Dursban: Poisoning Case Studies

Exposure Case Study - Available for More Than 20 Years, Pesticide Dursban Is Taken Off Market

The case of chlorpyrifos, commonly known as Dursban, which has been on the market for more than 20 years and has been the most widely used pesticide in homes and schools, highlights how Americans have been exposed to what is now considered a substance not appropriate for most consumer uses.

Subject:    Exposure Case Study
Date:       Thu, 22 Jun 2000 21:24:31 -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 on just one of your "registered" POISONS entitled: Exposure Case Study - Available for More Than 20 Years, Pesticide Dursban Is Taken Off Market - By Dana Warn.

Within months, though, 4-year-old James began grinding his teeth at night and having headaches and vomiting spells. Joe developed asthma-like symptoms. Severe fatigue, headaches and blurred vision plagued Yvette.

Eventually, they were diagnosed with pesticide poisoning by Dr. Stuart Lanson, a Scottsdale physician who specializes in environmental illness. Tests of the air inside their home and other records revealed Dursban and other pesticides had been used several times in their home for termites before they moved in, says Crozier.

Each year, hundreds, maybe thousands, of people are poisoned by pesticides in their homes. Many are not as fortunate as Crozier and his family, and are misdiagnosed and treated for problems such as chronic fatigue and asthma. The Environmental Protection Agency is reviewing the risks associated with thousands of pesticide uses while Americans continue to be exposed to these potentially toxic compounds.

Earlier this month, the Environmental Protection Agency announced a phase-out of most home and garden uses of Dursban. As part of the review required by the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act, the EPA reviews pesticides to ensure that uses consider children’s safety.

The EPA found chlorpyrifos to be unsafe for children. It was the third organophosphate pesticide to be restricted under this act.

“Children are not just small adults,” said EPA Administrator Carol Browner when announcing the phase-out. “Their bodies are still developing and are more susceptible to risks from toxic chemicals. They play on floors and in yards where pesticides have been applied. And they eat proportionately more food with respect to body weight than adults do.”

But Dow AgroSciences, based in Indianapolis, Ind., stands by the safety of its product. The company reached an agreement with the EPA about the product because regulators in the United States were determined to use safety standards many times those accepted elsewhere, Dow AgroSciences spokesman Garry Hamlin says.

More than 6 percent of the pesticide-related calls to poison control, or approximately 7,000 calls a year, were related to the pesticide, according to the EPA. About 200 acute cases each year require special medical attention.

Although the cause or medical attention received is not recorded, symptoms of poisoning from organophosphate pesticides, such as chlorpyrifos, include headaches, dizziness, muscle twitching, tremors, nausea, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, sweating, blurred vision, and tightness in the chest according to the Dow AgroSciences Web site.

Chronic effects, however, are far more difficult to quantify, says Adam Goldberg, a policy analyst with Consumers Union, a consumer advocacy group in Washington, D.C. A person who has been sprayed with pesticides is in some ways easier to treat, because the cause is clear.

Crozier contends that people who react to pesticides used in their homes often are not diagnosed, because so few doctors are aware of the symptoms associated with long-term, low-level pesticide poisoning.

Only about 5 percent of doctors are familiar enough with environmental illness to readily diagnose the problem, according to Dr. William Rea, a practicing thoracic and cardiovascular surgeon who started the Environmental Health Center, in Dallas. He says he treats, on average, more than 1,000 people a year from all over the United States for pesticide problems alone. Many had been misdiagnosed with illnesses ranging from headaches to chronic fatigue, asthma, and heart irregularities, he says.

Developed by Dow AgroSciences in 1963, chlorpyrifos has been used against insects, such as cockroaches, termites, ticks, fleas, fire ants and spiders, and is present in 800 insecticide products.

Approximately 24 million pounds of chlorpyrifos have been applied each year in the United States; roughly half in non-agricultural settings like homes, lawns, parks, schools, day-care centers, pet collars, and restaurants, according to the EPA.

The phase-out will end most uses of chlorpyrifos in schools and parks, as well as in homes and yards. But products containing the chemical can still be sold until the end of the year. Consumer Union’s Adam Goldberg praised the phase-out but wished all non-agricultural uses had been banned immediately.

Chlorpyrifos, marketed as Lorsban, still will be used on every major agricultural crop, except tomatoes, with minor changes in the use on apples and grapes, Hamlin says. The company also will continue to market chlorpyrifos for all registered uses outside the United States.

The EPA is reviewing more than 10,000 different pesticide uses, a process they are required to complete in six years. The agency already is behind schedule, Goldberg says.

The length of each review varies depending on the number of comments received, says EPA spokeswoman Ellen Kramer. The public can still provide comments about risk management strategies for chlorpyrifos for 60 days before the EPA issues a final re-registration for all uses of the pesticide.

But Crozier, who evacuated his home in 1997, doesn’t think the chlorpyrifos decision addresses the real problem. “If the industry is not made to pay for the injuries that Dursban has caused, then the same sequence of events will be played out with Dursban’s replacement. And the next pesticide,” Crozier says.

Until the product is removed from the market, the Environmental Protection Agency suggests that if your home was recently sprayed, you can protect yourself by increasing the air circulation inside and by sealing areas near the treatment site.

Puddles, stains or other signs of a chemical spill can be a tip-off of improperly applied pesticides, expert say, as well as persistent chemical odors.

Smell, however, may not always be the best indicator. Smell, which usually is the result of an additive, can disappear but the pesticide may still be pervasive.

Bill Quarles, executive director of the Bio-Integral Resource Center, an integrated pest management organization, based in Berkley, Calif., says simple measures such as regular cleaning, sealing food containers, and sealing openings where pests enter, can prevent major pest infestations.

If a problem does start, Quarles recommends less toxic products, like mint oil, which works on contact to kill insects and disperses quickly. Used in toothpaste, mint oil has very low toxicity for humans. (That is why Kleen Kill Peppermint Soap works so well!)

Bait station systems are another less toxic alternative to organophospate pesticide sprays, Quarles says.

The EPA says changes to the agricultural application of chlorpyrifos should limit dietary risk from chlorpyrifos.

But a recently released Consumers Union report says the problem is much more pervasive, saying pesticide residues on foods that children eat regularly often exceed safe levels.

The highest levels of chlorpyrifos were detected on apples from New Zealand, grapes from Chile, and domestically grown soybeans, according to a Consumers Union analysis of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 1998 data on pesticide residues.

Food such as peaches, apples, grapes, pears, spinach and green beans also had high levels of pesticides overall, including chorpyrifos, while bananas, broccoli, canned peas, canned peaches, canned corn, milk and orange juice had lower residue levels.

Consumers Union recommends parents select low residue foods for children. High residue (contaminated) foods should be peeled and washed, and organically grown varieties of high residue foods should be considered, the report says.

Original story appears at: http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/living/DailyNews/dursban000621.html

Well Lyndon, what do you think you should say to the innocent victims who were routinely exposed to your "registered" POISONS for years and years! Do you really think in your heart of hearts that you are or have been protecting the people and the environment of California?

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