Under Construction. SOME EXCERPTS:

R. Miles Mendenhall February 24, 2001:
Various means of limiting the population of Sharpshooters, such as a parasitic wasp native to their original habitat, have been suggested. A barrier method of igneous clay exists which could protect the vine stalks.

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EPA pesticide regulations do not take into consideration potential chronic health effects from low-level exposures that do not cause immediate and obvious harm. Current regulations are based on acute health effects only. Many widely used pesticides are classified by the EPA as probable or possible causes of cancer in humans; many are known to cause damage to the brain, nervous, reproductive and immune systems in laboratory animals.

The scientific requirements for registering pesticides are in laws passed over two decades ago. Current regulations require only one chemical to be tested at a time. Low level exposure to a pesticide that does not cause obvious effects meets EPA approval requirements. This ignores potential combined effects from exposure to more than one chemical at a time. Current regulations do not consider exposure to vulnerable populations such as children and the immune compromised.

Most pesticides readily pass through the skin and can pass through the placenta and affect the developing fetus, which can have a profound effect at doses considered insignificant in an adult. There are almost no studies documenting when residue levels are actually "safe", especially for pregnant women, infants, children, the elderly.

(Most of the above info about pesticides came from material supplied by Dr. Marion Moses, of the Pesticide Education Center via Rosemarie MacDowell of the NSAN )

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It will be a hard struggle to prevent chemical trespass by public authorities, but it is not too hard to persuade the average person that nobody should be sprayed against their will with neurotoxins. And who would will it? If it takes hundreds, perhaps thousands of people lying down in front of spray trucks, or just thousands and thousands of letters to the authorities, there is not doubt in the minds of the activists in NSAN that enforced pesticide spraying must, can and will be prevented. Our health and civil liberties depend on it.

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Pesticide Education Center: http://www.igc.org/pesticides/about.html

There is abundant evidence of the risk toxic pesticides pose to human health. The most vulnerable populations are children, the developing fetus, the elderly, the ill and immunocompromised, and those with asthma, allergies, and other medical conditions. Most worrisome from a public health perspective are chronic health effects such as cancer, infertility, miscarriage, birth defects, and effects on the brain and nervous system.

Several recent studies show that children are at higher risk of cancer if their parents use pesticides in the home; recent studies also implicate pesticides in breast cancer. Community residents who do not use pesticides themselves are still at risk from exposure to drift from their neighbors' use, from state country or municipal use and agricultural or industrial applications.

Manufacturers' assurances that pesticides are safe if used according to directions, and that current laws and regulations provide adequate predictions have been proven time after time to be incorrect. Current laws do not protect workers or the public from long-term and chronic health effects from low-level exposures. Major spills, severe poisonings in workers, and deaths continue to occur even when all laws and regulations are followed.

Pesticide manufacturers, producers, major users, and regulators have a vested interest in preventing widespread dissemination of the health impacts of toxic pesticide use. The failure to fully disclose the potential long-term effects and consequences of toxic pesticide use in home, lawn, garden, school, and other community uses has profound public health implications.