Maryland Pesticide Network

Pesticide News

EPA Publishes Petition to Ban Triclosan, Opens Public Comment

(Beyond Pesticides, December 20, 2010) Announcing a 60-day public comment period, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) yesterday published in the Federal Register a petition filed by 82 public health and environmental groups, led by Beyond Pesticides and Food and Water Watch, to ban the controversial antimicrobial/antibacterial pesticide triclosan, found in products from clothing to soaps, for non-medical use. The Federal Register notice (Petition for a Ban on Triclosan, 75 FR 76461, December 8, 2010) invites the public to comment until February 7, 2011 on the need to ban triclosan under numerous federal statutes.

The petition, filed on January 14, 2010, identifies pervasive and widespread use of triclosan and a failure of EPA to: (i) address the impacts posed by triclosan's degradation products on human health and the environment, (ii) conduct separate assessment for triclosan residues in contaminated drinking water and food, and (iii) evaluate concerns related to antibacterial resistance and endocrine disruption. The petition cites violations of numerous environmental statutes, including laws on pesticide registration, the Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and Endangered Species Act. It also documents that triclosan is no more effective than regular soap and water in removing germs and therefore creates an unnecessary hazardous exposure for people and the environment.

Regulated by both EPA and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, triclosan is commonly found in clothing, toys, kitchen utensils and cutting boards, hair brushes, computer keyboards, countertops, plastics, facial tissues, hand soaps, cosmetics, toothpastes, deodorants, laundry detergents, fabric softeners, antiseptics, and medical devices. The petition to EPA seeks expedited action to ban household triclosan, challenging serious deficiencies in EPA's September 2008 re-registration of triclosan and its failure to comply with safety laws.

Research indicates that widespread use of triclosan causes a number of serious health and environmental problems. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds in its 2009 report, National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals, and 2010 update that triclosan is in the bodies of 75% of the U.S. population and its levels are increasing. A critical health concern is triclosan's association with bacterial resistance to antibiotic medications and cleansers, a special problem for vulnerable populations such as infants, patients, and the elderly. Triclosan is an endocrine disruptor and has been shown to affect male and female reproductive hormones, which potentially increases cancer risk. Recent studies show triclosan's adverse effects on fetal growth and development. Further, the pesticide accumulates in biosolids, is taken up by food crops, and breaks down to different forms of dioxin, thereby exposing consumers to even more dangerous chemicals.

"We're calling on the public to urge EPA to consider the full extent of triclosan's impact on people's health and the environment and ban its non-medical uses," said Jay Feldman executive director of Beyond Pesticides.

For more information, go to: Federal Register notice and see Beyond Pesticide's triclosan page.

TAKE ACTION: Tell EPA to protect public health and the environment from the serious and long-lasting impacts of the continued and unnecessary use of triclosan. Submit electronic comments to the FDA at www.regulation.gov using docket number: EPA-HQ-OPP-2010-0548. Comments must be submitted by February 7, 2010.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 15, 2010
10:50 AM

CONTACT: Center for Biological Diversity
Jeff Miller, Center for Biological Diversity, (510) 499-9185

Deadly Pesticide Endosulfan Finally Banned in United States

Endocrine-disrupting Chemical Is Highly Toxic to Wildlife, Threatens Endangered Species and Is Dangerous to Human Health

WASHINGTON - November 15 - The Center for Biological Diversity today praised the Environmental Protection Agency's plan to finally ban endosulfan, a highly toxic pesticide that for decades has threatened rare wildlife species and been linked to severe human health problems. The Center has filed several suits over the use of the pesticide and its effects on wildlife in California and earlier this year won an agreement restricting endosulfan's use in endangered species habitats in the San Francisco Bay Area. The EPA recently announced the pesticide will be phased out by 2016 in the United States.

"Good riddance to a widespread killer of wildlife and a chemical known to be incredibly dangerous for people," said Jeff Miller with the Center for Biological Diversity. "Unfortunately, there are hundreds of more toxic pesticides registered by the EPA and in widespread use that pose unnecessary threats to endangered wildlife and human health and deserve equal scrutiny."

Endosulfan is an antiquated, dangerous insecticide used on tomatoes, cotton and other crops that is a pervasive pollutant of waterways and a threat to numerous endangered species. It has also has been linked to endocrine disruption, reproductive disorders and other severe effects on human health. Conservationists, public health officials, farmworkers and indigenous groups have been calling for a U.S. ban on this DDT-era pesticide for years. Endosulfan is already banned in the European Union, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand and other countries.

The EPA is cancelling the registration of endosulfan, reversing a 2002 Bush administration decision that allowed continued use with some restrictions. Most currently approved endosulfan crop uses will end in two years, and all uses will be phased out by 2016. Endosulfan was first registered for use in the 1950s, and there are currently about 80 endosulfan products. The EPA estimates that 1.3 million pounds of endosulfan were used annually from 1987 to 1997. In California, annual use of endosulfan declined from 230,000 pounds in 1995 to 60,000 pounds in 2008.

The Center for Biological Diversity has filed several lawsuits to force assessment of the impacts of endosulfan on endangered species in California, require the EPA to conduct formal consultations with the Fish and Wildlife Service, and prohibit its use within sensitive habitats. In 2006 the Center reached a settlement agreement that prohibited use of endosulfan and 65 other toxic pesticides in and near core California red-legged frog habitats, and in 2010 won an agreement restricting endosulfan use in habitat for endangered species in the San Francisco Bay Area such as the salt marsh harvest mouse, San Joaquin kit fox, California tiger salamander, San Francisco garter snake, Valley elderberry longhorn beetle and Bay checkerspot butterfly.

For more information, read about the Center's Pesticides Reduction campaign.

Background on Endosulfan

Endosulfan is highly toxic to terrestrial and aquatic organisms, birds, amphibians and fish, and its use has been documented to poison numerous nontarget species. It travels great distances from where it is applied and has been detected in stream sediments and biota nationwide in a study by the U.S. Geological Survey. It is one of the most abundant organochlorine pesticides found in the Everglades, Arctic and other remote locations. It accumulates up the food chain and poses grave risks to aquatic ecosystems since it is extremely toxic even at low concentrations. The EPA determined that after a typical endosulfan application to tomatoes, concentrations of endosulfan downstream can be up to 28 times higher than the level fatal to the average freshwater fish; application has caused massive fish kills.

 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined as far back as 1989 that uses of endosulfan jeopardize numerous endangered species, including the Wyoming toad, Nashville crayfish, piping plover, wood stork and many federally protected fish and mussel species. The Service recommended that the EPA cancel use of endosulfan in 2002. In California, endosulfan contamination from the San Joaquin Valley has been implicated in the decline of the mountain yellow-legged frog in the Sierra Nevada and the pesticide is considered a threat to numerous other California endangered species.

 

### At the Center for Biological Diversity, we believe that the welfare of human beings is deeply linked to nature - to the existence in our world of a vast diversity of wild animals and plants. Because diversity has intrinsic value, and because its loss impoverishes society, we work to secure a future for all species, great and small, hovering on the brink of extinction. We do so through science, law, and creative media, with a focus on protecting the lands, waters, and climate that species need to survive.
Center for Biological Diversity Links:

Pesticides taint one-fifth of kids' food.

Oct 21, 2010

Lu, C, FJ Schenck, MA Pearson and JW Wong. 2010. Assessing children's dietary exposure- direct measurement of pesticide residues in 24-hour duplicate food samples. Environmental Health Perspectives http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1002044.

Synopsis by Emily Barrett

Measures of pesticides eaten by American kids on a typical day find chemical contamination to be common, particularly among the most popular fruits and vegetables.

More than one-quarter of the food eaten by a small number of U.S. children contained pesticides, confirming again that food is a source of chemical exposures for youngsters. Researchers measured 14 varieties of pesticides in the fruits, vegetables and juices tested.

While many studies have measured levels of pesticides in various foodstuffs on grocery shelves and a few have looked at levels excreted from the body, little has been known about the level of pesticides found in the food that children actually consume. This study attempted to capture the pesticide levels of foods just as they were prepared and in the amounts eaten by the children.

It has long been known that pesticide exposure presents a health risk to infants and children. Food is one of the main sources of exposure.

Understanding dietary exposure to these chemicals is particularly important. High levels of pesticide exposure among fetuses and children have been linked to negative health effects ranging from increased rates of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to increased blood pressure. In addition, recent research finds evidence of pesticide by-products in nearly 94 percent of children studied.

Previous work on pesticide exposure in children has been criticized for lack of direct measurement of the amount of pesticide contamination in the food consumed. In this new study, for one full day, parents provided an identical sample of every conventional fruit, vegetable and fruit juice their child consumed. The samples were prepared the same way, from the same batch and in the same amount. The researchers tested the samples for several types of pesticides. These 24-hour duplicate food samples show precisely how much pesticide residue actually entered the children's bodies through their food during that day.

Forty-six elementary school age children from Georgia and Washington states participated in the study for two to three days. Their parents collected a total of 239 non-organic food samples.

Nearly one-fifth of the food samples measured had at least one pesticide. Of those, more than one-quarter contained multiple pesticides in the same food sample.

In total, the food contained varying amounts of 14 different pesticides, including different organophosphates and pyrethroid insecticides. The pesticide levels tended to be in the range previously reported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Pesticide Data Program, although some measured levels were higher. The Pesticide Data Program estimates the average amount of pesticide contamination.

The researchers also bought and tested additional samples of the fresh fruits and vegetables most commonly eaten by the children. They found that more than 25 percent of these samples contained measurable pesticide residues. Approximately half of the fruits and vegetables were on the Environmental Working Group's 2009 Shopper's Guide to Pesticides, a list of the produce most contaminated with pesticides, including apples, strawberries, peaches and carrots.

Clearly, the diets of 46 children cannot convey an adequate snapshot of children's pesticide exposure nationwide, especially since the researchers detected regional differences in the types and amounts of pesticides. Nevertheless, the new study provides important evidence that children's diets are a very real source of pesticide exposure.

October 2, 2010
New York Times

At Risk From the Womb

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

Some people think we're shaped primarily by genes. Others believe that the environment we grow up in is most important. But now evidence is mounting that a third factor is also critical: our uterine environment before we're even born.

Researchers are finding indications that obesity, diabetes and mental illness among adults are all related in part to what happened in the womb decades earlier.

One of the first careful studies in this field found that birth weight (a proxy for nutrition in the womb) helped predict whether an adult would suffer from heart disease half a century later. Scrawny babies were much more likely to suffer heart problems in middle age.

That study, published in 1989, provoked skepticism at first. But now an array of research confirms that the fetal period is a crucial stage of development that affects physiology decades later.

Perhaps the most striking finding is that a stressful uterine environment may be a mechanism that allows poverty to replicate itself generation after generation. Pregnant women in low-income areas tend to be more exposed to anxiety, depression, chemicals and toxins from car exhaust to pesticides, and they're more likely to drink or smoke and less likely to take vitamin supplements, eat healthy food and get meticulous pre-natal care.

The result is children who start life at a disadvantage — for kids facing stresses before birth appear to have lower educational attainment, lower incomes and worse health throughout their lives. If that's true, then even early childhood education may be a bit late as a way to break the cycles of poverty.

"Given the odds stacked against poor women and their fetuses, the most effective antipoverty program might be one that starts before birth," writes Annie Murphy Paul in a terrific and important new book called "Origins: How the Nine Months Before Birth Shape the Rest of Our Lives."

Another groundbreaking and provocative book this year makes the same case: "More than Genes," by Dan Agin, a neuroscientist at the University of Chicago. Both offer a new window into the unexpected forces that shape us.

One study in this field, by a Columbia University economist, Douglas Almond, looked at children who were born after the great flu pandemic of 1918. The pandemic lasted only about five months and infected about a third of pregnant women in America, so Mr. Almond compared those who had been exposed to it while inside their mothers with others born just before or after.

Ms. Paul quotes Mr. Almond as concluding, "People who were in utero during the pandemic did worse, on average, on just about every socioeconomic outcome recorded." They were 15 percent less likely to graduate from high school, 15 percent more likely to be poor, and 20 percent more likely to have heart disease in old age.

Stress in mothers seems to have particularly strong effects on their offspring, perhaps through release of cortisol, a hormone released when a person is anxious. Studies show that children who were in utero during the Arab-Israeli Six-Day War of 1967 were more likely to have schizophrenia diagnosed as adults. And The Journal of the American Medical Association reported that Chinese born during the terrible famine from 1959 to 1961 were twice as likely to develop schizophrenia as those born at other times.

As for obesity, Ms. Paul describes several British scientists who fed pregnant rats junk food: doughnuts, marshmallows, potato chips and chocolate chip muffins. The offspring of those rats turned out to have a sweet tooth as well: they were more likely to choose junk food when it was offered and ended up 25 percent fatter than rats whose mothers were fed regular rodent chow.

This field of "fetal origins" is still in its infancy, but one implication is that we should be much more careful about exposing pregnant women to toxins, and much quicker to regulate chemicals that are now widely used even though they've never even been tested for safety. Professor Agin is particularly eloquent about the potential perils of lead, dioxins, PCBs, radiation and pesticides.

One study looked at Swedish children who were fetuses during the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident. The radiation exposure was very slight and did not seem to affect their physical health. But their cognitive abilities, especially in math, seemed affected, and they were one-third more likely to fail middle school.

The uncertainty in this field is enormous, but we have learned that a uterus is not a diving bell that insulates its occupant from the world's perils. Chemicals like thalidomide and DES proved tragic for those exposed to them while in their mothers' wombs. And it's now high time to take a closer look at unregulated chemicals that envelop us — and may be shaping our progeny for decades to come.

Study Links Low Dose POPs Exposure to Type 2 Diabetes

(Beyond Pesticides, September 28, 2010) A study published in the September 2010 issue of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives links low dose exposure to some persistent organic pollutants (POPs) to type 2 diabetes. The authors report that some POPs, including highly chlorinated PCBs, PBB153 and the organochlorine insecticides trans-nonachlor, oxychlordane and mirex, were associated with type 2 diabetes over an 18-year period, especially in obsese people. However, POPs did not show a traditional dose—response relationship with diabetes. Instead, POPs showed strong associations at relatively low exposures. The authors conclude that exposure to relatively low concentrations of certain POPs may play a role in the increased incidence of diabetes in the United States.

The study, "Low Dose of Some Persistent Organic Pollutants Predicts Type 2 Diabetes: A Nested Case—Control Study," examines participants who were diabetes free in 1987—1988. By 2005—2006, the 90 controls remained free of diabetes, whereas the 90 cases developed diabetes. Using serum collected in 1987—1988, the authors measured 8 organochlorine pesticides, 22 polychlorinated biphenyl congeners (PCBs), and 1 polybrominated biphenyl (PBB). They compare POP concentrations from Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) cohort and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) in 2003—2004.

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are organic compounds that are resistant to environmental degradation through chemical, biological, and photolytic processes. Because of this, they have been observed to persist in the environment, to be capable of long-range transport, bioaccumulate in human and animal tissue, biomagnify in food chains, and to have potential significant impacts on human health and the environment. Many POPs are currently or were in the past used as pesticides. Others are used in industrial processes and in the production of a range of goods such as solvents, polyvinyl chloride, and pharmaceuticals. The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants is an international environmental treaty that aims to eliminate or restrict the production and use of persistent organic pollutants (POPs).

While the POPs pesticides implicated in this study are no longer used in the U.S., the study illustrates how the health impacts of pesticides are often subtle and delayed, and how pesticides once considered to pose "acceptable" risks are continuing to affect public health years after being pulled from the market. In response to the growing evidence linking pesticide exposures to numerous human health effects, Beyond Pesticides launched the Pesticide-Induced Diseases Database, to capture the range of diseases linked to pesticides through epidemiologic studies. The database, which currently contains hundreds of entries of epidemiologic and laboratory exposure studies, will be continually updated to track the emerging findings and trends.

To address this issue, Beyond Pesticides has called for alternatives assessment in environmental rulemaking that creates a regulatory trigger to adopt alternatives and drive the market to go green. The alternatives assessment approach differs most dramatically from risk assessment in rejecting uses and exposures deemed acceptable under risk assessment calculations, but unnecessary because of the availability of safer alternatives. For example, in agriculture, where the database shows clear links to pesticide use and multiple types of cancer, it would no longer be possible to use hazardous pesticides, as it is with risk assessment-based policy, when there are clearly effective organic systems with competitive yields that, in fact, outperform chemical-intensive agriculture in drought years. This same analysis can be applied to home and garden use of pesticides where households using pesticides suffer elevated rates of cancer.

For more information, see Beyond Pesticides' Pesticide-Induced Diseases Database, www.beyondpesticides.org/health.

Study Highlights High Levels of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in Indoor Air

(Beyond Pesticides, September 14, 2010) A new study confirms that indoor uses of consumer products, including pesticides, are the primary sources of indoor exposure to endocrine disruptors —chemicals that disrupt hormones and cause adverse developmental, disease, and reproductive problems— and shows that indoor levels are higher than those outdoors. Researchers from Silent Spring Institute, Columbia University, and the University of California-Berkeley measured airborne concentrations of endocrine disruptors in two California communities: Bolinas, a rural, affluent coastal town, and Richmond, a working-class city ringed by oil refineries. The study is published online in the September 1, 2010 issue of Environmental Science & Technology.

The researchers analyzed 104 chemicals in 50 homes, including both chemicals that penetrate indoors from outdoor industrial and transportation sources and those from indoor use of consumer products and building materials. Similar levels of contamination were found inside homes in both communities, but outdoor levels were higher in Richmond. Among the chemicals found were pesticides, phthalates, parabens, PBDE flame retardants, and PCBs.

A total of 38 pesticides are evaluated, including banned organochlorines (e.g., DDT, PCP), and current use products such as carbamates (e.g., propoxur), organophosphates (e.g., chlorpyrifos), and pyrethroids (cypermethrin). Thirteen pesticides were detected outdoors and sixteen pesticides were detected in indoor air.

Unlike industrial and transportation pollutants and agricultural pesticides, which vary greatly by geographic region, the authors note that pollutants from consumer products do not vary widely geographically or demographically. This is significant because it shows the pervasive effects of common consumer products on indoor air quality.

The endocrine system consists of a set of glands (thyroid, gonads, adrenal and pituitary) and the hormones they produce (thyroxine, estrogen, testosterone and adrenaline), which help guide the development, growth, reproduction, and behavior of animals, including humans. Hormones are signaling molecules, which travel through the bloodstream and elicit responses in other parts of the body.

Endocrine disruptors function by: (i) Mimicking the action of a naturally-produced hormone, such as estrogen or testosterone, thereby setting off similar chemical reactions in the body; (ii) Blocking hormone receptors in cells, thereby preventing the action of normal hormones; or (iii) Affecting the synthesis, transport, metabolism and excretion of hormones, thus altering the concentrations of natural hormones. Endocrine disruptors have been linked to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, early puberty, infertility and other reproductive disorders, and childhood and adult cancers.

More than 50 pesticide active ingredients (see the list on page 2) have been identified as endocrine disruptors by the European Union and endocrine disruptor expert Theo Colborn, PhD. Endocrine disruption is the mechanism for several health effect endpoints.

For more information on pesticides and endocrine disruption, see Beyond Pesticides' Endocrine Disruptors brochure. To learn more about the links between pesticide exposure and a wide range of health effects, see the Pesticide-Induced Diseases Database.

Third Biological Opinion Finds Pesticides Jeopardize Endangered Species

(Beyond Pesticides, September 8, 2010) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has received a new Biological Opinion from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) with a finding that the application of products containing any of 12 organophosphate (OP) pesticides are likely to jeopardize federally listed threatened or endangered Pacific salmon and steelhead and their designated critical habitat. The 12 OPs addressed in this Biological Opinion, issued under the Endangered Species Act, are azinphos-methyl, bensulide, dimethoate, disulfoton, ethoprop, fenamiphos, methamidophos, methidathion, methyl parathion, naled, phorate, and phosmet.

This opinion concludes that EPA's registration of pesticides containing bensulide, dimethoate, ethoprop, methidathion, naled, phorate, and phosmet are each likely to jeopardize the continued existence of one or more of the 28 endangered and threatened Pacific salmonids and are each likely to destroy or adversely modify designated critical habitat for one or more of the 28 threatened and endangered salmonids. NMFS reached this conclusion because predicted concentrations of these seven pesticides in salmonid habitats, particularly in floodplain habitats, are likely to cause adverse effects to at least one listed Pacific salmonids including significant reductions in growth or survival. EPA's registration of bensulide, dimethoate, ethoprop, methidathion, naled, phorate, and phosmet is also likely to result in the destruction or adverse modification of critical habitat for 25 affected species because of adverse effects from at least one active ingredient on salmonid prey and water quality in freshwater rearing, spawning, and foraging areas. EPA will follow-up by developing a plan explaining how the agency will implement NMFS' opinions.

The report, released August 31, 2010, is the third biological opinion issued as a result of a court settlement with fishermen and conservationists, filed by the non-profit law firm Earthjustice. The biological opinion prescribes measures necessary to keep these pesticides out of salmon waters in Washington, Oregon, California, and Idaho. The previous opinion, issued in April 2009, found that the pesticides, carbaryl, carbofuran, and methomyl, harm salmon and steelhead. In response to the NMFS recommendation and EPA's protective measures, Dow AgroSciences and Cheminova, manufacturers of carbaryl, carbofuran and methomyl products, stated that they were "baffled by the agency's position," saying that their products do not threaten endangered species. Citing their "solid scientific evidence" that they claim is "far more complete than is reflected in the NMFS Biological Opinion," they are not prepared to make the registration revisions [to their products].

In 2002, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP), and other salmon advocates, with legal representation from Earthjustice, obtained a federal court order declaring that EPA had violated ESA by failing to consult with NMFS on the impacts that certain pesticides have on salmon and steelhead in the Pacific Northwest and California. As a result of that lawsuit, EPA began consultations, but NMFS never issued Biological Opinions or identified the measures needed to protect salmon and steelhead from the pesticides. In 2007, the salmon advocates filed a second lawsuit and entered into a settlement agreement with NMFS that establishes a schedule for issuing the required Biological Opinions. In all, over thirty pesticides will undergo review by the National Marine Fisheries Service over the next three years.

Under the terms of settlement, EPA must implement measures within a year-long timeframe to prevent further exposure of the pesticides to the water that cultivate these species. The measures recommended by NMFS include: a ban on application of the three pesticides in windy conditions and buffer zones near water resources and require that land applications must be at least 50-600 feet from the water resource and aerial spraying requires a 600-1,000 foot buffer zone. EPA plans to achieve protection goals through the methods outlined by NMFS in the Biological Opinion and by alternative methods that EPA's scientific analyses determined will achieve the same purpose. For example, EPA will require pesticide drift buffers adjacent to salmon and steelhead habitat but will impose different width buffers, some wider and others narrower than those recommended by NMFS, depending on factors that affect how far the pesticide might drift from the application site.

Many of the mitigation measures required in the new Biological Opinion mirror those NMFS mandated in a previous biological opinion for organophosphate pesticides. Recently, the pesticides mehidathion, methyl parathion, azinphos-methyl have gone through the cancellation process.

Source: EPA Source: Associated Press

U.S. Grapples with Bedbugs, Misuse of Pesticides, As Non-Toxic Alternatives Are Not Widely Discussed

(Beyond Pesticides, September 1, 2010) A resurgence of bedbugs across the U.S. has homeowners and apartment dwellers taking desperate measures to eradicate the tenacious bloodsuckers, with some relying on dangerous outdoor pesticides and fly-by-night exterminators. However, these measures pose more dangers than any perceived short-term benefit, as non-toxic alternatives are not widely discussed.

Bed bugs can be effectively controlled without the use of dangerous chemical pesticides. Heat treating infected spaces or items such as furniture and laundering linens in hot water will kill bed bugs. Habitat modification, such as sealing cracks, and removing clutter, can prevent an infestation from occurring.

Some steps you can take to treat for bed bugs include:

The bedbug problem has worsened and spread to more states across the U.S. This prompted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to issue a warning this month against the indoor use of chemicals meant for the outside. The agency also warned of an increase in pest control companies and others making "unrealistic promises of effectiveness or low cost." EPA also cautions against the use of a product or pest control operators that treat homes with products that are not named to control bed bugs on the product label. In a joint statement on bed bug control, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and EPA highlight emerging public health issues associated with bed bugs in communities throughout the U.S. The statement provides background information on the recent rise in bed bug problems, discusses the public health implications of bed bug infestations, and stresses the importance of controlling them with an integrated approach. It also explains the role of government agencies at the local, state, tribal, and federal levels in better understanding the recent resurgence of bed bugs and developing better ways to control them.

Bedbugs, infesting U.S. households on a scale unseen in more than a half-century, have become largely resistant to commonly used pesticides like pyrethroids. As a result, some homeowners and exterminators are turning to more hazardous chemicals that can harm the central nervous system, irritate the skin and eyes or even cause cancer.

Ohio authorities, struggling against widespread infestations in Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton and other cities, petitioned EPA last fall to approve the indoor use of the pesticide propoxur, which the agency considers a probable carcinogen and banned for in-home use in 2007, due to concerns posed to children. About 25 other states are supporting Ohio's request for an emergency exemption. In comments to the agency objecting the petition for propoxur, Beyond Pesticides and other environmental and public health advocates urged the agency to reject the request, citing the serious public health threat associated with the chemical, as well as the availability of alternatives. EPA rejected Ohio's petition in June.

In the meantime, authorities around the country have blamed house fires on people misusing all sorts of highly flammable garden and lawn chemicals to fight bedbugs. Experts also warn that some hardware products such as bug bombs and other pesticide products claim to be lethal, but merely cause the bugs to scatter out of sight and hide in cracks in walls and floors. Despite these warnings, many have resorted to dangerous practices in an effort to rid bedbugs. A pest control company in Newark, N.J., was accused in July of applying chemicals not approved for indoor use throughout 70 homes and apartments units, even spraying mattresses and children's toys. In Cincinnati, an unlicensed applicator saturated an apartment complex in June with an agricultural pesticide typically used on golf courses. Seven tenants got sick and were treated at the hospital. The property was quarantined, and all tenants were forced to move. Authorities are pursuing criminal charges.

Though propoxur is still used in pet collars, it is banned for use in homes because of the risk of nausea, dizziness and blurred vision in children. Steven Bradbury, director of the EPA's pesticide program, said the problem is that children crawl on the floor and put their fingers in their mouths.
Critics in the pest control industry say that the federal government is overreacting in its precautions aimed to protect children from hazardous pesticides. Many in industry say other in-home pesticides aren't as lethal as propoxur, requiring several treatments that can push extermination costs to $500 or $1,500, depending on the size of a home. Marion Ehrich, PhD, a toxicologist at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, said the EPA is showing appropriate caution. She said other scientists who have studied the bedbug problem are not eager to see propoxur released in homes.

"Propoxur is not a silver bullet, and given time, bedbugs would likely become resistant to it, too," said Lyn Garling, an entomologist at Penn State University.

Experts say it is going to take a comprehensive public health campaign — public-service announcements, travel tips and perhaps even taxpayer-funded extermination programs for public housing — to reduce the bedbug problem. People can get bedbugs by visiting infested homes or hotels, where the vermin hide in mattresses, pillows and curtains. The bugs are stealth hitchhikers that climb onto bags, clothing and luggage.

Pesticide-Induced Diseases Database

Studies Link Range of Major Diseases to Pesticides

Washington, DC, August 18, 2010

— Links to pesticide exposure are being found in a growing number of studies that evaluate the causes of preventable diseases --including asthma, autism and learning disabilities, birth defects and reproductive dysfunction, diabetes, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, and several types of cancer. A new database, released today, tracks published epidemiologic and real world exposure studies. The studies challenge the effectiveness of risk-assessment-based regulation which is intended to manage adverse disease outcomes, but is criticized for allowing the uses of chemicals that can be replaced by green technologies and practices.

To capture the range of diseases linked to pesticides through epidemiologic studies, the national environmental and public health group Beyond Pesticides launched in the summer issue of its newsletter, Pesticides and You, the Pesticide-Induced Diseases Database to track the studies. "A read through the scientific literature on pesticides and major preventable diseases afflicting us in the 21st century suggests that one of the first responses called for is an all out effort to stop using toxic pesticides," said Jay Feldman, executive director of Beyond Pesticides. The database begins an ongoing effort by Beyond Pesticides to maintain this comprehensive database of the studies that the group says "supports an urgent need to shift to toxic-free practices and policies."

The group is calling for alternatives assessment in environmental rulemaking that creates a regulatory trigger to adopt alternatives and drive the market to go green." Under risk assessment, we constantly play with 'mitigation measures' that the Pesticide-Induced Diseases Database tells us over and over is a failed human experiment," said Mr. Feldman.

The alternatives assessment approach differs most dramatically from risk assessment in rejecting uses and exposures deemed acceptable under risk assessment calculations, but unnecessary because of the availability of safer alternatives. For example, in agriculture, where the database shows clear links to pesticide use and multiple types of cancer, it would no longer be possible to use hazardous pesticides, as it is with risk assessment-based policy, when there are clearly effective organic systems with competitive yields that, in fact, outperform chemical-intensive agriculture in drought years. This same analysis can be applied to home and garden use of pesticides where households using pesticides suffer elevated rates of cancer.

Earlier this year Beyond Pesticides released its Organic Food: Eating with a Conscience guide that explains how foods grown with hazardous chemicals contaminate water and air, hurt biodiversity, harm farmworkers, and kill bees, birds, fish and other wildlife even though the finished commodities, often referred to as "clean," may have minimal or nondetectable residues.

The Pesticide-Induced Diseases Database, which currently contains 383 entries of epidemiologic and laboratory exposure studies, will be continually updated to track the emerging findings and trends. View the database here.

Pesticide Exposure in the Womb Increases ADHD Risk

(Beyond Pesticides, August 25, 2010) Exposure to pesticides while in the womb may increase the odds that a child will have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to researchers at the University of California-Berkeley School of Public Health. Maternal metabolites of organophosphate pesticides have previously been associated with neurobehavioral deficits in children.

The California researchers are studying the impact of environmental exposures on the health of women and children who live in the Salinas Valley, an agricultural region with heavy pesticide use. They tested the urine of pregnant women for pesticide residue, and then tested the behavior of their children at ages 3½ and 5. The 5-year-olds who had been exposed to organophosphate pesticides while in the womb have more problems with attention and behavior than did children who were not exposed. Results are published online in the study entitled, "Organophosphate Pesticide Exposure and Attention in Young Mexican-American Children," in the journal, Environmental Health and Perspectives.

Previous studies have shown that exposure to some organophosphate compounds cause hyperactivity and cognitive deficits in animals. One study published in Pediatrics earlier this year found that exposure to organophosphates in developing children might have effects on neural systems and could contribute to ADHD behaviors, such as inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. Researchers discovered that for children with a 10-fold increase in the concentration of the most common phosphate metabolites measured in their urine, the odds of ADHD increases by more than half compared to those without detectable levels.

Roughly one in six children in the U.S. has one or more developmental disabilities, ranging from a learning disability to a serious behavioral or emotional disorder. Emerging science demonstrate that the amount of toxic chemicals in the environment that cause developmental and neurological damage are contributing to the rise of physical and mental effects being found in children. Organophosphates like chlorpyrifos, malathion and dichlorvos are extremely toxic to the nervous system. They are cholinesterase inhibitors and bind irreversibly to the active site of an enzyme essential for normal nerve impulse transmission -acetylcholine esterase (AchE), inactivating the enzyme. High concentrations of organophosphates have been found in the bodies of pregnant women and children.

In response to the growing evidence linking pesticide exposures to numerous human health effects, Beyond Pesticides launched the Pesticide-Induced Diseases Database, to capture the range of diseases linked to pesticides through epidemiologic studies. The database, which currently contains 383 entries of epidemiologic and laboratory exposure studies, will be continually updated to track the emerging findings and trends. To view the database, go to www.beyondpesticides.org/health.

For more information on children's exposure to pesticides, including information on how you can protect your family from pesticides and the latest studies and news on this topic, see Beyond Pesticides Children and Schools program page and the Organic program page.

Source: Environmental Health and Perspectives

Study Finds Higher Toxic Load from Pesticides in Children's Diet

(Beyond Pesticides, Aug 16, 2010) A recently released study conducted by the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences shows government agencies may be underestimating children's dietary exposure to pesticides and, therefore, the inherent risks to children's health. The study, "Assessing Children's Dietary Pesticide Exposure- Direct measurement of Pesticide Residues in 24-Hour Duplicate Food Samples" lead by Dr. Chensheng Lu, examines the pesticide residues in foods consumed by children in a study group and builds on a previous study published in 2008 entitled "Dietary Intake and Its Contribution to Logitudinal Organophosphorus Pesticide Exposure in Urban/Suburban Children."

The 2008 study examined the concentrations of organophosphate pesticides in the bodies of children who consumed a diet of conventional produce and then switched to a diet of organic produce. The study examined two groups of 23 children ranging in age from 3 to 11, in Seattle, Washington and Atlanta, Georgia. Researchers measured the concentrations of malathion, chlorpyrifos, and other organophosphate pesticide metabolites in the children's urine. These pesticides have no residential uses, and because all children in the study group live in urban or suburban areas, researchers assumed that all exposure to these pesticides were the result of diet. The children were then fed a strictly organic diet for five days. After the five day period, researchers found that concentrations of malathion and chlorpyrifos metabolites in the children's urine were reduced to non-detectable or close to non-detectable levels. What this study did not establish was how much pesticide residue the children actually consumed from the diet of conventional produce.

This new study, on the other hand, uses the same group of children to examine the amount of pesticides children take in when eating conventional produce. To determine the precise amount of pesticide residue consumed, parents collected duplicate food samples of all fruits, vegetables, and juices equal to the quantity consumed by their children over a 24-hour period. Parents were instructed to wash and prepare the duplicate samples in the same way as the food their children consumed. This process was repeated at different times during the year to account for seasonal differences in diet.

Researchers also conducted a market basket analysis, testing the residue on fruits and vegetables purchased from a supermarket in the same neighborhood as children in the Seattle study group (a market based analysis was not conducted in Atlanta due to lack of resources). Samples were analyzed for residues of organophosphosphours and pyrethroid pesticides. When possible, residue results were then compared with the residues reported by the United States Department of Agriculture Pesticide Data Program (PDP). However, because many of the foods consumed by children in the study group have not been tested by the PDP, researchers were not always able to compare residue results. Researchers found pesticide residues in 19% of the duplicate food samples; 23% of the Seattle samples and 15% of the Atlanta samples contained either an organophosphorus or pyrethroid insecticide. The most commonly consumed foods included apples, apple juice, bananas, carrots, orange juice, peaches, and watermelon. In the market basket analysis, 28% of samples contained either an organophosphorus or pyrethroid pesticide. With a few exceptions researchers found residues to be within the range reported by the PDP.

Researchers also noted that consumption of certain foods varies greatly if those foods are seasonal. Currently, seasonal differences in the consumption of fresh produce are not taken into account by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) or the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) when creating mathematical models to estimate pesticide dietary exposure and risk. As a result, these models may greatly underestimate pesticide exposure from these foods. For example the consumption of peaches increases greatly when it is in season. Because peaches are considered by Environmental Working Group to be a member of the Dirty Dozen, the twelve types of fruits and vegetables contaminated with the most pesticide residue, models that look at the annual average peach consumption may assume that children consume an average of one or less servings a week, and would therefore estimate the risk posed by peach consumption to be acceptable. When peaches are in season, children might consume one or more servings a day, meaning the risk to their health is much higher than the model implies. Moreover, many types of fresh produce are in season around the same time of year, meaning that children may be getting a much higher pesticide load from their diet over a short span of time. This study is especially important as research continues to strengthen the link between pesticide exposure in children and diseases such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Dietary pesticide exposure can be effectively eliminated by choosing organic foods. Beyond Pesticides supports organic agriculture not only for the benefits to human health, but also as effecting good land stewardship and a reduction in hazardous chemical exposures for workers on the farm. The pesticide reform movement, citing pesticide problems associated with chemical agriculture, from groundwater contamination and runoff to drift, views organic as the solution to a serious public health and environmental threat. For more information on the importance of choosing organic see our Eating with a Conscience page.

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):

"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:

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

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.

More Research Links Atrazine to Sexual Abnormalities in Amphibians

(Beyond Pesticides, March 3, 2010) A recently published study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds that male frogs exposed to the herbicide atrazine can become so completely female that they can mate and lay viable eggs. This latest study adds to the growing scientific evidence which shows that atrazine, one of the most common herbicides used in the U.S., disrupts the development and behavior of aquatic animals, and negatively effects their immune, hormone, and reproductive systems.

The study, "Atrazine induces complete feminization and chemical castration in male African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis)," led by Tyrone Hayes, PhD, at the University of California, Berkeley, demonstrates the reproductive consequences of atrazine exposure in adult amphibians. Dr. Hayes and other researchers examined a group of 40 African clawed frogs, all of which carried male chromosomes. As tadpoles, the frogs were put in water with 2.5 parts per billion (ppb) of atrazine — a concentration within federal drinking water standards. Atrazine-exposed males were both demasculinized (chemically castrated) and completely feminized as adults. Exposed genetic males developed into functional females that copulated with unexposed males and produced viable eggs. The eggs produced were all male offspring since both parents contributed male genes. When competing for female frogs' attentions, atrazine-treated males frequently lost out to males that had not been treated. Atrazine-exposed males suffered from depressed testosterone, decreased breeding gland size, demasculinized/feminized laryngeal development, suppressed mating behavior, reduced spermatogenesis, and decreased fertility. According to the researchers, these data are consistent with effects of atrazine observed in other vertebrate classes.

"It's a chemical . . . that causes hormone havoc," Dr. Hayes said. "You need to look at things that are affecting wildlife, and realize that, biologically, we're not that different."

Atrazine is the most commonly detected pesticide contaminant of ground, surface, and drinking water. Atrazine is also a potent endocrine disruptor that is active at low, ecologically relevant concentrations. Previous studies showed that atrazine adversely affects amphibian larval development. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which re-approved the use of atrazine in 2006 concluding that there was no evidence atrazine was causing adverse impacts on the amphibians' development, initiated a new evaluation of its potential health effects after well-publicized reports and a New York Times investigative piece found EPA's regulations of atrazine in water to be insufficient. Even at levels considered "safe" by EPA drinking water standards, atrazine is linked to endocrine-disrupting effects. Other research by Dr. Hayes and others demonstrates that exposure to doses of atrazine as small as 0.1 parts per billion, turns tadpoles into hermaphrodites - creatures with both male and female sexual characteristics.

Atrazine has also been implicated in a study as a possible cause for male infertility, blocking the action of the male sex-hormone testosterone and could impact the development of male reproductive organs in humans. In yet another study last year by Rick Relyea, PhD, an associate professor of biological sciences in the University of Pittsburgh's School of Arts and Sciences, a mixture of small amounts of ten of the most commonly used pesticides, including atrazine killed 99 percent of the leopard frog tadpoles that he was testing.

Studies from 2007, done by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), have determined that previous studies that assessed population-based exposure to atrazine were significantly and systematically underestimated. With the growing proof of the negative effects of atrazine, levels of exposure must be properly monitored and accounted for. Public health advocates have argued that exposure to atrazine should be eliminated entirely through its cancellation.

According to EPA, agency staff will evaluate the pesticide's potential cancer and non-cancer effects on humans. Included in this new evaluation will be the most recent studies on atrazine and its potential association with birth defects, low birth weight, and premature births. Steve Owens, EPA's Assistant Administrator for Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances said, "Our examination of atrazine will be based on transparency and sound science, including independent scientific peer review, and will help determine whether a change in EPA's regulatory position on this pesticide is appropriate." During the new evaluation, EPA says it will consider the potential for atrazine cancer and non-cancer effects, and will include data generated since 2003 from laboratory and population studies. EPA will also seek advice from the Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) established under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act.

In the Washington,DC region, atrazine has been found in the Potomac, Monocacy and Shenandoah rivers, where investigators are trying to determine whether it is related to male bass in the Potomac found to be growing eggs. Atrazine is already banned in Europe. Based on scientific evidence, there is no need to continue with the use of atrazine, especially with so many alternatives for pest management. For examples, see our Lawns and Landscapes page and our Organic Food page. For further information on this issue, please see our Threatened Waters page.

Source: The Washington Post

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