Honeybee “Colony Collapse Disorder” and Pesticides
Scientists and beekeepers are in a race to find the cause of "Colony Collapse Disorder", a mysterious killer that has wiped out tens of billions of bees in at least 27 states.  The USDA and Pennsylvania State University entomologists say the most likely causes are a virus, a fungus or pesticides.  A federal laboratory in Raleigh has been tapped to screen for certain chemicals in bees, including neonicotinoid pesticides (commonly marketed as “Gaucho”), which disorients bees, leaving them to die of exposure.
In the US, honeybees are the primary pollinator of hundreds of agricultural crops and the most important insect to the human food chain. 
Source: The New York Times

Premature Births Linked to Pesticide Levels
According to research conducted by Paul Winchester of the Indiana University School of Medicine, there is a link between preterm births and agricultural chemicals in surface water.  In Indiana and nationally, preterm births peak in April through June, when levels of pesticides and nitrates from fertilizer are highest in surface water, and are lowest in the months when levels of those chemicals are lowest.  This trend was consistent among women regardless of their age, race, education, alcohol or cigarette use, or whether the mothers lived in urban, rural or suburban settings.
"As a neonatologist, I am seeing a growing number of birth defects, and preterm births, and I think we need to face up to environmental causes," said Dr. Winchester.
Source:  Science Daily

FLOC Organizer Murdered
An organizer for the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) was found murdered in his office in Monterrey, Mexico on April 9th.   Santiago Rafael Cruz was a 29 year-old former farm worker who had moved to Monterrey only a month earlier. 
Police in Monterrey lay the blame on other unions, but FLOC vice president Leticia Zavala explains, "Our organizers have been threatened by labor recruiters."  The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights demanded that the Mexican government provide protection for the remaining FLOC staff in Mexico. Source: FLOC

Everyday Chemicals May Cause Breast Cancer
The American Cancer Society released a report finding links between breast cancer and common chemicals found in the environment and consumer products.  The chemicals studied, including pesticides, dyes and cosmetic ingredients, were found to cause mammary tumors in animals. However, federal regulators do not often use animal data in assessing human breast cancer risks. 
Ana Soto, professor of cell biology at Tufts University, sees a link between developing breast cancer and exposure to hormone-disrupting chemicals, especially early in life.   "More and more, cancer looks like an environmental disease," she explained.
Breast cancer is the number one killer of women in the U.S. in their late 30s to early 50s. Source:  L.A. Times