Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog

(Beyond Pesticides, November 6, 2009) A 10-month old boy died in Williamston, SC after his mother used several insecticide foggers, also known as “bug bombs” inside their home. Elizabeth Whitfield called 911 when her 10-month old son, Jacob Joesup Isiah Leah Whitfield, was having difficulty breathing. She and her older son Kenneth were also experiencing [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, October 16, 2009) On October 14th, Earthjustice and Farmworker Justice filed a petition asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set safety standards protecting children who grow up near farms from the harmful effects of pesticide drift. The groups are also asking the agency to adopt an immediate no-spray buffer zone around [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 29, 2009) A new study reveals that children exposed to agricultural pesticides applied near their home have up to twice the risk of developing the most common form of childhood leukemia, according to the Northern California Cancer Center (NCCC). The study, “Residential proximity to agricultural pesticide applications and childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia,” [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 3, 2009) As the new school year approaches, the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (DAR) is urging parents to ask whether their child’s school or daycare facility has a current School Integrated Pest Management (IPM) plan.
“At home and in the classroom, parents are the first line of defense in protecting their [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, August 31, 2009) This year back to school doesn’t just mean new teachers, new school supplies and new clothes. For some, it means a new school lunch program – one that focuses on nutrition and organic and locally grown foods – as is the case for the Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) in [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, August 19, 2009) As children return to school, health and environmental groups are encouraging parents to protect their children from harmful germs without using hazardous chemicals in lunch bags, school supplies, soaps and sanitizers. The dangers of and alternatives to using triclosan (often marketed as Microban) and the related compound triclocarban, are documented [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, July 29, 2009) A new study by researchers at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University finds a higher level of common household pesticides in the urine of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a cancer that develops most commonly between three and seven years of age. The findings are published in [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, July 27, 2009) A mother’s exposure to urban air pollutants known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) can adversely affect a child’s intelligence quotient or IQ, according to the new study “Prenatal Airborne Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Exposure and Child IQ at Age 5 Years.” PAHs are widespread in urban environments and throughout the world [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, June 25, 2009) Although it is known that infants are more susceptible than adults to the toxic effects of pesticides, this increased vulnerability may extend much longer into childhood than expected, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley. Among newborns, levels of paraoxonase 1 (PON1), an enzyme [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, June 15, 2009) The Oregon House of Representatives has voted for Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in schools by passing Senate Bill (SB) 637. The bill, which has already passed the Senate, needs only to pass a concurrence vote in the Senate and be signed into law by Governor Ted Kulongoski. Once passed, SB [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 22, 2009) A balanced, organic diet - both before and during pregnancy - can significantly reduce a child’s likelihood of being overweight, obese or developing diabetes. That, according to a literature review of over 150 scientific studies assembled by The Organic Center (TOC), an organic industry research institute focused on the [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 21, 2009) The Connecticut and Illinois legislatures have passed bills increase the protection of children at day care centers from toxic lawn chemicals. While providing different degrees of protection, both bills, which build on their existing state school pesticide laws, passed with overwhelming support in both chambers of their General Assembly. The [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 5, 2009) Parents and child care providers work hard to provide a loving, stimulating environment that is safe for children, yet they may be exposing them to hazardous chemicals. A new report finds that more than half of surveyed child care providers use broadcast spray and/or “bug bombs” in their centers. The [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 4, 2009) Targeting areas frequented by children, such as playgrounds, picnic areas, baseball fields, campgrounds, beaches, and hiking trails, New York Governor David A. Paterson announced an initiative to substantially reduce pesticide use throughout the State park system. “New York has a magnificent State park system that is a tremendous resource for [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, April 27, 2009) Spurred by widespread concerns about children’s environmental health in schools, an array of government entities and child health advocates are celebrating National Healthy Schools Day today with nearly forty activities planned in twenty-one states and Canada. National Healthy Schools Day, coordinated by the Healthy Schools Network, is a day to [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, April 1, 2009) A study published in the April 2009 issue of the medical journal Acta Paediatrica reports that the highest rates of birth defects for U.S. babies arise when conception occurs during the spring and summer months, when pesticide use increases and high concentrations of pesticides are found in surface waters.
The study [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, March 19, 2009) Researchers investigating the long-term immune effects of dioxin have found that exposure to dioxin during development or while nursing diminishes the capacity to fight infection later in life. The study, published in Toxicological Sciences, reported that mouse pups born to pregnant mice that were exposed to a small amount of [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, March 9, 2009) In the waning days of the 2009 legislative session, the Virginia General Assembly unanimously passed a weakened school Integrated Pest Management (IPM) bill that creates a statewide, voluntary school pest management program. While the law will increase public awareness of the antiquated practice of routine pesticide applications at school facilities, [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, February 24, 2009) NIEHS staff scientist Freya Kamel, Ph.D., Harvard School of Public Health professor Chensheng (Alex) Lu, Ph.D., and Wake Forest University’s Center for Worker Health director Thomas Arcury, Ph.D. will speak as Science and Health panelists at Bridge to an Organic Future: Opportunities for health and the environment, the 27th National [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, February 5, 2009) Former chief environmental correspondent for The New York Times Philip Shabecoff and freelance journalist Alice Shabecoff will be making a rare public talk at Bridge to an Organic Future, the 27th National Pesticide Forum, April 3-4, 2009 in Carrboro, NC. They will be speaking Friday evening at the conference and [...]

Beyond Pesticides will hold its 27th National Pesticide Forum, Bridge to an Organic Future: Opportunities for health and the environment, April 3-4, 2009 in Carrboro, NC (next to Chapel Hill and the University of North Carolina). This national environmental conference will include sessions on Pesticides and public health; Organic agriculture; Domestic fair trade; Organic lawns [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 23, 2009) A study by researchers at the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute has found that the seven- to eight-fold increase in the number children born in California with autism since 1990, a trend which shows no sign of abating, cannot be explained by either changes in how the condition is diagnosed or [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 21, 2009) Without federal legislation mandating schools adopt safer pest management strategies, around 75% of U.S. schools continue to use hazardous pesticides. As a result, a diverse group of school pest management stakeholders have developed a new document, Pest Management Strategic Plan for IPM in Schools, that they hope will help reinvigorate [...]