Pesticides Archives | Galiher DeRobertis & Waxman LLP

Pesticides are Seriously Threatening Global Ecosystems

Posted on November 19, 2024November 20, 2024 by Galiher DeRobertis & Waxman

Insects are vital to keeping the world’s ecosystems in balance. Every spring, billions of insects migrate to far-flung locations to fulfill a wide range of critical functions, including performing cross-continental pollination, transferring essential nutrients to soils, decomposing organic matter, and sustaining local wildlife by providing a food source.

They also transfer genetic information, allowing plants to maintain a diverse genetic pool, potentially mitigating changes in environmental conditions. To grasp the scale of the annual insect migration, consider this: in just over a month, researchers recorded 39 million insects migrating from the Middle East to Cyprus alone.

Documentary Reveals Highly Toxic Roundup Herbicide ‘Everywhere’

Posted on October 9, 2024November 20, 2024 by Galiher DeRobertis & Waxman

When award-winning filmmaker Brian Lilla moved to Napa Valley, California, he quickly learned about the health hazards lurking in wine country. In his new documentary, “Children of the Vine,” Lilla shows how the use of Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide and its active ingredient, glyphosate, has affected those who work in and live nearby.

“I didn’t want to run away from the problem,” Lilla said in an interview with the nonprofit publication Capital & Main. “No matter where I go, there’s going to be glyphosate in the food. Yes, it blew my mind to find out how much it’s being used in the vineyards. But I want to make it clear that the vineyards are not the villains, nor are farms.”

Pesticides Expose Hawaiʻi Families to Higher Birth Defect Risk

Posted on June 26, 2024November 20, 2024 by Galiher DeRobertis & Waxman

Families in Hawaiʻi are experiencing dramatic increases in certain serious birth defects, including a rare and serious condition that is being diagnosed at a rate 10 times higher than on the mainland.

Mothers living near farms where pesticides are used are at particular risk, physicians say. The Hawaiʻi Center for Food Safety found that chemical companies have sprayed restricted-use pesticides at a rate 17 times greater than the mainland average.

Pesticides Linked to Climate Change, Despite Declining Efficacy

Posted on August 3, 2023November 21, 2024 by Galiher DeRobertis & Waxman

Pesticides are a key contributor to climate change – posing risks to the environment, public health, and food security – while their effectiveness is declining, according to a recent study.

Developed by Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA), the study describes a vicious cycle: pesticides add emissions to the air that contribute to climate change, and as temperatures rise, so do the number of pests and insects. More insects encourage agricultural workers to use more pesticides.

This problem is further exacerbated by the fact that greenhouse gas emissions from pesticides are understudied and underestimated.

The Environmental Impact of Pesticides

Producing one kilogram of pesticides requires about 10 times more energy than one kilogram of nitrogen fertilizer, an agriculture chemical with known negative environmental impacts. Meanwhile, some pesticides like sulfuryl fluoride are themselves greenhouse gasses – emitting one ton of sulfuryl fluoride is equivalent to emitting nearly 5,000 tons of CO2. According to researchers, the issue is further complicated by oil and gas companies, which profit from pesticides. Ninety-nine percent of synthetic pesticides are derived from petroleum.

Higher Demand, Questionable Efficacy

As temperatures rise, crops become less resilient due to heat stress, changing rainfall patterns, and more pests. This leads to greater demand for synthetic chemicals and pesticides. Indeed, the global synthetic pesticide industry is predicted to grow substantially in the coming years: estimated at $16.3 billion in 2021, it is anticipated to grow to $27.6 billion by 2031.

However, some researchers note that less than .01 percent of pesticides even reach the pests they’re intended to target. This figure is especially low when it comes to flying insects like mosquitoes. Consider this: based on an estimate that target mosquitoes only receive about 0.0000001% of aerial spray, 1 million insecticide droplets must be produced to hit only one target mosquito. Consequently, excess chemicals end up in the soil, water, air, and on other plants. Hot temperatures further aggravate this problem by rendering pesticides into a toxic gas.

Pesticides, Cancer & Birth Defects

Meanwhile, the human toll of pesticide use is significant. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, there are an estimated 300,000 human pesticide poisonings in the United States resulting from applying pesticides. The global number is much greater, with 26 million human pesticide poisonings and 220,000 deaths each year.

Exposure to glyphosate, the key ingredient in Monsanto’s RoundUp, increases a person’s likelihood of developing cancer by 41%, according to an analysis by University of Washington researchers. Pesticides may also lead to birth defects when parents are exposed to them before or during pregnancy. These chemicals may damage the mother’s or father’s chromosomes leading to issues in fetal development.

A Potential Solution: Agroecology

Given the link between pesticides and climate change, and the human costs associated with pesticide use, there is a need to reduce reliance on them. This is especially true given their declining efficacy.

Agroecological farming offers a solution by promoting ecological processes that adapt to local conditions as well as practices such as intercropping (where two or more crops grow together to increase biodiversity and promote plant health.) Agroecology also prioritizes the health of farmers and agricultural workers. According to the PANNA report, agroecology leads to better public health, improved food security, and enhanced biodiversity.

According to one of the PANNA report’s co-authors, “conventional farming methods don’t account for environmental externalities and health costs.”

The report acknowledges that a change across the entire food production system would be costly and encourages the use of incentives such as subsidies, similar to those introduced for transitioning to green technology.

How We Help Victims of Pesticide Exposure

Seek justice with the help of our experienced lawyers. For 20 years, our pesticide law firm has battled corporate giants on behalf of individuals like you, aggressively fighting to hold them responsible for dangerous chemicals and the birth defects and personal injuries they cause. If you or a loved one has suffered adverse health effects caused by dangerous products, we can help.

Pesticides and Other Toxins Found in School Meals

Posted on June 18, 2023November 21, 2024 by Galiher DeRobertis & Waxman

More than 30 million school meals are served each school day to students throughout the United States. But how healthy are these meals?

Moms Across America (MAA) recently published information about what’s in the food served to elementary and high school students, showing that these growing children probably aren’t getting what they need to sustain them through a day of school and might even be consuming harmful chemicals.

What’s in Public School Meals?

In September 2022, MAA, a nonprofit organization focused on ensuring a healthy future for the nation’s children, published the test results of 43 school lunch samples collected by parents and students from public schools in 15 states.

95.3% contained the herbicide glyphosate, a suspected carcinogenic.
74% contained at least one of 29 harmful pesticides.
21% contained four veterinary drugs and hormones at high levels.
100% contained heavy metals at levels up to 6,293 times higher than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) maximum levels allowed in drinking water.

In addition, most of the school lunch samples were found to be very low in nutrients. The MAA noted: “Without proper nutrients, our children’s brains will not function properly, and their bodies will not be developed as needed. Often children with learning and behavioral issues are deficient in just one or two minerals or vitamins; when those nutrients are added to their diet, their mental, physical, and behavioral issues subside. Even violent behavior is discontinued. Our children must have proper nutrient-dense food.”

MAA Director Zen Honeycutt told the Markets Herald: “These test results of the school lunches show us that we have a national crisis on our hands. Our government is allowing our children to be poisoned with a shocking number of toxins that contribute to various health, behavioral, and learning issues.”

Why Are Pesticides and Other Toxins in School Meals?

School meals given to public school children are typically composed of food crops conventionally farmed in the United States, which, according to MAA, are commonly sprayed with pesticides and grown in nutrient-depleted soil. Many of these are genetically modified crops, which are banned or restricted in more than 60 countries. According to the nonprofit organization, GMO/Toxin Free USA, “GMOs and related synthetic pesticides have been linked to toxic effects in the kidneys, liver, pancreas, and reproductive organs, allergies, gut-related conditions, reproductive problems, birth defects, obesity, tumors, cancer and other illnesses in independent peer-reviewed laboratory animal feeding studies.”

Conventionally raised farm animals are injected with antibiotics and growth hormones, and these medications end up in the meat-filled tacos and hamburgers eaten by schoolchildren.

The MAA report explains: “The frequent use of these chemicals—for instance, 280 million pounds of glyphosate herbicides are used each year in the United States—has been shown to kill the microorganisms in the soil that are critical for soil health. Glyphosate also traps many minerals, depleting the soil of essential nutrients…The heavy metals in the fertilizer leach into the soil, are taken up into the crop, and are found in wheat, corn, soy, and many other food ingredients.”

How Do Glyphosate and Other Pesticides Affect the Body?

In 2015, a group of 17 experts from 11 countries convened at the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer to evaluate the scientific evidence for toxic consequences of using organophosphate insecticides and herbicides, including glyphosate. The group subsequently issued a report that designated glyphosate, malathion, and diazinon as “probably carcinogenic to humans.”

According to the EPA, “Pesticides are designed to (in most cases) kill pests. Many pesticides can also pose risks to people…The health effects of pesticides depend on the type of pesticide. Some, such as organophosphates and carbamates, affect the nervous system. Others may irritate the skin or eyes. Some pesticides may be carcinogens. Others may affect the hormone or endocrine system in the body.”

Exposure to Pesticides During Pregnancy Linked to Brain Damage in Embryos

Posted on February 7, 2023November 21, 2024 by Galiher DeRobertis & Waxman

Bringing a new child into the world can be the most exciting event for a family. But that excitement is often short-lived once you hear that your child will be born with a severe birth defect. One particularly devastating condition is holoprosencephaly, or HPE, a brain condition that can cause moderate to severe facial deformities, developmental delays, miscarriage, and early death.

Although this birth defect can be genetic, it is often caused by environmental factors, including the use of pesticides before and during pregnancy.

When children are born with serious birth defects, such as holoprosencephaly, it can be devastating and costly to the family and for the health care and educational systems as they provide lifelong support to these children.

Medical researchers are looking at possible causes of this birth defect so we can help prevent it in the future. They study genetic information and other things that might increase risk, such as chemicals pregnant women might be exposed to.

Putting Pregnant Women at Risk

A recent study in the journal Environmental Health looked at how pesticides might be linked with HPE. They chose to study pesticides and this particular birth defect because we already know that pesticides have been linked to other birth defects and they tend to have a greater effect on a developing brain than on an adult brain.

In this study, researchers gathered a group of women who had given birth to a child with holoprosencephaly and a group of women whose child was born with Williams-Beuren Syndrome, a similar birth defect with a known genetic cause. The researchers asked women what types of pesticides they had used or had been exposed to during their pregnancy, if any, including insect repellant, flea and tick medications, and bug sprays. The researchers also asked women whether they had lived near an agricultural field during their pregnancy.

They compared the results of these different groups of women to see if pesticide use seemed to be linked more strongly to cases of HPE than to Williams-Beuren Syndrome. They found a link between all types of pesticide use they asked about and HPE, with especially strong links between the use of flea and tick medications and agricultural pesticides among the women who had lived near an agricultural field while they were pregnant.

The researchers noted that the critical period for holoprosencephaly to develop is the first trimester, often before a woman even knows she is pregnant. HPE affects 1 in 250 embryos, although many of these pregnancies result in miscarriage. It is still relatively common, affecting 1 in 10,000 babies born at full term.

The Long-Term Dangers of Pesticide Exposure

There are many different types of pesticides, some of which are commonly available for household use and some of which are mainly used in industrial and agricultural settings. The researchers in the Environmental Health study found some increased risk of holoprosencephaly with all of them.

One particularly disturbing finding in their study was the increased risk of HPE for women who live near an agricultural field. It could be easy for women to stop using insect repellant, flea and tick medicine, and bug spray when they are pregnant or are planning to get pregnant, but few neighbors can control what pesticides are used by the people nearby producing food, grass seed, Christmas trees, or other agricultural products—and they may have no way of knowing what is used to control pests right next door.

Other researchers are looking deeper into specific components of pesticides and how they might cause HPE. One study at the University of Wisconsin explored the effects of piperonyl butoxide, or PBO, on the brain development of mice. This chemical is used in many household pesticides, including the flea and tick medications associated with HPE in the Environmental Health study.

These university researchers exposed mice to PBO during the period in their pregnancies that matches the early pregnancy period so critical in a baby’s brain development. The mice exposed to PBO showed facial deformities similar to those that accompany HPE in humans. The more PBO the pregnant mouse was exposed to, the more severe the deformities in the fetus.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that PBO is found in more than 1,500 commercial products. But there is no requirement to label it as dangerous during pregnancy.

Bill Works to Raise Regulations on Restricted-Use Pesticides

Posted on December 16, 2022November 21, 2024 by Galiher DeRobertis & Waxman

As the use of dangerous pesticides continues, a potential bill is in the works to increase protection for the public.

The Hawai‘i state House unanimously voted to pass a bill that would establish regulations on users of restricted-use pesticides. Specifically, Senate Bill 3095 would create usage, reporting, and location requirements for agricultural businesses that utilize 35 or more pounds or gallons of restricted-use pesticides in a year. The bill includes the following proposals:

Restricted-use pesticide users must report the substance used, the amount, and location
A buffer zone within 100 feet of school properties
A complete ban on all pesticides that contain chlorpyrifos

The Dangers in Chlorpyrifos

Chlorpyrifos is a chemical component of pesticides that is widely used in commercial farming because it is inexpensive to make. Pesticides that contain neurotoxins such as chlorpyrifos are known to cause birth defects in unborn children when their parents are exposed. As such, hundreds of Hawai‘ian residents wrote to the state House to voice their support for the bill in a copied form letter stating, “we need mandatory disclosure and notification, along with pilot programs for buffer zones and drift studies around schools,” according to a report by the Hawai‘i Tribune-Herald.

The letter signed by residents states that “additional studies on pesticide drift are meaningless without knowledge of what pesticides were and are being applied.” This only goes to amplify the importance of full disclosure regarding the pesticides sprayed. When the wind blows these toxic pesticides, people nearby are in danger of direct exposure. Furthermore, the American Academy of Pediatrics states that there is evidence of an association between early exposure to pesticides and a number of adverse effects, including cancers, as well as decreased cognitive function and birth defects.

What is Galiher DeRobertis & Waxman doing to Help?

Galiher DeRobertis & Waxman is committed to fighting for families with pesticide-related birth defects. While we are not doctors, our lawyers work with highly-qualified scientific and medical professionals to determine if a reported birth defect is related to a parent’s exposure to pesticides. Our lawyers are experienced in successfully representing families injured by defective products, harmful pesticides, and corporate negligence. We provide free initial consultations and will meet with you to evaluate your claim with no obligation on your part. If your child has pesticide-related birth defects, he or she may have a claim against the company responsible for that pesticide exposure. Please get in touch with us for a free case evaluation at 1-866-998-TOXIC (6942) and learn more about your legal options. Our team will begin working immediately and aggressively to obtain the best result for your case.