In this Issue: Pesticides

Which produce contains the most pesticide residue?

Action Item: Support Pesticide Use Reporting

Pesticide Resources for Practitioners

Pesticide residue on produce can be a key exposure route. While the Food Quality Protection Act reduced the permitted levels of certain pesticide residues, some produce still has higher levels of pesticide residues than others. Unless you buy organic when you grocery shop, it's hard to know which kinds of produce are most contaminated with pesticides and which have low levels of pesticides.

The not-for-profit Environmental Working Group has put together a Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce that lists 12 popular fresh fruits and vegetables that are consistently the most contaminated with pesticides and those 12 fruits and vegetables that consistently have low levels of pesticides. The evaluation was based on the results of more than 100,000 tests for pesticides on produce collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration between 1992 and 2001. The wallet card can help your patients choose produce that lowers exposure to pesticides for themselves and their families.

For the most contaminated items, the recommendations suggest substituting organically grown produce whenever possible. When this is not an option, they still recommend eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. The guide can help consumers buy produce that typically has fewer pesticides.

Click here for a pdf copy of the wallet guide

Greetings!

Welcome to Healthy Environment, Healthy Tomorrow, a service of the Oregon Environmental Council (OEC). Here you will find timely information on the latest science, news and resources on the link between health and the environment.

In this issue, we focus on pesticides. Pesticides are chemicals designed to kill a variety of pests, such as weeds, insects, rodents, and fungi. They can be characterized on the basis of function - insecticide, herbicide, rodenticide, fungicide and others - and on the basis of chemical class - organophosphates and pyrethroids, for example.

Pesticide exposure has been linked to health effects such as leukemia, Parkinson's disease and other neurological disorders. Pesticides are widely used in both urban and rural areas of Oregon - not just on farms, but on lawns, parks and roadsides, and in homes, schools and even hospitals.

·  Action Item: Support Pesticide Use Reporting

Despite widespread use of pesticides in Oregon, we we have very limited information about what, where, when or how much is used. This lack of information exists despite the fact that the 1999 Legislature voted 88-2 in favor of a pesticide tracking law.

Funding to implement the pesticide tracking program is included in the Governor's 2005/07 budget. However, the 2005 Legislature will be discussing and debating funding and budget issues - including this one - and the outcome is still far from certain. The program requires limited state resources ($300,000 a year) and there is even a proposal on the table to fully fund the program through a small increase in pesticide manufacturer registration fees.

Legislators need to hear from you as a health provider that collecting data on pesticide use is critical for understanding and evaluating the health risks associated with pesticide exposure. Please use the attached sample letter as a guide for your own letter to your legislators (if you need to know who your State Senator and Representative are, click here to look it up).

Click here for a draft letter to the Oregon State Legislature urging them to fund pesticide use reporting in Oregon

·  Pesticide Resources for Practitioners

The Ontario College of Family Physicians recently released a comprehensive review of the effects of pesticides on humans and the implications for family physicians. The results of the review cover studies done since 1992, and describe the findings regarding major adverse pesticide health effects including brain cancer, prostate cancer, kidney cancer and pancreatic cancer, leukemia, Non- Hodgkin's lymphoma, genotoxic effects, skin diseases, neurological diseases, and reproductive effects.

An educational opportunity on pesticides and human health is coming up in February. Dr. Tyrone Hayes, Ph.D., Professor of Developmental Endocrinology and nationally recognized researcher at the University of California, will be in Oregon on Wednesday, February 9th as part of OEC's Healthy Environment Forum Series to discuss his groundbreaking work on pesticides' effects on the sexual development of frogs and the implications for human health. CME, CNE and OBNE credits are available.

Suspected pesticide poisoning is a reportable condition in Oregon. There are several key resources in the region that can help providers identify and address pesticide exposures. These include the Washington Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit, which provides consultation (toll-free at 1- 877-543-2436) regarding clinical toxicology and exposures to pesticides, with a special focus on pediatric environmental health. In addition, the National Pesticide Medical Monitoring Program, based at Oregon State University, provides and collects information pertaining to human pesticide exposures, and maintains a library of paper and electronic resources for health care providers seeking information on clinical toxicology of pesticides.

For information about the clinical toxicology of pesticides or if you are investigating a suspected exposure incident, you can click here to contact the National Pesticide Monitoring Program.