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Pesticide Action Network Updates Service (PANUPS)
A Weekly News Update on Pesticides, Health and Alternatives
See PANUPS archive for complete information.
April 9, 2009
- Birth defects up during pesticide use season
- Lindane’s last stand?
- Agriculture still missing from climate change conversation
- McDonald’s to cut pesticide use
- Pesticides linked to childhood brain cancers
- Monsanto’s GM corn flops in South Africa
Birth defects up during pesticide use season
A study published in the April 2009 issue of the medical journal Acta Pædiatrica is the first to report that birth defect rates in the United States are highest among women conceiving in the spring and summer, a time period correlated with increased levels of pesticides in surface water, reports Science Daily. The study looked at all 30.1 million U.S. births between 1996 and 2002, and found a significant increase in spina bifida, cleft lip, clubfoot and Down’s syndrome when the child was conceived between April and July — a period which coincides with elevated levels of atrazine and other pesticides in surface water. Atrazine, which is banned in European countries but permitted in the U.S., is among the many pesticides suspected to be harmful to the developing embryo. While the scientists “didn’t prove a cause and effect link,” according to lead author Dr. Paul Winchester, M.D., Indiana University School of Medicine professor of clinical pediatrics, the evidence points to an association between pesticide exposure and birth defects. Winchester said the researchers are excited by the findings, because “…if our suspicions are right and pesticides are contributing to birth defect risk, we can reverse or modify the factors that are causing these lifelong and often very serious medical problems.”
shareMORE – In PANUPS: Atrazine disrupts human hormone activity | Digg This
Lindane’s last stand?
In a letter to Secretary of State Clinton and Acting Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration Sharfstein, the New York Times reports, a coalition of groups urged the US agencies to support a full global ban of the pesticide lindane at an upcoming Stockholm Convention meeting in early May. The U.S. has been one of the few countries pressing to exempt pharmaceutical products containing lindane under the international treaty, which targets persistent organic pollutants for global phaseout. In addition to the letter, the groups submitted a scientific study from the journal Environmental Health Perspectives documenting the success of the 2001 California ban of lindane shampoos and lotions, which are used to control lice and scabies. The groups also sent the agencies a compilation of personal stories from parents around the country who have used less hazardous methods to control lice, and resolutions from several tribes representing Indigenous communities in the Arctic, where lindane is known to contaminate traditional foods. “These lindane shampoos and lotions have already been banned in California and many countries, inluding most recently Chile and Mexico,” says Kristin Schafer, Associate Director for Advocacy with Pesticide Action Network North America. “U.S. agencies must do their job and take action now to protect children in the U.S. and around the world from this persistent pesticide.” Exposure to lindane, a neurotoxic organochlorine pesticide, has been linked to seizures, developmental disabilities and hormone disruption. It is known to be particularly hazardous to children.
shareMORE – Ban Lindane NOW! |
Agriculture still missing from climate change conversation
shareMORE – See IATP on solutions to water, ag & climate crises (PDF) |
McDonald’s to cut pesticide use
Reuters reports that McDonald’s Corp, the largest purchaser of potatoes in the United States, has agreed to take preliminary steps to reduce pesticide use in its domestic potato supply. The action came in response to a shareholder proposal by three investors, including the AFL-CIO, that would have required McDonald’s to publish a report on options for reducing pesticide use in its supply chain. As part of the agreement, McDonald’s will survey its current U.S. potato suppliers, and recommend best practices to its global suppliers. “We welcome McDonald’s stepping up to the plate and look forward to supporting the company’s efforts to reduce pesticide use in the future,” said Dr. Richard Liroff, executive director at the Investor Environmental Health Network. Liroff added McDonald’s must first know where it stands in terms of pesticide use in potato supplies before it can set targets for reduction. The world’s largest fast-food chain said the process would support ongoing efforts to make its supply chain sustainable, and it would share its findings with investors and include the findings in its annual corporate social responsibility report.
shareMORE –NCAP: Idaho potato going organic (PDF) |
Pesticides linked to childhood brain cancers
shareMORE – Abstract of the study from Environmental Health Perspectives (PDF) |
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Monsanto’s GM corn crop flops in South Africa
South African farmers lost “between 80000 and 150000 tons” of genetically-modified (GM) corn when the plots failed to produce hardly any seeds, reports The Times in Johannesburg. “As much as 40,000ha planted to Monsanto maize cultivars… failed to pollinate or suffered reduced pollination,” the South African Farmer’s Weekly adds. Monsanto attributes the failure to “under-fertilization in the laboratory”. Marian Mayet, director of the Africa Centre for Biosecurity in Johannesburg, demanded an urgent government investigation, and an immediate ban on all foods from genetically-engineered seed, according to the DigitalJournal. Mayet blames the crop failure on Monsanto’s “genetically-manipulated technology”. Monsanto has stated that losses were “‘less than 25% of three different corn varieties,” but according to Mayet’s information some farms have suffered up to 80% crop failures. “Monsanto says they just made a mistake in the laboratory, however we say that biotechnology is a failure. You cannot make a ‘mistake’ with three different varieties of corn,” Mayet said. While Monsanto has offered compensation to farmers for lost crops, there is no clear solution to replace the lost harvest. Corn is the main food source for South Africa’s 48 million citizens.
shareMORE – Reuters reports Monsanto payments to farmers |
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