October 2003

Pesticide Potpourri

  • DuPont Crop Protection is shifting research focus from herbicides to insecticides and fungicides. The potential for herbicide sales has declined since the introduction of Roundup® resistant crops. The company is also interested in gene regulation and growth enhancement products. (Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, 9/22/03).
  • Despite accusations for years that pollution from chemical plants has caused a “Cancer Alley” in Louisiana, epidemiological research supports the assumption that cancer occurrence in this area (along the Mississippi River and between Baton Rouge and New Orleans) is no greater than in the rest of the state or nation. The area (four parishes) houses 42 percent of the state’s industrial facilities, while accounting for 61 percent (75.2 million pounds) of the toxic air releases. (Chemical Regulation Reporter, 9/22/03).
  • wpdoc18.gifUF professor Jorge Rey at the Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory is studying the feeding behavior of a copepod, Macrocyclops albidus, which is very aggressive towards its prey, mosquito larvae. The copepods will kill the larvae even when they are not hungry. The copepods prefer younger larvae, but will prey on older larvae if pressured. They are able to survive year round in areas conducive to mosquito breeding. The organism may well be a marketable product for larvae control in the future. (Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, 9/15/03).
  • wpdoc19.gifFour journalists, including one from the New York Times, have been arrested in the Philippines on libel charges. The charges stem from articles written in 2000 that alleged that ground and aerial pesticide applications in banana fields caused health problems in 700 local residents. The libel charges were filed by the agricultural secretary. All were able to post bail. (Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, 9/15/03).
  • wpdoc20.gifIn a recent Citrus & Vegetable Magazine web poll, growers were asked to reveal their method to determine when to treat pests in their operations. Fifty percent reported using set in-house thresholds, 35 percent reported hiring scouts, and 15 percent relied on a weekly schedule. (Citrus & Vegetable Magazine, September 2003).
  • ole1.gifUnder a plan unveiled by the Japanese Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives, all food produced from crops grown by CUAC members will be labeled with an ID number that will enable consumers to learn the identities of the farms that grew the crops used in the foods, as well as the pesticides used to treat the crops. The database, due to be operational in 2006, will also allow consumers to find out when the crops were grown and harvested. (Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, 9/8/03).
  • wpdoc21.gifThe insect order Strepsiptera is being investigated for potential biological control agents for fire ants. Certain male species in this order burrow into ants as part of their parasitic life cycle. When this occurs, the ants stop stinging and contributing to the colony. One of the most interesting aspects of the research is that when the parasite is in the ant, it forms a bag around itself that expresses the same DNA sequence as that of the host. (Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, 9/8/03).
  • Chromatin, Inc. announced that it received $2.7 million in grants from the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Advanced Technology Program and the National Institutes of Health to develop mini-chromosomes, the first technology to enable simultaneous introduction of multiple genes into plants. The grants, totaling $1.9 million from the ATP and $800,000 from the NIH, will be used to advance Chromatin's technology focusing on improved crops for agricultural, industrial and pharmaceutical products. (From a press release, 9/24/03).
  • Syngenta was cited as saying on October 5 that the European Union has withdrawn approval of the widely used herbicide atrazine. Syngenta was cited as saying in a statement on its website that the decision not to allow re-registration of atrazine and a sister product, simazine, was taken by the EU's Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health. The story says that the 45 year-old herbicide, used to kill weeds around crops, has been implicated by authorities in incidents of ground water contamination, prompting recent bans on its use in several European countries including France. (Agence France Presse via Agnet, 10/6/03).
  • The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, agreed to in 2000 and described as giving importers greater powers to reject genetically modified products such as maize, came into force on September 11th and the United Nations wants non-signatories like the United States to abide by it. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was cited as urging the international community to work together to implement its provisions, saying the treaty would let the planet benefit from biotechnology to curb hunger and poverty while "at the same time protecting biodiversity and human health from potential risks posed by living modified organisms.” (Reuters/ New Scientist OSLO, 9/10/03 via Agnet).

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