Steve Tvedten responds to Forbes editorial encouraging continued pesticide spraying

 

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Subject:   Let Us (NOT) Spray POISONS-----
Date:        Sat, 19 Aug 2000 14:48:50 -0400
From:        Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization:     Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)

To:     Letters   letters@forbesdigital.com

Dear Editor, I would like to comment on your recent article dated: August 21, 2000, entitled: "Let us spray" you published as follows:

If the EPA wants to protect asthmatic kids, why cut off the most effective insecticide?

Let Us Spray - By Michael Fumento

CHILDHOOD ASTHMA RATES, particularly among the nation's poor, have rocketed--thanks largely to feces left by cockroaches. You'd think the feds would do anything they could to protect kids from these little fiends.

Instead, the Environmental Protection Agency is phasing out the most effective roach killer--the insecticide chlorpyriphos--for use in household products. Made chiefly by Dow AgroSciences under the trade name Dursban, it's used in more than 800 products and is applied an estimated 20 million times a year to homes and schools.

Why? Because the EPA has determined that high concentrations of chlorpyriphos may cause brain damage in the children of ... rats. Extrapolating the case to kids is a scientifically indefensible--and an economically reprehensible--action.

The usual maximum allowable exposure to a pesticide is ten times lower than the highest level shown to have no effect on human test subjects, if human data are available. In this case there were three clinical studies by Dow that showed no adverse effects on people, even at the highest doses. But the agency looked only at animal studies, also by Dow, where it found no harmful results at similar exposure levels when adjusted for body weight.

Using animal-only data allowed the EPA to add an additional tenfold factor to account for possible disparate effects on humans and animals. In moving to ban chlorpyriphos it added yet a third tenfold safety factor, reducing the maximum human exposure to 30 nanograms per kilogram of body weight per day.

Protecting children is a vital mission. But the EPA unfairly drew its conclusions on the basis of one out of more than 100 studies Dow has submitted over the past few years. One result showed reduced weight and higher death rates in rat offspring (or pups) when pregnant mothers had massive doses of chlorpyriphos pumped directly into their stomachs. "The mothers were all flagrantly poisoned, and it shouldn't surprise anyone that they were less able to nourish their offspring as a result," says Dr. Michael Mullins, a toxicologist at Washington University in St. Louis.

A second result showed that one part of the brain of rat offspring whose mothers had chlorpyriphos pumped into their bellies was slightly thinner than the control. But this occurred at the middle dose, not at the high dose. Mullins thinks it was either a statistical fluke or a problem in accurately measuring something so tiny.

"The losers in this are the public," says Robert Krieger, a toxicologist at the University of California, Riverside. "No doubt Dow and the EPA will do fine." Not to mention the roaches.

Original article at:  http://www.forbes.com/forbes/00/0821/6605069a.htm

My Comments:

First of all, I do not believe even people in pest control would say that chlorpyrifos was their most effective insecticide for roach control! I think most of the professionals will now tell you they rely on baits. I would like to note that no one ever tests the complete poison formula even for acute (one-time) toxicity. The manufacturer does (or hires) the acute testing of only the active pesticide ingredient which may be less than 1% of the entire poison formula and EPA reLIES on those results. The chronic (long-term) health effects, the metabolites, synergistic health effects, contaminants, and all of the "inerts" (which may be far more deadly to us) are simply ignored. There simply is no logical or scientific basis to say that any pesticide poison formula is "registered" So I ask why would any sane person continue to spray any "registered" POISONS?

Second, I do not think asthmatics should breathe chlorpyrifos. I seem to recall an old Dursban label that noted this active ingredient can also cause asthmatic attacks. Many active poison ingredients and many of the unlisted "inerts" and/or contaminants can cause asthma attacks. So why spray any "registered" POISONS?

Third, I believe that there are cockroach infestations that are totally resistant to synthetic pesticide poison sprays e.g., chlorpyrifos, if this were not true, why would anyone and/or any of the poison applicators have to spray your property on a regular basis? By the way it is against the federal law to say that even the labeled use of any "registered" POISON is "safe". I would also like to point out that POISONS do not "protect" they KILL! Think for a moment. If after all of the 20 million applications per year of just chlorpyrifos, we STILL have the same cockroach/pest problems - isn't it obvious that these POISONS are not "effective" and will never even control much less eliminate any pest problems?. We have sprayed billions of pounds of just the active POISON ingredients and have never eliminated even one "pest". We have however eliminated or endangered people, pets, wildlife and created super pests that are thriving because of our vain attempts to "control" them. The pests are flourishing while we are sick or dying because of our "controls". It is now considered "normal" for most Americans to have readable levels of chlorpyrifos and 500-1000 other synthetic poisons in our blood and adipose tissue (fat). If these dangerous POISONS do not even control the pest problems - why continue to spray any more "registered" volatile POISONS and contaminate our world and people more?

Fourth, even if chlorpyrifos still worked, and if you could actually kill all of the cockroaches, you would have to breathe their decomposing bodies (allergens) in two months - so why "kill" them with any volatile "registered" POISON?

Fifth, I have safely and far more effectively removed all pests inside and outside in over 350 schools without ever using any volatile "registered" POISONS. I never could obtain this level of pest control using "registered" POISONS! I have found that if you trap cockroaches or vacuum them up you can safely completely eliminate the cockroaches and significantly reduce the cockroach allergens, one way to safely and far more effectively to remove all of the cockroaches is to leave all the regular lights off and then one hour after dark come in with a vacuum and a red light. Now simply vacuum them up (they can not see you in the red light but, you can see and vacuum them), Do not let the breeze formed by the vacuum blow in front of you - it will scare the roaches. Do this tonight and you will safely and effectively eliminate about 90%, do it next week and you will take the other 6% and do it in two weeks and you will remove the last 4%. If you are using a Rinse and Vac, put some soapy water in your container before you begin.. If you are using a dry (HEPA) vacuum, put a tablespoon of baking soda, flour or talcum powder (dust) in the canister first. The dust or soapy water will kill even resistant roaches. Throw away the vacuum bag and dust and allergens in the trash or empty the soapy water and dead roaches and allergens in the toilet. If you caulk all the cracks and crevices where you saw them emerging or entering you will greatly eliminate the possibility of any future infestations. Once you have controlled and/or eliminated your roach problem, you can inspect your unit on a monthly basis with the red light and vacuum as needed. If you have roaches in your drains; the new foaming drain cleaners will kill any/all the roaches in the drains.

I have developed, field tested and/or researched over 1700 safe and far more effective alternatives to "registered" POISONS. My website is http://www.getipm.com.

Finally Dear Editor, why you would advocate in your wonderful magazine that we should continue to needlessly POISON ourselves, families, pets and neighbors by paying anyone to POISON us at least 20 million times per year just with chlorpyrifos and yet we STILL have the same pest problems? Why should we have to use any "registered" volatile POISONS that can not even solve the roach/ feces/allergen problems? If you are really concerned about the poor, the above vacuum technique will safely and effectively solve all of their roach/asthma/allergen/POISON problems for FREE! To advocate paying someone to continue to spray any volatile POISON that has not been completely tested and can not ever be called "safe" rather than actually and safely controlling the pest problem is what I call scientifically indefensible and economically reprehensible! I want to PROTECT kids not POISON industry profits! The public can not and obviously will not lose anything by using safe and far more effective alternatives to "registered" POISONS but, obviously some of the POISON producers, some of the "regulators" and some of the "scientists" will.

Respectfully, Stephen L. Tvedten
President of Get Set, Inc.
President of The Institute of Pest Management. Inc.
President of Safe Solutions, Inc

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