Latest News...
- Saturday, November 21, 2020
Integrated Control of Nymphal Ixodes scapularis: Effectiveness of White-Tailed Deer Reduction, the Entomopathogenic Fungus Metarhizium anisopliae, and Fipronil-Based Rodent Bait Boxes
Integrated Control of Nymphal Ixodes scapularis: Effectiveness of White-Tailed Deer Reduction, the Entomopathogenic Fungus Metarhizium anisopliae, and Fipronil-Based Rodent Bait Boxes (Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2018 Jan;18(1):55-64, from PubMed,gov).
Results of a trial comparing the pesticide fipronil used in rodent bait boxes with a broadcast fungus for deer tick control. This is not a recommendation to use fipronil (not registered in Canada) as there are valid alternatives described for tick control, one being described in the article.
filed under alternatives/insects and invertebrates.under 'additional information' at the bottom of the page/ ticks
- Thursday, November 19, 2020
EPA Overturns State Authority to Restrict Pesticides in the Face of Its Faltering Programs
about dicamba
EPA by Fiat Overturns State Authority to Restrict Pesticides in the Face of Its Faltering Programs
(Beyond Pesticides, November 13, 2020) 'The toxic herbicide dicamba is once again at the center of a larger story about states’ authority to regulate pesticides beyond federal dictates. The Trump EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has just made it much harder for state regulations to be more protective than federal rules are. It did so via a footnote embedded in dozens of pages of regulatory documents related to EPA’s registration of three new dicamba products.;
SNAP comment:: Despite a recent court ruling voiding the registration of drift-prone dicamba herbicides on genetically engineered (GE) cotton and soybeans, EPA has not only renewed the registration of these chemicals but registered more. In addition, they now prevent states from having more protective regulations than the federal. Changes were made without the input of state regulators. This is a form of preemption.
filed under Legislation/Regulatory/USA
- Thursday, November 19, 2020
Crop Diversity in Commercial Agriculture Decreases Pests and Pesticides Use, Stabilizes Biodiversity
Crop Diversity in Commercial Agriculture Decreases Pests and Pesticides Use, Stabilizes Biodiversity
(Beyond Pesticides, November 19, 2020) 'A new study by researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) finds that crop diversity in commercial agriculture is just as essential to supporting a stable biological system as plant diversity on non-commercial landscapes.Furthermore, less diverse crop areas lead to higher, more intensive pesticide use, indicating a threat to environmental and human health, as well as food security.'
- Thursday, November 19, 2020
Pet flea treatments poisoning rivers across England, scientists find
fipronil and the neonicotinoid imidacloprid
Pet flea treatments poisoning rivers across England, scientists find
Discovery is ‘extremely concerning’ for water insects, and fish and birds that depend on them.
The research found fipronil in 99% of samples from 20 rivers and the average level of one particularly toxic breakdown product of the pesticide was 38 times above the safety limit. Fipronil and another nerve agent called imidacloprid that was found in the rivers have been banned from use on farms for some years.
There are about 10 million dogs and 11 million cats in the UK, with an estimated 80% receiving flea treatments, whether needed or not. The researchers said the blanket use of flea treatments should be discouraged and that new regulation is needed. Currently, the flea treatments are approved without an assessment of environmental damage. “Fipronil is one of the most commonly used flea products and recent studies have shown it degrades to compounds that are more toxic to most insects than fipronil itself...”
“The problem is these chemicals are so potent,” he said, even at tiny concentrations. “We would expect them to be having significant impacts on insect life in rivers.” One flea treatment of a medium-sized dog with imidacloprid contains enough pesticide to kill 60 million bees, he said.
The researchers found the highest levels of the pesticides downstream from water treatment plants, showing that urban areas were the main source and not farmland. The washing of pets was already known to flush fipronil into sewers and then rivers, while dogs swimming in rivers provides another pathway for contamination.
see also Flea Treataments Found to Contaminate Waterways.(Beyond Pesticides, November 20, 2020)for more in depth analysis. 'Though these compounds are banned for agricultural uses in the United Kingdom (UK), risk assessment for them, as used on animals, has been minimal because of the assumption that the amounts used for veterinary treatments would mean far-less-significant environmental impact than might be expected with agricultural-scale use..”"
SNAP Comment: As of 19 November 2020,the PMRA label search indicates that fipronil was never registered in Canada. Research indicates that may formulations are licnesed in the USA for a wide variety of usages, likely including flea treatment. In Canada, there are 99 registered insecticides containing Imidacloprid, 50 of which are specifically for flea treatment.
- Thursday, November 19, 2020
Synthetic Fertilizers Accelerate Climate Crisis; The Way We Feed People Conflicts with Stabilizing Climate
(Beyond Pesticides, November 17, 2020) 'Excessive use of nitrogen fertilizers in agriculture is driving global nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions higher than any projected scenario, putting the world at greater risk of a climate catastrophe.
“The dominant driver of the increase in atmospheric nitrous oxide comes from agriculture, and the growing demand for food and feed for animals will further increase global nitrous oxide emissions” Nitrous oxide both damages ozone and warms the atmosphere, as it is roughly 300x better at capturing heat than carbon dioxide.
“Europe is the only region in the world that has successfully reduced nitrous oxide emissions over the past two decades,” said study coauthor Wilfried Winiwarter, PhD. “Industrial and agricultural policies to reduce greenhouse gases and air pollution and to optimize fertilizer use efficiencies have proven to be effective. Still, further efforts will be required, in Europe as well as globally.”
A 2018 study from the University of Virginia and The Organic Center found that “reactive” nitrogen, in the form readily available to be taken up by plants, is conserved in organic systems.'
- Saturday, November 14, 2020
Environmental Poisoning by Pesticides—Household Chemical Products and Medications Impact Domestic Pet Populations
(Beyond Pesticides, November 12, 2020) A new report from the University of Milan and Poison Control Center (CVA) in Milan, Italy suggests that domestic animals experience frequent environmental poisoning by household toxicants. 'Researchers note, “These findings can provide useful information for the identification and monitoring of known and emerging toxicants, with positive repercussions on human, animal, and environmental health.
Pesticides and medicine are the two major causes of domestic animal poisoning (34.1% and 33.5% of incidents, respectively). The remainder of animal poising incidents are from household products and other causative agents. The number one cause of pesticide-related poising events is insecticides (44.6%)—including pyrethrin/pyrethroids and neonicotinoids, followed by rodenticides, fungicides, herbicides, molluscicides, and unspecified pesticides. The leading cause of medicine-related poisoning is veterinary prescriptions.Species observations demonstrate that dogs and cats are most frequently associated with animal poisoning incidents. The most common exposure route is ingestion, preceding dermal and mucosal exposure (via inhalation). Nearly all animal exposures incidents are accidental (93%), however, some incidents occur due to owner errors/misuses, intentional poising, or unknown sources.
- Saturday, November 14, 2020
After Court Rules Herbicide “Would Tear the Social Fabric of Farming Communities,” Dicamba in Genetically Engineered Crops Given Go-Ahead by EPA
(Beyond Pesticides, November 4, 2020) Despite a recent court ruling voiding the registration of drift-prone dicamba herbicides on genetically engineered (GE) cotton and soybeans, EPA has renewed the registration of these chemicals. The court’s ruling stated that EPA, “substantially understated risks that it acknowledged and failed entirely to acknowledge other risks,” in regards to the herbicides XtendiMax and Eugenia (dicamba), produced by agrichemical corporations Bayer and BASF for their genetically engineered (GE) crops.
filed under Legialation/Regulatory/USA
- Saturday, November 14, 2020
Bees Lose Sleep Over Pesticides, Adding Stress and Increasing Risk of Death
neonicotinoid thiamethoxam
Bees Lose Sleep Over Pesticides, Adding Stress and Increasing Risk of Death
(Beyond Pesticides, November 11, 2020) 'Neonicotinoid insecticides inhibit honey bee sleep cycles, leading to stress and population declines, according to research from Vanderbilt University.(link to study).
“Beyond sleep disruption, we know that honey bees rely on their internal sense of time and the position of the sun,” said Dr. Tackenberg. “If they have an incorrect sense of time their ability to effectively navigate is hindered. It stands to reason that if a bee’s internal sense of time is disrupted or altered it could affect learning, memory and foraging efficiency—even outside of reduced capacity from sleep disruptions.”
The mechanistic process discovered by researchers has the potential to explain why many beekeepers experience a dwindling or collapsing hive without evidence of other stressors.'
filed under Bee die-Off
- Saturday, November 14, 2020
Pesticide Exposure Increases the Risk of Developing Gene-Specific and Sporadic Parkinson’s Disease Incidences
(Beyond Pesticides, November 5, 2020) Research at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) finds that pesticide exposure increases the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease (PD), regardless of whether disease onset is idiopathic (spontaneous) or genetic (GBA genetic risk variant). Although the exact etiology of PD remains unknown, epidemiological and toxicological research repeatedly identifies exposure to pesticides, as well as specific gene-pesticide interactions, as significant adverse risk factors that contribute to PD. Furthermore, this study, “Gene Variants May Affect PD Risk After Pesticide Exposure,” suggests that environmental triggers like occupational exposure to pesticides can prompt PD in individuals with or without the genetic precursor.
filed under
- Sunday, November 8, 2020
Toxic Levels of Heavy Metals and PAHs Discovered in Some Alternatives to Glyphosate-Based Weedkillers
link to alternatives
Toxic Levels of Heavy Metals and PAHs Discovered in Some Alternatives to Glyphosate-Based Weedkillers (Sustainable Pulse, Oct 22 2020)
The formulants (or inerts) are toxic and almost all are still undisclosed in Canada.
Link to The Detox Project which supports alternative non chemical weed control such as RootWave (electrical) and FoamStream (heated foam made of natural ingredients).'Prof. Seralini’s team recently analysed 14 formulations of some of the new alternative chemical herbicides using gold standard mass spectrometry. Heavy metals were detected at toxic levels of up to 39 mg/L, including iron, lead, nickel, silicium, titanium and arsenic. Carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were also detected, at levels up to 32–2430 μg/L in 12 of the herbicides studied.
Sustainable Pulse Director, Henry Rowlands, stated; “These results show that the difference between “active ingredient” and “inert compound” is a regulatory assertion with no demonstrated toxicological basis and thus an immediate ban on both these specific new alternative herbicides and glyphosate-based herbicides is required.”'filed under formulants/inerts