The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced plans to implement a “phased-down withdrawal” of the pesticide sulfuryl fluoride. The fumigant apparently breaks down into fluoride and is used to control insects in stored grains, dried fruits, tree nuts, coffee and cocoa beans, and in food handling and processing facilities. After reevaluating current science on fluoride, EPA concluded that “although sulfuryl fluoride residues in food contribute only a very small portion of total exposure to fluoride, when combined with other fluoride exposure pathways, including drinking water and toothpaste,” its legal residue limits on food no longer satisfy the safety standard under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Proposing to phase out the pesticide over a three-year period, EPA will accept comments for 90 days after publication in the Federal Register. See EPA Press Release, January 10, 2011.
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A California court has reportedly ordered Dole Food Co. to pay about $200,000 in legal fees and costs to Swedish filmmakers whom the company sued for defamation, alleging that their documentary about the lawyer who sued Dole on behalf of Nicaraguan banana plantation workers exposed to the pesticide DBCP implied that the company caused their deaths. Dole Food Co. v. Gertten, No. __ (Cal. Super. Ct., Los Angeles Cty., decided November 17, 2010). The filmmakers filed a motion to strike the lawsuit after it was filed in July 2009 on the ground that it constituted a “strategic lawsuit against public participation,” or SLAPP, which is prohibited by state law. Although Dole apparently dismissed its lawsuit voluntarily thereafter, “[t]he potential distributors were concerned because Dole had only dismissed without prejudice. They had the right to re-file the action,” according to the filmmakers’ counsel. While the film has been distributed in 15…
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a report titled “USDA Could Enhance Pesticide and Fertilizer Usage Data, Improve Outreach, and Better Leverage Resources.” GAO was asked to investigate the effect of budgetary cutbacks on a program that gathers, analyzes and disseminates information about the use of agricultural chemicals. According to the report, the cutbacks forced data users to rely on older statistics, “which hindered their ability to make informed decisions because agricultural chemical use can change from year to year due to the emergence of new pests, weather variations, changing market conditions, and other factors.” GAO recommends various improvements to the system, including incorporating data from other publicly available sources, minimizing potential overlap with other data sources and identifying and consulting with data users on a regular basis.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced the addition of 134 chemicals to its second Tier 1 screening list under the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP). Among those chemicals listed are DBCP, 1,4-dioxane, acetaldehyde, acrolein, acrylamide, benzene, benzo(a)pyrene, chlordane, HCFC-22, perchlorate, PFOS, PFOA, and polychlorinated biphenyls. Comments are requested by December 17, 2010. According to EPA, “[t]he list includes chemicals that have been identified as priorities under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and may be found in sources of drinking water where a substantial number of people may be exposed. The list also includes pesticide active ingredients that are being evaluated under EPA’s registration review program to ensure they meet current scientific and regulatory standards.” Following public comment and review, “EPA will issue test orders to pesticide registrants and the manufacturers of these chemicals to compel them to generate data to determine whether their chemicals may disrupt the estrogen,…
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reportedly considering addressing toxins in drinking water by regulating them in groups, rather than continuing to address them contaminant-by-contaminant, and has identified nitrosamines as one of the first groups that could be subject to the new paradigm. Other groups under consideration are pesticides, volatile organic compounds and chlorinated disinfection byproducts. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson apparently proposed taking this approach earlier in the year, and the agency conducted a number of workshops over the summer to gauge stakeholder support. InsideEPA.com obtained a draft discussion paper from a September 2010 meeting; it details a number of ways toxins can be grouped, including (i) similar effects on human health and the environment, (ii) similar water treatment options, and (iii) occurrence similarities, i.e., likely to occur with other chemicals in the group. Drinking water industry officials have apparently expressed concerns with EPA’s proposal to address nitrosamines in the…
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) have been sued in federal court under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for their alleged failure to produce data and research relating to the herbicide atrazine. Beveridge & Diamond, P.C. v. HHS, No. 10-1713 (D.D.C., filed October 7, 2010). According to the complaint, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is conducting a comprehensive atrazine review that includes the research of a NIEHS research scientist who worked for EPA in the past. The plaintiff allegedly sought the researcher’s data from EPA, but was told she had taken all of her material to NIEHS. NIEHS has allegedly failed to respond to the plaintiff’s request for data, information and reports related to Dr. Suzanne Fenton’s research on atrazine. The plaintiff alleges, “It is critical that NIEHS promptly provide the requested information to allow for meaningful…
A recent study reportedly claims that prenatal exposure to the pesticide dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and its breakdown product dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) is associated with accelerated growth and elevated BMI in infants born to normal-weight mothers. Michelle Mendez, et al., “Prenatal Organochlorine Compound Exposure, Rapid Weight Gain and Overweight in Infancy,” Environmental Health Perspectives, October 2010. Researchers apparently used data from Spain’s ongoing INMA [Infancia y MedioAmbiente] study, which assayed blood from approximately 500 expectant mothers for persistent chlorinated pollutants such as DDT and DDE, hexachlorobenzene, beta-hexachlorohexane, and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls. The authors concluded that, when compared to infants born to women in the lowest quartile for DDE exposure, those born to normal-weight mothers in the first quartile were at “a two times increased risk of rapid growth.” In addition, “DDE was also associated with elevated BMI at 14 months.” The study suggested, however, that the association only appeared true for normal-weight, as…
A recent study has alleged a relationship between prenatal exposure to certain widely used pesticides and an increased risk of attention problems in preschool age kids. Brenda Eskenazi, et al., “PON1 and Neurodevelopment in Children from the CHAMACOS Study Exposed to Organophosphate Pesticides in Utero,” Environmental Health Perspectives, August 19, 2010. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health collected urine samples twice during the pregnancies of more than 300 Mexican-American women in agricultural communities and later evaluated their children at ages 3½ and 5 for symptoms of attention disorders. They concluded that prenatal organophosphate metabolite levels were “significantly linked” to attention troubles by age 5, especially among boys. “These studies provide a growing body of evidence that organophosphate pesticide exposure can impact human neurodevelopment, particularly among children,” co-author Brenda Eskenazi said in a UC Berkeley press statement, adding that the results warrant precautionary measures when handling food exposed…
Chinese health experts have reportedly estimated that “at least 30,000 children developed early maturity” in Shanghai alone, raising concerns about food additives and pesticides allegedly laden with sex hormones. According to an August 18, 2010, China Daily article, one doctor with the Beijing Maternal and Child Healthcare Hospital has suggested that “early maturity in Chinese children is as high as 1 percent, nearly 10 times the rate in most Western countries.” The physician apparently attributed the condition “to the rising amount of estrogen in the food chain as the result of pesticides being sprayed on fruit and vegetables.” Although China Daily noted the 2009 Food Safety Law and other attempts to regulate food additives, it also suggested that enforcement has been difficult if not “impossible.” As one researcher with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention purportedly said, “China has 200 million scattered rural households that produce food, and…
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals has allowed claims filed by New Jersey blueberry farmers to proceed against the company that makes a pesticide which allegedly damaged their crops, finding that the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) does not preempt their lawsuit. Indian Brand Farms, Inc. v. Novartis Crop Protection, Inc., No. 08-4484 (3d Cir., decided August 10, 2010). The company changed its pesticide in 1997, and plaintiffs used it the same way they had successfully used prior products, mixing it with fungicides before applying it to their crops. The company’s marketing brochure for the reformulated product said it was safer and more effective and had the same powerful product performance. The brochure contained no instructions for the product’s use, and the product label did not indicate that one of its inert ingredients was an ionic surfactant nor that it should not be mixed with fungicides. The product containing the…
