Organophosphates Linked To Brain Damage

 

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Subject:   Your "Registered" Organophosphates Linked To Brain Damage----
Date:       Sat, 03 Jun 2000 11:55:01 -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, I thought you might like to read an article entitled: OP sheep-dip linked with brain damage.

There have been numerous anxious enquiries to PEX  Action on Pesticide Exposure (a project of Pesticide Action Network UK) following the recent Select Committee on Agriculture’s recommendations that OP sheep-dip should be returned to the market.  Within a week, these fears have been justified. On Farming Today (and subsequently reported elsewhere) a report of research by Dr Peter Julu and Dr Sarah Mackenzie-Ross implicates OP sheep-dip in brain damage leading to psychological problems, and autonomic nervous system damage, causing fatigue and muscle pain.

The Autonomic Function Test developed by Dr Peter Julu of the Dept of Neurology at the Central Middlesex Hospital was originally designed to detect damage due to diabetes.  Applied to OP exposure victims, the researchers found a pattern which has been confirmed in 60 cases now.

‘When were witness to COT, we had examined just 15 patients’, he says. ‘We were asked if long-term, low-dose exposure to OPs causes autonomic nervous damage. We gave evidence that yes, there is damage. What the committee chose to do with that evidence is up to them.We have been accused of having a crusade against the agrochemical industry. But if this test becomes a diagnostic tool, funded by the NHS, we won’t receive any more such accusations.'

Dr Sarah Mackenzie-Ross has examined 20 patients, and found significant verbal memory impairment, consistent with damage to the sub-cortical region of the brain. Dr. Mackenzie-Ross believes this is an area which has not been identified in earlier research.  Commenting on COT’s conclusions that low-dose exposure does not cause neuropsychological damage, or the existence of clinically significant effects of performance in tests, Dr Mackenzie-Ross says ‘The battery of tests I am using is very comprehensive. This area has not been studied at all and more research is needed.'

Pesticide exposure reporting form For detailed advice about what to do if you are exposed to pesticides, and an electronic pesticide incident reporting form visit the PEX part of our website. This is a ‘fast-track’ way of getting help.

• We can advise you on your rights and what to expect.

• We will put pressure on the relevant enforcement agency to take action.

• All the facts you give us will be carefully checked.

• With your permission, the incident will be added to our database.

• Unless the incident was recent, we may not be able to help.

 David Allen, Office Manager
Pesticide Action Network UK
(formerly the Pesticides Trust)
Eurolink Centre
49 Effra Road
London SW2 1BZ
Tel: +44 (0)20 7274 8895
Tel: +44 (0)20 7274 9084
Email: davidallen@pan-uk.org

Join our free on-line Pesticide Information Updates Service at:

http://www.pan-uk.org

Well Lyndon, Chronic exposure to OPs causes autonomic nervous damage.  Yet you never required any such tests before you "registered" these neuro-toxins. Would you be kind enough to explain why?

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