Must-read recap: The New Lede's top stories
Farm chemicals more harmful to insects than previously thought; pesticides in air samples from California farm communities; EPA cancels DCPA; more toxic new Roundup products.
Agricultural chemicals are more toxic to insects than previously thought
New research provides evidence that chemicals used in farming may be more harmful to insects than previously thought, contributing to worldwide declines in important species.
In a wide-ranging, first-of-a-kind study published Oct. 24 in the journal Science, scientists found that extremely small, sublethal concentrations of over 580 pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and other chemicals can have serious negative impacts on the behavior and subsequent survival of certain insects.
The scientists tested some of the chemicals on fruit fly larvae, mosquitoes, and butterflies.
The results were “very shocking,” said study co-author Justin Crocker, a researcher with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany.
The study bolsters the case that agrochemicals play a big role in plummeting populations of insects, a phenomenon that can gravely harm food production since certain insects are needed to pollinate key food crops. (Read the rest of the story.)
Pesticides found in 80% of air samples from California farm communities
Almost 80% of air samples collected last year in California’s four most agriculture-intensive communities contained pesticide residues, though the concentrations were “unlikely to be harmful to human health,” according to a recently released state regulatory report.
The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) collected 207 air samples at stations in Oxnard, Santa Maria, Shafter and Watsonville once a week throughout 2023, finding at least one of the 40 pesticides they tested for in 163 of the samples, according to the results.
The monitoring stations detected a total of 19 different pesticides in the air samples, including the herbicide pendimethalin and the fumigant 1,3-dichloropronene (Telone), which have both been linked to cancer.
These chemicals and others detected by CDPR have also been linked to nausea, shortness of breath, and eye and respiratory irritation.
Despite being banned in 34 countries, Telone is the third-most heavily used pesticide in California, and CDPR has been criticized for failing to implement regulations that adequately protect mostly Latino farmworkers from the chemical. (Read the rest of the story.)
EPA cancels pesticide shown to be harmful to unborn babies
Citing a need to protect the unborn babies of pregnant women, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Oct. 22 banned a pesticide used to kill weeds on farms, golf courses and athletic fields.
The action comes after years of mounting scientific evidence of the dangers posed by exposure to the chemical dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate, also known as DCPA or Dacthal.
“With the final cancellation of DCPA, we’re taking a definitive step to protect pregnant women and their unborn babies,” Michal Freedhoff, assistant administrator for the EPA Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, said in a press release. “The science showing the potential for irreversible harm to unborn babies’ developing brains, in addition to other lifelong consequences from exposure, demands decisive action to remove this dangerous chemical from the marketplace.”
The agency said “robust studies” demonstrated “thyroid toxicity,” and said that unborn babies whose pregnant mothers are exposed to DCPA could experience changes to fetal thyroid hormone levels. Such changes are “generally linked to low birth weight, impaired brain development, decreased IQ, and impaired motor skills later in life, some of which may be irreversible,” the EPA said. (Read the rest of the story.)
Bayer’s new Roundup products appear more toxic than prior formulations, new report asserts
New types of Roundup weed killing products marketed to US consumers contain chemicals that pose greater health risks to people than prior formulations suspected of causing cancer, according to an analysis by an environmental health advocacy group. The report was disputed by Bayer, which called the analysis “deeply flawed.”
Friends of the Earth (FOE) reported last week that it found four chemicals have recently been added to Roundup products that have been scientifically shown to cause a variety of health problems, including reproductive defects, kidney and liver damage and neurotoxicity.
The analysis comes after the agrochemical company Bayer pledged that it would remove glyphosate from its popular Roundup herbicide products sold for residential lawn and garden use starting in 2023.
Bayer, which bought Monsanto in 2018, made the change to try to curtail the filing of future litigation as it battles thousands of lawsuits filed against Monsanto by cancer patients who claim they developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma from using Monsanto’s Roundup and other glyphosate-based herbicides. (Read the rest of the story.)