Tag: pesticide
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Prenatal DDE Exposure Allegedly Linked to Accelerated Growth
A recent study reportedly claims that prenatal exposure to the pesticide dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and its breakdown product dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) is associated with accelerated growth and elevated BMI in infants born to normal-weight mothers. Michelle Mendez, et al., “Prenatal Organochlorine Compound Exposure, Rapid Weight Gain and Overweight in Infancy,” Environmental Health Perspectives, October 2010. Researchers apparently…
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Prenatal Pesticide Exposure Allegedly Tied to Attention Problems in Young Children
A recent study has alleged a relationship between prenatal exposure to certain widely used pesticides and an increased risk of attention problems in preschool age kids. Brenda Eskenazi, et al., “PON1 and Neurodevelopment in Children from the CHAMACOS Study Exposed to Organophosphate Pesticides in Utero,” Environmental Health Perspectives, August 19, 2010. Researchers at the University of California,…
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Premature Development Causes Unease in China
Chinese health experts have reportedly estimated that “at least 30,000 children developed early maturity” in Shanghai alone, raising concerns about food additives and pesticides allegedly laden with sex hormones. According to an August 18, 2010, China Daily article, one doctor with the Beijing Maternal and Child Healthcare Hospital has suggested that “early maturity in Chinese…
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Federal Appeals Court Finds Farmers’ Claims Against Pesticide Maker Not Preempted
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals has allowed claims filed by New Jersey blueberry farmers to proceed against the company that makes a pesticide which allegedly damaged their crops, finding that the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) does not preempt their lawsuit. Indian Brand Farms, Inc. v. Novartis Crop Protection, Inc., No. 08-4484 (3d…
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Procedural Missteps Doom Trade Association Challenge to EPA Rule Ending Domestic Pesticide Tolerances
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld, in part, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) denial of objections filed to its final rule revoking all residues of the pesticide carbofuran permitted on or in raw and processed foods. Nat’l Corn Growers Ass’n v. EPA, No. 09-1284 (D.C. Cir., decided July 23, 2010). EPA revoked the carbofuran…
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Food Blogger Claims Agribusiness Takes Page from Tobacco Playbook
La Vida Locavore blogger Jill Richardson claims in a July 6 AlterNet article that a recent webinar touting a “perspective on pesticide residues” was benignly marketed to federal and state health officials by a “self-described non-profit organization,” the Alliance for Food and Farming. While the Alliance’s website does not identify its supporters, Richardson asserts that…
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GAO Testimony Takes Aim at Herbal Dietary Supplements’ Marketing Practices, Contaminants
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has delivered testimony before the U.S. Senate’s Special Committee on Aging that highlights examples of deceptive or questionable marketing practices involving certain dietary supplements. GAO also reported that some herbal dietary supplements contained contaminants, including trace amounts of lead. According to GAO Managing Director of Forensic Audits and Special Investigations…
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Hearings Begin on Fraud Allegations in Litigation over Pesticides Used on Nicaraguan Banana Plantations
A California trial court has reportedly begun hearing evidence to determine if a 2007 $2.3 million jury award to Nicaraguan banana plantation workers who claimed they were sterilized by exposure to pesticides was based on fraud. Defendant Dole Food Co. convinced the court in 2009 to dismiss two similar pending cases on the basis of testimony,…