=======================Electronic Edition========================
RACHEL’S HAZARDOUS WASTE NEWS #61
—January 25, 1988—
News and resources for environmental justice.
——
Environmental Research Foundation
P.O. Box 5036, Annapolis, MD 21403
Fax (410) 263-8944; Internet: erf@igc.apc.org
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MILLIONS OF POUNDS OF TOXICS ARE ENTERING ENVIRONMENT NEEDLESSLY.
The manufacture of pesticides is an ideal business: once a
nation’s farmers start using toxic chemicals for pest control,
the need for new chemical pesticides is endless. Nature requires
growers to constantly increase their use of chemicals and it
requires chemists to develop new poisons continuously. Here’s how
it works: Pests (whether they be insects, bacteria or other forms
of life), like all living things, undergo random genetic
mutations. Each generation of new pests contains a few members
with new characteristics. The vast majority of these new
characteristics are not beneficial and the odd creatures usually
die out. But once in a while an odd one is born with beneficial
characteristics, such as the ability to withstand a killer
chemical. This creature has what’s known as “resistance”–it
resists damage from Toxaphene or Temik, or any of the other
50,000 pesticides now in use.
The resistant creatures grow and thrive. They produce offspring,
some of whom who are also resistant, and within a decade or two
(or less), huge numbers of resistant creatures have developed.
The grower has to apply more and more chemical, with less and
less success. Eventually that pesticide is no longer effective
against those pests, so chemists have to develop a new killer
chemical to attack that particular species. For a time the new
chemical may be effective, but then “natural selection” will
produce a breed of pests resistant to the new chemical, so
chemists have to produce a new killer chemical, and on and on.
There can never be an end to this vicious circle, so long as the
nation’s growers refuse to try to get along without killer
chemicals.
There are 1500 toxic “active ingredients” registered for use in
pesticides. These are mixed in different proportions with “inert
ingredients,” giving us 50,000 different individual chemical
pesticides. The U.S. General Accounting Office (the investigative
arm of Congress) reported in 1986 that none of the 1500 active
ingredients have been adequately tested for health effects and
environmental effects. EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency), which has responsibility for protecting the public from
pesticides, estimates that we will reach the 21st century before
they have assessed the health and environmental effects of
today’s pesticides.
Today about 1.25 billion pounds of pesticides are intentionally
spread into the environment each year by Americans (75% of it by
growers, the remainder by commercial institutions, governments,
and householders). Between 1964 and 1985, pesticide use on
American farms increased 170%. In 1984, 63% of pesticides were
herbicides, 10% were fungicides, and the remainder (27%) were
insecticides. Growers spent $5 billion on pesticides in 1984.
The National Academy of Sciences during 1985 and 1986 looked at
pesticide use on U.S. food crops, trying to get a handle on some
of the health risks. A total of 289 active ingredients are used
on food crops and, of these, the EPA has identified 53 as
oncogenic (they cause tumors in animals or humans). (This does
not mean only 53 of 289 were oncogenic; the EPA has not collected
adequate oncogenicity data on 88 chemicals registered before
1980.)
The Academy reported that 62% of all herbicides now in use are
oncogenic; 90% of all fungicides in use are oncogenic. The
Academy did not report a comparable figure for insecticides but
said it was “low.”
The Academy then estimated that about 20,000 cancers per year are
caused by exposure of Americans to pesticides on food. The
Academy did not try to estimate other health damage caused by
exposure to pesticides, nor did they concern themselves with
environmental effects (contamination and loss of fish, birds,
molluscs, or other living things).
Most U.S. pesticide use (85% of herbicides, 70% of insecticides)
occurs on four crops: corn, cotton, soybeans, and wheat.
Ironically, these crops are produced in much larger quantities
than needed. For example, in 1986, U.S. farmers planted 40% more
corn than needed and 30% more wheat than needed; the government
bought these crops and put them into storage.
Dr. Barry Commoner and associates have carried out full-scale
farming experiments, demonstrating that dramatic reduction in the
use of farm chemicals is entirely possible, without loss in
productivity. As with so much else in our economy, American
farming seems hooked on hazardous chemicals in ways that are
destructive, irrational, and not necessary.
For further information, contact: Dr. Barry Commoner, Center for
the Biology of Natural Systems, Queens College, Flushing, NY
11367; phone (718) 670-4182. Information in this article from:
William Reilly and others. STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT: A VIEW
TOWARD THE NINETIES (Washington, DC: Conservation Foundation
[1250 24th St., NW, Washington, DC 20037; phone: (202) 293-4800],
1987; $19.95 per copy; and from: Ray Thornton and others,
REGULATING PESTICIDES IN FOOD, (Washington, DC: National Academy
Press [2101 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20418; phone
(202) 334-2665], 1987; $19.95 per copy.
–Peter Montague, Ph.D.
Descriptor terms: pesticides; chemical production; farms;
agriculture; farmers; herbicides; toxaphene; temik; toxicity;
studies; congress; gao; health statistics; health; epa;
fungicides; national academy of sciences; carcenogens; cancer;
disease; disease statistics; food; barry commoner; william
reilly; ray thornton;