North Americans' pesticide body burden

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North Americans' pesticide body burden

 

Many North American Residents Carry Toxic Pesticides Above " Safe " Levels

Report shows Children and Women Shoulder Heaviest " Pesticide Body Burden "

 

Ottawa. A report released today in the US reveals that government and

industry have failed to safeguard public health from pesticide exposures.

While Canada refuses to monitor the chemical and pesticide body burdens of

its citizens, many U. S. residents carry toxic pesticides in their bodies

above government assessed " acceptable " levels, according to a report

released today by Pesticide Action Network North America (PAN), Sierra Club

of Canada and Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides(CAP). Chemical

Trespass: Pesticides in Our Bodies and Corporate Accountability, makes

public for the first time an analysis of pesticide-related data collected by

the US-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a study of

levels of chemicals in 9,282 people nationwide.

 

" None of us choose to have hazardous pesticides in our bodies indeed

communities across Canada are banning the cosmetic use of pesticide in an

attempt to limit our exposure to toxic pesticides " explained Michel Gaudet,

President of the Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides " Yet the CDC found

pesticides in 100% of the people who had both blood and urine tested. The

average person in this group carried a toxic cocktail of 13 of the 23

pesticides analyzed. "

 

Many of the pesticides found in the test subjects have been linked to

serious short- and long-term health effects including infertility, birth

defects and childhood and adult cancers.

 

" While the Canadian government develops safety levels one chemical at a

time, this study shows that in the real world we are exposed to multiple

chemicals simultaneously, " explained Andrea Peart, Director, Health and

Environment, Sierra Club of Canada. " The synergistic effects of multiple

exposures are unknown, but a growing body of research, including the recent

Ontario College of Family Physicians report, suggests that even at very low

'acceptable' levels, the combination of these chemicals can be harmful to

our health. "

 

Chemical Trespass found that children, women and Mexican Americans

shouldered the heaviest " pesticide body burden. " For example, children-the

population most vulnerable to pesticides-are exposed to the highest levels

of nerve-damaging organophosphorous (OP) pesticides. The CDC data show that

the average 6 to11 year-old sampled is exposed to the OP pesticide

chlorpyrifos at four times the level U. S. Environmental Protection Agency

considers " acceptable " for a long-term exposure. Chlorpyrifos, produced

principally by Dow Chemical Corporation and found in numerous products such

as DursbanT, is designed to kill insects by disrupting the nervous system.

Despite Sierra Club of Canada's calls to ban chlorpyrifos, the product is

still registered for use in Canada. In humans, chlorpyrifos is also a nerve

poison, and has been shown to disrupt hormones and interfere with normal

development of the nervous system in laboratory animals.

 

Dave Bennett, Canadian Labour Congress Director of Health, Safety and

Environment was shocked by the findings. " Not only do vulnerable groups such

as children and workers have an elevated burden of pesticides in their

bodies, but the general population does at well. The only answer is to

severely restrict the USE of chemical pesticides, by elimination or the

substitution of less unsafe alternatives. The authors' prescriptions for the

US are applicable to Canada. The CLC has long argued that the pesticide

registration system should be changed: alternative pest management

strategies must get priority over spreading chemical poisons on human beings

and the environment. "

 

The report also found that women have significantly higher levels of three

of the six organochlorine (OC) pesticides evaluated. This class of

pesticides is known to have multiple harmful effects when they cross the

placenta during pregnancy, including reduced infant birth weight and

disruption of brain development, which can lead to learning disabilities and

other neurobehavioral problems. This ability of organochlorine pesticides to

pass from mother to child puts future generations at serious risk.

 

" The fact that American children carry dangerous pesticides in their bodies

represents a dramatic failure in the way both of our governments regulate

toxic pesticides, " said Elizabeth May, Executive Director, Sierra Club of

Canada. " Health Canada must commit to a cross-Canada sampling of the

pesticidal body burden of Canadians. It is the first step in shifting the

burden from our bodies back to the corporate boardroom where it belongs. "

 

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Available for Comment: Andrea Peart, Sierra Club of Canada, 613-241-4611

Elizabeth May, Sierra Club of Canada, 613-241-4611 Michel Gaudet, Coalition

for Alternatives Pesticides, 514-220-9379 Rohini Peris, Coalition for

Alternatives to Pesticides, 514-683-5701

 

To obtain a copy of Chemical Trespass, call 415-981-1771 or download from

www. panna. org