How Pesticides Can Affect You and Your Family

1. How Pesticides Can Affect You and Your Family Susan E. Kegley Pesticide Action Network skegley@panna.org

2. Timing of Exposures is Critical • Developing fetus, infants and children most vulnerable, e.g. Thalidomide exposure between 31–54 days gestation resulted in limb-reduction defects • Children and infants’ ability to detoxify and excrete chemicals is not fully functional • Children have higher exposures: More contact with the floor, hands in mouth, higher breathing rates

3. Health Effects Linked to Chemical Exposure • Acute toxicity: • Poisonings • Rodenticides>15,000 cases/year • Insecticides • Fumigants

4. Asthma • Pesticides linked to asthma • Home-use insecticides • Foggers, sprays • Pyrethroids • Organophosphates(mostly agricultural use) • Termite fumigants • Vikane

5. Acute Poisonings from Home Pesticide Use in CA • Single Family Home, 2004, Deltamethrin: A commercial pest control applicator tried to control termites with local treatment. The pesticide ran into a room where an asthmatic resident had an immediate exacerbation. Nearly a year later, the asthmatic continued to have respiratory problems each time he tried to return home. 

 • Single Family Home, 2006, Pyrethrins, Permethrin, Piperonyl butoxide:A resident sprayed an ant killer in the cracks & crevices of countertops & cabinets. She then cleaned up the dead ants with a sponge dipped in a bowl of warm water. She wore no gloves. She developed body numbness 90 minutes later and called 911. • Single Family Home, 2002, Pyrethrins, Deltamethrin, Piperonyl Butoxide, Methoprene: A commercial pest control applicator treated the carpets in a house for ants and fleas. The following day, the homeowner's 7-year-old woke up complaining of numbness in her arms and legs. The family entered the house 9 hours later and smelled a strong odor. • Multi-Unit Housing, 2006, Permethrin, Methoprene: A commercial pesticide applicator treated an apartment carpet and baseboards for fleas. The family returned 22 hours later. A 15-month old boy developed a rash and fever shortly after he began crawling on the carpet. His symptoms worsened over the day so his father took him for care.

6. Cancers Associated with Pesticide Exposure • Cancers include: • Childhood leukemia • Childhood brain tumors • Wilm’s tumor (kidney) • Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma • Testicular cancer • Prostate cancer

7. Childhood Cancers: Ages 0–141971–2001 All leukemia Up 32% Acute lymphocytic leukemia Up 53% Soft tissue cancers Up 32% Brain tumors Up 63% Bone cancers Up 32% Kidney cancer Up 26% Source: National Cancer Institute, SEER Statistics site http://seer.cancer.gov/faststats/

8. Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Age-Adjusted Incidence Increasing Source: National Cancer Institute, SEER Statistics site http://seer.cancer.gov/faststats/

9. Testicular Cancer Age-Adjusted Incidence Increasing Source: National Cancer Institute, SEER Statistics site http://seer.cancer.gov/faststats/

10. For original literature citations for these studies, see Secondhand Pesticides, pp. 10–13, http://www.panna.org/files/secondhandDriftAvail.dv.html

11. ADD, ADHD, Autism, Learning Disabilities • U.S. population-adjusted rate of office-based visits documenting a diagnosis of ADHD • Girls: increased 2.7-fold between 1991 and 1997 (from 12.3 per 1,000 girls to 33.4) • Boys: doubled (from 39.5 per 1,000 boys to 78.7) • Studies to evaluate possible links between chemical exposure and neurological outcomes are in progress • Organochlorine pesticides • Organophosphorus pesticides

12. Neurotoxicity • Neurotoxicity: • Parkinson’s disease • Permanent numbness in extremities (high exposures to OP insecticides) • Pesticides linked: • Lawn-care herbicides • Termite fumigants • Pyrethroid insecticides • Organophosphates insecticides

13. Reproductive and Developmental Toxicity • Reproductive toxicity: • Sterility • Infertility • Developmental toxicity: • Birth defects • Impaired growth and development • Developmental disorders • Pesticides linked: • Herbicides • Fungicides • Home and garden use Incidence of Hypospadias, 1970–1993 Paulozzi, L, and Erickson, et al (1997) Pediatrics, Vol. 100(5): 831-834.

14. Phil Landrigan, MD, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine

16. Do you have to choose between pests and cancer?

17. NO! Integrated Pest Management • Prevention is key • Stop pest invasions before they start • Monitor regularly • Catch problems early • Use non-chemical methods • Mechanical pest removal • Natural predators • If necessary, use low-toxicity controls • Baits are best. Avoid aerosols and any pesticide that is widely dispersed. • Low toxicity • Use the PAN Pesticide Database to check toxicity www.pesticideinfo.org

18. Controlling Ants and Roaches • Caulk the entry points: cracks and crevices • Remove food sources • Sugar, other food stored in airtight containers or refrigerator • Clean up promptly after meals • Keep a clean kitchen • Use low-toxicity bait stations that kill the nest • Boric acid • Hydramethylnon • Avoid any kind of fogger or spray

19. Controlling Spiders • Clean regularly behind furniture, in corners, in closets • Do not let piles of newspapers or other things accumulate • Remove spiders by vacuuming

20. Controlling Fleas and Ticks • Vacuum regularly, especially favorite sleeping spots • On short-haired animals, use a flea comb and drop fleas or ticks into soapy water • For dogs, baths work well to remove fleas • Put towels or easy-wash blankets down where pets sleep and wash weekly • Use diatomaceous earth in the yard where pets spend time • In areas of heavy infestations, Advantage or Frontline are the least toxic. Consider using less frequently than the recommended interval or only in high season. Avoid sprays, flea shampoos, and flea collars.

21. Controlling Termites • Prevention • No dirt to wood contact. Insulate wood framing with concrete piers • Do not store firewood under the house • Inspect frequently. Control early. • Treatments: subterranean termites • Bait stations • Boric acid • Imidacloprid • Replace infested wood with new wood • Treatments: drywood termites • Heat treatments • Microwave treatments • Replace infested wood with new wood

22. Controlling Rats and Mice • Close off entry points • Use mechanical traps • Get a good mouser!

23. Controlling Weeds • Use mulch where possible • Do hand-weeding • Become a bit more tolerant of lawn weeds • Use low-toxicity herbicides • Corn gluten meal • Pelargonic acid • Clove oil

24. Controlling Garden Pests-1 • Soft-bodied insects (aphids, whiteflies): • Boost natural predators like ladybugs and lacewings • Strong jet of water • Soap solution • Horticultural oils • Caterpillars • Pick them off. Pay your child to pick them off ($0.25/caterpillar!) • Bacillus thuringiensis • Pheromone traps

25. Controlling Garden Pests-2 • Beetles • Pick them off • Pheromone traps • Slugs • Slug traps • Pick them off • Iron phosphate

26. “But all this takes time!” • Less time than a trip to the emergency room • Far less time than a year-long battle with leukemia • Your family’s health and your peace of mind is worth it!

27. Pesticides and other Chemicals In Me (and probably in You) http://archive. ewg.org/reports/bodyburden1

29. http://archive.ewg.org/reports/bodyburden2/

30. http://www.cancer.ca/ccs/internet/standard/0,3182,3172_335143__langId-en,00.htmlhttp://www.cancer.ca/ccs/internet/standard/0,3182,3172_335143__langId-en,00.html

32. Other Vulnerable Populations • Workers • Fenceline communities • Chemically sensitive • 10-20% of the population has lower levels of PON-1, an enzyme that detoxifies compounds in the body • PON-1 levels linked to Gulf War syndrome, ADHD

33. Responsibility: Some things to think about • Correlation between chemical exposure and disease incidence is strong • No labeling (no data), no right-to-know, no informed choice of products • Risk-benefit analyses currently do not take chronic disease into account--costs are externalized • Who reaps the benefits from sales of chemicals? • Who bears the burden of exposure and disease? • Preventative measures restricting chemical use are likely to be the most cost effective way to proceed

34. Industrial Chemicals Commonly Detected • Phthalates: plasticizers, used in most plastics, cosmetics, hair-care products • Bis-phenol A: component of hard plastics used in baby bottles, water bottles, plastic cups & glasses

35. Couches and Carpets Contribute to Contamination • PBDEs: Polybrominated diphenyl ethers, flame retardants used in foam cushions & plastics used in computers • Perfluorinated compounds: Scotchgard™ carpet treatments, teflon cookware

36. Are we exposed? • U.S. Centers for Disease ControlThird Report on Human Exposures to Environmental Chemicals, 2005 • 148 chemicals, 41 pesticides evaluated in urine and blood (80,000 chemicals in commerce) • Approx. 9,000 total participants; 2,500 tested for pesticides • Sample population weighted slightly towards minority populations http://www.cdc.gov/exposurereport

37. Analysis of CDC Pesticide Data(Second Report-2003) • Children have the highest body burdens • Exposures to two insecticides exceed EPA’s “acceptable” levels • The average person tested contained 13 different pesticides or their metabolites • Persistent exposure Pesticide Action Network

38. Environmental Working Group, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, Commonweal Featured on NOW with Bill Moyers, Spring 2002. http://www.ewg.org/reports/bodyburden/

39. insecticide insecticide, wood preservative insecticide insecticide insecticide insecticide insecticide herbicide insecticide insecticide toilet bowl deodorizers, moth balls Lysol™ disinfectant & others insecticide insecticide, wood preservative herbicide, antibacterial hand soap toilet bowl deodorizers, moth balls insecticide

40. Surveillance for Asthma, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, March 2002, http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5101a1.htm