Please comment on the enclosed 3 brief articles and why you still insist only "registered" poisons must be used to "control" pest problems in California.
Steve Tvedten of Get Set, Inc.'s email to Lyndon Hawkins of the California Department of Pesticide Regulation "Poisoning the Air: Airborne Pesticides in California" report by the California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG) and Californians for Pesticide Reform (CPR).
Questions have been asked of the California Department of Pesticide Control since Fontana Unified School District declined to consider a pesticide free IPM program because of the Department of Agriculture's opinion about only utilizing registered pesticides to eliminate pests. The California Department of Pesticide Regulation has remained silent and not responded to these issues:
Subject: Immunotoxic Effects of Dursban, etc.
Date: Tue, 02 Feb 1999 09:35:59 -0500
From: Rosalind Tvedten <stvedten@earthlink.net>
Organization: Get Set Inc.To: hawkins@empm.cdpr.ca.gov
CC: wilkie_larry@saturn.fontana.k12.ca.us,
"Marion Moses, M.D." <pec@pesticides.org>,
"Doris J. Rapp, M.D." <drrappmd@aol.com>,
Jay Feldman <ncamp@igc.apc.org>,
Will Snodgrass <lookusup@bigsky.net>,
Robert McClintock <rmcclintock@northmont.k12.oh.us>,
Cynthia Stoddard Fitzgerald <cfitzge562@aol.com>,
Norma Grier <info@pesticide.org>,
Linda Jensen-Pascarella <info@safe2use.com>,
"Robert L. Laing" <"71674,1365"@compuserve.com>,
"Robert K. Simon, Ph.D." <ETIRKS@aol.com>,
"Claire W. Gilbert" <blazingt@concentric.net>,
Donnelly Hadden <dwhadden@umich.edu>,
"Eric W. Acosta" <EBugs@aol.com>,
"Janette Sherman, M.D." <toxdocjs@aol.com>,Lyndon Hawkins:
Is it still illegal in California to wash your can? If so, please comment on the enclosed 3 brief articles and why you still insist only "registered" poisons must be used to "control" pest problems in California.
====================================================
Immunotoxic Effects of ("registered") Dursban
In a study by the Department of Health Science at California State University, individuals were studied for abnormalities in their immune system function for 1 to 4.5 years after they became ill when their home or place of employment was treated with the organophosphate pesticide Dursban (also called chlorpyrifos).Immediately following each patient's exposure to the pesticide ("registered" poison), common complaints included: an initial flu-like illness followed by chronic complaints of fatigue, headaches, dizziness, loss of memory, upper and lower respiratory symptoms, joint and muscle pain and gastrointestinal disturbances.
The subjects were found to have an elevated number of CD26 cells and a higher rate of autoimmunity [when the person's own immune system mistakenly makes antibodies which attack their own body problems] compared with two other control groups.
Autoantibodies were found toward: smooth muscle, parietal cell, brush border, thyroid gland, myelin, and ANA.
While 83% of the pesticide exposed people were found to have autoantibodies in their blood, in comparison, only 15% of the non-exposed control group had such antibodies.
Fifty percent (50%) of the pesticide exposed people were also found to have two or more autoantibodies in comparison to only four percent (4%) for the non-exposed group.
In conclusion the researchers stated:
"the presence of several different types of autoantibodes, e.g., antimyelin, antismooth muscle, anti brush boarder, andantimicrosomal, indicates that GENERALIZED TISSUE INJURY has occurred.
Moreover, these identical observations have been made in additional chlorpyrifos patients. Thus, chlorpyrifos (Dursban), as used in pesticide spray, should be examined more closely as a probable immunotoxin."
[Additional research concluded that the immunotoxic qualities may extend a decade or longer after exposure].
--SOURCE: Archives of Environmental Health, 48(2):89-93,
March/April 1993.Jack D. Thrasher Ph.D., Roberta
Madison, Alan Broughton Department of Health Science,
California State University.====================================================
EPA BANS INDOOR USE OF PESTICIDES
"...There are many different classes of ("registered') pesticides, including: organochlorines (DDT, chlordane, and mirex); organophosphates (parathion and diazinon); carbamates (aldicarb, carbaryl, and carbofuran); pyrethroids (permethrin and cypermethrin); and other agents.
...Following a large single exposure, ("registered") pesticides can cause headaches, dizziness, muscle twitching or weakness, tremors, coordination problems, uncontrolled eye movements, blurred vision, rashes, seizures, and other serious health problems.
Long-term exposure to smaller amounts (of "registered" poisons) in air, food, or water can cause chronic headaches, irritation to the eyes and breathing passages, disorders of the brain and nerves, damage to the liver and kidneys, cancer, chromosome injury, infertility, and damage to the immune system.
Sometimes, as older pesticides ("registered" poisons) are phased out because of toxicity, their replacements are ultimately found to be just as toxic. This was the case with chlorpyrifos [Dursban], an organophosphate that became popular as chlordane was phased out.
Once widely used as a pesticide ("registered" poison) in household and professional applications, chlorpyrifos was found to accumulate heavily on surfaces long after it was applied.
Persons who were overexposed to chlorpyrifos suffered headaches, dizziness, muscle twitching, vomiting, blurred vision, and other problems....
To protect children from chlorpyrifos overexposure, the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and pesticide manufacturers agreed in 1997 to ELIMINATE chlorpyrifos in broadcast pesticide products, such as foggers, as well as in pet products, such as flea dips and shampoos.
Like chlorpyrifos, pesticides that are sprayed indoors may remain suspended in the air for SEVERAL DAYS [in some studies, as long as TWO weeks] after application.
Eventually these chemicals ("registered" poisons) SETTLE on floors, toys dropped on floors, food left uncovered on countertops, and many HOUSEHOLD SURFACES. They can also enter your home on shoes that have been in contact with pesticide-treated grass.
Pesticides ("registered" poisons) sprayed outdoors can accumulate in water used for drinking, cooking, and bathing, and they can coat the surfaces of produce sold at your grocery store or farm stand."
====================================================
--Source: http://kidshealth.org/parent/safety/environ.html
From Kidshealth.org, the experts at the Nemours Foundations, in association with their sister site, KidsHealth at the AMA, which was developed by two of the nation's most trusted health authorities, The AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION and The Nemours Foundation
. =====================================================Judge: Regulate ("registered") Pesticides Ruling: Warnings expected on chemicals ("registered" poisons) that may cause birth defects.
SACRAMENTO (AP) - California must begin regulating common ("registered") pesticides suspected of causing birth defects, a state judge has ruled. The ruling Friday is expected to lead to consumer warnings on 50 chemicals ("registered" poisons) used on carrots, potatoes, rice and tomatoes that account for one-eighth of pesticides used in the state, lawyers for environmental groups say. A study three years ago by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency has found that the chemicals ("registered" poisons) could cause birth defects. In this lawsuit, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Environmental Defense Fund claimed that the health risks required the state to regulate the chemicals ("registered" poisons) under Proposition 65, the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act.
Sacramento County Superior Court Judge James T. Ford gave the California Environmental Protection Agency until June 30 to complete its analysis of the chemicals ("registered" poisons).A spokesman for the agency played down the significance of the lawsuit. "It accomplishes what we are doing anyway - a complete analysis of the chemicals ("registered" poisons) by the end of the fiscal year," said Jim Spagnole of the state EPA.
Proposition 65 doesn't ban the use of toxic chemicals, but it does have a deterrent effect. Manufacturers often remove products ("registered" poisons) rather than face negative publicity. "Once chemicals ("registered" poisons) are listed and warning reqired, the likelihood is that there will be much less usage," said David Roe of the Environmental Defense Fund. Chemicals listed as potential causes of birth defects can't be released into drinking water systems. One of the ("registered" poisons) pesticides on the list, metham sodium, was responsible for killing a huge number of fish in 1991 when thousands of gallons spilled into the Sacramento River after a train derailed near Dunsmuir.
Another chemical on the list, a popular ("registered") weedkiller, has contaminated water supplies and led to the closing of about 60 wells in California, said Gina Solomon, a senior scientist with the National Resources Defense council.
Published Sunday, October 11, 1998, in the San Jose Mercury News.
Mr. Hawkins,
I still have not received an answer to any of the other letters and e-mails I have sent you. Awaiting your replies, I remain Respectfully,
Stephen L. Tvedten
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