MEDIA PUBLICATIONS.
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MEDIA REPORTS
‘ ‘A WORLDWIDE PUBLIC HEALTH THREAT’: ROB BILOTT ON HIS 20-YEAR FIGHT AGAINST FOREVER CHEMICALS’Carey Gillam, @careygillam,The Guardian, 1 May 2022
#PFAS #ForeverChemicals #PublicHealth
“Last month, an Ohio court certified a class action lawsuit brought by lawyer Rob Bilott that would cover 7 million people – and at some point possibly everyone living in the United States – who have been exposed to certain hazardous “forever chemicals” known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS.
“The chemicals have been linked to cancer, birth defects, kidney disease and a range of other human health problems. They are called “forever chemicals” because they do not naturally break down, persisting indefinitely in the environment.”
"AIR POLLUTION CAN HARM PREGNANCY BY AFFECTING GENE EXPRESSION IN THE PLACENTA"
Neuroscience News, 11 March 2022
#airpollution #UFPs #placenta #fetaldevelopment #genes #pregnancy
“Polluted air contributed to the deaths of more than 6.6 million people worldwide in 2019. It accounts for around 20 percent of newborn deaths globally, mostly due to preterm birth and low birth weight…
“Particulate matter is a major type of air pollution that consists of particles suspended in the air. The smallest of these particles, UFPs [ultrafine particles], are smaller than 100 nanometers. A growing body of evidence is pointing to UFPs having harmful effects during pregnancy…”
‘FERTILITY CRISIS: IS MODERN LIFE MAKING MEN INFERTILE? - BBC REEL’
Video by Izabela Cardoso & Fernando Teixeira, Executive Producer: Camelia Sadeghzadeh, BBC, March 2022
#chemicals #fertility #bbc #bbcnewsreel
"We all know man-made chemicals are damaging ecosystems across the planet. But could certain chemicals also be negatively affecting human fertility?
“Dr Shanna Swan, an environmental and reproductive epidemiologist at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York and the author of Count Down, predicts that current trends could not continue much longer without threatening human survival.”
“A man today has only about half the sperm his grandfather had.” - https://youtu.be/5jQsaKJf3ic
‘MAJOR PARTNERSHIP TO DELIVER SPRAY HAZARD WARNING SYSTEM’
GroundCover, Grains Research and Development Corporation, 2022
#spraydrift #temperatureinversion #inversion
"Hazardous surface temperature inversions occur when air temperature increases with height from the ground surface, leaving a layer of cool air trapped below warm air. In this situation droplets can remain suspended in the inversion layer in concentrated form and be carried significant distances from the target area."
“GRDC Chair John Woods says the warning system would improve on-farm decision making by accurately identifying and forecasting hazardous spray conditions. ‘Until recently, there has been no reliable and accurate method to determine when inversion conditions are hazardous for agricultural spraying using real time data,’ Mr Woods says. ‘These hazardous inversion conditions exist most nights of the year for undefined periods, so we need to have the ability to know exactly when they are occurring and stop spraying. The warning system will provide this.’ …
“[CRDC’s Executive Director Dr Ian Taylor:] ‘A study conducted by AgEcon found that the warning system could help reduce the impact of spray drift onto sensitive crops, while also increasing chemical efficacy and improving labour and machinery productivity on farm. In cotton alone, the warning system could help the industry avoid $40 million in losses and costs associated with spray drift over five years.”
[emphasis added]
' 'I DON'T KNOW HOW WE'LL SURVIVE': THE FARMERS FACING RUIN IN MAINE'S 'FOREVER CHEMICALS' CRISIS'
by Tom Perkins with photographs by Tristan Spinski, The Guardian, 22 March 2022
#PFAS #foreverchemicals #farming
“Maine faces a crisis from PFAS-contaminated produce, which is causing farms to close and farmers to face the loss of their livelihoods…
“But disaster struck in December. The couple learned the farm’s previous owner had decades earlier used PFAS-tainted sewage sludge, or “biosolids”, as fertilizer on Songbird’s fields. Testing revealed their soil, drinking water, irrigation water, crops, chickens and blood were contaminated with high levels of the toxic chemicals…
Additionally, PFAS can spread. Ironwood Farm, about six miles from Songbird, tested its water and found high levels suspected to have migrated from a neighbors’ sludge-packed field. The small produce farm pulled its products, halted operations and is nervously awaiting more test results.”
[Emphasis added]
'EPA REVIEWS BAYER HERBICIDE BLAMED FOR WIDESPREAD US CROP DAMAGE'
By Tom Polansek, Reuters, 22 Dec 2021
"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is assessing whether the weed killer dicamba can be sprayed safely on soybean and cotton plants genetically engineered to resist the chemical, without the procedure posing "unreasonable risks" to other crops, an agency official said on Tuesday.
"Farmers and scientists for years have reported problems with dicamba drifting away from where it is sprayed on fields, causing damage to nearby plants not modified to resist the herbicide.
"The EPA said it received about 3,500 reports this year indicating that more than a million acres of non-dicamba-tolerant soybean crops were allegedly damaged when the chemical drifted from where it was applied. Trees and crops like rice and grapes also suffered damage, the agency said."
[emphasis added]
‘VIRGINIA’S BALD EAGLES THRIVING AT NEVER BEFORE SEEN LEVEL AFTER PESTICIDES BAN’
White Wolf Pack, Sunday, 19 December 2021
“A total of 1,070 occupied bald eagle nests were counted in this year's survey by the Center for Conservation Biology at the College of William and Mary. It's the first time more than 1,000 have been counted since the survey started 60 years ago.
“ 'This marks a remarkable comeback for the bird whose population had dropped to just 20 pairs in the state in 1970', said Bryan D. Watts, the center's director.
“The eagle's resurgence in Virginia is part of a nationwide recovery, hailed as a great conservation success story involving habitat preservation and the banning of certain pesticides.
“Once decimated by DDT and other pollutants, the national bird was one of the first species put on the Endangered Species List, in 1967. They were delisted in 2007, and there are now 10,000 nesting pairs nationwide, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. …”
‘ ‘REALLY SAD MOMENT’ BOGONG MOTH AMONG 124 AUSTRALIAN ADDITIONS TO ENDANGERED SPECIES LIST’
By Lisa Cox, The Guardian, Australia News, 10 Dec 2021
“Ecologists say numbers declined by about 99.5% three years ago, likely due to drought, pesticides and light pollution.
“Scientists have detected steady declines in numbers of bogong moths since the 1980s.
“But in 2017 and 2018 that crashed to numbers so low the species was described as “undetectable” in the alpine regions where it used to arrive in spring in numbers as high as 4.4 billion.
...
“Jess Abrahams, the Australian Conservation Foundation’s nature campaigner, said the collapse of bogong moth numbers was affecting other species that rely on the moths for food.
“ ‘The bogong moth’s population crash – and its cascading impact on other species – should concern every Australian, as we all depend on the interconnected web of nature, which gives us drinkable water, pollinated crops and clean air,’ he said.”
'PESTICIDES 'COST DOUBLE THE AMOUNT THEY YIELD', STUDY FINDS'
By Wester Van Gaal, EU Observer, November 2021
"According to a study published on Tuesday (30 November), the cost of pesticides may far outweigh the economic benefits.
"The Bureau for the Appraisal of Social Impacts for Citizen Information (BASIC), a Paris-based NGO, found pesticide producers cost the EU €2.3bn in subsidies.
...
"The study also mentions other costs to society that are used to benefit pesticide producers, including the big four - BASF, Bayer, ChemChina, Corteva - which represent 60 percent of global sales.
For example, the EU doles out €57.8bn in annual subsidies to maintain pesticide-reliant agricultural practices - or about half of the total EU budget. A portion of this money ends up in the pockets of these companies."
RADIO INTERVIEW WITH PROF DAVID GOLDNEY ON HIS 'PRELIMINARY REPORT ON VEGETATION DIEBACK IN THE NARROMINE-TRANGIE AREA AND POSSIBLE CAUSAL LINKS TO COTTON SPRAY DRIFT ASSOCIATED WITH THE AUTUNN COTTON HARVESTING PERIOD' "
ABC Radio, 18 Nov 2021
#PFAS #ForeverChemicals #PublicHealth
“Last month, an Ohio court certified a class action lawsuit brought by lawyer Rob Bilott that would cover 7 million people – and at some point possibly everyone living in the United States – who have been exposed to certain hazardous “forever chemicals” known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS.
“The chemicals have been linked to cancer, birth defects, kidney disease and a range of other human health problems. They are called “forever chemicals” because they do not naturally break down, persisting indefinitely in the environment.”
"AIR POLLUTION CAN HARM PREGNANCY BY AFFECTING GENE EXPRESSION IN THE PLACENTA"
Neuroscience News, 11 March 2022
#airpollution #UFPs #placenta #fetaldevelopment #genes #pregnancy
“Polluted air contributed to the deaths of more than 6.6 million people worldwide in 2019. It accounts for around 20 percent of newborn deaths globally, mostly due to preterm birth and low birth weight…
“Particulate matter is a major type of air pollution that consists of particles suspended in the air. The smallest of these particles, UFPs [ultrafine particles], are smaller than 100 nanometers. A growing body of evidence is pointing to UFPs having harmful effects during pregnancy…”
‘FERTILITY CRISIS: IS MODERN LIFE MAKING MEN INFERTILE? - BBC REEL’
Video by Izabela Cardoso & Fernando Teixeira, Executive Producer: Camelia Sadeghzadeh, BBC, March 2022
#chemicals #fertility #bbc #bbcnewsreel
"We all know man-made chemicals are damaging ecosystems across the planet. But could certain chemicals also be negatively affecting human fertility?
“Dr Shanna Swan, an environmental and reproductive epidemiologist at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York and the author of Count Down, predicts that current trends could not continue much longer without threatening human survival.”
“A man today has only about half the sperm his grandfather had.” - https://youtu.be/5jQsaKJf3ic
‘MAJOR PARTNERSHIP TO DELIVER SPRAY HAZARD WARNING SYSTEM’
GroundCover, Grains Research and Development Corporation, 2022
#spraydrift #temperatureinversion #inversion
"Hazardous surface temperature inversions occur when air temperature increases with height from the ground surface, leaving a layer of cool air trapped below warm air. In this situation droplets can remain suspended in the inversion layer in concentrated form and be carried significant distances from the target area."
“GRDC Chair John Woods says the warning system would improve on-farm decision making by accurately identifying and forecasting hazardous spray conditions. ‘Until recently, there has been no reliable and accurate method to determine when inversion conditions are hazardous for agricultural spraying using real time data,’ Mr Woods says. ‘These hazardous inversion conditions exist most nights of the year for undefined periods, so we need to have the ability to know exactly when they are occurring and stop spraying. The warning system will provide this.’ …
“[CRDC’s Executive Director Dr Ian Taylor:] ‘A study conducted by AgEcon found that the warning system could help reduce the impact of spray drift onto sensitive crops, while also increasing chemical efficacy and improving labour and machinery productivity on farm. In cotton alone, the warning system could help the industry avoid $40 million in losses and costs associated with spray drift over five years.”
[emphasis added]
' 'I DON'T KNOW HOW WE'LL SURVIVE': THE FARMERS FACING RUIN IN MAINE'S 'FOREVER CHEMICALS' CRISIS'
by Tom Perkins with photographs by Tristan Spinski, The Guardian, 22 March 2022
#PFAS #foreverchemicals #farming
“Maine faces a crisis from PFAS-contaminated produce, which is causing farms to close and farmers to face the loss of their livelihoods…
“But disaster struck in December. The couple learned the farm’s previous owner had decades earlier used PFAS-tainted sewage sludge, or “biosolids”, as fertilizer on Songbird’s fields. Testing revealed their soil, drinking water, irrigation water, crops, chickens and blood were contaminated with high levels of the toxic chemicals…
Additionally, PFAS can spread. Ironwood Farm, about six miles from Songbird, tested its water and found high levels suspected to have migrated from a neighbors’ sludge-packed field. The small produce farm pulled its products, halted operations and is nervously awaiting more test results.”
[Emphasis added]
'EPA REVIEWS BAYER HERBICIDE BLAMED FOR WIDESPREAD US CROP DAMAGE'
By Tom Polansek, Reuters, 22 Dec 2021
"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is assessing whether the weed killer dicamba can be sprayed safely on soybean and cotton plants genetically engineered to resist the chemical, without the procedure posing "unreasonable risks" to other crops, an agency official said on Tuesday.
"Farmers and scientists for years have reported problems with dicamba drifting away from where it is sprayed on fields, causing damage to nearby plants not modified to resist the herbicide.
"The EPA said it received about 3,500 reports this year indicating that more than a million acres of non-dicamba-tolerant soybean crops were allegedly damaged when the chemical drifted from where it was applied. Trees and crops like rice and grapes also suffered damage, the agency said."
[emphasis added]
‘VIRGINIA’S BALD EAGLES THRIVING AT NEVER BEFORE SEEN LEVEL AFTER PESTICIDES BAN’
White Wolf Pack, Sunday, 19 December 2021
“A total of 1,070 occupied bald eagle nests were counted in this year's survey by the Center for Conservation Biology at the College of William and Mary. It's the first time more than 1,000 have been counted since the survey started 60 years ago.
“ 'This marks a remarkable comeback for the bird whose population had dropped to just 20 pairs in the state in 1970', said Bryan D. Watts, the center's director.
“The eagle's resurgence in Virginia is part of a nationwide recovery, hailed as a great conservation success story involving habitat preservation and the banning of certain pesticides.
“Once decimated by DDT and other pollutants, the national bird was one of the first species put on the Endangered Species List, in 1967. They were delisted in 2007, and there are now 10,000 nesting pairs nationwide, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. …”
‘ ‘REALLY SAD MOMENT’ BOGONG MOTH AMONG 124 AUSTRALIAN ADDITIONS TO ENDANGERED SPECIES LIST’
By Lisa Cox, The Guardian, Australia News, 10 Dec 2021
“Ecologists say numbers declined by about 99.5% three years ago, likely due to drought, pesticides and light pollution.
“Scientists have detected steady declines in numbers of bogong moths since the 1980s.
“But in 2017 and 2018 that crashed to numbers so low the species was described as “undetectable” in the alpine regions where it used to arrive in spring in numbers as high as 4.4 billion.
...
“Jess Abrahams, the Australian Conservation Foundation’s nature campaigner, said the collapse of bogong moth numbers was affecting other species that rely on the moths for food.
“ ‘The bogong moth’s population crash – and its cascading impact on other species – should concern every Australian, as we all depend on the interconnected web of nature, which gives us drinkable water, pollinated crops and clean air,’ he said.”
'PESTICIDES 'COST DOUBLE THE AMOUNT THEY YIELD', STUDY FINDS'
By Wester Van Gaal, EU Observer, November 2021
"According to a study published on Tuesday (30 November), the cost of pesticides may far outweigh the economic benefits.
"The Bureau for the Appraisal of Social Impacts for Citizen Information (BASIC), a Paris-based NGO, found pesticide producers cost the EU €2.3bn in subsidies.
...
"The study also mentions other costs to society that are used to benefit pesticide producers, including the big four - BASF, Bayer, ChemChina, Corteva - which represent 60 percent of global sales.
For example, the EU doles out €57.8bn in annual subsidies to maintain pesticide-reliant agricultural practices - or about half of the total EU budget. A portion of this money ends up in the pockets of these companies."
RADIO INTERVIEW WITH PROF DAVID GOLDNEY ON HIS 'PRELIMINARY REPORT ON VEGETATION DIEBACK IN THE NARROMINE-TRANGIE AREA AND POSSIBLE CAUSAL LINKS TO COTTON SPRAY DRIFT ASSOCIATED WITH THE AUTUNN COTTON HARVESTING PERIOD' "
ABC Radio, 18 Nov 2021
‘THE PESTICIDE BAN MOVEMENT GAINS MOMENTUM’
By Meg Wilcox, Environmental Health News, 16 Nov 2021
“Cities and counties are increasingly banning toxic pesticides — and some are taking aim at fertilizers. But industry attempts to buck local efforts remain a significant hurdle.
…
“As the movement matures, some cities and counties — including Maui; Stamford, Connecticut; and South Portland — are not simply prohibiting certain pesticides, which often leads to waivers or substitution with another toxic chemical, they're requiring local governments to use products certified by the USDA National Organic Program.
…
“Communities still face headwinds, however, from resistant public agencies that often lack training, staff, and resources, and are subject to the insidious influence of the pesticide industry and its proxies that seek to derail the movement. ..."
“WATER WOES”
By Phillip Adams, Late Night Live, ABC Radio National, 20 October 2021
Wherever cotton expands, it starts a cascade of problems and none more pressing than in parts of Northern Australia where food production, tourism and rivers are impacted as discussed in this Late Night Live interview.
"COULD CHLORPYRIFOS BE CONTRIBUTING TO THE OBESITY EPIDEMIC?"
By Olivia Rosane, EcoWatch, 15 October 2021
"It is widely known that the controversial pesticide chlorpyrifos harms children's brains, yet despite this, it was not banned on food in the U.S. until August of this year.
"A little more than a week later, new science published in Nature Communicationsrevealed the controversial pesticide could be contributing to another public health crisis.
" '[I]ts use may contribute to the obesity epidemic,' the study authors concluded."
“WHERE DOES PFAS POLLUTION COME FROM? NEW STUDY IDENTIFIES NEARLY 42,000 POTENTIAL SOURCES”
By Olivia Rosane, EcoWatch, 13 Oct 2021
#ForeverChemicals #PFAS #DrinkingWater
"Is your drinking water contaminated with toxic forever chemicals? A new study published in a special issue of the American Water Works Association Water Science journal Tuesday found that there were nearly 42,000 potential sources of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) pollution that could contaminate surface water or drinking water in the U.S.
...
"PFAS are a class of chemicals often used in stain or water repellents, non-stick products and firefighting foam, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). They are known as forever chemicals because they do not break down over time and tend to persist and accumulate in the environment and the human body."
“THE ‘EVERYWHERE CHEMICAL’ LINKED TO 100,000 PREMATURE DEATHS EACH YEAR”
By A Pawlowski, NBC News, 13 October 2021
#phthalates #everywherechemical
“Phthalates have been called “the everywhere chemical” because they’re used in hundreds of products — from toys and vinyl flooring, to shampoo and food packaging.
“Adults and children absorb them into their bodies through their skin, and by inadvertently eating and inhaling them.”
"LEGAL BATTLE LOOMS OVER OVERWATCH HERBICIDE SOME FARMERS SAY HAS DAMAGED THEIR CROPS"
By Angus Verley, ABC Rural, 7 Sep 2021
#Overwatch #Bleaching #ClassAction
“Debate over a new farm chemical [Overwatch] appears headed for the law courts, with a Sydney law firm this week asking grain growers to join a class action against the herbicide's manufacturer.”
“BIOSECURITY QUEENSLAND INVESTIGATING TWO SPRAY DRIFT COMPLAINTS IN NEW OUTBACK CROPPING AREA”
By Eric Barker, ABC North West Qld
25 Aug 2021
"Biosecurity Queensland has confirmed it has launched criminal investigations into two chemical spray drift complaints in one of the state's newest cropping areas.
...
"Third-generation Julia Creek cattle-producer Ryan Hacon said he had not been directly impacted by the problem, but it had been going on in the district for the past two years.
...
"Mr Hacon said he had flown over areas where trees and pasture had been damaged by herbicides drifting across boundary fences. '[It has damaged] mainly white woods and cork woods and trees like that,' he said. 'It also damages pastures, especially all the broad-leaf herbages we get after the wet that really put the weight on our cattle.'
"Mr Hacon said he would like to see more enforcement of regulations if the industry is going to develop further. 'There needs to be some sort of policing or structure if there are issues with drift,' he said. 'If there is an issue or a problem it needs to be solved quickly, instead of no-one knowing what to do.' "
"EVERYDAY CHEMICALS AND HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS 'TO BLAME FOR 450,000 EARLY DEATHS FROM POLLUTION A YEAR' "
By Kaya Burgess, Science Reporter, The Times, 27 July 2021
#PublicHealth #toxins
“Air pollution created by everyday items including cleaning fluids, grooming products, paints, glues, wood stoves and pesticides causes up to 450,000 premature deaths worldwide in cities including London, a study has found.
"The total death toll each year from a specific type of particle pollution known as manmade “secondary organic aerosols” (or ASOAs) is as high as 900,000, researchers have estimated, a figure ten times higher than previously thought.
"Around half of this pollution comes from vehicle exhausts, but an equally large amount comes from “everyday chemicals” in products we use in and around our homes, according to research led by scientists at the University of Colorado.
"It has prompted scientists to call for urgent action to identify the harm being caused to public health."
"MOISTURE BLAMED FOR OVERWATCH VOLATILITY"
By Shannon Beattie, The Land, 9 Jul 2021
Recent news from Western Australia and South Australia. Chemicals activating long after application times.
It will render the NSW EPA’s practice of only attending pollution notifications if they think the application has happened 2 days to 2 weeks prior to the noticed damage completely untenable.
How odd to blame 'moisture' when it's the pesticides that are causing the damage. Without moisture, no agriculture. Without trees, no agriculture.
“HOW PESTICIDES ARE HARMING SOIL ECOSYSTEMS”
By Meg Wilcox, Civil Eats, 4 June 2021
#pesticides #regenerativeagriculture
"Compiling data from nearly 400 laboratory and field studies, researchers at the Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Earth, and the University of Maryland found that pesticides harmed beneficial soil invertebrates in 70.5 percent of cases reviewed. Studies conducted in the field alone, however, resulted in fewer significant negative impacts (about 50 percent of cases reviewed).
“ 'What this study really drives home is that pesticide use is incompatible with healthy ecosystems, across organisms, pesticide classes, and a whole set of different health outcomes, including death,' said Kendra Klein, senior scientist at Friends of the Earth
and co-author of the study. 'We have to be talking about pesticide reduction in
conversations about regenerative agriculture.'
“ ‘A MONSTROUS ISSUE’: WHAT IS KILLING THE TREES IN THE COTTON BELT?”
By Harriet Alexander, Sydney Morning Herald, 31 May 2021
#defoliation #herbicides #NSWEPA
"Several landowners in Narromine have reported defoliation and scorch marks on their trees, grasses and vegetables, which they believe is caused by herbicides that are applied by crop duster planes to defoliate cotton crops. It has stoked tensions between landowners and the aerial operator."
“VIDEO OF CROP DUSTING PLANE FLYING NEAR NEIGHBOURS”
Sydney Morning Herald, 25 May 2021
“PESTICIDES THREATEN THE ‘FOUNDATIONS OF THE WEB OF LIFE’, NEW SOIL STUDY WARNS”
By Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams, 4 May 2021
#pesticides #monocultures
"Below the surface of fields covered with monoculture crops of corn and soybeans, pesticides are destroying the very foundations of the web of life," said study co-author Nathan Donley, a scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity, in a statement.
"Study after study indicates the unchecked use of pesticides across hundreds of millions of acres each year is poisoning the organisms critical to maintaining healthy soils," Donley added. "Yet our regulators have been ignoring the harm to these important ecosystems for decades."
"PLAN TO RELAX AUSTRALIAN RULES FOR CHEMICALS AND PESTICICIDES ATTACKED BY ENVIRONMENT GROUPS"
By Anne Davies, The Guardian, 4 April 2021
#Pesticides #APVMA #Paraquat #Parkinsons #Neonicotinoids #BeeDeaths
"Environment and health groups have fiercely criticised proposals to relax the regulation of chemicals and pesticides in Australia, saying they are “totally at odds” with public health and safety expectations. …
NTN coordinator Jo Immig wrote to Littleproud last month about her group’s concerns. '… The recommendations seek to place rapid access to Agvet chemicals above the protection of health and safety…’
For example most common neonicotinoids have been banned in the EU because of their impact on bee populations. They have recently been restricted in the US and Canada but are still permitted in Australia…
Paraquat, a herbicide used for weed control since 1961, has been banned in 30 countries and is on a restricted list in the US. In Australia it has been under review for 20 years by the authority and is still sold for commercial use.
One of the panel’s most controversial suggestions is to exempt consumer products from the new regulatory regime on the grounds that most are well tested around the world in agricultural settings before reaching supermarket shelves. …"
"A THIRD OF GLOBAL FARMLAND AT ‘HIGH’ PESTICIDE POLLUTION RISK"
By Kelly MacNamara, Phys.org, 29 March 2021
#farms #pesticide #pollution
“Researchers in Australia modelled pollution risk across 168 countries with data on the usage of 92 active pesticide ingredients and found ‘widespread global pesticide pollution risk’. …
The study, published in Nature Geoscience, found that overall 64 percent of global agricultural land —approximately 24.5 million square kilometres (9.4 million sq miles)—was at risk of pesticide pollution from more than one active ingredient, and 31 percent is at high risk.
‘It is significant because the potential pollution is widespread and some regions at risk also bear high biodiversity and suffer from water scarcity,’ said lead author Fiona Tang, of the University of Sydney's School of Civil Engineering.”
“ ‘A SIP CAN KILL: DID A CHEMICAL COMPANY MISREPRESENT DATA TO AVOID MAKING A SAFER PRODUCT?”
By Carey Gillam, The Guardian, 25 March 2021
#Paraquat #poison #Syngenta #Parkinsons
“If you ingest just three drops of paraquat you’re going to die,” said the US farmer Cameron Peirce who uses the chemical sparingly in his fields of canola and mung beans in Kansas.
Switzerland, the home base of the paraquat maker Syngenta, has banned the chemical since 1989, and it has been banned for use in the EU since 2007, because of paraquat’s deadliness. …
Paraquat exposure is also believed by some scientists to cause Parkinson’s disease, and Syngenta is facing litigation on that issue – though it denies responsibility.
Still, many countries allow wide use of paraquat, and the toll from paraquat poisonings is estimated at well into the thousands. The low cost and high toxicity makes paraquat a popular poison for people trying to kill themselves. Syngenta says it is just one of 377 companies worldwide that have registered paraquat for sale.
But now, internal corporate documents, obtained by a US law firm and provided to the Guardian, detail how the need for a safer formulation of Syngenta’s popular Gramoxone paraquat-based product has been the subject of in-depth company discussions for decades. Years of analysis and debate over the issue are laid out in the records, as are arguments about the accuracy of data presented to regulators, and strategies to avoid regulatory bans.
The documents, which date back to 1968, show that Syngenta and its predecessor corporate entities rejected or resisted many different options for changes to the formulations of Gramoxone, due, at least in part, to a desire to protect profits. Financial concerns were cited repeatedly in the discussions about formulation changes as company officials pushed to keep Gramoxone on the market despite mounting concerns about fatalities. …
The first case to go to trial over the allegations against Syngenta over paraquat and Parkinson’s is scheduled for 12 April in Illinois. The trial is very likely to be delayed due to precautions related to the Covid-19 virus, however, according to a court spokesperson.
That Illinois case – Hoffman V Syngenta – is one of several pending against Syngenta alleging the company’s paraquat products cause Parkinson’s disease. Syngenta was acquired by China National Chemical Corporation (ChemChina) in 2015, giving an added international twist to the litigation. ..."
'WHAT WILL IT TAKE FOR FARMERS TO GROW MORE ORGANIC COTTON?'
By Nicole Rasul, Civil Eats, 15 March 2021,
#organic #cotton #polycultures #biodiversity #ecosystemservices
“Organic farmers grow cotton in rotation with other crops while conventional producers are more likely to grow cotton in back-to-back seasons. Members of TOCMC also grow peanuts, wheat, corn, milo, forage sorghum, soybeans, black-eyed peas, and sesame.
These rotations mean more biodiversity, says Delate. As a result, organic farms contribute a range of ecosystem services to the regions where they are located. This approach has real and tangible impacts on soil, waterways, and human and animal health, the researcher said.”
'HUNDREDS OF VICTORIAN HOME GARDENERS OUT OF POCKET AFTER USING TOXIC COMPOST FROM MAJOR RECYCLER SUEZ'
By Ben Knight and Richard Willingham, ABC News, 14 February 2021
#Chemicals #Damage #BroadleafHerbicides #Herbicides
“The toxic substance is probably a powerful broadleaf herbicide, according to Chris Williams, a lecturer in Urban Horticulture at Melbourne University. 'Anecdotally, this pops up all the time,' he said.
Dr Williams has seen it firsthand, when plants at the University's Burnley campus died the same way three years ago. He says he is often sent emails from former students asking him about why certain vegetables aren't growing, and says the symptoms are exactly the same. He believes the contamination at Burnley came from pea straw treated with horse manure. 'Livestock are eating pasture that's been treated with these chemicals, which goes straight through them to the manure, and doesn't break down,' he said.
Phenoxy acid herbicides are sold in variations like aminopyralid, clopyralid, picloram, and triclopyr. They are restricted to agricultural and commercial use, but can find their way into green waste used to make compost.”
'THE CHEMICAL REPORT COTTON AUSTRALIA WON'T RELEASE'
By Harriett Alexander, Sydney Morning Herald, 28 July 2020
#Chemicals #cotton #CottonAustralia #SprayDrift
“Cotton Australia did its own investigations around the same time in response to community concerns, commissioning a researcher from the University of New England to inspect. But it has declined to release the report, despite numerous requests from the Lower Macquarie Overspray Group, which represents concerned locals.
…
National Toxics Network co-ordinator Jo Immig said spray could drift up to 20 kilometres in inversion levels. The EPA should have obtained spray application records to find out what chemicals were being applied, she said.
‘The idea that pesticides can be applied safely to paddocks and not move ‘off target’ is perhaps one of the greatest cons perpetrated by the chemical industry and regulators on the Australian public and environment," Ms Immig said. "All ecological systems are inter-connected via the atmosphere, water and soil.’ “
'CHEMICALS THE MOST LIKELY CAUSE OF MYSTERY LEAF LOSS IN COTTON TOWNS, SECRET REPORT FINDS'
By Harriett Alexander, Sydney Morning Herald, 28 July 2020
#Chemicals #cotton #TreeDamage #Peppercorns #SprayDrift
"Chemicals used in cotton farming are the most likely cause of trees losing their leaves in parts of central western NSW and may pose a threat to human health, according to a government report that has been blocked from the public since it was circulated internally two years ago."
'ANY COTTON INDUSTRY IN THE NT FACES A COMMUNITY BACKLASH, FARMERS HAVE BEEN WARNED'
By Chris McLennan, Katherine Times, 15 July 2020
#Cotton #Unsustainable #GovernmentSubsidies #FishKill #DarlingRiver
"But Mr Fowler said cotton and other large scale agriculture had devastated the Murray-Darling system already.
'An independent assessment by the prestigious Australian Academy of Science assessed that the horrific mass fish kills along the Darling River last year were caused by over-extraction of water by irrigation upstream, stripping water from the river which was already impacted by drought,' he said.
'This is an unsustainable industry that benefits very few and is not labour intensive.
'Big cotton companies have already outlined in reports to the government that they are looking for large subsidies.
'For these industries to survive, they need large crops and huge infrastructure...' "
'THOUSANDS OF TREES IN RESERVE THREATENED BY HERBICIDE DRIFT'
Friends of the Earth, 25 June 2020
#HerbicideDrift #SprayDrift
"Friends of the Earth has uncovered a disturbing incident in the Holey Plains State Reserve, in Central Gippsland, Victoria. FoE has found an area of several hundred hectares, in the Reserve which appears to have been impacted by spray drift from an adjacent pine plantation which was recently aerially sprayed. Thousands of trees appear to have been impacted. The trees were slowly recovering after being severely burnt by bushfires which ravaged Holey Plains in early 2019.
...
"Pine plantations of this size are usually aerially sprayed with herbicides including Glyphosate, Metsulfuron Methyl and Clopyralid. Another herbicide Glufosinate Ammonium is also sometimes used. After the pines have been established for a year or two, aerial application of pellitised Hexazinone then occurs. Hexazinone will then leach into the soil for a many months.
...
"Friends of the Earth believes that the likely culprit of the spray drift is Glyphosate. A similar incident occurred in the King Lake National Park about 10 years ago."
'BAYER PAYS OUT $15.9B TO SETTLE ROUNDUP CANCER CLAIMS'
By national regional and rural affairs reporters Lucy Barbour and Kath Sullivan, ABC Rural, 25 June 2020
#Pesticides #Roundup #PersonalInjury #Cancer #ClassAction #Australia
"Bayer will also pay $US800 million ($1.16b) to settle claims involving the highly carcinogenic substance polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which have been found in US waterways and which Monsanto used to make.
Another $US400m ($582m) will go towards settling cases relating to damage caused to crops after the weedkiller Dicamba drifted onto nearby farms, killing plants not resistant to the herbicide.
...
The settlement will be of interest to claimants behind an Australian class action, which alleges Monsanto knew or should have known that Roundup was inherently unsafe and that the company failed to provide suitable directions for use.
Law firm Maurice Blackburn has launched a class action against Monsanto on behalf of people diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in Australia."
'COTTON SPRAY DRIFT ALLEGEDLY DEFOLIATING TREES NEAR NARROMINE'
By Jessie Davies, ABC Western Plains, 25 May 2020
#Cotton #Herbicides #SprayDrift #TreeDamage
"The Lower Macquarie Overspray Group believes the trees were damaged by herbicides applied by the region's cotton growers to defoliate their crop."
'AUSTRALIA THE NEXT LEGAL BATTLEGROUND OVER CLAIMS MONSANTO WEEDKILLER ROUNDUP CAUSES CANCER'
By national regional and rural reporter Jess Davis, ABC News, 23 February 2020
#Pesticides #Roundup #PersonalInjury #Cancer #ClassAction #Australia
'APIARIST CALLS FOR CHEMICAL FIPRONIL TO BE BANNED AFTER MILLIONS OF BEES DIE IN SOUTHERN NSW'
By Emily Doak and Rosie King, ABC Riverina, 18 June 2019
“In April, five apiarists, from near Griffith, lost the bees from 340 hives after they were poisoned by the pesticide Fipronil.
Ian Carter, a small-scale commercial apiarist providing pollination services to local farmers, said his business had been devastated by the loss of three quarters of his hives. ‘One drop of this poison from one bee that takes it back to the hive will then kill the whole hive,’ Mr Carter said.”
'A DRIFTING WEEDKILLER PUTS PRIZED TREES AT RISK'
By Dan Charles, NPR News, 27 September 2018
#Dicamba #SprayDrift #TreeDamage
"Last year, though, Hayes noticed that the trees didn't look right. Their needles were turning brown. Some were curling. 'Something was going on that never happened before,' he says.
Neighbors were talking about it. Everybody had a theory: disease; drought; insects. 'They thought of other things, but when it came down to it, it was a drifting chemical,' Hayes says.
The chemical is called dicamba. It's a weedkiller, and it blew in from nearby soybean and cotton fields."
“WHAT’S KILLING THE TREES?”
By Jeffrey King, The Land, 2 Jun 2018
“On our family property at Darlington Point pepper trees have thrived for more than 100 years. They are extremely hardy and drought tolerant. During recent autumns these trees, young and old, have suffered severe defoliation, sometimes to the point of apparent death. Miraculously most have recovered only to suffer the same fate the next year. Each year the trees become weaker and eventually die. We have now lost close to half of them.”
'DEATH FROM ABOVE'
By Christopher Collins, Texas Observer, April 2017
#Pesticides #Paraquat #Defoliant #cotton #ChemicalDrift #CropDusters #PersonalInjury #Cancer #Epidemic #PropertyDamage
"Kim Reiss, who runs a commercial organic garden in Quitaque, claims the pesticide made her nose bleed. 'That was so weird. I never have a bloody nose,' she said. Over the next few days, the fruits and vegetables in her garden began to die. The leaves of the plants were pocked with what she described as 'cigarette burns' that kept getting bigger. Reiss said she lost $8,000 worth of produce. That’s in addition to the adverse effects of being exposed to pesticides before the fall harvest each year, when farmers hire crop dusters to spray cotton fields. 'Usually, while they’re defoliating [the cotton], I spend a good portion of that time being sick,' she said. 'They call it allergies. I call it being defoliated. It’s a strange place to choose to live."
...
“An Observer investigation found that from 2013 to 2016, TDA received about 900 reports of pesticide drift statewide, and of those, 169 were cases in which people said they were involuntarily exposed to dangerous chemicals. Complainants reported asthma attacks, bleeding gums, headaches, burning rashes, vomiting and diarrhea. The reports, when taken together, appear to show that chemical drift is occurring on a large scale and making Texans sick.”
…
“Raymond Singer, a New Mexico neuropsychologist and neurotoxicologist who is an expert in human exposure to pesticides, said the issue could be reaching 'epidemic' proportions. 'This is an important problem,' he said. 'Whenever we introduce toxic chemicals into the environment, we have to be really careful that it doesn’t accidentally come into contact with people. We need to be careful of the effects of repeated exposures.' "
[Emphasis added]
' 'DEVASTATING' BEEHIVE LOSSES DUE TO INSECTICIDE DRIFT FROM COTTON FARMS, KEEPER SAYS'
by Sean Murphy, ABC Landline, 18 Feb 2017
#Cotton #Fipronil #Neonicotinoid #SprayDrift #Bees
"The largest commercial honey bee pollinator in one of Australia's key food bowls claims he can no longer base his 2,000 hive operation in the region because of chemical use by the emerging cotton industry.
Harold Saxvik's family has been keeping bees at Darlington Point in the New South Wales Riverina for more than 80 years.
In 2013, he lost 500 hives to insecticide spray drift which he believes came from nearby cotton farms.
...
The president of the New South Wales Apiarist's Association, Neil Bingley, said the cotton industry needed to do more.
'The cotton industry thinks that we're a small industry but when you take the pollination of all the other horticultural crops, we're a major player and Cotton Australia does not have the right to drive us out,' Mr Bingley said. He believes some cotton growers along the Murrumbidgee are still spraying up to nine times a season. 'Our biggest concern is the Fipronil. It doesn't take much of that spray at all, a light drift will kill thousands of hives,' Mr Bingley said."
'COTTON SPRAYING LIMITING PRODUCTION AT NELSON'S HONEY BOGGABRI'
By Sam Woods, Namoi Valley Independent, 11 January 2017
“Marlene Nelson has operated Nelson’s Honey in Boggabri for 50 years but said pesticide spraying is crippling their business. ’They [cotton growers] are wiping out our industry,’ Mrs Nelson said. ‘We are hardly getting any honey.’ "
'NELSON'S HONEY OWNER CALLS FOR ACTION OVER BOGGABRI BEE DEATHS'
Namoi Valley Independent, 6 March 2014
“The owner of Nelson’s Honey Factory at Boggabri is demanding answers after losing thousands of bees that she believes may have died from a cotton insecticide. Marlene Nelson is devastated after finding the bees dead in front of their hives during a routine inspection several weeks ago. … Around the time of the deaths, Marlene said she had noticed cotton spraying in the area and contacted the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) to investigate.”
'HOW DANGEROUS IS PESTICIDE DRIFT?'
By Nicole Kehoe, Burlington, Vt., Scientific American, 17 September 2012
#Pesticides #PesticideDrift #SprayDrift #VolatizationDrift'
"PAN cites research showing that upwards of 95 percent of applied pesticides miss their target, reaching nearby people and wildlife, waterways, soil and air instead. Besides this 'spray drift', PAN also warns of so-called 'volatilization drift' - whereby pesticides evaporate into the air from off of crops or out of the soil for up to several days following an application."
By Meg Wilcox, Environmental Health News, 16 Nov 2021
“Cities and counties are increasingly banning toxic pesticides — and some are taking aim at fertilizers. But industry attempts to buck local efforts remain a significant hurdle.
…
“As the movement matures, some cities and counties — including Maui; Stamford, Connecticut; and South Portland — are not simply prohibiting certain pesticides, which often leads to waivers or substitution with another toxic chemical, they're requiring local governments to use products certified by the USDA National Organic Program.
…
“Communities still face headwinds, however, from resistant public agencies that often lack training, staff, and resources, and are subject to the insidious influence of the pesticide industry and its proxies that seek to derail the movement. ..."
“WATER WOES”
By Phillip Adams, Late Night Live, ABC Radio National, 20 October 2021
Wherever cotton expands, it starts a cascade of problems and none more pressing than in parts of Northern Australia where food production, tourism and rivers are impacted as discussed in this Late Night Live interview.
"COULD CHLORPYRIFOS BE CONTRIBUTING TO THE OBESITY EPIDEMIC?"
By Olivia Rosane, EcoWatch, 15 October 2021
"It is widely known that the controversial pesticide chlorpyrifos harms children's brains, yet despite this, it was not banned on food in the U.S. until August of this year.
"A little more than a week later, new science published in Nature Communicationsrevealed the controversial pesticide could be contributing to another public health crisis.
" '[I]ts use may contribute to the obesity epidemic,' the study authors concluded."
“WHERE DOES PFAS POLLUTION COME FROM? NEW STUDY IDENTIFIES NEARLY 42,000 POTENTIAL SOURCES”
By Olivia Rosane, EcoWatch, 13 Oct 2021
#ForeverChemicals #PFAS #DrinkingWater
"Is your drinking water contaminated with toxic forever chemicals? A new study published in a special issue of the American Water Works Association Water Science journal Tuesday found that there were nearly 42,000 potential sources of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) pollution that could contaminate surface water or drinking water in the U.S.
...
"PFAS are a class of chemicals often used in stain or water repellents, non-stick products and firefighting foam, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). They are known as forever chemicals because they do not break down over time and tend to persist and accumulate in the environment and the human body."
“THE ‘EVERYWHERE CHEMICAL’ LINKED TO 100,000 PREMATURE DEATHS EACH YEAR”
By A Pawlowski, NBC News, 13 October 2021
#phthalates #everywherechemical
“Phthalates have been called “the everywhere chemical” because they’re used in hundreds of products — from toys and vinyl flooring, to shampoo and food packaging.
“Adults and children absorb them into their bodies through their skin, and by inadvertently eating and inhaling them.”
"LEGAL BATTLE LOOMS OVER OVERWATCH HERBICIDE SOME FARMERS SAY HAS DAMAGED THEIR CROPS"
By Angus Verley, ABC Rural, 7 Sep 2021
#Overwatch #Bleaching #ClassAction
“Debate over a new farm chemical [Overwatch] appears headed for the law courts, with a Sydney law firm this week asking grain growers to join a class action against the herbicide's manufacturer.”
“BIOSECURITY QUEENSLAND INVESTIGATING TWO SPRAY DRIFT COMPLAINTS IN NEW OUTBACK CROPPING AREA”
By Eric Barker, ABC North West Qld
25 Aug 2021
"Biosecurity Queensland has confirmed it has launched criminal investigations into two chemical spray drift complaints in one of the state's newest cropping areas.
...
"Third-generation Julia Creek cattle-producer Ryan Hacon said he had not been directly impacted by the problem, but it had been going on in the district for the past two years.
...
"Mr Hacon said he had flown over areas where trees and pasture had been damaged by herbicides drifting across boundary fences. '[It has damaged] mainly white woods and cork woods and trees like that,' he said. 'It also damages pastures, especially all the broad-leaf herbages we get after the wet that really put the weight on our cattle.'
"Mr Hacon said he would like to see more enforcement of regulations if the industry is going to develop further. 'There needs to be some sort of policing or structure if there are issues with drift,' he said. 'If there is an issue or a problem it needs to be solved quickly, instead of no-one knowing what to do.' "
"EVERYDAY CHEMICALS AND HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS 'TO BLAME FOR 450,000 EARLY DEATHS FROM POLLUTION A YEAR' "
By Kaya Burgess, Science Reporter, The Times, 27 July 2021
#PublicHealth #toxins
“Air pollution created by everyday items including cleaning fluids, grooming products, paints, glues, wood stoves and pesticides causes up to 450,000 premature deaths worldwide in cities including London, a study has found.
"The total death toll each year from a specific type of particle pollution known as manmade “secondary organic aerosols” (or ASOAs) is as high as 900,000, researchers have estimated, a figure ten times higher than previously thought.
"Around half of this pollution comes from vehicle exhausts, but an equally large amount comes from “everyday chemicals” in products we use in and around our homes, according to research led by scientists at the University of Colorado.
"It has prompted scientists to call for urgent action to identify the harm being caused to public health."
"MOISTURE BLAMED FOR OVERWATCH VOLATILITY"
By Shannon Beattie, The Land, 9 Jul 2021
Recent news from Western Australia and South Australia. Chemicals activating long after application times.
It will render the NSW EPA’s practice of only attending pollution notifications if they think the application has happened 2 days to 2 weeks prior to the noticed damage completely untenable.
How odd to blame 'moisture' when it's the pesticides that are causing the damage. Without moisture, no agriculture. Without trees, no agriculture.
“HOW PESTICIDES ARE HARMING SOIL ECOSYSTEMS”
By Meg Wilcox, Civil Eats, 4 June 2021
#pesticides #regenerativeagriculture
"Compiling data from nearly 400 laboratory and field studies, researchers at the Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Earth, and the University of Maryland found that pesticides harmed beneficial soil invertebrates in 70.5 percent of cases reviewed. Studies conducted in the field alone, however, resulted in fewer significant negative impacts (about 50 percent of cases reviewed).
“ 'What this study really drives home is that pesticide use is incompatible with healthy ecosystems, across organisms, pesticide classes, and a whole set of different health outcomes, including death,' said Kendra Klein, senior scientist at Friends of the Earth
and co-author of the study. 'We have to be talking about pesticide reduction in
conversations about regenerative agriculture.'
“ ‘A MONSTROUS ISSUE’: WHAT IS KILLING THE TREES IN THE COTTON BELT?”
By Harriet Alexander, Sydney Morning Herald, 31 May 2021
#defoliation #herbicides #NSWEPA
"Several landowners in Narromine have reported defoliation and scorch marks on their trees, grasses and vegetables, which they believe is caused by herbicides that are applied by crop duster planes to defoliate cotton crops. It has stoked tensions between landowners and the aerial operator."
“VIDEO OF CROP DUSTING PLANE FLYING NEAR NEIGHBOURS”
Sydney Morning Herald, 25 May 2021
“PESTICIDES THREATEN THE ‘FOUNDATIONS OF THE WEB OF LIFE’, NEW SOIL STUDY WARNS”
By Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams, 4 May 2021
#pesticides #monocultures
"Below the surface of fields covered with monoculture crops of corn and soybeans, pesticides are destroying the very foundations of the web of life," said study co-author Nathan Donley, a scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity, in a statement.
"Study after study indicates the unchecked use of pesticides across hundreds of millions of acres each year is poisoning the organisms critical to maintaining healthy soils," Donley added. "Yet our regulators have been ignoring the harm to these important ecosystems for decades."
"PLAN TO RELAX AUSTRALIAN RULES FOR CHEMICALS AND PESTICICIDES ATTACKED BY ENVIRONMENT GROUPS"
By Anne Davies, The Guardian, 4 April 2021
#Pesticides #APVMA #Paraquat #Parkinsons #Neonicotinoids #BeeDeaths
"Environment and health groups have fiercely criticised proposals to relax the regulation of chemicals and pesticides in Australia, saying they are “totally at odds” with public health and safety expectations. …
NTN coordinator Jo Immig wrote to Littleproud last month about her group’s concerns. '… The recommendations seek to place rapid access to Agvet chemicals above the protection of health and safety…’
For example most common neonicotinoids have been banned in the EU because of their impact on bee populations. They have recently been restricted in the US and Canada but are still permitted in Australia…
Paraquat, a herbicide used for weed control since 1961, has been banned in 30 countries and is on a restricted list in the US. In Australia it has been under review for 20 years by the authority and is still sold for commercial use.
One of the panel’s most controversial suggestions is to exempt consumer products from the new regulatory regime on the grounds that most are well tested around the world in agricultural settings before reaching supermarket shelves. …"
"A THIRD OF GLOBAL FARMLAND AT ‘HIGH’ PESTICIDE POLLUTION RISK"
By Kelly MacNamara, Phys.org, 29 March 2021
#farms #pesticide #pollution
“Researchers in Australia modelled pollution risk across 168 countries with data on the usage of 92 active pesticide ingredients and found ‘widespread global pesticide pollution risk’. …
The study, published in Nature Geoscience, found that overall 64 percent of global agricultural land —approximately 24.5 million square kilometres (9.4 million sq miles)—was at risk of pesticide pollution from more than one active ingredient, and 31 percent is at high risk.
‘It is significant because the potential pollution is widespread and some regions at risk also bear high biodiversity and suffer from water scarcity,’ said lead author Fiona Tang, of the University of Sydney's School of Civil Engineering.”
“ ‘A SIP CAN KILL: DID A CHEMICAL COMPANY MISREPRESENT DATA TO AVOID MAKING A SAFER PRODUCT?”
By Carey Gillam, The Guardian, 25 March 2021
#Paraquat #poison #Syngenta #Parkinsons
“If you ingest just three drops of paraquat you’re going to die,” said the US farmer Cameron Peirce who uses the chemical sparingly in his fields of canola and mung beans in Kansas.
Switzerland, the home base of the paraquat maker Syngenta, has banned the chemical since 1989, and it has been banned for use in the EU since 2007, because of paraquat’s deadliness. …
Paraquat exposure is also believed by some scientists to cause Parkinson’s disease, and Syngenta is facing litigation on that issue – though it denies responsibility.
Still, many countries allow wide use of paraquat, and the toll from paraquat poisonings is estimated at well into the thousands. The low cost and high toxicity makes paraquat a popular poison for people trying to kill themselves. Syngenta says it is just one of 377 companies worldwide that have registered paraquat for sale.
But now, internal corporate documents, obtained by a US law firm and provided to the Guardian, detail how the need for a safer formulation of Syngenta’s popular Gramoxone paraquat-based product has been the subject of in-depth company discussions for decades. Years of analysis and debate over the issue are laid out in the records, as are arguments about the accuracy of data presented to regulators, and strategies to avoid regulatory bans.
The documents, which date back to 1968, show that Syngenta and its predecessor corporate entities rejected or resisted many different options for changes to the formulations of Gramoxone, due, at least in part, to a desire to protect profits. Financial concerns were cited repeatedly in the discussions about formulation changes as company officials pushed to keep Gramoxone on the market despite mounting concerns about fatalities. …
The first case to go to trial over the allegations against Syngenta over paraquat and Parkinson’s is scheduled for 12 April in Illinois. The trial is very likely to be delayed due to precautions related to the Covid-19 virus, however, according to a court spokesperson.
That Illinois case – Hoffman V Syngenta – is one of several pending against Syngenta alleging the company’s paraquat products cause Parkinson’s disease. Syngenta was acquired by China National Chemical Corporation (ChemChina) in 2015, giving an added international twist to the litigation. ..."
'WHAT WILL IT TAKE FOR FARMERS TO GROW MORE ORGANIC COTTON?'
By Nicole Rasul, Civil Eats, 15 March 2021,
#organic #cotton #polycultures #biodiversity #ecosystemservices
“Organic farmers grow cotton in rotation with other crops while conventional producers are more likely to grow cotton in back-to-back seasons. Members of TOCMC also grow peanuts, wheat, corn, milo, forage sorghum, soybeans, black-eyed peas, and sesame.
These rotations mean more biodiversity, says Delate. As a result, organic farms contribute a range of ecosystem services to the regions where they are located. This approach has real and tangible impacts on soil, waterways, and human and animal health, the researcher said.”
'HUNDREDS OF VICTORIAN HOME GARDENERS OUT OF POCKET AFTER USING TOXIC COMPOST FROM MAJOR RECYCLER SUEZ'
By Ben Knight and Richard Willingham, ABC News, 14 February 2021
#Chemicals #Damage #BroadleafHerbicides #Herbicides
“The toxic substance is probably a powerful broadleaf herbicide, according to Chris Williams, a lecturer in Urban Horticulture at Melbourne University. 'Anecdotally, this pops up all the time,' he said.
Dr Williams has seen it firsthand, when plants at the University's Burnley campus died the same way three years ago. He says he is often sent emails from former students asking him about why certain vegetables aren't growing, and says the symptoms are exactly the same. He believes the contamination at Burnley came from pea straw treated with horse manure. 'Livestock are eating pasture that's been treated with these chemicals, which goes straight through them to the manure, and doesn't break down,' he said.
Phenoxy acid herbicides are sold in variations like aminopyralid, clopyralid, picloram, and triclopyr. They are restricted to agricultural and commercial use, but can find their way into green waste used to make compost.”
'THE CHEMICAL REPORT COTTON AUSTRALIA WON'T RELEASE'
By Harriett Alexander, Sydney Morning Herald, 28 July 2020
#Chemicals #cotton #CottonAustralia #SprayDrift
“Cotton Australia did its own investigations around the same time in response to community concerns, commissioning a researcher from the University of New England to inspect. But it has declined to release the report, despite numerous requests from the Lower Macquarie Overspray Group, which represents concerned locals.
…
National Toxics Network co-ordinator Jo Immig said spray could drift up to 20 kilometres in inversion levels. The EPA should have obtained spray application records to find out what chemicals were being applied, she said.
‘The idea that pesticides can be applied safely to paddocks and not move ‘off target’ is perhaps one of the greatest cons perpetrated by the chemical industry and regulators on the Australian public and environment," Ms Immig said. "All ecological systems are inter-connected via the atmosphere, water and soil.’ “
'CHEMICALS THE MOST LIKELY CAUSE OF MYSTERY LEAF LOSS IN COTTON TOWNS, SECRET REPORT FINDS'
By Harriett Alexander, Sydney Morning Herald, 28 July 2020
#Chemicals #cotton #TreeDamage #Peppercorns #SprayDrift
"Chemicals used in cotton farming are the most likely cause of trees losing their leaves in parts of central western NSW and may pose a threat to human health, according to a government report that has been blocked from the public since it was circulated internally two years ago."
'ANY COTTON INDUSTRY IN THE NT FACES A COMMUNITY BACKLASH, FARMERS HAVE BEEN WARNED'
By Chris McLennan, Katherine Times, 15 July 2020
#Cotton #Unsustainable #GovernmentSubsidies #FishKill #DarlingRiver
"But Mr Fowler said cotton and other large scale agriculture had devastated the Murray-Darling system already.
'An independent assessment by the prestigious Australian Academy of Science assessed that the horrific mass fish kills along the Darling River last year were caused by over-extraction of water by irrigation upstream, stripping water from the river which was already impacted by drought,' he said.
'This is an unsustainable industry that benefits very few and is not labour intensive.
'Big cotton companies have already outlined in reports to the government that they are looking for large subsidies.
'For these industries to survive, they need large crops and huge infrastructure...' "
'THOUSANDS OF TREES IN RESERVE THREATENED BY HERBICIDE DRIFT'
Friends of the Earth, 25 June 2020
#HerbicideDrift #SprayDrift
"Friends of the Earth has uncovered a disturbing incident in the Holey Plains State Reserve, in Central Gippsland, Victoria. FoE has found an area of several hundred hectares, in the Reserve which appears to have been impacted by spray drift from an adjacent pine plantation which was recently aerially sprayed. Thousands of trees appear to have been impacted. The trees were slowly recovering after being severely burnt by bushfires which ravaged Holey Plains in early 2019.
...
"Pine plantations of this size are usually aerially sprayed with herbicides including Glyphosate, Metsulfuron Methyl and Clopyralid. Another herbicide Glufosinate Ammonium is also sometimes used. After the pines have been established for a year or two, aerial application of pellitised Hexazinone then occurs. Hexazinone will then leach into the soil for a many months.
...
"Friends of the Earth believes that the likely culprit of the spray drift is Glyphosate. A similar incident occurred in the King Lake National Park about 10 years ago."
'BAYER PAYS OUT $15.9B TO SETTLE ROUNDUP CANCER CLAIMS'
By national regional and rural affairs reporters Lucy Barbour and Kath Sullivan, ABC Rural, 25 June 2020
#Pesticides #Roundup #PersonalInjury #Cancer #ClassAction #Australia
"Bayer will also pay $US800 million ($1.16b) to settle claims involving the highly carcinogenic substance polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which have been found in US waterways and which Monsanto used to make.
Another $US400m ($582m) will go towards settling cases relating to damage caused to crops after the weedkiller Dicamba drifted onto nearby farms, killing plants not resistant to the herbicide.
...
The settlement will be of interest to claimants behind an Australian class action, which alleges Monsanto knew or should have known that Roundup was inherently unsafe and that the company failed to provide suitable directions for use.
Law firm Maurice Blackburn has launched a class action against Monsanto on behalf of people diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in Australia."
'COTTON SPRAY DRIFT ALLEGEDLY DEFOLIATING TREES NEAR NARROMINE'
By Jessie Davies, ABC Western Plains, 25 May 2020
#Cotton #Herbicides #SprayDrift #TreeDamage
"The Lower Macquarie Overspray Group believes the trees were damaged by herbicides applied by the region's cotton growers to defoliate their crop."
'AUSTRALIA THE NEXT LEGAL BATTLEGROUND OVER CLAIMS MONSANTO WEEDKILLER ROUNDUP CAUSES CANCER'
By national regional and rural reporter Jess Davis, ABC News, 23 February 2020
#Pesticides #Roundup #PersonalInjury #Cancer #ClassAction #Australia
'APIARIST CALLS FOR CHEMICAL FIPRONIL TO BE BANNED AFTER MILLIONS OF BEES DIE IN SOUTHERN NSW'
By Emily Doak and Rosie King, ABC Riverina, 18 June 2019
“In April, five apiarists, from near Griffith, lost the bees from 340 hives after they were poisoned by the pesticide Fipronil.
Ian Carter, a small-scale commercial apiarist providing pollination services to local farmers, said his business had been devastated by the loss of three quarters of his hives. ‘One drop of this poison from one bee that takes it back to the hive will then kill the whole hive,’ Mr Carter said.”
'A DRIFTING WEEDKILLER PUTS PRIZED TREES AT RISK'
By Dan Charles, NPR News, 27 September 2018
#Dicamba #SprayDrift #TreeDamage
"Last year, though, Hayes noticed that the trees didn't look right. Their needles were turning brown. Some were curling. 'Something was going on that never happened before,' he says.
Neighbors were talking about it. Everybody had a theory: disease; drought; insects. 'They thought of other things, but when it came down to it, it was a drifting chemical,' Hayes says.
The chemical is called dicamba. It's a weedkiller, and it blew in from nearby soybean and cotton fields."
“WHAT’S KILLING THE TREES?”
By Jeffrey King, The Land, 2 Jun 2018
“On our family property at Darlington Point pepper trees have thrived for more than 100 years. They are extremely hardy and drought tolerant. During recent autumns these trees, young and old, have suffered severe defoliation, sometimes to the point of apparent death. Miraculously most have recovered only to suffer the same fate the next year. Each year the trees become weaker and eventually die. We have now lost close to half of them.”
'DEATH FROM ABOVE'
By Christopher Collins, Texas Observer, April 2017
#Pesticides #Paraquat #Defoliant #cotton #ChemicalDrift #CropDusters #PersonalInjury #Cancer #Epidemic #PropertyDamage
"Kim Reiss, who runs a commercial organic garden in Quitaque, claims the pesticide made her nose bleed. 'That was so weird. I never have a bloody nose,' she said. Over the next few days, the fruits and vegetables in her garden began to die. The leaves of the plants were pocked with what she described as 'cigarette burns' that kept getting bigger. Reiss said she lost $8,000 worth of produce. That’s in addition to the adverse effects of being exposed to pesticides before the fall harvest each year, when farmers hire crop dusters to spray cotton fields. 'Usually, while they’re defoliating [the cotton], I spend a good portion of that time being sick,' she said. 'They call it allergies. I call it being defoliated. It’s a strange place to choose to live."
...
“An Observer investigation found that from 2013 to 2016, TDA received about 900 reports of pesticide drift statewide, and of those, 169 were cases in which people said they were involuntarily exposed to dangerous chemicals. Complainants reported asthma attacks, bleeding gums, headaches, burning rashes, vomiting and diarrhea. The reports, when taken together, appear to show that chemical drift is occurring on a large scale and making Texans sick.”
…
“Raymond Singer, a New Mexico neuropsychologist and neurotoxicologist who is an expert in human exposure to pesticides, said the issue could be reaching 'epidemic' proportions. 'This is an important problem,' he said. 'Whenever we introduce toxic chemicals into the environment, we have to be really careful that it doesn’t accidentally come into contact with people. We need to be careful of the effects of repeated exposures.' "
[Emphasis added]
' 'DEVASTATING' BEEHIVE LOSSES DUE TO INSECTICIDE DRIFT FROM COTTON FARMS, KEEPER SAYS'
by Sean Murphy, ABC Landline, 18 Feb 2017
#Cotton #Fipronil #Neonicotinoid #SprayDrift #Bees
"The largest commercial honey bee pollinator in one of Australia's key food bowls claims he can no longer base his 2,000 hive operation in the region because of chemical use by the emerging cotton industry.
Harold Saxvik's family has been keeping bees at Darlington Point in the New South Wales Riverina for more than 80 years.
In 2013, he lost 500 hives to insecticide spray drift which he believes came from nearby cotton farms.
...
The president of the New South Wales Apiarist's Association, Neil Bingley, said the cotton industry needed to do more.
'The cotton industry thinks that we're a small industry but when you take the pollination of all the other horticultural crops, we're a major player and Cotton Australia does not have the right to drive us out,' Mr Bingley said. He believes some cotton growers along the Murrumbidgee are still spraying up to nine times a season. 'Our biggest concern is the Fipronil. It doesn't take much of that spray at all, a light drift will kill thousands of hives,' Mr Bingley said."
'COTTON SPRAYING LIMITING PRODUCTION AT NELSON'S HONEY BOGGABRI'
By Sam Woods, Namoi Valley Independent, 11 January 2017
“Marlene Nelson has operated Nelson’s Honey in Boggabri for 50 years but said pesticide spraying is crippling their business. ’They [cotton growers] are wiping out our industry,’ Mrs Nelson said. ‘We are hardly getting any honey.’ "
'NELSON'S HONEY OWNER CALLS FOR ACTION OVER BOGGABRI BEE DEATHS'
Namoi Valley Independent, 6 March 2014
“The owner of Nelson’s Honey Factory at Boggabri is demanding answers after losing thousands of bees that she believes may have died from a cotton insecticide. Marlene Nelson is devastated after finding the bees dead in front of their hives during a routine inspection several weeks ago. … Around the time of the deaths, Marlene said she had noticed cotton spraying in the area and contacted the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) to investigate.”
'HOW DANGEROUS IS PESTICIDE DRIFT?'
By Nicole Kehoe, Burlington, Vt., Scientific American, 17 September 2012
#Pesticides #PesticideDrift #SprayDrift #VolatizationDrift'
"PAN cites research showing that upwards of 95 percent of applied pesticides miss their target, reaching nearby people and wildlife, waterways, soil and air instead. Besides this 'spray drift', PAN also warns of so-called 'volatilization drift' - whereby pesticides evaporate into the air from off of crops or out of the soil for up to several days following an application."