Risks from Pesticides

Archived studies and news reports that expand the scope of Environment & Human Health, Inc.'s (EHHI) research reports about health and the environment.

 

Nancy Alderman talks about pesticide risks
Did you know that if pesticides are used anywhere in a community, those pesticides can end up in ground water shared by that community? Alderman describes how well-meaning individuals can be fooled by pesticide and lawn care marketing. Click here to listen to Nancy Alderman's interview with Food Sleuth Radio host Melinda Hemmelgarn, R.D.

EHHI releases brochure on the dangers of Roundup
Roundup is the the trade name for the weed-killer glyphosate. Glyphosate has been deemed a probable carcinogen by the World Health Organization (WHO). Products containing glyphosate are among the most commonly applied lawn and garden herbicides. EHHI is calling for new policies to better protect the public from harmful exposures. Click here to read EHHI's press release.

Bayer’s new Roundup products more toxic than prior formulations
New Roundup weed-killing products marketed in the U.S. contain chemicals that pose greater health risks to people than prior formulations suspected of causing cancer. Friends of the Earth found the added chemicals (banned in the E.U.) have been shown to cause a variety of health problems, including reproductive defects, kidney and liver damage and neurotoxicity. Click here to read the article.

L.L. Bean is promoting clothing impregnated with the insecticide permethrin – What could go wrong?
Permethrins also known as pyrethroids are a much-used insecticide. Now it is being impregnated in clothing and advertised as protecting the wearer from being bitten by mosquitoes and ticks. What are the risks of wearing clothing impregnated with the toxin permethrin? Click here to read EHHI's OpEd.

Roundup linked to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
Bayer, the owner of Monsanto, appears to be planning to settle lawsuits alleging that glyphosate, the active ingredient in the company’s popular Roundup pesticide, causes cancer. Recently, courts awarded massive amounts of money in damages to the plaintiffs. Click here to read more.

 

Common Pesticides Linked to Heart Disease Risks
A 14-year study in JAMA International Medicine foound that pyrethroids, a type of pesticide commonly used in consumer products and on crops, are associated with an increased risk of death. People with the highest exposures are three times more likely to die from heart disease. Click here to read more.

EPA ignores scientific evidence on Chlorpyrifos
Dow Chemical successfully lobbied the EPA to reverse its proposed ban on the insecticide Chlorpyrifos. The pisticide is widely sprayed on corn, soybeans, trees, and other crops. Children exposed to Chlorpyrifos and other neurotoxic pesticides exhibited neurological developmental issues. Click here to read a case history from the Union for Concerned Scientists.

 

Glyphosate (Roundup) linked to celiac disease
Researchers note an alarming rise in the incidence of celiac disease in the United States and elsewhere in recent years, and theorize that gluten intolerance is due to an increased burden of herbicides, particularly glyphosate exposure in the diet. Glyphosate has also been linked to Parkinson’s disease, infertility, depression, and cancer. Click here for story.

 

Atrazine joins Glysophate on list of toxic pesticides
The state of California has been working to list atrazine — the United States' second most-widely used herbicide — as toxic to the reproductive system under the state's Proposition 65. The World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified glyphosate — the active ingredient in the pesticide Roundup — as a probable human carcinogen. Click here for news story.

Cancers in dogs linked to chemical pesticide-treated lawns
A study at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine found that lymphoma in animals is directly correlated with some lawn care chemicals. Avoid products that include 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), an endocrine-disrupting herbicide. Researchers suggest that owners who use herbicides should allow lawns to dry before allowing pets to walk on the grass. Wash the dog's feet every time it comes inside. Alternate weekly treatments to front and back yards to reduce exposures. Click here for news story.

Connecticut Pesticide Notification Registry
The pesticide pre-notification registry allows Connecticut residents to be notified when their abutting neighbors have their property commercially treated with pesticides. Click here for the registration form to sign up on the CT Pesticide Notification Registry

News items are not independently verified by EHHI and inclusion on this site does not constitute an endorsement.