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What kinds of pesticides did the CDC test for in the U.S. population?CDC scientists tested the blood and urine of hundreds of people in the U.S. for three types of pesticides: organochlorines, organophosphorus compounds, and carbamates. They also tested for a few widely used weed killers and other pesticides that don’t fall into any of these categories.
For the full list of pesticides and pesticide breakdown products covered in the CDC study, see below. For more in-depth information on eight key pesticides in the report, see our Pesticide Fact Sheets. How are people exposed to these pesticides?
If I have these pesticides in my body, will I get sick?You might, but not necessarily right away. One in four people in the U.S. today will contract cancer during their lifetime, and scientists don’t know how much of this cancer is caused by exposure to pesticides. What is clear is that with the dramatic increase in chemical use in the last several decades there has been a parallel increase in the incidence of diseases that are associated with environmental contamination. Individuals vary widely in their sensitivity to individual chemicals, and it is difficult to predict the specific effects of long term, low-level exposures. The pesticides the CDC is looking for in people’s bodies have a wide range of known health effects, including cancer, birth defects, neurological damage, infertility and weakened immune systems. Scientists estimate that everyone alive today carries within her or his body at least 700 contaminants, most of which have not been well studied. There are insufficient studies on the possible health effects of exposure to multiple chemicals. What is better understood is how individual chemicals can harm infants and children. Surprisingly low levels of exposure to young children or fetuses in the uterus can cause irreversible damage if the exposure occurs when a certain organ or system is in a critical stage of development. The effects of this damage may not become apparent until later in life—a specific example is infertility or other damage to the reproductive system. What is being done to reduce the use of these pesticides?In response to the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996, the U.S. EPA began a process of re-registering pesticide active ingredients using a new set of standards that are more protective of public health than those used before 1996. One result is the requirement that combined exposure to pesticides with a common mechanism of toxicity (like the organophosphorus insecticides) be considered. Unfortunately, there is still no mechanism to account for the many simultaneous exposures to different groups of chemicals people experience every day. The good news is that new restrictions have been imposed on most pesticides evaluated under the law. Some uses (such as residential uses of diazinon and chlorpyrifos) are being phased out altogether because of the unacceptable risks posed to children from their use. The bad news is that the process is slow, so many high-use chemicals have yet to be evaluated. Unfortunately, the risks to agricultural workers are often simply overlooked. EPA has also not followed the letter of the law in its work, failing to fully assess the risks from all routes of exposure and failing to include additional safety factors for children that are required under the 1996 law. Industry’s attempts to delay enforcement of the law were successfully blocked by a lawsuit filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Pesticide Action Network, CalPIRG, Breast Cancer Fund, United Farm Workers, and Physicians for Social Responsibility. The settlement of the lawsuit in 2001 puts EPA on a strict timeline to finish the work for many high-use chemicals. The agency will be pressured to make some hard decisions in the next several years as the data come in. If the law is properly implemented, we may see significant new restrictions and reductions in pesticide use. What should we be using instead?Many safer alternative pest control methods have proven effective in a variety of environments. Organic agriculture is a rapidly growing sector of the agricultural economy that successfully produces healthy food without the use of synthetic pesticides. Many techniques in the home and garden can be used to avoid pesticide application as well. These methods use common sense approaches to create an environment that discourages pests. For example, some of the most common pests in the home can be reduced by using a few simple rules. First, identify the pest. Next, eliminate its access to the house. Third, eliminate the food source. Fourth, eliminate the water source. These simple steps can help you prevent infestations without using pesticides that can harm you, your family, and the environment. The same basic preventive approach can be used for lawn care. If you want to have a lawn, some easy rules of thumb can help reduce or eliminate use of pesticides. Organic lawn care, like organic agriculture, depends on keeping the soil healthy and biologically active, teeming with all kinds of beneficial insects and microorganisms. Using pesticides and fertilizers can “kill” the soil, weakening the plants and inviting pests. To keep soil healthy, avoid chemicals and use careful mowing, watering, and feeding techniques. There are many things we can do to reduce the use of pesticides. We can use alternatives in our own homes, protecting our families from direct exposure. We can encourage the use of alternatives in agriculture by buying organic food and clothing. We can urge the agricultural industry and government officials to invest in research and promotion of alternatives, and let them know that we do not accept the use of toxic pesticides. What pesticides did the CDC test for?Thirty-four of the 116 chemicals CDC studied in the 2003 NHANES report are pesticides and their breakdown products. Where CDC tested for a breakdown product, we indicate in parentheses the pesticide that creates this metabolite. Clicking on a chemical name will take you directly to the PAN Pesticide Database for more detailed information. Organophosphate pesticides: dialkyl phosphate metabolites (common to many)
Organophosphate pesticides: specific metabolites
Organochlorine pesticides
Carbamate Insecticides
Pest Repellants
FungicidesHerbicides
Where can I find out more?About pesticides
About alternatives
About chemical body burden
About health effects of pesticides
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