EPA scientists fight library closures

[Guest guest]

EPA Scientists Fight Library Closures, New Evidence of DDT health

impacts, An Alternative to Methyl Bromide, and more...

 

July 6, 2006

 

Bush slashes EPA libraries budget: Over 10,000 U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency scientists, engineers, and other technical

specialists (half the Agency's staff) have asked Congress to block a

cut of $2 million--80% of EPA's library budget-proposed by the Bush

administration. The cut would close the agency's network of technical

research libraries to the public. According to Public Employees for

Environmental Responsibility (PEER), " Without waiting for Congress to

act, EPA has begun shuttering libraries, closing access to collections

and reassigning staff, " PEER reports. EPA Director Stephen Johnson

refused to consider staff objections. " The public and academic

researchers may lose any access to EPA library materials as services to

the public are being axed and there are no plans to maintain the

inter-library loan process. " " Eliminating library access is an

absolutely awful way to run an agency devoted to public and

environmental health, " said PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch in a June

29 letter published by PEER.

 

EPA bows to pesticide producer: " Dichlorvos, also known as DDVP, is

related to a World War II-era nerve gas and kills by emitting a vapor

that attacks an insect's nervous system. The problem, scientists say,

is that it can poison humans. Harmful effects range from headaches,

dizziness and flu-like symptoms in adults to possible brain damage in

babies and children. Exposure to large amounts can cause death, "

reports the Gannett News Service. DDVP, a chemical on the PAN Bad Actor

list, is commonly used for " no-pest " strips and flea collars. The EPA

is considering a request from Amvac, the chemical's manufacturer, to

continue to allow home use as long as warning labels are strengthened

and " no-pest " strips are made smaller. Amvac also claims that exposure

from flea collars is safe when their label directions are followed.

Jennifer Sass, a senior scientist with the Natural Resource Defense

Council, says that people who have previously used products such as the

Alco No-Pest Strip may not read a new label. " This is a situation where

people are risking potential permanent harm to their children and pets,

and what's the gain? " Sass said. " There are plenty of safe

alternatives. This is old chemistry that we don't need anymore. " The

NRDC has petitioned AMVAC to take DDVP off the market immediately.

Watch for a PAN Action Alert this summer.

 

DDT: A new study of infants born to California farmworkers reveals

evidence of neurological harm from DDT exposure. Babies of women

exposed to the insecticide have delays in neurological development,

according to the study by scientists at the University of California,

Berkeley. Scientists measured levels of various pesticides in 360

pregnant women who recently emigrated from Mexico to the Salinas

Valley, then tested the mental and motor skills of their U.S.-born

infants and toddlers. The mental tests measure the children's ability

to learn and think, including memory and problem-solving skills. For

every tenfold rise in DDT exposure, the children's scores on mental

tests dropped 2 to 3 points. Their motor skills were also reduced.

Ninety percent of the participants in this study were born in Mexico,

where DDT was used to control malaria until its ban in 2000. In a Los

Angeles Times article the study's authors caution that " the benefit of

using DDT to control malaria should be balanced carefully against the

potential risk to children's neurodevelopment. Whenever possible,

alternative antimalarial controls should be considered, especially in

areas where pregnant women and children may be exposed. " Read the study

abstract in the July issue of the medical journal, Pediatrics.

 

Alternative to methyl bromide for post-harvest pest control: A group of

scientists at the University of California, Davis have developed a

device to kill pests with carbon dioxide, a vacuum pump and a little

alcohol. The new system is called metabolic stress disinfection and

disinfestation, or MSDD. The developers suggest that: " If developed

commercially, it can be a single alternative to a broad spectrum of

post-harvest pesticides for disinfection and a likely alternative to

methyl bromide fumigation or to irradiation for the post-harvest

control of arthropods. " Methyl bromide has been commonly used for

fumigating grains and other commodities for storage, export and import,

but is being phased out under the Montreal Protocol. Methyl iodide is

an extremely harmful chemical that was proposed to replace methyl

bromide, but was rejected for registration for use in food production

this year by the US EPA. The scientists' study is detailed in the

Journal of Food Science and Agriculture. Read the abstract

 

PANUPS is a weekly email news service providing resource guides and

reporting on pesticide issues that don't always get coverage by the

mainstream media. It's produced by Pesticide Action Network North

America, a non-profit and non-governmental organization working to

advance sustainable alternatives to pesticides worldwide.

 

You can join our efforts! We gladly accept donations for our work and

all contributions are tax deductible in the United States. Visit

http://www.panna.org/donate.

 

 

" NOTICE: Due to Presidential Executive Orders, the National Security Agency may

have read this email without warning, warrant, or notice. They may do this

without any judicial or legislative oversight. You have no recourse nor

protection save to call for the impeachment of the current President. "