HEALTH HAZARDS FROM FLEA AND TICK PRODUCTS
PARENTS CAN HELP PROTECT CHILDREN FROM TOXINS
Subject: Several articles from Birth Defect News
Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2001 13:40:28 -0500
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 Regulation
cc: Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov
Dear Mr. Helliker, I thought you might like to read this:
Birth Defect Research for Children
Birth Defect News - December 2001
HEALTH HAZARDS FROM FLEA AND TICK PRODUCTS
Each year Americans use an array of toxic chemicals on their pets to kill fleas and ticks. These chemicals can also poison the pets themselves as well as the people who handle them. When these products are combined in the home with other toxic chemical products in common use, like pesticides, herbicides and other products, they can pose a serious health risk, especially to children.
Adults are at risk from these flea and tick products as well. Pet workers who apply pesticides to animals on a daily basis are a good example of adults at high risk. However, it is children who are the most vulnerable. Because children's bodies are still developing, they can be more sensitive to the effects of toxic chemicals than adults. Studies with laboratory animals have raised concerns among scientists that children exposed to certain types of pesticides in pet products, even at levels believed to be safe for adults, face much higher risks, not only for acute poisoning, but also for long-term problems with brain function and other serious disease. Also, children's behavior often makes them more vulnerable than adults. In particular, toddler's hand-to-mouth tendencies make it easy for toxic chemicals to be ingested. Along with handling household pets, children also spend their time crawling on rugs, playing with pet toys and handling accumulations of household dust where the toxins from pet products tend to accumulate.
Just because these products are on store shelves does not mean that they have been tested or can be presumed safe. Many commercially available pesticides, such as those found in pet products, have not been tightly regulated by the government. The EPA only began examining the risks from pesticides used in pet products after a law was passed in 1996. Based on the very limited data available, it appears that hundreds and probably thousands of pets have been injured or killed through exposure to pet products containing pesticides.
Healthier alternatives to these pesticides are readily available. Easy physical measures like frequent bathing and combing of pets can make the use of pesticides unnecessary. Pet products containing non-pesticide growth regulators can also stop fleas from reproducing successfully. In addition, newer insecticides, sprayed or spotted onto pets, have been developed that are effective against fleas and ticks without being toxic to the human nervous system. The safety and effectiveness of these alternatives makes the continued use of older, more toxic pet products unnecessary.
For more information, go to: wysiwyg://103/http://nrdc.org/health/effects/pets/execsum.asp or www.nrdc.org
PARENTS CAN HELP PROTECT CHILDREN FROM TOXINS
San Francisco, Oct. 25th - There are several things parents can do to limit the amount of environmental toxins their children will encounter. According to Dr. William B. Weil, Jr., professor emeritus at Michigan State University, young children may be especially vulnerable to environmental toxins for a number of reasons. These may include their still developing organs, their frequent hand to mouth activity and their proximity to toxins on the ground.
Mercury has been one major concern for the pediatricians. There has been evidence that young children and developing fetuses exposed to mercury can experience neurological damage. Earlier this year, the government issued recommendations saying women planning on becoming pregnant or who were already pregnant should avoid fish such as shark, swordfish or mackerel - all of which can contain high levels of mercury. Weil advised women, to also limit servings of tuna fish to one per week and to avoid serving it to their young children. "The first trimester is crucial for brain development," Weil said. "If you're going to get pregnant, don't eat these fish for (the first) 120 days."
Several nationwide programs are encouraging parents to replace their old mercury-based thermometers for safer digital thermometers, which will not accidentally break and release mercury into the environment. "It may seem like a small measure, but its going to go a long way," added Dr. Michael Shannon, an associate professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and a toxicologist at Children's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.
Both doctors addressed simple ways parents can limit the amount of pesticides and herbicides their children may encounter at home. "Anytime before you use a product, think: 'Do I really need to use that chemical?'" Weil urged. "Eighty percent of U.S. families use pesticides during the year, and rarely is there a real need." Shannon advised that parents may want to make a decision, wherever possible and affordable, to buy organic foods that children will eat, such as apples, peaches, grapes and other fruits and vegetables. "Parents need to face the current-day reality that pesticide residues will be on food their children will eat in the near future," Shannon said. "That's a small measure that can make a big difference."
(excerpted from Reuters Heath)
VERDICT MAY GIVE VIETNAM VETERANS RIGHT TO FILE AGENT ORANGE LAWSUITS
Stephenson and Isaacson are Vietnam veterans who allege they were injured by exposure to Agent Orange while in Vietnam, but that the injuries did not manifest themselves until after the AO class action settlement funds were depleted in 1994. In the late 1990s, they (along with their families) filed separate lawsuits against manufacturers of Agent Orange. The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation transferred the cases to Judge Weinstein in the Eastern District of New York.
The chemical companies moved to dismiss on the grounds that the claims were barred by the 1984 class action settlement and subsequent final judgment. The veterans argued that their claims were not barred because their injuries did not manifest themselves until after all the AO settlement funds were depleted in 1994 and that there had been inadequate representation of individuals whose claims arose after the settlement funds were depleted.
Judge Weinstein rejected the veterans' inadequate representation argument; said the veterans' suit was an impermissible collateral attack on the prior settlement; and granted the chemical companies' motion to dismiss. The veterans appealed Judge Weinstein's decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. On November 30, 2001, a three judge panel vacated Judge Weinstein's dismissal of the cases and remanded for further proceedings.
The veterans have won the right to go forward with their case.
For more information, go to: http://laws.findlaw.com/2nd/007455.html
Well Mr. Helliker, with your permission there are many safe and far more effective ways to actually control pest problems. When will it be "legal" (in your opinion) to use thes safe and far more effective unregistered alternatives?
Sincerely, Stephen L. Tvedten
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