House Bill 1456: Pesticide Moratorium
Imagine a NH Free of Toxic Pesticides
The House Environment and Agriculture Committee heard testimony on HB 1456 on February 11, 2010. This bill called for establishing a study committee to focus on protecting the health of our children from the overuse of pesticides and herbicides in NH. The LEAH Collective presented this bill and Rep. Suzanne Smith sponsored it. NOFA-NH was in support of this bill. The bill was scheduled for the day’s first hearing at 9 AM, and because of the large amount of testimony both against and in favor of this bill, the hearing went past noon, bumping three other hearings into the afternoon.
The testimony ranged from personal stories of illness caused by exposure to pesticides to statistics that spoke of the enormous amounts of chemicals applied in homes, and public and private lawns and landscapes. Paul Tukey, founder of SafeLawns and producer of the movie, A Chemical Reaction (which screened the night of the hearings), testified to the effects lawn chemicals had on his son when Tukey was a professional lawn care provider. Other landcare providers testified that they saw no effects from the usage of chemicals, and that they in particular were careful when applying the chemicals. One after another, which is the legislative process, people spoke either against or for this bill, telling their stories. The hearing was powerful and packed, standing room only. This bill went to interim study, which will start in April. NOFA-NH will keep you updated on this website for future actions on this bill.
Background:
Every year American homeowners use approximately 100 million pounds of pest/herbicides in non-agricultural residential and commercial lawns and gardens, playgrounds, public parks. This is four time the application per square foot than in agricultural usage.(1) Pest/herbicides are used in approximately 90% of households in this country.
Commonly used home and garden pesticides include Glyphosate-(Roundup)15% of which is comprised of a surfactant called polyoxethyleneamine (POEA) which is 3 x more acutely toxic than the active ingredient (glyphosate) itself. 2-4-D is a possible carcinogen and endocrine disruptor, pendimethylin is a Pre-emergent chemical to control weeds such as crabgrass and a Class C- Possible Human carcinogen, Chlorpyrifos was most widely used insecticide in U.S. with over 30 million lb/yr. used annually. Dursban is an organophosphate insecticide. Once inside animals, it is transformed into chlorpyrifos-oxon, which is 300x more powerful than chlorpyrifos itself. Commonly used in kitchen, bath and living spaces.
Pesticide drift occurs from neighbors' yards even if pesticides are not used in the home. Laws governing pesticide drift are rarely enforced. Children's cumulative exposure rate increases as they walk to school, while at school on the playground and sports fields, and during after-school activities. Pesticides exposure occurs through inhalation, ingestion and dermal absorption.(2)(3)
Increased vulnerability of children shown in a 1993 National Academy of Sciences report. Children's “difference in size, immaturity of biochemical and physiological functions in major body systems, and variation in body composition.” (4) have greater exposures to pesticides than adults
due to diet and behavior, and they are physiologically more vulnerable to pesticide toxicity. (5)Short-term exposure at pivotal times during physiological development was studied by(he National Academy of Sciences, the Ontario College of Family Physicians, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, McGill University increasingly indicates that children are vulnerable to chronic pesticide exposure as well. 6)(7)(8)(9)
Pesticides and neurological health and memory function Perri Ruckart in an article published in Environmental Health Perspectives found that children in Missippi and Ohio where organophosphate insecticide was sprayed found that affected children had greater difficulty with tasks involving short-term memory and sustained attention than children in unaffected areas.(10) Another study correlated short-term memory function and hand-eye coordination to pesticide exposure. (11)
CANCER and HERB/PESTICIDES Numerous epidemiological studies, in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Environmental Health Perspectives, and Human & Experimental Toxicology, have examined pesticide exposure and incidences of various forms of childhood cancer, including leukemia, brain tumors, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. A recent study concluded that there is a significant association between prenatal exposure among women who are regularly exposed to pesticides in their occupation and childhood leukemia.(12)
Childhood brain tumors (CBT) are also an area of substantial research, and an extensive study found that children exposed to organophosphorus pesticides “in combination with a reduced ability to detoxify them may be associated with CBT.”(13)
Childhood asthma According to research compiled by Beyond pesticides a national advocacy group working to reduce pesticide exposures, asthmatics are especially sensitive to pesticides and risk attacks when exposed to even small amounts of pesticides. Pest/herbicides can trigger asthma attacks by increasing airway hyper-reactivity, which makes the airway very sensitive to any allergen or other stimulus. Researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have shown that pesticides alter the nerve function controlling the smooth muscle lining of the airway, causing the airway to contract and restrain airflow.
Another study examined over 4,000 school-aged children in California, finding children exposed to herbicides during their first year of life are four and a half times more likely to be diag nosed with asthma before the age of five; toddlers exposed to insecticides are over two times more likely to get asthma. (14)
Reproductive health. Pesticide exposure has been linked to breast cancer, interruption of reproductive hormones, and immune system function. Nora Benachour and Gilles-Eric Sellini of the University of Caen found that even the most minute exposure to multiple formulations of Roundup, produced death of umbilical, placental and fetal cells. This product is often marketed as a quickly dissipating and relatively safe product. (14a) A recent article in Chemical Research in Toxicology determined that glyphosate-based pesticide RoundUp causes cell death in umbilical cord cells.(15)
600 pesticide active ingredients are currently registered with the EPA. These chemicals are mixed together and combined with inert ingredients to produce more than 20,000 commercial pesticides used on our lawns, gardens, playgrounds, food, and in our homes.(16) The inert ingredients in Round up are actually more damaging part of the mix killing umbilical, embryonic and placental cells within 24 hours in low doses typical of pesticide applications. The EPA is considering legislation on inert ingredients
The EPA does not conduct independent reviews of pesticides, manufactures present data based on animal testing extrapolated to healthy men of 160 lbs., this does not include children, women or seniors or anyone compromised immune systems due to illness or disease.
SYNERGY No reviews of the synergistic effects of multiple chemicals or the inert ingredients. Synergy in herb/pesticide exposure means the combination of more than one acute ingredients used in typical pesticide company formulas makes products even more toxic. Our understanding of toxicity should not be based on testing single chemicals on laboratory animals in a controlled environment. This does not take into account physiological differences between children and sexes, the synergistic interaction between chemicals, and the chronic effects of pesticide exposure.
Connecticut has banned herb/pesticides on all school properties pre-school thru middle school. The provinces of Ontario and Quebec, cities like Toronto, Montreal, Halifax and hundreds of other Canadian municipalities have revised their pesticide codes to ban numerous products that we commonly use in the US. The EU is working on a ban of certain products.
Waterville Valley has twice voted at Town Meeting for a Sense of the Meeting to vote in an organic program only. Kensington, NH organic playing field programs Marblehead Ma, Wellesley MA, Camden ME and numerous towns in New Jersey have instituted no-spray policies on town properties. Like our historic presidential primary, we in New Hampshire have the opportunity to be at the forefront of public debate on the issue of children and safety and pesticides.
Links for more information on some of the supporters of NH HB #1456 and other advocacy groups:
http://www.beyondpesticides.org Excellent downloadable, easy to read report on asthma and pesticides
http://www.panna.org/ Pesticide Action Network
http://www.safelawns.org Paul Tukey’s Safelawns -national group dedicated to organic lawn care
http://www.cape.ca Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment
http://www.nofanh.org
Citations
(1) National Coalition for Pesticide-Free Lawns. http://www.beyondpesticides.org/pesticidefreelawns/
(2)Sanborn, Margaret D. “Identifying and managing adverse environmental health effects: 4. Pesticides”, Canadian Medical Association Journal 2002; 116(11) 1432.
(3) Landrigan et al. “ Pesticides and Inner-City Children: Exposures, Risks, and Prevention” Environmental Health Perspectives 1999; 107(3) 432.
(4) Health Effects of 30 Commonly Used Lawn Pesticides. http://www.beyondpesticides.org/lawn/factsheets/30health.pdf
(5) Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children. Committee on Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children, National Research Council. The National Academies Press, 1993.http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=2126&page=R1
(6) See above citation: http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=2126&page=R1
(7) Pesticides Literature Review; A Systematic Review of Pesticide Human Health Effects. The Ontario College of Family Physicians. 2004. http://www.ocfp.on.ca/local/files/Communications/Current%20Issues/Pestic...
(8) Nielsen, Susan Searles et al. “Childhood Brain Tumors, Residential Insecticide Exposure, and Pesticide Metabolism Genes,” Environmental Health Perspectives 118 (2010): 144-148.
(9) Infante-Rivard, Claire et al. “Pesticides and Childhood Cancer: An update of Zahn and Ward's 1998 Review,” Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health 10 (2007): 81-99.
(10) Ruckart, Perri Zeitz et al. “Long-term neurobehavioral health effects of Methyl Parathion Exposure in Children in Mississippi and Ohio,” Environmental Health Perspectives 112(2004): 46-51.
(11) Carozza, Susan E. et al. “Risk of Childhood Cancers Associated with Residence in Agriculturally Intense Areas in the United States,” Environmental Health Perspectives 116(2008): 559-565.
(12) Wigle, Donald T. et al. “A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Childhood Leukemia and Parental Occupational Pesticide Exposure,” Environmental Health Perspectives 117(2009): 46-51.
(13) Neilsen, Susan Searles et al. 118 (2010).
(14) Asthma, Children and Pesticides. Beyond Pesticides, 2005. http://www.beyondpesticides.org/children/asthma/asthma%20brochure%20high...
(14a) Benachour, Nora et al. “Glyphosate Formulations Induce Apoptosis and Necrosis in Human Umbilical, Embryonic, and Placental Cells,” Chemical Research in Toxicology 22(2009): 97-105. www.agridigest.com
(15) Landrigan, Philip J. “Pesticides and Inner-city Children: Exposures, Risks and Prevention,” Environmental Health Perspectives 107(1999): 431-438.
(16) see (14a)
