Recently in Toxic Substances Control Act Category

Benign By Design

Chemicals used in wood preservation are coming under environmental and health related attacks and new approaches for a greener chemical approach are underway.

The US Department of Agriculture carries on extensive research about wood -- how to grow it, how to engineer it to conserve it, and how to protect it over the lifetime of the building or application -- and what happens to the chemicals infused into the wood after the used wood is discarded in landfills. The Forest Products Laboratory is the research arm of the USDA that tests wood, wood products, and the chemicals used in wood for construction purposes.

The U.S. EPA plans to strengthen its assessment of pesticide health risks.

Change takes time, but the EPA has been slow to regulate and enforce green approaches to chemical use in the US.  The chemical industry lobby is very strong, but EPA is finally approaching pesticide dangers as... well, dangers to "voters", not just profit and tax sources for big business.

First Comes Assessment...

The U.S. EPA plans to strengthen its assessment of pesticide health risks.

EPA's proposal would include a more thorough assessment of risks to workers, including farmworkers and farm children, as well as risks posed by pesticides that are not used on food.

"The agency is asking the public to comment on the new approach and how best to implement the improvements."

Agricultural pesticide applications doesn't just affect agricultural workers.  With urban sprawl, many elementary schools are being build on the fringes of communities where land is available and "cheap".  A patchwork quilt of agricultural land surrounds many of these suburban schools...and the wind carries pesticides right into the school buildings and playgrounds.

Parents and school staff members could play a valuable rule in assessing pesticide risks to school children, as well as the workers who grow their food.    

EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson: "Better information and applying assessment tools will strengthen EPA's protections for farm workers exposed to these chemicals, and children living in and around the areas of highest possible exposure," said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. "It's essential we have the tools to keep everyone, especially vulnerable populations like children, safe from the serious health consequences of pesticide exposure."

Aggregate, Cumulative Effects of Pesticides

Under the policy, EPA risk assessments for children, farmworkers and others, would consider aggregate pesticide exposures from all sources in addition to the cumulative effects from multiple pesticides that have similar toxicity.

Protection from Incomplete Data

Maybe it's time that ALL chemicals be tested for toxicity and cumulative impact before they are authorized for market distribution.  That would be a seismic change in the chemicals marketplace.

Chemical Impact on Children and Other Highly Vulnerable Populations

EPA could apply an additional safety factor to protect infants and children from the risks of pesticides where the available data are incomplete. Currently these analyses help assess risks of pesticides to the general public as required by the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

Common Scientific Risk-assessment Techniques

EPA believes that pesticide exposure should be evaluated with common scientific risk-assessment techniques, whether from residues in food or drinking water, on lawns or in swimming pools, or in the workplace. The agency would routinely apply the techniques to workers exposed to pesticide exposures on the job.

By incorporating these risk-assessment tools into its pesticide evaluations, EPA would more thoroughly protect the most vulnerable populations, including farm workers and children taken into agricultural fields.

The proposed policy will be available for a 60-day public comment period after it is published in the Federal Register.

Citizen input is important to balance the influence of lobbying from the chemical and pesticide industries. 

More information on the proposed rule 

CONTACT:   

For the Spanish translation 

For general questions on pesticides and pesticide poisoning prevention, contact the National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC), toll free, at: 1-800-858-7378, by E-mail at npic@ace.orst.edu, or by visiting their website at: http://npic.orst.edu/

To report an environmental violation, visit EPA's website at http://www.epa.gov/compliance/complaints/index.html

For information about EPA's pesticide program, visit our homepage at: http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/

Sustainability rests on the principle that we must meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Therefore, stewardship of both natural and human resources is of prime importance. Sustainable farming systems are biologically-based and designed to be productive in both the short- and long-term.

Sustainable agriculture integrates three main goals--

• environmental health,
  
• economic profitability, and
  
• social equity
  

Because it is more a philosophical approach to agriculture than a set of farming practices, the specific practices that can be called sustainable vary depending on the crop and the specific environmental and social issues important to a region. Therefore, it is important that all those interested in making agriculture more sustainable--consumers, growers, environmentalists, farm workers, processors, retailers--educate themselves on the related issues.

Does sustainable agriculture and organic farming mean the same thing?

No. Agriculture can be "sustainable" without being "organic." And some organic operations may not be sustainable. Organic farming excludes the use of any synthetic agricultural chemical and then certifies this to be true. Often, however, approaches to management of healthy soils can be similar between organic and sustainable farming systems.

Can chemicals be used in a sustainable system?

Yes. Growers frequently ask if synthetic chemicals are appropriate in a sustainable farming system. Sustainable approaches are those that are the least toxic and least energy intensive, and yet maintain productivity and profitability. There may be situations where the use of synthetic chemicals would be more "sustainable" than a strictly non-chemical approach.

For example, one technique for weed control may involve mechanical cultivation. A hoe,  weed knife or other implement may need to make several passes in a season to do what one application of Round-Up (a relatively safe, effective, and economic herbicide) could accomplish in terms of weed control. The passes with the mechanical device have associated environmental and social risks (i.e., soil compaction, soil erosion, fuel consumption, potential worker injury). The manager needs to decide which is the most appropriate method based on a particular situation and resource concerns at a particular site. The manager may decide that the chemical option has less environmental, economic, and social risks than the non-chemical option.

Converting to sustainable practices does not mean simple input substitution. Instead, sustainable farming substitutes enhanced management and scientific knowledge for conventional inputs, especially inputs that may threaten the natural or human resources. One goal of sustainable agriculture is to develop efficient, biological systems that do not need high levels of material inputs.

Read more about sustainable farming...and applications in vineyard mangement at Central Coast Vineyard Team

Adapted from materials from the University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (UCSAREP) www.sarep.ucdavis.edu.

The Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program is a voluntary program that forms partnerships with pesticide users to reduce the potential health and environmental risks associated with pesticide use and implement pollution prevention strategies. 

The program fosters an EPA partnership for reducing risks posed by pesticide use to human health and the environment in both agricultural and urban settings.  Established in 1994 with six charter members, PESP has grown to include almost 200 members.

More information about PESP: http://www.epa.gov/oppbppd1/pesp/pesp-excellence.html

Design firm Perkins+Will Introduces Precautionary List Examining Chemicals and Building Materials

"There is an ever increasing focus in the green building movement on the relationship between humans and the built environment," notes Peter Syrett, AIA, LEED AP™ of Perkins+Will and one of the creators of the Precautionary List. "There are thousands of chemicals used in a building and only a small percentage have been tested. We created the Precautionary List to advocate for alternative building products and advocate care when using products that have identified chemical hazards."

One example from the list is mercury, a known neurotoxin that can be found in HVAC controls, lamps, resilient floors and thermostats. The precautionary list showcases mechanical controls without mercury systems, different flooring systems, mercury-free lamp alternatives and encourages builders to pursue, advocate and specify for these alternatives when reasonable.

The entire Perkins+Will Precautionary List is online at http://transparency.perkinswill.com/

Writing about complex scientific stories isn't easy, and takes years of both study and research.  These two investigative reporters have been honored for their dedication.

Susanne Rust & Meg Kissinger

Chemical Fallout
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Thirty years ago, a carcinogenic flame-retardant material was taken out of children's pajamas.  In 2008 it was being used with frequency in products such as baby carriers and bassinetts.  This was just one of several discoveries made by Susanne Rust and Meg Kissinger of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in their series, "Chemical Fallout."

The team exposed government programs that favored chemical makers over the public and conflicts of interests among regulators.  Rust and Kissinger reported that there was no such thing as "microwave-safe" plastics. An outside laboratory tested containers labeled as such and found toxic levels of chemicals leached from every item.

The Journal Sentinel team did their homework: They reviewed hundreds of scientific journal articles and worked with scientists to determine that the federal government's assurances that bisphenol A (a chemical compound found in many plastics) is safe are based on outdated U.S. government studies and research heavily funded by the chemical industry. PBS broadcaster Bill Moyers compared the reporting to the legendary Upton Sinclair. David Kessler, former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, said that the Sentinel was doing the work that the agency should have been doing all along to protect the public.

Susanne Rust

Senior Reporter, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Susanne Rust was part of a reporting team that won the 2008 Sigma Delta Chi award and the Society of American Business Writers and Editors award for detailing chemical dangers and lax regulations in Washington, D.C. The team also won the 2008 John B. Oakes Award.  Rust has continued to break new ground throughout 2008 with more stories exposing the failures of the Environmental Protection Agency and Food and Drug Administration.  In her five years at the Sentinel, Rust has also trekked through the hills of Rwanda to cover stories on civil engineering and AIDS; hacked through the dense foliage of a Ugandan rain forest in search of mountain gorillas; poked around Scotland's Roslin Institute looking for clones; and written about eco-friendly agriculture in Costa Rica.  Before joining the Sentinel, Rust pursued a doctorate in biological anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Meg Kissinger

Investigative Reporter, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Meg Kissinger is the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's investigative reporter focusing on health and welfare.  She and two of her colleagues won the 2008 Sigma Delta Chi award and the Society of American Business Writers and Editors Award for a series of articles on the government's failure to screen for dangerous chemicals in household products.  The series also won the 2008 John B. Oakes Award.  Kissinger has spent the last year breaking new ground on the failures of the Environmental Protection Agency and Food and Drug Administration to regulate toxic chemicals.  She was a finalist for the 2007 Selden Ring and Investigative Reporters and Editors awards for her reports on the filthy and dangerous housing conditions in Milwaukee County for people with mental illness. That series won the Mental Health America Award for best news repoting.  In her 25 years in the newsroom, Kissinger has written about abuses in the nursing home industry, the scam of the door-to-door magazine sales industry and the travails of an oncologist who unwittingly discovered his own end-stage cancer.  

Surface water pollution from urban pesticide use is a known, widespread problem in the U.S.  This has been documented not only by USGS, but also by numerous scientific studies by academic researchers, data from municipal urban runoff programs, and surface water impairment designations under section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act (often these listings are for "toxicity" rather than a specific pesticide).  U.S. EPA's pesticides office is keenly aware of this problem.

Pesticide-related Toxicity in Surface Waters

In California, pesticide-related toxicity in surface waters receiving urban runoff is has been severe and widespread since the mid-1990s. Addressing this toxicity is a priority for Calfornia's water and pesticide regulators. With the phase-out of most urban uses of diazinon and chlorpyrifos, the toxicity has shifted--it is now occurring in both the water column (during storm events) and sediments (all the time) in urban creeks across California. 

The current toxicity is associated with the use of the currently most common class of urban insecticides--the pyrethroids (i.e. bifenthrin, cypermethrin, cyfluthrin, etc.).  Similar toxicity has also been documented in Texas urban areas.

Substituting Pesticides Also Causes Biodiversity Problems

Since some in this thread mentioned pesticide phase outs, it is important to recognize that the likely substitute for pyrethroids is fipronil, which is already seeing growing use in California--and is beginning to appear in surface water at levels close to those known to be toxic to sensitive aquatic organisms.  It is becoming clear that simply changing pesticides isn't going to solve these water quality problems.

Professional Insecticide Applicators Are the Link

Substantial effort is underway in California to identify the sources of pesticide-related urban surface water toxicity.  Available data show a direct link to outdoor, above-ground insecticide applications by professional applicators. 

Ants Are the Most Common Insect Problem in California

In California, ants are the most common insect problem and it is a common practice (particularly among commercial property owners and multi-family residential property managers) to retain a professional applicator to spray a band of insecticides around structures every 1-2 months.  Much of the treated area around structures is impervious surface, some of which is directly connected to storm drains (DCIA). 

Pre-construction termiticide and Post-construction Pyrethroids

Other possible sources include pre-construction termiticide ground surface treatments (if a rain event occurs before building foundations are poured), and both professional and non-professional applications in other outdoor locations (applications to lawns/landscaping have not been ruled out as potentially meaningful contributors to toxicity).

Underground injection of pyrethroids (i.e., for post-construction termite control) is unlikely to contribute to surface water toxicity.  Most California municipalities are served by separate storm drain systems comprised completely of hard surfaces (i.e., no vegetated channels)--thus pesticides in runoff are efficiently delivered to urban creeks.

Greatest Water Pollution Problem: Insecticides vs Herbicides

There is a long-time myth that homeowner lawn/garden applications of pesticides (particularly herbicides) are a big problem.  Maybe they are in some locations, but available scientific data strongly suggest that insecticides--not herbicides--are of greatest concern in urban areas and that (at least in California) professional pesticide applications--and intentional applications of pesticides to impervious surfaces--should be the priorities for stormwater quality management.

Urban Pesticides Pollution Prevention Project (UP3 Project)

With grant funding from the California State Water Resources Control Board, the Urban Pesticides Pollution Prevention Project (UP3 Project) is working with U.S. EPA, California EPA, municipalities, and other stakeholders to understand and prevent pesticide-related surface water pollution.  Pesticide regulators and pesticide manufacturers are aware of these problems and are working to change their systems to address them.  For more information (and reports that document the statements above), please see www.up3project.org.

Kelly Moran, Ph.D.
TDC Environmental
UP3 Project

P.S. Wastewater treatment plants are not immune to pesticide-related problems.  Discharges of certain pesticides (including biocides) to municipal wastewater treatment plants have been problematic, in some instances, for compliance with NPDES permit effluent limitations and operation of biological treatment processes.

Under the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) publishes guidelines and recommendations for the healthcare industry on many areas including

• infection control
• sterilization
• hand hygiene
• immunizations

Visit the CDC web site (www.cdc.gov) for more information.

The CDC web site also accesses the National Institution of Safety and Health (NIOSH) publication, "Preventing Occupational Exposure to Antineoplastic and Other Hazardous Drugs in Health Care Settings"> (http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2004-165/)

OSHA provides regulatory standards to protect workers from injury.

OSHA requirements that apply to healthcare facilities include the

• Bloodborne Pathogens Standard (1910.1030),
• Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) Standard (1910.120),
• Asbestos Standards (1910.1001) for any renovation work.

Visit the OSHA web site (http://www.osha.gov/) for more information.

OSHA also has a Hospital eTool (http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/hospital/mainpage.html) that addresses the following areas:

• administration,
  
• central supply,
  
• clinical services,
  
• dietary,
  
• emergency,
  
• engineering,
  
• heliport,
  
• housekeeping,
  
• ICU,
  
• laboratories,
  
• laundry,
  
• pharmacy,
  
• surgical suite,
  
• healthcare wide hazards,
  

and other healthcare wide hazards.