Stop WN Spraying Now: Risk

Risk Assessment

In late July of 2006 fourteen states moved to force the Bush administration to require manufacturers to disclose even "inert" ingredients that the state officials say pose an undisclosed health hazard in pesticides. "Inert ingredients make up as much as 99 percent of a pesticide, the state officials said. Inert ingredients are known or suspected causes of cancer, nervous system disorders, liver and kidney damage and birth defects as well as environmental damage." "To allow consumers to be misled in this way is unconscionable, said Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly." Pyrethrum is considered an axonic poison by the EPA.

According to the Center for Public Integrity, the "safe" pesticides are now first in poisoning, as the parents of Amber McKeown tragically learned when the two-and-a-half-year old died shortly after a bath in a pyrethrin shampoo. "After performing an autopsy, the Delaware County (Pennsylvania) medical examiner concluded that the child’s death had been triggered by exposure to a type of pesticide called a pyrethrin and its accompanying impurities . . . "

See the "Safe Dose Myth" discussion. The pyrethrum/PBO mix sprayed aerially has both acute risks for some people and long-term risks for all of us. The same is true for the pyrethroid pesticides sprayed by backpack.

"The dose makes the poison," so the argument goes, and then the implication often is that the chemical in question is being applied in such a small dose that there could be no possible harmful effect. This comes from the so-called "dose-response relationship," which has governed pesticide regulation for years. The theory is that any substance is harmless if applied at levels below a certain amount, a response then occurs as the amount is increased past that point, the response increases as the dose is increased, and the response eventually levels off after a point. However, this is out-of-date, and pesticide regulation has not kept pace but is slowly being revised. There are reports of situations in which no minimal level of dose has been found that does not generate a response, and there are situations with inverted dose-response relationships -- increased responses at decreased doses. See the ABCs of Toxicology for further details.

This article, Rachel's #824, gives details of some of the history over roughly the last decade of the controversy of the potential for man-made chemicals to disrupt the endocrine systems of animals, including humans. The author suggests that “Now, almost 10 years later, the debate over hormone disruption seems to be over." The Wall Street Journal conceded this summer that low levels of industrial chemicals are linked to rising rates of childhood cancer and brain disorders, among other maladies.

We have seen many claims that WNv poses special risks for children, although we have seen no evidence of this. On the other hand, "Recent research shows that pesticides are particularly hazardous for children," as is reported in this article from the "Journal of Pesticide Reform," Summer 1999, Vol. 19, No. 2.