Toxic Free News - Winter 2004

Pollution at Home
The Harvard School of Public Health has released the most comprehensive indoor air analysis study to date, published in Environmental Science and Technology. The report finds reproduction-disrupting chemicals and carcinogens in common consumer products such as cosmetics, cleaners and detergents, and carpeting and furniture. Some compounds are banned, and some have never been reported in residential settings before.

One such compound, 4-nonylphenol (an endocrine disrupter linked to birth defects and cancer), is restricted by the European Union but has no guidelines for human exposure by the US EPA.
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
See also: fact sheet on this study at http://www.silentspring.org

Record Pesticide Penalty for Dow
A subsidiary of Dow will pay the State of New York $2 million for touting the safety of Dursban and other pesticide products. State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer investigated advertisements between 1995 and 2003, after a 1994 law, which prohibited the chemical company from making claims about the safety of their pesticide products.

One ad claimed that Dursban caused “no significant adverse health effects” even with exposure at elevated levels. However, the active ingredient of Dursban, chlorpyrifos, is toxic to the human brain and nervous system.

Though Dow admits no wrongdoing, a spokesperson for the company said it would be more expensive to litigate than pay the fine. Spitzer, surprised that the $2 million penalty was the highest in the nation, said “I think we need to do better.”
Source: The Ithaca Journal

A study released by the University of Southern California links infant exposure to herbicides and pesticides with the development of early persistent asthma. Of all the factors studied, herbicides had the strongest association, with infants exposed before their first birthdays ten times more likely than control subjects to develop asthma.

Asthma is becoming an epidemic in the United States, and is now the most common chronic disease among US children. This study, which attempted to find causal relationships of contaminants leading to asthma, was the first of its kind. Other less pronounced factors include exposure to wood and oil smoke, and farm animals.
Source: http://www.protectingourhealth.org

EPA Rejects Clean-ups
EPA Inspector General Nikki L. Tinsley says there was not enough funding to go ahead with 29 projects around the country as recommended by the agency’s own administrators last year (see News Briefs Fall 2003). Rep. John Dingell, the ranking Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, says the Superfund has been declining for the past two years and is likely to do so again this year.

The EPA blames Congress for failing to increase Superfund spending by $150 million. The projects, rejected by regional officials, would have cost an estimated $175 million.
Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

City-wide Pesticide Ban in Toronto
Doug Counter, organic gardener and Toronto resident, led the march against pesticide use after his lawn was mistakenly sprayed in 2001. Along with other community members and activists, Mr. Counter fought pesticide manufacturers and industry lobbyists, who argued Toronto would be overrun with weeds and unkempt lawns.

Beginning in 1998, the Toronto city council passed a law banning pesticide use in public parks. After a ten-year battle, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the town of Hudson, Quebec, could ban pesticide use on private property, prompting Toronto to pass a similar by-law. “I think it was very much sort of a coup,” said Katrina Miller of the Toronto Environmental Alliance.
Source: The Toronto Star

Toxic Free News is a publication of
Toxic Free North Carolina
206 New Bern Place, Raleigh, NC 27601, (919) 833-5333, -1123
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: Fawn Pattison, Executive Director; Billie Karel, Program Coordinator; Amanda McRae, Administrative Intern

Board of Directors: Allen Spalt, President; Jane Sharp MacRae, Secretary; Erick Umstead, Senior Scientist; Billie Rogers, Emeritus; Mary Jo Windley; Savi Horne; Carolyn Prince; Cindy Soehner; Katherine M. Shea.

Contributors: Billie Karel, Fawn Pattison, Kate Pattison; Webmaster: Billie Karel