{"id":41562,"date":"2026-05-11T00:01:52","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T04:01:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?p=41562"},"modified":"2026-05-11T00:19:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T04:19:25","slug":"public-health-advocates-call-for-review-of-adverse-synergistic-effects-of-pesticides-ignored-by-regulators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2026\/05\/public-health-advocates-call-for-review-of-adverse-synergistic-effects-of-pesticides-ignored-by-regulators\/","title":{"rendered":"Public Health Advocates Call for Review of Adverse Synergistic Effects of Pesticides, Ignored by Regulators \u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

(Beyond Pesticides<\/em>, May 11, 2026) As studies stack up on adverse synergistic effects of chemical mixtures, serious deficiencies in the regulatory review of pesticides have come into sharp focus. As the hazards are shown to escalate and the regulatory review process is shown to fall short, public health advocates are telling Congress, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Health and Human Services that they must consider the effects of pesticides in the context in which they are used and with reference to the organic alternative.<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

A\u00a0recent study in\u00a0Toxics<\/em><\/a>\u00a0reviewed the current literature on pesticides, microplastics, or metal exposure in combination with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) on aquatic vertebrates and invertebrates, finding that\u00a0PFAS can\u00a0modify, including intensify, the toxicity of co-occurring pollutants.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

A commentary in\u00a0Frontiers in Toxicolog<\/em>y<\/a>, by \u00a0Maricel Maffini, PhD, and Laura Vandenberg, PhD, \u00a0notes<\/a>, \u201cCurrent approaches also rely on the assumption that testing chemicals one at a time is\u00a0appropriate to\u00a0understand how chemicals act under real-world conditions. Numerous mixture studies, including ones that\u00a0demonstrated\u00a0cumulative effects, have disproven this assumption.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

As noted by the naturalist, writer, and conservationist John Muir, known as the \u201cFather of the National Parks,\u201d and those before and after him, including the English poet John Donne, who wrote \u201cNo Man is an Island\u201d in 1624, all life is interconnected. As a result, synergism is the rule, rather than the exception. John Muir put it succinctly: \u201cWhen we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

Examples of synergistic effects of pesticides abound<\/u>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n