Toxic Free News - Fall 2005

Switching to an organic diet has “dramatic and immediate” effect on the levels of pesticides in children’s bodies, according to new research published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

Chensheng Lu and colleagues at the University of Washington studied metabolites of malathion and chlorpyrifos, two neurotoxic pesticides commonly used in conventional agriculture. Children who normally eat “conventional” foods were recruited to the study. The researchers measured the children’s urinary pesticide metabolites for three days, then replaced the children’s conventional produce, juice and grains with organic products. Pesticide residues in the urine of all the children in the study decreased to non-detect levels for as long as they remained on the organic diet. After nine days the children returned to their conventional diets, and the pesticide residues in their urine returned to previous levels. According to the study’s authors, “an organic diet provides a dramatic and immediate protective effect against exposures to organophosphorus pesticides that are commonly used in agricultural production.” Source: Environmental Health Perspectives.

Farmworkers, Pesticides and Birth Defects.

A large Florida-based vegetable grower, Ag-Mart Produce, is facing record fines in North Carolina and Florida for pesticide misuse, resulting from an investigation into the cases of three Imokalee farmworkers whose babies were born this year with severe deformities. All three of the mothers picked tomatoes for Ag-Mart in North Carolina, Florida and New Jersey during their pregnancies.

Charges against Ag-Mart state that the company did not provide workers with required personal protective equipment such as gloves and respirators, pesticide safety training or required information about the chemicals being used. Ag-Mart faces 369 pesticide violations in North Carolina alone, and as much as $184,000 in fines – a record in the state. Ag-Mart has a history of worker mistreatment in North Carolina. In 2003 and 2004 the company was fined for housing workers in squalid conditions.

As a result of the investigations, the supermarket chain Publix has stopped carrying Ag-Mart’s Santa Sweet grape tomatoes. “Pesticide safety enforcement and investigation of the health consequence and injury to farmworkers is sorely needed and currently (the state) is not meeting the challenge," stated Lisa Butler of Florida Rural Legal Services. Sources: National Farmworker Ministry, Southwest Florida News-Press, Raleigh News & Observer.

Streams of pesticides.

Two different sources are being analyzed for their contribution of pesticides and other toxic chemicals to our streams and creeks: suburban bathrooms, and suburban lawns.

Studies conducted three years ago by the US Geological Survey turned up the pesticide DEET in the majority of 139 streams tested in 30 states. Similar studies by university researchers find household pesticides, drugs, cosmetics and other toxics are pervasive in streams that receive discharge from wastewater treatment plants. Most treatment plants are not designed to remove such contaminants, and regulatory standards for such contaminants in surface or groundwater do not exist. As a result, US surface waters are widely contaminated – albeit at low levels – with scores of unregulated chemicals, thanks to human consumption.

Similarly, household lawns are contributing a large load of pyrethroid insecticides to city creeks, according to recent studies from the University of California at Berkeley. Pyrethroids (such as permethrin) have surged in use since the phase-out of organophosphate pesticides chlorpyrifos and diazinon for home use. While pyrethroids have relatively low immediate toxicity to humans, the story is different for aquatic life. According to an unnamed EPA source, the agency rushed approval of pyrethroids for the market without adequately testing their toxicity. “You’ve got a compound that is now taking over the market,” says the official. “Mammals and birds can quickly break it down, but for fish and invertebrates, it’s quite toxic.” Sources: Environmental Science & Toxicology, Hartford Courant.

Toxic Free News is a publication of
Toxic Free North Carolina
206 New Bern Place, Raleigh, NC 27601, (919) 833-5333, Toll-free 1-877-NO-SPRAY
http://www.toxicfreenc.org

Mission: Toxic Free NC advocates for alternatives to toxic pesticides in North Carolina by empowering people to make sound decisions about their health and environment.

Staff: Communications Associate: Alejandra Gómez; Executive Director: Fawn Pattison, Program Coordinator: Billie Karel

Board of Directors: Allen Spalt, President; Katherine M. Shea, Vice President; Colleen Boudreau, Treasurer; Jane Sharp MacRae, Secretary; Mary Jo Windley; Michelle Nowlin; Annette Hiatt; Billie Rogers, Emeritus.