The European Union will soon ban a suspected carcinogenic fungicide which remains in use in Canada today. Ottawa remains silent.

by Larry Powell

The European Food Safety Agency (EFSA), a branch of the European Union, has declared that chlorothalonil "may cause cancer in humans." Several of the agency's findings were based on tests with lab rats. But it obviously believes their metabolisms are sufficiently similar to ours, to place chlorothalonil in "carcinogenicity category 1B - may cause cancer in humans."                                                     Chlorothalonil is the active ingredient in several agricultural fungicides used to treat mildew, blight and mold in many crops.     According to the newspaper, The Guardian, it is the most widely-used pesticide in all of the UK and the the most popular fungicide in the U.S. It's been used, worldwide, since the '60s.

A project based at Simon Fraser University, BC,  CAREX, reports that 581 tonnes of  chlorothalonil were sold in that province alone in 2010 - 1,121 tonnes in Ontario in 2008. No figures are given for usage in other provinces. CAREX (short for CARcinogen Exposure) is made up of experts dedicated to informing Canadians about dangers they face from cancerous substances. But the group also sounds alarms similar to those now raised in Europe. "Chlorothalonil is associated with cancer of the kidney and stomach."  While Statistics Canada does not give a breakdown of active ingredients, the federal agency says almost one in four (23%) of all crop farms in this country applied fungicides of one kind or another in 2011. And it adds, farmers in Manitoba used fungicides "more frequently than those in any other province." Here's what the European study finds:  ·      Chlorothalonil binds to red blood cells, delaying its removal from the body.  ·      It is very toxic if inhaled and can cause serious damage to the eyes and skin.  ·      It mainly attacks the kidneys and forstomach, producing both benign and malignant tumours.  ·      The treated lab animals were slow to mature sexually and gave birth to underweight young. ·      It produces acute risks to amphibians and long-lasting damage to fish.                                           .      It could pose a hazard to groundwater, especially when it exceeds allowable standards. ·      But there was too little information to determine whether it harms wild mammals, aquatic species other than fish, or bees. (Earlier research, however, has linked it to diminishing numbers of bumblebees, as well.)                                                                                                            The study was peer-reviewed by experts in the field. The Agency's conclusion was strikingly similar to one by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2015. That's when the WHO ruled that glyphosate, the active ingredient in the world's most popular weedkiller, Roundup, "probably causes cancer in humans."  The European Union is expected to ban chlorthalonil in a month or so.  Canadian regulators take a dramatically different approach.

Less than a year ago, Canada's Pesticide Management Regulatory Agency, PMRA - a division of Health Canada - released results of its "re-evaluation" of chlorothalonil.  The agency did impose some restrictions, including its use on cut flowers grown in greenhouses. But its main finding was: "Most uses...meet current standards for protection of human health or the environment. It’s continued registration is acceptable."  In Canada, the fungicide is sold under brand names such as "Daconil" and "Bravo." It's offered as a treatment for a host of diseases in crops, including corn and soybeans. It's made and sold by such chemical giants as Syngenta.  At this writing, it has now been well over three weeks since I emailed the PMRA for a response. I have not heard back. -30-

If you're a farmer who generously applies certain pesticides to your crops - losing your sense of smell has just taken on a whole new meaning. It could foreshadow health problems down the road.

Decades of research - recently published - has found a significant link between a chronic loss of smell (olfactory impairment or "OI") among American farmers, and their high exposure to certain chemicals they applied to their fields. Far from being a minor ailment, "OI" has long been identified as one of the earliest and most important symptoms of several neurological diseases, including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

by Larry Powell

The human "olfactory" system governs 
our sense of smell. Image - public domain.

Beginning in the '90s, a team of US scientists surveyed more than 11 thousand farmers from Iowa and North Carolina. They were asked about their experiences with farm chemicals during their lifetimes.

In 2015, there was a follow-up survey. Almost 12 hundred (10.6%) reported they had either lost, or significantly lost, their sense of smell. And those who reported incidents of unusually high exposure to pesticides during that time, were almost 50% more likely to report the symptom than those who did not. These mishaps are identified in the research as "High Pesticide Exposure Events" or "HPEEs." In them, the farmers either accidentally swallowed, inhaled or spilled the pesticides on their skin.

And those who did not wash thoroughly with soap and water within four hours of exposure, stood a greater chance of developing "OI". In other words, those who washed quickly likely helped reduce their harmful effects.

The pesticides named in the analysis include DDT, an insecticide no longer used in North America. The researchers believe the older farmers reporting symptoms were exposed to it, even before it was banned back in the '60s. DDT and the other insecticide named, lindane, are persistent and can still be found in food, the environment and even human tissue. They belong to a family known as organochlorines. Even before this latest research,  organochlorines had been associated with both Parkinson's and dementia.

Four other pesticides are also implicated. They include 2,4-D, a popular weedkiller still in use. 

Honglei Chen, MD, PhD, professor
of epidemiology, Michigan State U. 

In an e-mail to "Planet in Peril," the lead author of the study, Honglei Chen (l.) further explains, "Poor sense of smell predicts higher mortality and risk for neurodegenerative diseases after accounting for other risk factors such as age, sex, smoking and health status."




The report concludes: "To the best of our knowledge, our study provides the first empirical evidence that acute high exposure to pesticides may lead to poor sense of smell among older farmers."

A ground sprayer in Canada, where farming methods, including
heavy inputs of chemical pesticides, closely 
resemble those in the US. A PinP photo.

The research was conducted by nine US experts. They represented groups including the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute. Their report was published in January in the journal, "Environmental Health Perspectives."  It calls for more studies to further explore the issue.

"OI" also affects us in other ways few might imagine. 

Even certain accidents can be attributed to a loss of smell. For example, if you can't smell properly, you may be unable to detect stove fires due to burning pots or pans, gas leaks, food gone bad or toxic substances in time to avoid an accident. Even weight gain has been shown to be highest among those with "OI." And among women age 45 to 60 years who were tested, an ability to smell well "significantly improved" their tension, depression and confusion levels. And pesticides may even be responsible for a loss of smell among honeybees, disrupting their ability to find pollen and nectar.  

-30-
RELATED: "Research suggests our past, prolific use of the insecticide DDT may still be contributing to a scourge of modern-day diseases related to obesity. Is a worldwide ban now the only ethical thing to do?" by Larry Powell

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