Latest News...
- Friday, December 6, 2024
Study reveals lasting effects of common weed killer on brain health
Findings indicate glyphosate exposure increases risk of neurodegenerative disease
Study reveals lasting effects of common weed killer on brain health Findings indicate glyphosate exposure increases risk of neurodegenerative disease (By Richard Harth , Arizona State University Newa, December 04, 2024)
The study tracked both the presence and impact of glyphosate’s byproducts in the brain long after exposure ends, showing an array of persistent, damaging effects on brain health.
Glyphosate exposure also resulted in neuroinflammation, Alzheimer’s-like symptoms, and premature death and anxiety-like behaviors, replicating others studies.
The researchers tested two levels of glyphosate exposure: a high dose, similar to levels used in earlier research, and a lower dose that is close to the limit used to establish the current acceptable dose in humans. Furthermore, the scientists discovered these symptoms persisted long after a six-month recovery period in which exposure was discontinued.
This lower dose still led to harmful effects in the brains of mice, even after exposure ceased for months. While reports show that most Americans are exposed to glyphosate daily, these results show that even a short period could potentially cause neurological damage.
Link to earlier ASU research that demonstrates a link between glyphosate exposure and a heightened risk for neurodegenerative disorders. The earlier study showed that glyphosate was able to cross the blood-brain barrier...
filed under glyphosate 2 and health/nervous system effects
- Thursday, December 5, 2024
Health, workers and environmental groups welcome cancellation of fluorinated pesticide
Health, workers' and environmental groups welcome cancellation of fluorinated pesticide (Prevent Cancer Now, December 2024)
Flufenacet—a herbicide that releases persistent, toxic TFA—is being phased out.On October 30, Norwegian scientists published that TFA poses a global threat as it is omnipresent, and rapidly, irreversibly accumulating in water. Pesticides containing TFA are increasingly being developed and marketed to farmers in Canada. TFA and other persistent chemicals, are found in drinking water, foods, and the human body. These fluorine-containing chemicals have been linked to a range of adverse outcomes including cancers, liver damage, and low infant birth weight.
In 2021, Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) re-evaluated flufenacet and proposed to cancel its registration due to unacceptable risks to human health. Despite mounting pressure from industry to back down, the final re-evaluation decision, issued last Friday, confirmed cancellation of all products containing flufenacet.
Meg Sears, Chair, Prevent Cancer Now stated: “Let’s applaud one hazardous pesticide being phased out over three years, but also recognize that this is a drop in the bucket."
filed under Legislation/Regulatory/Canada p.2and pesticide fact sheets:Polyfluorinated pesticides and PFAs
- Wednesday, December 4, 2024
Evaluation of EPA Safety Data on Neonicotinoid Insecticides Identifies Scientific Failures
Evaluation of EPA Safety Data on Neonicotinoid Insecticides Identifies Scientific Failures
(Beyond Pesticides, November 5, 2024) Published in the journal Frontiers in Toxicology, a recent study uncovers serious flaws in the pesticide registration process at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with an in-depth evaluation of the agency’s failure to protect the public from the harmful effects of five neonicotinoid (neonic) insecticides...
'All five neonicotinoids evaluated—acetamiprid, clothianidin, imidacloprid, thiacloprid, and thiamethoxam—are associated with significant shrinkage of brain tissue at the highest dosage, according to EPA data reports (see acetamiprid, clothianidin, imidacloprid, thiacloprid, and thiamethoxam). However, with little or no data regarding the chemicals’ impacts at low and mid-level dosages, EPA has either failed to find a “No Observed Adverse Effect Level” (NOAEL) or, seemingly at random, set the NOAEL at the mid-level dosage. The evaluation suggests that perinatal exposure to neonicotinoids and their metabolites results in nicotine-like neurotoxic effects in rodent studies, concluding that, “… the exposure limits set by EPA for human exposure are either not protective or not supported by available neurotoxicity data.” The study also finds that the agency ignored significant adverse effects, allowed DNT studies that did not conform with scientific protocols, and permitted “neonicotinoid registrants to unduly influence agency decision-making.” ' Links in original article
filed under Pesticide Fact sheets/neonicotinoids.2 and Legislation/Regulatory/USA p.2
- Wednesday, December 4, 2024
Getting Started The Less Lawn, More Life Challenge
Getting Started The Less Lawn, More Life Challenge aims to encourage you to transform your yard into more sustainable, climate-smart landscapes by reducing lawn areas and supporting biodiversity. (Inaturalist challenge)
Over an 8-week period, you will be guided to take action on six key targets, complete eight activations, and contribute to citizen science by making 100+ observations. The ultimate goal is to educate, inform, and inspire a collective shift towards healthier, more eco-friendly outdoor spaces right in your own backyards.
HOW TO GET STARTED instructions.
filed under Lawwn/Turf/ alernatives
- Wednesday, December 4, 2024
Industry interference in pesticide regulation must be investigated
Industry interference in pesticide regulation must be investigated (Prevent Cancer Now, November 2024)
'Environmental and health groups call for independent review of controversial “neonic” decision
The letter asks Health Minister Mark Holland to put safeguards in place to ensure that PMRA scientists' work in the public interest is reflected in final decisions, and to prevent inappropriate industry influence over pesticide regulation. 'filed under Legal/Litigation/ Canada p. 2 and neonicotinoids 2
- Wednesday, December 4, 2024
Glyphosate Mixtures Show Lethal and Sublethal Effects to Embryos, Highlights Regulatory Deficiencies
Glyphosate Mixtures Show Lethal and Sublethal Effects to Embryos, Highlights Regulatory Deficiencies
(Beyond Pesticides, November 13, 2024) A study in Chemosphere, conducted by researchers from the Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in Germany, reveals the varied lethal and sublethal effects of different glyphosate mixtures through tests on the South African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis (X. laevis). After exposing embryos to four glyphosate formulations, mortality, morphological defects, altered heartbeat rate, and impaired heart-specific gene expression are observed.
The formulations consist of varying concentrations of the active ingredient glyphosate, as well as other active and inert ingredients. such as 10–20% d-glucopyranose, 1–5% N–N-dimethyl-C12-C14-(even numbered)-alkyl-1-amines, 1–10% isopropylamine, 1–3% lauryl dimethyl betaine, 0.25–1% dodecyl dimethylamine. Kyleo only lists the active ingredients glyphosate (27.9%) and 2,4-D (32%).”
All solutions were prepared with glyphosate concentrations of 0.01, 0.1, 1, 10, and 100 mg/L. “The exposure of embryos to 0.01–10 mg/L glyphosate reflects environmentally relevant concentrations already measured in different countries, with 100 mg/L glyphosate representing ‘worst-case’ scenarios (e.g., incorrect handling or improper disposal), but already measured in water bodies in Argentina,” the researchers state.'
The high glyphosate levels caused high mortality. Exposure to 0.1 mg/L glyphosate altered gene exoression in various ways depending on the formulation. 'The different formulations selected for exposure experiments showed varying degrees of lethal effects at the same concentrations of the active ingredient glyphosate,” the researchers summarize. With the varied results, the authors hypothesize that the other ingredients play a role in toxicity.'
filed under glyphosate 2 and Low Dose Effects
- Wednesday, December 4, 2024
Capture of Health Canada by Syngenta – Abamectin
Capture of Health Canada by Syngenta – Abamectin (Safe Food Matters,29 September 2024)
Regulatory capture is when a regulatory agency, like Health Canada, is captured by a particular group, like Syngenta, and serves the interests of that group instead of the public interest. This is the story of how Syngenta captured the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) of Health Canada in its assessment of the pesticide abamectin. Abamectin damages the brains of the young. It is toxic to the developing young and/or the reproductive system, and suspected of damaging fertility or the unborn child. It is fatal if inhaled, and considered a highly hazardous pesticide. PMRA intends to re-register this toxic pesticide and increase or expand the legal limits for residues allowed on many foods: including crops like tea, almonds, apples, blueberries, carrots, cherries, chives, corn, cranberries, eggplant, grapes, grapefruits, kiwi, oranges, lemons, pineapple, papaya, peaches, pear, pecans, peppers, plums, strawberries and tomatoes. In Europe, abamectin was recently restricted to use in closed greenhouses to prevent release into the environment, and even this is being challenged. In Canada and the US, there is no such restriction.
filed under Industry Shenanigans/Regulatory and legal
- Wednesday, December 4, 2024
Study Highlights Correlation Between Pesticide Exposure and Prostate Cancer in Men in the U.S.
Study Highlights Correlation Between Pesticide Exposure and Prostate Cancer in Men in the U.S.
(Beyond Pesticides, November 19, 2024) Researchers at Stanford University recently published a study in Cancer, an international interdisciplinary journal of the American Cancer Society (ACS), that reveals a correlation for numerous pesticides with increased prostate cancer occurrence and associated death. The study finds that exposure to 22 pesticides is positively associated with prostate cancer. The 22 pesticides include 2,4‐D, acephate, azoxystrobin, bifenthrin, carbaryl, chloropicrin, cloransulam‐methyl, cyhalothrin‐lambda, diflufenzopyr, diuron, glyphosate, hexazinone, linuron, methyl parathion, pendimethalin, propiconazole, sulfosate, thiamethoxam, thifensulfuron, tribenuron methyl, trifloxystrobin, and trifluralin.
filed under Health/ Cancer/ links 2
- Wednesday, December 4, 2024
Organic Banana Production Better for Soil Health than Chemical-Intensive Practices, Researchers Document
Organic Banana Production Better for Soil Health than Chemical-Intensive Practices, Researchers Document (Beyond Pesticides, November 7, 2024) Organic banana production is significantly more conducive to microbial decomposition than its chemical-intensive counterparts in the Caribbean nation of Martinique, according to a recent study published in Applied Soil Ecology. “Macrofaunal decomposition was increased more (55%) than microbial decomposition (20%), indicating that organic farming removes a constraint of conventional farming especially affecting macrofauna.” Biological activity in the soil is foundational to organic land management and critical to the cycling of nutrients that feed plant life while contributing to resiliency and soil water retention. The authors arrived at the conclusion that there were notable differences in biological activity and soil health in organic versus non-organic fields. “Mean plant species richness was 55% significantly higher in organic fields and soil weed cover was 79% significantly higher in organic fields than in conventional fields,” says the researchers. The presence of earthworms, macrofauna, and other decomposers was far higher in organic fields. The nitrogen, calcium, and magnesium concentrations “were significantly higher” in glyphosate-free samples.
filed under organics/environment
- Wednesday, December 4, 2024
Earwig Biocontrol for Temperate Tree Fruits
Featured Video: Earwig Biocontrol for Temperate Tree Fruits (USDA Agricultural Research Service 2.48 min. video,November 2024) Did you know that while earwigs are often considered a pest, they can actually benefit apple growers in Washington? ARS researchers have ingeniously developed traps using rolled cardboard tied to trees to capture these critters. Once captured, the earwigs are relocated to apple orchards where they feast on aphids, the real troublemakers! This natural form of pest control helps reduce reliance on pesticides, paving the way for more organic farming practices.
SNAP Comment: interesting that a species is a pest inone curcumstance but useful in another.
filed under alternatives/insects