EcoHealth News
From "Maple Street Co-op News", Dec 2005/Jan 2006

Chlorpyrifos: a popular poison

A scientific study published in Environmental Health Perspectives (October 2005) has demonstrated a link between exposure to the pesticide chlorpyrifos and the diseases of type-2 diabetes mellitus and atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries that can lead to heart disease and stroke, etc.).

It found that a few days of exposure to chlorpyrifos at very low levels (previously considered "safe") in newborn rats alters cell signalling both in the brain and in peripheral tissues, affecting the responses to a variety of neurotransmitters and hormones.

Neurotransmitters regulate the nervous system, and hormones regulate nearly every function in living organisms. The study showed that a low-level single exposure in the newborn rats resulted in the chronic health problems of diabetes and atherosclerosis in the adult males.

Chlorpyrifos, an organophosphate, is widely used in Australia for household and agricultural purposes. It belongs to a group of pesticides developed as nerve poisons: they interfere with enzymes that allow nerves to function.

The USA has recently restricted most household and some agricultural uses of this poison because of studies showing that it damages the developing nervous system of the unborn and children.

This study adds to the growing literature on the chronic health problems that can occur with exposure to this pesticide at levels much lower than those permitted by regulatory authorities.

Source: OFA Update, 3 November 2005


[From "Maple Street Co-op News", August/September 2005; published by The Maple Street Co-operative Society Ltd, 37 Maple Street, Maleny, Qld 4552, Australia, tel (07) 5494 2088, email maplest.coop@serv.net.au,
website http://www.maplestreetco-op.com.au]