The latest from the Texas Pesticide Information Network features newsworthy items from the summer and upcoming events this fall.
 

• TAP hosts second pesticide workshop in Houston in October

TXPIN member organization Texans for Alternatives to Pesticides (TAP) will be hosting a workshop and conference in Houston on October 27, 2000. Their website is http://www.nopesticides.org. For more information, call 713-523-2TAP(2827).
 

• Interactive web database will feature pesticide data from Texas city parks

TXPIN will launch an interactive web database in late October that features pesticide use data from the city parks of the top 25 metropolitan areas in Texas for the entire year of 1998. This database will be accessible worldwide on the web and visitors will be able to access information about what pesticides were used in their neighborhood park, when they were applied, and how much of each pesticide was used . Visitors will also be able to analyze pesticide use in a particular city or trends in the use of a single pesticide throughout the state.

Through this interactive database model using Texas city park data, TXPIN hopes to demonstrate the feasibility and need for creating a comprehensive system to track pesticide use in Texas.
 

• Pesticide Neighbor Notification now law in New York State

After four years of organizing and advocacy by environmentalists, breast cancer activists, children's health advocates, and concerned citizens, New York citizens now have the right to be given fair warning before pesticides are used on the lawn next door. This law was passed this past June, and now counties are are in the process of passing local laws to comply with state law provisions.

"Mosquito spraying has heightened our awareness of pesticide use, but the untold story is that we are routinely exposed to hazardous pesticides in the food we eat, in our schools and offices, and even in our own backyards," said Audrey Thier, pesticide project director for Environmental Advocates.  "In 1998, commercial applicators reported using over 23 million pounds and 3.5 million gallons of pesticides in New York State. Prior knowledge is our first line of defense in protecting ourselves and our families, pets, and property from inadvertent pesticide exposure."

The new law will require schools and day care centers to provide advance notice of pesticide spraying.  It also allows counties to pass local laws requiring that commercial pesticide applicators provide 48-hour advance notice to abutting properties before applying pesticides, and that individuals post markers when they apply lawn pesticides to large areas.

For more information, visit the New York Public Interest Research Group at http://www.nypirg.org/ or call 518-436-0876.
 

• Home pesticide use increases risk for Parkinson's disease

Pesticide use in the home and garden increases the risk of developing Parkinson's disease, according to researchers who announced their findings at the American Academy of Neurology's 52nd annual meeting in San Diego, CA, April 29 - May 6, 2000.

The study, conducted with people newly diagnosed with the disease, reinforces what is already known about the increased risk of Parkinson's disease associated with occupational exposure to pesticides.  The researchers, lead by Lorene Nelson, a neuroepidemiologist at Stanford University School of Medicine, interviewed 496 people with Parkinson's disease about their past use of pesticides, including first exposure and frequency of contact. All patients were asked if they had used or been exposed to insecticides in the home or garden, herbicides or weed killers in the garden, or fungicides to control mold or mildew in the home or garden.

The Parkinson's patients' lifetime histories were then compared to 541 people without the disease. Researchers found that people who had been exposed to pesticides were approximately two times more likely to develop Parkinson's disease than people not exposed to pesticides. In-home exposure to insecticides carried the highest risk. Past exposure to herbicides was also associated with the disease, whereas exposure to insecticides and fungicides in the garden were not found to be risk factors.

Parkinson's disease is a slowly progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects more than 500,000 people in the United States. It causes the loss of dopamine, a chemical in the brain, which results in muscle stiffness and rigidity, slowness in movement and tremor of the arms and legs.

For more information, visit the American Academy of Neurology website at http://www.aan.com.
 

• The Environmental Protection Agency's ban of Dursban

On June 8, 2000 the Environmental Protection Agency announced a ban on virtually all uses of the insecticide Dursban in residential and commercial buildings. Dursban is not allowed in schools, day care centers, nursing homes, and other areas.

The use of the active ingredient in Dursban, chlorpyrifos, has also been restricted in food crops. Residues of the chemical on apples and grapes will not be allowed, and the chemical may not be used on tomatoes. The exceptions to the ban are spot termite treatment with gross visible infestations (which will be banned in 2002), and professional applications directly on top of fire ant mounds and on golf courses.

Despite the recognized risks of Dursban use, the EPA did not order that retail products containing Dursban be pulled from store shelves.

Four out of the seven independent school districts in Texas studied by TXPIN used a formulation of Dursban in or around public schools during the month of September 1998--Conroe, Dallas, Fort Stockton, and McAllen ISDs. (For more information, see "Pesticide Report Card: Texas Schools Score from A to F in the Integrated Pest Management Program," available as a PDF file at http://www.texascenter.org/txpin/index.htm.

For more information about the Dursban ban, visit the Environmental Working Group's website at http://www.ewg.org/.