Policy and Politics - HH-RA.org

Bibliography Tag: policy and politics

Beck, 2018

Madelyn Beck, “Federal Suit Alleges Companies Knew Dicamba Would Drift, Monsanto Created Monopoly,” KUNC Radio, August 8, 2018.

SUMMARY:

Describes court documents filed August 2018 on two “master complaints” in the dicamba drift Multi District Litigation (MDL) pending in federal court. The first complaint is a crop damage class action, and the second alleges antitrust violations. Lawyers representing the plaintiffs allege that defendants Monsanto and BASF are “commercializing a product that literally destroys its competition.” FULL TEXT

Polansek, 2018

Tom Polansek, “U.S. seed sellers push for limits on Monsanto, BASF weed killer,” Reuters, August 16, 2018.

SUMMARY:

Reports on the 2018 dicamba drift crisis and the decision by two large U.S. seed sellers to urge EPA to ban dicamba use overtop of growing resistant crops. Harry Stine, CEO of Stine Seeds, says : ““I’ve been doing this for 50 years and we’ve never had anything be as damaging as this dicamba situation. In this case, Monsanto made an error.” FULL TEXT

Chow, 2018

Lorraine Chow, “Top Seed Companies Urge EPA to Limit Dicamba,” EcoWatch, August 17, 2018.

SUMMARY:

Reports on comments by top seed companies in U.S. to EPA urging they ban dicamba use in summer and fall. Includes a statement by Beck’s Hybrids, the largest seed company in the U.S.. FULL TEXT

Stone et al., 2014

Wesley A. Stone, Robert J,. Gillom, and Karen R. Ryberg, “Pesticides in U.S. Streams and Rivers: Occurrence and Trends during 1992−2011,” Environmental Science & Technology, 2014, 48, DOI: 10.1021/es5025367

ABSTRACT:

During the 20 years from 1992 to 2011, pesticides were found at concentrations that exceeded aquatic-life benchmarks in many rivers and streams that drain agricultural, urban, and mixed-land use watersheds. Overall, the proportions of assessed streams with one or more pesticides that exceeded an aquatic life benchmark were very similar between the two decades for agricultural (69% during 1992−2001 compared to 61% during 2002−2011) and mixed-land-use streams (45% compared to 46%). Urban streams, in contrast, increased from 53% during 1992−2011 to 90% during 2002−2011, largely because of fipronil and dichlorvos. The potential for adverse effects on aquatic life is likely greater than these results indicate because potentially important pesticide compounds were not included in the assessment. Human-health benchmarks were much less frequently exceeded, and during 2002−2011, only one agricultural stream and no urban or mixed-land-use streams exceeded human-health benchmarks for any of the measured pesticides. Widespread trends in pesticide concentrations, some downward and some upward, occurred in response to shifts in use patterns primarily driven by regulatory changes and introductions of new pesticides. FULL TEXT

Landrigan, 2018

Philip J. Landrigan, “Pesticides and Human Reproduction,” JAMA Internal Medicine, 2018, 178:1, DOI:10.1001/jamainternmed.2017.5092

SUMMARY:

Invited commentary by Managing Weeds for Healthy Kids science team member Dr. Landrigan reports that herbicide use has increased sharply, with glyphosate use up 250-fold from 1974 to 2014. And, “measurable levels of multiple pesticides are found in the bodies of nearly all Americans…and pesticides are capable of causing a wide range of asymptomatic effects at levels of exposure too low to produce overt signs and symptoms.” New theories suggest that long term exposure to pesticides cause this kind of subclinical toxicity. Dr. Landrigan reviews the known linkages, including in utero chlorpyrifos exposure leading to neurodevelopmental deficits, and reproductive injury including adverse birth outcomes and birth defects. He recommends: “We need to overcome the strident objections of the pesticide manufacturing industry, recognize the hidden costs of deregulation, and strengthen requirements for both premarket testing of new pesticides, as well as postmarketing surveillance of exposed populations— exactly as we do for another class of potent, biologically active molecules—drugs.” FULL TEXT

Kriebel et al., 2016

David Kriebel, ScD, Polly J. Hoppin, ScD, Molly M. Jacobs, MPH, Richard W. Clapp, DSc, “Environmental and Economic Strategies for Primary Prevention of Cancer in Early Life,” Pediatrics, 2016, 138:s1, DOI: 10.1542/peds.2015-4268

ABSTRACT:

This article summarizes the evidence for environmental toxic exposures contributing to cancers in early life, focusing on the most common cancer sites in this age group. It provides examples of widespread avoidable exposures to human carcinogens through air, water, and food and then describes recent examples of successful initiatives to reduce exposure to chemicals linked to these cancer sites, through government policy, industry initiatives, and consumer activism. State government initiatives to reduce toxic chemical exposures have made important gains; the Toxics Use Reduction Act of Massachusetts is now 25 years old and has been a major success story. There are a growing number of corporate initiatives to eliminate toxics, especially carcinogens, from the products they manufacture and sell. Another important opportunity for cancer prevention is provided by online databases that list chemicals, their toxicity, and lower-toxicity alternatives; these can be used by businesses, health care institutions, consumers, and workers to reduce exposures to chemicals of concern. The article concludes by inviting pediatricians and public health professionals to include elimination of carcinogen exposures in their work to promote primary prevention of cancer in early life. FULL TEXT

Gillam, 2018

Carey Gillam, “Weedkiller found in granola and crackers, internal FDA emails show,” The Guardian, April 30, 2018.

SUMMARY:

A Freedom of Information Act request for internal FDA emails shows that recent testing for glyphosate residues in foods has revealed that “FDA has had trouble finding any food that does not carry traces of the pesticide.” This is the first wide-scale quantification of herbicide residues in foods, and internal emails show that FDA scientists tested many common foods during informal testing to validate the process the agency would use to test official samples. These samples are not “official” and would not be included in the upcoming residue report. Some results have been above the legal threshold, such as a sample of corn where glyphosate was detected at 6.5 ppm, well over the legal limit of 5.0 ppm. The FDA is also expanding residue testing for dicamba and 2.4-D as use of these herbicides is expected to rise in the near future with the introduction of new GE crops that are resistant to these active ingredients. FULL TEXT

Di Renzo et al., 2015

Gian Carlo Di Renzo, Jeanne A. Conry, Jennifer Blake, Mark S. DeFrancesco, Nathaniel DeNicola, James N. Martin Jr., Kelly A. McCue, David Richmond, Abid Shah, Patrice Sutton, Tracey J. Woodruff, Sheryl Ziemin van der Poel, Linda C. Giudice, “International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics opinion on reproductive health impacts of exposure to toxic environmental chemicals,” International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, 2015, 131, DOI: 10.1016/j.ijgo.2015.09.002

ABSTRACT:

Exposure to toxic environmental chemicals during pregnancy and breastfeeding is ubiquitous and is a threat to healthy human reproduction. There are tens of thousands of chemicals in global commerce, and even small exposures to toxic chemicals during pregnancy can trigger adverse health consequences. Exposure to toxic environmental chemicals and related health outcomes are inequitably distributed within and between countries; universally, the consequences of exposure are disproportionately borne by people with low incomes. Discrimination, other social factors, economic factors, and occupation impact risk of exposure and harm. Documented links between prenatal exposure to environmental chemicals and adverse health outcomes span the life course and include impacts on fertility and pregnancy, neurodevelopment, and cancer. The global health and economic burden related to toxic environmental chemicals is in excess of millions of deaths and billions of dollars every year. On the basis of accumulating robust evidence of exposures and adverse health impacts related to toxic environmental chemicals, the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) joins other leading reproductive health professional societies in calling for timely action to prevent harm. FIGO recommends that reproductive and other health professionals advocate for policies to prevent exposure to toxic environmental chemicals, work to ensure a healthy food system for all, make environmental health part of health care, and champion environmental justice. FULL TEXT

Loomis et al., 2015

Dana Loomis, Kathryn Guyton, Yann Grosse, Fatiha El Ghissassi, Véronique Bouvard, Lamia Benbrahim-Tallaa, Neela Guha, Heidi Mattock, Kurt Straif, “Carcinogenicity of lindane, DDT, and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid,” The Lancet, 2015, 16, DOI: 10.1016/S1470-2045(15)00081-9.

SUMMARY:

Summarizes the findings of 26 experts from 13 countries who met at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC; Lyon, France) to assess the carcinogenicity of the insecticides lindane and 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl)ethane (DDT), and the herbicide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) for IARC Monographs Volume 113. 2,4-D was classified as “possibly carcinogenic to humans” (Group 2B) after some studies showed links to cancers including non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. FULL TEXT

Robinson et al., 2012

CJ Robinson, M Antoniou, MEM Habib, CV Howard, RC Jennings, C Leifert, RO Nodari, and J Fagan, “Teratogenic Effects of Glyphosate-Based Herbicides: Divergence of Regulatory Decisions from Scientific Evidence,” Environmental and Analytical Toxicology, S:4, 2012, DOI: 10.4172/2161-0525.S4-006.

ABSTRACT:

The publication of a study in 2010, showing that a glyphosate herbicide formulation and glyphosate alone caused malformations in the embryos of Xenopus laevis and chickens through disruption of the retinoic acid signalling pathway, caused scientific and regulatory controversy. Debate centred on the effects of the production and consumption of genetically modified Roundup Ready® soy, which is engineered to tolerate applications of glyphosate herbicide. The study, along with others indicating teratogenic and reproductive effects from glyphosate herbicide exposure, was rebutted by the German Federal Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety, BVL, as well as in industry-sponsored papers. These rebuttals relied partly on unpublished industry-sponsored studies commissioned for regulatory purposes, which, it was claimed, showed that glyphosate is not a teratogen or reproductive toxin.

However, examination of the German authorities’ draft assessment report on the industry studies, which underlies glyphosate’s EU authorisation, revealed further evidence of glyphosate’s teratogenicity. Many of the malformations found were of the type defined in the scientific literature as associated with retinoic acid teratogenesis. Nevertheless, the German and EU authorities minimized these findings in their assessment and set a potentially unsafe acceptable daily intake (ADI) level for glyphosate. This paper reviews the evidence on the teratogenicity and reproductive toxicity of glyphosate herbicides and concludes that a new and transparent risk assessment needs to be conducted. The new risk assessment must take into account all the data on the toxicity of glyphosate and its commercial formulations, including data generated by independent scientists and published in the peer-reviewed scientific literature, as well as the industry-sponsored studies. FULL TEXT

Bibliography Index