{"id":25325,"date":"2019-07-29T00:00:09","date_gmt":"2019-07-29T04:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?p=25325"},"modified":"2019-07-28T20:54:03","modified_gmt":"2019-07-29T00:54:03","slug":"epas-office-of-inspector-general-must-investigate-epas-failure-to-fully-assess-pesticide-hazards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/07\/epas-office-of-inspector-general-must-investigate-epas-failure-to-fully-assess-pesticide-hazards\/","title":{"rendered":"EPA\u2019s Office of Inspector General Must Investigate EPA\u2019s Failure to Fully Assess Pesticide Hazards"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"(Beyond Pesticides<\/em>, July 29, 2019)\u00a0A research study, published in March in\u00a0Scientific Reports<\/em><\/a>, uncovers a pesticide effect on a sugar-metabolizing enzyme common to all cells that has broad health ramifications ignored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) safety testing protocol. This finding raises a\u00a0larger question regarding the need for EPA to test for the synergistic effects of pesticides, whereby pesticides and chemicals in combination have an even greater effect than they do by themselves.<\/p>\n

The research, by T. Tristan Brandhorst, PhD, Iain Kean, PhD, and others in the lab of Bruce Klein, PhD, of the University of Wisconsin\u2013Madison and UW School ofMedicine and Public Health, specifically sheds light on the mode of action of the fungicide\u00a0fludioxonil<\/a>. Fludioxonil, a phenylpyrrole fungicide, was developed to treat seeds during storage, and has come to be used commonly on grains, vegetables, fruits, and ornamental plants during cultivation, and produce after harvest to extend \u201cshelf life.\u201d As reported by the American Association for the Advancement of Science publication,\u00a0EurekAlert<\/em><\/a>, \u201cThe ability of [the fungicide] fludioxonil to act on a sugar-metabolizing enzyme common to all cells, and to produce the damaging compound methylglyoxal, may mean that the pesticide has more potential to harm non-fungal cells than previously thought. Although fludioxonil has been deemed safe for use, the authors . . . suggest that the effects of this widely used pesticide has upon animals be re-examined.\u201d<\/p>\n

EPA, under the current administration, has not shown a willingness to restrict pesticide use to protect humans and the environment. However, EPA has an investigative office\u2014the Office of Inspector General (OIG)\u2014whose job is to \u201cperform\u00a0audits and investigations<\/a>\u00a0of the EPA to promote economy and efficiency, and to prevent and detect fraud, waste and abuse.\u201d In order to ensure its independence of EPA, OIG receives funding directly from Congress.\u00a0Congress may request<\/a>\u00a0audits and investigations by\u00a0OIG.<\/p>\n

Ask your U.S. Representative and Senators to request an Office of Inspector General investigation of EPA’s failure to assess pesticide hazards resulting from chemicals in combination having synergistic and multifactorial effects.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

In a previous investigation, Drs. Brandhorst and Klein\u00a0pointed to the uncertainty<\/a>\u00a0about the mechanism by which\u00a0fludioxonil actually causes fungi cell death, asserting that this uncertainty merits a reevaluation by EPA of its potential impacts on human health\u2014noting\u00a0reports of the fungicide’s ability to disrupt hepatic, endocrine, and neurological systems. The scientists in Dr. Klein’s lab found that a common effect of pesticides on their targets, oxidative stress, is crucial. In this case, the oxidative stress that triggers the toxicity of fludioxonil comes from the natural breakdown of sugars, which is enhanced by the fungicide.\u00a0Dr. Brandhorst notes<\/a>, \u201cThe take-home lesson is that fludioxonil is multifactorial. It’s not compromising cells by one solitary mechanism. It has potential to damage cells in a variety of ways.\u201d The enzyme-suppressing action of fludioxonil on an enzyme common to all cells is at the heart of the alarm this research raises, but it is not the only reason the fungicide needs to be reevaluated.<\/p>\n

The fungicide’s extensive post-harvest use on food crops is of particular concern because it eliminates the chance for environmental degradation of the compound, and once applied,\u00a0the waxy fungicide is not easily removed by rinsing<\/a>. Further,\u00a0UV treatment of produce<\/a>\u00a0(sometimes used to reduce pathogens on fresh fruits and vegetables) actually significantly increases the toxicity of fludioxonil. In addition, the lead author indicates that \u201cthere is also reason to believe that breakdown products of this pesticide may be 100 times more toxic than fludioxonil itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are several lessons from this research. First, life is complex, and synergism is the rule, not the exception. Note that in this case, synergism occurs between the pesticide and naturally-occurring processes in humans and other organisms.<\/p>\n

Second, EPA should not regulate pesticides with the\u00a0assumption<\/u>\u00a0that the absence of an enzyme in one group of organisms protects the overall health of all other organisms. EPA made a\u00a0similar mistaken assumption in assessing glyphosate\/Roundup, which caused it to ignore the impacts of that herbicide on the human gut microbiota.<\/p>\n

Third, EPA must have a complete understanding of the mode of action of any pesticide it registers and act on new information that arises in the peer-reviewed scientific literature. It is a major shortcoming of EPA’s risk assessment process that it does not respond to current science.<\/p>\n

Ask your U.S. Representative and Senators to request an Office of Inspector General investigation of EPA’s failure to assess pesticide hazards resulting from chemicals in combination having synergistic and multifactorial effects.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Letter to Congress<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am writing to ask you to request an investigation by the Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s Office of Inspector General of a failing in EPA\u2019s risk assessment of pesticides.<\/p>\n

A research study, published in March in Scientific Reports, uncovers a pesticide effect on a sugar-metabolizing enzyme common to all cells that has broad health ramifications ignored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s (EPA) safety testing protocol. This finding raises a larger question regarding the need for EPA to test for the synergistic effects of pesticides, whereby pesticides and chemicals in combination have an even greater effect than they do by themselves. (Brandhorst, T.T., Kean, I.R., Lawry, S.M., Wiesner, D.L. and Klein, B.S., 2019. Phenylpyrrole fungicides act on triosephosphate isomerase to induce methylglyoxal stress and alter hybrid histidine kinase activity. (Scientific Reports, 9(1), p.5047)<\/p>\n

The study specifically sheds light on the mode of action of the fungicide fludioxonil, which was developed to treat seeds during storage, and is now used on grains, vegetables, fruits, and ornamental plants during cultivation, and produce after harvest. As reported in EurekAlert, \u201cThe ability of [the fungicide] fludioxonil to act on a sugar-metabolizing enzyme common to all cells, and to produce the damaging compound methylglyoxal, may mean that the pesticide has more potential to harm non-fungal cells than previously thought. Although fludioxonil has been deemed safe for use, the authors . . . suggest that the effects of this widely used pesticide has upon animals be re-examined.\u201d<\/p>\n

EPA, under this administration, has not shown a willingness to restrict pesticide use to protect humans and the environment. This makes a request on this matter to the OIG especially important now.<\/p>\n

Previous work by Drs. Brandhorst and Klein pointed to the uncertainty about the mechanism by which fludioxonil actually causes fungi cell death, asserting that this uncertainty merits a reevaluation by EPA of its potential impacts on human health\u2014noting reports of the fungicide\u2019s ability to disrupt hepatic, endocrine, and neurological systems. They found that a common effect of pesticides on their targets, oxidative stress, is crucial. In this case, the oxidative stress that triggers the toxicity of fludioxonil comes from the natural breakdown of sugars, which is enhanced by the fungicide. The enzyme-suppressing action of fludioxonil on an enzyme common to all cells is at the heart of the alarm raised by this research.<\/p>\n

The fungicide\u2019s extensive post-harvest use on food crops is of particular concern because it eliminates the chance for environmental degradation of the compound, and once applied, the waxy fungicide is not easily removed by rinsing. Further, UV treatment of produce (sometimes used to reduce pathogens on fresh fruits and vegetables) significantly increases the toxicity of fludioxonil. In addition, \u201cthere is also reason to believe that breakdown products of this pesticide may be 100 times more toxic than fludioxonil itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are several lessons from this research. First, life is complex, and synergism is the rule, not the exception. In this case, synergism occurs between the pesticide and natural processes in humans and other organisms.<\/p>\n

Second, EPA should not regulate pesticides with the assumption that the absence of an enzyme in one group of organisms protects the overall health of all other organisms. EPA made a similar mistaken assumption in assessing glyphosate\/Roundup, which caused it to ignore the impacts of that herbicide on the human gut microbiota.<\/p>\n

Third, EPA must have a complete understanding of the mode of action of any pesticide it registers and act on new information that arises in the peer-reviewed scientific literature. The failure to respond to current science is a major shortcoming of EPA\u2019s risk assessment process.<\/p>\n

Please ask the OIG to investigate EPA\u2019s risk assessment practices highlighted by this research.<\/p>\n

Thank you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Beyond Pesticides, July 29, 2019)\u00a0A research study, published in March in\u00a0Scientific Reports, uncovers a pesticide effect on a sugar-metabolizing enzyme common to all cells that has broad health ramifications ignored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) safety testing protocol. This finding raises a\u00a0larger question regarding the need for EPA to test for the synergistic effects of pesticides, whereby pesticides and chemicals in combination have an even greater effect than they do by themselves. The research, by T. Tristan Brandhorst, PhD, Iain Kean, PhD, and others in the lab of Bruce Klein, PhD, of the University of Wisconsin\u2013Madison and UW School ofMedicine and Public Health, specifically sheds light on the mode of action of the fungicide\u00a0fludioxonil. Fludioxonil, a phenylpyrrole fungicide, was developed to treat seeds during storage, and has come to be used commonly on grains, vegetables, fruits, and ornamental plants during cultivation, and produce after harvest to extend \u201cshelf life.\u201d As reported by the American Association for the Advancement of Science publication,\u00a0EurekAlert, \u201cThe ability of [the fungicide] fludioxonil to act on a sugar-metabolizing enzyme common to all cells, and to produce the damaging compound methylglyoxal, may mean that the pesticide has more potential to harm non-fungal cells than previously […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[249,354,420,374,399,10,421,276,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-agriculture","category-environmental-protection-agency-epa","category-fludioxonil","category-fungicides","category-oxidative-stress","category-pesticide-regulation","category-synergistic-effects","category-take-action","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nEPA\u2019s Office of Inspector General Must Investigate EPA\u2019s Failure to Fully Assess Pesticide Hazards - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/07\/epas-office-of-inspector-general-must-investigate-epas-failure-to-fully-assess-pesticide-hazards\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"EPA\u2019s Office of Inspector General Must Investigate EPA\u2019s Failure to Fully Assess Pesticide Hazards - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"(Beyond Pesticides, July 29, 2019)\u00a0A research study, published in March in\u00a0Scientific Reports, uncovers a pesticide effect on a sugar-metabolizing enzyme common to all cells that has broad health ramifications ignored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) safety testing protocol. 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This finding raises a\u00a0larger question regarding the need for EPA to test for the synergistic effects of pesticides, whereby pesticides and chemicals in combination have an even greater effect than they do by themselves. The research, by T. Tristan Brandhorst, PhD, Iain Kean, PhD, and others in the lab of Bruce Klein, PhD, of the University of Wisconsin\u2013Madison and UW School ofMedicine and Public Health, specifically sheds light on the mode of action of the fungicide\u00a0fludioxonil. Fludioxonil, a phenylpyrrole fungicide, was developed to treat seeds during storage, and has come to be used commonly on grains, vegetables, fruits, and ornamental plants during cultivation, and produce after harvest to extend \u201cshelf life.\u201d As reported by the American Association for the Advancement of Science publication,\u00a0EurekAlert, \u201cThe ability of [the fungicide] fludioxonil to act on a sugar-metabolizing enzyme common to all cells, and to produce the damaging compound methylglyoxal, may mean that the pesticide has more potential to harm non-fungal cells than previously […]","og_url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/07\/epas-office-of-inspector-general-must-investigate-epas-failure-to-fully-assess-pesticide-hazards\/","og_site_name":"Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\/","article_published_time":"2019-07-29T04:00:09+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/OIG.EPAfailure-to-assess-pesticide-hazards.png","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Beyond Pesticides","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ByondPesticides","twitter_site":"@ByondPesticides","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Beyond Pesticides","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/07\/epas-office-of-inspector-general-must-investigate-epas-failure-to-fully-assess-pesticide-hazards\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/07\/epas-office-of-inspector-general-must-investigate-epas-failure-to-fully-assess-pesticide-hazards\/"},"author":{"name":"Beyond Pesticides","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/person\/1b5c0a0981b549cc5b628770073031f4"},"headline":"EPA\u2019s Office of Inspector General Must Investigate EPA\u2019s Failure to Fully Assess Pesticide Hazards","datePublished":"2019-07-29T04:00:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/07\/epas-office-of-inspector-general-must-investigate-epas-failure-to-fully-assess-pesticide-hazards\/"},"wordCount":1404,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/07\/epas-office-of-inspector-general-must-investigate-epas-failure-to-fully-assess-pesticide-hazards\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/OIG.EPAfailure-to-assess-pesticide-hazards.png","articleSection":["Agriculture","Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)","fludioxonil","Fungicides","Oxidative Stress","Pesticide Regulation","synergistic effects","Take Action"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/07\/epas-office-of-inspector-general-must-investigate-epas-failure-to-fully-assess-pesticide-hazards\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/07\/epas-office-of-inspector-general-must-investigate-epas-failure-to-fully-assess-pesticide-hazards\/","url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/07\/epas-office-of-inspector-general-must-investigate-epas-failure-to-fully-assess-pesticide-hazards\/","name":"EPA\u2019s Office of Inspector General Must Investigate EPA\u2019s Failure to Fully Assess Pesticide Hazards - 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By forging ties with governments, nonprofits, and people who rely on these natural resources, we reduce the need for unnecessary pesticide use and protect public health and the environment. Beyond Pesticides provides hands-on services to the public and supports local action by: identifying and interpreting hazards; and, designing safe pest management programs. With the information provided by Beyond Pesticides, people may not only be able to make informed choices and adopt practices that protect themselves and their families from unnecessary exposure to pesticides, but they will be able to effect changes on community-wide pest management decisions and policies that govern pesticide use, such as pesticide uses in parks, schools, for community insect control and along roadsides. 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