organic pesticide awareness

8/2/2019 Organic Pesticide Awareness

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Organic Pesticide Awareness

Gary FishMaine Board of Pesticides Control28 State House StationAugusta ME 04333-0028(207)[email protected]


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Have you ever heard of the Board

of Pesticides Control (BPC)?

Y

es No

0%0%

1. Yes

2. No


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What is your opinion of the BPC?

Stro

ngly

favor

able

Favo

rable

Neu

tral

Unf

avor

able

S

trong

lyun

favor

able

0% 0% 0%0%0%

1. Strongly favorable

2. Favorable

3. Neutral

4. Unfavorable

5. Strongly

unfavorable


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Organic means

Pesti

cidef

ree

Toxic

pesti

cidef

ree

P

ersis

tent

pesti

cidef

ree

Non

eofthe

se

0% 0%0%0%

1. Pesticide free

2. Toxic pesticide free

3. Persistent pesticide free

4. None of these


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Organic means

Natu

ralp

estic

ideso

nly

N

osyn

theti

cpes

ticide

s

Noh

erbic

ides

Non

eofthe

se

0% 0%0%0%

1. Natural pesticides only

2. No synthetic pesticides

3. No herbicides4. None of these


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Do organic growers use pesticides?

Over 25% of OMRI listedproducts are pestmanagement products

312 are registered by EPA aspesticides

188 are registered aspesticides in Maine

139 of the pesticide productsare not registered by EPA andshould not be used to controlpests in the US

?


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Organic produce may contain

organic pesticide residues According to the

2008 USDAPesticide Data

Program Report: 43% of organic

spinach sampleswere positive forspinosad(13 of 30 samples positive)

Spinosad is derivedfrom a naturallyoccurring soil bacteria


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Which are pesticides?

O

rgan

ocide

Espoma

Org

anic

Burn

OutII

0% 0%0%

1. Organocide

2. Espoma Organic

3. BurnOut II


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What is a pesticide?

Any substance or mixture of substancesintended for:

preventing,

destroying,

repelling, or

mitigating

any pest

Or, any plant regulator, defoliant ordesiccant.

Does not include fertilizers or nutrients


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These are pesticides?

Disinfectants & bleaches

Herbicides

Rat & mouse baits

Fungicides


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These are pesticides?

Insecticides Botanicals

Biological controls

Deer and rabbit repellents


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Are botanical pesticides risky?

Pyrethrin has a changingcancer rating

EPA now ranks it as acarcinogen at doses that causeincreased cell division in theliver

It has also been shown to be

a thyroid hormone disruptor

Residues are detected infood at low levels


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Are botanical pesticides risky?

Old standby botanical insecticide In 2006 the

manufacturers/distributorsvoluntarily canceled theregistration

Why? In 2004 EPA required aninhalation neuro-toxicity study. Induces Parkinsons Disease-like

symptoms

Induces liver cells to self-destruct Dust products are of particular

concern for inhalation exposure. Because of fetal sensitivity EPA

required a 10X reduction in

exposure potential


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Are organic fungicides risky?

Copper is an element, so itdoes not degrade in the soil

Since 2006 the EU hasseverely restricted use ofcopper fungicides (5.4lbs/Ac/Yr) and Holland andDenmark have bannedthem

On average organic cropscontain 10% more copperthan conventional crops


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Are organic fungicides risky?

Soil accumulation is especiallypronounced in perennial crops


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Recent research shows the environmental

hazards of copper fungicides

Copper concentrations arehigher in many agriculturalsoils

In the lab copper significantlyharms soil organisms(especially earthworms)

Field results for soils over50 ppm of copper have cleareffects on earthworms

20 36% of copper fungicidescan run off from plastic mulchand harm aquatic life


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Essential oil pesticides

Some pesticides havebeen deregulated by

EPA FIFRA 25(b) Exempt

Exempt from Federalregistration

Exempt from toxicity

testing

Some are OMRI listed

Ingredients in these products

Rosemary oil

Peppermint oil

Thyme oil

Clove oil

Wintergreen oil

Cinnamon oil


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What do we know about essential

oil pesticide risks? Not enough since they are exempt from

toxicity tests Rosemary oil not well tested Peppermint oil

sensitization, irritant,

lung damage, not recommended for children, infants or

during pregnancy or breast feeding

Clove oil allergic reactions, not good for people with liver or kidney

disorders, increases bleeding risks, interacts with drugs, contains eugenol which when methylated

becomes a potent carcinogen


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What are the risks?

Wintergreen oil

highly toxic,

not recommended during

pregnancy,

causes dermatitis,

inhalation hazard

Cinnamon oil powerful irritant and

even worse sensitizer


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Organic products are not harmful

to bees, pollinators and other

beneficial organisms

True

Fals

e

0%0%

1. True

2. False


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Toxicity of Common Organic-

Approved Pesticides to Pollinators

Eric Mader The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation


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All pesticides have risks!!!

Organic Safe

Synthetic Highly toxic

Natural Safe


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Even organic

products aretoxic!


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All substances are

poisons; there is none

which is not a poison.

The right DOSE

differentiates a poisonfrom a remedy.

Paracelsus (1493-1541)

Even too much water can

killover 1.5 liters/hour


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Endocrine effects

EPA is just beginning to do endocrine disrupterscreening for pesticide active and inertingredients

http://www.epa.gov/scipoly/oscpendo/index.htm

http://www.epa.gov/scipoly/oscpendo/pubs/final_list_frn_041509.pdf

Does the dose make the poison?? What abouthormesis?

http://www.belleonline.com/index.htm


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So what is an organic gardener to do

about pests?

Think first Spray last!

Practice Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

Identify the pest specifically

www.gotpests.org

Only use pesticides (organic or not) as a lastresort

Choose the least toxic and most specific

pesticide available Use all pesticides with great caution and

respect


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Spare all sprays, even organic, to

protect beneficial insects Dragonflies

Spiders

Small parasitic wasps

Predatory mites

Syrphid flies

Ground beetles


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The key to proper use

Read and follow the label &MSDS

Do your homework If you are a commercial

grower

only use products approvedfor agricultural use


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Have you heard about the pesticide

notification registry for aerial for

air-carrier pesticide applications?

Yes

No

0%0%

1. Yes

2. No


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Please rate this presentation

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5. Bull Crap


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www.thinkfirstspraylast.org


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www.gotpests.org


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www.yardscaping.org


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Resources

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/

http://www.pesticideinfo.org/

http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/biopesticides/regtools/25b_list.htm

http://www.omri.org

http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16403682

http://spot.colorado.edu/~carpenh/Magkos.pdf

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