Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog

(Beyond Pesticides, September 28, 2007) EPA is due to make a decision on methyl iodide, a highly reactive and carcinogenic chemical, for use in crop production as a soil fumigant. Scientists across the country are alarmed by the prospect of registering methyl iodide as a pesticide, and fifty-four chemists and physicians from across the country [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 27, 2007) In a call for sweeping reform in Canada, the Ontario Liberal Party, lead by Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, has called for the banning ban of all cosmetic use of pesticides across the province as part of their commitment to healthier Ontario families. Twenty five municipalities, covering about 30 per cent [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 26, 2007) In a Federal Register Notice issued on September 21, 2007, the U.S. EPA clarified the distinction between devices and pesticides by stating that ion-generating equipment will now be regulated under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) as a pesticide, if the equipment uses electrodes to emit ions (of [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 25, 2007) The Boston Red Sox announced on September 20, 2007 that the club will begin a partnership with the environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to make Fenway Park “green” through a series of initiatives to improve the environment, including the introduction of locally-grown organic food by its concessionaire. Over [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 24, 2007) Seven representatives wrote to the EPA last Thursday, urging the government agency to act promptly to identify and screen products for dangerous endocrine-disrupting chemicals. The letter asks EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson to provide definite deadlines in the testing and control of endocrine disruptors, which are substances that interfere with the [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 21, 2007) As temperatures drop and the leaves start to fall, it is quickly becoming the perfect season for organic lawn care. Whether you want to transition a chemically-maintained lawn or keep your organic turf looking healthy, the work you do now will pay off next spring. From television networks to national [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 20, 20087) A citizens group sued the county and the state of California September 14, 2007 for not allowing adequate public input before using toxic sprays on the Eel River to eradicate invasive weeds. Eureka-based Californians for Alternatives to Toxics (CATs) sued the Humboldt County Agricultural Commissioner (County) and the California Department [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 19, 2007) In Vietnam, attempts continue to be made to protect villages from the ongoing threat of Agent Orange, used by American forces to deforest the jungle canopy in the Vietnam War over 30 years ago, according to the New York Times. Reforestation and fencing are being carried out to prevent local [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 18, 2007) On September 16, 2007, researchers from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences presented findings to the European Respiratory Society Annual Congress in Stockholm showing that exposure to several commonly used pesticides increases the risk of asthma in farmers. Pesticide exposure is a “potential risk factor for asthma and respiratory [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 17, 2007) Mediterranean fruit flies were discovered last week in Dixon, California, and federal, state, and county agencies rushed to respond with traps, biopesticide treatment, and sterile mates to prevent the insect from infesting local agriculture. A total of eight Medflies have been found so far, and the three-pronged attack started with [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 14, 2007) Data collected by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) between 2003 and 2006 has found atrazine to exist in Midwest drinking water supplies at high levels. The federal monitoring data, obtained by the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), shows increased atrazine levels in 94 of 136 water systems tested in Indiana, [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 13, 2007) As the debate rages on the impacts of growing plants, including food crops, for biofuel, the environmental impacts of growing practices and energy costs are consistently raised with concern. University of Minnesota scientists, in releasing a report, “Environmental, economic, and energetic costs and benefits of biodiesel and ethanol biofuels,” in [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 12, 2007) Tributyltin (TBT), a cheap, but highly toxic barnacle and algae killer once used on nearly all of the world’s 30,000 commercial ships, will soon be banned once a treaty prohibiting its use is signed by the U.S. The ban on TBT, deemed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 11, 2007) In August 2007, Massachusetts State Auditor Joe DeNucci announced that while some progress has been made, 649 (24 percent) of the Commonwealth’s public and private schools and 1,881 (59 percent) of its day care centers are still not in compliance with the Children’s Protection Act of 2000, which requires them [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 10, 2007) After years of failed political maneuverings, residents in East Point, Georgia have taken legal action case against a local utility pole manufacturer. More than 200 residents near the William C. Meredith Co. on Lawrence Street near downtown have signed onto three lawsuits complaining about noxious odors and dangerous chemicals. The [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 7, 2007) The United States Department of Agriculture and Aurora Organic Dairy have reached an agreement stemming from complaints brought by the Cornucopia Institute. While Aurora called USDA’s decision a “dismissal”, the department did find that the dairy did not provide enough pasture for its milking cows and that not all cows [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 6, 2007) As children head back to school, Beyond Pesticides urges parents and school staff to ask school administrators to adopt non-chemical practices that protect children from pests and pesticides. Studies consistently link many pesticides to adverse health effects that affect children’s respiratory system and their ability to learn. See Beyond Pesticides’ [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 5, 2007) The Duval County School Board, along with other school districts in Florida, is preparing to change its schools’ pest control management strategies by making the use of pesticides on school grounds the last resort, rather than routinely spraying, by instituting an integrated pest management (IPM) program. The school board will [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 4, 2007) Scientists identified an important biochemical piece in the passage of malaria from mosquitoes to humans. If this link in the chain can be broken at its source—the mosquito—then the spread of malaria could be stopped without the use of harmful pesticides or costly drugs.
“Mosquito Heparan Sulfate and Its Potential Role [...]