MARYLAND PESTICIDE NETWORK -- RECENT NEWS

Use of Household Cleaners Linked to Increased Risk of Breast Cancer

(Beyond Pesticides, July 23, 2010) A new study published in BioMed's online journal, Environmental Health, links endocrine disrupting pesticides and other chemicals in household cleaning products to an elevated risk of breast cancer. Researchers at the Silent Spring Institute in Newton, MA and Boston University found that women who use household cleaners more often have double the risk of breast cancer, compared to women who use household cleaners less frequently. The study includes over 1,500 women selected from Cape Cod, MA and found a correlation between cases of breast cancer and the number of women who reported using household cleaners, particularly solid, slow-release air fresheners when used more than seven times a year, and mold removers when used more than once a week.

The antimicrobials, phthalates and alkylphenolic surfactants often found in mold and mildew products are associated with various health and environmental issues. The antimicrobial triclosan for example, can cause skin irritation, allergy susceptibility, bacterial and compounded antibiotic resistance, and dioxin that jeopardizes fragile aquatic ecosystems. The study highlights methylene chloride (in some fabric cleaners), nitrobenzene (soaps, polishes), perfluorinated compounds (stainresistant, waterproof coatings), phthalates (surfactants), alkylphenols (solvents), parabens (preservatives), triclosan, and polycyclic musks (fragrance) as ingredients of concern.

Past studies from the Silent Spring Institute have shown that many of the chemicals used in household cleaning products are endocrine disrupting compounds that produce mammary gland tumors in rats.

This study focuses on 787 women diagnosed with breast cancer between 1988 and 1995 and 721 controls from the Cape Cod, MA area. Through telephone interviews, researchers collected information about the participants' family history of breast cancer, menstrual and reproductive history, height, weight, alcohol and tobacco use, physical activity, pharmaceutical hormone use, and education. They were also asked about five categories of cleaning products, including solid and spray air fresheners, surface cleaners, oven cleaners, and mold/mildew products, as well as 10 categories of pesticides in and around their homes, including insecticides, lawn care, herbicides, lice control, insect repellents, and pest control on pets.

Using predefined categories, the women reported on the frequency of their use of the different products and were then asked about their beliefs about factors that may contribute to breast cancer. These factors include heredity, diet, chemicals and pollutant in the air and water, and a woman's reproductive or breastfeeding history. Details on the interview questions are posted on Silent Spring Institute's website.

The researchers acknowledged and corrected for potential recall bias (for instance, a woman who believed chemicals contribute to breast cancer might falsely believe she used those products more frequently) by comparing the odds ratio of product use and beliefs about whether chemicals and pollutant contribute to breast cancer to the odds ratio for family history and beliefs about heredity.

However, researchers point out that self-reported product use has the potential to represent long-term exposure to a wide range of compounds and stated in their report, "Although exposure levels may be low and EDCs (endocrine-disrupting chemicals) are typically less potent than endogenous hormones, limited knowledge of product formulations, exposure levels, and the biological activity and toxicity of chemical constituents alone and in combination make it difficult to assess risks associated with product use."

Confounders such as mammography use, medical radiations, lactation, hormone replacement therapy, oral contraceptive use, diethylstilbestrol exposure, body mass index, smoking, alcohol consumption, teen and adult physical activity, race, marital status, and religion were evaluated, but none changed the core adjusted odds ratio estimates by over 10%, so they were not included in the final analysis. Study participants are predominantly white (98%), 60-80 years of age (60%), and completed high school or higher education (94%).

Sandra Steingraber, Ph.D., a New York ecologist, cancer survivor and author of the books Living Downstream and Having Faith, told the Columbus Dispatch that she advises everyone to stop using chemical cleaners, and stick to least-toxic alternatives, such as baking soda and vinegar. Dr. Steingraber, who is a scholar in residence at Ithaca College stated, "I just see this as such an easy problem compared to a lot of things" but points to the new research as evidence that "the conversation is shifting now. We can't just sort of look at the murky evidence on cancer and the environment and sort of set it aside because it's too inscrutable."

Linking the use of particular chemicals in our environment to cancer cases is indeed difficult to research, and the epidemiologists involved in this study recommend that "in order to avoid possible recall bias, the researchers recommend further study of cleaning products and breast cancer using prospective self-reports and measurements in environmental and biological media."

Additionally, past studies covered by Beyond Pesticides suggest that overuse of disinfectants can be harmful, rather than beneficial to our health and the environment. Disinfectants tend to kill a wide variety of bacteria, reducing both "bad" bacteria associated with illness, as well as the "good" bacteria that perform useful functions in our environment and in our bodies. The overuse of antimicrobial chemicals has also been linked to the creation of drug-resistant bacteria, or "superbugs," which are bacteria and viruses that have become resistant to the antimicrobial compounds and antibiotic drugs developed to control them.

Study Shows Effectiveness of Organic Pest Management Methods

(Beyond Pesticides, July 2, 2010) A study by researchers from Washington State University (WSU) and the University of Georgia suggests that a balanced mix of insects and fungi in organic fields provides for both better pest control and larger plants than in conventional agriculture. The study, which was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and published in the July 1 edition of the journal Nature, shows that organic farming practices lead to many equally-common beneficial species, and that this reduces pest problems.

"It's always been a mystery how organic farmers get high yields without using synthetic insecticides," says co-author Bill Snyder, Ph.D., associate professor of entomology at WSU. "Our study suggests that biodiversity conservation may be a key to their success."

The study involved 42 potato plots enclosed in fine mesh on the Pullman campus of WSU. The researchers planted both potato plants and Colorado potato beetles (a very problematic pest of the potato) in each of the plots, adding varying numbers of beneficial insects, fungi and nematodes, microscopic soil-dwelling worms that attack beetles' eggs and larvae.

Crops placed in the organic test plots with a more balanced insect population grew faster, because no one species of insect had a chance to dominate the plot and kill the potato plants. In fact, the study found that the increased evenness of species in the organic plots compared to the conventional plots led to 18% lower pest densities and 35% larger plants. Larger plants generally translate to greater potato yields, suggesting that organic methods might provide higher profits as well as an ecological sustainability advantage.

Though previous conservation and biodiversity studies tended to focus on species richness, or the number of individual species present in an area, this study is one of the few to consider the advantage of relatively equal numbers, or "evenness" of species for a beneficial agricultural ecosystem. Thus, the results show that both richness and evenness must be maintained to ensure a healthy environment. Conventional agricultural methods, which rely heavily on spraying pesticides, tend to wipe out the majority of insects, leaving behind a few hardy species that end up dominating the conventional field ecosystem. These findings promote the reliance on a mix of natural predators as a way to avoid the "pesticide treadmill" that forces farmers to use larger and larger volumes of different costly chemicals to kill hardy pests that develop resistance.

Research director Andrew Jensen from The Washington State Potato Commission, which partially funded Dr. Snyder's research, says they hope to translate the study into practical advice their members can use. Washington is second (after Idaho) in potato production in the U.S., but less than 1% of the state's potatoes are organically grown. Studies like these might convince potato growers to cut back on spraying and eventually switch to organic methods, which would suit top potato customers, like McDonalds and Wendy's, who are being pushed to green up their practices.

"People who buy a lot of potatoes are asking the growers to reduce insecticide use as much as possible, to document pesticide use, and include biological control as a consideration," remarked Dr. Snyder in a comment to the Seattle Times.

This study adds to the body of scientific literature considering the benefits of organic agriculture, which includes a paper published by the Rodale Institute in 2003, describing how an organic system produces better yields of corn and soybeans under severe drought conditions and gives better environmental stability under flood conditions through lower runoff risks and greater water retention capabilities in the soil. This helps to balance inaccurate, industry-funded studies which only confuse consumers.

Sources: USDA Press Release
Nature News

New Report Shows Pesticide Exposure Associated with Certain Cancers

(Beyond Pesticides, July 6, 2010) A review report published last Friday highlights that some research studies indicate that pesticide exposure either prior to conception, during pregnancy or during childhood appears to increase the risk of childhood cancer, with maternal pesticide exposure during pregnancy being most consistently associated with childhood cancer. Furthermore, the report notes that several studies indicate that farmers are at greater risk of developing certain cancers than the general population. In particular, several studies strongly suggest that pesticide exposures are associated with some cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), leukemia, prostate cancer and other hormone related cancers.

The report, A Review of the Role Pesticides Play in Some Cancers: Children, farmers and pesticide users at risk?, is published by the United Kingdom organization CHEM (Chemicals, Health and Environment Monitoring) Trust.

"Pesticide exposures may interact with other chemical exposures and genetic factors, to cause cancer. Research suggests that pregnant women, in particular, should avoid direct exposure to pesticides, if possible," said Gwynne Lyons, Director of CHEM Trust and report co-author. "It is high time that the UK was more supportive of EU proposals to take a tougher approach to reducing exposure to potentially harmful chemicals. If the UK is to shed its image of being the laggard in the EU, then the UK Government must robustly implement the new EU pesticides legislation in order to try and reduce the burden of cancer in children, farmers and others exposed to pesticides."

The CHEM Trust report also highlights that certain cancers have increased dramatically in recent decades in the UK, showing that environmental factors must be partly to blame with pesticide exposures suspected to play a role in some cases. Although, a proportion, but not all of this increase, is believed to be due to better diagnostic techniques, cancer trend data are raising the alarm. In Britain over the last 30 years (1975/6 – 2005/6):

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma has more than doubled;
Testicular cancer has doubled;
Breast cancer in women has increased by two thirds, and in men quadrupled;
Prostate cancer has tripled; and,
In the 35 years up to 1998, childhood cancer in Britain increased by 35%.

"Occupational and environmental cancers have been a neglected public health issue in the UK for decades. The report highlights the substantial nature of the threat from pesticide exposure. In the UK, oversight of pesticides has continued to err on the side of products rather than people and of course relies on data generated initially by the pesticide manufacturers," said Andrew Watterson, Professor of Health at Stirling University and report coauthor. "The regulatory response has usually been ‘if in doubt, do continue using pesticides' when the scientific literature is littered with examples of products that have been cleared in the past emerging as known or suspect human carcinogens. There is a long-overdue and urgent need to mount a cancer prevention campaign on pesticides based on effective precautionary principles."

With 1 in 3 Europeans being diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime, the report concludes that EU governments should urgently focus more on cancer prevention. CHEM Trust calls on the UK Government to give greater consideration to cancer prevention via better control of chemicals, and for specific measures to reduce pesticide exposures. These include:

Strict implementation of the new EU legislation on pesticides so that pesticides that disrupt hormones, and those suspected to cause cancer are substituted with safer alternatives; and,
Giving people living in houses bordering agricultural land a legal right to be notified in advance of any pesticide spraying operations, if they so request. This would give those living in rural areas the option of reducing their families' exposure by, for example, bringing their children in from the garden, not hanging clothes out to dry on that day, or shutting their windows.

In the U.S., with a growing body of evidence linking environmental exposures to cancer in recent years, a report released May 6, 2010 by the President's Cancer Panel finds that the true burden of environmentally-induced cancer is greatly underestimated. The Panel's report, Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk: What We Can Do Now, concludes that while environmental exposure is not a new front on the war on cancer, the grievous harm from this group of carcinogens has not been addressed adequately by the nation's cancer program.

The U.S. President's Cancer Panel also points out that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) chemical registration process does not eliminate these chemicals from our lives. "Nearly 1,400 pesticides have been registered by EPA for agricultural and non-agricultural use. Exposure to these chemicals has been linked to brain/central nervous system (CNS), breast, colon, lung, ovarian (female spouses), pancreatic, kidney, testicular, and stomach cancers, as well as Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and soft tissue sarcoma…Approximately 40 chemicals classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as known, probable, or possible human carcinogens, are used in EPA-registered pesticides now on the market." The Panel notes that the pesticide tolerances, the allowable limit on food, have been criticized by environmentalists as being inadequate and unduly influenced by industry.

Pesticides a cancer risk to the unborn, say scientists.

http://newsletters.environmentalhealthnews.org/t/42238/26628/51996/0/

(Edinburgh Scotsman, July 2, 2010) Scientists have called for a government crackdown on pesticides that they warn are putting pregnant women at greater risk of having children with cancer.

United Kingdom.

Nonpersistent Pesticides Found in Umbilical Cord Blood

(Beyond Pesticides, June 17, 2010) Researchers have found detectable levels of common household pesticides in the majority of umbilical cord blood of babies born at an urban hospital. The study looks at concentrations of organophosphate (OP), carbamate, pyrethroids, and organochlorine pesticides in samples of umbilical cord blood taken from newborns delivered at the Johns Hopkins Hospital Labor and Delivery Suite in Baltimore. Researchers looked at the umbilical cord serum, as opposed to maternal serum, in order to provide a more direct estimate of exposure to the fetus. While human biomonitoring studies have found detectable levels of these pesticide chemicals in urine and blood samples from children and adults in the past, few studies have been carried out in the U.S. evaluating exposure in utero.

In addition to tracking pesticide concentrations, researchers also aimed to identify demographic and socioeconomics factors associated with in utero pesticide exposure. Anonymous anthropometric and sociodemographic characteristics of the mothers and infants were collected along with umbilical cord blood that would have otherwise been discarded. Included in the characteristics collected that researchers considered might affect pesticide exposure risk were: age, race, body mass index, parity, education, health insurance, marital status, smoking, area of residence and housing density.

There were a total of 591 live singular births between November 26, 2004 and March 16, 2005, of which 300 were used for chemical laboratory analysis for this study. Of these, 297 samples were successfully analyzed for organochlorine pesticides, and 185 were successfully analyzed for pesticides that are traditionally thought of as being "nonpersistent" with half-lives ranging from hours to weeks.

Using principal component analysis, a statistical method to identify pesticides and metabolites that tend to appear together, the authors found that newborns rarely received exposure to both permethrin and carbamates. Permethrin levels were higher among infants of mothers who did not complete high school compared with women with at least a high-school education, possibly suggesting that less educated women live in environments with greater pest problems. Highly educated mothers, on the other hand, had babies with higher cord serum concentrations of DDT mixtures, suggesting an association between higher education or socioeconomic status with high consumption of foods containing levels of DDT, such as fish.

Of the persistent pesticides, the parent compound p,p'-DDT and its metabolite, p,p'-DDE were detected in 90% and 100% of serum samples, respectively. Hexachlorobenzene was detected in 98%, and two chlordane-related chemicals (trans-nonachlor and oxychlordane) were detected in 93% and 84% respectively.

Researchers considered the carbamate, pyrethroids and OP pesticides to be the nonpersistent pesticides. Results of the study found that among the carbamate pesticides, bendiocarb was detected in 73% of the samples and propoxur was detected in 55%. Permethrin isomers (cis- and trans-permethrin) were detected in 41% and 52% respectively, and piperonyl butoxide (PBO) was detected in 36%. Cyfluthrin was found in only four samples. For OP pesticides, chlorpyrifos was detected in five of the samples and diazonin was not detected in any. Because scientists think that these pesticides disappear from the human body within a few days, the study suggests that the pregnant women either received regular, chronic exposure, which may cause fetal development problems, or that they were exposed shortly before childbirth, perhaps even in the hospital, the authors speculate.

"We can see that they've been exposed, but we don't know if there are health consequences," says first author Gila Neta, an epidemiologist who is now at the National Cancer Institute.

While the study measured pesticide levels in the umbilical cord blood, there was no information on pesticide-use behaviors as some other studies have done. However, though the study was very narrowly focused, it provides a valuable case for the need for further assessment of exposure to pesticides, particularly in vulnerable populations such as pregnant women. Furthermore, because this study only sampled newborns in one urban area, results might be higher in other areas, such as agricultural and rural regions where exposure is increased.

According to Donald Wigle, Ph.D., an epidemiologist at McLaughlin Centre for Population Health Risk Assessment at the University of Ottawa, the results point to important questions that could be resolved by the National Children's Study. The study, among many other goals, plans to look at pesticide exposure patterns and their possible effects on pregnancy and child health.

Results of this study, "Distribution and Determinants of Pesticide Mixtures in Cord Serum Using Principal Component Analysis" can be found online in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

Source: Chemical and Engineering News

Pesticides, Genes Combine to Increase Risk of Parkinson's Disease

(Beyond Pesticides, June 16, 2010) Men with certain genetic variations who were exposed to some toxic pesticides that are now largely banned run an increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease, French scientists said Monday.

In a study published in Archives of Neurology, entitled "Interaction Between ABCB1 and Professional Exposure to Organochlorine Insecticides in Parkinson Disease," French researchers found that among men exposed to pesticides such as DDT, carriers of the gene variants are three and a half times more likely to develop Parkinson's than those with the more common version of the gene.

The scientists think the brains of people with the gene variant fail to flush out toxic chemicals as efficiently as those with common versions of the gene, suggesting that environmental as well as genetic factors are important in the risk of Parkinson's.

Alexis Elbaz, MD, PhD and Fabien Dutheil, PhD, of France's National Institute for Health and Medical Research (INSERM) studied 101 men with Parkinson's and 234 without the disease to look at links between organochlorine exposure and Parkinson's disease.

The study includes only men, and all of them had high levels of exposure to pesticides through their work as farmers. The scientists found the link was around 3.5 times stronger in men who carried two copies of a gene known as ABCB1, which plays a role in helping the brain flush out dangerous chemicals.

"The gene encodes for a kind of pump in the brain, and in people who have the (two copy) variation, this pump doesn't work as well," Dr. Elbaz said. "It seems therefore that people who have these variations would have higher levels of insecticides in the brain because the brain's pump is not clearing them out properly."

Parkinson's is a neurodegenerative disease that affects one to two percent of people over the age of 65. Sufferers have tremors, sluggish movement, muscle stiffness, and difficulty with balance. Although medical treatments may improve symptoms, there are none that can slow down or halt the progression of the disease. Dr. Elbaz said his work supported a growing body of evidence that genetic factors alone were not to blame for Parkinson's, but that when they combined with factors in the environment, the risk could significantly increase.

Several published research within the past year have found that exposures to pesticides can increase the risk of developing Parkinson's. In a similar study individuals with the variant MM PONI1-55 genotype that are exposed to organophosphates exhibited more than twice the risk of Parkinson's disease compared to carriers of wildtype or heterozygous genotype and no exposure. Farmworkers have nearly double the risk for the disease if exposed to pesticides, with a dose-effect for the number of years of exposure. Another recent publication found that rural residents who drank contaminated well water had an increased (up to 90 percent) risk of developing Parkinson's. Exposure to the pesticides, paraquat and maneb, within 500 meters of an individual's home, increased the risk of developing Parkinson's by 75 percent, according to a University of California, Berkeley study. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) found suggestive but limited evidence that exposure to Agent Orange and other herbicides used during the Vietnam War is associated with an increased chance of developing ischemic heart disease and Parkinson's disease in Vietnam veterans.

For more on Parkinson's disease, please read "Pesticides Trigger Parkinson's Disease," a review of published toxicological and epidemiological studies that link exposure to pesticides, as well as gene-pesticide interactions, to Parkinson's disease and published in Pesticides and You (Spring 2008).

Source: Reuters

June 9, 2010

EPA Moves to Terminate All Uses of Insecticide Endosulfan to Protect Health of Farmworkers and Wildlife

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking action to end all uses of the insecticide endosulfan in the United States. Endosulfan, which is used on vegetables, fruits, and cotton, can pose unacceptable neurological and reproductive risks to farmworkers and wildlife and can persist in the environment.

New data generated in response to the agency's 2002 decision have shown that risks faced by workers are greater than previously known. EPA also finds that there are risks above the agency's level of concern to aquatic and terrestrial wildlife, as well as to birds and mammals that consume aquatic prey which have ingested endosulfan. Farmworkers can be exposed to endosulfan through inhalation and contact with the skin. Endosulfan is used on a very small percentage of the U.S. food supply and does not present a risk to human health from dietary exposure.

Makhteshim Agan of North America, the manufacturer of endosulfan, is in discussions with EPA to voluntarily terminate all endosulfan uses. EPA is currently working out the details of the decision that will eliminate all endosulfan uses, while incorporating consideration of the needs for growers to timely move to lower-risk pest control practices.

Under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), EPA must consider endosulfan's risks and benefits. While EPA implemented various restrictions in a 2002 re-registration decision, EPA's phaseout is based on new data and scientific peer review, which have improved EPA's assessment of the ecological and worker risks from endosulfan. EPA's 2010 revised ecological risk assessment reflects a comprehensive review of all available exposure and ecological effects information for endosulfan, including independent external peer-reviewed recommendations made by the endosulfan Scientific Advisory Panel.

Endosulfan, an organochlorine insecticide first registered in the 1950s, also is used on ornamental shrubs, trees, and herbaceous plants. It has no residential uses.

More information on endosulfan cancellation: http://www.regulations.gov

For more information: http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/reregistration/endosulfan/endosulfan-cancl-fs.html

USGS Finds Atrazine Herbicide Adversely Affects Fish Reproduction

(Beyond Pesticides, June 1, 2010) Atrazine, one of the most commonly used herbicides in the world, has been shown to affect reproduction of fish at concentrations below U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) water-quality guideline, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study. "Concentrations of atrazine commonly found in agricultural streams and rivers caused reduced reproduction and spawning, as well as tissue abnormalities in laboratory studies with fish," said USGS scientist Donald Tillitt, Ph.D., the lead author of the study, "Atrazine Reduces Reproduction in Fathead Minnow (Pimephales promelas)" published in Aquatic Toxicology.

Fathead minnows were exposed to atrazine at the USGS Columbia Environmental Research Center in Columbia, Missouri, and observed for effects on egg production, tissue abnormalities and hormone levels. Fish were exposed to concentrations ranging from zero to 50 micrograms per liter of atrazine for up to 30 days. All tested levels of exposure are less than the EPA Office of Pesticides Aquatic Life Benchmark of 65 micrograms per liter for chronic exposure of fish.

Study results show that normal reproductive cycling was disrupted by atrazine and fish did not spawn as much or as well when exposed to atrazine. Researchers found that total egg production was lower in all atrazine-exposed fish, as compared to the non-exposed fish, within 17 to 20 days of exposure. In addition, atrazine-exposed fish spawned less and there were abnormalities in reproductive tissues of both males and females.

Atrazine is one of the most commonly used herbicides in the world and is used on most corn, sugarcane and sorghum acreage in the United States; and can also be used on golf courses and residential lawns. In the U.S. alone, 60-80 million pounds are used per year to stop pre- and post-emergence broadleaf and annual grassy weeds, and is generally applied in the spring. Thus, noted Dr. Tillitt, atrazine concentrations are greatest in streams during the spring, when most fish in North America are attempting to reproduce.

The herbicide is a common contaminant of municipal drinking water because it does not cling to soil particles and washes easily with the rain into surface and ground water. In previous studies, the USGS found atrazine in approximately 75 percent of stream waters and 40 percent of all groundwater samples from agricultural areas tested.

Atrazine has been linked to a myriad of health problems in humans including disruption of hormone activity, low sperm quality, low birth weight, impaired immune system function and cancer. A 2009 study by Paul Winchester, PhD, linked birth defects to time of conception, with the great impact on children conceived when concentrations of atrazine and other pesticides were the highest in the local drinking water.

Previous studies show that atrazine harms the immune, hormone, and reproductive systems of aquatic animals. For example, a study of fish and amphibians exposed to atrazine exhibited hermaphrodism, creatures with both male and female sexual characteristics. Male frogs exposed to atrazine concentrations within federal standards can become so completely female that they can mate and lay viable eggs. Other research by Tyrone Hayes, Ph.D. and others demonstrates that exposure to doses of atrazine as small as 0.1 parts per billion, turns tadpoles into hermaphrodites. In yet another study, a mixture of small amounts of ten of the most commonly used pesticides, including atrazine, was found to kill 99 percent of leopard frog tadpoles.

The results of this new study add an important ecological perspective to findings on atrazine concentrations in streams reported by the USGS National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program, as well as others, and highlights the potential risks to aquatic species of this high-use chemical, Dr. Tillitt said.

"Results of studies over the past 20 years show that atrazine is the most frequently detected pesticide in agricultural streams and rivers nationwide, and particularly in the Corn Belt states," according to Robert Gilliom, Chief of the NAWQA Pesticide National Synthesis Project. "Atrazine concentration data for Corn Belt streams and rivers show that 21-day average concentrations, similar to the exposure conditions studied by Dr. Tillitt, exceeded levels found to affect fish reproduction for most sites and years sampled."

In 1991, Germany and Italy banned the use of atrazine. The European Union banned atrazine in 2004, after repeated testing found the herbicide in drinking water supplies, and health officials were unable to find sufficient evidence that the chemical is safe. In much of Europe the burden of proof falls on the pesticide manufacturer to prove it is safe, unlike in the U.S. where EPA has assumed the burden of proving a pesticide does not meet acceptable risk standards before taking regulatory action.

On April 22, 2010, U.S. Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN) introduced H.R.5124, legislation to prohibit the use, production, sale, importation, or exportation of any pesticide containing atrazine.

New Study Links Occupational Pesticide Exposure to Alzheimer's Disease, Dementia

(Beyond Pesticides, May 28, 2010) The repeated exposure to organophosphate and organochlorine insecticides can increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's Disease (AD) or dementia later in life according to a new study published in the May issue of Neurology. The observational study entitled "Occupational exposure to pesticides increases the risk of incident AD" is one of very few studies to examine a link between pesticides and AD.

Researchers lead by Kathleen M. Hayden, PhD of Duke University Medical Center examined residents 65 years and older from an agricultural community in Cache County Utah. Participants were assessed for cognitive ability at the inception of the study and again after 3, 7, and 10 years. Data showed that those repeatedly exposed to any pesticides were more likely to develop AD or dementia. Researchers found a higher incidence of AD among those exposed to organophosphates and organochlorines. The risk of AD associated with organophosphate exposure was slightly higher than the risk associated with organochlorines. Researchers also found an increase in dementia among those exposed to organophosphates or organochlorines; however this increase was not statistically significant. Dr. Hayden said that more research was necessary to determine a causal link.

Organophosphates are known to reduce acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter important for learning, memory, and concentration in the human brain. Acetylcholine is also reduced in AD patients. Most drugs on the market to treat AD work by increasing the amount of acetylcholine. Ronald Peterson, MD, PhD, chair of the Alzheimer's Association Medical and Scientific Advisory Council and professor of neurology and Cora Kanow Professor of Alzheimer's Disease Research at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota said this may be a clue as to why organophosphates are associated with an increased risk of the disease.

Since many organochlorine insecticides such as DDT, dieldrin, and heptachlor were banned in the US, organophosphates have become the most common type of insecticide. An estimated 20 to 24 million lbs of Chlorpyrifos, a type of organophosphate, is applied annually in the United States. Organophosphate exposure has been linked to a host of diseases in humans including birth defects, ADHD, and liver damage.

Take Action!
Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA) has a petition to stop the use of chlorpyrifos, and phase out all organophosphates. Sign the petition here.

Source: Medscape Today

Posted in Alzheimers's, Chlorpyrifos, DDT, Heptachlor by: Beyond Pesticides

Dioxins from Triclosan Increasingly Found in Water

(Beyond Pesticides, May 20, 2010) Dioxins derived from the antibacterial agent triclosan account for an increasing proportion of total dioxins found in water: researchers at the University of Minnesota found that though levels of all other dioxins have dropped by 73-90% over the last thirty years, the levels of four different dioxins derived from triclosan have risen by 200-300%. The study, which was a collaborative effort between researchers at the University of Minnesota, Pace Analytical (Minneapolis), the Science Museum of Minnesota and Virginia Tech appears in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. Leading the research is the recent Ph.D. graduate in chemistry, Jeff Buth and supervisors William Arnold, a civil engineering professor, and his colleague Krostopher McNeill, all from University of Minnesota.

Source: Science News

Researchers looked at sediment core samples that contained pollution accumulation records from the past 50 years from Lake Pepin, a part of the Mississippi River 120 miles downstream from the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area. The sediment samples were then analyzed for triclosan, the four dioxins that are derived from triclosan and the entire family of dioxin chemicals.

In papers published in 2003 and 2009, Dr. Arnold and Dr. McNeill discovered that triclosan, when exposed to sunlight, generated a specific suite of four dioxins. Dioxin refers to a family of chemicals linked to cancer, weakened immune systems and reproductive problems. They are persistent organic pollutants that bioaccumulate in humans and other animals, especially in fatty tissue. Dioxin can be highly carcinogenic and can cause health problems as severe as weakening of the immune system, decreased fertility, altered sex hormones, miscarriage, birth defects, and cancer. Because of the chemical structure as a polychloro phenoxy phenol, it is possible that dioxin can be found in triclosan as synthesis impurities. In addition to being formed during the manufacturing process, dioxin may also be formed upon incineration of triclosan.

"These four dioxins [found in the sediment core samples] only come from triclosan. They didn't exist in Lake Pepin before triclosan was introduced," Dr. Arnold said in a Science Daily news release. "In the most current sediments, these triclosan-derived dioxins account for about 30 percent of the total dioxin mass."

Triclosan is one of the most detected chemicals in U.S. waterways; according to the study, about 96 percent of triclosan from consumer products is disposed of in residential drains. This leads to large loads of the chemical in water entering wastewater treatment plants, which are incompletely removed during the wastewater treatment process. When treated wastewater is released to the environment, sunlight converts some of the triclosan (and related compounds) into dioxins. Researchers believe that triclosan and the dioxins ended up in Lake Pepin sediments by sticking to organic particles in the river, which then sank when they reached the calmer waters of the lake. Additionally, Triclosan can combine with chlorine in tap water to form chloroform, which is listed as a probable human carcinogen.

There are many additional human health and environmental hazards associated with the extensive use of triclosan. Triclosan is an endocrine disruptor and has been shown to affect male and female reproductive hormones, which could potentially increase risk for breast cancer. Triclosan is also shown to alter thyroid function, and other studies have found that due to its extensive use in consumer goods, triclosan and its metabolites are present in, fish, umbilical cord blood and human milk. Another study found that triclosan was present in the urine of 75% of the U.S. population, with higher levels in people in their third decade of life and among people with the highest household income.

Beyond Pesticides, in partnership with Food and Water Watch and 78 other groups, submitted petitions to both the FDA and EPA requiring that they all non-medically prescribed triclosan uses on the basis that those uses violate several federal statutes. Prompted by this petition, which was then echoed by Rep. Markey's (D-MA) letters of concern, the FDA responded, "existing data raise valid concerns about the [health] effects of repetitive daily human exposure to these antiseptic ingredients," and announced plans to address the use of triclosan in cosmetics or other products. EPA, however, in its response maintains that the agency does not currently plan to reevaluate its regulations surrounding the use of triclosan until 2013.

Since the 2004 publication of "The Ubiquitous Triclosan," Beyond Pesticides has been exposing the dangers of this toxic chemical. Now, along with Food and Water Watch and over 80 environmental and public health groups, Beyond Pesticides is leading a national grassroots movement calling for the ban of triclosan from consumer products. Beyond Pesticides is calling on manufacturers, retailers, school districts, local businesses and communities to wash their hands of triclosan and protect our nation's waters and public health from this toxic pesticide. To learn more about this grassroots campaign and the join the movement, visit our triclosan homepage.

TAKE ACTION: Join the ban triclosan campaign and sign the pledge to stop using triclosan today. Avoid products containing triclosan, and encourage your local schools, government agencies, and local businesses to use their buying power to go triclosan-free. Urge your municipality, institution or company to adopt the model resolution which commits to not procuring or using products containing triclosan.

Source: Science Daily

Pesticides tied to ADHD in children in U.S. study

NEW YORK
Mon May 17, 2010

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Children exposed to pesticides known as organophosphates could have a higher risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to a U.S. study that urges parents to always wash produce thoroughly.

Researchers tracked the pesticides' breakdown products in children' urine and found those with high levels were almost twice as likely to develop ADHD as those with undetectable levels.

The findings are based on data from the general U.S. population, meaning that exposure to the pesticides could be harmful even at levels commonly found in children's environment.

"There is growing concern that these pesticides may be related to ADHD," said researcher Marc Weisskopf of the Harvard School of Public Health, who worked on the study.

"What this paper specifically highlights is that this may be true even at low concentrations."

Organophosphates were originally developed for chemical warfare, and they are known to be toxic to the nervous system.

There are about 40 organophosphate pesticides such as malathion registered in the United States, the researchers wrote in the journal Pediatrics.

Weisskopf said the compounds have been linked to behavioral symptoms common to ADHD -- for instance, impulsivity and attention problems -- but exactly how is not fully understood.

Although the researchers had no way to determine the source of the breakdown products they found, Weisskopf said the most likely culprits were pesticides and insecticides used on produce and indoors.

Garry Hamlin of Dow AgroSciences, which manufactures an organophosphate known as chlorpyrifos, said he had not had time to read the report closely.

But, he added" "the results reported in the paper don't establish any association specific to our product chlorpyrifos."

Weisskopf and colleagues' sample included 1,139 children between 8 and 15 years. They interviewed the children's mothers, or another caretaker, and found that about one in 10 met the criteria for ADHD, which jibes with estimates for the general population.

After accounting for factors such as gender, age and race, they found the odds of having ADHD rose with the level of pesticide breakdown products.

For a 10-fold increase in one class of those compounds, the odds of ADHD increased by more than half. And for the most common breakdown product, called dimethyl triophosphate, the odds of ADHD almost doubled in kids with above-average levels compared to those without detectable levels.

"That's a very strong association that, if true, is of very serious concern," said Weisskopf. "These are widely used pesticides."

He emphasized that more studies are needed, especially following exposure levels over time, before contemplating a ban on the pesticides. Still, he urged parents to be aware of what insecticides they were using around the house and to wash produce.

"A good washing of fruits and vegetables before one eats them would definitely help a lot," he said.

(Reporting by Reuters Health, Editing by Belinda Goldsmith)

President's Cancer Panel: Environmentally caused cancers are 'grossly underestimated' and 'needlessly devastate American lives.'

By Marla Cone
Editor in Chief
Environmental Health News
May 6, 2010

"Patients who have a chest CT scan receive a dose of radiation in the same range as survivors of the Hiroshima atomic bomb attacks who were less than half a mile from ground zero, the report says."

"The true burden of environmentally induced cancers has been grossly underestimated," says the President's Cancer Panel in a strongly reported report that urges action to reduce people's widespread exposure to carcinogens. The panel today advised President Obama "to use the power of your office to remove the carcinogens and other toxins from our food, water, and air that needlessly increase health care costs, cripple our nation's productivity, and devastate American lives."

Chemicals and contaminants might trigger cancer by various means.
The President's Cancer Panel on Thursday reported that "the true burden of environmentally induced cancers has been grossly underestimated" and strongly urged action to reduce people's widespread exposure to carcinogens.

The panel advised President Obama "to use the power of your office to remove the carcinogens and other toxins from our food, water, and air that needlessly increase health care costs, cripple our nation's productivity, and devastate American lives."

The 240-page report by the President's Cancer Panel is the first to focus on environmental causes of cancer. The panel, created by an act of Congress in 1971, is charged with monitoring the multi-billion-dollar National Cancer Program and reports directly to the President every year.

Environmental exposures "do not represent a new front in the ongoing war on cancer. However, the grievous harm from this group of carcinogens has not been addressed adequately by the National Cancer Program," the panel said in its letter to Obama that precedes the report. "The American people - even before they are born - are bombarded continually with myriad combinations of these dangerous exposures."

The panel, appointed by President Bush, told President Obama that the federal government is missing the chance to protect people from cancer by reducing their exposure to carcinogens. In its letter, the panel singled out bisphenol A, a chemical used in polycarbonate plastic and can linings that is unregulated in the United States, as well as radon, formaldehyde and benzene.

"The increasing number of known or suspected environmental carcinogens compels us to action, even though we may currently lack irrefutable proof of harm." - Dr. LaSalle D. Lefall, Jr., chair of the President's Cancer PanelEnvironmental health scientists were pleased by the findings, saying it embraces everything that they have been saying for years.

Richard Clapp, a professor of environmental health at Boston University's School of Public Health and one of the nation's leading cancer epidemiologists, called the report "a call to action."

Environmental and occupational exposures contribute to "tens of thousands of cancer cases a year," Clapp said. "If we had any calamity that produced tens of thousands of deaths or serious diseases, that's a national emergency in my view."

The two-member panel - Dr. LaSalle D. Lefall, Jr., a professor of surgery at Howard University and Margaret Kripke, a professor at University of Texas' M.D. Anderson Cancer Center - was appointed by President Bush to three-year terms.

Lefall and Kripke concluded that action is necessary, even though in many cases there is scientific uncertainty about whether certain chemicals cause cancer. That philosophy, called the precautionary principle, is highly controversial among scientists, regulators and industry.

"The increasing number of known or suspected environmental carcinogens compels us to action, even though we may currently lack irrefutable proof of harm," Lefall, who is chair of the panel, said in a statement.

The two panelists met with nearly 50 medical experts in late 2008 and early 2009 before writing their report to the president. Cyclist and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong previously served on the panel, but did not work on this year's report.

In 2007, 69 million CT scans were performed.

The report recommends raising consumer awareness of the risks posed by chemicals in food, air, water and consumer products, bolstering research of the health effects and tightening regulation of chemicals that might cause cancer or other diseases.

They also urged doctors to use caution in prescribing CT scans and other medical imaging tests that expose patients to large amounts of radiation. In 2007, 69 million CT scans were performed, compared with 18 million in 1993. Patients who have a chest CT scan receive a dose of radiation in the same range as survivors of the Hiroshima atomic bomb attacks who were less than half a mile from ground zero, the report says.

The panel also criticized the U.S. military, saying that "it is a major source of toxic occupational and environmental exposures that can increase cancer risk." Examples cited include Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, where carcinogenic solvents contaminate drinking water, and Vietnam veterans with increased lymphomas, prostate cancer and other cancers from thier exposure to the herbicide Agent Orange.

Overall cancer rates and deaths have declined in the United States. Nevertheless, about 41 percent of all Americans still will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime, and about 21 percent will die from it, according to the National Cancer Institute's SEER Cancer Statistics Review. In 2009 alone, about 1.5 million new cases were diagnosed.

For the past 30 years, federal agencies and institutes have estimated that environmental pollutants cause about 2 percent of all cancers and that occupational exposures may cause 4 percent.

Patients who have a chest CT scan receive a dose of radiation in the same range as survivors of the Hiroshima atomic bomb attacks who were less than half a mile from ground zero. But the panel called those estimates "woefully out of date." The panel criticized regulators for using them to set environmental regulations and lambasted the chemical industry for using them "to justify its claims that specific products pose little or no cancer risk."

The report said the outdated estimates fail to take into account many newer discoveries about people's vulnerability to chemicals. Many chemicals interact with each other, intensifying the effect, and some people have a genetic makeup or early life exposure that makes them susceptible to environmental contaminants.

"It is not known exactly what percentage of all cancers either are initiated or promoted by an environmental trigger," the panel said in its report. "Some exposures to an environmental hazard occur as a single acute episode, but most often, individual or multiple harmful exposures take place over a period of weeks, months, year, or a lifetime."

Boston University's Clapp was one of the experts who spoke to the panel in 2008. "We know enough now to act in ways that we have not done...Act on what we know," he told them.

"There are lots of places where we can move forward here. Lots of things we can act on now," such as military base cleanups and reducing use of CT scans, Clapp said in an interview.

Dr. Ted Schettler, director of the Science and Environmental Health Network, called the report an "integrated and comprehensive critique." He was glad that the panel underscored that regulatory agencies should reduce exposures even when absolute proof of harm was unavailable.

cell phone

Scientists are divided on whether there is a link between cell phones and cancer.
Also, "they recognized that exposures happen in mixtures, not in isolation" and that children are most vulnerable.

"Some people are disproportionately exposed and disproportionately vulnerable," said Schettler, whose group was founded by environmental groups to urge the use of science to address public health issues related to the environment.

Schettler said it "took courage" for the panel to warn physicians about the cancer risk posed by CT scans, particularly for young children.

"It's almost become routine for kids with abdominal pain to get a CT scan" to check for appendicitis, he said. Although the scans may lead to fewer unnecessary surgeries, doctors should consider the high doses of radiation. "I'm very glad this panel took that on," Schettler said.

Another sensitive issue raised in the report was the risk of brain cancer from cell phones. Scientists are divided on whether there is a link.

Until more research is conducted, the panel recommended that people reduce their usage by making fewer and shorter calls, using hands-free devices so that the phone is not against the head and refraining from keeping a phone on a belt or in a pocket.

Even if cell phones raise the risk of cancer slightly, so many people are exposed that "it could be a large public health burden," Schettler said.

The panel listed a variety of carcinogenic compounds that many people routinely encounter. Included are benzene and other petroleum-based pollutants in vehicle exhaust, arsenic in water supplies, chromium from plating companies, formaldehyde in kitchen cabinets and other plywood, bisphenol A in plastics and canned foods, tetrachloroethylene at dry cleaners, PCBs in fish and other foods and various pesticides.

Chemicals and contaminants might trigger cancer by a variety of means. They can damage DNA, disrupt hormones, inflame tissues, or turn genes on or off.

"Some types of cancer are increasing rapidly," Clapp said, including thyroid, kidney and liver cancers. Others, including lung and breast cancer, have declined.

Previous reports by the President's Cancer Panel have focused largely on treatment and more well-known causes of cancer such as diet or smoking.

The panel criticized regulators and industry for using "woefully outdated" estimates of environmentally caused cancers to set regulations and "to justify its claims that specific products pose little or no cancer risk."Some experts are concerned that the report might just sit on a shelf at the White House. But Clapp said the findings are so strongly stated that he is confident the report will be useful to some policymakers, legislators and groups that want tougher occupational health standards or other regulations.

"We're not going to get any better than this," Clapp said. "This goes farther than what I thought the President's Cancer Panel would go. I'm pleased that they went as far as they did."

Environmental health scientists said they hope the report raises not just the President's awareness of environmental threats, but the public's, since most people are unaware of the dangers.

"This report has stature," Schettler said. "It is a report that goes directly to the president."

Cancer panel: 'Grievous harm' posed by unchecked chemicals in U.S.

By Lyndsey Layton
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 6, 2010; 1:46 PM

An expert panel that advises the president on cancer said Thursday that Americans are facing "grievous harm" from chemicals in the air, food and water that have largely gone unregulated and ignored.

The President's Cancer Panel called for a new national strategy that focuses on such threats in the environment and workplace. It called those dangers "underestimated."

"With the growing body of evidence linking environmental exposures to cancer, the public is becoming increasingly aware of the unacceptable burden of cancer resulting from environmental and occupational exposures that could have been prevented through appropriate national action," the panel wrote in a report released Thursday.

Currently, federal chemical laws are weak, funding is inadequate and regulatory responsibilities are spilt among too many agencies, the panel found.

Children are particularly vulnerable because of their smaller bodies and fast physical development, the panel found. The report noted rising rates of cancer in children, and it referred to recent studies that have found industrial chemicals in umbilical-cord blood, which supplies nutrients to developing fetuses. "To a disturbing extent, babies are born 'pre-polluted,' " the panel wrote.

Health officials lack critical knowledge about the health impact of chemicals on fetuses and children, the report said.

In addition, the government's standards for safe chemical exposure in the workplace are outdated, it said.

In 2009, about 1.5 million American men, women and children had cancer diagnosed, and 562,000 people died from the disease.

The panel found that the country needs to overhaul existing chemical laws, a conclusion that has been supported by public health groups, environmental advocates, the chemical industry and the Obama administration.

The current system places the burden on the government to prove beyond a doubt that a chemical is unsafe before it can removed from the market. The standards are so high, the government has been unable to ban chemicals such as asbestos, a widely recognized carcinogen that is prohibited in dozens of countries.

About 80,000 chemicals are in commercial use in the United States, but federal regulators have assessed only about 200 for safety.

A bill filed last month by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) , the Safe Chemicals Act of 2010, would shift the burden to manufacturers to prove the safety of new chemicals before they can be used. It would also require companies to give federal regulators safety data for chemicals already on the market. The cancer panel called that bill a good starting point.

Still, the panel said, when the government evaluates the safety of a chemical, it needs to look beyond individual chemicals to consider the cumulative effect on humans from exposure to multiple chemicals, and it must consider how small amounts of a chemical can cause subtle changes in the human body that can result in cancer years later.

Bill Introduced in U.S. House to Ban Atrazine

(Beyond Pesticides, April 27, 2010) On April 22, 2010, Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN) introduced H.R.5124, legislation to prohibit the use, production, sale, importation, or exportation of any pesticide containing atrazine. The bill's introduction coincides with an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) meeting this week to reevaluate the human health effects of the popular endocrine disrupting herbicide. Environmentalists point to the 2003-2006 reregistration of atrazine as a prime example of the broken system of pesticide regulation in the U.S. and call on EPA to reassess atrazine fairly and for consumers to support an end to all unnecessary pesticide use by supporting organic whenever possible.

"On this 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, I can think of no better tribute to our planet and our people than protecting it from known harmful chemicals," Rep. Ellison said. "No one should ever have to worry if the water they drink is making them sick or preventing fertility." Rep. Ellison's bill cites widespread environmental contamination, health and environmental effects, as well as bans in other countries, as justification for the ban.

The current SAP meeting follows EPA's October 2009 announcement that it would begin a new evaluation of atrazine to determine its effects on humans, following scrutiny and findings that the current EPA regulation of atrazine in water is inadequate. Records brought to public attention by a Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) lawsuit shows that EPA had more than 50 closed door meetings with Syngenta, atrazine's manufacturer, during its 2003 reregistration. At the end of the new evaluation process, the agency will decide whether to revise its current risk assessment of the pesticide and whether new restrictions are necessary to better protect public health.

Atrazine has been linked to a myriad of health problems in humans including disruption of hormone activity, low sperm quality, low birth weight, impaired immune system function and cancer. A 2009 study by Paul Winchester, PhD, who spoke at Beyond Pesticides' 28th National Pesticide Forum in Cleveland, OH, linked birth defects to time of conception, with the great impact on children conceived when concentrations of atrazine and other pesticides were the highest in the local drinking water.

Atrazine is used to control broad leaf weeds and annual grasses in crops, golf courses and residential lawns. It is used extensively for broad leaf weed control in corn. In the U.S. alone, 60-80 million pounds are used per year. The herbicide is a common contaminant of municipal drinking water because it does not cling to soil particles and washes easily with the rain into surface and ground water. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) found atrazine in approximately 75 percent of stream waters and 40 percent of all groundwater samples from agricultural areas tested.

Atrazine is also a major threat to wildlife. It harms the immune, hormone, and reproductive systems of aquatic animals. Studies show fish and amphibians exposed to atrazine can exhibit hermaphrodism. Male frogs exposed to atrazine concentrations within federal standards can become so completely female that they can mate and lay viable eggs.

In 1991, Germany and Italy banned the use of atrazine. The European Union banned atrazine in 2004, after repeated testing found the herbicide in drinking water supplies, and health officials were unable to find sufficient evidence the chemical is safe. In much of Europe the burden of proof falls on the pesticide manufacturer to prove it is safe, unlike in the U.S. where EPA has assumed the burden of proving a pesticide does not meet acceptable risk standards before taking regulatory action.

Take Action: Contact your Member of Congress and let them know what you think about H.R.5124.

The Bureau of National Affairs, Daily Environment Report (ISSN 1521-9402) 4/27/10

EPA Official Says Studies Prompted New Look At Atrazine's Potential Human Health Risks

The Environmental Protection Agency is studying the herbicide atrazine in the light of recent
studies showing toxic effects on reproductive, immune, and other systems of laboratory animals,
agency officials told an advisory panel April 26.

It is time "to take a look at the new science" to determine whether stricter regulation of
atrazine is warranted, said Steven Bradbury, acting director of EPA's Office of Pesticide
Programs (OPP).

Bradbury made his remarks to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act Scientific
Advisory Panel as the panel began its review of new and old studies of the chemical.

In a background paper presented to the advisory panel April 26, EPA said that in recent years,
numerous toxicological and epidemiologic studies have become available evaluating the toxicity
profile or mode of action of atrazine.

The agency cited studies such as "Gestational Exposure to Atrazine: Effects on the Postnatal
Development of Male Offspring," published in the Journal of Andrology in 2008, and
"Atrazine-Induced Alterations in Rat Erythrocyte Membranes: Ameliorating Effect of Vitamin E,"
published in Molecular Toxicology, also in 2008.

EPA Re-evaluating Atrazine
As a result of this new information, OPP, EPA's Office of Research and Development, and the
Office of Water are re-evaluating atrazine and its metabolites deethyl-atrazine (DEA),
deisopropyl-atrazine (DIA), and diamino-s-chlorotriazine (DACT), the agency said in the
background paper, Re-Evaluation of Human Health Effects of Atrazine: Review of Experimental
Animal and in vitro Studies and Drinking Water Monitoring Frequency.

EPA announced the re-evaluation effort Oct. 7 (193 DEN A-7, 10/8/09).

The panel of science advisers on April 26 began a week-long process of reviewing studies used
to support the 2003 reregistration eligibility decision on atrazine and new studies available
up to Jan. 30, 2010.

EPA is soliciting comment from the advisory panel on the toxicological importance and human
relevance of findings on the effects of atrazine on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis,
immune system, prostate, brain, and the enzyme known as aromatase.

Complex Interactions

The toxic effects seen after atrazine exposure are the result of multilevel interactions of a
variety of systems, such as the neuroendocrine, reproductive, nervous, and immune systems,
Elizabeth Mendez, senior scientist in the OPP's Health Effects Division, said at the meeting.
The body's response to exposure from chemicals such as atrazine may vary through various stages
of life, she added.

"There may be some effect of atrazine on the pituitary gland," Ralph Cooper, a scientist in the
EPA's National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, said in his presentation
to the panel. The pituitary gland controls the functions of the other endocrine glands.

EPA Working on Assessments
EPA said it is still in the problem-formulation stage on hazard and exposure assessments for
atrazine. Problem formulation involves considering the available information regarding
pesticide use, toxicological effects of concern, and exposure pathways and duration of exposure
along with key gaps in data or scientific information, it said.

Atrazine is one of the most widely used agricultural herbicides in the United States, with
approximately 70 million pounds of active ingredient applied per year, primarily on corn crops,
according to the EPA paper. As a condition for declaring atrazine eligible for reregisteration
in 2003, EPA required the registrant, Syngenta Crop Protection, to monitor drinking water in
certain areas, generally the corn and sorghum growing area of the Midwest (217 DEN A-5,
11/10/03).

EPA said in its paper that in addition to the potential risks to human immune and other
systems, the agency seeks feedback from the advisory panel on whether to require more frequent
drinking water monitoring. It currently requires Syngenta to sample drinking water weekly
during the growing season and biweekly for the remainder of the year.

"It is prudent for the agency to evaluate the hazard potential of atrazine and the drinking
water monitoring strategy together," the agency said.

Study Links Pesticide Exposure to Skin Cancer

(Beyond Pesticides, April 1, 2010) While most previous literature on melanoma has focused on host factors and sun exposure, new research shows a link between several pesticides and this deadly form of skin cancer. Epidemiologists from University of Iowa, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and National Cancer Institute found that agricultural workers who apply certain pesticides to farm fields are twice as likely to contract melanoma, providing support for the hypotheses that agricultural chemicals may be another important source of skin cancer risk.

Source: LA Times

The study, "Pesticide use and cutaneous melanoma in pesticide applicators in the Agricultural Heath Study" was published last month in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. It examines cancer rates in 56,285 pesticide applicators in Iowa and North Carolina as part of the federal government's Agricultural Health Study, a large, long-term study of pesticide applicators and their spouses.

Researchers asked the pesticide applicators how often they were exposed to 50 pesticides and compared their cancer rates. Each person's exposure was then approximated by adding up the total days that the workers had been exposed and using information from survey results on how the chemicals were applied and what protective equipment was being used.

The pesticides that are identified by researchers in the study include four that are registered for use by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencey (EPA): maneb, mancozeb, methylparathion, and carbaryl; and two that have been voluntarily canceled by their manufacturers: benomyl and ethyl-parathion.

The researchers found that those who were exposed to these certain pesticides had a higher risk of cutaneous melanoma than workers who handled other pesticides. Though melanoma is infrequent among the workers that were studied - of the 56,285 people studied, 271 developed melanoma - researchers found that it increased in frequency among those with the highest exposure to several of the pesticides. Risks of the disease increased 2.5 times for applicators that were exposed to maneb or mancozeb for more than 63 days in their lifetime. Likewise, applicators who are exposed carbaryl for more than 56 days were 1.7 times more likely, while exposure to either methyl or ethyl parathion for more than 56 days increases their melanoma risks by 2.4 times.

Vice president of epidemiology and surveillance research at the American Cancer Society, and one of the researchers for a 2006 study linking pesticide exposure to Parkinson's Disease, Michael Thun, M.D., M.S., remarked that this study is "better equipped than most to tease out data" because it includes such a large number of people. However, he is not sure about the link to melanoma because of the difficulties in interpreting findings for specific pesticides, even with such a large amount of data.

Chief of epidemiology at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and a co-investigator on the study, Dale Sandler, Ph.D., believes that the findings could have implications for the rest of the population. Some of the chemicals are also used in non-agricultural settings, such as carbaryl, which is also used extensively by homeowners, primarily for lawn care. One major difference, Dr. Sandler points out, is that the workers use protective equipment, potentially making relatively lower doses risky for residential users.

"The applicators receive continuing education to learn about safe handling of these chemicals, but you or I may go to the store and not read the label," Dr. Sandler added. Surveys, including one published last month have shown that vague pesticide labels can cause consumers to misapply pesticides.

However, the risks also go beyond the workers or consumers who use the pesticides. Often the chemicals are in the environment near farms and can contaminate groundwater, Dr. Sandler said. Many of the active ingredients are used in combination, which makes it difficult to identify the risky ones. Studies show that many pesticides have dangerous synergistic effects when exposure is combined with other pesticides and pharmaceuticals. Other research has found that even if the concentration of the individual chemicals are within limits considered safe, when more than one pesticide is combined, it can create a toxic mixture that has adverse effects on wildlife and the environment.

Source: Environmental Health News

Fields of Dreams Shattered with Baseball's Endorsement of Chemical Lawn Care

(Beyond Pesticides, March 15, 2010) A coalition of environmental groups is chastising in a letter to Major League Baseball its new alliance with Scotts Miracle-Gro because it says the chemical and seed company undermines sound environmental values by promoting turf management programs that are unnecessarily chemical-intensive. Scotts introduced newly branded products, which it will promote with the logo of Major League Baseball, alongside its chemical "weed and feed" and insecticide products. Weed and feed products contain herbicides and synthetic fertilizers that are tied to adverse health and environmental effects.

In its letter to Major League Baseball, the coalition told officials that associating the organization with Scotts Miracle-Gro and allowing the company to use its name to promote a chemical-intensive philosophy to homeowners sends the wrong message —that toxic chemicals are necessary to have a beautiful green lawn. In fact, the coalition says homeowners are learning that turf can be managed effectively utilizing organic methods that are safer for children, families, and the environment. In this critical period of history when we are shifting to "green" practices around the home and in our communities, Major League Baseball can and should be an environmental leader, rather than advancing toxic products with well documented deleterious health and environmental impacts. Tim Brosnan, Executive Vice President of Business, to whom the letter was sent, has not responded as of this writing.

The coalition makes the following points:

1. The toxic chemicals being promoted are not needed for a beautiful lawn. The Scotts approach to turf management is dependent on chemical products it sells. Its 4-step program converts the home lawn to chemical dependency, including heavy reliance on hazardous herbicides, insecticides and synthetic fertilizers. However, lawns are best managed successfully without a reliance on these toxic chemicals with a program that focuses on cultural practices that address soil health, aeration, mowing height, proper organic fertilization, watering techniques, and appropriate grass varieties.

2. Major League Ballparks are currently different from home lawns and the same approach is not appropriate. While homeowners should select grass seed based on soil, light and local climatic conditions, ballparks choose seed selected for its ability to withstand high amounts of pesticide and fertilizer applications and frequent (often daily) care. Homeowners should focus on healthy soil to achieve a healthy lawn, whereas ballparks often contain artificial soil and drainage pipes below the field. In the home environment, mowing, watering and fertilizer inputs should be minimized as much as possible. This is especially true in an era when as much as a third of the nation may be under water restrictions at various times of year.

3. Pesticides are hazardous. Below ground, pesticides harm the microorganisms, beneficial insects and earthworms that are essential to maintaining healthy soil, and therefore, healthy turf. Pesticides also harm water bodies and groundwater. Above ground, pesticides harm all forms of life. The risks are higher when products containing pesticides are applied by unlicensed applicators.

4. Synthetic fertilizers are hazardous. Synthetic fertilizers also harm beneficial organisms in the soil and lead to undesirable conditions that restrict water and air movement in the soil. High nitrogen fertilizers can disrupt the nutrient balance, accelerate turf growth, increase the need for mowing and contribute to thatch buildup. These fertilizers are also prone to leaching and runoff, which contaminates water above and below ground.

5. Children are especially vulnerable to adverse effects from pesticides. Because the home lawn is often the play space for children, and children are among the most vulnerable to toxic chemical exposure, chemical-intensive lawn management should be replaced with organic approaches. Exposure occurs as a result of direct contact with the treated lawn areas, chemical drift off the treated areas, and tracking and drifting inside of homes, which leaves residues on fabrics and surfaces. Scientific studies show that children face elevated rates of diseases associated with pesticide exposure and pesticides are linked to cancer, endocrine system disruption, neurological and immune system effects, asthma and respiratory effects, and behavioral and learning effects.

At a time when homeowners across the country and communities are looking at ways to adopt practices that are protective of the environment, the coalition believes that Major League Baseball, in aligning with Scotts, is out of step. The coalition is telling baseball that it should be leading efforts to help people green their homes and communities.

The coalition consists of 28 groups from around the country: Beyond Pesticides, Biological Urban Gardening Services, Californians for Pesticide Reform, Casco Baykeeper, Clean New York, Emerald Coastkeeper, For A Better Bronx, Friends of Casco Bay, Friends of the Earth, Galveston Baykeeper, Grassroots Environmental Education, Greenpeace, Healthy Lawn Team, Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, Maryland Pesticide Network, New Jersey Environmental Federation, Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides, Oregon Toxics Alliance, Pesticide Action Network North America, Pesticide Watch, Pesticide-Free Zone, Project Ladybug, SafeLawns.org, Safer Pest Control Project, San Francisco Baykeeper, Sassafras Riverkeeper, Toxics Action Center, and Watershed Partnership, Inc.

For more information on being a part of the growing organic lawn care movement, see Beyond Pesticides' Lawns and Landscapes program page.

Supreme Court Lets Stand Pesticide Use Permitting to Protect Waterways

(Beyond Pesticides, February 26, 2010) The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to review a U.S.Circuit Court decision in National Cotton Council (NCC) v. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), upholding EPA's authority to subject pesticide use to a permitting process under the Clean Water Act (CWA). In January of 2009, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ruling that commercial application of certain pesticides must be regulated under the Clean Water Act. EPA is now working to create a permitting system that complies with the ruling under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). This is one of three high profile cases the Supreme Court refused to hear involving industry challenges to government regulations.

In the case of the Texas Water Development Board v. the Department of Interior, local government intended to build a reservoir in an area designated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) as a wildlife refuge. The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals found that the FWS did not violate the National Environmental Policy Act when it created the refuge, and so a reservoir cannot be constructed in that area.

In the case of Rose Acre Farms Inc. v. the United States, an egg producer sued the government for damages after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) destroyed some of the farm's eggs in an effort to contain an outbreak of salmonella that was traced back to the farm. The Court of Federal Claims originally awarded Rose Acre Farms $5.4 million in damages, but that ruling was overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Environmentalists were concerned that a reversal of the Appeals Court decision would discourage government agencies from enforcing regulations.

The NCC v. EPA decision overturned a 2006 Bush Administration rule, condemned by environmentalists, which exempted certain pesticide applications from CWA regulations. In cases when pesticides are applied directly to water to control pests such as mosquito larvae or aquatic weeds, or pesticides are applied to control pests that are present over or near water (where pesticides invariably drift into local water bodies) applications were held to the much less stringent standards of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). FIFRA unlike the CWA does not fully regulate or oversee water quality and the protection of aquatic ecosystems in the local context. When a pesticide is registered under FIFRA the dangers of heightened toxicity due to combinations of chemicals, and chemical drift are not fully considered. EPA, in implementing FIFRA, uses controversial and many studies say inadequate exposure and need assumptions in its risk assessment and does not take least-toxic alternatives into account. CWA in contrast uses a health-based standard setting maximum contamination levels to protect waterways and requiring permits when chemicals are directly deposited into rivers, lakes and streams.

Numerous conservatives and farm industry trade groups have criticized the Supreme Court's decision not to review the case, arguing waterways are adequately protected under FIFRA, and requiring farmers to obtain a permit under CWA will only increase bureaucratic red tape. The National Association of Wheat Growers called the Appeals Court's decision a major defeat for American agriculture. Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, said in a statement, "All farmers know they must use chemicals properly. Going through redundant bureaucratic red tape for a duplicate permit to apply a safe product is preposterous. That kind of regulatory overkill will not improve food safety or the environment."

Conservationists disagree, saying the new regulations will better protect the local environment and human health by requiring the regulatory agencies to evaluate the effects of pesticide applications on fish and wildlife, and to monitor the amount of pesticides in the country's waterways. Communities near application sites will also gain some say in what pesticides are added to their waterways, as the NPDES permits also allow local citizen input. Charlie Tebbutt, lead council for the environmental organizations and the organic farm that challenged the Bush administration's rule, said, "We look forward to making sure that the EPA and state permitting processes will protect people and increase protections for clean water, fish and wildlife."

Sources: NY Times, Western Environmental Law Center Press Release

New Study Links Pesticide Use to Thyroid Disease in Women

(Beyond Pesticides, February 22, 2010) Wives of agricultural pesticide applicators have a significantly increased risk of developing thyroid disease, according to the new study, "Pesticide Use and Thyroid Disease Among Women in the Agricultural Health Study," published in the American Journal of Epidemiology. Using data collected from more than 16,500 female spouses from Iowa and North Carolina enrolled in the Agricultural Health Study from 1993 to 1997, the researchers show that 12.5 percent of the women have thyroid disease, 6.9 percent have hypothyroidism and 2.1 percent have hyperthyroidism; whereas, the national average is 5 percent and 1 percent, respectively. Thyroid disease is more common in women than men and is the second most common hormone disorder affecting women of childbearing age.

According to the study results, ever use of a fungicide shows a slight increased risk (odds ratio (OR) 1.4) and ever use of an organochlorine insecticide shows a 1.2 OR for hypothyroidism. Ever use of the fungicide benomyl shows a more than tripling of risk to hypothyroidism, whereas the fungicides maneb and mancozeb show a more than doubling and the herbicide paraquat shows a nearly doubling of risk. Maneb and mancozeb also show a more than doubling of risk for hyperthyroidism, making it the only pesticide that is linked to both hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism in the study.

The thyroid gland is a small butterfly-shaped gland inside the neck. It produces two hormones that travel through the bloodstream to all tissues of the body. Hypothyroidism occurs when the thyroid gland produces too little thyroid hormone, and hyperthyroidism refers to any condition in which the body has too much thyroid hormone. Thyroid hormone production is regulated by thyroid-stimulating hormone, which is made by the pituitary gland. Located in the brain, the pituitary gland is the "master gland" of the endocrine system.

Thyroid hormones affect metabolism, brain development, breathing, heart and nervous system functions, body temperature, muscle strength, skin dryness, menstrual cycles, weight, and cholesterol levels. The thyroid hormone is essential for normal brain development in fetuses, babies, and young children. Mild hypothyroidism in the mother is known to have harmful effects on her fetus's brain development.

In a 2007 article, "Autism: transient in utero hypothyroxinemia related to maternal flavonoid ingestion during pregnancy and to other environmental antithyroid agents," Gustavo C. Román, M.D., suggests that substances that interfere with thyroidal activity may produce morphological brain changes leading to autism. Scientists have identified specific changes to brain cells during development that are particular to autism, and these processes are regulated by hormones produced by the mother's thyroid gland. Dr. Román notes that environmental contaminants interfere with thyroid function, including 60 percent of all herbicides, in particular 2,4-D, acetochlor, aminotriazole, amitrole, bromoxynil, pendamethalin, mancozeb, and thioureas.

Triclosan, commonly found in hand soaps, toothpastes, deodorants, laundry detergents, fabric softeners, facial tissues, antiseptics, fabrics, and toys, is another pesticide that has been linked to thyroid effects. A study published in 2008 found that triclosan alters thyroid function in male rats. Other studies have found that due to its extensive use in consumer goods, triclosan and its metabolites are present in waterways, fish, human milk, serum, urine, and foods; and is linked to endocrine disruption, cancer and antibiotic resistance and found in 75% of people tested in government biomonitoring studies. A U.S Geological Survey (USGS) study found that triclosan is one of the most detected chemicals in U.S. waterways and at some of the highest concentrations. Last month, over 75 groups, led by Beyond Pesticides and Food and Water Watch, petitioned the U.S. EPA to ban non-medical uses of triclosan.

Chlorpyrifos is an organophosphate insecticide linked to many adverse effects including thyroid problems. A 2009 study, found that exposure to low levels of the chorpyrifos during pregnancy can impair learning, change brain function and alter thyroid levels of offspring into adulthood for tested mice, especially females.

Another pesticide implicated in adversely affecting the thyroid is methyl iodide, a controversial fumigant to be used primarily in strawberry fields. In EPA-reviewed lab studies, methyl iodide causes thyroid tumors, changes in thyroid hormone levels- which are closely tied to metabolic disorders, respiratory tract lesions, neurological effects, and miscarriages. Methyl iodide is a threat to air and water supplies and has been linked to very serious illnesses, including cancer, miscarriages, thyroid toxicity, and neurological problems.

According to Beyond Pesticides' research, additional hazardous fungicides thiram, ziram and ferbam are teratogens, neuro, reproductive and thyroid toxins, mutagens, and skin sensitizers. These fungicides are used on food crops (strawberries, apples, and peaches) and for seed treatment. Prolonged occupational exposure to thiram increased the incidence of hypertension and diseases of the heart, liver, thyroid and gastrointestinal tract. Ziram causes thyroid cancer in rats and lung and lymph gland cancer in mice.

Hear more cutting edge health science at Beyond Pesticides' 28th National Pesticide Forum, Greening the Community in Cleveland, Ohio - April 9-10, 2010. Presentations from top university researchers, including Paul Winchester, PhD; Shuk-mei Ho, PhD; Michael Skinner, PhD; and Warren Porter, PhD, will speak on pesticides and endocrine disruption, genetics, cancer, learning disabilities, and birth defects and more.

Pesticides in Bay Cause of Concern for Local Fisherman

(Beyond Pesticides, February 18, 2010) Hundreds of dead and dying lobsters just north of the Gulf of Maine were found to have been exposed to cypermethrin, a highly toxic synthetic pyrethroid pesticide registered for agricultural and residential use that some officials think may have been illegally used in fish farming. However, the chemical, which is primarily used for indoor insect control and termites, is extremely toxic to fish and aquatic organisms and part of a family of pesticides (synthetic pyrethroids) that is increasingly showing up in water bodies at toxic levels, a cause for concern according to scientists.

Area fisherman are angry and concerned, however investigators are not yet certain just how this pesticide wound up in the Bay of Fundy, which is located between the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The first dead lobsters were discovered last fall in Grand Manan's Seal Cove, and only a few days later fisherman found dead lobsters in two different locations in the Bay, including about 816 kilograms of dying or dead lobsters in Deer Island's Fairhaven Harbour. This prompted an investigation by Environment Canada that began on December 22, 2009. The department looked at samples of crab, kelp, mussels and lobsters to gather information and concluded that the lobsters were exposed and affected by cypermethrin.

Cypermethrin, an insecticide in the synthetic pyrethroid family, is known to be highly acutely toxic to aquatic life including fish and crustaceans such as lobsters. It is also classified as a possible human carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. According to the EPA Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED), signed in 2006, total cypermethrin use in the United States is approximately 1.0 million pounds of active ingredient (a.i.) per year. Approximately 140,000 pounds a.i. are used in agricultural crops, mainly on cotton (110,000 pounds), with minor uses on pecans, peanuts, broccoli and sweet corn. Treatment of cattle and other livestock accounts for approximately 1000 pounds a.i. per year. The great majority of cypermethrin use occurs in non-agricultural settings, including a wide range of commercial, industrial, and residential sites. Indoor pest control -mainly for control of ants, cockroaches, and fleas - accounts for about 110,000 pounds a.i., while outdoor structural, perimeter, and turf uses for control of subterranean termites and other insect pests accounts for nearly 750,000 pounds a.i. In residential settings, cypermethrin can be applied both by professional applicators and by residential users.

According to EPA, when the residential uses of the organophosphates chlorpyrifos and diazinon fell off the market in the first decade of 2000, the residential uses of cypermethrin and other synthetic pyrethroids increased. EPA stated in its RED, "The recent loss of chlorpyrifos and diazinon for residential pest control has resulted in a greater reliance on pyrethrins and synthetic pyrethroids, as a class, among residential users." Meanwhile, synthetic pyrethroids like cypermethrin are increasingly showing up in water bodies. The study, "Urban and Agricultural Sources of Pyrethroid Insecticides to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta of California," in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, documents toxic levels in the water column as well as in the sediments at the bottom of streams.

Members of the Fundy North Fisherman's Association who are worried about the future of their trade are expressing concerns to all branches of their government in an effort to make sure pesticides do not end up in the bay again. Environment Canada opened up a second investigation on February 10, 2010 and cannot say how long its will take. Bay of Fundy fishermen are immensely worried, however, and want answers before they find more damage.

Maria Recchia, the co-ordinator of the Fundy North Fishermen's Association, who met with New Brunswick Southwest Member of Parliament Greg Thompson in a closed meeting earlier this week said that the initial findings from Environment Canada are significant. "There have been cases in the past that we've suspected chemical use. And this is the first time we have proof."

Mr. Thompson said that he will ask the parliamentary standing committee on fisheries, as well as the Fisheries Minster Gail Shea, to investigate this issue as well. He believes that the government should look at its own role in regulating fish farming in the Bay of Fundy and that authorities should keep agricultural pesticides out of the Bay of Fundy.

"At the end of the day it's all about custodial management of our ocean waters and at the end of the day it hurts all of us if good practices are not being observed by all the players including the aquaculture industry," remarked Mr. Thompson. While there are still no answers as to how the pesticide that is illegal to use in water got into the bay causing the lobster kill, there is speculation that cypermethrin may be used to control sea lice, which is a pest to farmed salmon.

"We know there is no agriculture on Grand Manan or Deer Island, which is where Environment Canada has found evidence of cypermethrin. It was early winter, which is not a time for agriculture. We think the cypermethrin was not being used in the agriculture industry," said Ms. Recchia. "We don't think these are isolated incidents. We think this is a widespread problem and we need for the government to take this seriously. We need to find the source of the problem and we need to stop the practice."

Unfortunately, some fishermen suspect that there may be an even more massive kill than what has been recorded. There is no way to tell how many juvenile lobsters or lobster eggs were killed or affected by the pesticide, because they will not be caught after they die and it takes a very small concentration of the toxic pesticide to kill them. According to Brian Gutpill, president of the Grand Manan Fishermen's Association, the impact on local fishermen is still small, but that the full effect may not be known for years.

"I am just scared for the future," said Fisherman Dale Mitchel. He is worried about the potential for more pesticide-related deaths, and whether the bay area can survive without the sustainably run fishery.

For more information on issues related to pesticides and water pollution, see Beyond Pesticides Threatened Waters program page and the Daily News Blog.

Source: The Telegraph and CBC News

Study Finds Residential and Agricultural Pesticides in Household Dust

(Beyond Pesticides, February 17, 2010) In the largest study of its kind, researchers searched hundreds of Salinas Valley, California homes for pesticide compounds sticking to dust layers and discovered widespread residues of 22 residential and agricultural-use products.

The study, "Pesticides in Dust from Homes in an Agricultural Area," was conducted by an investigator from the California Department of Public Health and researchers with the Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas (CHAMACOS) with the University of California, Berkeley. CHAMACOS began recruiting pregnant women in the Salinas Valley for a long-term study of prenatal and infant chemical and allergen exposure in 1999. The center sampled study homes in 1999 and 2000 with a modified vacuum cleaner.

The most common pesticides found were permethrin (467ppb) -a popular insecticide against home insect, and chlorpyrifos (74ppb). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) banned chlorpyrifos for home-use in 2000, but it is still used in agriculture. Other pesticides frequently detected include the herbicide dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate (DCPA), methomyl, diazinon and a fungicide, iprodione. Household dust concentrations are significantly associated with nearby use of these chemicals on agricultural fields in the month or season prior to sample collection. The study reported that in many cases, homes closer to heavy pesticide zones have higher dust levels of certain chemicals. Other factors contributing to pesticide contaminated household dust levels include temperature and rainfall, farmworkers storing work shoes in the home, housing density, cleaning, and having an air conditioner.

Chlorpyrifos (Dursban) is an organophosphate insecticide linked to many adverse effects. Exposure to low levels of the chorpyrifos during pregnancy can impair learning, change brain function and alter thyroid levels of offspring into adulthood for tested mice, especially females. In 2000, EPA and its manufacturer, Dow AgroSciences, reached an agreement to stop the sale of most home, lawn and garden uses for chlorpyrifos because of its health risks to children. Studies have shown that dust levels of chlorpyrifos decreased after the EPA's ban, but residues still persist and chemicals can drift into homes from agricultural fields and golf courses. Permethrin, a pyrethroid insecticide, is a possible human carcinogen and exposure is linked to possible endocrine disruption, immunotoxicity, neurotoxicity and reproductive effects.

Toxic pesticides, including those already banned, have been shown to persist in homes. One study's results indicate that most floors in occupied homes in the U.S. have measurable levels of insecticides that serve as sources of exposure to home dwellers. A California study revealed that children exposed to agricultural pesticides applied near their home have up to twice the risk of developing the most common form of childhood leukemia. In these studies chlorpyrifos continues to be one of the most frequently detected chemical in homes. Significant amounts of pyrethroid pesticides, such as permethrin, have also been found in indoor dust of homes and childcare centers. Homes not associated with nearby agricultural fields have also been found to be contaminated with pesticides. Inner-city homes have also documented the occurrence of pesticide residues in indoor dusts and air samples, including a sampling of homes of pregnant women which found that 75% of their homes were contaminated with pesticides.

Source: The Californian

Pyrethroid Pesticides in Streams Found Toxic to Indicator Species

(Beyond Pesticides, February 16, 2010) Pyrethroids, among the most widely-used home pesticides, are winding up in California rivers at levels toxic to some stream-dwellers, possibly endangering the food supply of fish and other aquatic animals, according to a study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and Southern Illinois University (SIU). The study, "Urban and Agricultural Sources of Pyrethroid Insecticides to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta of California," in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, is the first published work to document toxic levels in the water column as well as in the sediments at the bottom of streams.

Pyrethroid insecticides, commonly used to kill ants and other insects around the home, have been found in street runoff and in the outflow from sewage treatment plants in the Sacramento, California area. The insecticide ended up in two urban creeks, the San Joaquin River and a 20-mile stretch of the American River, traditionally considered to be one of the cleanest rivers in the region. Although the pyrethroid levels were low, around 10-20 parts per trillion, they were high enough to kill a test organism similar to a small shrimp that is used to assess water safety.

"These indicator organisms are ‘lab rat' species that are very sensitive, but if you find something that is toxic to them, it should be a red flag that there could be potential toxicity to resident organisms in the stream," said study leader Donald P. Weston, Ph.D, UC Berkeley adjunct professor of integrative biology. Fish would not be affected by such low levels, Dr. Weston said, but aquatic larvae that the fish eat, such as the larvae of mayflies, stoneflies and caddisflies, could be, and should be studied.

Dr. Weston first began looking at pyrethroid levels in streams bordering farm fields in 2004, and reported levels in some creek sediments high enough to kill the shrimp-like amphipod, an organism used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as an indicator of the health of freshwater sediment. He subsequently found even higher pyrethroid levels in the sediments of urban streams, contributing to the California Department of Pesticide Regulation's decision in August 2006 to re-evaluate some 600 pyrethroid products on the market, a process that is still underway.

"This work opens a whole new can of worms and will probably substantially expand that re-evaluation," Dr. Weston said.

Pyrethroids are synthetic versions of pyrethrin, a natural insecticide found in certain species of chrysanthemum. It initially was introduced on the market as a ‘safer' alternative to the heavily regulated and highly toxic organophosphates such as chlorpyrifos and diazinon which were banned for homeowner use in 2001 and 2004, respectively. Despite the fact that there are plenty of effective pest control methods that are not nearly as toxic, it is now one of the most popular class of household pesticides, available in the form of powders and sprays to control ants, mosquitoes, fleas, flies, and cockroaches. These high-volume uses of pyrethroid pesticides are cause for concern to consumers because of their link to serious chronic health problems. Synthetic pyrethroids are suspected endocrine disruptors, and have been found lingering in the dust at daycare centers. Pyrethroids are particularly dangerous to aquatic life even at the same concentrations used to fend off mosquitoes. Studies in urban streams have found levels toxic to sensitive "indicator" species in California's Central Valley as well as in Texas and Illinois. The crustacean Hyalella azteca, for example, is paralyzed and killed at levels of 2 parts per trillion.

The main sources appear to be readily available insecticides applied around the home by the homeowner or by professional pest control firms to control pesky ants, Dr. Weston said. Of the varieties of pyrethroids marketed, however, one — bifenthrin — was found most often in the rivers and creeks in the Sacramento area, and pest control companies in California use four times as much as homeowners do, he said. He noted that in some areas, pest control companies heavily market monthly or bimonthly sprayings outside the home to control ants.

"I question whether most people need routine insecticide treatment of their property, which results in residues on the lawn, in the garden and around the house that, when it rains, go down the storm drains and out into the creeks and rivers," Dr. Weston said. "Average homeowners, when they hire pest control companies to regularly spray their property to cut down on ants, don't realize that those same compounds end up in the American River at toxic levels."

The study found, surprisingly, that pyrethroids were present in effluent from sewage treatment plants at concentrations just high enough to be toxic to the test organisms, but well below levels found in urban runoff. Farm runoff, however, only occasionally contained pyrethroids at toxic levels, although some agricultural runoff did contain toxic levels of organophosphate insecticides.

The new study, conducted with Michael J. Lydy, Ph.D. of SIU in Carbondale and funded by the Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program of the California Environmental Protection Agency, took place in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta area last winter, one of the driest in the past 10 years. As a result, water flow in the American River, which is controlled by dam releases, was at very low levels, and provided little dilution of pyrethroids entering the river in storm runoff. Preliminary tests this season, with water flow twice what it was in 2009, show that "the pyrethroid toxicity we found last year is somewhat diminished, but nevertheless still continuing," Dr. Weston said.

A study from 2009 also found home pesticide use to be a significant contributor to water pollution leading to fish kills and loss of aquatic specifies diversity. The study found that runoff from rainfall and watering lawns and gardens ends up in municipal storm drains and washes fertilizers, pesticides and other contaminants into rivers, lakes and other bodies of water. Organophosphates and pyrethroid pesticides were found in all water samples taken over a two year period on a weekly, bi-weekly and monthly basis for the study. In addition, a study published in 2008 found pyrethroid contamination in 100 percent of urban streams sampled.

Take Action: To lessen your impact on water pollution and protect your health, avoid using hazardous pesticides by choosing non- and least toxic pest management strategies. For more information on issues related to pesticides and water pollution, see Beyond Pesticides Threatened Waters program page and the Daily News Blog. Visit Beyond Pesticides' Lawns and Landscapes program page for information on lawn pesticides and their alternatives.

Source: UC Berkley

Study Finds that Childhood Exposure to Insecticides Associated with Brain Tumors

(Beyond Pesticides, January, 21, 2009) A new study concludes that exposures during pregnancy and childhood to insecticides that target the nervous system, such as organophosphates (OPs) and carbamates, are associated with childhood brain tumors. The researchers hypothesize that this susceptibility might be increased in children with genetic variations that affect the metabolism of these chemicals.

The study, "Childhood Brain Tumors, Residential Insecticide Exposure, and Pesticide Metabolism Genes," examines whether childhood brain tumors (CBT) are associated with the functional genetic variations. The study provides evidence that exposure to insecticides, paired with specific metabolism gene variants, may increase the risk of CBT. DNA was extracted from archival screening samples for 201 cases ≤ 10 years of age and born in California or Washington State between 1978 and 1990. Insecticide exposures during pregnancy and childhood were classified based on interviews with participants' mothers. The children's mothers reported whether they or anyone else had chemically treated the child's home for insects including termites, fleas, ants, cockroaches, silverfish, or "other" pests.

The results are consistent with the possibility that children with a reduced ability to metabolize organophosphate and carbamate insecticides might be at increased risk of CBT when sufficiently exposed. The researchers observed multiplicative interactions between insecticide exposure during childhood and variant genes relevant to insecticide metabolism. Among exposed children, CBT risk increased with PON1—108T allele - a gene which reduces the activity of paraoxonase (PON1), a key enzyme in the metabolism and neutralization of acetylcholinesterase (AChE ) inhibitors: notably OPs such as chlorpyrifos and diazinon. In other words, children with brain tumors were more likely to carry the enzyme-inhibiting gene variant PON1—108T than other children.

The authors state that even though certain OPs have been phased out of residential use in the U.S., children remain exposed to these and other AChE inhibitors not only via the diet but also potentially via drift from use in agricultural areas, on golf courses, and for mosquito control. In the home, OP and carbamate insecticides remain, for example, in topical treatments for lice (malathion) and flea collars (tetrachlorvinphos, carbaryl, propoxur). Even though previous studies have also shown that farmworkers and persons exposed to high levels of pesticides have an increased risk of developing brain tumors, this study's result most strongly indicate the importance of exposures during early childhood and interaction with genotypes and enzyme levels. However, other periods are important, notably prenatal development, and need to be further explored. Larger studies are needed to confirm the findings, and environmental and biological measurements of specific pesticides and the inclusion of more gene interactions.

Children face unique hazards from pesticide exposure. They take in more pesticides relative to their body weight than adults in the food they eat and air they breathe. Their developing organ systems often make them more sensitive to toxic exposure. The U.S. EPA, National Academy of Sciences, and American Public Health Association, among others, have voiced concerns about the danger that pesticides pose to children. The body of evidence in the scientific literature shows that pesticide exposure can adversely affect a child's neurological, respiratory, immune, and endocrine system, even at low levels.

Source: Environmental Health Perspectives

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