(Beyond Pesticides, October 3, 2024) The American Academy of Pediatrics published a technical report in September on antimicrobial resistance, which it calls a global public health threat, identifying the health implications of antibiotic use in animal agriculture. The lead authors, both medical doctors from the Department of Pediatrics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, note the rise in antimicrobial-resistant infections that result in increased morbidity, mortality, and health care costs for not only adults, but infants and children as well. “[A]ll use of antimicrobial agents exerts selective pressure that increases the risk of development of resistance,” the authors state, highlighting the importance of limiting antimicrobial uses. “Antimicrobial resistance is an organism’s ability to survive exposure to an antimicrobial agent that was previously an effective treatment. Resistance traits can be acquired either through new mutations or through transfer of genetic material between organisms,” the authors report. Antimicrobial-resistant pathogens, such as bacteria and viruses, can be transmitted “through the food supply, direct contact with animals, environmental pathways, and contact with infected or colonized humans,” they continue. Use of antimicrobial agents, especially over extended periods of time or with repeated exposure, can cause resistance to not only that agent, but to multiple agents. As […]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 30, 2024) Public Comment Period on Issues of Organic Integrity Closes Today. Farming is a notoriously risky enterprise, and organic farming presents further challenges along with its multiple benefits. Generally, organic has made great strides over the last several years and is strongly supported by American consumers, findings in the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Census. Even late this year, there is the prospect of several more important changes that will improve the organic certification process and some issues that will take more policy changes to resolve in the future. As a part of this process to ensure the integrity of the USDA organic label and the permitted production practices, Beyond Pesticides urges that the public submit comments TODAY (the last day for the comment period) on issues currently before the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB). See two sets of comments on key issues that can be submitted with one click each. Click here on issues related to use of plastic, nonorganic ingredients in processed food, and seeds and plant starts. Click here on inert ingredients, contaminants in compost, and drugs in livestock production. U.S. agriculture overall has remained fairly robust between the USDA Census in […]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 27, 2024) A recent article in Flatwater Free Press identifies a growing trend of companies, communities, and farms nationwide advancing organic agriculture and land management. Among the signs of this change is Belltown Farms, a Philadelphia, PA owner and operator of organic and organic-transitioning farms, that, according to Flatwater, is “the second-largest buyer of Nebraska’s increasingly expensive farmland by money spent between 2018 and 2022” with plans to expand to 50,000+ acres in various states across the country. Similarly, the continued success of the Nebraska-based, on-farm processing operation, Grain Place Foods, and its collaboration with farmers focused on small-scale organic production, represents the diversity of economic and organizational models that can exist in local, regional, national, and even international food systems. This National Organic Month, organic advocates, consumers, and farmers continue to call on federal policymakers to expand opportunities for the proliferation of small-scale farming operations. In advancing growth of organic and integrity of the organic food label, organic advocates are seeking to ensure equity and access to land as integral to any growth. In this context, Beyond Pesticides had identified the promise of organic in fighting existential health, biodiversity, and climate crises and ongoing threats to the […]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 25, 2024) In a semiannual report released in August 2024, EPA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) identifies a number of “unresolved” issues that strike the core of the agency’s failure to carry out its responsibilities to protect health and the environment. One of the issues identified is EPA’s failure to conduct an adequate and independent assessment of the cancer effects of the fumigant, 1,3-Dichloropropene (1,3-D or Telone). OIG’s original report, The EPA Needs to Improve the Transparency of Its Cancer-Assessment Process for Pesticides, was issued in 2022 and concluded that EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) engages in secret meetings with industry, elevates unqualified individuals to decision-making roles, uses an untested scientific approach, fails to conduct a simple literature review, and neglects public transparency. Other pesticide issues that OIG identified in its report include: The EPA Needs to Determine Whether Seresto Pet Collars Pose an Unreasonable Risk to Pet Health The EPA Has Not Verified that Its Laboratories Comply with Hazardous Waste Requirements EPA Needs an Agencywide Strategic Action Plan to Address Harmful Algal Blooms EPA’s Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program Has Made Limited Progress in Assessing Pesticides EPA Needs to Evaluate the Impact of the Revised Agricultural Worker […]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 16, 2024) After the release of a hard-hitting study last week published in Science that pinpoints the cycle of increasing pesticide use with ecosystem and bat decline, resulting in higher infant mortality, Beyond Pesticides is calling for state and local action to transition public land to organic practices. Without a healthy ecosystem, the study documents increased pesticide use with dramatic adverse health effects. To take corrective action, Beyond Pesticides’ action asks governors and mayors to do the following: Eliminate the use of pesticides that imperil bats by adopting biodiversity conservation goals including— (1) ecological mosquito management with measures that recognize the benefit of preventive strategies, establish source reduction programs to manage breeding sites on public lands, educate on the management of private lands, employ programs for larval management with biological controls, and eliminate the use of toxic pesticides; (2) prohibition of systemic insecticides and treated seeds, including neonicotinoids; and (3) land management on public lands—including hospitals, higher education institutions, schools, and parks—using regenerative organic principles and organic certified practices and products, to transition to a viable organic system that prioritizes long-term health of the public, ecology, and economy. The new research connects declines in bat populations with increased […]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 13, 2024) While chemical companies persist in pushing simplistic solutions to complex problems, there is a large amount of evidence that organic farming presents effective solutions to many of those problems. Now there is new evidence that organic agriculture prevents the untold harms of pesticide-driven monoculture. In a new study, German researchers compared 16 agricultural landscapes in Lower Saxony and northern Hesse that had different combinations of semi-natural habitat, organic practices, and annual and perennial flower strips. Overall, the researchers find that organic farming provides the highest benefit to the bees, along with the presence of diverse flowering plants in and near monoculture fields. The study compares the effects of three honey bee conservation methods on the prevalence of the parasitic mite Varroa destructor and the 11 parasites Varroa transfers to bees, and the impact of these destructive organisms on bee colony growth. The findings were reported in the June issue of the Journal of Applied Ecology. Organic practices lead directly to lower parasite load and higher colony growth—essentially, the more organic crops, the more bees, and the more parasites, the fewer bees. Pesticides plus monoculture doubles the damage: Pesticides increase mortality, damage bees’ immune systems, and […]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 11, 2024) A literature review in Environments, written by researchers from South Korea and Ghana, highlights the threat to nontarget species and the biodiversity of insects that occur as a result of agricultural pesticide use. “Insects have experienced a greater species abundance decline than birds, plants, and other organisms, which could pose a significant challenge to global ecosystem management. Although other factors such as urbanisation, deforestation, monoculture, and industrialisation may have contributed to the decline in insect species, the extensive application of agro-chemicals appears to cause the most serious threat,” the authors state. The so-called “insect apocalypse” has been reported with one-quarter of the global insect population lost since 1990.  The authors, seeking to summarize the decline in insect species richness and abundance, link reliance on petrochemical pesticides and synthetic fertilizers to cascading negative impacts. Insects provide many important services, such as maintaining healthy soil, recycling nutrients, pollinating flowers and crops, and controlling pests. These nontarget and beneficial species are at risk through pesticide exposure, both directly and indirectly, which then affects these essential functions.   “Extensive and indiscriminate pesticide application on a commercial scale affects insect species abundance and non-target organisms by interfering with their growth, […]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 10, 2024) Results from a natural experiment, published in Science, shows ecosystem disruption of bat populations with cascading impacts on human health. Eyal Frank, PhD, an assistant professor of the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago, links increased insecticide use in croplands in the absence of bat species to a rise in infant mortality. As Dr. Frank says in an article in Science Daily, “[B]ats do add value to society in their role as natural pesticides, and this study shows that their decline can be harmful to humans.”  Many farmers rely on bats as alternatives to pesticides to protect their crops from insects, but White-Nose Syndrome (WNS) has greatly impacted bat populations since 2006. With the collapse of many bat populations in counties in North America, these farmers turn to toxic chemicals to replace the ecosystem services bats usually provide. These chemicals, however, lead to ripples through the ecosystem and endanger human health.  WNS is an invasive fungus (Pseudogymnoascus destructans) found in caves that affects bats during hibernation. As highlighted in an article in the New York Times, three species of bats in North America have been decimated by this syndrome, and bats […]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 9, 2024)  Comments are due by 11:59 PM EDT on September 30, 2024. With the opening of the public comment period on organic standards that determine the integrity, strength, and growth of the organic agricultural sector, a study was released last week that shows degradation of the ecosystem linked to increased infant mortality associated with higher pesticide use by chemical-intensive farmers compensating for losses in bat populations. It is well known that bats, among other wildlife including birds and bees, provide important ecosystem services to farmers by helping to manage pest populations and increase plant resilience and productivity. While degradation of ecosystems is attributable to many factors, pesticide use accounts for an important element in harm to bats and biodiversity. The study, “The economic impacts of ecosystem disruptions: Costs from substituting biological pest control,” published in Science, concludes with a finding  that “insect-eating bat population levels induce farmers to substitute with insecticides, consequently resulting in a negative health shock to infant mortality.” Daily News will cover this study in depth in an upcoming edition. According to research published in the Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (2022), bat population declines cost American farmers as much as […]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 6, 2024) A literature review in the Internal Journal of Molecular Sciences provides promising insights into biofungicides as a “sustainable and economically viable alternative” to synthetic fungicides in expanding organic agriculture. The authors note that organic “… is the most sustainable response to current crises of all kinds, as it can better anticipate and prepare for crises and create long-term equity and resilience in food systems.” The authors point out that fungal infections in crops are estimated to account for 20-40% of failures annually, and understanding how to control such agricultural diseases will be crucial to meeting the needs of a growing global population. Organic farmers and land managers note that biological tools can be integrated into practices that work with the ecosystem, rather than be utilized as “substitute” products or controls with practices that ignore soil health and beneficial organisms that enhance biodiversity and provide ecosystem services (see here and here). Conducted by researchers in Mexico, the review examines data on biosynthesis (how plants create their own fungicide, known as secondary metabolites or SMs); the mechanisms of action of secondary metabolites against phytopathogenic (plant-killing) fungi; extraction techniques and biofungicide formulations; the biological activity of plant extracts on phytopathogenic fungi; and […]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 5, 2024) As insect-borne diseases like EEE (eastern equine encephalitis) become a focus of mosquito managers, there is a continuing pattern of mosquito resistance to synthetic pyrethroid insecticides, which are the primary tools in conventional mosquito control programs—a strategy more focused on attempting to kill adult mosquitoes than the management of breeding sites. A study published in PLOS One documents Aedes aegypti mosquito resistance to synthetic pyrethroids permethrin, lambda-cyhalothrin, and deltamethrin in study sites in Córdoba, Colombia. Aedes aegypti is a common mosquito species that can carry the EEE virus and others. There is significant scientific literature highlighting the prevalence of pesticide resistance in mosquito, fly, and other insect populations. Pesticide resistance is an inherent problem with pesticide dependency generally, creating a complex fabric of threats from insect resistance to plant incorporated protectants (PIPs), weed resistance in genetically engineered crop production dependent on chemical-intensive weed control, to antibiotic resistance to medically important drugs, exacerbated by agricultural use and horizontal gene transfer. As the frequency of deadly mosquito vector diseases is expected to increase with rising temperatures and greater precipitation—which raises the number of breeding sites—advocates, physicians, beekeepers, and community leaders are calling on elected officials to prioritize ecological […]

(Beyond Pesticides, August 29, 2024) The Center for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI) earned the 2024 Innovators Award from The Better Cotton Initiative (Better Cotton) for its leadership in developing capacity and expansion of organic standards and practices in the Pakistani cotton sector, according to a press release by Better Cotton. Given the millions of pounds of some of the most toxic chemicals used to produce cotton, and Pakistan being an exporter of $3.5 billion worth of cotton (2021), including $240 million to the U.S. (2022), cotton production is a worldwide contamination problem. The U.S. is currently the fourth largest cotton producer (domestic and export) and the largest cotton exporter in the world, accounting for 30% of all cotton produced, valued at $5.7 billion (2021). The farm value of U.S. organic cotton is $35.55 million (2021). According to the Organic Trade Association, organic cotton comprises approximately 0.95% of global cotton production. “CABI, for its multifaceted work in Pakistan which has included the creation of a national organic agriculture policy for Pakistan that is currently being assessed by the country’s Ministry of Food Security and Research,” the release goes on to discuss the implications of the years-long initiative. “If approved, the policy […]

(Beyond Pesticides, August 28, 2024) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) pesticide labeling requirements fail to adequately communicate acute toxicity levels to the public, as evidenced in a recent study of consumers published last month in the journal Nature. After evaluating whether the current three “signal” words (CAUTION, WARNING, DANGER) on pesticide products adequately convey pesticide toxicity, the authors conclude that current labeling may result in “unintended adverse effects” because it does not “effectively communicate toxicity risks to consumers.” The signal words on pesticide labels, based on laboratory animal testing for determining lethal doses, are intended to protect users of the product from exposure that can kill through inhalation, skin absorption, and ingestion of the pesticide. However, the signal words do not warn about long-effects like cancer, neurological diseases, reproductive harm, as well as other adverse effects associated with pesticide exposure. (See Pesticide-Induced Diseases Database.)   The study tests two prototype labels to evaluate the effectiveness of visual elements in communicating toxicity information, citing research in cognitive psychology that indicates visual elements, like images and graphics, are more effective for conveying information than text alone. This is particularly crucial for pesticide labels, where complex toxicity details need to be communicated quickly […]

(Beyond Pesticides, August 26, 2024) In July, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it was raising the allowable levels of the highly toxic weed killer atrazine in the nation’s waterways from the 2016 level of 3.4 to 9.7 micrograms per liter (µg/L), which scientists and environmental advocates say is a serious threat to aquatic plants, fish, invertebrates, and amphibians, in addition to people who recreate in waterways or eat food from them. With EPA’s August 7 decision to ban the weed killer Dacthal (or DCPA–dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate), Beyond Pesticides is rallying public support for the removal of atrazine from the market under the same standards of harm, inability to mitigate hazards, and the availability of alternatives. As Beyond Pesticides points out in its 2022 atrazine comments (2020 and 2016 comments included) to EPA, the agency in November 2021 released the final Biological Evaluation (BE) assessing risks to listed species from labeled uses of atrazine (in the triazine chemical family). The agency made “likely to adversely affect (LAA) determinations” for 1,013 species and 328 critical habitats, which it is now rejecting, while using a “community-equivalent level of concern (CE-LOC)” measure that is filled with uncertainty and lacks any sense of precaution with […]

Image: Art Page submission from Sara Grantham, “Sunflower Pollinators”  (Beyond Pesticides, August 23, 2024) A study in Science of The Total Environment calculates and compares pesticide risk in 594 wild bee species associated with crops in North America. Current pesticide risk assessments that analyze effects on bees primarily focus on a limited subset of species and do not provide comprehensive protection of all wild bees. “Species commonly proposed as models for pesticide risk assessments may not accurately represent risk for those bee species facing the highest potential risk in agricultural contexts,” the authors postulate. The researchers continue, “This study presents a novel approach to characterize and compare the relative potential pesticide risk among wild bee species of their association with crops in North America using suites of intrinsic bee traits to quantify species’ vulnerability and extrinsic factors based on the toxic load of crops for bees and the strength of each species’ association with those crops.” In considering multiple factors that vary by species and determining potential harm to each from pesticide exposure, this study highlights the inadequacies of the current risk assessment process used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).    The system for risk assessment for pesticides that […]

(Beyond Pesticides, August 19, 2024) As a local news outlet in Virginia covers a local farm receiving organic certification, Beyond Pesticides launches an action this week to “take back organic” —in response to prominent agricultural forces and industry interests attempting to weaken organic standards and blur the line between certified organic and “regenerative” practices that are not organic-certified. In an article, VMRC’s Farm at Willow Run is certified organic [VMRC is the Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community], Rocktown Now quotes the farm manager in Harrisonburg, VA, Nate Clark, saying, “This milestone demonstrates our dedication to providing high-quality, healthy food to our residents and community while also prioritizing environmental sustainability.” The article reports that as a certified organic farm with detailed records of the farm’s field and harvest activities and materials, subject to annual inspections, “VMRC is committed to regenerative farming practices that promote soil health, energy conservation and fair working conditions.” “Regenerative” agriculture or land management that is not certified organic raises a series of questions about its lack of a standard definition that is enforceable under a compliance system. Beyond Pesticides’ piece on the subject, “Regenerative” Agriculture Still Misses the Mark in Defining a Path to a Livable Future,“ explores […]

(Beyond Pesticides, August 16, 2024) The International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food) released a report, Food from Somewhere: Building food security and resilience through territorial markets, in July identifying the importance of moving beyond toxic chemical dependent, industrialized agriculture and toward “sourcing local and organic food” through alternative models, such as farmer and consumer-owned cooperatives, alternative certification schemes, and fostering relationships between organic producers and consumers through territorial markets. “[T]erritorial markets are closely associated with agroecology, and in many cases help to provide market outlets for farmers using natural fertilizers and pesticides that work with nature, rather than the fossil-fuel based synthetic inputs associated with corporate value chains,” the authors state and go on to advocate for transformative action based on various case studies rooted in organic principles and practices. Territorial markets are a nascent concept rooted in agroecology (“an integrated approach that simultaneously applies ecological and social concepts and principles to the design and management of food and agricultural systems”) and political ecology, which depending on the perspective may have differing definitions. However, there are several commonly held principles of territorial markets that include ideas of “closer to home,” “largely or fully outside of corporate chains,” […]

(Beyond Pesticides, August 13, 2024) With novel methods to provide a big-picture view of the overlap between high pesticide use and cancer incidence across the U.S, a new study has again linked pesticide exposure to a range of cancers. The study by Jacob Gerkin, D.O. and colleagues, “Comprehensive assessment of pesticide use patterns and increased cancer risk,” published in Frontiers in Cancer Control and Society, examines the association between high-pesticide use and cancer diagnoses along with smoking incidence data and the Social Vulnerability Index, a measure used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that includes variables such as poverty, poor housing, and exposures to natural disasters and chemical spills. The researchers consider 69 pesticides used in agriculture that are monitored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. They use U.S. Geological Survey data to map areas of similar crops and pesticide use patterns and incorporate public health data from the CDC to develop their final picture. In terms of threats to health, cancer remains top of mind for most people. Globally, about ten million people die of cancer each year. And while treatments for cancer and survival times have burgeoned over the years, many cancers—particularly colorectal and breast […]

(Beyond Pesticides, August 12, 2024)  When the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued an emergency ban of the weed killer Dacthal (DCPA) last week, it said that there are no “practicable mitigation measures” to protect against identified hazards—a clear and honest assessment of the limits of pesticide product label changes and use restrictions. Now, the question is whether the same thinking can be applied across the EPA’s pesticide program, addressing the urgent need to protect biodiversity. In the Dacthal proclamation, EPA said it consulted with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on “alternatives to this pesticide,” and presumably determined that there were “alternative chemicals” that could be used in chemical-intensive agriculture—while not considering “alternatives to chemicals.” This is the framework that is understood to be EPA’s process that keeps pest management on a pesticide treadmill except in extremely rare cases (this being the second in nearly 40 years). It is also the framework that has led to catastrophic events or existential crises on biodiversity collapse, health threats, and the climate emergency. On biodiversity, the mix of diverse and intricate relationships of organisms in nature that are essential to the sustaining of life, EPA’s pesticide program, the Office of Pesticide Programs, has […]

(Beyond Pesticides, August 9, 2024)​​ A study in the journal Biology and Fertility of Soils has confirmed once again that organic agriculture contributes significantly to soil health, improving ecological functions that are harmed by conventional, chemical-intensive farming practices. Organic soil amendments (fertilizers) that feed soil organisms increase beneficial protistan predators and support sustainable predator-prey relationships within the soil microbiome. [‘Protist’ is a catch-all term that describes ancient lineages of eukaryotes—organisms with a nucleus—that are neither a true plant, animal, or fungus.] The study shows that organic farming creates a healthy ecosystem able to support a balance of life forms in the soil. Moreover, the study finds that the use of chemical fertilizers for agricultural management disrupt the stable biological relationship between protistan predators and their bacterial prey in soils, adding to the argument for transitioning away from conventional systems that lean on toxic inputs.   Healthy soil contains millions of living species that form the microbiome. Most of the biodiversity in soil consists of bacteria and fungi, and their number and type are regulated partially by predatory protists and nematodes that feed on bacteria. Akin to the impact of predators keeping a herd of prey healthy by hunting the sick, […]

(Beyond Pesticides, August 8, 2024) With the use of its emergency authority—not used in nearly 40 years, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on August 7 banned a pesticide (the weed killer Dacthal or DCPA—dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate) under the “imminent hazard” clause of the federal pesticide law. At the same time, the agency is exercising its authority to prohibit the continued use of Dacthal’s existing stocks, a provision that EPA rarely uses. EPA identified serious concerns about fetal hormone disruption and resulting “low birth weight and irreversible and life-long impacts to children [impaired brain development, decreased IQ, and impaired motor skills] exposed in-utero” and finds that there are no “practicable mitigation measures” to protect against these hazards. The last time EPA issued an emergency action like this was in 1979 when the agency acknowledged miscarriages associated with the forestry use of the herbicide 2,4,5-T—one-half of the chemical weed killer Agent Orange, sprayed over people to defoliate the landscape of Vietnam in the war there—with the most potent form of dioxin, TCDD (2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin). While EPA has been congratulated for using its emergency authority, which it is obviously reluctant to use, and health and environmental activists say could be used broadly, the timeline […]

(Beyond Pesticides, August 5, 2024) As the longstanding problem of involuntary pesticide exposure through chemical drift continues unabated, EPA announced “new, earlier protections” that are being criticized by Beyond Pesticides as inadequate. The organization is calling on the public to let EPA and Congress know that it must comprehensively eliminate nontarget chemical trespass. Beyond Pesticides notes that the recent EPA announcement does not stop the movement of pesticides off the target sites restricted by pesticide product labels and therefore does not protect the public and environment in agricultural, rural, suburban, and urban areas from resulting health and ecological threats. EPA’s July 15, 2024, press release, “EPA Announces New, Earlier Protections for People from Pesticide Spray Drift” states, “The Agency is not making any changes to its chemical-specific methodology outlined in the 2014 document but has decided to extend the chemical-specific spray drift methodology to certain registration actions.” Although EPA should evaluate every pesticide use for its drift potential, extension of an inadequate process does not constitute “protection.” >> Tell EPA and Congress that EPA must protect against all forms of pesticide drift. Pesticide drift—more properly designated “chemical trespass”—is a threat to people living in agricultural, rural, suburban, and urban areas, […]

(Beyond Pesticides, July 31, 2024) The latest commentary on “forever chemicals” in Environmental Health Perspectives captures growing concerns for the class of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that are found in pesticide products and cause persistent contamination that threaten human health and the environment. The authors share, “Given that pesticides are some of the most widely distributed pollutants across the world, the legacy impacts of PFAS addition into pesticide products could be widespread and have wide-ranging implications on agriculture and food and water contamination.” Fluorination, which adds fluorine to a compound, is used to modify properties, such as the stability of chemicals. It can also increase residual activity of pesticide ingredients. Fluorinated molecules, including PFAS, are “a serious environmental health concern owing to their highly persistent nature, often potent toxicities, potential to bioaccumulate, and widespread presence in people, animals, and the broader environment,” the authors state. They continue in saying, “The long-term impacts of using mixtures of extremely persistent chemicals on potentially hundreds of millions of acres of US land every year is, to us, a cause for concern.” The commentary, titled “Forever Pesticides: A Growing Source of PFAS Contamination in the Environment,” explores how and to what extent PFAS […]