Latest News...
- Saturday, January 25, 2020
Regulatory Capture: USDA’s Organic Governance Board Dominated by Affiliates of Industry’s Corporate Lobby
Regulatory Capture: USDA’s Organic Governance Board Dominated by Affiliates of Industry’s Corporate Lobby (Beyond Pesticides, January 24, 2019)
'Continuing a trend well established by prior Republican and Democratic administrations, the five new members recently appointed by USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue to the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) all have a current or past relationship with the industry’s major lobby group, the Organic Trade Association (OTA).
Over the past decade, Big Food has consolidated ownership of most of the largest and best-known organic brands. At the same time, many have criticized USDA for “stacking” the board, which is charged with guiding the regulatory oversight of organic farming and food production, with members from, or friendly to, corporate agribusiness interests.
“After serving five years on the National Organic Standards Board myself,” said Jay Feldman, Executive Director of Beyond Pesticides, “I have witnessed how cards are stacked against independent voices. OrganicEye’s research is designed to empower industry stakeholders, so we can put pressure on our governmental officials and on brands that betray true organic values in the marketplace.”'
filed under industry shenanigans/regulatory and legal
- Friday, January 17, 2020
Environmental Chemicals Are Stealing IQ Points from American Children and Costing Trillions to the U.S. Economy
Environmental Chemicals Are Stealing IQ Points from American Children and Costing Trillions to the U.S. Economy (Beyond Pesticides, January 16, 2020)
' “Although people argue against costly regulations, unrestricted use of these chemicals is far more expensive in the long run, with American children bearing the largest burden,” says senior study author Leonardo Trasande, MD, MPP in a press release.'
Despite modest declines in organophosphate pesticide use over the study period, the impacts of organophosate exposure appear roughly on par with lead exposure. Pesticides were estimated to result in over 26 million lost IQ points and over 110,000 cases of intellectual disability, totaling roughly $735 billion in economic costs.
filed under nervous system effects
- Friday, January 17, 2020
Study Links Pyrethroid Insecticides to Cardiovascular Disease and Other Health Hazards
Study Links Pyrethroid Insecticides to Cardiovascular Disease and Other Health Hazards (Beyond Pesticides, January 10, 2020)
'A new study... demonstrates that greater exposure to pyrethroid insecticides is associated with higher risks of death from all causes and from cardiovascular disease. These compounds can be inhaled, ingested, or absorbed through the skin; they are highly neurotoxic, and have also been linked to certain cancers, endocrine disruption, and suppression of the immune system, as well as respiratory and reproductive impacts.
The co-authors report that subjects with the highest levels of metabolites had a 56% higher risk of death during the follow-up period than did subjects with the lowest exposure levels. In addition, “those in the highest exposure group had three times the cardiovascular mortality risk of those in the lowest exposure group.”
Pyrethroids account for 30% of global pesticide use, and have been generally regarded as effective against insects with few short-term risks to human health.
“Other than cigarette smoking, few, if any, chemical exposures are known to trigger a threefold increase in the risk of death from heart disease, especially in people younger than 60 years.” They conclude that immediate further investigation of pyrethroid health impacts is warranted.
the EPA) is now apparently welcoming the recommendations of industry — from, in this case, the Pyrethroid Working Group, a consortium of pesticide companies — to continue stripping away regulations designed to protect human and environmental health.
filed under cardiovascular and pyrethrins
- Friday, January 17, 2020
Exploratory Study Indicates Pesticide Exposure May Relate to Higher Risk for Endometriosis
Exploratory Study Indicates Pesticide Exposure May Relate to Higher Risk for Endometriosis (Beyond Pesticides, January 15, 2019)
Researchers examined exposure to 11 “universal pesticides” and their metabolites and its relationship to endometriosis...This study detected six of the pesticides or their metabolites in ≥95% of urine samples — including organophosphates and 2-4,D. Pyrethroids and their metabolites were detected in 47–80% of the samples. The odds ratios, or measure of association between exposure and an outcome, are significant for two organophosphate metabolites: 2-Isopropyl-4-methyl-6-hydroxypyrimidine (IMPY) and 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCPY). The authors conclude, “Our results suggest that exposure to elevated concentrations of diazinon (the parent compound of IMPY) and chlorpyrifos and chlorpyrifos-methyl (parent compounds of TCPY) may be associated with endometriosis.” However, the authors emphasize the small sample size and need for further studies. “Our findings should be considered as exploratory,” they state.
Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are far under-studied and under-regulated.'
filed under reproductive health and endocrine disruption
- Friday, January 17, 2020
European Union Bans Neonicotinoid Insecticide, Citing Health and Environmental Concerns
European Union Bans Neonicotinoid Insecticide, Citing Health and Environmental Concerns (Beyond Pesticides, January 17, 2020)
about the neonicotinoid Thiacloprid.
“There are environmental concerns related to the use of this pesticide, particularly its impact on groundwater, but also related to human health, in reproductive toxicity.”
One commercial product in Canada:
'GENERAL INFORMATION
Calypso 480 SC Insecticide is a locally systemic and translaminar insecticide which provides
control of insect pests in pome fruit. Calypso 480 SC Insecticide controls insect pests by contact action and by ingestion of the treated plant tissue. 'Pome fruits are apple type fruits and a systemic insecticide that can't be washed off is used on them. I don't believe thiacloprid is covered in the neonicotinoids that Canada will ban in a few years.
filed under legislation and neonicotinoids
- Friday, January 17, 2020
New Method of Lyme Disease Prevention Promising, But Not Ready to Replace Personal Protective Measures
New Method of Lyme Disease Prevention Promising, But Not Ready to Replace Personal Protective Measures (Beyond Pesticides, January 14, 2020)
'...incorporating Lyme vaccines into pelletized mouse food had the effect of reducing levels of Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, in both mice and ticks in a certain location.
“So, the idea here is to vaccinate the mice,” study author Kirby Stafford, PhD told WBUR. “What we’ve done is incorporate a Lyme disease vaccine in an oral bait that would immunize them. That would prevent ticks feeding on those animals from becoming infected and then ultimately turn around and infect you.”'
filed under alternatives/ disease
- Sunday, January 5, 2020
University of Iowa research ties pesticides to heart-disease deaths
University of Iowa research ties pesticides to heart-disease deaths
'We're in some ways ground zero for a lot of these pesticides'Use Raid anyone? or mosquito coils? clothing or mosquito nets treated with pyrethroids?
About synthetic pyrethroids, which have replaced more toxic insecticides on the home and general market. In spite of pyrethroids having been known to cause allergies and a variety of other health problems, widespread contamination,.as well as being the number one group of pesticides reported to the EPA as causing adverse health effects, they are generally considered by regulatory agencies as safe.
'“There is very little out there where people have actually looked at the cardiovascular system as a target of toxicity for these kind of compounds”. This study correlates urine levels with death occurrence. As many more people have heart disease than die from it, the proportion of people affected by pyrethroids is likely a lot more than 'three times more likely to die of cardiovascular disease than those with low or no exposure.'
'New University of Iowa research out this week associates higher exposure to commonly used insecticides — including those in use across Iowa — with an increased risk of death from all causes, specifically cardiovascular disease — even as the market share of that potentially deadly pesticide grows.
That swell in use, according to UI assistant professor of epidemiology and study author Wei Bao, means the rate of deaths related to the chemical exposure likely has increased as well — although he urged more investigation.'filed under pyrethroids and cardiovascular
- Sunday, January 5, 2020
Soaking up Australias drought
Soaking up Australia's drought (ABC News, 3 December 2018)
I hadn't heard of them but they found a method that works.
'Is Natural Sequence Farming the secret to restoring our water-starved continent? For more than a decade, two farmers have shown that parched landscapes can be revived. And finally Canberra's listening.
Two years ago, The Mulloon Institute was recognised by the United Nations as one of only five case studies globally to demonstrate landscape-scale sustainable agriculture.'
more on organics and regenerative farming
- Friday, January 3, 2020
Study Highlights Lasting Benefits of Organic Practices on Soil Health and Crop Productivity
Study Highlights Lasting Benefits of Organic Practices on Soil Health and Crop Productivity (Beyond Pesticides, January 2, 2020)
The research, published by scientists at Cornell University, underlines the important role soil-dwelling organisms (SDOs) must play in a sustainable agricultural future... “Really, we need to be optimizing these biotic processes in our soil and focusing more on biotic measurements,” Ms. Jernigan said.
For instance, sorghum planted on the enhanced weed management plot, where the soil was frequently plowed, had fewer weeds, but the SDOs soil-dwelling organisms present are those better able to handle disturbances, and less likely to significantly enhance soil health. This contrasts with the reduced tillage plot, which contained an abundance SDOs that enhance microbial activity in the soil and facilitate nutrient cycling. Despite the higher level of weed biomass in the reduced tillage plot when compared to the weed management plot, weeds problems were not overwhelming, and crop productivity was higher with reduced tillage.
...“The study is important because unsustainable farming practices are depleting soils of biological activity and nutrients, leading to widespread concern about farmers’ ability to grow enough food to keep up with global population growth.”
Thus, this research underscores the importance of a frequently overlooked “limiting factor” in crop productivity – soil health.
filed under organics
- Tuesday, December 31, 2019
National Geographic short videos of insect and invertebrates parasites in action
National Geographic videos
Body Invaders (Apr 27, 2019) A parasitic wasp has injected her eggs into a caterpillar -- and now they're ready to hatch. In the Womb: Extreme AnimalsZombie' Parasite Takes Over Insects Through Mind Control (Apr 30, 2019) Deep in the Amazon jungle, a parasitic fungus called cordyceps infect ants and other insects in order toreproduce.
Parasitic Wasps (Apr 28, 2009)
Subscribe: http://bit.ly/NatGeoSubscribe