, Oceans, Uncategorized, United Nations, Water | No Comments »
Thursday, March 9th, 2023
(Beyond Pesticides, March 9, 2023) A study published in Environmental Research finds exposure to organophosphate (OP) compounds during pregnancy, or prenatal OP exposure can cause shortfalls in language development abilities at 18 months, stifling preschool-age language expression. Additionally, a timely and co-occurring study published in Environmental International confirms similar results, highlighting that chlorpyrifos (an organophosphate) impedes neurological and psychological development, including language communication and all motor skills of offspring at 12 and 18 months old. Prenatal development is one of the most vulnerable periods of exposure, as the fetus is most susceptible to the harmful effects of chemical contaminants. Many studies indicate that prenatal and early-life exposure to environmental toxicants increases susceptibility to diseases, from learning and developmental disabilities to cancer. Given research links to pesticide exposure and neurological and cognitive development, studies like this can help government and health officials identify how pesticidesâ impact on the brain elevates health concerns. The Environmental Research authors note, âThe etiology [cause] of language development is complex, and this work further highlights the importance of the prenatal environment as a mechanism of influence that are associated with deficits in early language acquisition and ability, which could signal increased behavioral problems and academic difficulties in later childhood that extend […]
Posted in behavioral and cognitive effects, Brain Effects, Children, multi-generational effects, Nervous System Effects, organophosphate, Women's Health | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 7th, 2023
(Beyond Pesticides, March 7, 2023) Exposure to glyphosate (Roundup) and its breakdown products is associated with an increased risk of liver and metabolic disorders in children and young adults, according to research published in Environmental Health Perspectives earlier this month. While glyphosate has developed a well-deserved reputation as a carcinogen, research is finding that cancer is one of a myriad of chronic diseases associated with the notorious chemical. As this body of literature grows, growing awareness by the public is increasing pressure on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to cancel its allowed uses. Researchers began their investigation concerned about the rise of liver disorders and metabolic syndrome among young people. This trend has been pronounced among populations of color. The worrying increase has led many to consider synthetic chemical exposure as a contributing factor, as lack of diet and exercise is unlikely to account for the entirety of the increase. To better understand these impacts, researchers enrolled existing participants in the CHAMACOS (Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas) study, a long running cohort of mothers and their children born between the years 2000 and 2002 in the Salinas Valley of California. Enrolled participants consistent mostly […]
Posted in Agriculture, aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), Children, Environmental Justice, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Glyphosate, Liver Damage, metabolic syndrome, metabolic syndrome, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Friday, March 3rd, 2023
(Beyond Pesticides, March 2, 2023) On February 22, a group of 65 nonprofit organizations (including Beyond Pesticides) filed a citizen petition with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that asks the agency to close a gaping â and well exploited â regulatory loophole by revoking a 1984 regulation that waived efficacy data requirements in pesticide evaluations. This means that EPA has, for 39 years, registered pesticides without demonstrated proof of efficacy and benefits. The petition is aimed primarily at the widespread use of neonicotinoid insecticides (neonics), which are so harmful to hundreds of species â and to bees, other pollinators, and birds, in particular â that many advocates have insisted they should be banned altogether. Beyond Pesticides has advocated for a neonics ban because of their extensive harms to pollinators, multiple other organisms (including humans), ecosystems, and natural resources. The Center for Food Safety, Pesticide Action Network North America, Center for Biological Diversity, Beyond Pesticides, and other advocates have filed lawsuits in recent years to get EPA to act protectively on neonics and other pesticides. The coalition of groups in the subject case seeks to rein in a plethora of harmful impacts of neonics, given EPAâs overall lack of protective action. (For […]
Posted in Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), neonicotinoids, Pesticide Efficacy, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Thursday, March 2nd, 2023
(Beyond Pesticides, March 2, 2023) Populations experiencing higher levels of environmental pollutant exposure, specifically pesticides, also experience a higher rate of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), according to a study published in Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology. IBS is a gastrointestinal disorder that causes abdominal pain or discomfort and changes in bowel behaviors. IBS affects 25 to 45 million individuals in the U.S., mostly female (two-thirds). Additionally, a quarter to half of all gastrointestinal-related visits are for IBS symptoms. Despite the unknown etiology of IBS, ample evidence demonstrates environmental contaminants, like pesticides, negatively affect the gut microbiota, causing a microorganism imbalance and resulting in inflammation associated with IBS. The gut, also known as the âsecond brain,â shares similar structural and chemical parallels to the brain. The microbiota in the gut plays a crucial role in lifelong digestion, immune and central nervous system regulation, as well as other bodily functions. Although studies show how chemical exposures affect overall human health, a growing body of peer-reviewed scientific literature is now questioning how these toxic chemicals influence gut health and the subsequent occurrence of diseases. The study notes, âThese findings may help to understand the relationship between pesticide exposure and IBS; however, more epidemiological and experimental research is needed to understand […]
Posted in Carbamates, Chlorpyrifos, Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), Microbiata, Microbiome, neonicotinoids, organophosphate, pyrethroids | No Comments »
Monday, February 27th, 2023
(Beyond Pesticides, February 27, 2023) Californiaâs Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) is asking for comments on its âSustainable Pest Management (SPM) Roadmapâ by 5 pm (PST) March 13, 2023. While recognizing problems inherent in traditional integrated pest management (IPM), DPRâs roadmap is directing us to a destination that includes another generation of exposure to the worst of the worst pesticidesâwhile failing to embrace the elimination of farm inputs harmful to ecosystems and the capacity of soil biology to cycle nutrients and draw down the maximum amount of atmospheric carbon. The Roadmapâs off-handed rejection of organic practices, rather than building on organic systems, creates a lost opportunity for adopting a holistic and serious solution to the current crises of health threats from pesticides, biodiversity collapse, and the climate emergency. Tell DPR to revise its destination to immediately eliminate the worst pesticides and implement wide scale transition to organic practices. DPRâs Roadmap states these goals: By 2050, eliminate the use of Priority Pesticides by transitioning to SPM. By 2050, SPM will be adopted as the de facto pest management system in California. DPR says âThe criteria for classifying pesticides as âPriority Pesticidesâ include, but are not limited to, hazard and risk classifications, […]
Posted in Agriculture, Biodiversity, Climate, Climate Change, Disease/Health Effects, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Friday, February 24th, 2023
(Beyond Pesticides, February 24, 2023) Among the solutions to the dire state of global biodiversity is, Civil Eats reports, perennial agriculture, which improves biodiversity both on- and off-farm. Increased adoption of perennial cropping provides critical on-farm habitat for many kinds of pollinators, insects, birds, and myriad additional creatures. Below ground, where plant roots remain active year-round, perennials create far-richer ecosystems for microbial communities and fungal networks. Planting annual crops â and often, the same ones year after year across huge swaths of acreage, as conventional agriculture generally does â leads to multiple bad outcomes: intensive synthetic pesticide and fertilizer use and the harms that flow from them; poor soils; erosion; inefficient holding and use of water; depleted carbon capacity; and a denuded above-soil landscape and diminished microbial, fungal, and nutrient environment below. Thus, perennial cropping boosts on-farm biodiversity as noted, and benefits off-farm biodiversity by reducing the unsavory impacts, on the broader environment, of traditional, chemically intensive, monoculture farming. Biodiversity loss has emerged in the past decade as yet another crisis humanity faces â one that continues to go unaddressed at the level the loss requires. Beyond Pesticides has written extensively about the crisis and the central solution of ending […]
Posted in Alternatives/Organics, Biodiversity, perennial crops, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Thursday, February 23rd, 2023
(Beyond Pesticides, February 23, 2023) A fatherâs exposure to occupational (work-related) chemicals, including pesticides, around the time of his partnerâs pregnancy, has an association with a higher risk of infant congenital heart defects (CHDs), according to a Japanese study published in Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine. The prevalence of infant CHDs is one of the most common genetic (congenital) diseases worldwide. However, the etiology of CHD includes both genetic and environmental factors. Heart diseases are among the leading causes of death worldwide, and heart conditions are one leading cause of disability in the U.S. Research, including this study, demonstrates environmental pollutant exposure can increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, including stroke, heart attack, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, and cardiac arrest. Considering chemical exposure exacerbates adverse disease effects, reviews like these highlight the significance of evaluating synergism between diseases and toxic chemicals to safeguard human health. Therefore, researchers are âsuggesting the importance of the management of paternal occupational exposures for the prevention of infant CHDs. Further studies using biomarkers of occupational exposure are warranted.â To investigate the risk of CHDs in infants, researchers in this study examine fathersâ work-related exposure to toxic chemical compounds, frequency of pesticide use, and synergetic mixtures of chemical compounds. […]
Posted in Cardiovascular Disease, Children, multi-generational effects, Occupational Health | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 21st, 2023
(Beyond Pesticides, February 21, 2023) The recent train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, should be a reminder to all of us that problems with our reliance on toxic chemicals go beyond broadcasting them on fields. In order to get pesticides to their point of use, toxic precursors and ingredients must be transported. Toxic waste products are also delivered to a location where they may be burned or deposited in a landfill. In weighing the hazards of toxic pesticides, these ancillary hazards should also be considered. Tell EPA and Congress that all impacts of toxic chemicalsâfrom cradle to graveâmust be considered before allowing their use.   The freight train that derailed February 3, 2023 in East Palestine was carrying a number of toxic chemicals. EPA notified the railroad, âEPA has spent, or is considering spending, public funds to investigate and control releases of hazardous substances or potential releases of hazardous substances at the Site. Based on information presently available to EPA, EPA has determined that Norfolk Southern Railway Company (Norfolk Southern or âyouâ) may be responsible under CERCLA [Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability ActâSuperfund] for cleanup of the Site or costs EPA has incurred in cleaning up the Site.â But […]
Posted in air pollution, contamination, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Ohio, Take Action, Toxic Waste, Uncategorized, Water | No Comments »
Friday, February 17th, 2023
(Beyond Pesticides, February 17, 2023) The February 3 derailment of a Norfolk Southern train in Ohio has been huge news. Less well known perhaps is that 20 of the 50 cars involved were carrying hazardous materials, defined by the National Transportation Safety Board as âcargo that could pose any kind of danger âincluding flammables, combustibles, or environmental risks.ââ The incident resulted in a huge fire, evacuations, and worries about explosions and discharge of toxic chemical gases; on February 6, officials conducted âcontrolled releasesâ of some of the chemicals. Some of the toxic chemicals involved are precursors to production of synthetic pesticides. [Eds. Note: We are deeply concerned for the victims of this terrible crisis who are asking legitimate questions about contaminated drinking water and the effects of both the initial acute exposure after the derailment, resulting in the release of toxic chemicals, and long-term exposure to low levels of toxic residues in homes and the environment.] Among the compounds on board those 20 cars were âinertâ pesticide ingredients (vinyl chloride, ethylhexyl acrylate, and isobutylene), an antimicrobial compound (ethylene glycol monobutyl ether [EGBE]), benzene (a carcinogenic solvent), and butyl acrylate. This event brings into high relief the cradle-to-grave issues that travel […]
Posted in contamination, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Superfund, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 14th, 2023
(Beyond Pesticides, February 14, 2023) The waterways that flow into the Great Lakes are experiencing year-round pesticide contamination that exceeds benchmarks meant to protect aquatic life, according to research published in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry by scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). âWhat you use makes it into the water,â study coauthor Sam Oliver, PhD, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. These data buttress growing calls from pesticide reform advocates that new laws are needed to protect the nationâs increasingly threatened waters. USGS scientists conducted their analysis on 16 tributaries that feed into the Great Lakes, including sites that correspond to urban, agricultural, and undeveloped land. Samples were taken at locations closest to the lake the tributary flowed into over a period of roughly one year from October 2015 to September 2016. Each sample was tested for 231 pesticides and their breakdown products. Researchers used aquatic life benchmarks set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and created a relative hazard index (RHI) for the study to evaluate whether specific sites should be prioritized for further protections. Â Across every sampled tributary, pesticides were found. Accordingly, 96% (190 out of 198) of samples taken contained pesticides or their breakdown products. […]
Posted in Atrazine, Breakdown Chemicals, Carbendazim, Clothianidin, deethylatrazine, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), hydroxyatrazine, Imidacloprid, neonicotinoids, U.S. Geological Survey, Uncategorized, Water | No Comments »
Friday, February 10th, 2023
(Beyond Pesticides, February 10, 2023) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced, on February 1, new measures to protect 28 endangered salmon species (including steelhead trout) from the use of four pesticides that threaten them and their critical habitats. Those compounds comprise three herbicides â metolachlor, bromoxynil, and prometryn, and one soil fumigant, 1,3-Dichloropropene. The protections, aimed at salmon populations in Washington, Oregon, and California, are meant to reduce impacts from pesticide runoff and spray drift, and to minimize potential âtake.â (Under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), âtakeâ means, essentially, the unintentional harming or killing of an individual of a protected species â in this case, harm or death from exposures to these toxic pesticide compounds.) Beyond Pesticides and other advocates have for years warned that multiple pesticides are threats to Northwest salmon and other species at risk. This EPA announcement is the second of two, recently, that offer slight redress to the agencyâs historical failures to act (see more below). Indeed, advocates have engaged in multiple litigation efforts over the years to try to force EPA to take action; EarthJustice in 2001 noted some early instances. As Chemical and Engineering News says pointedly, âEnvironmental groups, which have been suing […]
Posted in 1, 3-dichloropropene, bromoxynil, California, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Metolachlor, Oregon, Prometon, Telone, Uncategorized, Washington, Wildlife/Endangered Sp. | No Comments »
Thursday, February 9th, 2023
(Beyond Pesticides, February 9, 2023) Business Insider India reports over 100 infant deaths from pesticide exposure in breast milk. A study by Lucknow’s Queen Mary Hospital links pesticides in breast milk to the death of 111 newborns over the past ten months in the Maharajganj district of northern India. The study is a testament to the effects pesticides can have on the health of individuals, especially vulnerable populations like infants and shows that there is a long way to go before our bodies are void of any bioaccumulated toxic residues. Multiple studies on breast milk throughout the years confirm that toxic chemicals build up in our bodies as breast milk can bioconcentrate or accumulate, a natural phenomenon dubbed chemical âbody burden.â Hundreds of chemicals are in blood, urine, breast milk and umbilical cord blood, entering our bodies through diet, personal care product use, and inhalation from air. Many known pollutants (i.e., heavy metals, polychlorinated biphenyl, and pesticides) are chemicals that can move from the mother to the developing fetus at higher exposure rates. Hence, prenatal exposure to these chemicals may increase the prevalence of birth-related health consequences like natal abnormalities and learning/developmental disabilities. Children are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of pesticide exposure as their developing […]
Posted in Body Burden, Children, Disease/Health Effects | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 8th, 2023
(Beyond Pesticides, February 8, 2023) Spraying pesticides around oneâs garden negatively impacts local bird populations, according to research published by scientists at the University of Sussex, UK in Science of the Total Environment. Although this reasoning sounds common sense to those versed in the works of Rachel Carson, it underscores the immense importance of carrying on the legacy of her work and continuing to educate the public about the ongoing dangers posed by modern pesticides. As the study authors write, âOverall, our study shows that garden bird abundance and richness is strongly influenced by both extrinsic and intrinsic factors, and suggests that garden management, particularly regarding pesticide use, has a significant effect on bird life.â Researchers collected data by partnering with the British Trust for Ornithology, which conducts annual citizen-science counts of bird populations in UK gardens. Nearly 24,000 residents participate in the survey, which also includes information about the urbanization level surrounding their gardens, and other habitat characteristics. A group of these volunteers were provided with a questionnaire about their pesticide practices between 2020-2021, recording information on how often the pesticides were applied, as well as the pesticide brand name. After removing incomplete or unusable data, 615 individual gardens […]
Posted in acetamiprid, Alternatives/Organics, Biodiversity, Birds, Deltamethrin, Glyphosate, International, Lawns/Landscapes, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »