Tracking environment, disease links promoted
Subject: Tracking environment, disease links promoted
Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2002 10:10:30 -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 a
Thompson cited the coordinated state and federal response to what he called "the largest indoor pesticide contamination incident ever seen in this country" as an example of how data and federal support can assist states.
Methyl parathion, an agricultural pesticide, had been used
illegally to kill insects inside about 2,500 homes, Thompson said. Most of those
homes were in
"A massive state/federal effort was mounted," Thompson said. "Initially, every house with methyl parathion levels above those thought to be safe was evacuated and decontaminated."
The Centers for Disease Control's Center for Environmental Health began using a new technique to measure exposure to the pesticide through urine samples.
"Now, able to determine who was actually absorbing methyl parathion and who was not, we were able to let many families remain safely in their homes, with ongoing biomonitoring," Thompson said.
About $50 million taxpayer dollars was saved and unnecessary disruption of lives was avoided, he said.
"Such support from federal agencies must continue to be available, because whether in responding to circumscribed incidents or conducting long-term tracking and monitoring, addressing chronic disease and environmental risk issues is necessarily done as a federal-state partnership," Thompson said.
Birth defects and diseases ranging from asthma to cancer could be tracked geographically through federal-state efforts, he said.
Tracking chronic diseases is particularly important in
states with few resources, like
"We need to learn where the hot spots are, so we can target our efforts," Barber said. "Otherwise, you end up taking a shotgun approach."
Chronic diseases like asthma can be made more serious by environmental factors, such as air pollution, she said. Links between environmental factors and health effects are difficult to establish without monitoring.
Barber said she was glad to hear Thompson was addressing the issue on Capitol Hill. "It's a very important issue, and he's a good spokesperson for the state, especially with his epidemiology background," she said.
Staff Writer James V. Walker contributed to this report. http://www.clarionledger.com/news/0203/07/m08.html
Well Mr. Helliker, It is obvious that there is no way "you" can stop the ongoing misuse of your "registered" POISONS.
Respectfully,
Stephen L. Tvedten
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