Food panel
September 5, 2013
Lynn Markham
UW-Extension
UW-Stevens Point


What is your current work focused on and how does it relate to emerging needs in food systems work?

What role can Extension play in addressing these emerging needs?

Chemist testing drinking water
How did these chemicals get in our drinking water?!
It’s what’s happening on the land!





I’ve been growing & preserving food since I was little – family tradition
I love to eat good food & am used to garden-fresh
I want to minimize my own chemical exposures – I have enough past exposures as a chemist & farmworker
I want healthy food for my kids
It’s fun finding frogs & butterflies in our garden


Blend of professional and personal work

Website: Protecting Wisconsin’s Groundwater
(Drinking water)

Education about pesticide use & health effects in WI
–
–
Wisconsin Land Use Megatrends: Agriculture
Reducing Pesticide Exposure in your Food & Water

15
10
5
0
30
25
20
Average pounds of pesticides applied per acre in Wisconsin
28
13
No pesticide data available for cranberries which are grown on
19,000 acres in WI
8
8
3
2 2
1 1 1 1
<1 <1

Pesticide Application Map
Based on 2005 avg pesticide application per crop


Ideally, pesticides would harm only the target pest and then break down into harmless substances

Pesticides are found in:
– Food
– Air
– Drinking water
– Soil

Pick 5 servings a day from the dirty dozen and you will consume an average of 14 different pesticides.
Choose 5 servings from the Clean 15 and you'll consume fewer than 2 pesticides.
Source: USDA data
Dietary risks calculated by Environmental
Working Group

What do these photos have in common?
Interview http://www.npr.org/2011/04/21/135605139/m others-pesticide-exposure-linked-to-kids-iqs

Provide learning opportunities about

Food growing practices and local farms

Expanding research field about health effects of pesticides, especially how they affect children’s ability to learn

Ways to support sustainable farming
– Various types of CSAs
– Health insurance rebates for CSA members
– Local investment club focused on farmers and food entrepreneurs

Bedfod Falls
Municipal
Well
0
20
40
Private Well water table
100
120 upper sandstone aquifer confining shale layer
Ag-chemical plume
Monitoring Wells water flow direction
260 lower sandstone aquifer





Cancer
Changes reproductive systems
Birth defects
Difficulties learning: ADHD and lower IQs

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Your health
The health of children you may have in the future
Health of people who grow your food
Health of people in your community – drinking water safety
Health of other animals: fish, frogs, bees, etc.

Fruits & vegetables grown in the U.S. have lower pesticide risks than imported foods (except green beans)
Dietary Risk Index for Imported vs. Domestic Fruits and Vegetables
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
N ec ta rin es
P ea ch es
S tra w be rri es
P ea rs
A pp le s
C he rr ie s
G re en
b ea ns t b el l p ep pe rs
S w ee
C el er y
C uc um be rs
Le ttu ce
To m at oe s
Imported DRI
Domestic DRI
2008 report by The Organic Center based on data from the USDA

Annual use on major agricultural crops:
• 13 million pounds of pesticides in WI
• Over 2 pounds per person
Source: Wisconsin Agricultural Statistics Service, 2004-05 data

Science has found they:
 contact farmworkers during application




 attach to soil and get tracked into homes evaporate into the air, and drift for miles depending on dust & wind conditions remain on/in the plant that becomes food run off into lakes or streams soak into groundwater


Estimate that 1/3 of private drinking water wells in WI contained a pesticide or pesticide metabolite
Percent cultivated land v. percentage of private wells containing pesticides
50
40
30
20
10
0
<15% cultivated
15-50% cultivated
51-75% cultivated
Percent of land in cultivation
>75% cultivated
Metolachlor ESA Alachlor ESA


Wells in areas with more cropland were more likely to contain pesticides, and often contained a mixture of multiple pesticides

Very little is known about the health effects of being exposed to a mixture of pesticides


Wisconsin farmers reported using 90 different pesticides in the 2005 growing season

Only 16 of these pesticides have drinking water standards. We don’t test for the other 74 pesticides.

Because…

Their bodies are developing and growing, from one cell into a whole person

They consume much more food and water per pound of body weight than adults

Babies and children do not have the same levels of defensive enzymes present as adults, so they are less able to detoxify the pesticides when exposed. OP pesticide detoxification enzymes increase at least until age 7.

Of 14 pesticides used on corn,
6 pesticides are unknown or possibly cause cancer
Field corn
Herbicides
Acetochlor
Atrazine
Clopyralid
Dicamba, Sodium salt
Diflufenzopyr-sodium
Dimethenamid-P
Flumetsulam
Glyphosate
Glyphosate iso. salt
Mesotrione
Nicosulfuron
Rimsulfuron
S-Metolachlor
Insecticide: Tefluthrin
Potatoes
Herbicides
Linuron
Metribuzin
Pendimethalin
Rimsulfuron
S-Metolachlor
Insecticides
Bifenthrin
Esfenvalerate
Imidacloprid
Novaluron
Thiamethoxam
Of 24 pesticides used on potatoes,
3 pesticides are known or likely to cause cancer +
8 unknown/possible
Potatoes
Fungicides
Azoxystrobin
Boscalid
Chlorothalonil (96%)
Copper hydroxide
Potatoes
Fungicides (cont.)
Pyraclostrobin
Triphenyltin hydrox. (51%)
Zoxamide
Cymoxanil
Difenoconazole
Famoxadone
Mancozeb (66%)
Mandipropamide
Mefenoxam
Propamocarb Hydroch
Other Chemicals
Diquat dibromide
Maleic Hydrazide
Known or likely to cause cancer
Unknown or possibly causes cancer
Not likely to cause cancer in humans according to the 2010 EPA list


The EPA reviewed the top 10 lawn and garden pesticides:
1 is likely to cause cancer, 4 may cause cancer, and 4 others are unknown
Table 1: Top 10 home and garden pesticides
Pesticide Type Pounds of active ingredient used in the U.S. in 2007
2,4-D H
Glyphosate (Roundup) H
Carbaryl
MCPP
I
H
8-11 million
5-8 million
4-6 million
4-6 million
Pendimethalin
Pyrethroids
Malathion
Dicamba
Trifluralin
Pelargonic Acid
H
I
I
H
H
H
3-5 million
2-4 million
2-4 million
1-3 million
1-3 million
<1 million
Potential to cause cancer (EPA)
Not classifiable as to human carcinogenicity
Evidence of non-carcinogenicity for humans
Likely to be carcinogenic to humans
Suggestive evidence of carcinogenicity, but not sufficient to assess human carcinogenic potential
Possible human carcinogen
Permethrin is likely to be carcinogenic to humans
Suggestive evidence of carcinogenicity, but not sufficient to assess human carcinogenic potential
Not classifiable as to human carcinogenicity
Possible human carcinogen
?? EPA has not evaluated


1.7 million pounds were applied to 2.4 million acres of corn in WI in 2010

Detected in 25% of private wells in WI

Germany & Italy banned atrazine in 1991; EU banned it in 2004 using the precautionary principle


Linked to cardiovascular damage & reproductive difficulties in some people who are exposed over the health standard for many years (EPA)

Recent study from Fall 2011:

Women exposed to atrazine in their drinking water below the health standard of 3ppb were associated with
– more menstrual cycle length irregularity
– more instances of greater than 6 weeks between periods
– reduced mid-luteal phase urinary metabolites of progesterone; insufficient progesterone impairs implantation and leads to infertility and repeated spontaneous abortions
Cragin, LA et al. Menstrual cycle characteristics and reproductive hormone levels in women exposed to atrazine in drinking water.
Environmental Research , 2011 Nov; 111(8):1293-301. Epub 2011 Oct 13


Reduces reproduction in fish by 19-39% at levels near the drinking water standard

Male frogs exposed to 1/30 th of drinking water standard as tadpoles developed both male and female sex organs
Hayes et al. Hermaphroditic, demasculinized frogs after exposure to the herbicide atrazine at low ecologically relevant doses.
Tillitt et al. Atrazine reduces reproduction in fathead minnows.
99:2:149-159.
PNAS . 2002 vol. 99 no. 8, 5476-5480
Aquatic Toxicology.
2010 .

Exposed
Exposed
Children exposed to pesticides were the same physical size but had reduced


 eye-hand coordination
30-minute memory ability to draw a person
Guillette, et al. 1998.
106 (6): 347-353.
EHP ,


Organophosphates (OP) are a group of insecticides that kill insects by irreversibly inactivating an enzyme that is essential to nerve function in insects, humans, and many other animals

Found commonly in:
– Apples
– Sweet bell peppers
– Cranberries
– Grapes
– Peaches
– Mushrooms
– Wheat
– Celery
– Corn grain
– Green beans
– Almonds
Study found rinsing produce did not reduce levels of chlorpyrifos, a common OP


Research by Warren Porter and his grad students at
UW-Madison has found that dosing female mice with chlorpyrifos leads to daughters that are slow learners – afraid & hesitant

“We’re dosing our kids with neurotoxins like chlorpyrifos, and then we wonder why they’re having trouble learning and concentrating,” said Warren
Porter Haviland et al. 2009. Reproductive Toxicology



Chlorpyrifos is found in amniotic fluid and crosses the placenta into the baby
Prenatal exposure is linked to smaller head size, lower birth weight and attention problems

Studies in urban and rural areas found that children born to mothers with higher levels of organophosphate pesticides in their urine during pregnancy had lower IQ scores at ages
2-3 and 6-9
Bouchard, M.F. et al. 2011. Rural agricultural children; Salinas Valley, CA
Engel, S.M. et al. 2011. Inner city children; NYC
Rauh, V. et al. 2011. Inner city children; NYC

“Organic” means grown without synthetic pesticides.
“Natural” has no definition.

When children ate organic fruits, vegetables, juices and corn/wheat products, they had much lower pesticide levels in their urine
Lu et al., Organic Diets
Significantly Lower
Children’s Dietary Exposure to Organophosphorus
Pesticides
EHP , Feb 2006





We are what we eat
Some common pesticides are known to cause cancer, affect reproduction, and limit the ability of children to learn
We know very little about the long-term health effects of most pesticides or mixtures of pesticides
When pesticides are applied to the land, they affect the health of
– Our food
– Our drinking water
– Us & our children
– Farmworkers
– Animals including frogs, birds & bees

If you know of a group that might be interested in this presentation, please talk with me
Lynn Markham
UW-Extension
UW-Stevens Point
715.346.3879
lmarkham@uwsp.edu



See farm fresh atlas
Use your own experience related to other sources of food and menu planning

Design a menu