Posts Tagged ‘ pesticides ’

Be Careful Where You Spray That Stuff

September 11, 2009
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It’s the first step in what could be a long crackdown on pesticide use in the Pacific Northwest.

The Environmental Protection Agency is placing new limits on the use of three organophosphate pesticides – chlorpyrifos, diazinon and malathion. The rules apply to Oregon, Washington, Idaho and California.

A Chinook salmon. Courtesy NOAA

A Chinook salmon. Courtesy NOAA.

The EPA is trying to keep these chemical out of streams and rivers that are home to salmon and steelhead.  Research shows that these pesticides can interfere with a salmon’s ability to smell, making it harder for the fish to hunt prey.  The chemicals may also kill prey and reduce the salmon’s food supply.  In high enough concentrations, the pesticides can outright kill salmon.

How do the new rules work?  First, they require buffer zones around salmon and steelhead habitat.  These are areas where the pesticides can’t be used.  The size of the buffer zone will depend on weather conditions, and how the pesticides will be applied.  The idea is to keep the pesticides from drifting into fish waters.

Other restrictions including no spraying on windy and rainy days, or when rain is in the forecast, to prevent the chemicals from running off fields and into streams.

For the most part, these rules follow recommendations by NOAA Fisheries.  The EPA is asking manufacturers to voluntarily adopt these limits, with the threat of taking regulatory action if they don’t.

But what’s especially important about today’s announcement is that it may be the first in a very long series of new rulings on pesticide use.  The EPA and NOAA will spend the next couple of years studying three dozen pesticides in the Northwest.  So far, six of them have been labeled as threats to salmon and steelhead.  That includes the three pesticides mentioned above.

EPA Reaches Settlement In Pesticide Death Case

April 28, 2009
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The death of Florence Kolbeck was so strange, that it captured headlines around the state.

In July of 2005, Kolbeck and her husband Fred returned to their house after it had been sprayed for bugs by a pesticide company.  Thinking they had waited enough time after the spraying, the Kolbecks were coughing and on the floor within minutes.  A few hours later, Florence was dead from a heart attack.

Today, the Environmental Protection Agency announced it has settled with the company that applied the pesticides.  Swanson’s Pest Management, Inc., of Eugene has agreed to pay a $4550 fine, the maximum possible under the law.  The EPA complaint says Swanson’s made three serious mistakes, including not doing a good enough job to ventilate the home after spraying.

Kolbeck’s death is the only known “death by pesticide” case in Oregon history.  An autopsy by Lane County concluded she died from a combination of factors, including exposure to the pesticide and poor health that made her vulnerable.  The report said the levels of pesticide found in the home were not lethal and that had Kolbeck been in better health she would have survived.

A lawsuit against Swanson’s, filed by her family, was settled out of court about a year ago.

NOAA: Pesticides “Threaten” Northwest Salmon and Steelhead

April 21, 2009
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Columbia River Salmon Courtesy WDFW

Columbia River Salmon Courtesy WDFW

Three pesticides have been added to a growing list of chemicals that are considered a threat to endangered and threatened salmon and steelhead populations across the Northwest.

That finding, just released by NOAA Fisheries, covers pesticides containing carbaryl, carbofuran, and methomyl.  The pesticides are used in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and California on a wide variety of crops including fruits, vegetables, nuts and grains.

Exposure to these chemicals can kill salmon, or damage their central nervous systems, making it harder for them to catch food, avoid predators and spawn.   An even bigger problem is that when these chemicals wash into streams and rivers, they kill the aquatic insects that salmon eat.

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Making Schools Greener And Safer

April 9, 2009
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Like many of our readers, you’re probably trying to reduce the amount of toxic chemicals in your home. Maybe you’re using environmentally friendly soaps and cleaning products, and cutting back or even eliminating pesticides.

But when you’re kids go to school, things could be very different.

A recent report from the Oregon Toxics Alliance shows that pesticides, even those linked to cancer and learning disabilities, are “routinely used in and around Oregon’s schools.” Over a ten-year period, the group found 43 cases where kids were exposed to toxic pesticides at school. In a handful of cases, it was so bad that students or staff needed medical attention, or the school had to be evacuated.

The Alliance and other environmental groups are now trying to build support for two bills that would reduce the risks of toxic chemicals at schools. One requires all schools to follow procedures designed to reduce the use of pesticides. The other tells schools to start using cleaning products that are certified “green”.

Here’s a look at what’s being proposed.

Senate Bill 637 says all schools, private and public, will have to start using what’s called Integrated Pest Management (IPM). The idea, says Renee Hackenmiller-Paradis of the Oregon Environmental Council, is to help schools “make smart choices and think about things before using that can of Raid.”

It starts with using non-toxic methods to control pests. That includes such things as keeping food off counter tops, plugging holes with caulk or steel wool, or putting wire mesh in front of vents and other openings. Hackenmiller-Paradis says it doesn’t make sense to “bomb everything” if you haven’t already removed the sources of food, water and shelter that the pests need to survive.

If those methods don’t work, then the law allows schools to use nontoxic or low-impact pesticides that are applied by a licensed worker.

“We’re not against pesticides,” says Hackenmiller-Paradis, explaining that pests can also cause health problems. She says IPM shows schools how to, “effectively manage pests in a way that minimizes the use of pesticides.”

IPM methods are already followed in some Oregon school districts including Portland, Eugene and Mapleton.

Senate Bill 668 is the companion bill that says all Oregon schools must adopt “green” cleaning policies. Mostly it requires schools to use products that are certified environmentally friendly by such groups as Eco-label and Green Seal. Hackenmiller-Paradis says most large cleaning companies already have a “green line” of products so it should be easy for schools to convert.

Both bills went before the Senate Education and General Government Committee last week with little opposition. No new hearings have been scheduled.

For more information, or to leave comments and learn how to take action, please follow the “Continue reading” link.

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