(Beyond Pesticides, December 12, 2008) A new study has found pesticides in surface waters around the United States. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) analyzed water from nine selected rivers, which are used as a source for public water systems and found that low levels of certain xynthetic chemicals remain in public water supplies after being treated in selected community water facilities.
"Most of the man-made chemicals assessed in the USGS study are unregulated in drinking water and not required to be monitored or removed," says Tom Jacobus, General Manager of the Washington Aqueduct. "These findings are not surprising and they will be important in helping regulators and assisting water utility managers arrive at decisions about future water treatment processes."
Scientists tested water samples for about 260 commonly used chemicals, including pesticides, solvents, gasoline hydrocarbons, personal care and household-use products, disinfection by-products, and manufacturing additives. This study did not look at pharmaceuticals or hormones.
Low levels of about 130 of the synthetic chemicals are detected in streams and rivers before treatment at the public water facilities (source water). Nearly two-thirds of these chemicals are also detected after treatment. Most of the chemicals found are at levels equivalent to one thimble of water in an Olympic-sized pool.
"Low level detection does not necessarily indicate a concern to human health, but rather indicates what types of chemicals we can expect to find in different areas of the country," said USGS lead scientist, Gregory Delzer. "Recent scientific advances have given USGS scientists the analytical tools to detect a variety of contaminants in the environment at low concentrations; often 100 to 1,000 times lower than drinking-water standards and other human-health benchmarks." Pesticides, however, have been found to cause long-term health effects from even very low doses and in combination. For more, see "Facing Scientific Realities: Debunking the ‘Dose Makes the Poison' Myth."
Testing sites include the White River in Indiana; Elm Fork Trinity River in Texas; Potomac River in Maryland; Neuse River in North Carolina; Chattahoochee River in Georgia; Running Gutter Brook in Massachusetts; Clackamas River in Oregon; Truckee River in Nevada; and Cache La Poudre in Colorado. The populations in communities served by these water treatment plants vary from 3,000 to over a million.
This study is among the first by the USGS to report on a wide range of chemicals found before and after treatment. The full source-water quality assessment and listing of chemicals are available online, as well as Mr. Delzer's presentation from a December 5 press conference.
Chemicals included in this study serve as indicators of the possible presence of a larger number of commonly used chemicals in rivers, streams, and drinking water. The most commonly detected chemicals in the source water are herbicides, disinfection by-products, and fragrances. Herbicides include atrazine, metalachlor, and simizine. Many of these chemicals are among those often found in ambient waters of 186 rivers and streams sampled by USGS since the early 1990s, and are highly correlated with the presence of upstream wastewater sources or upstream agricultural and urban land use.
Measured concentrations of chemicals detected in both source and treated water were generally less than 0.1 part per billion. Although potential human-health effects and risk are not assessed in this study, USGS takes the position that adverse effects to human health is negligible based on comparisons of measured concentrations and available human-health benchmarks. Other scientists point to health effects associated low level exposures well below regulatory standards set by government and acknowledge serious and troubling uncertainties or unanswered questions associated with human health and environmental impact.
More than 75 percent of source- and treated-water samples in this study contained 5 or more chemicals. The common occurrence of chemical mixtures means that the total combined toxicity may be greater than that of any single contaminant present. The USGS report identifies the need for continued research because the additive or synergistic effects on human health of mixtures of synthetic chemicals at low levels are not well understood or regulated. The study also did not look at implications to ecosystems or aquatic health.
USGS findings are used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the States, utilities and many nongovernmental agencies to help protect streams and watersheds that serve as water supplies and to guide those involved in decisions on treatment processes in the future.
The USGS is a non-regulatory agency which often monitors the quality of available, untreated water resources. These studies begin to relate the quality of these resources to drinking water. USGS studies are intended to complement drinking-water monitoring required by Federal, State, and local programs, which focus primarily on post-treatment compliance monitoring.
The USGS National Water-Quality Assessment Program is planning to complete as many as 21 additional surface-water assessments through 2013. A companion study is scheduled for release in 2009 that summarizes the occurrence of the same chemicals in high-production wells and the associated treated water in 13 states.
(Beyond Pesticides, December 11, 2008) In a recent study, researchers find that triclosan, the antibacterial agent found in many consumer products including soaps, toothpaste, cosmetics, counter tops and toys, alters thyroid function in male rats. These effects are observed at concentrations that may be used in consumer products and highlight the growing threat consumers face from this hazardous and ubiquitous chemical.
The study, entitled, "The effects of triclosan on puberty and thyroid hormones in male wistar rats," was reviewed by the National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and approved for publication in Toxicological Sciences. Researchers measured blood concentrations of testosterone and several other types of hormones and weighed a variety of organs that are essential for rat development and puberty, including the pituitary gland, the testes, the prostate gland and the liver of male rat pups fed an oral dose of triclosan for 31 days. The purpose of the experiment was to determine what effects triclosan would have on concentrations of thyroid hormones and the onset of puberty.
Results show a dramatic decrease in the thyroid hormone -thyroxine in rats exposed to increasing concentrations of triclosan, as well as significant increases in liver weights. This thyroid hormone is critical for normal development and to a properly functioning metabolism. When the thyroid produces lower than normal amounts of hormones, hypothyroidism occurs and this condition can lead to obesity, goiter, infertility, neurological problems and other serious concerns. Hypothyroidism during early development can change reproductive tract development, hormone concentrations and sexual maturation, including puberty onset. It is unclear whether triclosan acts directly on the thyroid gland to interfere with hormone production. Enlarged livers, observed in the exposed rats, may indicate excessive stress on the liver to remove triclosan from the body. Stressed livers enlarge to accommodate the higher production of the enzymes needed to detoxify substances.
Triclosan is found in a variety of household products and has been detected in human blood, urine and even breast milk. This study's findings raise further concern for adverse impacts on humans. Although this study used rats, the similarities in how the thyroid systems between rats and humans function raises concerns as to whether people could share the same physiological fate. Conversely, it takes a far greater dose of a chemical to alter a rat's biology than it would to change a human's; so although the concentrations evaluated in this study were higher than normal human exposure, it is possible that the low doses that humans are currently exposed to are enough to cause similar problems.
Triclosan's association with hormone disruption has been documented in other studies and has also been observed in amphibians. In a recent risk assessment conducted by the EPA for the reregistration of triclosan, the agency, after reviewing this study and others, agreed that there is "evidence that triclosan disrupts thyroid hormone homeostasis and interacts with the androgen and estrogen receptors."
In comments submitted to EPA in July 2008 by Beyond Pesticides, Food and Water Watch, Greenpeace US, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club and dozens of public health and environmental groups from the U.S. and Canada, the agency was urged to use its authority to cancel the non-medical uses of the antibacterial chemical triclosan in order to protect human health and the environment. However, despite these comments and the mounting evidence against triclosan's safety and efficacy, the agency approved triclosan and triclosan-registered products for reregistration in September. The Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) document is open for public comment until December 29, 2008. To view EPA's documents click here.
TAKE ACTION: Let EPA know that it is not doing all it could to protect public health and the environment from the serious and long-lasting impacts of the continued and unnecessary use of triclosan. Submit your comments at www. regulation.gov using docket number ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-2007-0513 no later than December 29, 2008. Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
You can also send your comments via mail to the Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) Regulatory Public Docket (7502P), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001.
Source: Environmental Health News
(Beyond Pesticides, December 8, 2008) A new study by a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) researcher finds the pesticide poisoning incidence rate among U.S. agricultural workers is thirty-nine times higher than the incidence rate found in all other industries combined. The study, "Acute Pesticide Poisoning Among Agricultural Workers in the United Sates, 1998-2005," published in the December issue of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, is believed to be the first detailed multi-state assessment of acute pesticide poisonings among agricultural workers.
From 1998 to 2005, a total of 3,271 cases of acute occupational pesticide-related illness/injury among agricultural workers were identified in ten states. According to EPA, the Worker Protection Standards are designed to reduce the risk of injury or illness to agricultural field workers resulting from exposure to pesticides. Although the WPS was expanded in 1995 and in 2005 EPA developed a new WPS How to Comply (HTC) Manual, the NIOSH findings indicate that agricultural workers continue to have an elevated risk for acute pesticide poisoning. Furthermore, female agricultural workers experienced nearly twice the risk of pesticide poisoning of male agricultural workers. The most common factors that contributed to pesticide exposure included off-target drift, early reentry into a treated area, and use in conflict with the pesticide label. The study concludes that "[T]he rates provi ded should be considered low estimates of the magnitude of acute pesticide poisoning among agricultural workers."
According to the lead author of the report, Geoffrey Calvert, MD, MPH, "The NIOSH findings reinforce the need for heightened efforts to better protect farmworkers from pesticide exposure. EPA is currently in the process of revising the Worker Protection Standard. The findings in this paper can help inform EPA about the most problematic risk factors that need to be targeted by the WPS."
The study findings show that more than half of the pesticide poisoning incidents are attributed to insecticides, either by themselves or in combination with other pesticides) and just barely over half of incidents involved exposure to the most toxic category of pesticides by EPA, Toxicity Category I.
The 17 pesticides most commonly implicated in the study data include: sulfur, metam-sodium, glyphosate, chlorpyrifos, sodium hypochlorite, methamidophos, abamectin, imidacloprid, methomyl, myclobutanil, propargite, spinosad, methyl bromide, dimethoate, malathion, and diazinon .
The data was pooled from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation and NIOSH's Sentinel Event Notification System for Occupational Risks-Pesticides (SENSOR-Pesticides) program, which collects information from ten state health departments. According to the study, 87 percent of poisoning incidents were of low severity illness, 12 percent were of medium severity, less than one percent was of high severity and one case was fatal. The criteria for each definition are stated in the study: "Low severity illness/ injury consist of illnesses and injuries that generally resolve without treatment and where minimal time (<3 days) is lost from work. Such cases typically manifest as eye, skin and/or upper respiratory irritation. Moderate severity illness/injury consists of nonlife-threatening health effects that are generally systemic and require medical treatment. No residual disability is detected, and time lost from work is less than 6 days. High severity illness/injur y consists of life threatening health effects that usually require hospitalization, involve substantial time lost from work (>5 days), and may result in permanent impairment or disability."
This past summer, Beyond Pesticides reported that EPA, which has long been criticized for its abysmal record of instituting and enforcing even the most basic human health protections from pesticides for those who are responsible for planting and harvesting much of the nation's food, announced that, "Through recent settlements with four Puerto Rico farms, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is sending a message to farm owners that protecting their workers must be their first priority." On January 19, 2007, EPA assessed the second highest penalty for violating worker protection provisions of U.S. pesticide laws to an agricultural company based in Puerto Rico. According to the EPA, Martex Farms has been ordered to pay a total penalty of $92,620 by EPA's Administrative Law Judge (ALJ).
Earlier this year, a coalition of farmworker, public health, and environmental groups filed several lawsuits challenging EPA's decision to allow continued use of the toxic pesticides such as methidathion, oxydemeton-methyl, methamidophos, and ethoprop, diazinon, and endosulfan. "The lack of action [sic] is yet another example of EPA's failure to fully consider the risks to farmworkers, children, and the environment from pesticides," said Jay Feldman, executive director of Beyond Pesticides.
(Beyond Pesticides, December 2, 2008) Tributyltin (also known as TBT), a ubiquitous pollutant that has a potent effect on gene activity, could be promoting obesity, according to an article in the December issue of BioScience, the journal of the American Institute of Biological Sciences. The chemical is used in antifouling paints for boats, as a wood and textile preservative, and as a pesticide on high-value food crops, among many other applications.
Tributyltin affects sensitive receptors in the cells of animals, from water fleas to humans, at very low concentrations–a thousand times lower than pollutants that are known to interfere with sexual development of wildlife species. Tributyltin and its relatives are highly toxic to mollusks, causing female snails to develop male sexual characteristics, and it bioaccumulates in fish and shellfish. Recent research has found it in deep-sea squids and octopods, and it has been banned for maritime use by an international treaty.
The harmful effects of the chemical on the liver and the nervous and immune systems in mammals are well known, but its powerful effects on the cellular components known as retinoid X receptors (RXRs) in a range of species are a recent discovery. When activated, RXRs can migrate into the nuclei of cells and switch on genes that cause the growth of fat storage cells and regulate whole body metabolism; compounds that affect a related receptor often associated with RXRs are now used to treat diabetes. RXRs are normally activated by signaling molecules found throughout the body.
The BioScience article, by Taisen Iguchi and Yoshinao Katsu, of the Graduate University for Advanced Studies in Japan, describes how RXRs and related receptors are also strongly activated by tributyltin and similar chemicals. Tributyltin impairs reproduction in water fleas through its effects on a receptor similar to the RXR. In addition, tributyltin causes the growth of excess fatty tissue in newborn mice exposed to it in utero. The effects of tributyltin on RXR-like nuclear receptors might therefore be widespread throughout the animal kingdom.
The rise in obesity in humans over the past 40 years parallels the increased use of industrial chemicals over the same period. Iguchi and Katsu maintain that it is "plausible and provocative" to associate the obesity epidemic to chemical triggers present in the modern environment. Several other ubiquitous pollutants with strong biological effects, including environmental estrogens such as bisphenol A and nonylphenol, have been shown to stimulate the growth of fat storage cells in mice. The role that tributyltin and similar persistent pollutants may play in the obesity epidemic is now under scrutiny.
(Beyond Pesticides, December 1, 2008) A new study by researchers at the University of California Los Angeles finds chronic exposure to commonly used dithiocarbamate fungicides, such as ziram, contribute to the development of Parkinson's disease. According to the study, Ziram Causes Dopaminergic Cell Damage by Inhibiting E1 Ligase of the Proteasome, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, researchers screened several pesticides for their ability to interfere with the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS). Impaired UPS activity is reporte d in Parkinson's disease patients' brains. The researchers then focused on dithiocarbamate fungicides because they were found to be one of the most potent UPS inhibitors and are commonly used.
The researchers discovered the mechanisms by which the UPS is impaired, showing that ziram and structurally related dithiocarbamates inhibit E1 ligase (a protein activating enzyme). Ziram is also found to increase alpha-synuclein (a protein expressed in the central nervous system) levels and selectively damages dopaminergic neurons in vitro. The study also cites unpublished data from a population-based study in central California that is determining pesticide exposure using state application registry, finding that individuals living within 500 meters of where ziram is applied are at three times the increased risk of developing Parkinson's compared to those with lower exposure.
The second most common neurodegenerative disease affecting more than one million people in the U.S., Parkinson's occurs when nerve cells in the substantia nigra region of the brain are damaged or destroyed and can no longer produce dopamine, a nerve-signaling molecule that helps control muscle movement. Individuals exposed to chemicals that have a particular affinity for the substantia nigra region of the brain are at risk for developing the disease.
This study builds on the existing body of evidence of animal data and epidemiological studies that links exposure to pesticides, as well as gene-pesticide interactions, to Parkinson's. Published case-control studies show a statistically significant association and elevated odds-ratio (that determine the elevated disease rate above the norm of 1.0) for the disease and exposure to pesticides. A Harvard School of Public Health study of more than 140,000 adults found that those exposed to long-term, low levels of pesticides had a 70 percent higher incidence of Parkinson's. Rural residency, well water consumption, and farming are all correlated with an increased incidence of developing Parkinson's. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association finds a 70 percent increased risk of developing Parkinson's for individuals that use pesticides in their home and a 50 percent increased risk for garden insecticides.
The United Nation's World Health Organization report on children's heightened vulnerability to chemical exposures at different periods of their growth and development states that "neurotoxic insults during development that result in no observable phenotype at birth or during childhood could manifest later in life as earlier onset of neurodegenerative diseases such as [PD]." Several studies show that exposure in utero, post-natal or in childhood affect the substantia nigra causing direct damage or increasing the susceptibility to additional exposures and neurodegenerative damage in adulthood. In addition, a number of genes are linked to Parkinson's as they interact with toxic chemicals in such a way that they may not cause the disease directly, but cause subtle changes in the genes that can make individuals more or less likely to develop the disease later in life.
Although implicating specific pesticides is difficult in epidemiological studies, toxicological lab studies have been better apt to identifying specific pesticides linked to Parkinson's. These studies have identified the mechanisms by which pesticides lead to Parkinson's, such as protein aggregation (alpha-synuclein), effects on the striatal dopminergic system and altered dopamine levels, mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress.
This new UCLA study builds on existing data that shows that exposure to dithiocarbamates are linked to Parkinson's disease. For example, Wang et al. found that ziram shows inhibitory effects on proteasome activities at low concentrations. Other dithiocarbamates, such as the fungicides mancozeb and maneb and the herbicide diethyldithiocarbamate, are implicated as well in published studies.
Besides being a neurotoxin, ziram is listed by the U.S. EPA as a likely human carcinogen, and is linked to reproductive effects and is a suspected endocrine disruptor. Ziram is mainly used on agriculture (mostly on almonds, peaches, nectarines, pears and grapes) but is also used on ornamentals and in landscape management. Ziram can be found in dog and cat repellents and microbiocides. Earlier this year, EPA was seeking public comments on a proposed list of 104 possible drinking water contaminants, one of which is ziram, that are currently unregulated and are known or anticipated to occur in public water systems and may require regulation (See Daily News Blog.)
Lea Brooks, assistant director of communications, stated in an article in The Fresno Bee highlighting the study that "The California Department of Pesticide Regulation has placed a high priority on assessing the risk of ziram."
Take Action: Now let's hold them accountable. Let the U.S. EPA Administrator and Deputy Administrator know that they have a duty to alert the public to the scientific findings that link pesticides with Parkinson's. Urge these U.S. EPA officials to initiate an urgent and expedited review of pesticides' link to Parkinon's. Also let your elected members of Congress know how you feel. In addition, learn how you can protect your family, community and environment from the effects of pesticide sin food and water, at home, on lawns, parks and gardens, in schools, hospitals and other public buildings through resources available from Beyond Pesticides.
For more information on pesticides' link to Parkinson's disease, see Beyond Pesticides report Pesticides Trigger Parkinson's Disease.
(Beyond Pesticides, November 25, 2008) A new report on U.S. chemical security, which includes two pesticide and 30 bleach manufacturing plants on its list of 101 most dangerous chemical facilities, was released November 19, 2008 by the Washington-based think tank Center for American Progress (CAP). The report, Chemical Security 101: What You Don't Have Can't Leak, or Be Blown Up by Terrorists, calls on chemical plants to substitute for their most hazardous chemicals and processes to protect the lives and health of 80 million people living near the 101 worst facilities.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and numerous security experts have repeatedly warned that terrorists could use industrial chemicals as improvised weapons of mass destruction. However, according to CAP, current chemical security efforts are inadequate to protect workplaces and communities.
"Indeed, temporary standards enacted two years ago (and set to expire in 2009) focus almost entirely on physical security measures, such as adding gates and guards," say report authors Paul Orum and Reece Rushing. "These measures, however worthy, cannot assure protection against a concerted attack, insider sabotage, or catastrophic release. Nor do they protect communities along chemical delivery routes. More than 90 percent of the 101 most dangerous facilities ship or receive their highest-hazard chemical by railcar or truck."
On October 10, 2008, Greenpeace and 35 labor and environmental groups called on Congress to pass legislation on chemical plant security before the "interim" law expires on October 4, 2009. In March the House Homeland Security Committee adopted the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act of 2008 (H.R. 5577) in a bipartisan vote. H.R. 5577 addresses many of the flaws in the interim law. However, according to the letter, the chemical manufacturers lobby opposed it and favors making the interim law permanent. A jurisdictional dispute over whether the DHS or the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should be the lead agency regulating chemical facilities also helped derail legislation in 2008. When Congress returns in January 2009 they will have only nine months to complete this legislation.
The report authors recommend protecting communities by removing the possibility of a toxic gas release by converting facilities to safer, more secure alternative technologies. While many of the products produced at the facilities are necessary, such as the safe drinking water produced at water treatment facilities that use dangerous chlorine gas, the report stops short of evaluating the necessity of products like pesticides, which could be eliminated.
The report focuses on conversion to safer and more secure chemicals or processes already being used by similar facilities that do not endanger large numbers of people. In particular:
.
In the case of the pesticide manufacturing, which uses chlorine to produce pentachloronitrobenzene and chlorthalonil, the report recommends that the plants generate chlorine as needed without bulk storage or co-locate with an as-needed source of chlorine.
According to CAP, chemical facility conversions are possible and many have already switched to safer, more secure alternatives, and some have saved money. "While gates and guards always cost money, facilities that remove hazardous chemicals reduce their need for costly physical security. They also may reduce regulatory burdens, improve efficiency, upgrade production, and better protect workers," say the report authors.
They continue, "Despite this opportunity, the federal government currently has no plan, program, or authority to spur removal of unnecessary catastrophic chemical hazards—or even to require chemical facilities to examine safer and more secure alternatives. To address these deficiencies, Congress should establish a comprehensive chemical security program rooted in identifying, developing, and leveraging the use of safer and more secure technologies."
CAP recommends:
(Beyond Pesticides, November 17, 2008) A toxic soup of the most commonly used pesticides frequently detected in nature can adversely affect the environment and decimate amphibian populations even if the concentration of the individual chemicals are within limits considered safe, according to University of Pittsburgh research published in the online edition of Oecologia.
The results of this study build on a nine-year effort to understand potential links between the global decline in amphibians, routine pesticide use, and the possible threat to humans in the future. Amphibians are considered an environmental indicator species because of their unique sensitivity to pollutants. Their demise from pesticide exposure could foreshadow the fate of less sensitive animals, according to study author Dr. Rick Relyea, Ph.D., an associate professor of biological sciences in the University of Pittsburgh's School of Arts and Sciences. Leopard frogs, in particular, are vulnerable to contamination; once plentiful across North America, their population has declined in recent years as pollution and deforestation has increased.
Dr. Relyea exposed gray tree frog and leopard frog tadpoles to small amounts of the ten pesticides that are widely used throughout the world. Dr. Relyea selected five insecticides: carbaryl, chlorpyrifos, diazinon, endosulfan, and malathion; and five herbicides: acetochlor, atrazine, glyphosate, metolachlor, and 2,4-D. He administered the following doses: each of the pesticides alone, the insecticides combined, a mix of the five herbicides, or all 10 of the poisons.
Dr. Relyea found that a mixture of all 10 chemicals killed 99 percent of leopard frog tadpoles as did the insecticide-only mixture; the herbicide mixture had no effect on the tadpoles. While leopard frogs perished, gray tree frogs did not succumb to the poisons and instead flourished in the absence of leopard frog competitors. Dr. Relyea also discovered that endosulfan, a neurotoxin banned in several nations but still used extensively in U.S. agriculture, is inordinately deadly to leopard frog tadpoles. By itself, the chemical caused 84 percent of the leopard frogs to die. This lethality was previously unknown because current regulations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) do not require amphibian testing. His results show that endosulfan was not only highly toxic to leopard frogs, but also that it served as the key ingredient of the pesticide mixture that eliminated the bulk of leopard frog tadpoles.
"Endosulfan appears to be about 1,000-times more lethal to amphibians than other pesticides that we have examined," Dr. Relyea said. "Unfortunately, pesticide regulations do not require amphibian testing, so very little is known about endosulfan's impact on amphibians, despite being sprayed in the environment for more than five decades."
For most of the pesticides, the concentration administered (2 to 16 parts per billion) was far below the human-lifetime-exposure levels set by the EPA and also falls short of the maximum concentrations detected in natural bodies of water. But the research suggests that these low concentrations, which can travel easily by water and wind, can combine into one toxic mixture. The study points out that declining amphibian populations have been recorded in pristine areas far downwind from areas of active pesticide use, and he suggests that the chemical cocktail he describes could be a culprit.
Dr. Relyea published a study in the Oct. 1, 2008 edition of Ecological Applications reporting that gradual amounts of malathion, the most popular insecticide in the United States, that were too small to directly kill developing leopard frog tadpoles instead sparked a biological chain of events that deprived them of their primary food source. As a result, nearly half the tadpoles in the experiment did not reach maturity and would have died in nature. Dr. Relyea has published a number of papers on the effects of pesticides on amphibians and aquatic communities, including a 2005 study suggesting that the popular weed-killer Roundup® (active ingredient glyphosate) is "extremely lethal" to amphibians in concentrations found in the environment.
(Beyond Pesticides, November 11, 2008) Researchers at the Duke University School of Medicine have linked organophosphate pesticides to the epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes. The researchers specifically link neonatal low-dose parathion exposure in rats to disruption of glucose and fat homeostasis. The study, "Exposure of Neonatal Rats to Parathion Elicits Sex-Selective Reprogramming of Metabolism and Alters the Response to a High-Fat Diet in Adulthood," was published in the November 2008 issue of Environmental Health Perspectives. It follows research by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that links pesticide exposure to type 2 diabetes using epidemiological data from the Agricultural Health Study.
Although most studies of organophosphates focus on their neurotoxicity, there is increasing evidence that these agents may also have a lasting impact on metabolic function. According to authors, obesity and consequent type II diabetes are rising at epidemic rates in the U.S. and many other countries around the world. Two of three U.S. adults are now classified as overweight. There are epidemiologic links between pesticide exposure and diabetes, and the same subpopulations that have the highest rates of obesity—inner-city, low-socioeconomic-status, agricultural populations—are also those that have greater exposure to organophosphates and other pesticides.
The researchers chose parathion as a representative organophosphate. Neonatal rats were given the insecticide parathion on postnatal days 1–4 using doses (0.1 or 0.2 mg/kg/day) that straddle the threshold for barely detectable cholinesterase inhibition and the first signs of systemic toxicity. In adulthood, animals were either maintained on standard lab diet or switched to a high-fat diet for 7 weeks.
While both doses affected the rats' metabolism, the researchers observed different effects in the males and females throughout the study. Male rats exposed to the low-dose of parathion outweighed contol rats on the same diet and also evoked signs of a prediabetic state, with elevated fasting serum glucose and impaired fat metabolism. The males exposed to the higher dose of parathion weighed similar to the control, but ate less.
Exposed females, on the other hand, weighed less than the control group with higher food consumption in the low dose group and normal food consumption in the high-dose group. This indicates a "wasting" condition, which was confirmed by the disruption of both glucose and lipid metabolism at both doses.
After reaching adulthood, half the rats were switched to a high-fat diet. While the change in diet did not impact males, the females showed dramatically different results, based on the exposure dose. The low dose group gained significantly more weight than the control after switching to the high-fat diet, whereas the high dose group reduced the dietary effect. Food consumption also showed major sex differences. High dose males showed less of a decrease in food consumption on the high-fat diet than did controls. In contrast, high dose females showed exactly the same pattern of decreased food intake as controls when placed on a high-fat diet.
The researchers believe that early-life exposure to organophosphates or other environmental chemicals may play a role in the increased incidence of obesity and diabetes in humans. They also caution that the effects of chemical exposure must be evaluated more broadly. "Our most important findings center on the tendency to categorize environmental toxicants by allocating them to preconceived classes. Organophosphates are usually thought of as developmental neurotoxicants, but they obviously have other important targets that contribute to morbidity, including metabolic effects that can have a potential impact on obesity and diabetes." The study continues, "It is increasingly evident that adverse events in fetal or neonatal life, including chemical exposures like those studied here, can lead to misprogramming of metabolism, appetite, and endocrine status contributing ultimately to morbidities such as obesity and diabetes. Clearly, we need to focus further research on the specific contributions of environmental chemical exposures that might be contributing to the epidemic of these and other metabolic disorders
(Beyond Pesticides, November 7, 2008) The European Parliament's environment committee has passed new measures aimed at reducing use and toxicity of pesticides used on crops throughout the European Union (EU). If approved by Parliament at the end of the year, the EU will be on its way to reducing pesticide use by 85 percent by 2013. The measure faces significant backlash from the chemical industry and conventional farmers, but committee members (MEPs) remain firm that the restrictions are both important and possible to do. An official report published last month found record levels of pesticide residues on EU food, giving momentum to pesticide restrictions.
One adopted regulation will cause a list of approved "active substances" to be drawn up, according to which pesticides will be registered at a national level. It also allows EU states to be stricter than the allowable list. One amendment says, "Member states may establish any pesticide-free zones they deem necessary in order to safeguard drinking water resources. Such pesticide-free zones may cover the entire Member State."
The second approved measure, passed on to Parliament by EU agricultural ministers in June, bans "certain highly toxic chemicals," those being endocrine disrupting, genotoxic, carcinogenic or toxic to reproduction. Neurotoxic and immunotoxic chemicals may also be banned where they pose a significant risk. Provisional approval may be given to any of these chemicals if it "is needed to combat a serious danger to plant health." This resolution states that "Member states should monitor and collect data on impacts of pesticide use, including poisoning incidents, and promote long-term research programmes on the effects of pesticide use."
It also argues that, "In other places such as residential areas, public parks, sports and recreation grounds, school grounds and children's playgrounds, and in the vicinity of public healthcare facilities . . . the risks from exposure to pesticides of the general public are high. Use of pesticides in those areas should, therefore, be prohibited." It urged member states to promote alternatives, even saying, "A levy on pesticide products should be considered as one of the measures to finance the implementation of general and crop-specific methods and practices of Integrated Pest Management and the increase of land under organic farming."
The report, by Christa Klass, passed 58-3, with two absentions. It also set quantitative targets. "Active substances of very high concern" and "toxic or very toxic" pesticides will be subject to "a minimum 50% reduction." It also bans aerial spraying in general, allowing exceptions by approval, and restored a demand for buffer zones to the text.
While industry interest groups protested the restrictions, claiming yields will fall and prices will rise, MEPs and public health advocates dismissed them. "Human health must be given better protection," said British MEP Caroline Lucas. "With today's vote, MEPs have rejected industry scaremongering, and sent a clear message that they want to see a reduction in the use of dangerous chemicals."
"We think these proposals are a step in the right direction," said the Soil Association's Lord Peter Melchett. "They could go further and the British government should be pushing for them - not opposing them." According to the BBC, a final vote could come in December or January.
Sources: Parlamento Europeo, EU Observer, The Telegraph, BBC
(Beyond Pesticides, November 5, 2008) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) acknowledged in a recent Federal Register Notice that antimicrobial pesticides in wide use are not adequately tested for their impacts on human health and the environment. Controversy surrounding the impacts of many antimicrobials in the environment has arisen in recent times to due to the prevalence of these chemicals in surface and drinking waters. Antimicrobials are defined by the EPA as "pesticides that are intended to (1) disinfect, sanitize, reduce, or mitigate growth or development of microbiological organisms, or (2) protect inanimate objects from contamination, fouling, or deterioration caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa, algae, or slime." For this proposal, the EPA is using the term antimicrobials to collectively refer to antimicrobial pesticides, antifoulant coatings and paints, and wood preservatives. The use of the controversial antimicrobial, triclosan, in inanimate objects, such as plastic and textiles, would be covered by these regulations, while those personal care products with the very same ingredient would not, since they fall under Food and Drug Administration authority.
In the Federal Register last month, EPA, trying to play catch-up with the science while products continue in larger and larger numbers to incorporate the controversial antimicrobials, issues new and amended data requirements that will eventually address their down the drain fate. Environmental fate data for antimicrobials dominate these new requirements, especially pertaining to the discharge of these chemicals into waste water treatment plants from household sources. Antimicrobial chemicals are regulated by the EPA under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).
There are nine new data requirements for antimicrobial pesticides and include: photo-degradation soil studies (for wood preservatives); 2 new exposures data requirements -soil residue dissipations and non-dietary ingestion exposure; activated sludge sorption isotherm study; ready biodegradability study; porous pot study; modified activated sludge; and respiration inhibition test.
These new rules are to now be required, once accepted, along with existing requirements, some of which have been updated or now explicitly required. Four of the new data requirements will inform a screening-level assessment on the fate of antimicrobials that reach a wastewater treatment plant, according to the proposal. "Since many antimicrobial pesticides are typically rinsed down the drain, EPA has considered the potential impacts of pesticides that are discharged into wastewater treatment plants," it states. Along with these requirements EPA also proposes to use modeling tools such as the Down the Drain Model with the Probabilistic Dilution Model (PDM) to assist in its environmental fate screening and assessment.
The National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA), a trade group for wastewater treatment plants, has long supported added scrutiny of the approval process for products regulated under FIFRA, particularly of emerging contaminants. The group is particularly concerned that the amount of antimicrobials in the wastewater stream could harm the microbes in activated sludge, which is a biological process that treatment plants use to cleanup wastewater.
In recent comments to the EPA for triclosan , an antimicrobial chemical, Beyond Pesticides and several other environmental and health groups criticized the EPA for not completing an analysis of the impact of triclosan on the environment, especially in the aquatic environment and endangered species, as well as other deficiencies in its review. In separate comments, waste water treatment utilities commented that triclosan and its degradation products are not cleaned out of the water treatment process and end up in sewage sludge. Research shows that earthworms take in triclosan residues, as do fish and aquatic organisms. Concerns were also raised about residues in drinking water. A recent U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study found that triclosan was the most detected chemical in U.S. waterways.
TAKE ACTION: EPA is currently taking public comment on the proposed antimicrobials rule. The comment period ends on January 6, 2009. Submit your comments, identified by docket identification number EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0110, by one of the following methods: Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov or mail to the Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) Regulatory Public Docket (7502P), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20460-0001. Contact: Kathryn Boyle, Field and External Affairs Division, Office of Pesticide Programs, mail code 7506P; telephone number: 703-305-6304; fax number: 703-305-5884; e-mail address: boyle.kathryn@epa.gov.
On November 6, 2008, EPA will convene a public workshop to explain the provisions of its recently proposed rule to update and revise the data requirements for registration of antimicrobial pesticides. The meeting will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the first floor conference center, One Potomac Yard (South Bldg.), 2777 S. Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA 22202. EPA has arranged for this workshop to be webcast for those who cannot attend the public workshop in person. In order for you to be able to access this webcast presentation, please read and follow all of the instructions here, well in advance of the workshop meeting.
Source: Federal Registrar, Inside EPA
By Sara Michael
Examiner Staff Writer 10/27/08
Hospitals are normally a place to get well -- not to be exposed to toxic chemicals. But many health care facilities rely on toxic chemicals for pest control, prompting several local hospitals to vow to use safer ways to kill ants, roaches and termites.
"We're not adding to the problem, and that's important to us," said Chris Seale, environmental services director at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Johns Hopkins is one of 13 health care facilities moving toward less-toxic ways of ridding the halls and grounds of pests.
Rather than spraying the grounds for pests, Hopkins and others are focused on preventing them by filling crevices, tightly sealing doors, and keeping food and storage areas clean. They also use only the least-toxic pesticides as a last resort.
This shift comes on the heels of a 2005-2006 survey conducted by the Integrated Pest Management in Health Care Facilities Project that found most hospitals rely on toxic pesticides that have been linked to cancer, birth defects, kidney damage, and neurological, reproductive and developmental effects.
"The Maryland data reflect common practices and are no different from what's going on nationwide," said Jay Feldman, executive director of Beyond Pesticides, a national organization that partnered with the Maryland Pesticide Network and the Maryland Hospitals for a Healthy Environment for this project.
Nearly half of the sites surveyed said their pest management plans should solve the pest problem at the source, but they continued to use toxic pesticides as a first resort.
"People served by these facilities don't need to be exposed to toxic byproducts," said Ruth Berlin, executive director of the Maryland Pesticide Network.The findings led to a pilot program with seven facilities in 2006 agreeing to developing less-toxic pest management plans. Another six facilities joined this year. Officials at the Integrated Pest Management in Health Care Facilities Project have provided the tools and recommendations for these facilities to move to non-chemical pest management.
Hospitals also must partner with the vendors providing the services, Feldman said.
Most health care facilities contract out the pest management, relying on the expertise of the vendor and providing little oversight, the survey found. But as more hospitals demand the less-toxic management plans, more companies will respond, said Brian Dorsey, facilities manager at Oak Crest, an Erickson retirement community in Parkville.
"As the pressure on vendors continues, we will have a resonating effect on the industry," he said.
Erickson Retirement Communities has a companywide policy for less-toxic pest management, which includes using organic products, baiting pests and educating residents on how to keep areas pest-free.
Click here to read the report from the Maryland Pesticide Network.
smichael@baltimoreexaminer.com
Find this article at: http://www.baltimoreexaminer.com/local/Maryland_hospitals_cutting_toxic_pesticides.html
http://www.embassymag.ca/page/view/peterson_nafta-10-22-2008
by Luke Eric Peterson
Published October 22 2008
The issue of free trade was largely a non-issue during our recent federal election.
However, the North American Free Trade Agreement might have garnered a few headlines if the Feds had disclosed that U.S. chemical giant Dow signalled in late August that it is gearing up to sue Canada.
Dow Agrosciences insists Quebec's province-wide ban on the residential use of weed-killing chemicals breaches legal protections owed by Canada to U.S. investors under the NAFTA.
The U.S. company, which has an extensive manufacturing and sales operation in Canada, wants to be compensated by the Feds for losses incurred to its star product, 2,4-D, one of the most popular chemical ingredients used in commercial pesticides.
The Dow claim is the latest in a long string of disputes to arise under Chapter 11 of the NAFTA—a legal back channel which permits foreign investors to detour around local courts and sue the federal government before an international tribunal.
The company triggered a 90-day waiting period in August, after which it can bring the federal government to binding arbitration.
For cross-border investors, these types of legal protections can come in handy if a tin-pot dictator sends in the tanks and seizes your factories or oil fields. But when such legal provisions are invoked by foreign investors in an effort to ward off health or environmental regulations, eyebrows drift skyward.
Kathleen Cooper, a senior researcher with the Canadian Environmental Law Association, says the Quebec ban has been warmly endorsed by medical and environmental organizations—and enjoys wide support in public opinion surveys. She's troubled that chemical producers can invoke NAFTA in an effort to "undermine the decisions of democratically-elected governments."
The spectre of a NAFTA lawsuit comes at an auspicious moment.
The Province of Ontario has signalled that it will follow Quebec's lead, passing legislation earlier this year, and working on regulations that could come into force next spring.
Such regulatory moves will eventually draw wider attention and scrutiny in other jurisdictions—including the far more lucrative U.S. market. If the U.S. chemical industry hopes to avert a domino effect, it may need to borrow a page from the War on Terrorism tactics book: fighting tougher regulation abroad, so they don't have to fight it on the homefront.
For its part, Dow insists Quebec and Ontario are out of step with the international consensus on a product that has been used for decades in dozens of countries.
The company points to a 2007 risk assessment by Canada's own Pest Management Regulatory Agency which said the product could continue to be used safely on lawns. Dow stresses that Quebec's decision to ban certain uses of the product is not based on scientific evidence. Spokesperson Gary Hamelin says it is a real problem when companies are "making investments of tens of millions of dollars for products that—based on a scientific assessment—[are] acceptable."
While Dow jousts with its critics over the scientific evidence, Quebec (and now Ontario) have taken the view that more stringent standards should be imposed by provincial health regulators—particularly where the product is not necessary, but is used for purely cosmetic purposes.
It could fall to a panel of three arbitrators to decide whether such provincial regulations run afoul of Canada's NAFTA commitments.
Of course, threatening to file a NAFTA claim is hardly a guarantee of success. Nevertheless, chemical producers seem to be warming to the NAFTA option.
Already, the government is defending against another NAFTA Chapter 11 claim filed by another U.S.-based chemical producer. When Canada's Pest Regulatory Management Agency moved to ban the use of Lindane-based seed treatments, U.S.-based Chemtura Corporation sued for $100 million in damages. That arbitration is currently going on behind closed doors, following a January confidentiality order.
One wonders if this is the tip of the legal iceberg. After all, the Feds are now undertaking a broad review of thousands of under-tested chemicals currently on the market.
Just last week, the government added the controversial substance Bisphenol A (BPA)—which is used widely in plastics—to a registry of toxic substances. Although there are no immediate plans to ban the use of the substance as a lining in food and drink cans, it is very likely that BPA will be eliminated from polycarbonate baby bottles.
It remains to be seen whether tougher regulations on BPA and other chemicals will also be challenged under NAFTA Chapter 11.
For almost two months, the federal government has been mum about the latest legal salvo from Dow.
Although Dow formally signalled its intentions in late August—setting in motion a 90-day consultation period—the Department of Foreign Affairs only disclosed the potential lawsuit yesterday.
Until now, Canadian taxpayers—who foot the bill to defend NAFTA lawsuits and pay any compensation awarded by arbitrators—have been denied the opportunity to weigh in with their own views on the matter.
However, given that nearly 7,000 members of the public submitted comments on the Ontario Government's proposed pesticides ban, one can guess that the Feds will receive plenty of feedback in the weeks to come.
Luke Eric Peterson is a columnist for Embassy and the editor of an investigative reporting service tracking NAFTA-style arbitrations, the Investment Arbitration Reporter (www.iareporter.com).
editor@embassymag.ca
(Beyond Pesticides, October 14, 2008) Exposure to glyphosate or MCPA can more than double one's risk of developing non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), according to a new epidemiological study published in the October issue of the International Journal of Cancer. The case-control study finds a 2.02 odds ratio (OR) for exposure (two times the chance of contracting the illness) to glyphosate, a 2.81 OR for exposure to MCPA, and a 1.72 OR for exposure to herbicides. According to EPA, glyphosate is the most commonly used pesticide in the U.S. with 103 to 113 million pounds used annually. MCPA is a phenoxyacetic acid pesticide, a family of pesticides that has previously been linked to cancer and includes 2,4-D and mecoprop (MCPP).
NHL is a cancer of the immune system. There are several different types of NHL, which are differentiated by the type of immune cell that is cancerous, the characteristics of the cancerous cell, and different genetic mutations of the cancerous cells. Treatment for NHL varies depending on NHL type, patient age, and other existing medical conditions. The incidence of NHL has been increasing over the past several decades.
The link between pesticides and cancer has long been a concern. While agriculture has traditionally been tied to pesticide-related illnesses, 19 of 30 commonly used lawn pesticides and 24 of 48 commonly used school pesticides are probable or possible carcinogens. The consistency of the scientific findings linking pesticide exposure to cancer raises serious questions about their allowed use.
In 2002, the same researchers published a study that shows an increased risk to NHL from exposure to certain pesticides: a 1.75 OR for herbicides, a 3.11 OR for fungicides, a 3.04 OR for glyphosate, and a 2.62 OR for MCPA. And even earlier, in 1999, another study by these researchers, published by the American Cancer Society, finds an increased risk of NHL for people exposed to common herbicides and fungicides, particularly MCPP. People exposed to glyphosate are 2.7 times more likely to develop NHL.
NHL has been linked to pesticides in other studies as well, including 2,4-D, the most commonly used nonagricultural herbicide. A 2007 case-control study published in Environmental Health Perspectives finds that children born to mothers living in households with pesticide use during pregnancy have over twice as much risk of getting cancer, specifically acute leukemia (AL) or NHL. A study published in a 2001 issue of Cancer also correlates an increased risk of NHL with exposure to household pesticides. The study examined pesticide exposure routes to children either through the mother while she was pregnant, or directly to the child. Exposed children showed a three to seven time greater likelihood of developing NHL, as compared to unexposed children. In studying different types of NHL, the researchers found that household insecticide use was correlated to a greater risk of lymphoblastic lymphoma by 12.5 times. Researchers at the Northwestern University, University of Nebraska Medical Center, and the National Cancer Institute find that agricultural exposure to insecticides, herbicides, and fumigants are associated with a 2.6 to 5.0 fold increase in the incidence of t(14;18)-positive NHL (refers to a specific genetic alteration in a type of NHL).
Avoid carcinogenic herbicides in foods by supporting organic agriculture, and on lawns by using non-toxic land care strategies that rely on soil health, not toxic herbicides.
(Beyond Pesticides, October 10, 2008) A study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology [Vol. 167, No. 8] finds women who have used herbicides are twice as likely to have meningioma, a specific kind of brain tumor. The study, "Occupational exposure to pesticides and risk of adult brain tumors," was conducted by the National Cancer Institute.
The authors examined the risk of two types of brain cancer, glioma and meningioma, associated with occupational exposure to insecticides and herbicides in a hospital-based, case-control study of brain cancer. Cases were 462 glioma and 195 meningioma patients diagnosed between 1994 and 1998 in three U.S. hospitals. Controls were 765 patients admitted to the same hospitals for nonmalignant conditions. Occupational histories were collected during personal interviews. Exposure to pesticides was estimated by use of a questionnaire, combined with pesticide measurement data abstracted from published sources.
The researchers found no overall link between brain cancer and on-the-job exposure to pesticides or herbicides. However, looking closer at the data, the researchers noticed that women who reported using herbicides had a more than doubled risk for meningioma compared with women who never used herbicides, and there were significant trends of increasing risk with increasing years of herbicide exposure and increasing cumulative. There is no association between meningioma and herbicide or insecticide exposure among men. Unfortunately, the studies used by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to register pesticides are conducted on male rats.
Of the women with the highest herbicide exposure, most worked in restaurants or grocery stores, and were likely exposed by routinely handling produce treated with herbicides.
Tumors of the brain, cranial nerves, and meninges account for 95 percent of tumors of the central nervous system and include some of the most rapidly fatal types of cancer. An estimated 20,500 new cases of brain and other nervous system cancers were diagnosed during 2007 in the United States. The two most common histologic types of brain tumors are gliomas and meningiomas, and data suggest that gliomas are more common in men, while meningiomas occur more often in women.
Another study, published in 2007 in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine indicates that farmworkers and persons exposed to high levels of pesticides have an increased risk of developing brain tumors, especially gliomas - a tumor of the nervous system. The study, "Brain tumours and exposure to pesticides: a case-control study in southwestern France," suggests that not only are occupational pesticide exposure risks high, but indoor domestic uses of pesticides also increase the risk of developing brain tumors.
(Beyond Pesticides, October 6, 2008) University of Pittsburgh researchers have found that the commonly used insecticide malathion can decimate tadpole populations by altering their food chain. The study, published in the October 1 edition of Ecological Applications, finds that gradual amounts of malathion that were too small to directly kill developing leopard frog tadpoles instead sparked a biological chain of events that deprived them of their primary food source. As a result, nearly half the tadpoles in the experiment did not reach maturity and would have died in nature. The results build on a nine-year effort to investigate whether there is a link between pesticides and the global decline in amphibians, which are considered an environmental indicator species because of their sensitivity to pollutants. According to the researchers, their deaths may foreshadow the poisoning of other less environmentally-sensitivespecies, including humans.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), malathion is the most commonly used insecticide in U.S. agriculture and the third most commonly used insecticide in the U.S. home and garden sector. It has been detected in the wetlands where frogs and other amphibians live.
The researchers created simulated ponds from 300-gallon outdoor tanks containing wood frog and leopard frog tadpoles. They exposed the ponds to no malathion, moderate concentrations in a single dose, or low concentrations in weekly doses that mirror the levels tadpoles experience in nature. The doses of malathion in the simulated ponds were too low to directly kill the amphibians, but instead wiped out tiny animals known as zooplankton that eat algae that float in the water. With few zooplankton remaining, the algae, known as phytoplankton, grew rapidly and prevented sunlight from reaching the bottom-dwelling algae, or periphyton, which tadpoles eat. This chain of events occurred over a period of several weeks. The wood frog tadpoles, which mature quickly, were largely unaffected.
Leopard frog tadpoles, on the other hand, require more time to develop into frogs and experienced slower growth as a result of the reduced amount of periphyton. Ultimately, 43 percent of the leopard frog tadpoles did not mature as a result of the repeated application of malathion at very low concentrations. Study author Rick Relyea, Ph.D., an associate professor of biological sciences at the University of Pittsburgh School of Arts and Sciences, reported that the multiple low doses are a greater detriment than the single dose, with a concentration 25-times higher than the multiple applications combined. The single doses also wipe out the zooplankton, but they eventually recovere and the pond reverts back to its original state. The repeated doses prevents the zooplankton from recovering.
"The chain of events caused by malathion deprived a large fraction of the leopard frog tadpoles of the nutrients they needed to metamorphose into adult frogs," Dr. Relyea said. "Repeated applications sustained that disruption of the tadpoles' food supply. So, even concentrations that cannot directly kill tadpoles can indirectly kill them in large numbers."
The research results should apply to several other insecticides that are highly lethal to zooplankton, including carbaryl, diazinon, endosulfan, esfenvalerate, and pyridaben, Dr. Relyea said. All of these chemicals are toxic to humans as well and are commonly used in the United States, although some are banned in other countries. The effect of insecticides and other pesticides on amphibians are not widely known because current regulations from EPA do not require amphibian testing. The EPA also relies on single-species tests to assess a pesticide's risk and does not account for potential indirect repercussions.
"The indirect impacts on the amphibians observed in this study could not be observed in traditional, single-species tests," Dr. Relyea said. "These results demonstrate that we need to take a much broader view of the consequences pesticides might have in our world."
A U.S. Geological Survey study in 2007 found that the breakdown products of chlorpyrifos, malathion and diazinon are ten to 100 times more toxic to amphibians than their parent compounds, which are already highly toxic to amphibians.
Leopard and wood frogs naturally range across North America, including Pennsylvania and the Northeastern United States. Once plentiful, leopard frogs have declined in recent years.
Dr. Relyea has published a number of papers on the effects of pesticides on amphibians and aquatic communities, including a 2005 study suggesting that the popular weed-killer Roundup® is "extremely lethal" to amphibians in concentrations found in the environment.
(Beyond Pesticides, September 22, 2008) A study published in the September issue of Environmental Health Perspectives finds that low-dose, short-term exposure to esfenvalerate, a synthetic pyrethroid pesticide, delays the onset of puberty in rats at doses two times lower than U.S. EPA's stated no observable effect level (NOEL) of 2.0 mg/kg/day. Synthetic pyrethroids are used for everything from lawn care and household insecticides, to mosquito control and agriculture. There are currently 348 pesticide products registered by the U.S. EPA.
The researchers conclude:
"Although the exact mechanism of action is unknown at this time, we observed the effects at dosage levels below the NOEL established through chronic dietary exposure studies in rats. The U.S. EPA (1998) http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-PEST/1998/April/Day-29/p11372.htm stated that 'There is no evidence of additional sensitivity to young rats or rabbits following pre- or postnatal exposure to esfenvalerate.' The present study shows that immature female rats exposed to 1.0 mg/kg/day are sensitive to this pesticide, as evidenced by their delay in the onset of puberty. Delayed pubertal onset in humans has been associated with low bone mass density (Ho and Kung 2005), and estrogen is necessary for bone mineral acquisition in both girls and boys (Yilmaz et al. 2005). Importantly, a lowered endogenous estrogen level in females is one factor associated with bone fragility (Hoffman and Bradshaw 2003).
"This could potentially affect current established exposure levels for humans, because the reference dose for [esfenvalerate] of 0.02 mg/kg/day is based directly on the rodent NOEL of 2.0 mg/kg/day."
With the phase-out of most residential uses of the common organophosphate insecticides, chlorpyrifos and diazinon, home use of pyrethroids has increased. Pesticide products containing synthetic pyrethroids are often described by pest control operators and community mosquito management bureaus as "safe as chrysanthemum flowers." While pyrethroids are a synthetic version of an extract from the chyrsanthemum plant, they are chemically engineered to be more toxic, take longer to breakdown, and are often formulated with synergists, increasing potency and compromising the human body's ability to detoxify the pesticide. Pyrethroids may affect neurological development, disrupt hormones, induce cancer, and suppress the immune system. Researchers at Emory University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) find that residential pesticide use represents the most important risk factor for children's exposure to pyrethroid insecticides.
According to Ohio State University, esfenvalerate is one of over 75 commonly used pesticides that are highly or moderately toxic to bees. It has also been used on Christmas trees in North Carolina. Esfenvalerate has replaced fenvalerate, whose uses were voluntarily withdrawn from the market by varfious manufacturers, including The Scotts Company, from 2003 to 2008, although existing supplies can be sold off.
For more information, see Beyond Pesticides' factsheet on synthetic pyrethroids.
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(Beyond Pesticides, September 19, 2008) Adding to the body of epidemiologic evidence linking pesticides to Parkinson's Disease (PD), a recent study shows a correlation between 100 PD patients and the use of the pesticide rotenone. The study was conducted by physicians and researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler (UTHSCT) and an East Texas Medical Center physician.The study's lead author is Aman Dhillon, MD, MS, assistant professor of occupational and environmental medicine at UTHSCT.
Rotenone is highly toxic to fish and insects, but mildly toxic to warm-blooded animals and humans. It is made from the roots of tropical plants and is used in home gardens and in fisheries management to remove unwanted fish species, said Jeffrey Levin, MD, MSPH, chair of UTHSCT's Department of Occupational Health Sciences. Dr. Levin is a co-author of the study, published recently in the peer-reviewed Journal of Agromedicine.
A total of 184 people participated in the study: 100 had Parkinson's disease and 84 did not, though they had other neurological disorders. All were patients of George M. Plotkin, MD, Ph.D., a neurologist with a special interest in Parkinson's disease. Dr. Plotkin, medical director of the ETMC Movement Disorder Center, treats about 800 patients with Parkinson's disease. He is a co-author of the study and also a clinical associate professor in UTHSCT's Department of Occupational Health Sciences. "In this study, people with Parkinson's disease were 10 times more likely to have used rotenone than individuals in the control group," Dr. Levin said.
Parkinson's is a neurodegenerative syndrome, affecting over 1.5 million people nationally, Dr. Plotkin said. There's a higher incidence of Parkinson's in certain industries, including farming and petroleum. Because Parkinson's was first described at the peak of the Industrial Revolution, there has always been a suspicion that it is an "industrial disease," reflecting the exposure history of those who contract it, he added.
"While epidemiologists have looked at a number of areas in the United States, this study is the first detailed account of exposure history in Parkinson's patients, in East Texas, as compared with age-matched controls," Dr. Plotkin said.
"The results are rather striking, and reflect our notion that environmental agents may well affect individuals predisposed to developing the disease. Future research will need to focus on determining how this happens, with the hope that more careful management of hazardous materials will reduce the chances of Parkinson's disease developing in persons at risk," he said.
Dr. Plotkin's patients completed a 17-page questionnaire designed by study investigators about their everyday life, work history, and habits, as well as their current and past use of various pesticides. Each individual in the study was at least 50 years old and had lived in Northeast Texas for at least five years. If they had Parkinson's, they had first been diagnosed with it at least five years ago.
Though pesticide use has been linked to Parkinson's disease, this is one of the first studies to show a possible correlation between a specific pesticide – rotenone – and Parkinson's disease in humans, Dr. Dhillon said. The study also revealed a weaker link between other pesticides and Parkinson's disease. For example, people with Parkinson's disease were twice as likely to have used pesticides with chlorpyrifos, such as Dursban, than individuals in the control group. Dursban and similar pesticides were banned by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2000 because of their potential to harm the developing brain and nervous system in children.
"It seems to be a combination of genes and environment that causes the development of Parkinson's disease. This study examined one of many factors that may cause Parkinson's," Dr. Levin said. "Part of the role of public health is to identify the risk factors for disease. If we can identify them, then people can avoid risk factors such as rotenone and hopefully prevent the disease."
Rotenone has been the subject of some debate before, including its use as a piscicide in California and being linked in previous studies to Parkinson's. It is also toxic to nontarget species and further research could tie it more closely with Parkinson's than it already is.
"The next step is to verify the results of this study. We think there's potential to do a broader study examining more risk factors, with more individuals," Dr. Levin said.18
(Beyond Pesticides, September 17, 2008) A new study has found a link between total chemical contamination in the bodies of pregnant women and the risk of cryptorchidism in their male babies. Mothers whose babies were born with the defect had the highest concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), mostly organochlorines like PCB and DDE, in their breast milk.
The study, entiltled "Cryptorchidism at birth in Nice area (France) is associated with higher prenatal exposure to PCBs and DDE, as assessed by colostrum concentrations," and published in the journal Human Reproduction, compared prebirth exposure to chemicals, as measured through their mother's milk, and the risk of undescended testicles or cryptorchidism, during a three-year period. 164 mother/infant pairs were used and within 3-5 days of delivery, the researchers collected samples of colostrums, or "first milk" from the mother. Colostrum is a form of breast milk that is produced late in pregnancy and immediately after birth before the more creamy milk comes in. It is used as a proxy for what was circulating in the mother's body and in her fetus during pregnancy. The colostrum was analyzed for three different chemical pollutants including seven polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dichloro-diphenyl-trichloro-ethylene (DDE) and dibutyl phthalate (DBP). Umbilical cord blood was also measured.
While all subjects in the study had detectable levels of these chemicals in either their blood or breast milk, the researchers found that mothers in the highest exposure group for PCBs and DDE in breast milk had two-fold greater odds of giving birth to a boy baby with cryptorchidism, as compared to moms with low to medium exposure. DBP did not appear to be associated with an increased risk of cryptorchidism, but four boys whose mothers had high exposures to DBP in their jobs were born with the defect. While this number is too small to be significant statistically, researchers found it to be an interesting observation.
These findings complement a host of other studies which have associated prenatal chemical exposures to a series of birth defects. The occurrence of cryptorchidism indicates that testosterone production and/or hormone signaling conditions in the womb have gone awry. Both of these conditions are related to sperm production and the risk of testicular cancer later in life. Cryptorchidism is seen in about 3% of male full-term births, 30% of premature births and is one cause of male infertility.
Results like these emphasize the long term and destructive effects persistent chemicals can have on human populations. DDT (the precursor to DDE) and PCBs have been banned is much of the world for several decades. However, like other POPs, they continue to circulate in the environment, accumulate in the food chain and contribute to health problems, such as the reproductive abnormalities observed in this study. These chemicals accumulate in fatty tissue and humans are exposed via meat, fish and dairy products. These persistent pollutants have also been linked to childhood obesity, non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, and cancer, among others.
Although exposures to these chemicals can be correlated to adverse health effects, they are also indicators of a much wider problem; exposures to mixtures of chemicals are negatively influencing hormones and fetal development in humans.
(Beyond Pesticides, September 16, 2008) Responding to grassroots pressure highlighting the impact of pests and pesticides on public health, the Boston Public Housing Authority (BHA) is promoting integrated pest management (IPM) through its Healthy Pest Free Housing Initiative Project (HPFHI) in the city's public housing facilities. The program, which was launched after the Committee for Boston Public Housing, a tenant rights group, began looking into the connection between respiratory health, asthma and housing conditions in 1995, is now proving successful.
"The project's goal is to provide intensive in-home and community-based education designed to change individual and community practices regarding pest control and the use of pesticides," explains John Kane, IPM coordinator and planner for the Boston Housing Authority (BHA). Mr. Kane says that there has been up to a 75 percent reduction in work orders dealing with pests and a huge increase in the quality of life for the residents.
Over 1,000 BHA households in eight developments have received in-home and community-based support and education to encourage integrated pest management practices that focus on prevention and use "least toxic" pesticides only as a last resort. BHA hopes to make the project sustainable and expand their efforts into additional developments. "People are beginning to see they no longer have to live with their pest problems. They feel empowered by being able to take control of their pest problems and their health," says Mr. Kane.
The HPFHI project has moved the standard pest management practice from routinely spraying pesticides in an entire complex to inspections and an integrated management plan. Prevention is emphasized, and tactics such as sealing up cracks and crevices, cutting off water supply, and removing habitat are all steps that are taken once unit is vacated and during yearly unit inspections. Insecticide gels are used as a last resort. While environmentalists note that the plan is a vast improvement, Beyond Pesticides cautions that not all baits and gels are created equal. To learn more about the volatility of commonly used pesticides, see the article, "How Safe Is Your Bait?" from the Winter 2007-08 issue of Pesticides and You.
According to BHA, at the beginning of the project every home tested showed evidence of at least one pesticide that has either been banned or restricted to non-residential use. Nearly 50 percent had cockroach allergen levels in excess of asthma sensitivity exposure.
Teams of IPM health advocates are providing outreach and in-home education in eight BHA developments involved in the project. "Our team trains the residents in IPM, and we also utilize a train-the-trainer approach in which people are trained to provide education about IPM to newly arriving residents during their orientation," said Mr. Kane. The Boston Public Health Commission has also developed informational brochures and posters in multiple languages that can be used in public housing situations and beyond.
To enhance their educational efforts, a "pesticide buyback" occurs twice a year and gives residents an opportunity to trade unused pesticides for safer products and provides another opportunity for health advocates to connect with residents. "Buybacks are scheduled to coincide with Boston's biannual residential hazardous waste collection. So far, this project has collected a wide array of pesticides including over the counter sprays and bombs, as well as restricted use pesticides that by law can only be applied by a licensed professional," Mr. Kane explains.
HPFHI is also working towards translating project findings into proposed policies. At the state level, the Massachusetts Public Health Association will educate its members about IPM, support IPM advocacy and provide training for community health workers. In addition, the Asthma Regional Council is developing a handbook and kit on IPM for building managers and promoting it to the 375 housing authorities in New England. A similar tool will be aimed at health plans interested in home environmental assessments, education and supplies.
Although programs like Boston's HPFHI are seeing some success, asthma and other respiratory illnesses remain a huge problem in the U.S. Since the mid-1980s, asthma rates have skyrocketed to epidemic levels, particularly in young children. In the U.S. alone, around 16 million people suffer from asthma. Asthma is a serious chronic disorder of the lungs characterized by recurrent attacks of bronchial constriction, which cause breathlessness, wheezing, and coughing. Asthma is a dangerous, and in some cases life-threatening disease. Researchers have found that pesticide exposure can induce a poisoning effect linked to asthma. For more information see Beyond Pesticides' Asthma, Children and Pesticides brochure.
Partners in the project include the Boston Public Health Commission, Committee for Boston Public Housing, West Broadway Task Force, Boston University School of Public Health, and local, state, and regional policy and advocacy organizations. W. K. Kellogg Foundation and the Environmental Protection Agency fund the project, which affects over 23,000 public housing residents.
(Beyond Pesticides, August 8, 2008) University of California Davis Cancer Center physicians recently released results of research showing that Vietnam War veterans exposed to Agent Orange have greatly increased risks of prostate cancer and even greater risks of getting the most aggressive form of the disease as compared to those who were not exposed.
The findings, which appear online now and will be published in the September 15 issue of the journal Cancer, are the first to reliably link the herbicide with this form of cancer by studying a large population of men in their 60s and the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test to screen for the disease.
"While others have linked Agent Orange to cancers such as soft-tissue sarcomas, Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, there is limited evidence so far associating it with prostate cancer," said Karim Chamie, lead author of the study and resident physician with the UC Davis Department of Urology and the VA Northern California Health Care System. "Here we report on the largest study to date of Vietnam War veterans exposed to Agent Orange and the incidence of prostate cancer."
Chamie also said that, unlike previous studies that were either too small or conducted on men who were too young, patients in the current study were entering their prime years for developing prostate cancer. There was also the added advantage that it was conducted entirely during the era of PSA screening, providing a powerful tool for early diagnosis and tracking of prostate cancer.
More than 13,000 Vietnam veterans enrolled in the VA Northern California Health Care System were stratified into two groups exposed or not exposed to Agent Orange between 1962 and 1971. Based on medical evaluations conducted between 1998 and 2006, the study revealed that twice as many men exposed to Agent Orange were identified with prostate cancer. In addition, Agent Orange-exposed men were diagnosed two-and-a-half years younger and were nearly four times more likely to present with metastatic disease. Other prostate cancer risk factors race, body-mass index and smoking were not statistically different between the two groups.
"Our country's veterans deserve the best possible health care, and this study clearly confirms that Agent Orange exposure during service in Vietnam is associated with a higher risk of prostate cancer later in life," said Ralph deVere White, UC Davis Cancer Center director and a study co-author. "Just as those with a family history of prostate cancer or who are of African-American heritage are screened more frequently, so too should men with Agent Orange exposure be given priority consideration for all the screening and diagnostic tools we have at our disposal in the hopes of early detection and treatment of this disease."
Prostate cancer is the second most common malignancy and the second leading cause of cancer death in American men. It is estimated that there will be about 186,320 new cases of prostate cancer in the United States in 2008 and about 28,660 men will die of the disease this year.
Now a banned chemical, Agent Orange is a combination of two synthetic compounds known to be contaminated with the dioxin tetrachlorodibenzo-para-dioxin (TCDD) during the manufacturing process. Named for the color of the barrel in which it was stored, Agent Orange was one of many broad-leaf defoliants used in Vietnam to destroy dense forests in order to better visualize enemy activity.
It is estimated that more than 20 million gallons of the chemicals, also known as "rainbow herbicides," were sprayed between 1962 and 1971, contaminating both ground cover and ground troops. Most of the rainbow herbicide used during this time was Agent Orange. In 1997, the International Agency for Research on Cancer reclassified TCDD as a group 1 carcinogen, a classification that includes arsenic, asbestos and gamma radiation. TCDD has been found in common herbicide 2,4-D.
Agent Orange exposure has been linked to a variety of other health effects, including leukemia, Hodgkin's disease, and non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Vietnam continues to be affected by the contamination, and the U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed veterans' right to seek compensation for their exposure.
(Beyond Pesticides, July 17, 2008) In a new study published in Environmental Health Perspectives, researchers have found an increased occurrence of intersex toads in areas with greater agricultural land cover. This points to a link between certain pesticides and endocrine disruption, a change in the hormonal balance that can have sexual and reproductive effects. Such results implicate pesticides in the decline of amphibian populations, and suggests that these chemicals are also adversely affecting humans.
The study, which was conducted in south Florida, looked at cane toads, Bufo marinus, at five sites with differing land use patterns ranging from suburban to nearly completely agricultural (primarily sugarcane and vegetables). Researchers examined physical characteristics such as coloration, sexual organs, and forelimb length, as well as hormone concentrations, and found a higher rate of feminization for toads in agricultural areas. In these areas, glyphosate (the active ingredient in Round Up herbicide) and atrazine (an herbicide) use is common.
Tyrone Hayes, PhD, was one of the first to document the endocrine disrupting effects of atrazine on frogs in a laboratory setting. Countering any doubts of why this work is important, Dr. Hayes said, "People often say, ‘It is just frogs, so who cares?' Well it does not matter whether you are a frog, a dog, a bat, a cat or a human. The compounds and the genes and the hormones that we are talking about are the same."
This latest study, following on others, takes the issue out of the laboratory and attempts to address the effects of pesticides on amphibians in the environment. Because of the complexity of environmental factors and, as the authors say, the "milieu" of chemicals that may exist in the environment, it is much more difficult to prove definitive links between cause and effect outside the laboratory. In another study addressing frogs in the environment, researchers actually found increased intersex frogs in suburban areas. The two results do not necessarily contradict each other, and may indicate that a wide variety of chemicals are having endocrine disrupting effects on amphibians.
All of this work highlights the need for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop a robust Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program that takes into account the effects, at all doses, pesticides can have on humans and wildlife, and eliminate the use of pesticides that are endocrine disruptors. The European Commission has taken steps to adopt a precautionary principle with endocrine disrupting chemicals.
By SETH BORENSTEIN,
AP
Posted: 2008-07-10 20:51:11
By Lyndsey Layton
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 12, 2008; A01
Europe this month rolled out new restrictions on makers of chemicals linked to cancer and other health problems, changes that are forcing U.S. industries to find new ways to produce a wide range of everyday products.
The new laws in the European Union require companies to demonstrate that a chemical is safe before it enters commerce -- the opposite of policies in the United States, where regulators must prove that a chemical is harmful before it can be restricted or removed from the market. Manufacturers say that complying with the European laws will add billions to their costs, possibly driving up prices of some products.
The changes come at a time when consumers are increasingly worried about the long-term consequences of chemical exposure and are agitating for more aggressive regulation. In the United States, these pressures have spurred efforts in Congress and some state legislatures to pass laws that would circumvent the laborious federal regulatory process.
Adamantly opposed by the U.S. chemical industry and the Bush administration, the E.U. laws will be phased in over the next decade. It is difficult to know exactly how the changes will affect products sold in the United States. But American manufacturers are already searching for safer alternatives to chemicals used to make thousands of consumer goods, from bike helmets to shower curtains. The European Union's tough stance on chemical regulation is the latest area in which the Europeans are reshaping business practices with demands that American companies either comply or lose access to a market of 27 countries and nearly 500 million people.
From its crackdown on antitrust practices in the computer industry to its rigorous protection of consumer privacy, the European Union has adopted a regulatory philosophy that emphasizes the consumer. Its approach to managing chemical risks, which started with a trickle of individual bans and has swelled into a wave, is part of a European focus on caution when it comes to health and the environment. "There's a strong sense in Europe and the world at large that America is letting the market have a free ride," said Sheila Jasanoff, professor of science and technology studies at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. "The Europeans believe . . . that being a good global citizen in an era of sustainability means you don't just charge ahead and destroy the planet without concern for what you're doing."
Under the E.U. laws, manufacturers must study and report the risks posed by specific chemicals. Through the Internet, the data will be available for the first time to consumers, regulators and potential litigants around the world. Until now, much of that information either did not exist or was closely held by companies.
"This is going to compel companies to be more responsible for their products than they have ever