Stop Wildlife Poisoning

Category: Pesticides, carbofuran | Date: Nov 09 2009 | By: paula

This really good article from Tree hugger explains the benefits of the carbofuran ban in USA

As of the end of the year, one more pesticide will be absent from food crops grown in the United States.

In May the EPA ruled that the current residue limits of the insecticide carbofuran on food crops was too high, and the agency has now decided to fully revoke carbofuran tolerances (more commonly known as residue limits). What this means is no carbofuran residue on a food will be deemed acceptable as of 2010. The move follows in the footsteps of the European Union, which banned carbofuran nearly a year ago. But the U.S. ban isn’t all that surprising–it has, after all, been three years in the making.

What Is Carbofuran?

Carbofuran is a white crystalline solid insecticide used to control nematodes, rootworm, and beetles. It is sprayed on soil and plants, just after the plants emerge from the ground. Carbofuran is used on a number of crops, including alfalfa, rice, grapes, and corn.

While there is no evidence to suggest carbofuran is carcinogenic, the World Health Organization has determined carbofuran a cholinesterase inhibitor, which means it blocks neural transmissions.

The health effects of short-term exposure to carbofuran include headache, sweating, nausea, diarrhea, chest pain, blurred vision anxiety, and muscle weakness, all of which can be reversed, according to the EPA. But the long-term effects are far more serious: permanent damage to the nervous system and the reproductive system.

For the average person who does not work with carbofuran, exposure routes include both residues on foods and drinking water contamination from farm runoff.

Cabrofuran is also a problem for wildlife. Earlier this year, reports emerged that carbofuran is responsible for poisoning of African lions.

The Benefits of Going Carbofuran-Free

The move will minimize risks to agricultural workers and the environment, but it will also improve food safety, says Steve Ownes, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances:

The evidence is clear that carbofuran does not meet today’s rigorous food-safety standards. [The] EPA has carefully evaluated the scientific issues and has provided more than 500 days of public comment on this decision. It is now important to move forward with the needed public health protections, especially for children.

The move also helps keep carbofuran out of fresh water sources, which has been on the EPA radar.

Carbofuran Cancellation Timeline

The move to revoke carbofuran residue limits was a long and careful process that weighed the risks against the benefits of using the insecticide.

In 2006, the EPA identified considerable dietary, occupational, and ecological risks related to the use of carbofuran. The agency decided the risks outweighed the benefits of using the pesticide, and set out to cancel the use of the pesticide.

In January 2008, the EPA submitted a draft Notice of Intent to Cancel use of carbofuran to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Scientific Advisory Panel and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Following review from the FIFRA panel and the USDA, the EPA decided to move forward with canceling the use of carbofuran.

In March 2009, FMC Corporation, which produces carbofuran, voluntarily canceled uses, with the exception of use on field corn, potatoes, pumpkin, sunflowers, pine seedlings, and spinach grown for seed. Artichokes were supposed to be given a two-year phase-out period.

On October 30, 2009, the EPA announced all crops would be subject to the December 31, 2009 deadline for revoking carbofuran tolerances, doing away with previous phase-out plans.

According to an EPA press release, the agency is currently encouraging growers to prepare to switch to “safer pesticides or other environmentally preferable pest control strategies,” adding that carbofuran should not be applied to food crops after the end of the year, in order to comply with the new standards.

Tags: Africa, carbofuran, conservation, death, farming, furadan, Kenya, pesticide poisoning, Pesticides, Wildlife, wildlife poisoning, Wildlifedirect

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Category: Pesticides, carbofuran | Date: Nov 06 2009 | By: paula

Dear friends,

We can confirm the tragic reports of a human death due to carbofuran poisoning. Just today we spoke on phone with the heartbroken father of a child who died of Furadan poisoning. The report of this death first appeared on Kenya’s The Standard newspaper on Friday, 30 October 2009 saying that on Monday, 26 October 2009, the child had mistakenly ingested Furadan and died.

The child’s father informed us that the child died on arrival at the Cherangani Nursing Home in Trans Nzoia East District in western Kenya. The father had bought the pesticide four months ago for use in killing insects in the soil when preparing his vegetable nursery. He says that he was not aware how dangerous the product is and was not informed by the retailer about the first aid approach in case of pesticide ingestion. He gave his child milk and crushed eggs - a method of dealing with poisoning widely used in Africa - instead of water as the label says.

This tragedy could have been avoided - the father, an educated man  (he is a teacher at a local primary school) did not get the impression that this pesticide was deadly. The packaging in kenya does not carry teh universal symbol of death - the skull and crossbones.

Please join us in sending our sincere condolences to the parents of 3 year old Kimutai, and pray that he rests in peace.

We hope that Kimutai did not die in vain and that the Kenyan government takes appropriate action by baning carbofuran in Kenya immediately.

Tags: Africa, carbofuran, conservation, death, farming, furadan, Kenya, pesticide poisoning, Pesticides, Wildlife, wildlife poisoning, Wildlifedirect

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Category: carbofuran | Date: Oct 30 2009 | By: paula

Dear all We are pleased to share this press release today from the EPA  

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is moving forward to implement the agency’s May 2009 final rule revoking tolerances, or residue limits, for the pesticide carbofuran. EPA continues to find that dietary exposures to carbofuran from all sources combined are not safe.

“The evidence is clear that carbofuran does not meet today’s rigorous food-safety standards,” said Steve Owens, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances. “EPA has carefully evaluated the scientific issues and has provided more than 500 days of public comment on this decision. It is now important to move forward with the needed public health protections, especially for children.”

Short-term health effects include headache, sweating, nausea, diarrhea, chest pains, blurred vision, anxiety and general muscular weakness.

EPA encourages growers to switch from carbofuran to safer pesticides or other environmentally preferable pest control strategies. Since the tolerances are being revoked, EPA reminds growers that carbofuran should not be applied to any food crops after December 31, 2009. Use of carbofuran after this date could result in adulterated food products, which would be subject to enforcement by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The United States has a safe and abundant food supply, and everyone should continue to eat a variety of foods, as recommended by the federal government and nutrition experts.

During the objection period, the chemical company FMC Corporation, which manufactures carbofuran, and three grower associations submitted objections to EPA’s tolerance revocations and requested an administrative hearing. EPA has concluded that the regulatory standard for holding an evidentiary hearing has not been met.  EPA’s explanation about why a hearing is not warranted, and the reasons for denying the objections are available on the web and will be published soon in a Federal Register notice.  As part of the administrative process, FMC may appeal the revocation of the carbofuran tolerances to a federal circuit court of appeals.

EPA’s May 2009 action to revoke carbofuran tolerances was the culmination of a regulatory process that began in 2006 when the agency published its risk assessments for carbofuran and determined, in August 2006, that no uses were eligible for reregistration. While FMC has voluntarily canceled 22 carbofuran uses, the elimination of these uses was not sufficient to allow the agency to make a finding that combined dietary exposures to carbofuran from food and water are safe. The process to cancel the remaining carbofuran registrations is under way and will address unacceptable risks to farmworkers during pesticide application and to birds in and around treated fields.

More information: http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/reregistration/carbofuran/carbofuran_noic.htm

Tags: ban carbofuran, carbofuran, farming, FMC, furadan, Pesticides, poisoning

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