For Immediate Release For More Information:
November 29, 2000, 10:30 a.m. Audrey Thier: EA 518-462-5526 x236
cell: 413-441-9392
Laura Haight: NYPIRG 518-436-0876 x258
pager: 518-484-9401
(Buffalo) – Environmental Advocates and the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) today released a report on pesticide use patterns in the Western New York region of Erie, Niagara, Chautauqua,and Cattaraugus counties in 1998, which reveals that an enormous amount of toxic pesticides are being used in the region on a daily basis. In 1998, 303,000 gallons and 2.3 million pounds of pesticides were reported used by commercial applicators or sold to farmers in the four-county region.
The regional report is a companion to The Toxic Treadmill: Pesticide Use and Sales in New York State 1997-1998, a statewide study released by Environmental Advocates and NYPIRG this past October. Analysis of the pesticide reporting data collected by the N.Y.S. Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) found that, across the state, 4.5 million gallons and 29.4 million pounds of pesticides were reported used by commercial applicators or sold to farmers in 1998.
The report shows that a significant portion of the pesticides reported statewide are being used in Western New York. Both Erie and Chatuauqua counties are among the top ten counties in the state for the amount of overall pesticide use reported.
"Today’s findings clearly point out the inordinate risk pesticide use poses in Western New York," said Audrey Thier, Environmental Advocates' pesticide project director and author of the report. "And with so many safe and effective alternatives to pesticides, much of this risk is entirely gratuitous."
In addition to high overall amounts, the pesticides reported in the Western New York area pose significant risks:
· Approximately one-third of the pesticides reported in the region are classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as known, probable, likely, or possible human carcinogens.
· Twenty-nine percent of the total gallons and 11% of the total pounds of pesticides reported are suspected of disrupting normal hormonal balance, affecting everything from daily physical functioning to the fundamentals of reproduction and fertility.
· The top three pesticides used in the region by pounds area all related herbicides (one a component of Agent Orange) that have been strongly linked to several cancers, most notably
· non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a particularly deadly disease whose incidence rate in the region has skyrocketed in the past few decades.
· Several of the top pesticides reported in the region have been shown to contaminate groundwater as a result of normal agricultural use.
· Like the statewide pattern, the majority of pesticides reported in the region are being used for non-agricultural purposes such as lawn care and indoor pest control.
"These data overwhelmingly affirm the need for right-to-know laws such as the recently-enacted Pesticide Neighbor Notification Law," said Laura Haight. "But knowing about pesticide use is just basic self-defense. We need to do more to curtail both the use of unsafe pesticides, and uses that are frivolous or particularly fraught with hazard to vulnerable populations or resources."
Environmental Advocates and NYPIRG are calling on the region’s policymakers to address the pesticide risks highlighted by the data. Among the actions needed are the following:
· Communities in Western New York can reduce their use of pesticides by enacting policies that phase out municipal use of pesticides. Eight municipalities in New York State, including the City of Buffalo and the town of West Seneca, have already done so.
· Each county should adopt the lawn notice provisions of the state’s new Pesticide Neighbor Notification Law, enacted in August 2000. Advance notice of pesticide applications on lawns would give neighbors the opportunity to take measures to protect their families and property from pesticide exposure.
· Each county Health Department should make it a priority to examine the pesticide reporting data for its jurisdiction to see where particularly risky pesticides are being used and to identify safer alternative strategies.
The full report, The Toxic Treadmill, is posted on the World Wide Web at http://www.envadvocates.org/public_html/Pest/Toxic_Treadmill/toxic_treadmill.htm and www.nypirg.org. Regional companion reports will also be available for the Rochester area, Westchester County, Long Island, and New York City.
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