The debate on whether or not pesticide use in farming, gardening, and food production is harmful has raged on for quite some time. Many feel strongly that the use of pesticides in all forms should be banned, or else significantly minimized.
Below you’ll find a collection of articles and studies dealing with recent trends in the understanding of the dangers of pesticide use in a variety of contexts and circumstances.
Sources include BBC News, Science Daily, and The Chicago Tribune.
1. Pesticide Parkinson’s Link Strong
There is strong evidence that exposure to pesticides significantly increases the risk of Parkinson’s disease, experts believe.
It comes as another study, published in the BMC Neurology journal, has made the link to the neurological disease.
The US researchers found those exposed to pesticides had a 1.6 times higher risk after studying 600 people.
2. Pesticides in Your Peaches
As we munch into the fragrant core of peach season, shoppers face an array of choices for the same fuzzy fruit but little guidance on which type to pick. Expensive organic? Pricey farmers market? Cheap peaches from the grocery store?
Cost is certainly important. But there are essential numbers that go beyond the price tag of a peach, or any other item from the produce aisle.
Which contain the highest levels of pesticides?
3. Specific Pesticide Directly Linked to Parkinson’s Disease
According to the National Parkinson Foundation, about 1.5. Americans currently have Parkinson’s Disease (PD) — the motor system disorder which afflicts actor Michael J. Fox. Another 60,000 or so people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with PD in 2009. The four main symptoms of this often devastating disease are trembling in the hands, arms, legs, jaw, and face; rigidity, or stiffness of the limbs and trunk; bradykinesia (slowness of movement) and impaired balance and coordination. As the disease progresses, people with PD may have difficulty walking, talking, and swallowing.
4. Common Household Pesticides Linked To Childhood Cancer
A new study by researchers at the Georgetown’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center finds a higher level of common household pesticides in the urine of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a cancer that develops most commonly between three and seven years of age. The findings are published in the August issue of the journal Therapeutic Drug Monitoring.
Researchers caution that these findings should not be seen as cause-and-effect, only that the study suggests an association between pesticide exposure and development of childhood ALL.
5. More Pesticide Residue Allowed on Citrus, Rules EPA
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has increased the tolerated level of pesticide residue for citrus fruits and oils, following a petition from Dow AgroSciences.
The EPA conducts random tests for residues of the insecticide methoxyfenozide at the grower, food manufacture and retail level. If they are found to be too high, ingredients can be withdrawn and growers face fines as well as the loss of income from crops that may have cost them thousands of dollars to produce. Although food manufacturers are not held responsible for ensuring that pesticide levels are acceptable, they are susceptible to disruption if the EPA withdraws an ingredient found to have excessive pesticide residues.
6. Fertilisers Reducing Plant Diversity
Scientists have identified why excessive fertilisation of soils is resulting in a loss of plant diversity.
Extra nutrients allow fast growing plants to dominate a habitat, blocking smaller species’ access to vital sunlight, researchers have found.
As a result, many species are disappearing from affected areas.
7. On-The-Job Pesticide Exposure Associated with Parkinson’s Disease
Individuals whose occupation involves contact with pesticides appear to have an increased risk of having Parkinson’s disease, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Neurology.
The development of Parkinson’s disease related to chemical exposure was identified in the late 20th century, according to background information in the article. Since then, occupations such as farming, teaching and welding have all been proposed to increase the risk of Parkinson’s disease. However, associations have been inconsistent and few previous studies have evaluated the direct relationship between occupational chemical exposure and disease risk.
