Tom Polansek, “U.S. seed sellers push for limits on Monsanto, BASF weed killer,” Reuters, August 16, 2018.
SUMMARY:
Reports on the 2018 dicamba drift crisis and the decision by two large U.S. seed sellers to urge EPA to ban dicamba use overtop of growing resistant crops. Harry Stine, CEO of Stine Seeds, says : ““I’ve been doing this for 50 years and we’ve never had anything be as damaging as this dicamba situation. In this case, Monsanto made an error.” FULL TEXT
Lorraine Chow, “Top Seed Companies Urge EPA to Limit Dicamba,” EcoWatch, August 17, 2018.
SUMMARY:
Reports on comments by top seed companies in U.S. to EPA urging they ban dicamba use in summer and fall. Includes a statement by Beck’s Hybrids, the largest seed company in the U.S.. FULL TEXT
Larry Steckel, “Dicamba drift problems not an aberration,” Delta Farm Press, August 8, 2018.
SUMMARY:
Veteran Tennessee extension weed scientist Larry Steckel writes about the ongoing drift crisis. He estimates that only 100,000 acres of non-Xtend soybeans remain in the state, and 40% of those are showing injury from dicamba. He stand by efforts of applicators to follow the complicated label instructions, and proposes that volatility and temperature inversions are the cause. FULL TEXT
Kevin Bradley, “July 15 Dicamba injury update. Different Year, same questions,” University of Missouri, Integrated Pest Management online article, July 19, 2018.
SUMMARY:
First update on 2018 dicamba drift damage. Reports 1.1 million acres of soybeans damaged, and 605 total complaints across all crops. FULL TEXT
Helen H. McDuffie, Punam Pahwa, John R. McLaughlin, John J. Spinelli, Shirley Fincham, James A. Dosman, Diane Robson, Leo F. Skinnider and Norman W. Choi, “Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and Specific Pesticide Exposures in Men: Cross-Canada Study of Pesticides and Health,” Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, & Prevention, 2001, 10.
ABSTRACT:
Our objective in the study was to investigate the putative associations of specific pesticides with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma [NHL; International Classification of Diseases, version 9 (ICD-9) 200, 202]. We conducted a Canadian multicenter population-based incident, case (n = 517)-control (n = 1506) study among men in a diversity of occupations using an initial postal questionnaire followed by a telephone interview for those reporting pesticide exposure of 10 h/year or more, and a 15% random sample of the remainder. Adjusted odds ratios (ORs) were computed using conditional logistic regression stratified by the matching variables of age and province of residence, and subsequently adjusted for statistically significant medical variables (history of measles, mumps, cancer, allergy desensitization treatment, and a positive history of cancer in first-degree relatives). We found that among major chemical classes of herbicides, the risk of NHL was statistically significantly increased by exposure to phenoxyherbicides [OR, 1.38; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.06–1.81] and to dicamba (OR, 1.88; 95% CI, 1.32–2.68). Exposure to carbamate (OR, 1.92; 95% CI, 1.22–3.04) and to organophosphorus insecticides (OR, 1.73; 95% CI, 1.27–2.36), amide fungicides, and the fumigant carbon tetrachloride (OR, 2.42; 95% CI, 1.19–5.14) statistically significantly increased risk. Among individual compounds, in multivariate analyses, the risk of NHL was statistically significantly increased by exposure to the herbicides 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D; OR, 1.32; 95% CI, 1.01–1.73), mecoprop (OR, 2.33; 95% CI, 1.58–3.44), and dicamba (OR, 1.68; 95% CI, 1.00–2.81); to the insecticides malathion (OR, 1.83; 95% CI, 1.31–2.55), 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis (4-chlorophenyl) ethane (DDT), carbaryl (OR, 2.11; 95% CI, 1.21–3.69), aldrin, and lindane; and to the fungicides captan and sulfur compounds. In additional multivariate models, which included exposure to other major chemical classes or individual pesticides, personal antecedent cancer, a history of cancer among first-degree relatives, and exposure to mixtures containing dicamba (OR, 1.96; 95% CI, 1.40–2.75) or to mecoprop (OR, 2.22; 95% CI, 1.49–3.29) and to aldrin (OR, 3.42; 95% CI, 1.18–9.95) were significant independent predictors of an increased risk for NHL, whereas a personal history of measles and of allergy desensitization treatments lowered the risk. We concluded that NHL was associated with specific pesticides after adjustment for other independent predictors. FULL TEXT
Scott Weichenthal, Connie Moase, and Peter Chan, “A Review of Pesticide Exposure and Cancer Incidence in the Agricultural Health Study Cohort,” Environmental Health Perspectives, 118, DOI: 10.1289/ehp.0901731
ABSTRACT:
OBJECTIVE: We reviewed epidemiologic evidence related to occupational pesticide exposures and cancer incidence in the Agricultural Health Study (AHS) cohort.
DATA SOURCES: Studies were identified from the AHS publication list available at http://aghealth.nci.nih.gov as well as through a Medline/PubMed database search in March 2009. We also examined citation lists. Findings related to lifetime-days and/or intensity-weighted lifetime-days of pesticide use are the primary focus of this review, because these measures allow for the evaluation of potential exposure–response relationships.
DATA SYNTHESIS: We reviewed 28 studies; most of the 32 pesticides examined were not strongly associated with cancer incidence in pesticide applicators. Increased rate ratios (or odds ratios) and positive exposure–response patterns were reported for 12 pesticides currently registered in Canada and/or the United States (alachlor, aldicarb, carbaryl, chlorpyrifos, diazinon, dicamba, S-ethyl-N,N-dipropylthiocarbamate, imazethapyr, metolachlor, pendimethalin, permethrin, trifluralin). However, estimates of association for specific cancers were often imprecise because of small numbers of exposed cases, and clear monotonic exposure–response patterns were not always apparent. Exposure misclassification is also a concern in the AHS and may limit the analysis of exposure–response patterns. Epidemiologic evidence outside the AHS remains limited with respect to most of the observed associations, but animal toxicity data support the biological plausibility of relationships observed for alachlor, carbaryl, metolachlor, pendimethalin, permethrin, and trifluralin.
CONCLUSIONS: Continued follow-up is needed to clarify associations reported to date. In particular, further evaluation of registered pesticides is warranted.
Band PR, Abanto Z, Bert J, Lang B, Fang R, Gallagher RP, Le ND., “Prostate cancer risk and exposure to pesticides in British Columbia farmers,” Prostate, 2011, 71:2, DOI: 10.1002/pros.21232.
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND: Several epidemiologic studies have reported an increased risk of prostate cancer among farmers. Our aim was to assess the risk of developing prostate cancer in relation to exposure to specific active compounds in pesticides.
METHOD: A case-control approach was used with 1,516 prostate cancer patients and 4,994 age-matched internal controls consisting of all other cancer sites excluding lung cancer and cancers of unknown primary site. Lifetime occupational history was obtained through a self-administered questionnaire and used in conjunction with a job exposure matrix to estimate the participants’ lifetime cumulative exposure to approximately 180 active compounds in pesticides. Conditional logistic regression was used to assess prostate cancer risk, adjusting for potential confounding variables and effect modifiers. These include age, ethnicity, alcohol consumption, smoking, education, and proxy respondent.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The significant association between prostate cancer risk and exposure to DDT (OR = 1.68; 95% CI: 1.04-2.70 for high exposure), simazine (OR = 1.89; 95% CI: 1.08-3.33 for high exposure), and lindane (OR = 2.02; 95% CI: 1.15-3.55 for high exposure) is in keeping with those previously reported in the literature. We also observed a significant excess risk for several active ingredients that have not been previously reported in the literature such as dichlone, dinoseb amine, malathion, endosulfan, 2,4-D, 2,4-DB, and carbaryl. Some findings in our study were not consistent with those reported in the literature, including captan, dicamba, and diazinon. It is possible that these findings showed a real association and the inconsistencies reflected differences of characteristics between study populations.
Sara Mostafalou and Mohammad Abdollahi, “Pesticides: an update of human exposure and toxicity,” Archives of Toxicology, February 2017, 91:2, DOI: 10.1007/s00204-016-1849-x.
ABSTRACT:
Pesticides are a family of compounds which have brought many benefits to mankind in the agricultural, industrial, and health areas, but their toxicities in both humans and animals have always been a concern. Regardless of acute poisonings which are common for some classes of pesticides like organophosphoruses, the association of chronic and sub-lethal exposure to pesticides with a prevalence of some persistent diseases is going to be a phenomenon to which global attention has been attracted. In this review, incidence of various malignant, neurodegenerative, respiratory, reproductive, developmental, and metabolic diseases in relation to different routes of human exposure to pesticides such as occupational, environmental, residential, parental, maternal, and paternal has been systematically criticized in different categories of pesticide toxicities like carcinogenicity, neurotoxicity, pulmonotoxicity, reproductive toxicity, developmental toxicity, and metabolic toxicity. A huge body of evidence exists on the possible role of pesticide exposures in the elevated incidence of human diseases such as cancers, Alzheimer, Parkinson, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, asthma, bronchitis, infertility, birth defects, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, diabetes, and obesity. Most of the disorders are induced by insecticides and herbicides most notably organophosphorus, organochlorines, phenoxyacetic acids, and triazine compounds.
Gesine Schütte, Michael Eckerstorfer, Valentina Rastelli, Wolfram Reichenbecher, Sara Restrepo‑Vassalli, Marja Ruohonen‑Lehto, Anne‑Gabrielle Wuest Saucy, and Martha Mertens, “Herbicide resistance and biodiversity: agronomic and environmental aspects of genetically modified herbicide-resistant plants,” Environmental Sciences Europe, 2017, 29:5, DOI: 10.1186/s12302-016-0100-y.
ABSTRACT:
Farmland biodiversity is an important characteristic when assessing sustainability of agricultural practices and is of major international concern. Scientific data indicate that agricultural intensification and pesticide use are among the main drivers of biodiversity loss. The analysed data and experiences do not support statements that herbicide-resistant crops provide consistently better yields than conventional crops or reduce herbicide amounts. They rather show that the adoption of herbicide-resistant crops impacts agronomy, agricultural practice, and weed management and contributes to biodiversity loss in several ways: (i) many studies show that glyphosate-based herbicides, which were commonly regarded as less harmful, are toxic to a range of aquatic organisms and adversely affect the soil and intestinal microflora and plant disease resistance; the increased use of 2,4-D or dicamba, linked to new herbicide-resistant crops, causes special concerns. (ii) The adoption of herbicide-resistant crops has reduced crop rotation and favoured weed management that is solely based on the use of herbicides. (iii) Continuous herbicide resistance cropping and the intensive use of glyphosate over the last 20 years have led to the appearance of at least 34 glyphosate-resistant weed species worldwide. Although recommended for many years, farmers did not counter resistance development in weeds by integrated weed management, but continued to rely on herbicides as sole measure. Despite occurrence of widespread resistance in weeds to other herbicides, industry rather develops transgenic crops with additional herbicide resistance genes. (iv) Agricultural management based on broad-spectrum herbicides as in herbicide-resistant crops further decreases diversity and abundance of wild plants and impacts arthropod fauna and other farmland animals. Taken together, adverse impacts of herbicide-resistant crops on biodiversity, when widely adopted, should be expected and are indeed very hard to avoid. For that reason, and in order to comply with international agreements to protect and enhance biodiversity, agriculture needs to focus on practices that are more environmentally friendly, including an overall reduction in pesticide use. (Pesticides are used for agricultural as well non-agricultural purposes. Most commonly they are used as plant protection products and regarded as a synonym for it and so also in this text.) FULL TEXT
Lydia Mulvany and Mario Parker, “Monsanto Shrugs Off Herbicide Concerns With Surprise Profit,” Bloomberg, October 4, 2017.
SUMMARY
Reports on Monsanto’s rising economic fortunes. Stock prices were up recently 20 cents a share, even though analysts had estimated the company would be at a 42-cent loss. Monsanto attributes much of this to their new dicamba-resistant Xtend soybeans, and predicts a doubling of acres planted in 2018 to 40 million. FULL TEXT