• Thirty-six percent of the total pesticides reported on Long Island by gallons and 44% reported by pounds contained pesticide active ingredients classified by EPA as probable, likely, or possible human carcinogens (Table 2). These percentages, however, are likely underestimates (see bullet on chlorophenoxy herbicides below). The proportion of pesticides reported sold to farmers that contained pesticide active ingredients classified by EPA as probable, likely, or possible carcinogens was 63% of the gallons and 60% of the pounds – considerably higher than the overall proportion of suspected carcinogens. Thirty-two percent of the total gallons reported and 16% of the total pounds contained pesticide active ingredients suspected of disrupting normal hormonal balance, affecting everything from daily physical functioning to the fundamentals of reproduction and fertility. Nineteen percent of the total gallons reported and 23% of the total pounds are highly neurotoxic, organophosphate or carbamate insecticides.

• The top two pesticides applied by pounds (Table 3) – pendimethalin and benfluralin – as well as the fifth, trifluralin, are all related herbicides. Pendimethalin and trifluralin are classified by the EPA as possible human carcinogens; benfluralin has not yet been classified for carcinogenicity, but it shares many of the same chemical properties with pendimethalin and trifluralin.

• Among the top pesticides reported are 2,4-D, dicamba, MCPP, and mecoprop, related chlorophenoxy herbicides used in lawn care and agriculture alike, that have been repeatedly linked to certain cancers, most notably non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma,1 as well as other adverse health effects. Despite the considerable evidence for their carcinogenicity, EPA still labels 2,4-D and dicamba as carcinogenicity Class “D,” meaning they are “not yet classifiable.” MCPP and mecoprop have not been assigned any carcinogenicity designation at all by EPA. This means that these pesticides are not included in the percentages of suspected carcinogens cited above because EPA has not yet made a final determination for them.

  The question is not merely academic. During the period beginning in 1976 and ending in 1997, there was a 44% increase in the incidence of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in Nassau County. In Suffolk County during that same period, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma incidence increased 68% for males, and 50% for females.2 While no statements about cause and effect are possible, the high use of chlorophenoxy herbicides that have been strongly associated with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and the corresponding dramatic increase in its incidence are a parallel that should spur immediate investigation and prudent reduction of such pesticide use.

• The third highest pesticide reported on Long Island was the organophosphate insecticide chlorpyrifos (the active ingredient in Dursban®). As noted above, chlorpyrifos was banned by EPA in June 2000 for virtually all non-agricultural uses because of its high neurotoxicity, particularly to developing fetuses, infants, and children. In December 2000, EPA announced a residential phase-out of another organophosphate insecticide, diazinon – also among the top pesticides reported on Long Island. Both chlorpyrifos and diazinon had been on the market for decades with assurances, now revealed as bankrupt, that they posed no undue risks if used according to label instructions. Not all synthetic pesticides pose the same level or type of hazard, but the fact that similar assurances are bandied about for every available pesticide, until such time as a regulatory about-face declares them false, should prompt serious questions about the risks of all pesticides.
• Nine of the top 15 pesticide products applied by commercial applicators by pounds on Long Island were lawn care products that combine pesticides and fertilizers, as were many of the products applied in lesser quantities. The use of pesticide fertilizer combinations means that applications are not necessarily occurring in response to a documented pest problem, but as a routine part of lawn maintenance and, more than likely, on a set schedule. By applying pesticides in this manner, as part of a fertilizer product that blankets an entire property, overuse is virtually assured and minimization techniques such as spot treatments do not occur.
• The top pesticide sold to farmers by gallons (accounting for nearly half of all the pesticides sold to farmers by gallons) and the fourth highest by gallons overall, was the exceptionally toxic soil fumigant metam sodium. Metam sodium is classified by the EPA as a probable human carcinogen and also as Toxicity Category I, the category designating pesticides of the highest acute toxicity (acute toxicity refers to a product's ability to cause immediate illness). All such fumigants present a significant danger both to people in the immediate vicinity where they are used and, due to their nature as highly diffusive gases, the more general area as well. Metam sodium's particular hazards include the fact that it degrades upon contact with water to the highly toxic gas methyl isothiocyanate, which, according to EPA's pesticide poisoning handbook is "a gas that is extremely irritating to respiratory mucous membranes, to the eyes, and to the lungs. Inhalation of methyl isothiocyanate may cause pulmonary edema (severe respiratory distress, coughing of bloody, frothy sputum). For this reason, metam-sodium is considered a fumigant. It must be used in outdoor settings only, and stringent precautions must be taken to avoid inhalation of evolved gas."3 Metam sodium also caused a major fish kill in the Sacramento River and large scale human exposure incidents in California.4

  The use of this fumigant poses immediate public health concerns. Air monitoring immediately after application is essential to determine the impact of such use on local air quality.

• Long Island, with its sole source aquifer and porous, sandy soils, has a history of being uniquely vulnerable to the problem of water contamination by pesticides. One recent study found pesticides in 44 of 50 samples in Suffolk County wells, with some samples containing as many as 11 different pesticides.5 The widespread nature of the problem should no longer come as a surprise. Nearly a decade ago, EPA listed 46 pesticides present in groundwater as the result of “normal agricultural use.”6 Eight of these – atrazine, chlorothalonil, 2,4-D, methamidophos, methomyl, methyl parathion, metolachlor, and trifluralin – were among the top products sold to farmers on Long Island in 1998. Six of these – chlorothalonil, 2,4-D, diazinon, dicamba, malathion, and trifluralin – were among the top pesticides reported used by commercial applicators.

Recommendations
New York’s pesticide reporting data clearly demonstrate the consequences of the current system of pesticide regulation: routine reliance on enormous quantities of toxic chemicals in the face of mounting evidence of their dangers and despite readily available alternatives. Turning the tide will require an institutional commitment to removing the most dangerous pesticides from the market, mandating the use of safer alternatives, and eliminating gratuitous pesticide use. Though many of these steps need to occur at the state and federal levels, there are a number of actions that can be taken locally:

• The Nassau and Suffolk County Health Departments should each make it a priority to examine the pesticide reporting data for their jurisdictions to see where particularly risky pesticides are being used, or where blanket lawn applications are occurring without underlying pest problems, in order to take proactive steps to eliminate the most hazardous uses and identify safer alternative strategies. In particular, the use of such large amounts of highly toxic and volatile metam sodium for agricultural purposes on Long Island demands immediate attention from both state and county public health authorities. Incidents across the country and the world have underscored the real potential for this chemical to cause large-scale health and environmental disasters.

• Nassau County and other municipalities on Long Island should adopt formal policies to phase out their own use of pesticides on public property as eight municipalities across the state, including Suffolk County, and others across the country already have. Not only do such phase-outs reduce actual pesticide use and exposure, but they are an excellent opportunity for government to lead by example and demonstrate that pest management can occur through safer means than pesticide use.

• Nassau and Suffolk Counties should use the opportunity now afforded them by the newly-enacted Pesticide Neighbor Notification Law to develop public education materials and programs about lawn care pesticide hazards and non-toxic pest management alternatives.

• The power of the chemical lobby has ensured that, at least in the short-term, dangerous pesticides will be both available and vigorously marketed. Consumers must use their own power – the power of their pocketbooks – to turn this situation around, particularly for those pesticide uses that are entirely gratuitous. Using toxic substances for the entirely frivolous purpose of pest control on lawns and ornamental plants is all public health and environmental risk, and no benefit. Long Islanders are particularly lucky in that there are a wealth of local environmental and health advocacy organizations that can help them find safer, effective alternatives to the pest management situations for which they now resort to chemicals. Residents should avail themselves of these resources and reject the hazards of the chemical aesthetic.