Topic: Birth Defects

Opposing views on GMOs have the state divided.

To some, including many natives of Kauai, Hawai‘i, the facts are stacked high against GMOs.

• 88 percent of corn and 94 percent of soy grown in the U.S. is genetically modified
• The FDA has approved genetically modified (GM) crops for consumption
• There has never been a universally accepted study that has found GM food to be unsafe.

According to state pesticide records, 18 tons of 22 Restricted Use Pesticides (RUPs – pesticides that require special permits) are sprayed each year on Kauai. The American Cancer Society and American Academy of Pediatrics have linked 15 of those to cancer in recent studies. Factor in the general use variety, and 63 different pesticide compounds are sprayed in the island’s cornfields annually, and nobody knows exactly how that cocktail may impact the land and surrounding communities.

However, even with those strong facts, GMOs have their proponents, agrichemical companies, who argue that GMOs saved the big island’s papaya growers and have the potential to significantly aid other states’ agricultural industries as well. According to the Hawai‘i Crop Improvement Association (HCIA), together, the companies account for $260 million of the state’s GDP, while claiming indirect responsibility for an additional $280 million, via employee-driven commerce, annually. They employ 2,000 workers, maintain valuable irrigation infrastructure, and make use of the land that would otherwise remain abandoned.

While the pesticides sprayed on GMOs may be seen as a savior to some, to the residents of Lower Waimea, they are turning their community into a place where asthma, severe skin rashes, nose bleeds, allergies, and migraines are rampant, and where area residents claim there are 37 cancer cases in a neighborhood of just 800 people. It is an alarming statistic that, if it holds up under scrutiny, is over 10 times the cancer rate statewide.

How are Neighborhoods Exposed?

When pesticides are sprayed over crops, the pesticides can become airborne and drift away from the intended agricultural field. This is called pesticide drift. Pesticide drift can float downwind into exposing nearby communities to toxic chemicals.

Other exposures are a result of contaminated dirt from year round pesticide spraying. GMO growers are particularly generous with pesticide application, even when their fields are fallow. The loose top soil and pesticide residue are easily picked up picked up by the wind and blown into neighboring areas that border the GMO fields, again contaminating homes and further exposing the families that live there.

How Pesticides Cause Birth Defects

Although small plots of drought- and saline-tolerant seed are being developed on the island, the primary cash crop on Kauai is a corn seed known as Round Up Ready, an herbicide-resistant plant that allows growers to blast an entire cornfield with Round Up, or Glysophate, to kill weeds but not their crop. One resident states that, “they’re spraying endocrine disruptors which are very volatile with kids at a vulnerable age. We’re talking about kids between sixth and eighth grade, going through puberty, and getting chronic exposure.”

These kids will one day grow up and potentially be parents. Pesticides can cause birth defects in children whose parents were exposed through airborne pesticide drift, groundwater contamination or farm work. The toxins in pesticides can be inhaled, ingested, or absorbed through the mother’s (or father’s) skin and may then damage the parents’ chromosomes. If a child is conceived before or soon after a mother’s or father’s pesticide exposure, the unborn child may inherit abnormal DNA and suffer from a serious heart condition or other birth defects once born.

Hawai‘i has become the new ground-zero in the war over pesticides and GMOs (genetically modified organisms).

The Hawai‘ian islands have evolved into a base for the development of genetically engineered corn as well as other crops that are sold around the world. Chemical companies have relocated to the state, and where sugar cane and pineapples once grew, one can now easily find corn fields.

What is the Controversy around Pesticides?

Not everyone is rolling out the red carpet for the chemical companies, sometimes called agrichemical companies because of the mix of chemical technology and agricultural science. Activists who are opposed to genetically engineered crops have joined with residents who say corn farms expose them to dust and pesticides. Together, they are working to vote them off of the island, or at the very least reign them in.

When sugar cane was replaced by corn, Michiyo Altomoare, a Kauai resident, says the winds began carrying fine red soil that coated her counters, forcing her family to shut their windows and install central air-conditioning. And when she began to smell pesticides she contacted the police.

How are Residents Exposed to Pesticides?

When pesticides are sprayed over crops, the pesticides can become airborne and blown by the wind away from the intended agricultural field. This is called pesticide drift. The pesticide drift can be carried downwind into nearby neighborhoods contaminating homes and exposing residents to toxic chemicals.

Why Hawai‘i?

GMO seed companies counter their operations are safe and that the industry is essential to Hawai‘i’s economy, going so far as to say that curtailment of the Hawai‘i operations would disrupt agriculture for the nation. Seeds are Hawai‘i’s leading agricultural commodity, contributing $264 million to the economy and 1,400 jobs, according to a study commissioned by the companies.

These companies have no intention of walking away easily. They’re in Hawai‘i because the warm climate allows for three corn crops to be harvested in a year, compared with one in the Midwest. That accelerates the several generations of crossbreeding needed to perfect a new variety.

How are Birth Defects Linked to Pesticides?

Pesticides continue to be a large concern across the islands from noxious odors near a middle school, to seemingly unusually high rates of asthma, cancer, and birth defects. Local doctors report seeing more than 10 times the national rate of birth defects, like heart malformations, in the state of Hawai‘i and say that more study is needed. However, many of the pesticides being heavily used on Kauai, Maui, and throughout the neighbor islands have been linked to a number of birth defects including:

• Cardiac conditions
• Limb abnormalities
• Spina bifida
• Gastroschisis

Still, demands have intensified for further studies and for disclosure of what pesticides are used. In addition to disclosure, forthcoming bills aim to establish no-spray zones around schools, hospitals, residences, public roads and waterways.

According to analysis performed by local physicians, a dangerous trend has become quite noticeable in Waimea, on the island of Kauai, Hawai‘i: the number of severe heart malformations has risen to more than ten times the national rate.

Local doctors now find themselves at the center of a growing controversy about whether the substantial increase in severe illness and birth defects in Waimea stem from the main cash crop on four of the six islands, genetically modified (GMO) corn, which has been altered to resist pesticides.

Throughout the years, Hawai‘i has been utilized as a testing ground for almost all GMO corn grown in the United States.  The island of Kauai is the largest area used with chemical companies Dow, BASF, Syngenta, and DuPont spraying 17 times more pesticide per acre than on ordinary cornfields in the US mainland.

How are Residents Exposed to Pesticides?

Waimea is a small town that lies directly downhill from the 12,000 acres of GMO test fields leased mainly from the state. Spraying takes place often, sometimes every couple of days. Residents have complained that when the wind blows downhill from the fields, the chemicals have caused headaches, vomiting, and stinging eyes.

When crops are sprayed with pesticides, the toxic mist can become airborne and blown by the wind away from the intended field crop. This is called pesticide drift. The pesticide drift can be blown downwind into nearby communities contaminating homes and exposing residents to toxic chemicals.

While Hawai‘ians have attempted to use a ballot initiative to force a moratorium on the planting of GMO crops, the chemical companies that grow the GMO corn have refused to disclose the chemicals that they are spraying as well as the specific amounts of the chemicals being used.

How are Birth Defects Linked to Pesticides?

Fighting against this, a report by the American Academy of Pediatrics has found “an association between pesticides and adverse birth outcomes, including physical birth defects.” Pesticides can cause birth defects in children whose parents were exposed through airborne pesticide drift, groundwater contamination or farm work. The toxins in pesticides can be inhaled, ingested, or absorbed through the mother’s (or father’s) skin. The toxins may then damage the parents’ chromosomes. If a child is conceived before or soon after a mother’s pesticide exposure, the unborn child may inherit abnormal DNA and suffer from a serious heart condition or other birth defects.

Local doctors report seeing more than 10 times the national rate of birth defects, such as heart malformations, in the state of Hawai‘i and say that more study is needed. However, many of the pesticides being heavily used on Kauai, Maui, and throughout the neighbor islands have been linked to a number of birth defects including:

• Cardiac conditions
• Limb abnormalities
• Spina bifida
• Gastroschisis

It has been revealed that chemical companies, unlike farmers, are allowed to operate under a decades-old Environmental Protection Agency permit which allowed toxic chemicals to be discharged into water. The state of Hawai‘i has asked for a federal exemption to allow these companies to continue to not comply with modern standards. As such, there continues to be discord between corporations grouped with some politicians and the people of Hawai‘i.

Birth Defects in Descendants of Vietnam Veterans Exposed to Agent Orange Raise Concerns about Enlist Duo because of its Similar Chemical Makeup

Vietnam veterans are leaving behind a tragic legacy with their children and grandchildren – birth defects related to toxic exposure to Agent Orange during the war. Agent Orange was a herbicide used during the Vietnam War that has now been banned because it is a proven carcinogen. In addition, studies have shown that Agent Orange can be a cause of birth defects in the children of Vietnam veterans. Grandchildren of these veterans have also shown a higher than normal rate of birth defects.

Studies showing that Agent Orange is a cause of birth defects are especially troubling because, while Agent Orange is banned, Enlist Duo is not. Enlist Duo is a popular weed killer that the Environmental Protection Agency has recently approved for expanded use. The concern with Enlist duo is that it contains 2-4D, a major ingredient in Agent Orange.

Who is at Risk for Birth Defects Resulting from Toxic Exposure to Enlist Duo?

Farm workers will be put at risk for having children with birth defects resulting from toxic exposure to Enlist Duo. As fields are sprayed with the popular Enlist Duo, farm workers will come in contact with the potentially harmful chemical if they are not adequately protected. All too often, farm workers do not even know about the dangers of the chemicals used on the farms where they are working, nor are they properly protected from coming in contact with substances known to cause birth defects.

Who is Responsible for Protecting Farm Workers from Birth Defects Resulting from Toxic Exposure?

Consumers and individuals depend on companies catering to the commercial farming industry to make safe products and to provide warnings when necessary.  However, it is the responsibility of labor contractors and farm owners to provide a safe working environment for their laborers and farm workers. The labor contractors and farm owners are frequently aware that chemicals used on their fields can be a cause of birth defects, but fail to adequately warn or protect the workers from these dangers. No one should have to be subjected to toxic exposure because of an unsafe work environment.

Glyphosate, the Main Ingredient in Roundup, Will be Added to California’s List of Carcinogens – A Cancer Warning Must be Placed on the Herbicide’s Product Label

The main ingredient in Roundup, glyphosate, will be added to California’s list of substances known to cause birth defects, reproductive harm, or cancer in accordance with Proposition 65. Glyphosate has been the center-point of a battle between chemical giant Monsanto and the California Environmental Protection Agency over the classification of the chemical as a carcinogen. For years, various reputable agencies have suggested that glyphosate can cause cancer – Monsanto denied such claims. Widespread use of Roundup and glyphosate in industrial agriculture and on commercial farms is common. Now, thanks to California’s Proposition 65, glyphosate will officially be recognized by the state as a dangerous chemical.

What is Proposition 65?

Proposition 65, also known as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, was passed in California in 1986. This act requires products that contain chemicals deemed to be dangerous, such as substances known to cause birth defects, reproductive harm, or cancer to have warning labels displayed on their packaging. Proposition 65 not only allows consumers, including those in the commercial farming industry, to be aware of any harmful chemicals that might be in products, but it also encourages manufacturers to substitute out the harmful ingredients and make safer products that don’t need warning labels. The act has resulted in the addition of over 900 substances to the dangerous chemical list – glyphosate will be the newest addition.

What is Glyphosate?

Glyphosate is the main ingredient in the popular herbicide Roundup. This product, common in commercial produce farming, is used all over the world despite glyphosate’s known health risks. In 2015, the World Health Organization said that glyphosate is “probably carcinogenic.” Studies conducted in the U.S. have also indicated that it is linked to birth defects and reproductive problems. This is especially concerning because exposure to toxic chemicals during pregnancy, such as glyphosate, is all too common for female farm workers. Farm owners and labor contractors frequently neglect their responsibility to adequately warn and protect farm workers from the dangers of the chemicals that are being sprayed on the fields

According to the Centers for Disease Control, one baby in 33 will suffer from a birth defect. Yet some are completely preventable. One of the primary causes for birth defects in the US? A parent’s exposure to toxic chemicals, often unwittingly at the workplace. Three industries commonly known for potential of toxic exposure are the agricultural industry due to pesticides, semiconductor industry due to toxic chemicals used in the manufacturing of conductor components, and the coal industry due to the toxins found in the byproduct coal ash.

Pesticides and Birth Defects

Unless farmworkers are properly protected, the chemicals used to spray crops in several aspects of the agricultural process, could be passed through the mother or father to a baby in the womb. Animal studies in the U.S. have linked a chemical commonly found in Roundup to birth defects and reproductive problems, while other studies have found that glyphosate harms cell DNA in human embryos, the placenta and the umbilical cord. Other farm-based pesticides known to cause birth defects and childhood cancers include but are not limited to Brigade, Captan, Goal, Honcho, Pro 90, and a group called chlorinated pesticides (DDT, chlordane, and lindane). Be cautious if you work with these chemicals and take preventative measures to protect your unborn baby or those conceived in the future.

Semiconductors and Birth Defects

In the electronics and high tech industries, exposure to toxic chemicals can cause genetic damage to male and female workers. Workers involved in the manufacture of computer components, like silicon chips or video display equipment, often work in “clean rooms” where the air is constantly recirculated to protect the components from contamination. While the products are kept safe, employees are placed at risk as they are continuously exposed to air contaminated with toxic fumes from Glycol Ethers or Positive Photo Resist.

By inhaling these toxins or coming into contact with them on their skin, many workers develop genetic injuries. Parents unknowingly pass on damaged DNA to their children. This can result in a number of birth defects, including deformed or missing organs, abnormal or missing limbs, cognitive impairment, heart defects, and blindness.

This can result in a number of birth defects, including deformed or missing organs, abnormal or missing limbs, cognitive impairment, heart defects, and blindness.

Coal Ash and Birth Defects

The process of burning coal concentrates the chemicals found in coal ash, and that concentration creates a hazard. “Coal ash,” contains a number of heavy metals including arsenic, lead, and selenium. These heavy metals are confirmed causes of childhood birth defects, cancer, and neurological issues. Researchers also report that coal ash is ten times more radioactive than regular coal. If you were to work around the burning of coal or disposing of the waste, it would be very important not to inhale the ash particles.

Protect Yourself from Toxic Exposure to Avoid Babies with Birth Defects

Awareness is a key to avoiding the toxic exposure leading to birth defects at work. Keeping the skin and lungs properly protected with safe gear and staying clear of spray times or unsealed areas can help. Extra caution and preventative measures should be the primary concern of employers in these industries.

Scott Pruitt, the New Head of the EPA, Reverses Previous Steps Towards Banning a Dangerous Pesticide – Families of Farmworkers Will Suffer the Consequences.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s recent dismissal of scientific studies linking a common pesticide to birth defects could have harmful consequences on unprotected families of farmworkers. Chlorpyrifos, a pesticide used to kill insects, was close to being banned until Scott Pruitt stepped in and reversed the direction of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Last month, dozens of farmworkers on a cabbage farm in California suffered side effects from contact with this dangerous pesticide. Even more disturbing is the fact that these effects were caused by pesticide sprayed on a nearby field – not on the field where the workers got sick. This phenomenon is known as pesticide drift.

What is Pesticide Drift?

While pesticides sprayed directly over fields can cause farmers to come in contact with that dangerous chemical, there are also hidden ways for workers to come in contact with these chemicals. Pesticide drift occurs when pesticides are sprayed in the air over one field and then carried by wind to another field. Farmworkers in the nearby field, unaware that they are being exposed to this harmful pesticide, are defenseless to protect themselves.

What are Effects of Contact with Pesticides?

Workers on the cabbage farm in California suffered nausea and fainting from the pesticide drift of a nearby orchard, but the most harmful effects likely will not come to light until later. The worst effects of pesticides such as chlorpyrifos are on the unborn children of these farmworkers. Chlorpyrifos is a poison used in pesticide products like Vulcan. It is known to cause birth defects such as brain damage in children born to parents who have come in contact with the pesticide. This is a list of birth defects of farmworkers exposed to pesticides during pregnancy:

• Baby born with missing limbs
• Cognitive impairment
• Blindness
• Deformed organs
• Heart defects
• Premature death

Why are These Dangerous Pesticides Still Legal?

The EPA, under the previous presidential administration, had begun taking steps towards making chlorpyrifos illegal after studies showed that it was linked to harmful effects in farmworkers, as well as unborn babies of pregnant farmworkers. However, under the new presidential administration, the EPA has reversed its stance on chlorpyrifos.

The EPA released a statement saying “sound science in decision-making – rather than predetermined results” would guide its decisions. In that quote, the EPA also mentioned that chlorpyrifos is “one of the most widely used pesticides in the world.” Now the reason that Mr. Pruitt wanted this dangerous chemical to remain legal comes to light – economics. Although the EPA recognized findings that the pesticide can cause birth defects, the fact that the pesticide is so widely used has “Trumped” concerns over the safety of farmworkers.

Who Continues to Use Dangerous Pesticides?

The dangers of using harmful chemical pesticides are well known. However, farm-owners continue to use dangerous products without providing protection to the defenseless farmworkers. These farmworkers should not have to risk their own health, and the health of their children, in order to make a living and help put fresh food on the table for families across America.

Relieving News for Parents of Children with Heart Defects – Denmark Study Indicates that Treating Children Earlier Increases Survival Rates

A study of data collected in Denmark has provided good news for parents of children with congenital heart defects (CHD). According to the study, children with CHD are being treated for this birth defect earlier in their lives, which is likely associated with the increased survival rate of children with CHD.  As stated in a 2014 issue of Pediatric Cardiology, CHD is the most common of all birth defects. While the cause of CHD is often unknown, a growing number of studies point to pesticides and solvents as risk factors, according to the medical journal.

What Were the Results of the Study?

The study collected 39 years’ worth of data from the lives of 9,372 children born in Denmark with CHD. The data was split into three time periods – 1977 to 1989, 1990 to 2002, and 2003 to 2015. The following table provides some of the most important findings from the study.

Data from Denmark Study of Children with Congenital Heart Defects (CHD)
	1977-1989	1990-2002	2003-2015
Median Age for First Procedure	3.4 years	0.8 years	0.6 years
Percent to Survive for Over 30 Days	97%	98%	100%
Percent to Survive for Over 10 Years	80%	87%	93%

The first row of data indicates that children with CHD are now having their first interventional procedure earlier and earlier in their lives. An interventional procedure is a medical procedure used to diagnose and treat the birth defect. This appears to have a positive connection with the survival rates of these children. As the second and third rows of data show, children with CHD have had an increasingly higher percentage chance of surviving past the 30-day and 10-year mark with each consecutive time period.

The Denmark study suggests that if children with CHD have their first interventional procedure at a younger age, they may survive longer. The data provides a promising story of how medical advancement is prolonging the lives of children with CHD, and offering relief to the suffering of parents and their children.

What Causes Congenital Heart Defects (CHD)?

CHD can be caused by exposure to toxic chemicals during pregnancy. Two major sources of toxic exposure to chemicals results from pesticides and those chemicals used in the production of semiconductors.

Pesticide exposure during pregnancy, which can occur when fields are sprayed with pesticides while harvesters are working, has been linked to birth defects such as CHD. When corporations fail to warn or protect pregnant farm workers from the dangers of pesticide exposure, birth defects can result.

Additionally, exposure to chemicals used in the production of semiconductors has been found to be a cause of birth defects such as CHD. Examples of such chemicals used in the production of semiconductors are solvents, cleaning fluids, and etching materials. As with pesticides, if corporations fail to warn or properly protect pregnant workers from exposure to these chemicals, birth defects can occur.

In both of these instances of toxic exposure, corporations are to blame for the birth defects that result from their negligent business practices.

The Herbicide Glyphosate, a Key Ingredient of Roundup Weed Killer Products, Will be Sent to California’s Cancer-Causing Chemicals List Despite Monsanto’s Efforts to Stay the Decision

The herbicide glyphosate will be added to California’s list of cancer-causing chemicals, as required by Proposition 65, after the state’s Supreme Court rejected Monsanto Co.’s request to stay the ruling of the lower court. Glyphosate is a key ingredient of popular pesticides used in commercial farming, such as Roundup Weed Killer.

Earlier in the year, the lower court rejected Monsanto’s claim that the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment violated the state constitution by delegating authority to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). It was IARC that determined that glyphosate belonged on the cancer-causing chemical list. Monsanto appealed the lower court’s decision in California’s Fifth District, but the state’s Supreme Court ruled that glyphosate can be added to the state’s list of cancer-causing chemicals even while the appeal is still pending.

California’s Proposition 65 was a state ballot initiative that requires the state to publish a list of chemicals that are known to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm. Monsanto’s arguments that listing glyphosate would violate its right to free speech and that such listing would force the company to include a warning label that the product might cause cancer, was rejected by the judge of the lower court.

Is Glyphosate a Substance Known to Cause Birth Defects?

Glyphosate, the main ingredient in the pesticide Roundup, is a substance well known to cause birth defects. Many studies have linked the herbicide to reproductive problems and severe malformations. Unfortunately, this is an all-too-common experience for pregnant farm workers employed on commercial farms. Frequently, farm owners and labor contractors will fail to warn or protect farm works from exposure to these harmful pesticides.