Judge Recommends Dropping Ag-Mart Charges
In late September of this year, a judge recommended nearly all of the 369 pesticide violation charges against Florida-based Ag-Mart be dropped. The company would pay $6000 in fines, down from the original $185,000 fine issued by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture.

Exposure to pesticides has been con- nected to various illnesses, with special risks to embryos and babies. Photo courtesy of WIC.

It is now in the hands of North Carolina’s Pesticide Board to decide whether to accept the recommendation or pursue the original charges. Ag-Mart grows hundreds of acres of tomatoes in eastern North Carolina, and claims it did not understand pesticide laws when they used triple the legal limit of highly toxic pesticides and forced farm workers back into freshly sprayed fields. Carol Brooke, a lawyer with the NC Justice Center who represented some Ag-Mart workers, said the ruling would allow other growers to avoid punishment by claiming ignorance of the law.

Source: The News & Observer

Scientists Speak Out on Prenatal Exposure
In a public proclamation called the “Faroes Statement”, hundreds of scientists from around the world declared a consensus on pervasive chemicals that affect developing embryos and infants. The proclamation highlights the growing use of pesticides such as DDT, atrazine, methoxychlor and vinclozolin. Researchers from the Center for Reproductive Biology at Washington State University found that laboratory mice exposed to the fungicide vinclozolin can pass down the chemical through as many as four generations.

Source: Environmental Science & Technology Online

DDT Use On The Rise
In 2006, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced it supported the use of DDT to fight malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. DDT was banned in 1972 after it was found to have extremely detrimental effects on bird populations, such as the bald eagle. Mosquito populations were also found to have developed a resistance to the pesticide. DDT continues to be used in Africa for agricultural and home use. USAID sponsors trainings of DDT use inside the home, where residues can stick to a surface for some six months after application. However, laboratory studies by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences show DDT has endocrine-disrupting (gender-bending) and neurological effects in many species.

Source: Environmental Science & Technology Online