New York City

This regional report, a supplement to The Toxic Treadmill: Pesticide Use and Sales in New York State, 1997-1998, is a snapshot of pesticide use and sales patterns in New York City in 1998. The analysis is based on data from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) pesticide reporting program. Under the Pesticide Reporting Law of 1996, DEC collects detailed pesticide use data annually from the state’s commercial pesticide applicators and information on sales to farmers.

Summary of Statewide Findings
New York State is heavily dependent on the use of toxic pesticides. According to New York’s pesticide reporting data, 4.5 million gallons and 29.4 million pounds were applied by commercial applicators or sold to farmers in 1998 alone. The dangers of such use are myriad. Pesticides pose health risks such as nervous system toxicity, carcinogenicity, and damage to the endocrine, immune, and reproductive systems; environmental risks such as contamination of air, water, and food; and increased pest problems due to pesticide resistance and secondary infestations.

Efforts to mitigate these risks must start with understanding what, where, and why pesticides are used in the state. Analyzing New York’s pesticide reporting data challenges many of our basic assumptions about the nature of that use. Among the key revelations:

Urban and suburban downstate counties report greater use than upstate and rural counties, with New York City topping the charts. In 1998, the counties reporting the highest amounts of pesticides overall by gallons and pounds were Kings County (Brooklyn) and Queens County respectively. The downstate area comprising New York City and the adjacent counties of Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester accounted for 60% of the gallons and 48% of the pounds reported statewide, while constituting only 4% of the state’s geographic area.

Overall, non-agricultural pesticide use is greater than agricultural use statewide. Although pesticides are conventionally thought of as chiefly an agricultural issue, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that 77% of the nation’s total pesticide use is agricultural, this pattern does not hold true for New York State. Non-agricultural use predominates over agricultural use on a statewide basis due to the overwhelming total amount of pesticides reported in urban and suburban areas for controlling indoor pests and for lawn care.

Even though safer alternatives abound, a substantial percentage of the overall pesticides reported in New York State have serious toxicity risks, as do the most heavily used individual pesticides. Nearly a third of the total amount of pesticides reported by gallons in 1998 and 44% reported by pounds are classified by EPA as known or suspected carcinogens. More than a quarter are suspected of having endocrine disrupting activity, and approximately one quarter belong to the highly neurotoxic chemical families of organophosphate and carbamate insecticides. The top pesticide reported by gallons and the second by pounds in 1998 was chlorpyrifos (found in the products Dursban® and Lorsban®), a broad-spectrum insecticide recently banned by EPA in June 2000 for virtually all non-agricultural uses because of its high toxicity.

Pesticide Use Patterns in New York City
A more specific look at the pesticide reporting data for New York City yields the following information:

New York City reports the heaviest pesticide use in the state

As noted above, New York City boroughs top the list of New York State counties with the greatest pesticide use. Kings County (Brooklyn) had the highest amount of pesticides reported by gallons and Queens County the highest by pounds, followed closely by Brooklyn. All five boroughs of New York City found their way into the top ten counties reported by gallons. Overall, New York City accounted for 36% of the total gallons and 27% of the total pounds reported statewide in 1998, a particularly outsized proportion considering that the city accounts for less than 1% of the state’s geographic area. New York City’s pesticide use also dominated the state in 1997.

As expected, the pesticides reported for New York City in 1998 are almost entirely for non-agricultural purposes, such as interior pest control and lawn care. Virtually all of the pesticides reported in New York City were applied by commercial applicators. Less than .01% of the total pesticides reported were from sales to farmers. The bulk of reported use was insecticides, as opposed to herbicides, fungicides, or rodenticides.

The specific pesticides and use patterns in New York City are hazardous

Sixty-five percent of the pesticides reported by pounds and 23% of those reported by gallons in New York City contained active ingredients suspected of disrupting the hormone system, a phenomenon also known as endocrine disruption (Table 2). The high percentage of solid pesticides used in the city that may cause endocrine disruption (approximately 2.5 times that of the percentage statewide) is chiefly due to the predominance of the pyrethroid insecticide cypermethrin in the pounds category. A single pesticide product – CYNOFF EC Insecticide® – whose active ingredient is cypermethrin, alone accounted for 63% of the total pounds reported for New York City. Like all pyrethroids, cypermethrin is a suspected endocrine disruptor; it has also been linked to immune suppression1 and potential chromosomal damage.2
Though these figures predate spraying for West Nile virus, it is noteworthy that the two products used in the city’s mosquito control efforts in 2000, Scourge® and Anvil®, also contained pyrethroid insecticides. The fresh awareness of pesticide hazards sparked by spraying for West Nile virus should force an examination of the prodigious routine use of pyrethroids and other pesticides.
Sixty-five percent of the pesticides reported in New York City by pounds and 12% reported by gallons contained active ingredients classified by EPA as probable, likely, or possible human carcinogens. Again, the high percentage of carcinogens in the pounds category (approximately 20% higher than the statewide percentage) is largely attributable to the heavy use of cypermethrin, which is classified by the EPA as a possible human carcinogen.
The finding that a higher percentage of solid pesticides as opposed to liquid pesticides contain suspected carcinogens and endocrine disruptors does not mean that the liquid pesticides used in New York City pose fewer risks than the solids. In 1998, the pesticides reported by gallons were more than twice as likely to be highly neurotoxic organophosphate or carbamate insecticides than were those reported by pounds: 47% of the reported gallons and 21% of the pounds belonged to these two families of insecticides. These pesticides work by inhibiting an enzyme – cholinesterase – that is essential to normal nervous system function in insects and humans alike (and all other animals as well). By design, therefore, they interrupt a crucial neurological pathway. In addition to the hazards of acute poisoning posed by these pesticides, recent research also indicates that chronic exposure to pesticides in general,3 and to organophosphates and carbamates in particular, may impede normal brain development in fetuses, infants, and children, even at levels too low to produce any other symptoms of pesticide poisoning.4 In this way, the effects of these pesticides may parallel those of another urban scourge – lead.

The top pesticide reported in the city by gallons and the 6th highest by pounds 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 October 2000, EPA announced a residential phase-out of another organophosphate insecticide, diazinon – the second most heavily used pesticide in the city by pounds and the 9th by gallons – also for its risks to children.
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. Such risks may be particularly severe in the indoor settings typical of city use, where pesticides can cling to surfaces and linger in indoor air for long periods.

Four of the top 15 active ingredients reported by pounds (bromadiolone, diphacinone, brodaficoum, and difethialone) are rodenticides, as is one of the top 15 reported by gallons (bromadiolone). Despite their ranking among the top individual pesticide active ingredients, they account for a small percentage of overall reported use. The four top rodenticides by pounds together account for only 4% of the total pounds reported. The single rodenticide among the top 15 by gallons accounts for less than 1% of the total gallons.

Methyl bromide, the 11th most heavily used pesticide by pounds, is a severe respiratory irritant, capable of causing pulmonary edema and bleeding as well as other acute poisoning symptoms (nausea, vomiting, and convulsions), significant long-term damage to the nervous system,5 and fatalities. It is also a severe ozone depleter, scheduled for phase-out by 2005. After methyl bromide appeared among the top pesticides used in the city in the first year of data (1997), the New York State Department of Health took a closer look at the data and found that methyl bromide was being used to treat stored food (though whether this was in warehouses, on cargo ships in the harbor, or other storage areas, was not specifically delineated). Due to its nature as a highly diffusive gas, methyl bromide poses a hazard to the general area in which it is used. It is essential that the precise uses of methyl bromide in New York City be identified so that the risk to neighboring areas can be understood and eliminated.

Methyl bromide, the 11th most heavily used pesticide by pounds, is a severe respiratory irritant, capable of causing pulmonary edema and bleeding as well as other acute poisoning symptoms (nausea, vomiting, and convulsions), significant long-term damage to the nervous system,5 and fatalities. It is also a severe ozone depleter, scheduled for phase-out by 2005. After methyl bromide appeared among the top pesticides used in the city in the first year of data (1997), the New York State Department of Health took a closer look at the data and found that methyl bromide was being used to treat stored food (though whether this was in warehouses, on cargo ships in the harbor, or other storage areas, was not specifically delineated). Due to its nature as a highly diffusive gas, methyl bromide poses a hazard to the general area in which it is used. It is essential that the precise uses of methyl bromide in New York City be identified so that the risk to neighboring areas can be understood and eliminated.

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:

New York City should examine its own use of pesticides on municipal property – such as public schools, parks, and housing – as a first step in determining where safer alternatives can be used. The City Council should fund an independent evaluation of the city’s current pest control policies, practices, and programs to assess the potential health consequences associated with municipal pesticide use and to develop recommendations for pesticide use reduction. By making a commitment to reducing its own pesticide use, New York City government can lead by example and demonstrate that pest control through safer means is a viable reality.

The City Council should establish a Pest Management Board with representation from the medical community, environmental and health advocacy groups, community-based organizations, people with expertise in pest management, agency officials, and other interested individuals and organizations to monitor and advise the city on safer pest control practices. Similar boards have been highly successful in Buffalo, Albany, and Westchester County.

New York City should encourage pilot programs to control pest problems in high-risk indoor settings, such as apartment buildings and schools, without resorting to synthetic pesticides. Funding is available from the state for training in non-toxic pest control.

New York City should adopt the state’s Pesticide Neighbor Notification Law, enacted in August 2000, which would require advance notice of pesticide applications on lawns in order to give neighbors the opportunity to take measures to protect their families and property from pesticide exposure.

The New York State Legislature should establish a commission to investigate the high use of pesticides in urban settings and recommend policy reforms to protect urban environmental health.

The exceptionally high levels of pesticide use and exposure in New York City merit serious attention from policymakers and the public health community. With safer pest management practiced on a daily basis across the nation, continued reliance on pesticides puts New Yorkers at unnecessary risk. The time is ripe to reverse course – to reject the risks and financial burdens foisted upon society by pesticide manufacturers and make pesticide alternatives the norm in New York City and New York State.

References
1 Santoni, G. et al. 1999. Alterations of T cell distribution and functions in prenatally cypermethrin-exposed rats: possible involvement of catecholamines. Toxicology. 138(3)L 175-187. see also Santoni, G. et al. 1998. Cypermethin-induced alteration of thymocyte distribution and functions in prenatally-exposed rats. Toxicology. 125: 67-78. see also Desi, I. et al. 1985. Immunotoxicological Investigation of the Effects of a Pesticide: Cypermethrin. Archives of Toxicology. Suppl.8:305-309.
2 Amer, S.M. et al. 1993. Induction of chromosomal aberrations and sister chromatid exchange in vivo and in vitro by the insecticide cypermethrin. Journal of Applied Toxicology. 13(5):341-345. see also Puig, M. et al. 1989. Analysis of cytogenetic damage induced in cultured human lymphocytes by the pyrethroid insecticides cypermethrin and fenvalerate. Mutagenesis. 4(1):72-74.
3 Guillette, E.A. et al. 1998. An Anthropological Approach to the Evaluation of Preschool Children Exposed to Pesticides in Mexico. Environmental Health Perspectives. 106(6):347-353. see also Weiss, B. 1997. Pesticides As A Source Of Developmental Disabilities. Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews. 3:246-256.
4 Brimijoin S. and C. Koenigsberger. 1999. Cholinesterases in Neural Development: New Findings and Toxicologic Implications. Environmental Health Perspectives. 107 (Suppl.1):59-64. see also Lauder, J.M. and U.B. Schambra. 1999. Morphogenetic Roles of Acetylcholine. Environmental Health Perspectives. 107(Suppl.1):65-69. see also Bigbee, J.W. et al. 1999. Morphogenic Role for Acetylcholinesterase in Axonal Outgrowth during Neural Development. Environmental Health Perspectives. 107 (Suppl.1):81-87. see also Dam, K. et al. 1998. Developmental neurotoxicity of chlorpyrifos: delayed targeting of DNA synthesis after repeated administration. Developmental Brain Research. 108:39-45. see also Johnson, D.E. et al. 1998. Early Biochemical Detection of Delayed Neurotoxicity Resulting from Developmental Exposure to Chlorpyrifos. Brain Research Bulletin. 45(2):143-147. see also Song, X. et al. 1997. Cellular Mechanisms for Developmental Toxicity of Chlorpyrifos: Targeting the Adenylyl Cyclase Signaling Cascade. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology. 145:158-174.
5Reigart, J.R. and J.R. Roberts. 1999. Recognition and Management of Pesticide Poisonings. Fifth Edition. United States Environmental Protection Agency. EPA 735-R-98-003. Washington D.C.

Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the New York Community Trust, the New York Foundation, and the J.P. Morgan Charitable Trust for their generous support of the New York City Pesticide Right-to-Know and Reduction Project, a joint initiative of Environmental Advocates and the New York Public Interest Research Group Fund. We would also like to acknowledge the generous support of the Pew Charitable Trusts, the W. Alton Jones Foundation, the Bauman Foundation, the Turner Foundation, the Rockefeller Family Fund, and Dr. Lucy R. Waletzky. The maps in this report were prepared by NYPIRG’s Community Mapping Assistance Project (CMAP).