cancer

October 25, 2023

Glyphosate cancer findings of “extreme concern” as Europe weighs reauthorization of pesticide

By Carey Gillam

European researchers have found new evidence linking popular weed killing products to cancer at levels currently considered safe.

The study focused on glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup herbicide and other brands, and is the latest of a series of studies examining the safety of the world’s most widely used weed-killing chemical.

Notably, the work comes as the European Union is wrestling over whether or not to keep glyphosate products on the market after the current approval expires in December.

The research has not yet been peer reviewed, but was presented Wednesday at an international scientific conference.

“We felt an urgency to present this data, and provide it to policy makers and the public,” said Daniele Mandrioli, director of the Ramazzini Institute in Bologna, Italy, which is overseeing a multi-faceted research program investigating glyphosate impacts called the Global Glyphosate Study.

“This is of extreme concern. We couldn’t sit on this data,” Mandrioli said.

Glyphosate is so widely used that it is ubiquitous in the environment- commonly found in food, water and human urine samples.

October 11, 2023

Young brains appear at risk from exposure to popular weed killers

By Carey Gillam

Exposure to two widely used weed killers could be harming the brain function of young people, impacting their memory and learning abilities, according to a study published Wednesday.

The study looked specifically at glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup herbicide and scores of other brands, and also at 2,4-D – a long-used, weed killing chemical that has seen a surge in use in recent years and has increasingly been combined with glyphosate to kill tenacious weeds.

Concerns about impaired brain function were associated with both chemicals, particularly with 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), according to the study, which was led by researchers at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at University of California San Diego and published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

“This herbicide (2,4-D) has gone mostly under the radar and more studies aimed at understanding the health effect of herbicide exposures are needed,” said Jose Ricardo Suarez, director of the Climate and Environmental Health Research Program at the University of California San Diego.

“This builds on the growing knowledge that not just insecticides – pesticides that are designed to be neurotoxins – can affect brain processes,” Suarez said. The study showed that as herbicide exposures increased, neurobehavioral performance decreased, he said.

The researchers analyzed urine samples taken from 519 young people ages 11-17 who lived in farming communities in Ecuador where herbicides and other pesticides were sprayed. They then assessed the neurobehavioral performance of the youth, testing them on their attention/inhibitory control, memory/learning, language, visuospatial processing, and social perception.

Glyphosate was detected in the urine of 98.3% of the study participants and 2,4-D in 66.2%. Glyphosate was associated with problems with social perception, while 2,4-D was associated with attention/inhibition, language and memory/learning skills.

September 26, 2023

PFAS posing threat to wildlife, scientists say

Wildlife exposure to per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) poses added added threats to species already struggling to adapt to habitat loss and harmful climate change, a new paper warns.

In a discussion paper published Tuesday in Science of the Total Environment, scientists wrote that there is enough evidence of the toxicity of persistent chemicals such as PFAS in humans to cause substantial concern about the same chemicals’ impacts on wildlife. Considering toxic chemicals’ health harms to wildlife is especially important, they write, as multiple pressures cause steep drops in biodiversity worldwide.

“There’s an incredible body of scientific evidence linking PFAS to health harms in humans, and this should really serve as an indicator of the potential health harms that may be occurring in wildlife globally,” said David Andrews, a co-author on the paper and a senior scientist at the Environmental Working Group (EWG), an environmental advocacy group.

PFAS are commonly used for their stain- and water-resistant properties and have been used for years as a common ingredient in firefighting foam and many household products. Almost all US residents have PFAS in their blood, and the chemicals contaminate water systems serving millions of people nationwide. PFAS are abundant in the natural environment, as well: According to one analysis by the Waterkeeper Alliance, over 80% of natural waterways are contaminated with the chemicals.

Toxic across taxa
There are thousands of types of PFAS, and scientists have found evidence that many can impair the immune system and spur developmental and reproductive problems, as well as cause thyroid and hormone disorders, liver problems, cancers, and nervous system effects.

“What we know [about health harms] in humans indicates that this is a threat to wildlife species globally,” said Andrews.

September 19, 2023

Use of “green” cleaning products may improve indoor air quality, study says

Consumers can slash their exposure to certain types of indoor air pollution by using “green” labeled cleaning products, according to new research.

In a study published this month in the journal Chemosphere, researchers detected nearly 200 hazardous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) present in common household cleaning products — some at levels that could pose a risk to human health. Products that were labeled “green” or “fragrance-free” were less likely to contain VOCs, they found.

Many VOCs have both immediate health impacts, such as eye or throat irritation, and long-term impacts, such as nervous system damage or cancer.

“This study is a wake-up call for consumers, researchers and regulators to be more aware of the potential risks associated with the numerous chemicals entering our indoor air,” said Alexis Temkin, an author of the study and senior toxicologist at the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a research and consumer advocacy organization.

September 18, 2023

Certain common chemicals associated with higher odds of cancer in women

By Carey Gillam

Women exposed to several widely used chemicals appear to face increased odds for ovarian and other certain types of cancers, including a doubling of odds for melanoma, according to new research funded by the US government.

Using data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a team of academic researchers found evidence that women diagnosed with some “hormonally-driven” cancers had exposures to certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are used in thousands of household and industrial products, including in stain- and heat-resistant items.

They found similar links between women diagnosed with cancer and high exposures to phenols, which are commonly used in food packaging, dyes and personal care products.

The study, published late Sunday in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, did not find similar associations between the chemicals and cancer diagnoses in men.

PFAS chemicals, in particular, may disrupt hormone functions specific to women – a potential mechanism for increasing their odds of hormone-related cancers, the researchers determined. Hormonally active cancers are common and hard to cure, making deeper inquiry into potential environmental causes critical, the researchers said.

“People should care about this because we know that there is widespread human exposure to these chemicals and we have documented data on that,” said Max Aung, assistant professor of environmental health at USC Kreck School of Medicine and a senior author of the study.

“These chemicals can increase the risk of various different health outcomes and they can alter your biological pathways… that is important to know so that we can better prevent exposures and mitigate risks,” Aung said.

September 13, 2023

Could farm fertilizers be driving Corn Belt cancers?

By Keith Schneider

BERNE, Minn. – It was a hot afternoon in mid-July and 60-year-old Brian Bennerotte was making a pilgrimage of sorts, navigating a shotgun-straight, gravel road south of Minneapolis on a journey through a landscape stitched with crop and livestock farms as far as the eye can see.

Bennerotte is one of only three surviving members of a family who farmed for three generations along a mile-long stretch of County Road B. As a long-haul truck driver, Bennerotte rarely gets back here. But with a visitor at his side, he finds his way.

From the passenger seat of a rented vehicle he scans both sides of the road, then points to a dust-scoured barn leaning into the wind. The building is all that remains of his family’s farmstead, which once encompassed 200 acres and a home large enough for Bennerotte’s parents to raise five boys and a girl.

Down the road a bit further, he recognizes neighboring properties: There is the Glarner farm, and the Spreiter farm and the Serie farm. All are connected by circumstances of geography, topography, agriculture, and social commerce.

All are also joined by disease and death.

Among the four families who lived for decades along County Road B, 12 people developed cancer and seven died. Bennerotte was one of three people who developed lymphoma. The disease nearly killed him in 1983 when he was 20 years old. His father and three brothers would not survive their own bouts with cancer.

For some, County Road B has a different name: They call it Cancer Road.

“Every family along here was affected. Every one,” said Bennerotte.

September 12, 2023

Dealing with disease and death, a community fights PCB contamination

By Dana Drugmand

PITTSFIELD, Mass — For more than two decades, Nina McDermott was a fixture at Allendale Elementary School in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, teaching third grade to young students. Even after being diagnosed with breast cancer and then kidney cancer McDermott kept working, fighting for her life as well as her job – until it became clear that her battle to beat the disease could not be won.

McDermott’s death in February 2022 left behind a grieving husband and daughter and marked yet another tragic loss for a community already rocked by disease and death. Her family is among several that have recently filed a series of lawsuits attributing dire health problems to toxic chemical contamination that emanated for decades from a now shuttered General Electric (GE) plant.

Allendale Elementary was built in 1950 on a donated parcel of land near property where GE discarded waste materials generated by its manufacturing of electrical transformers and soil from the GE site was used to help fill in school grounds. The waste contained polychlorinated biphenyls, better known as PCBs, which were banned in 1979 in the US and are linked to an array of human health concerns, including leukemia and other cancers. The chemicals persist in the environment, posing an ongoing threat.

PCBs from the GE plant also “heavily” contaminated the Housatonic River and other areas around the community, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Regulators have been working with GE on a cleanup plan, but townspeople say it’s too little too late, and the plan may actually make things worse.

“They’re not telling everybody what’s going on, they’re not telling anybody how dangerous everything is,” said Jessica Sullivan, whose 11-year-old son is battling brain cancer. The boy, Justin Lowery, attended Allendale from Kindergarten through fifth grade and lived for several years with his family in an apartment close to the now-closed GE plant site.

After being diagnosed in 2020, Justin spent about three weeks at Boston Children’s Hospital to undergo a surgical procedure to remove a tumor engulfing his cerebellum.

The contamination of Pittsfield, a city of roughly 50,000 people in western Massachusetts’ Berkshire County, and the surrounding area has spurred a community uprising of sorts. This week back-to-back meetings are being held on Wednesday and Thursday to coordinate action on the PCB contamination concerns.

August 22, 2023

Wisconsin city sues PFAS manufacturers for contaminating water supply

By Grace van Deelen

A Wisconsin city filed a lawsuit on Monday against multiple manufacturers of toxic substances knowns as PFAS, claiming the chemical makers should be responsible for more than $20 million in expected costs to clean up PFAS-contaminated water supplies.

The legal action by the city of Eau Claire, Wisconsin adds to a rapidly expanding mass of US litigation that targets 3M, DuPont and other companies for allegedly knowingly contaminating the environment for decades with harmful per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

“The PFAS manufacturers, not the public, should be responsible for these costs,” Eau Claire city officials said in a statement. “These companies knew long ago that PFAS chemicals were harmful yet failed to warn the public or remove the product from the market, all the while profiting greatly from its continued sale.”

Costs for the city to mitigate PFAS-contaminated water have already exceeded $1 million, according to the city.

PFAS have been widely used for decades around the world in an array of industrial processes and consumer products for their thermal stability and stain- and water-repellent properties. They are present in pizza boxes, plastics, paints and thousands of other products. PFAS have also been widely used at military bases and airports.

Some types of PFAS have been linked to kidney and prostate cancer, liver dysfunction, high cholesterol, and reproductive problems, among other health problems.

August 20, 2023

Conflict of interest alleged in Roundup case in Monsanto’s home town

By Carey Gillam

Lawyers representing a man who blames his cancer on exposure to Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer are crying foul over what they say are close personal ties between a lead Monsanto lawyer and a special magistrate helping oversee the Roundup litigation.

In an Aug. 17 court filing, the plaintiffs’ attorneys asked for St. Louis County special master Robert Blitz to be disqualified from his role in the litigation because of an “appearance of impropriety” and questions about his impartiality.

A hearing on the matter is set for Tuesday.

There are dozens of plaintiffs named in the case, and all allege that exposure to Monsanto’s glyphosate-based Roundup herbicide caused them to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).

One of the plaintiffs, Mark McCostlin, of Lenexa, Kansas, is set to go to trial against Monsanto in St. Louis County Circuit Court in early September.

The motion alleges that Monsanto lead attorney James Bennett “has a close relationship” with special master Blitz. The two men worked together as co-counsel in a separate case, and Bennett also has personally acted as legal counsel for Blitz and for his law firm, according to the motion.

Additionally, the two men are “effectively economic partners” in a contingency fee case that brought their two law firms $276.5 million in fees, which they split, according to the motion.

“Their relationship creates a conflict of interest such that Blitz is not qualified to serve as special master in any case in which Bennett is trial counsel,” the motion states.

August 16, 2023

PFAS in firefighting foam linked to testicular cancer in new study

By Grace van Deelen

A study of over 1,000 Air Force servicemen shows that exposure to firefighting foam containing PFAS may be linked to a higher risk of developing testicular cancer.

The research, led by scientists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a federally funded research center, adds to a collection of scientific work investigating the links between certain kinds of PFAS and a range of human health harms.

The new study specifically looked at PFAS as an ingredient in aqueous film-forming foams (AFFFs) used on military bases, and analyzed PFAS exposures of Air Force servicemen who worked regularly with AFFF for years.

The findings may give new credence to mounting lawsuits from military veterans claiming PFAS exposure in firefighting foam made them sick while manufacturers hid the health risks. Thousands of other lawsuits are pending against PFAS manufacturers 3M and DuPont, among other companies, alleging they spread harmful PFAS throughout the environment despite knowing of risks to human health.

“We were still under the perception that firefighting foam was safe,” said Kevin Ferrara, a retired former Air Force firefighter who used AFFFs on a regular basis for 15 years during his military career. While Ferrara has never had testicular cancer, he suffers from other health issues he believes are linked to PFAS exposure. He says that no one ever told him or his colleagues that the firefighting foam might have posed a health risk, and they didn’t usually take extra precautions to avoid direct contact with the foam.

“Now we know the truth,” he said.