farmer in a field spraying pesticides or herbicides

Double Whammy

NEW STUDY

New study links cardiovascular disease to a commonly used pesticide sprayed on various fruits and vegetables, including strawberries. | New study links cardiovascular disease to a commonly used pesticide sprayed on various fruits and vegetables, including strawberries. | Read the Full Article

Two new reports related to pesticide use in the U.S. caught our eye this week. 

The first is an analysis released by the Center for Biological Diversity reveals how the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—which really ought to be renamed the U.S. Chemical Industry Protection Agency—is on a roll when it comes to greenlighting new, and potentially dangerous, chemicals. 

According to the analysis, from 2017-2018, the EPA approved 69 new pesticide products containing an ingredient the EPA recognizes as a “known” or “likely” carcinogen.

The other study, out of the University of Iowa College of Public Health, suggests that people who have high levels of exposure to pyrethroid insecticides are three times more likely to die of cardiovascular disease than people with low or no exposure. Pyrethroid insecticides are used on some vegetables and fruits, including strawberries.

University of Iowa researchers said their study included adults who never worked in agriculture, which means that the findings have “relevance for the general public.”

If only our government regulatory agencies found this, and other studies like it, “relevant.”

Read: ‘New Report Details How EPA Is Promoting ‘Worst of the Worst’ Pesticides

Read: ‘UI Study Finds Potential Link Between Cardiovascular Death and Some Types of Pesticides’