Pesticides
in the News began August 10, 2004.
December 4, 2007 |
Fipronil |
Hawaii's Agriculture Department says bees poisoned by fipronil in Moloa'a, Kauai. . By Rachel Gehrlein. Kauai Garden Island News.
... They said the highest level of pesticide was in the honey,” said Jaylen Lane, Sage’s mother. “The second highest level was in the pollen. The dead bees on the inside had the third highest level while the bees on the outside had the fourth highest. The outside of the hive had the lowest level.” ..
|
May 28, 2007 |
Fipronil |
Possible
culprit identified in decline of honeybees. The Star-Ledger
(NJ)
... In sublethal doses, however, research
has shown that imidacloprid and other neonicotinoids, such as
fipronil, can impair honeybees' memory and learning, as well
as their motor activity and navigation. When foraging
for food and collecting nectar, honeybees memorize the smells
of flowers and create a kind of olfactory map for subsequent
trips... The possibility that neonicotinoids
are at the heart of the bee die-off implies a far more complex
problem because of the widespread use of pesticides.
Every year these chemicals are applied to hundreds of millions
of acres of agricultural lands, gardens, golf courses and public
and private lawns across the United States. Their use on major
crops nearly tripled between 1964 and 1982, from 233 million
pounds to 612 million pounds of active ingredients. And since
then, their use has exploded. By 1999, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency reported 5 billion pounds of pesticides used
on U.S. crops, forests, lawns, flowers, homes and buildings... |
February 2007 |
Sulfuryl
fluoride Vikane® |
According to PANNA:
Newport Beach residents fight pesticide fumigation: Residents
of Newport North Townhomes (Newport Beach, CA) have threatened
to recall four of their homeowner's association board members
if they follow through with plans to use the fumigant pesticide
Vikane (Dow AgroSciences' brand of sulfuryl fluoride). Vikane
is considered a health hazard especially for small children,
pregnant women, and people with respiratory illnesses, and
is marketed heavily by Dow for termite eradication. One homeowner
alarmed over the Vikane plan is Cindy Dupuie, who told the
Daily
Pilot newspaper, "You know, you're messing with people's
health, and not only do you introduce chemicals into each
individual dwelling, you're also exposed to airborne chemicals
and toxins for the entire six weeks it will take them to fumigate
the complex…. We would like them to reconsider other
methods because there's a lot of concern, and they refused
to listen." Dr. Susan Kegley, senior scientist for Pesticide
Action Network, says. "Symptoms of exposure to Vikane
include stinging eyes as well as nose, throat, and lung irritation.
Exposure can cause fluid to collect in the lungs, a complication
that can lead to serious respiratory illness. Other effects
include nausea and vomiting, as well as neurological symptoms
such as slurred speech, slowed gait, weakness, irritability,
numbness, tremors, and seizures. Chronic neurotoxic effects
observed in fumigant applicators include tremors, inability
to concentrate, and reduction in cognitive skills. There are
several reported poisonings in California where people have
died after trying to enter a tarped house while it is fumigated,
and even one reported death when the house had been approved
for re-entry." Read
more about Vikane. |
February 2007 |
Dow Chemical |
Dow chemical fined for bribery over Indian
pesticide regulation: Dow Chemical has been ordered to stop
violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in a settlement
made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
that included a $325,000 civil penalty. Dow
was charged with making improper payments to Indian government
officials in charge of approving pesticides. Dow
Jones Newswire reports, "The SEC found that, from
1996 through 2001, Dow Chemical's DE-Nocil Crop Protection
Ltd. unit paid an estimated $200,000 in improper payments
and gifts to Indian state and federal officials as it sought
to register several products slated for marketing in time
for India's growing season. The SEC said these payments weren't
adequately reflected in Dow Chemical's books and records,
and that the company's system of internal controls failed
to prevent the payments." The
Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) interviewed survivors of
the 1984 Bhopal, India disaster, where an explosion at a Union
Carbide pesticide plant killed thousands and made many more
sick. Dow has since acquired Union Carbide. Satinath Sarangi
of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action (BGIA) told
the IANS, "According to SEC records, one senior official
in the Central Insecticides Board received $39,700 (Rs.1.6
million) for registering Dow's pesticides in India between
1996 and 2001 while other state officials received the remaining
amount for facilitating distribution and sale of Dow's pesticides."
Bhopal disaster survivor and Goldman Environmental Award prize
winner Rashida Bee stated that "The bribes to senior
officials are merely the tip of the iceberg. We find even
the prime minister's office turning a blind eye to the ongoing
crimes of the Union Carbide and Dow Chemical and offering
special privileges for expansion of the latter's business
in this country."
•• see
SEC report and SEC
Order
The payments resulted in the expedited registration
of three DE-Nocil products: “Pride
(NI-25),” “Nurelle-D,”
and “Dursban 10G,” products which used
active ingredients that were widely used, and registered by
Dow or other pesticide manufacturers, in other countries,
including the United States. As a result of the expedited
registrations, Dow estimated that DE-Nocil generated $435,000
in direct operating margin from the accelerated sales of these
products, 75.7% (or $329,295) of which, based on Dow’s
ownership interest, went to Dow.
http://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2007/34-55281.pdf
Dow
to US watchdog: we bribed Indian officials for clearances
THE BRIBE BREAK-UP
Money to register its products $39,700
State-level agriculture inspectors $87,400
Gifts, travel and entertainment $37,000
Government officials $19,000
Sales tax officials $11,800
Excise tax officials $3,700
Custom officials $1,500 |
August 7, 2006 |
Sulfuryl
fluoride ProFume® |
NYS
Attorney General supports revocation of all food tolerances
of Dow AgroSciences fumigant sulfuryl fluoride.
FAN Press Release
On August
4, the Office of NYS Attorney General, Eliot Spitzer, submitted
comments to the US EPA in support of the revocation of the
use of Dow AgroSciences food fumigant sulfuryl fluoride
(ProFume®). Their comments included:
“…
EPA’s decision to establish food residue tolerances
for sulfuryl fluoride suffers from a number of serious legal,
scientific and logical flaws… The tolerances fail
to meet the requirements or intent of the FQPA [Food Quality
Protection Act] to establish tolerances that protect the
health of infants and children.”
See
NYS AG's
comments
|
July 7, 2006 |
Sulfuryl
fluoride ProFume® |
Sulfuryl
fluoride: EPA soliciting public comments for submission on
or before August 4.
Action Alert from Beyond Pesticides
Public Comments Needed by August 4, 2006:
Stop Sulfuryl Fluoride Use.
Responding to a petition from groups asking EPA to prohibit
the use of sulfuryl fluoride in food production, the agency
opened a public comment period, announced in the Federal
Register (71 FR 38125), on July 5, 2006 for 30 days (ending
August 4, 2006). Petitioners assert that the regulations
setting fluoride tolerances (thus allowing fluoride residues)
for food are seriously flawed. The petitioners say that
EPA proceeded superficially, inadequately, and thus in violation
of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) and the
Administrative Procedure Act (APA), when the agency failed
to evaluate, in the thorough and detailed manner required
by law, the exposures and risks associated with the establishment
of tolerances for pesticide chemical residues of sulfuryl
fluoride and fluoride anion...
|
April
7, 2006 |
TFM |
River
poisoning intentional, meant to kill lamprey. By
John C. Kuehner, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Ohio.
Harpersfield
Township -- Federal wildlife officials released 500 gallons
of a poison into the Grand River Thursday, to suffocate
a fish-killing parasite that is right out of a nightmare...
Six teams in canoes prowled the river, collecting
fish and amphibians that were unintended casualties.
The data will be collected through
today, when the chemical makes its way 31 miles from Harpersfield
Township in Ashtabula County to Lake Erie in Fairport Harbor.
Depending on the weather, the poison will be put in Conneaut
Creek starting Saturday. The project will cost more than
$300,000...This is the fourth time since 1987 that the wildlife
service has treated the Grand River. These
are the only two waterways in Ohio that are treated for
lamprey, a native of the Atlantic
Ocean...
|
March 25, 2006 |
Sulfuryl
fluoride Vikane® |
Fire in
fumigated building prompts 300 to evacuate. By Pauline
Repard. The San Diego Union Tribune (Calif.).
More
than 300 people were evacuated from their homes last night
when a three-alarm fire broke out in a D Avenue apartment
building filled with fumigation chemicals... Condon
said he did not know if tenants of the complex had relocated
before the fumigation process began. Firefighters arrived
to see flames coming through the roof. “As we peeled
away the tent, we got more active flames,” Condon said.
“Our concern was for the Vikane in the smoke,”
he said. The thick column of smoke rose
straight up into the still night air. |
March 22, 2006 |
Sulfuryl
fluoride ProFume® |
The
problem with ProFume. By Francesca Camillo. San Antonio
Current (Texas).
... Although
the EPA says it’s safe, fluoride activists believe that
ProFume, a pesticide used to keep rodents and insects out
of food-storage facilities, warehouses, and shipping containers,
may contain levels of fluoride dangerous to humans. Elevated
fluoride levels have been linked to reduced cognitive ability,
pineal gland imbalance, and tooth decay.... Luddene Perry,
author of A Field Guide to Buying Organic and an
accredited organic inspector, said that
much organic food is processed conventionally, so while crops
may be grown organically they may be stored with conventionally
grown crops that will be fumigated... |
Jan
23, 2006 |
Diflubenzuron
Norflurazon
Oxyfluorfen
Trifluralin
4
of 66 pesticides cited
Note:
Chloropicrin was also cited. One of
its uses is as a "Warning Agent (odor)" in Vikane®
(sulfuryl fluoride) |
Conservation
Group Moves for Court Order Restricting Use of 66 Pesticides
in Core Red-Legged Frog Habitat.
San Francisco, Calif. – The Center
for Biological Diversity (CBD) in a legal motion today asked
a U.S. District Court to protect the threatened California red-legged
frog (Rana aurora draytonii) from 66 of the most toxic and persistent
pesticides authorized for use in California, by creating pesticide-free
buffer zones around the frog’s core habitat and by requiring
consumer hazard warnings so that all Californians may learn
how to protect frogs.
In response to a lawsuit filed by CBD
against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in April
of 2002, the District Court found in September of 2005 that
the EPA violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by registering
pesticides for use without considering how they might impact
the continued existence of the red-legged frog. The motion for
“injunctive relief” delivered today asks the court
to protect the frog from pesticides in or adjacent to aquatic
frog habitat designated as core recovery areas, until the EPA
completes a formal consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service (USFWS) on the impacts of the pesticides on red-legged
frogs, as required under the ESA... CBD is asking the Court
to impose a three-year schedule for the EPA to determine whether
the 66 pesticides may affect the red-legged frog and to complete
formal consultations with USFWS to ensure the pesticides are
not jeopardizing the frog or contributing to its decline. To
minimize harm to frogs during the consultation process, the
motion asks for an injunction on use of the pesticides around
aquatic features and upland habitats within the frog’s
core recovery areas, as designated by USFWS in the agency’s
Recovery Plan for the California Red-legged Frog. This injunction
would also apply buffer areas for terrestrial and aerial pesticide
applications, affecting approximately 7 percent of the current
range of the frog and less than 1 percent of the area of California.
CBD is also requesting that the EPA conduct monitoring for pesticides
in three of the recovery areas to determine whether the buffers
are effectively protecting the frog, inform pesticide users
about the injunction, and post point-of-sale notifications warning
consumers about harmful effects these pesticides may have on
the frog... |
Jan
20, 2006 |
Sulfuryl
fluroide
- ProFume - |
Dispute
Over Methyl Bromide Alternative Prompts Debate On Fluoride.
By Manu Raju. Inside EPA.
• Read
full report.
Excerpts:
EPA’s approval of a fluoride-based alternative to the
ozone-depleting pesticide methyl bromide is triggering a broader
fight over agency data justifying the use of fluoride to treat
drinking water and combat pests -- a dispute that could be
heavily influenced by a major new scientific report expected
in the coming weeks...
The dispute
centers on EPA’s effort to support dual uses of fluoride
as an alternative to methyl bromide and as a drinking water
additive used to prevent tooth decay. As part of the treaty’s
implementation, EPA is allowing a type of fluoride to be used
instead of methyl bromide to eradicate rodents, insects and
other pests when fumigating non-residential structures, restaurants,
rail cars and trucks. EPA has also approved the substance’s
use on more than 40 types of food.
At the
same time, state and local governments authorize the use of
fluoride to treat drinking water, which the dental industry
supports as a safe and effective way to prevent tooth decay.
But some scientists, environmentalists and union officials,
who represent EPA staff, say a growing body of evidence of
bone pathologies, nerve damage and thyroid suppression from
fluoride exposure should lead EPA to impose tighter restrictions
on its use.
The National
Academy of Sciences, at the request of EPA, is expected in
February to issue an authoritative report on drinking water
fluoridation, the first by the academy on the topic in over
a decade. The study will examine whether current drinking
water standards for fluoride are adequate in light of new
scientific data published since the academy’s last review
in 1993. The findings could lead to a new debate over the
data EPA cited to justify the use of fluoride as a methyl
bromide alternative and in the treatment of drinking water.
Specifically,
environmentalists dispute the scientific basis of EPA’s
2004 approval of the pesticide sulfuryl fluoride, which is
manufactured by Dow AgroSciences, LLC, claiming the agency
used a flawed risk assessment that violates the Food Quality
Protection Act (FQPA). The groups Fluoride Action Network,
Beyond Pesticides and Environmental Working Group (EWG) are
now challenging the decision through administrative means,
which an EWG source says eventually could lead to litigation.
The activists allege that EPA ignored data on the risks of
sulfuryl fluoride because the agency did not want to undermine
its threshold limits on fluoridation of drinking water... |
Jan
12, 2006 |
Fluoride
in Animal Feed |
EU
RAPID ALERT SYSTEM FOR FOOD AND FEED
Alert Notification for FEED
DATE: 12/01/2006
NOTIFIED BY: France
REF: 2006.0033
REASON FOR NOTIFYING: too high content
of fluoride in monocalcium phosphate
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: France
Note:
For information on MONOCALCIUM
PHOSPHATE |
Jan
9, 2006 |
Sulfuryl
fluroide
- ProFume - |
Press
Release from FAN Pesticide Project:
NYS approves pesticide despite unresolved health risks. |
Dec
21, 2005 |
Sulfuryl
fluroide
- ProFume - |
New
food pesticide dangerous for all Americans, three environmental
groups warn. FAN Press Release. December 21, 2005.
... A December 16th submission
to EPA by FAN, the Environmental Working Group and Beyond Pesticides,
sets the basis for EPA to revoke the use of sulfuryl fluoride.
For this to happen, EPA has to grant an evidentiary hearing.
EPA requested the groups to refine the issues for a hearing.
The December submission is in response to EPA’s request.
If the hearing is granted, it will be the first time a pesticide
tolerance has its day in court... |
Dec
16, 2005 |
Sodium
Fluoroacetate
also known
as
Compound
1080 |
US
Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon) introduced a bill (H.R.
4567), known as the `Sodium Fluoroacetate Elimination Act'
that would prohibit the "manufacture, processing, possession,
or distribution in commerce of the poison sodium fluoroacetate
(known as Compound 1080) to provide for the collection and destruction
of remaining stocks of sodium fluoroacetate, to compensate persons
who turn in sodium fluoroacetate to the Secretary of Agriculture
for destruction, and for other purposes.' This is a highly toxic
pesticide which can affect non-taraget species and produce horrific
painful death.. Its effect
on the brain should have consigned this pesticide to an
elimination act years ago. |
Oct
26, 2005 |
Bifenthrin |
Oct
26, 2005 - Pyrethroid
pesticides found at toxic levels in California urban streams.
By Robert Sanders.
A group of commonly used pesticides recently
found at toxic levels in stream sediments in many agricultural
areas around California is also a problem in urban streams,
according to a new study by researchers from the University
of California, Berkeley, Southern Illinois University and the
Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board... Bifenthrin,
the pyrethroid that contributed most to the toxicity measured
in the study, is
available widely and sometimes mixed with fertilizer to spread
as granules over lawns...
Weston said that the most toxic
of the pyrethroids - all of which are identified by the suffix
-thrin - was bifenthrin, which could have
gotten into the streams as runoff from homes treated by professional
pest-control companies for pest such as ants, or from lawns
treated with pesticides or popular fertilizer/pesticide combinations...
Weston and his colleagues reported their findings in the Oct.
19 online issue of Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T),
a publication of the American Chemical Society. The article
will appear in the Dec. 1 print edition.
••
See also Science News:
... bifenthrin, was found at levels
about 15 times higher than those reported in areas of California
with intensive agriculture...
|
Oct
18, 2005 |
Trifluralin |
Judge
orders EPA to notify retailers, distributors, about pesticide
concerns. By Peggy Andersen. Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
A federal judge has ordered the Environmental Protection Agency
to send letters to pesticide retailers, distributors and wholesalers
in three states (Washington, Oregon and California), outlining
their responsibilities for notifying consumers about the dangers
posed to salmon by the chemicals... At issue are products containing
Malathion, Carbaryl, Trifluralin and
Triclopyr, Diuron, 2,4-D and Diazinon... |
Oct
11, 2005 |
Hexaflumuron |
NASHVILLE,
Tenn. – When pest management professionals arrive in Music
City for PestWorld 2005, they will visit the 15th most termite-infested
major city in the United States.*
Since its inception 10 years ago, the Sentricon® [Hexaflumuron]
Termite
Colony Elimination System has been installed on more than 76,000
sites throughout the state, a number slightly less than the
entire population of Tennessee when it became a state in 1796...
At PestWorld 2005, Dow AgroSciences is
sponsoring the Saturday Opening General Session, where
attendees will have the opportunity to
hear keynote speaker Tom Ridge, former Homeland Security Advisor.
The Dow AgroSciences booth, themed
“Don’t Gamble on Termite Control,” will feature
Texas Hold‘em poker and other related activities and giveaways.
Visitors to the booth will have the opportunity to learn about
Dow AgroSciences entire portfolio of products, including Vikane®
gas fumigant and Halo™ Electronic Termite Detection.
Ref: Dow to introduce new products, enhancements
at PestWorld 2005. PCT (Pest Conrol Technology) website.
http://www.pctonline.com/news/news.asp?ID=3779 |
Oct
5, 2005 |
Norflurazon |
Study
finds herbicides from runoff in river. Agriculture largely
to blame for carcinogens. By Kevin Lollar. news-press.com
(Florida)
The Caloosahatchee River is receiving an unhealthy
dose of herbicides, including potential carcinogens, from
upstream, a Naples chemist said Tuesday at Mote Marine Laboratory's
fourth Charlotte Harbor Conference... The herbicides atrazine,
bromacil, norflurazon and simazine
might cause cancer in humans; the fifth herbicide, ametryn,
is not considered a potential carcinogen but can cause liver
damage... "These herbicides are showing up in the water
year after year," Hushon said. "Farmers use them
to kill weeds and kill their crops at the end of the season.
It's not a fluke. We see them every year." ... |
Oct
3, 2005 |
Fertilizer
|
Fluoride
Shortfall. Fertilizer plant closure puts nationwide crimp on
fluoridation. By Michael McCoy. Chemical & Engineering
News.
The ongoing shutdown of a phosphate fertilizer
plant in Florida has led to a sharp drop in supplies of a key
water fluoridation chemical and to spot fluoride shortages in
towns and cities across the U.S.
The Fort Meade, Fla., facility, operated by U.S.
Agri-Chemicals, makes hydrofluosilicic acid (H2SiF6, HFS) as
a by-product of the conversion of phosphate ore into finished
fertilizer. With the plant winding down operations, some
15% of U.S. HFS capacity is coming off the market.
The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention has warned
of an emerging shortage that "will be experienced throughout
the water industry." The pinch has been most severe in
New England where, for example, the town of Shrewsbury, Mass.,
ran out of HFS in mid-September... |
Oct
1, 2005 |
Flutriafol |
Current-Use
and Legacy Pesticide History in the Austfonna Ice Cap, Svalbard,
Norway. By Mark H. Hermanson et al. Environ. Sci. Technol.,
39 (21), 8163 -8169, 2005. See
Abstracts
The Svalbard
archipelago in arctic Norway receives considerable semivolatile
organic contaminant (SOC) inputs from the atmosphere... The
surface sample also had highest concentrations of pendimethalin
(herbicide, 18.6 ng L-1) and flutriafol,
the lone observed fungicide (9.6 ng L-1). |
Sept
21, 2005 |
Sulfuryl
fluroide
- ProFume - |
Environmental
groups petition EPA to retract fluoride pesticide tolerances
on food.
FAN, the Environmental Working Group, and Beyond Pesticides
submitted Objections and Request for Hearing to US EPA on
new fluoride residue tolerances from the use of sulfuryl fluoride
as a fumigant on food. The groups issued this press release.
Also see:
Submission
to EPA and links to Tables
Web sites: EWG and Beyond
Pesticides |
Sept
20, 2005 |
Sodium
fluoroacetate
(also
known as 1080) |
Chances
are slim that the toxin, possibly stolen inadvertently, will
be found.
By Tom Alex and Perry Beeman. Des Moines Register (Iowa).
... The
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reports from other incidents
that a woman who swallowed the compound suffered nausea and
abdominal pain and later had neurological
problems. A man who breathed the compound experienced
speech loss and convulsions and lapsed into a coma, the agency
reported... |
September
17, 2005 |
Sodium
fluoroacetate
(also
known as 1080) |
Warning
issued over stolen poison. By Tom Alex. Des Moines Register
(Iowa).
Burglars
who broke into a Des Moines home this week apparently left
with a dangerous poison that authorities want to find.
"A
1-ounce portion of this powder has potentially enough lethal
doses in it to possibly kill up to 50 average-size humans
between 150 and 175 pounds,"
Police Lt. Ray Rexroat said... |
August
25, 2005 |
General
article |
Complaints
By Workers Mar Bloom in Flower Farms. The
Nation (Nairobi).
Very
disturbing report on worker casulaties from pesticide exposure
in the "cut flower" industry in Kenya.
Note:
On Oct
3, 1996, EPA approved: Exception
Decisions to Early Entry Prohibition, Worker Protection
Standard; Technical Amendment; Final Rule. 28 pesticides were
identified for this exemption for the cut-rose
flower industry. Included in this list: Bifenthrin
• Cyfluthrin • Fluvalinate • Triflumizole.
See
initial proposal in October 30, 1996, Federal Register,
which listed the 28 pesticides. |
August
5, 2005 |
Sulfuryl
fluroide
- VIKANE - |
Police:
Woman Found In Fumigated Building Didn't Kill Hersel.
Source: NBC
SanDiego.com
SAN DIEGO
-- A police investigation indicated
a San Diego woman did not commit suicide when she died inside
a condominium that was being fumigated for termites... Homicide
detectives, though, now say there may have been violations
of state law. They have forwarded the case to the district
attorney's office, which may file criminal charges... |
July 29,
2005 |
Sulfuryl
fluroide
- VIKANE - |
Fines
upheld in cat deaths. Appeal denied;
fumigators held responsible.
By Kevin Howe. Monterey County Herald
(California).
...
Central Coast Exterminator Co. of Salinas was fined $2,750
and Mission City Fumigation Co. of San Jose $2,500
after the agricultural commissioner's office investigated
the deaths of neighbors' cats that crawled into clients' houses
in Carmel Valley on Sept. 22 and in Carmel on Oct. 6,
according to Monterey County Assistant Agricultural Commissioner
Bob Roach... At
the June hearings, Deputy Monterey County Agricultural Commissioner
Ken Allen said the two pest control companies failed to follow
labeling instructions on the Vikane containers they used... |
July 28,
2005 |
Sulfuryl
fluroide
- VIKANE - |
Teacher
forfeits fumigation fight.
...
From
1997 through 2001, 32 illnesses or injuries related to sulfuryl
fluoride exposure were reported to state authorities, according
to a study by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation.
|
July 18,
2005 |
Sulfuryl
fluroide
- VIKANE - |
Termite
trouble threatens day care
Condo
board orders fumigation, but owner of preschool says toxins
could harm children. |
July 18,
2005 |
EPA
hires P.R. firm for "good stories" about its research
|
Public
Relations Campaign for Research Office at E.P.A. Includes
Ghostwriting Articles. By Felicity Barringer. The New
York Times.
WASHINGTON,
July 17 - The Office of Research and Development at the Environmental
Protection Agency is seeking outside public relations consultants,
to be paid up to $5 million over five years, to polish its
Web site, organize focus groups on how to buff the office's
image and ghostwrite articles "for publication in scholarly
journals and magazines."
The strategy,
laid out in a May 26 exploratory proposal notice and further
defined in two recently awarded public relations contracts
totaling $150,000, includes writing
and placing "good stories" about the E.P.A.'s research
office in consumer and trade publications...
That
contract, for feature articles, was awarded to JDG Communications
of Falls Church, Va., for $65,692.62,
Ms. Witcher said. The
second smaller contract was also awarded to JDG Communications,
for $85,829.06.
It calls on the contractor to develop two "perception
specific indicators" that "must show whether public
relations efforts to create awareness and improve the reputation
of E.P.A.'s research and development, its labs and its top-quality
scientists has favorably influenced
public perception."
... |
June 30,
2005 |
Pesticide
tests on humans |
Limits
sought on testing for pesticides. By Michael Janofsky. New
York Times.
By a 60-to-37 vote, a bipartisan measure introduced by Senator
Barbara Boxer, Democrat of California, and a dozen others would
place a one-year moratorium on any government-sponsored testing
programs on humans.
By a 57-to-40 vote, a measure sponsored by three Republicans,
Senators Conrad Burns of Montana, Saxby Chambliss of Georgia
and James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma, would require a review by third-party
groups of all human testing programs conducted for the government,
to identify and quantify their toxic effects. It also gives
the E.P.A. six months to develop new regulations on pesticide
testing.
Both measures were added to the appropriations bill for the
Interior Department, which passed 94 to 0 on Wednesday. The
House bill, passed earlier, has a section similar to the Boxer
amendment but nothing comparable to the Burns measure. The differences
in the bills will have to be resolved in conference... |
June 17,
2005 |
Sulfuryl
fluroide
- VIKANE - |
Pest
control companies fight fines in deaths of pet cats. Felines
were overcome by poisonous gas during fumigation of homes. By
KEVIN HOWE. Monterey County
Herald (California). |
June 15,
2005 |
Teflon
(PTFE) |
Quotes
from a June 15th article in the San Francisco Chronicle,
"The
Sticking Point," by David Rubien.
•
"We
recommend that people phase out the use of Teflon cookware
in their home," says Lauren
Sucher of the Environmental Working Group,
a Washington, D. C., organization that compiles data on
toxicology.
•
"Believe
me, you get more toxic fumes from the food you're cooking
than from the pans themselves,"
says Dave Boothe, strategic planning manager for fluoropolymer
solutions at DuPont.
•
The
Environmental Working Group has collected data from several
industry, government and academic studies that have been
done on off-gassing of PTFE- coated pans heated to various
temperatures. The tests revealed
that more than a dozen types of potentially toxic particulates
-- including hexafluoropropene, hydrogen fluoride and
difluoroacetic acid -- are released. But whether
the fumes occur in enough quantity to harm humans has
not been determined.
Note
from FAN: Teflon
(polytetrafluoroethylene) is an EPA "List 3 Inert"
which is allowed for use in pesticide formulations.
|
June 14,
2005 |
PFOS
chemicals |
Sweden
calls for world ban on PFOS chemical. By Daniel Frykholm,
Reuters.
Sweden will this week propose a global ban on a chemical which
may cause liver damage and is used by a number of industries
including semiconductor makers, the country's Environment
Ministry said on Tuesday.
PFOS,
or perfluorooctane sulfonate, has been investigated as a potentially
hazardous chemical by several countries because it does not
biodegrade in the environment, posing a potential health risk
to both animals and humans.
"Very high rates of PFOS have been found in polar bears,
polar foxes, eagles and seals. Low doses ... have in animal
studies shown effects on the liver and disturbances of reproductive
capabilities," the ministry said in a statement...
Note
from FAN: Some of these chemicals are used as "inerts"
in pesticide formulations.
|
June
9, 2005 |
Fluridone |
Curing
the pond: Is an herbicide really the best solution? By Michael
Cox, The Wellesley Townsman (MA).
The state Department of Environmental Protection ruled that
Sonar can be used as long as the welfare of three endangered
species known to live in the pond is closely watched. The state
agency's decision represented a victory for selectmen, who favored
the treatment, and for boaters who say they have been hampered
by weed growth in the pond. But it was a disappointment for
Conservation Commission members and the town's water superintendent,
who have argued against it on health and safety grounds... About
50 residents attended Monday's public forum to discuss the Morse's
Pond Ad Hoc Committee's recommendations to fix the pond. Fifteen
residents who attended the meeting identified themselves as
opposed to using fluridone as a possible solution. ... Ken Wagner,
a specialist with the environmental firm
ENSR and the town's
consultant on Morse's Pond, defended fluridone's use, saying
he does not believe the pesticide poses an undue risk for the
benefits it provides... |
June
2, 2005 |
Fluridone |
State
OK's use of weed killer in East Monponsett Pond. Sonar treatment
to begin this month. By Christine Wallgren. Boston Globe.
... Conservation Commission members and the town's water superintendent
argued against it on health and safety grounds... The time frame
for applying Sonar is so tight that officials didn't even wait
for tomorrow's close of the 10-day appeal period before beginning
the prep work needed to treat the pond later this month... The
state's ruling requires the town to continue monitoring the
endangered species in the pond over the next five years. The
cost of the Sonar application and monitoring has been placed
at a little over $80,000. |
May 28,
2005 |
Sodium
fluoroacetate
(also
known as Compound 1080) |
Iraq's
tests of coyote poison surface. Rep. Peter DeFazio says
use of the poison that he had tried to have banned underscores
loose U.S. controls on lethal agents.
... DeFazio "said
he will draft a bill next month to outlaw production, possession
and import of Compound 1080... Compound 1080 was developed
to control rats. But scientists later described it as 'so
generally and highly toxic that it is too dangerous for general
distribution.' ... It is legal in the United States only in
a special sheep collar used in some states.
Coyotes attacking domestic sheep puncture the collar and contact
the poison, which kills them. Oregon
Gov. John Kitzhaber in 1998 prohibited the use of such 1080-filled
collars in Oregon... The poison is manufactured
by one U.S. company, Tull Chemical Co. in Oxford, Ala.,
and much is exported to other countries such as New Zealand
for pest control. The can pictured in Iraq bears a Tull label..."
•
See
photo
of Tull Chemical in
a 2002 article, "Ban 1080," in the Predator Press. |
May 18,
2005 |
Fipronil |
Tick box plan kicked out
of Nahanton. By Karla Hailer-Fidelman. Newton TAB (Massachusetts)
... a partnership of Waltham Services and [Bayer] Corporation
approached the city to test a "car wash for mice"
in Nahanton Park - to control the tick population and reduce
the spread of Lyme disease ... The program appeared to be on
a fast track for approval until Duane Hillis from Friends of
Nahanton Park and Ellie Goldberg from Green Decade argued against
the program ... Ward 1 representative Jennie DeVito, who watched
the debate with great interest, pointed out the commission just
received the information at the evening's meeting with no chance
of previous review. She didn't like it, suggesting that the
city should first "go back to root [measures]" such
as mowing or other methods. "There's
no place good enough for your chemical in my city." |
May 18,
2005 |
Obituary
of Paul Keene, organic farming pioneer |
Paul
K. Keene, 94, Organic Farming Pioneer. By Margalit Fox,
NYT, May 18, 2005.
Paul K. Keene, a pioneer of organic farming in the United States
whose products were among the first commercially available organic
foods in the country, died on April 23 ... For more than half
a century, Mr. Keene ran Walnut Acres
Farm, near Penns Creeek in central Pennsylvania ... When
Mr. Keene started Walnut Acres in the
mid-1940s,
the agricultural gospel called for using chemical fertilizers
and insecticides, with their promise of cheaper, more efficient
farming. Natural farming was viewed as eccentric, if not downright
un-American... |
May 9,
2005 |
Sulfuryl
fluoride |
According
to Inside EPA: "EPA will soon respond to objections
by environmentalists over pesticide tolerances" for sulfuryl
fluoride. "The Fluoride Action Network Pesticide Project
reiterated its public health concerns last month, by asking
EPA for a public hearing on the first-time use standards of
sulfuryl fluoride, which the group says could lead to bone damage
and neurological problems particularly in children ... An EPA
source says the agency is required under the Food, Drug and
Cosmetics Act to respond to the environmentalists' earlier objections
and request for a hearing, but offered no indication on whether
the request for a hearing would be granted." |
May 4,
2005 |
Dow
AgroSciences |
The
Canadian National Research Council Plant Biotechnology Institute
and Dow AgroSciences Canada Inc. signed a five year, $10 million
strategic alliance. This research agreement, with contributions
by the parties valued at $10 million over five years, builds
on a previous five-year $10 million agreement in the area of
canola, demonstrating a commitment of $20 million over 10 years
to NRC-PBI research...
Note: FAN has formally objected to
EPA's aproval of Dow AgroSciences sulfuryl fluoride as a food
fumigant. While this notice has little to do with our objections,
it highlights the willing collaboration of governmental agencies
with Dow. |
April 28,
2005 |
Diclosulam |
On
April 27, 2005, the Supreme Court ruled that
farmers whose crops are damaged by federally approved pesticides
or herbicides may pursue damage claims against the manufacturers
in state court.
29
Texas peanut farmers argued that during the 2000 growing season
Dow's newly marketed Strongarm herbicide (diclosulam) severely
damaged their crops.
According
to the New York
Times:
The
7-to-2 decision was one of the court's most significant rulings
on the pre-emptive effect of federal statutes. In unusually
pointed terms, the majority rejected the Bush administration's
view that lawsuits claiming manufacturers
negligently designed, tested or manufactured their products
are pre-empted by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide
Act [FIFRA)], the federal law that governs the registration
and labeling of these products...
The appeal
has been closely watched for signs of the court's evolving
approach to pre-emption. In general,
a broad doctrine of pre-emption favors business by keeping
tort cases out of state court and avoiding the need to satisfy
50 separate legal systems.
Since
[FIFRA] provides no right for individuals to sue in federal
court, a finding of pre-emption would have meant that consumers
would have no opportunity at all to sue manufacturers. Arthur
H. Bryant, executive director of Trial Lawyers for Public
Justice, a public-interest law firm representing consumers,
said the decision was "an important
and striking development" in light of the general trend
in legislatures and courts toward curbing access to the tort
system.
...
the court ordered the Fifth Circuit to give further consideration
to whether the claims for fraud and "failure to warn"
could go forward or were pre-empted. Justice
Stevens said the administration's argument that [FIFRA] broadly
required pre-emption "is particularly dubious given that
just five years ago the United States advocated the interpretation
that we adopt today."
See
FAN's
Index page to the Diclosulam Class
Action: Bates et al. v. Dow AgroSciences |
April 25,
2005 |
Fluoroacetamide |
Amnesty
International calls on Israel to halt poisoning of Palestinian
livestock.
JERUSALEM
(AFP) - Amnesty International accused Israel of failing to
prosecute Jewish settlers for attacking Palestinian locals
and poisoning their livestock, the international rights group
said.
Condemning
the "increasingly frequent attacks" against Palestinian
villagers, Amnesty urged the Israeli government to investigate
all violent incidents, and in particular, the recent spate
of cases of poisoning fields that has affected scores of Palestinian
livestock... |
April 12,
2005 |
Fluoroacetamide |
Palestinian
villagers accuse Israeli settlers of poisoning their flocks
By Agence France Presse (AFP). Published in The Daily Star
(Lebanon).
... Tests carried out by the center for environmental health
at the university of Beir Zeit in the central West Bank have
found that the product spread in the pastures was fluoroacetamide.
"The tests have revealed that it
is fluoroacetamide, a very toxic substance without
any known antidote. It was first conceived as a pesticide
against rats and its production and use are forbidden without
authorization from the Israeli government," said the
center's director Ramzi Sansur. ... A spokesman for the Israeli
police in the southern West Bank, Shlomi Sagui, confirmed
that a "poison" had recently been detected in the
fields in question following complaints from Palestinian villagers.
"It is true that a poison has been found. We do not know
yet know where it came from but an inquiry is under way,"
Sagui said. - AFP |
April 11,
2005 |
Norflurazon |
Pesticides
appearing in Caloosahatchee River samples.
By Eric Staats. Naples Daily News (Florida).
... the Conservancy and the Watershed Council cite tests that
have detected atrazine, bromacil, metolachlor,
norflurazon and simazine... |
April 8-9,
2005 |
Fluorinated
pesticides included in the CHEERS Study in Duval County, Florida.
Bifenthrin
Fipronil
Lambda-dyhalothrin
Cyfluthrin (I, II, III, IV, total) |
E.P.A.
Halts Florida Test on Pesticides
By David D. Kirkpatrick. New York Times.
April 9, 2005
EPA
GRUDGINGLY PULLS PLUG ON QUESTIONABLE “CHEERS”
STUDY
Other Human Pesticide Dosing Studies
Without Safeguards Can Continue
Press release from the Public
Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). April 8,
2005
Statement
by Stephen L. Johnson, Acting Administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency, Cancelling Research Study
Press Release from US EPA. April 8,
2005. |
April 7,
2005 |
Nominee
Is Grilled Over Program on Pesticides. By
MICHAEL JANOFSKY. New York Times.
"Stephen L. Johnson, President Bush's nominee to lead the
Environmental Protection Agency, encountered unexpected turbulence
at his Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday as Senator Barbara
Boxer of California threatened to hold up his nomination over
a small but controversial pesticide program in Florida..."
|
April 6,
2005 |
Fluoroacetamide |
Israel
Probes Poisoning of Palestinian Sheep. By
Haitham Tamimi.
Israeli police said on Tuesday they were investigating accusations
that Jewish settlers killed sheep belonging to Palestinians
with poison in a bid to drive Palestinians off their land
in the West Bank... Ramzi Sansur, a Palestinian toxicologist
who examined the pellets in a Bir Zeit university laboratory,
said the chemical, Fluoroacetamide,
was "extremely toxic" and ordinarily used to kill
rodents in sewers... led to the death
of 20 sheep and poisoning of 82 others that are fighting for
their lives." ...Other
animals including gazelles and migratory birds also died.
Ref: Planet Ark World Environment News. |
March 14,
2005 |
Bifenthrin
Cyfluthrin
Lambda-cyhalothrin |
Upswing
in Lesser Used, but More Potent Pesticides in California's Central
Valley.
University of California-Berkeley researchers have conducted
a study to determine the harmful effects of pyrethroid pesticides
on aquatic organisms through sediment residues. What they have
found is a trend toward using newer compounds
that can be more toxic to aquatic life. The team of researchers
studied six pyrethroids in three sediments taken from California’s
Central Valley, where two-thirds of the state’s cropland
is found. Study results showed acute toxicity and growth impairment
in the amphipod Hyalella azteca, a sensitive test species. Animal
biomass was roughly 38% below that of the control group when
exposed to pyrethroid levels that were one-third to one-half
of the lethal concentration. Except for permethrin, most pyrethroids
would be acutely toxic to H. azteca at concentrations only slightly
above detection limits. The six compounds
tested in order of decreasing toxicity were bifenthrin,
lambda-cyhalothrin, deltamethrin, esfenvalerate, cyfluthrin
and permethrin.
To
read the entire study,
click here: http://www.allenpress.com/pdf/entc_24_414_966_972.pdf
|
March 2005 |
Sulfuryl
fluoride
Vikane |
Calif.
woman dies after building fumigated. By MICHELLE MORGANTE.
Associated Press. |
December
17, 2004 |
Marine
antifoulant coatings |
Arkema
Inc. Honors R&D Innovators - 21 U.S. Patents Awarded to
Corporate Researchers.
PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 15 ... For our marine antifoulant coatings
resin product line, we have patented novel copolymers
containing fluoro and silyl groups...
Ref: Inside
Paint |
Sept-Oct
2004 |
Fluorinated
pesticides included in the CHEERS Study in Duval County, Florida.
Bifenthrin
Fipronil
Lambda-dyhalothrin
Cyfluthrin
(I, II, III, IV, total) |
A
storm of controversy has erupted over an EPA "Children's
Environmental Exposure Research Study" (CHEERS). This
study was approved to assess children's exposure to pesticides
in Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida. The
study will monitor developmental changes in babies, from birth
to age 3, who are exposed to pesticides in their homes. Four
of the 16 pesticides are fluorinated. The perfluorinated chemicals
PFOS and PFOA will also be monitored. |
August
10, 2004 |
Fipronil |
BASF termite product accepted
as sponsor for US hockey team.
A
North Carolina hockey team (the Hurricanes) accepts sponsorship
deal with BASF-Termidor.
Termidor is a termite insecticide with fipronil its active
ingredient. |
March
-
August 2004 |
Fipronil |
Class
Action suit settled for $45 million
In July 1998, US EPA issued a Final Rule for the use of Fipronil
ICON 6.2 FS Insecticide, its
metabolites MB46136 and MB45950 and its photodegradate MB46513,
to treat rice seed to control the pests rice water weevil
and chinch bugs.
Contamination of the crawfish was either by
-- aerial spraying of Icon from a crop duster onto rice/crawfish
fields;
-- in Louisiana, rice and crawfish are often farmed in the
same pond or in close proximity to one another. Water used
in a rice field (tailwater) is sometimes used to irrigate
crawfish ponds.
Crawfish farmers suffered a complete crawfish mortality, resulting
in damages to plaintiffs' 1999 Spring crawfish crop, as well
as their 1999 - 2000 crop. A Class Action on the damages was
settled in March 2004 for $45 million. As of August 2004,
crawfish farmers are being asked for proof of their losses
to be able to receive money. See
• A
little background on the geneology of Icon
• News
Items related to the settlement
• Class
Action reports and documents |
July 26,
2004 |
Fluazifop-P-butyl |
Australia:
Urgent Recall for
Fusilade Post-Emergence Selective Herbicide. Australian
Pesticides & Veterinary Medicines Authority. |
June
2004 |
Fluometuron |
Mitiamo,
Australia: train accident spews herbicide onto cropland.
This small farming community, 60km north of Bendigo, sustained
substantial losses due to the spread of Syngenta's fluormeturon
onto canola crops.
|
May
2004 |
Diflovidazin
Penthiopyrad
Fluopicolide |
Three
new pesticides announced
by the Compendium
of Pesticide Common names -
Diflovidazin
- Penthiopyrad
- Fluopicolide |
|
|
|
|