Pesticides: Affecting children - Autism, Asthma, Leukemia and more

Subject:   "Registered" Pesticide Poisons and Children's Chronic
Disorders---
Date:      Thu, 27 Apr 2000 09:53:01 -0400
From:        Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization:     Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)

To:     Lyndon Hawkins <hawkins@empm.cdpr.ca.gov>
          Senior Research Scientist
          State of California, Department of Pesticide Regulation - Integrated Pest Management

Dear Lyndon, are you aware California is having an Autism epidemic? I thought you might be interested in the following article entitled: Pesticides and Children's Chronic Disorders - Missouri-SMPL, Inc., dated April 12, 2000.

Pesticide exposure has been linked to a number of chronic health problems that include cancer, birth defects, endocrine disruption, asthma, neurological & psychiatric disorders, immune system deficiencies and even reduced intellect.

A 1987 study sponsored by the National Cancer Institute found that children living in homes where garden pesticides were used had as much as a six-fold greater chance of developing childhood leukemia.(1) In another study, researchers found that the risk of childhood brain cancer increased two-to-four-fold in families that used no-pest strips, pesticide bombs, garden pesticides, flea collars and certain head lice pesticides.(2)

"Concerns about carcinogenicity have dominated discussions about the risks posed by toxic substances. However, the adverse effects on organs & organ systems, particularly the nervous system, may pose an equal or greater threat to public health." This quotation comes from the US Office of Technology Assessment 1990 Congressional Report titled, "Neurotoxicity, Identifying and Controlling Poisons of the Nervous System". Pesticides were among those neurotoxic substances this Congressional Report focused on stating "Neurotoxic substances play a SIGNIFICANT CAUSAL ROLE in the DEVELOPMENT of NEUROLOGICAL & PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS; however, the precise extent of the contribution is unclear. What scientific & epidemiological data there are suggest pesticide poisoning prevails despite existing protective measures. Even minor changes in the structure or function of the nervous system may have PROFOUND CONSEQUENCES FOR NEUROLOGICAL, BEHAVIORAL & RELATED FUNCTIONS. Toxic substances CAN alter the normal activity of the nervous system. Some produce effects that occur almost immediately and last for several hours. The effects of other neurological substances may appear only after repeated exposures over weeks or even years. Fetuses & children are in the high risk group of being adversely affected by neurotoxic substances. Children's nervous systems are particularly vulnerable because it is actively growing & establishing cellular networks, the blood-brain barrier that protect much of the adult brain & spinal cord from some toxic substances has not been fully formed, & detoxification systems are not completely developed. Additionally those persons suffering from neurological or psychiatric disorders, are at risk because neurotoxic substances may EXACERBATE existing problems." Movement, thought, vision, hearing, speech, heart function, respiration, & numerous other physiological processes are controlled by the nervous system. <http://www.ota.nap.edu/pdf/data/1990/9031.PDF>

Dr. Philip J. Landrigan, noted Pediatrician and Director of the Academic Center for Children's Health and the Environment at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine was quoted in a 1999 press release as saying "We KNOW that chemicals such as lead, PCB'S, mercury & certain PESTICIDES CAUSE some fraction of developmental disorders". This press release went on later to state Mount Sinai conference participants were examining KNOWN & potential links between toxins & neurological disorders such as Autism, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Parkinson's disease. <http://www.mssm.edu/cpm/599cnfpr.htm>

In a 1998 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Press Release it says pesticides affect the endocrine system, reduce intellectual development and cause damage to the central nervous system. It states two of the most important areas of children's environmental health are the causes of asthma and the effects of pesticide exposure. This PR describes several research centers that have received grants to improve the nations understanding on environmental issues and examine children's vulnerabilities to environmental threats.*

President Clinton has issued a federal mandate that children's health and environmental issues be given national priority.<http://www.epa.gov/children/whatwe/executive.htm>. Because of this national agenda, the Environmental Protection Agency now has an Office of Children's Health Protection<http://www.epa.gov/children>. As a protection for children from environmental threats they state "Don't use pesticides if you don't have to - look for alternatives" and "Don't allow children in fields, orchards and gardens after pesticides have been used". <http://www.epa.gov/children/whatwe/tips.htm>.

Even with these reports, studies, conferences, press releases, children's EPA and the Presidents federal directives and priorities many athletic fields used for children and many schools continue to use pesticides in a regularly scheduled maintenance program. Not only do we need to educate groups but also provide some assistance & incentive to learning new ways to enable them to to accomplish these goals and protect our children.

Missouri-SMPL hopes to create incentives, provide assistance and promote awareness of these issues to demonstrate to our communities how these goals can be accomplished in Missouri.

Parents wanting to join a list serve group that looks at how environmental factors are affecting children can join 4MOM (Mothers of Many) by going to:4MOM-subscribe@egroups.com To view the list serve go to: http://www.egroups.com/group/4MOM

Sue Carroll
Founder/Program Manager Missouri-SMPL, Inc.
SMPL (Safer Management of Pests and Landscapes) can be quite SiMPLe!
PO Box 27
Morse Mill, Missouri 63066-0027

*To see the EPA Press Release regarding pesticide effects including reduced intellectual development and the research centers, go to: www.epa.gov;select News; Then select News & Events; then select EPA Press Releases; then select EPA Headquarters Press Releases; then select the year 1998; and then select the month of August. Scroll down the list of press releases until you get to the one for August 10.

(1) Lowengart, R., et al. 1987. Childhood leukemia and parents'occupational and home exposures. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 79: 39-46.

(2) Davis, J.R., et al. 1993. Family pesticide use and childhood brain cancer. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 24 (February): 87-92.

Well Lyndon, what is stopping you from "legally" allowing the use of safe and far more effective alternatives to your dangerous "registered" POISONS? Surely it is not the fact that your "registered" POISONS are dangerous even when used according to their labels. Surely it is not the fact that your "registered" POISONS are continually contaminating the environment and harming people. Surely it is not the fact that your "registered" POISONS are quickly becoming totally ineffective in "controlling" pest problems. I would like to point out that Dr. Steve Valles noted in the April, 2000 issue of Pest Control that ("registered") insecticide resistance, which is defined as a genetic change that results in control failure in the field, is one of the most important problems facing entomologists today. There are more than 500 arthropod species that have developed resistance to ("registered") insecticides and the number is growing at an exponential rate. I would like to add that we consider less than a 1,000 insect pest species to be "pests"! So much for your "registered" POISONS "benefits and/or efficacy"! I have field tested over 1700 safe and far more effective alternatives that can control even "resistant" species.

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