AVOIDABLE RISK: PESTICIDE USE AND PATTERNS IN WESTCHESTER COUNTY FOR 1999

January 2003, data from 1999

In 1996, New York State enacted the Pesticide Reporting Law in order to gather data on the amount, location, and types of pesticides applied in the state by commercial applicators and sold to farmers.¹ Environmental Advocates of New York and NYPIRG have released two previous analyses of the data for Westchester County for the reporting years 1997 and 1998.2 This fact sheet summarizes the data for the third year of the program — 1999. Examining the 1999 data once again illuminates the patterns and nature of risk Westchester County residents face from the use of toxic chemicals for pest control. Understanding these risks is the first step in reducing them.³
 

Major Findings

Westchester was once again among the counties with the highest pesticide use, ranking third in the state by pounds and fifth by gallons; Virtually all pesticide use in Westchester County is commercial application, with only small amounts of sales to farmers; Among the top pesticides used in Westchester County in 1999 was chlorpyrifos (known by its trade name Dursban®), a neurotoxic insecticide that has since been banned by the EPA for most residential uses because of its human health risks; Pesticides sprayed to control the spread of West Nile virus in 1999, the first year of the outbreak, accounted for less than 1% of the total pesticides used in the county that year.

DISCUSSION
Overall Pesticide Use: The total amount of pesticides reported for 1999 in Westchester County was 182,107 gallons and 1,905,561 pounds, making Westchester the 5th highest county in the state by gallons and the third by pounds in 1999. These figures represent a middle ground between the amount of gallons reported in 1998 and 1997, and a steadily rising amount of pounds (see Table 1). Virtually all of the pesticides reported in Westchester County are commercial applications, with only relatively small amounts sold to farmers.

Three years of data are not enough on which to base any conclusions about trends. Pest control needs and responses are highly variable, depending on such factors as the weather, for example. But three years is enough to determine that pesticide use in Westchester County is consistently among the highest in the state – constituting 6% of the state’s total reported pesticides by gallons, and 8% of the pounds despite the fact that the county occupies less than 1% of the state’s geographic area.

Top Pesticides Reported: The most heavily used pesticides reported in Westchester County in 1999 were once again an array of some of the most dangerous available. Among the top ten were:

• Chlorpyrifos: Known by its trade name, Dursban^®, chlorpyrifos is a highly neurotoxic organophosphate insecticide, so dangerous it is now banned for virtually all residential use due to both its risk of acute poisoning and concerns that it may also cause developmental damage to fetuses and infants. Because these data were collected prior to the EPA-mandated phase-out, however, chlorpyrifos is still at the top of the list in 1999 in Westchester County.



• PCNB: a fungicide classified as a possible human carcinogen by EPA, PCNB has been associated with liver damage and developmental toxicity in toxicological studies.⁴ The half-life of PCNB – meaning the time it takes for half of the pesticide to break down – is highly dependent on soil and weather conditions and has been recorded as anywhere from three weeks to more than a year. Some of its toxic breakdown products (including hexachlorobenzene) persist for 2-3 years.⁵



• Carbaryl: Like all carbamate insecticides, carbaryl (the active ingredient in the insecticide Sevin®) is a nervous system toxin. Carbaryl is also classified as a possible human carcinogen by EPA and has been linked to sperm abnormalities⁶ and developmental disorders.⁷



• Pyrethroid insecticides: Cyhalothrin and bifenthrin, like all pyrethroid insecticides, are neurotoxins. Although of lower acute toxicity when compared to organophosphates and carbamates as a class, poisoning does occur.⁸ Pyrethroids are more commonly associated in the medical literature with a range of chronic effects. There are indications that pyrethroids may interfere with the immune⁹ and endocrine systems.¹⁰ In addition, pyrethroids are synthetic analogs of another class of pesticides –pyrethrins – which can cause allergic and asthmatic reactions,¹¹ raising the specter that such reactions may be possible for pyrethroids as well. All pyrethroids are extremely toxic to beneficial insects, including bees, and aquatic organisms.¹²



• Dinitroaniline herbicides: This family of chemicals includes pendimethalin, benfluralin and trifluralin. Pendimethalin and trifluralin are classified as possible human carcinogens by EPA (benfluralin has not yet been classified for carcinogenicity). Some toxicological studies have shown that pendimethalin and trifluralin may be reproductive toxins.¹³

In addition to the toxicity of the individual pesticides, the type of products used posed another level of risk. Six of the top ten pesticides reported by pounds were products that combine fertilizer with pesticides. The use of such combinations means that applications are not necessarily occurring in response to a documented pest problem, but as a routine part of lawn maintenance and, more than likely, on a set schedule. By applying pesticides in this manner, as part of a fertilizer product that blankets an entire property, overuse is virtually assured and minimization techniques such as spot treatments do not occur. The consistently rising level of pounds reported in Westchester County from 1997 through 1999 point to this as an increasing problem.

Mosquito Control for West Nile: 1999 was the first year of the West Nile virus outbreak that prompted Westchester, along with New York City and other counties in the metropolitan area, to spray for mosquito control. The pesticide deployed for this purpose in Westchester County (some jurisdictions chose other products) was Anvil®, which contained the active ingredient D-phenothrin – an insecticide in the pyrethroid family of chemicals. In 1999, 1579 gallons of this product were used in Westchester County, less than 1% of the total amount of gallons used in the county that year.

The fact that the amount of mosquito control pesticide was small relative to the overall amount of pesticides used in Westchester County is not a reason to dismiss concerns about spraying for West Nile virus control. Questions about the exposure risk and efficacy of deploying pesticides in urban and suburban settings require a separate and full discussion of their own. But these figures do underscore the serious nature of routine pesticide use in Westchester County which is so often for purely aesthetic purposes, and for which there are readily available alternatives. Too often, routine risks become invisible simply because of their daily nature. The low ratio of mosquito control pesticides to overall pesticide use is a reason to focus heightened attention on routine pesticide use, not to disregard concerns about West Nile virus control.

Security Risks: In the immediate wake of 9/11, crop dusters were temporarily grounded, FBI-generated lists of particularly hazardous pesticides were removed from the internet, and repeated security warnings were issued to people storing pesticides. Many of the pesticides used in Westchester County are nerve poisons, with all the potential hazards that entails. Beyond the daily risks incurred from the use of such pesticides, we have become newly aware that there are other inherent risks in having large amounts of dangerous chemicals stored, transported, and applied in dense urban and suburban neighborhoods, or near sensitive areas. Any risk that is unnecessary should be eliminated. With a multiplicity of alternatives, eliminating pesticide use is a feasible way to increase our safety on both a daily basis and under extraordinary circumstances.

RECOMMENDATIONS
Westchester County is a leader with regard to progressive public policy on pesticide use – having adopted the Pesticide Neighbor Notification Law and a phase-out of pesticide use on county-owned property. These policies have a tangible benefit to Westchester County residents and are exemplary for the rest of the state, although their impact will not begin to be measurable until data for the year 2001 are released. As good as they are, these policies do not extend to the private sector. While the county and many of its municipalities have invested in strong public education programs to reduce pesticide use, the state government alone has authority to mandate changes in pesticide use by individuals and non-municipal institutions and businesses. The next round of pesticide use reform in Westchester County must engage state policy makers to enact more progressive legislation, at the same time as it works to see change on a personal level.

• BAN THE AESTHETIC USE OF PESTICIDES: Westchester residents and policymakers should push their state legislators to enact a ban on the aesthetic use of pesticides, such as lawn care. The marketing boom in lawn care pesticides has manufactured its own new chemical aesthetic, creating a source of risk where there was none before. There are no negative public health repercussions, and everything to gain, by entirely eliminating this gratuitous source of risk. State legislation to ban aesthetic use of pesticides has been introduced by Assemblyman Thomas P. DiNapoli and Senator Kenneth LaValle, and we have a glowing example in our neighbor to the north, Quebec Province, which recently enacted such a policy province-wide after several of its smaller municipalities had done so. Westchester County and the Town of Greenburgh are phasing out pesticide use on their own municipal property. Their example can be used to spur more comprehensive action at the state level.



• ENACT MORE MUNICIPAL PESTICIDE PHASE-OUTS: More municipalities can join Westchester County and the Town of Greenburgh (as well as many other municipalities across North America) in adopting pesticide policies to phase-out pesticide use on municipal property.



• WORK TO CHANGE THE MARKET: Citizens can engage in grassroots efforts to educate neighbors, display pesticide-free signs on their lawns, and ask garden supply stores to stock non-chemical or least-toxic pest management tools. It is time-consuming and slower-going than addressing pesticides solely at a policy level, but changing personal behavior, and the market for pesticides, is essential to decreasing risk. There are many local organizations and individuals in Westchester County already engaged in this effort, including the League of Women Voters, the Federated Conservationists of Westchester County, and Westchester SAFE.



• WORK TO IMPLEMENT ALTERNATIVES IN SCHOOLS: Parents and staff who receive notice of pesticide use in schools as a result of the 2000 Pesticide Neighbor Notification Law, should follow up with school officials to seek safer ways of managing pests that do not expose children to toxic chemicals.

CONCLUSION
Pesticide use in Westchester County remains rampant, consistently ranking among the top ten counties in the state for amount used. But since 1999, the groundwork for significant progress has been laid by the adoption of pesticide phase-out policies, implementation of public education programs, and enactment of the Neighbor Notification Law. Now county policy makers and residents need to push state policymakers to the next level – to assume responsibility for addressing pesticide risks due to personal use — and to push their neighbors to think about their health and the health of everyone around them, when making choices for their property.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENS
Environmental Advocates of New York and NYPIRG gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Westchester Community Foundation, The New York Community Trust, the W.Alton Jones Foundation, the Bauman Foundation, the Norcross Wildlife Foundation, the Wellspring Foundation, and Dr. Lucy Waletzky. The opinions expressed in this report are solely those of our organizations and do not necessarily reflect the views of any funder or individual acknowledged here.


ENDNOTES
¹ 1 Commercial applicators submit a detailed report on their pesticide application annually to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) . Pesticide use by farmers is assessed indirectly from reports filed with DEC by sellers of pesticides. Details of the reporting requirements can be found at http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dshm/pesticid/prl.htm. The pesticide data reports themselves can be found at: http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/psur.
² Thier, A. 2000. The Toxic Treadmill. Environmental Advocates and NYPIRG. Albany, New York. Thier, A., J. Enck, and C. Klossner. 1998. Plagued by Pesticides. Environmental Advocates and NYPIRG. Albany, New York.
³ For a full discussion of the methodology used to analyze the pesticide data, please visit the Environmental Advocates website (methodology).
⁴ Extoxnet. 1996. Quintozene, PCNB; Pesticide Information Profile. http://ace.orst.edu/cgi-bin/mfs/01/pips/quintoze.htm.
⁵ Ibid.
⁶ Wyrobek, A.J. et al. 1981. Sperm Shape Abnormalities in Carbaryl-Exposed Employees. Environmental Health Perspectives. 40:255-265.
⁷ New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services. 1996. Carbaryl: Hazardous Substance Fact Sheet. New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services. Trenton, New Jersey.
⁸ Reigart, J.R. and J.R. Roberts. 1999. Recognition and Management of Pesticide Poisonings. Fifth Edition. United States Environmental Protection Agency. EPA 735-R-98-003. Washington D.C. see also O’Malley, M. 1997. Clinical evaluation of pesticide exposure and poisonings. Lancet. 349:1161-1166. see also Muller-Mohnssen. 1999. Chronic sequelae and irreversible injuries following acute pyrethroid intoxication. Toxicology Letters. 107:161-175.
⁹ Diel, F. et al. 1999. Pyrethroids and piperonyl-butoxide affect human T-lymphocytes in vitro. Toxicology Letters. 107:65-74. see also Stiller-Winkler, R. et al. 1999. Immunological parameters in humans exposed to pesticides in the agricultural environment. Toxicology Letters. 107:219-224.
¹⁰ Go, V. et al. 1999. Estrogenic Potential of Certain Pyrethroid Compounds in the MCF-7 Human Breast Carcinoma Cell Line. Environmental Health Perspectives. 107(3):173-177. see also Eil, C. and B.C. Nisula. 1990. The Binding Properties of Pyrethroids to Human Skin Fibroblast Androgen Receptors and to Sex Hormone Binding Globulin. Journal of Steroid Biochemistry. 35(3/4):409-414.
¹¹ See Reigart and Roberts note 8 above.
¹² Kegley, S. et al. 1999. Disturbing the Balance: Ecological Impacts of Pesticides in California. Californians for Pesticide Reform. San Francisco. see also Extoxnet. 1996. Cypermethrin; Pesticide Information Profile. http://ace.orst.edu/info/extoxnet/pips/cypermet.htm. see also Extoxnet. 1996. Cyfluthrin; Pesticide Information Profile. http://ace.orst.edu/info/extoxnet/pips/triflura.htm. see also Extoxnet. 1996. Pesticide Information Profiles: Pendimethalin. http://ace.orst.edu/info/extoxnet/pips/pendimet.htm.

© January 2003, Environmental Advocates of New York and New York Public Interest Research Group Fund

Statewide Report | New York City