Study links contamination to potato spraying
The air of Prince Edward Island is contaminated with toxic pesticides routinely sprayed on area potato farms, federal scientists have found.
Subject: Study links contamination to potato spraying...............
Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 12:12:40 -0400
From: Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide Regulationcc: Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov
Dear Mr. Helliker, I thought you might like to read an article dated: Sep. 6, 2001. 02:01 AM from the Toronto Star entitled: Pesticides foul air in P.E.I. - Study links contamination to potato spraying by Kelly Toughill.
ATLANTIC CANADA BUREAU HALIFAX - The air of Prince Edward Island is contaminated with toxic pesticides routinely sprayed on area potato farms, federal scientists have found.
Chemicals used to kill insects, fungus and weeds were discovered in the air of three small towns near Summerside during surveys conducted in the late 1990s by Environment Canada. One fungicide - a carcinogen called chlorothalonil - was detected at the end of a wharf in a community where potatoes aren't even grown.
The study was obtained by Earth Action, a local environmental group, through an access-to-information request.
``These tests prove beyond a doubt that people living near potato fields are routinely exposed to pesticides in the air they breathe,'' Earth Action founder Sharon Labchuk said yesterday.
``This means thousands of people . . . are breathing contaminated air.''
Labchuk has led a crusade against heavy pesticide use on the island for years.
Prince Edward Island is one of the most intensely farmed areas of Canada, with potatoes grown inside the city limits of both Charlottetown and Summerside.
Pesticide runoff from fields has been blamed for repeatedly killing the wildlife in local rivers and along shorelines, but the federal study is the first proof that the chemicals are also contaminating the air.
Ivan Noonan, general manager of the P.E.I. Potato Board, said yesterday he hadn't seen the report.
``I breathe the same air as Sharon Labchuk breathes and I'm not worried,'' he said.
``Growers have just come through tremendously hard times, with the border closed last year and a drought this year,'' he added. ``The problem she is raising is very minor in people's lives. On a scale of one to 10, it's a negative.''
Tod Fraser, head of air quality and hazardous materials for the provincial government, said he was only vaguely aware of the study that one of his staff helped co-ordinate.
``There's always been a concern about what airborne levels of pesticides might be, so someone just decided to conduct a little study to see if anything was there,'' he said.
Fraser said he didn't know why the study stopped after 1999, or if the chemicals pose a danger to people.
One of the chemicals detected at every sampling site is a fungicide called chlorothalonil.
The U.S. government classifies the fungicide as a probable carcinogen, saying it can cause severe eye and skin irritation, that it is particularly dangerous if inhaled and that it may cause reproductive problems.
Well Mr. Helliker, as I was being driven through California's agricultural zones, I kept nodding off and had severe breathing problems even though we kept the windows closed and the vents off. Anyone could test your air in any of these zones and find harmful levels of "registered" pesticide POISON contamination. When will it be "legal" (in your opinion) to use safe and far more effective alternatives to actually control pest problems in California?
Respectfully, Stephen L. Tvedten
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