[pf] Risks and Pesticide Awareness

Yes, I found this while researching Rachel Carson, but no, it's not
about her! (except Q1). Not sure when it was published -- since 1995,
but before 2000, is my best guess.

>From the Maine Organic Farmers and Growers Association (MOFGA):
http://www.mofga.org/pestansw.html

Pest Quiz Answers

1. Rachel Carson's 1962 best seller Silent Spring was a wake-up call
which
led to a reduction in pesticide use in the United States. 

False: Carson's book raised public consciousness and understanding of
the
risks of pesticides and (a decade later) led to the cancellation of the
registration of DDT and several other persistent organic pesticides
(though
they continued to be manufactured for use abroad). However, according to
EPA estimates, 1.25 billion pounds of pesticide active ingredients were
sold
in 1995 in the U.S., more than double the 540 million pounds sold in
1964.
Adjusted for inflation, U.S. pesticide expenditures have grown about 3%
annually since the 1970's. The percentage of crop acres treated with
herbicides has risen from about 50 percent in the 1960's to more than 96
percent in the 1990's. (Benbrook, C.M., Pest Management at the
Crossroads, Consumers Union, 1996, at 81-84.) When Maine pesticide sales
were last tabulated in 1995, over two million pounds of pesticide active
ingredient were sold annually. (Maine Board of Pesticides Control). 

2. Pesticides that have been EPA-approved for use by farmers are "safe"
when used as directed. 

False: Even the EPA concedes that its pesticide registration process is
no
guarantee of safety. EPA regulations specifically prohibit manufacturers
of
pesticides from making claims like "safe," "harmless," or "non-toxic to
humans and pets" with or without accompanying phrases like "when used as
directed." (40 CFR sec. 156.10(a)(5)(ix)) 

3. When the EPA looks at a pesticide to decide whether to register it
for
use in the U.S., its primary concern is to ensure that there are no
significant human health or environmental risks presented by the
chemical. 

False: The legal standard for registration set down by the Federal
Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) is, unlike most
other
environmental statutes, a " risk-benefit" standard. EPA must register
pesticides if they do not pose "unreasonable risk to man or the
environment,
taking into account the economic, social and environmental costs and
benefits of the use of any pesticide." (7 USC secs. 136(bb) and
136a(c)(5)(C)) This means that if a pesticide presents substantial
benefits to
farmers in terms of increased yields or decreased labor costs, those
benefits
are weighed against health and environmental risks. Even if there are
substantial health risks, the EPA may decide the economic benefits
outweigh the risks. The federal Food Quality Protection Act of 1996
(FQPA) did away with the economic benefit analysis for new tolerances
for dietary risk, but left it unchanged for human occupational exposures
and
environmental risks. According to a conversation with EPA Office of
Pesticide Programs public relations staffer Cathy Monk, this
cost-benefit
analysis is probably why the EPA didn't change anything about how
blueberry growers in Maine use Guthion (Azinphos-methyl) when they
reassessed the organophosphate , even though the EPA found extremely
serious environmental and farmworker risks. See answer to question 14. 

4. The EPA performs toxicity tests on pesticides prior to registration. 

False: Toxicity tests are performed neither by the EPA nor by
independent
laboratories contracting with the EPA.. Pesticide manufacturers provide
the
data that the EPA bases its judgments on. There is an inherent conflict
of
interest between EPA's need for unbiased data and the manufacturers'
need for data that show their products are not hazardous. For examples
of
biased and fraudulent testing, see Journal of Pesticide Reform, Summer
1997, at 7. While manufacturers contend that fear of lawsuits keeps them
honest, this argument hardly holds water for long term, chronic
consequences of pesticide exposure such as cancer or decreased sperm
counts, which show up years after exposure. 

5. The federal government prohibits use of pesticides known to cause
cancer. 

False: 12 of the 26 most widely used pesticides in the U.S. are
classified as
possible or probable carcinogens by the EPA based on studies of
laboratory
animals, with an annual use that totals 380 million pounds. (atrazine
(C=possible), metolachlor (C), metarn sodium (B2=probable),
dichloropropene (132), cyanazine (C), pendimethalin (C), trifluralin
(C),
acetochlor (62), chlorothalonil (likely), mancozeb (132), fluometuron
(C),
and parathion (C). Four frequently used pesticides have been associated
with increased risk of cancer for exposed humans in epidemiological
studies. 190 million pounds of these four pesticides are used annually
in the
U.S., including 120 million household applications every year.
(atrazine,
2,4-D, glyphosate, diazinon). (Journal of Pesticide Reform, Summer 1999,
at
5) 

6. The EPA takes the necessary precautions to ensure pesticide levels
are safe for infants and children. 

False: Developing fetuses, newborns and young children are among most
vulnerable to pesticides in our population, and the least protected. A
1993
study of the most preeminent scientific body in the United States, the
National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, found
that "infants and children differ both qualitatively and quantitatively
from
adults in their exposure to pesticide residues in foods. Children
consume
more calories of food. per unit of body weight than do adults. But at
the
same time, infants and children consume far fewer types of foods...The
current regulatory system does not, however, specifically consider
infants
and children ... Current testing protocols do not, for the most part,
adequately address the toxicity and metabolism of pesticides in neonates
and adolescent animals or the effects of exposure during early
developmental stages and their sequelae in later life." National
Research
Council, Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children, 1993, at 1
-13. The
Council recommended a 10-fold additional safety factor in setting
pesticide
tolerances to protect children. The 1996 federal Food Quality Protection
Actmandates revision of tolerances to accomplish this, but the process
of
review is just beginning, and is not required to be completed for ten
years. 

7. Every day, 45,500 American two-year olds consume organophosphate
pesticides in their diet in amounts above the level the EPA designates
as
acceptable. 

True: In fact some children consume ten times this much. When juice is
included in the calculations, the number rises to 143,500 children.
(National
Research Council, Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children,
1993).
Although the 1996 federal Food Quality Protection Act was intended to
address this problem, it has not yet been implemented for
organophosphates,
and complete implementation will take ten years. 

8. Cancer is the primary risk from chronic, long-term exposure to
pesticides. 

False: Risks to the human immune, reproductive and endocrine systems, as
well as neurotoxicity, may be equally or even more significant. Of the
45
environmental contaminants or agents that have been reported to cause
changes in mammalian reproductive and hormone systems, 8 are herbicides,
8 fungicides, and 17 insecticides. ( Raloff, J., "That Feminine Touch,"
Science News, Vol. 145 (January 22, 1994)). 9 of the 26 most commonly
used pesticides have been associated in laboratory tests with sperm
abnormalities, reduced sperm production, disrupting male hormones, or
damaging male reproductive organs. Use of these pesticides totals over
300
million pounds per year. (Journal of Pesticide Reform, Summer, 1999, at
4). 

9. The "Inert Ingredients" included in pesticides are biologically
inactive
and hence not hazardous. 

False: Inerts are almost always chemically functional and are added
intentionally to enhance the performance of the "active" ingredient.
They
are generally solvents, emulsifiers or synergists or compounds that in
some
way make the active ingredient work better. Of the over 2300 substances
EPA believes are used as inerts in pesticide products, over 1700 are
classified as "of unknown toxicity" because EPA does not have adequate
information about their potential hazards. But state, federal, and
international agencies have classified 26 percent of them (about 600
chemicals) as hazardous. Xylenes, for example, cause vomiting, impaired
short-term memory, and reduced fertility. In people occupationally
exposed
to xylenes, the frequency of leukemia is increased. However, the EPA
does
not include chronic toxicity testing for xylene when used as an inert in
pesticide products. (Journal of Pesticide Reform, Summer, 1999, at 8,
Summer, 1997 at 5.) 

10. Pesticides may only be used in Maine if they have gone through the
EPA's registration process. 

False: The Maine Board of Pesticides Control, and other similar agencies
in other states, regularly make application to the EPA, at the request
of
farmers, for "emergency approval" of unregistered pesticides to meet
"special local needs." To accommodate farmers because of administrative
delays in formally registering products, these applications are often
granted,
repeatedly for the same product. 

11. Washing and peeling fruits and vegetables removes all or most
pesticide residues. 

False: It may reduce some residues, but definitely not all. A 1994
analysis
by the Environmental Working Group, using USDA data, found 12 different
carcinogens, 17 neurotoxins, and 11 pesticides that disrupt the
endocrine or
reproductive system in 12 fruits and vegetables that had been washed,
peeled, and prepared for consumption. The foods most likely to be
contaminated were (in declining order) peaches, apples, celery,
potatoes,
grapes, and oranges. One out of every 10 apples, peaches, and servings
of
celery, when washed, peeled, cored and made ready to eat, had four or
more pesticides on it. Over 80 percent of apples, peaches, and celery
had
residues of one or more pesticides on them. (Washed, Peeled, and
Contaminated~ Environmental Working Group, 1994).
[Note that these data on specific foods, and other similar data cited
elsewhere in these answers, are drawn from U.S. government data on
"representative" sampling of produce in the U.S. marketplace; they do
not
specifically represent Maine produce; nor produce grown with advance
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) methods that may significantly reduce
the level of pesticide contamination. Unfortunately, Maine has not
implemented a system of IPM certification and labeling, hence it is
difficult
to identify in the marketplace those food products grown with reduced
levels of pesticide input.] 

12. Imported fruits and vegetables are more likely to have pesticide
residues than domestic. 

False: This was thought to be the case, as many pesticides illegal in
the
U.S. are still manufactured in the U.S. and elsewhere for use in other
countries. The developing world has a far less comprehensive system of
pesticide regulation than the U.S. However, a 1999 study by Consumer
Reports found that, surprisingly, domestic produce had more, or more
toxic,
pesticide residues than imported in two thirds of the cases studied.
Domestic peaches had a pesticide toxicity score ten times higher than
imported peaches. (Consumer Reports, March, 1999, at 28) 

13. Eating certified organic food or growing your own food organically
is
the best way to avoid exposure to pesticides in your and your children's
diet. 

True: Also keep in mind that some conventionally grown foods are riskier
than others. A 1998 Consumers Union study looked at typical diets of
American children, and government data on residues of the most toxic
insecticides, the organophosphates and carbamates. It found that the
nine
foods most likely to contribute to dietary insecticide exposure in
children
were apples, pears, peaches, grapes, oranges, peas, green beans,
potatoes
and tomatoes. By contrast, carrots generally have very rare, low
residues of
organophosphates and carbamates; edible portions of sweet corn and
bananas are also comparatively "clean." Organophosphate and carbamate
residues are almost completely absent from milk and dairy products,
meats,
vegetable oils, and sweeteners. (Consumers Union, Worst First: High-Risk
Insecticide Uses, Children's Foods and Safer Alternatives, 1998, at
13-14)
A 1999 study by Consumer Reports, which looked at both pesticide residue
levels and the relative toxicity of those pesticides, found that apples,
grapes,
green beans, peaches, pears, spinach, and winter squash had toxicity at
 hundreds of times the level of other foods analyzed. Foods with the
lowest
 toxicity levels were apple juice, bananas, broccoli, canned peaches,
milk,
 orange juice, and canned or frozen peas or corn. (Consumer Reports,
 March, 1999, at 29) 

14. The 1996 Food Quality Protection Act, when it's finally fully
implemented, will effectively address the fundamental inadequacies of
our
pesticide regulatory system: taking into account the special
vulnerability
of infants and children , the noncancer risks such as endocrine
disruption,
and the cumulative effects of multiple exposures of different pesticides
in
our diets, our home and working environments, our air and water. 

??????? Your guess is as good as ours. 

Certainly the implementation process is not off to a good start. Last
spring,
a number of environmental and farmworker protection organizations
resigned from a top-level EPA advisory committee over dismay at the
EPA's decision not to immediately suspend registration of Azin phos-m
ethyl, an organophosphate used on a wide variety of fruits and
vegetables
including "wild" blueberries in Maine, most often under the brand name
Guthion. The EPA had concluded that dietary risk from food alone for
Azinphos-methyl exceeded the reference dose "safe" level for nursing
infants and children age one to six in the U.S., without consideration
of
other exposures such as pesticide drift or the cumulative effect of
other like
chemicals. However, it opted for minor changes in use of the pesticide
rather than suspending it. Azinphos-methyl will no longer be used to
treat
trees or cotton east of the Mississippi River, and permissible
tolerances on
apples and pears will be cut in half by 2001. The August 2, 1999 EPA
press
release urges the American public to continue to continue to eat fruit
with
Azinphos-methyl residues, even before these "mitigation measures" are
implemented: "The food supply is safe; this action just makes it safer."
On
environmental and worker protection issues the EPA was somewhat less
reassuring: "Azinphos-m ethyl also poses unacceptable risks to birds,
aquatic invertebrates, fish, and terrestrial mammals. It poses a very
high
risk to aquatic organisms, perhaps the highest among all the
organophosphate pesticides. Azinphos-methyl is also one of the most
persistent of the organophosphates applied foliarly. The voluntary risk
reduction measures should help reduce many of these risks." The press
release also noted that "Azinphos-methyl is hazardous to
workers...Estimated risks remain unacceptable despite the use of
additional
protective clothing, equipment, and engineering controls.
Post-application
risks to reentry workers greatly exceed EPA's level of concern." (EPA,
Azinphos Methyl Risk Management Decision, August 2, 1999,
www.epa.gov/pesticides/;citizens/azmfactsheet.htm) The Environmental
Working Group's calculations based on preschoolers' consumption of four
foods (apples, pears, peaches and apple juice) were that 49,500
preschool
children exceed EPA's acute reference dose for Azinphos-methyl every
day, accumulating to more than 18 million unsafe exposures per year:
"Dietary exposure to Guthion alone..presents more than twice the risk
allowed in EPA's "risk cup" for all [organophosphates]. And Guthion is
only
the first of at least six organophosphates with a significant dietary
risk
profile to reach the refined assessment phase within the agency."
(Environmental Working Group, Children are Overexposed to Guthion,
April, 1999). 

-- 
Molly Williams
Volunteer, Waterboro Public Library: http://www.waterboro.lib.me.us
Web Maintainer, PROP: http://www.propeople.org (Portland, ME)
mmw@waveinter.com

"If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a
horrible warning." -- Catherine Aird

---

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