NEW SCIENTIST, ENGLAND

Pesticides blamed for plummeting salmon stocks

June 2008

Ewen Callaway

     A weak mix of pesticides in river water dampens a salmon's sense of smell, say researchers. In experiments, Steelhead rainbow trout exposed to low levels of 10 common agricultural pesticides could not perceive changes in levels of a predator's scent.

     "You can imagine if a fish is unable to detect just how close it is to a [wading] bear, it's a problem," says Keith Tierney, a toxicologist who led the study while at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia.

     A depressed sense of smell might also keep fish from finding mates and food. Trout are closely related to salmon, and, though the theory is unproven, pesticides may be a cause of plummeting salmon stocks in Canada and the US, Tierney says. Read More...

USDA axes national survey charting pesticide use

FRESNO, Calif. - Consumers and farmers will soon be on their own when it comes to finding out which pesticides are being sprayed on everything from corn to apples.

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Wednesday it plans to do away with publishing its national survey tracking pesticide use, despite opposition from prominent scientists, the nation's largest farming organizations and environmental groups.

    "If you don't know what's being used, then you don't know what to look for," said Charles Benbrook, chief scientist at The Organic Center, a nonprofit in Enterprise, Ore. "In the absence of information, people can be lulled into thinking that there are no problems with the use of pesticides on food in this country."

Since 1990, farmers and consumer advocates have relied on the agency's detailed annual report to learn which states apply the most pesticides and where bug and weed killers are most heavily sprayed to help cotton, grapes and oranges grow. Read more...

Pesticide Parkinson's Strong Link

BBC News, Friday, March 28, 2008

There is strong evidence that exposure to pesticides significantly increases the risk of Parkinson's disease, experts believe.

It comes as another study, published in the BMC Neurology journal, has made the link to the neurological disease.

The US researchers found those exposed to pesticides had a 1.6 times higher risk after studying 600 people.

Experts said it was now highly likely pesticides played a key role - albeit in combination with other factors.

The disorder, which normally develops later in life...Read more

US Youth Soccer Quietly Ends Its Partnership with ChemLawn

March 2005 - We are please to report that US Youth Soccer has quietly ended its corporate sponsorship agreement with TruGreen/ChemLawn! With a campaign that was spearheaded by HealthLink, it goes to show that a small group of concerned citizens can make a huge difference! We thank all who worked with us on this campaign and especially thank US Youth Soccer for putting the children first.

Ask US Youth Soccer to GiveTruGreen/ChemLawn the Boot!

2003 - HealthLink has become aware of a disturbing corporate sponsorship agreement that the US Youth Soccer Association (USYS) has entered into and are asking soccer organizers, soccer parents and concerned citizens to urge US Youth Soccer not to renew this partnership.

Background: In May 2003, TruGreen/ChemLawn signed a contract as an official sponsor of USYSA, the largest sports association in the nation. Under this agreement TruGreen/ChemLawn will be privy to the addresses of 3.2 million USYS children and will market lawn chemicals through direct mailings to soccer parents. In return USYS receives a monetary stipend from TruGreen/ChemLawn. This partnership couldn't be more inappropriate. Not only does it exploit children and infringe on the privacy of minors, it also encourages the use of toxic lawn pesticides around young children!

The US Environmental Protection Agency warns us about children's exposure to pesticides: "Kids need Protection - Children are at a greater risk for pesticides for a number of reasons. Children's internal organs are still developing and maturing and their enzymatic, metabolic, and immune systems may provide less natural protection than those of an adult. There are critical periods in human development when exposure to a toxin can permanently alter the way an individual's biological system operates. Children's behaviors, such as playing on the floor or on the lawn where pesticides are commonly applied, or putting objects in their mouths, increase their chances of exposure to pesticides. Adverse effects of pesticide exposure range from mild symptoms of dizziness and nausea to serious, long-term neurological, developmental and reproductive disorders. Americans use more than a billion pounds of pesticides each year to combat pests on....lawns, schools, parks, and other public places." http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/factsheets/kidpesticide.htm

This sponsorship agreement, goes further to grant TruGreen/ChemLawn the license to use the USYS name, logo and other intellectual materials for product promotion, including co-branding TruGreen/ChemLawn trucks with the US Youth Soccer logo, advertising on USYS website, etc.

Please, join HealthLink and its campaign to protect children from toxic pesticide exposure and urge USYS to halt this contract with TruGreen/ChemLawn, which is up for renewal in Decmeber 2004. Call or e-mail Chris Branscome, USYSA director of marketing at 1-800-476-2237 or cbranscome@usyouthsoccer.org and express your concern. USYS can also be contacted by writing to: Mr. Chris Branscome - Director of Marketing, Jim Cosgrove - Executive Director and Kim Goggans - Marketing Manager, USYS, 1717 Firman Drive, Suite 900, Richardson, Texas 75081.

Call today! Ask USYS to choose sponsors who are child-friendly and not do business with sponsors who put our children in harm's way! Thank you!

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Pesticides Too Harmful to Use in Any Form, Doctors Warn

April 24, 2004
by Alannna Mitchell

ONTARIO - The link between common household pesticides and fetal defects, neurological damage and the most deadly cancers is strong enough that family doctors in Ontario are urging citizens to avoid the chemicals in any form.

The frightening message came yesterday when the Ontario College of Family Physicians released the most comprehensive study ever done in Canada on the chronic effects of pesticide exposure at home, in the garden and at work.

"The review found consistent evidence of the health risks to patients with exposure to pesticides," the study said, naming brain cancer, prostate cancer, kidney cancer, pancreatic cancer and leukemia among many other acute illnesses.

As well, the college found consistent links between parents' exposure to certain agricultural pesticides at their jobs and effects on a growing fetus ranging from damage to death. The risks, they concluded, can come even from residue on food, ant spray and the tick collar on the family cat.The researchers also found that children are far more vulnerable to the effects of pesticides than adults because their bodies are growing, they have a greater skin surface in proportion to their size than adults, they ingest more food for their size than adults and they often have less-developed systems to excrete chemicals. More... www.globeandmail.ca

See Ontario College of Family Physicians' full report on pesticides: www.ocfp.on.ca

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TruGreen ChemLawn
"Honored" with 2003 Dirty Dozen Award

North Andover, December 4, 2003 -Citing their widespread promotion and use of toxic pesticides on residential lawns and town fieldsacross the region, HealthLink members from Marblehead and Swampscott joined Toxics Action Center of Boston to present TruGreen/ChemLawn with a 2003 "Dirty Dozen Award" at their headquarters in North Andover.

"TruGreen/ChemLawn is turning our yards and playing fields into toxic dump sites," said Kathleen Klett of HeathLink. "These pesticides are dangerous for our kids and our pets. All pesticides are poisons, that's why when you go to dispose of pesticides it is considered hazardous waste."

The citizen groups refer to scientific studies linking pesticide use on lawnsto increased risk of childhood illnesses including, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, brain cancer, leukemia and neurological disorders a major reason for citing TruGreen/ChemLawn.

The award highlights ChemLawn's widespread marketing tactics through their partnership with US Youth Soccer as an example of their disregard for the health and safety of children.

"It's time for TruGreen/ChemLawn to come clean and educate consumers about the dangers of pesticide use on lawns and playing fields," said Jay Rasku, Field Director for Toxics Action Center. "Instead, ChemLawn has begun an advertising campaign using children in US Youth Soccer programs to market their products to soccer parents. This marketing strategy is dangerous and wrong, since exposure to pesticides is a health threat to the developing bodies of children."

Nate Leeson, 8 years old, a Marblehead Youth Soccer player, carried a sign which said, "Please Don't Poison My Pets!" He said "I feel that ChemLawn should not be 'spreaded' because it could make our pets sick." His mother added "None of us are blindfolded to the serious health issues that effect today's society. We should all take preventative measures especially when it concerns our children."