Title: Toxic Pesticide Banned after Decades of Use - Scientific American
Headings: Toxic Pesticide Banned after Decades of Use
Toxic Pesticide Banned after Decades of Use
Content: “For nearly 40 years, Temik has provided farmers with unsurpassed control of destructive pests, without compromising human health or environmental safety,” Bill Buckner, president and CEO of Bayer CropScience, said in a statement Tuesday. While it is known that high exposure can cause vomiting, diarrhea and neurotoxic effects, the potential for chronic health effects from low exposure remains poorly understood. It is not carcinogenic, although researchers found a high rate of colon cancer in pesticide applicators exposed to high levels. Its use has steeply declined in the U.S. over the past couple of decades, particularly on food crops. It is currently legal to use only on citrus, potatoes, dry beans, peanuts, soybeans, sweet potatoes, sugar beets and cotton. Its main use is to kill mites and nematodes on cotton, potatoes and citrus. In 2008, about 75,000 pounds were applied to California crops – almost entirely cotton - compared with more than half a million pounds in 1998, according to state Department of Pesticide Regulation data. Union Carbide was the sole manufacturer of aldicarb until 1987. Its plant in Bhopal, India, was making aldicarb when a pesticide called methyl isocyanate leaked, killing several thousand people in 1984. Aldicarb already has been banned in Europe, although it is still used, and perhaps manufactured, in other countries.