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October 23, 2003
EPA And Chemical Industry Standard For Testing Pesticide And Herbicide Safety Is All Wrong
This information article is excerpted from the Fall 2003, University of Pittsburgh, PITT Magazine.
Today's standard for testing pesticide and herbicide toxicity may, in fact, be all wrong, and the environmental impact from some of the world's most popular pesticides and herbicides may wind up being far greater than previously thought.
"Philips, a sophomore biology student, and the other students stand in the rain as they diligently drain and filter pond water, They can't help but notice that few or none of the 60 creatures added at the start of the experiment three weeks earlier are found in the pesticide-treated water. Meanwhile, untreated tubs teem with critters [tadpoles-leopard frogs, tree frogs, and toads and their predators]."
" 'We all expected a fair amount of mortality,' says Jason Hoverman, a second-year graduate student whose interest in biology was sparked by watching the Discovery Channel as a child with his father. 'But none of us expected to see it to such a degree.' "
"It has long been believed that dirt somehow helps absorb the pesticide before it hurts aquatic life. Although today's test results are still being analyzed, the sand and soil seem to have done little."
Tucked away in some northwestern Pennsylvania swampland is the University of Pittsburgh's laboratory of ecology. The research taking place there, headed by aquatic ecologist and professor of biological sciences, Rick Relyea, could change everything the world knows about pesticide safety.
Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology is the field research station for Pitt's Department of Biological Sciences. The lab is located on the shores of Pymatuning Reservoir, within some 11,000 acres of water, wetlands, and forest.
Relyea's experiments are the first ever to test glyphosate (GLY-pho-sate) toxicity in North American amphibians like tree frogs and the first to test whether glyphosate may be a factor in amphibian population decline. Glyphosate is sold by Monsanto as Roundup.
He is also the first to test pesticide toxicity on carbaryl (CARB-a-rill) sold as Sevin, in a more natural environment, that is one with predators in the water.
Pesticide makers are required to test the toxicity of their pesticides and herbicides. "Then, the EPA must approve these findings before the chemical can be marketed. Relyea says manufacturers do their standard testing slowly by adding the chemical to a tub containing, say, fish, then figuring out how much is needed to kill half the fish within a given period of time. The trial usually lasts two to four days."
"Relyea considers those conditions 'highly artificial,' partly because predators are not part of the mix. There are some 21,000 chemical pesticides on the market-and counting. Adding predators to every batch would drive up the cost of testing, though Relyea says predators would create conditions far more likely to be found in nature."
Posted by at October 23, 2003 11:15 AM
Comments
Rick Relyea spoke at Clarion yesterday on the findings of this research -- really interesting, not to mention frightening, findings when Roundup is tested under natural conditions. His power point presentation is very good and when you see the tubs containing Roundup with no tadpole survivors and the control tub teeming with tadpoles it is quite startling.
Posted by: Ryan Talbott at October 25, 2003 06:19 PM
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