Archive for December, 2008
24
Dec
(Beyond Pesticides, December 24, 2008) Beyond Pesticides would like to wish our members and friends a happy and healthy New Year! We look forward to working with you to make 2009 a happy, healthy and pesticide-free year for you, your family, your community and those most vulnerable. We are thankful for all our members [...]
Posted in Announcements | No Comments »
23
Dec
(Beyond Pesticides, December 23, 2008) Last week, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) reported that pesticide use declined in California for a second consecutive year in 2007. Approximately 172 million pounds of pesticides were applied statewide, a decrease of nearly 16 million pounds - or 8.4 percent - from 2006.
Production agricultural use dropped by [...]
Posted in Announcements, California, Pesticide Regulation | No Comments »
22
Dec
(Beyond Pesticides, December 22, 2008) The U.S. EPA has filed an administrative complaint, seeking a maximum penalty of only $4,550, against a pest control company that sprayed pesticides in a couple’s home, causing the wife to die shortly thereafter. It has been more than three years since the incident took place in Florence, Oregon.
Swanson’s [...]
Posted in Litigation, Oregon, Pyrethrin, esfenvalerate | 3 Comments »
19
Dec
(Beyond Pesticides, December 19, 2008) In resopnse to an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published final Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) document for triclosan (October 29, 2008), groups are citing a serious lack of health and environmental protection and the agency’s failure to meet its statutory duty. Formal comments will be submitted to the agency during a [...]
Posted in Antibacterial, Chemicals, Pesticide Regulation, Triclosan | No Comments »
18
Dec
(Beyond Pesticides, December 18, 2008) The New Zealand’s Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) has announced it will ban the controversial organochlorine pesticide endosulfan, effective January 16, 2009. Endosulfan, already banned in numerous countries including all the European Union countries, is an insecticide used on a wide range of fruits and vegetables and also on athletic [...]
Posted in Endosulfan, International, Pesticide Regulation | 1 Comment »
17
Dec
(Beyond Pesticides, December 17, 2008) Researchers in Spain conducted the first worldwide study of pesticides in fruit-based soft drinks and found high levels of pesticides in drinks from some countries, especially the United Kingdom and Spain. Drinks sampled from the United States, however, had relatively low levels.
The study, to be published in the December 15th [...]
Posted in Children/Schools | No Comments »
16
Dec
(Beyond Pesticides, December 16, 2008) According to a new study, published in the December 2008 issue of Environmental Health Perspectives by researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, pregnant women continue to be exposed to pesticides in the home. In fact, 75% of the sampled homes of pregnant women in inner-city New York [...]
Posted in Chemicals, Chlorpyrifos, Diazinon, Permethrin | No Comments »
15
Dec
(Beyond Pesticides, December 15, 2008) Striped bass in the San Francisco Estuary are contaminated before birth with a toxic mix of pesticides, industrial chemicals and flame retardants that their mothers acquire from estuary waters and food sources and pass on to their eggs, according to a new study by University of California Davis researchers. Using [...]
Posted in California, Water, Wildlife/Endangered Sp. | No Comments »
12
Dec
(Beyond Pesticides, December 12, 2008) A new study has found pesticides in surface waters around the United States. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) analyzed water from nine selected rivers, which are used as a source for public water systems and found that low levels of certain xynthetic chemicals remain in public water supplies after being [...]
Posted in Atrazine, Water | No Comments »
11
Dec
(Beyond Pesticides, December 11, 2008) In a recent study, researchers find that triclosan, the antibacterial agent found in many consumer products including soaps, toothpaste, cosmetics, counter tops and toys, alters thyroid function in male rats. These effects are observed at concentrations that may be used in consumer products and highlight the growing threat consumers face [...]
Posted in Announcements, Antibacterial, Pesticide Regulation, Triclosan | No Comments »
10
Dec
(Beyond Pesticides, December 10, 2008) Most families don’t realize that they might be bringing more than holiday cheer into their homes this Christmas season. Families celebrating this holiday season with the time-honored tradition of a Christmas tree can choose to go green and avoid the toxic chemicals that are typically used to grow it. Beyond [...]
Posted in Alternatives/Organics, Bifenthrin, Chemicals, Chlorpyrifos, Disease/Health Effects, Glyphosate | No Comments »
09
Dec
(Beyond Pesticides, December 9, 2008) When pioneering environmentalist Rachel Carson published Silent Spring in 1962, the backlash from her critics thrust her into the center of a political maelstrom. Despite her love of privacy, Ms. Carson’s convictions and her foresight regarding the risks posed by chemical pesticides forced her into a very public and controversial [...]
Posted in Announcements | 1 Comment »
08
Dec
(Beyond Pesticides, December 8, 2008) A new study by a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) researcher finds the pesticide poisoning incidence rate among U.S. agricultural workers is thirty-nine times higher than the incidence rate found in all other industries combined. The study, “Acute Pesticide Poisoning Among Agricultural Workers in the United [...]
Posted in Abamectin, Chlorpyrifos, Diazinon, Dimethoate, Farmworkers, Glyphosate, Imidacloprid, Malathion, Metam Sodium, Methamidophos, Methomyl, Myclobutanil, Propargite, Sodium hypochlorite, Sulfur, methyl bromide, spinosad | 2 Comments »
05
Dec
(Beyond Pesticides, December 5, 2009) On November 10, 2008, the Austrian government released a report of long term research showing genetically engineered (GE) corn fed to mice significantly reduced their fertility over three to four breeding cycles within one generation. Similar effects were found in mice fed GE corn and bred over four generations.
The study, [...]
Posted in Corporations, Disease/Health Effects, Genetic Engineering, Infertility, Monsanto | 3 Comments »
04
Dec
(Beyond Pesticides, December 4, 2008) According to a new study published in the December issue of the journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, children of U.S. farm workers are three times more likely than other children to have no health insurance coverage. This problem is worst among migrant and immigrant families. The situation limits [...]
Posted in Children/Schools | No Comments »
03
Dec
(Beyond Pesticides, December 3, 2008) In an effort to boost declining bee populations and to stave off further agricultural losses, the European Parliament overwhelmingly approved a measure to create bee recovery zones across the continent. The recovery zones will provide bees places to forage that teem with a diversity of plants rich in nectar and [...]
Posted in International, Pollinators | No Comments »
02
Dec
(Beyond Pesticides, December 2, 2008) Tributyltin (also known as TBT), a ubiquitous pollutant that has a potent effect on gene activity, could be promoting obesity, according to an article in the December issue of BioScience, the journal of the American Institute of Biological Sciences. The chemical is used in antifouling paints for boats, as a [...]
Posted in Endocrine Disruption, Obesity, Tributyltin | No Comments »
01
Dec
(Beyond Pesticides, December 1, 2008) A new study by researchers at the University of California Los Angeles finds chronic exposure to commonly used dithiocarbamate fungicides, such as ziram, contribute to the development of Parkinson’s disease. According to the study, Ziram Causes Dopaminergic Cell Damage by Inhibiting E1 Ligase of the Proteasome, published in the Journal [...]
Posted in Children/Schools, Parkinson's, Ziram | No Comments »