Date: 16 February 2014
Source: United Nation Food and Agricultural Organisation, via Reuters
http://www.trust.org/item/20140217082828-nufyv/?source=hppartner
Scholarly article: http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/369/1639/20120277
Field schools that train farmers in alternative methods of pest control have succeeded in nearly eliminating the use of toxic pesticides by a community of cotton growers in Mali, according to a new FAO study published today by the London-based Royal Society. The study was conducted in two areas - the Bla region of southern Mali, where FAO established a field school program in 2003, and a second area, Bougouni, where the program was not yet active. While only 34 percent of all cotton-farmers in the area participated in the program, pesticide use on all of Bla's cotton farms - more than 4,300 households - dropped a staggering 92 percent. FAO's study further found that the move away from pesticide use had no negative impact on yields. The Bougouni area, where training has not yet taken place, saw no change in pesticide use over the same eight-year period. This suggests that knowledge of alternative methods in pest control was further disseminated by program participants to other farmers in the area, underscoring the potential of farmer field schools to act as catalysts for widespread practice change. Slashing their use of chemicals and shifting to alternative "biopesticides" like neem tree extract, growers in the Bla study group reduced their average individual production costs. (See box below for more on integrated pest management). By refraining from applying more than 47,000 liters of toxic pesticides, the farmers saved nearly half a million dollars over the study period. Training farmers in alternative methods of pest control proved to be three times more cost-effective than purchasing and using synthetic pesticides, according to FAO's analysis. More than 20,000 cotton farmers have been through field schools in Mali. "We must learn from farmers' experience. Pragmatic, field-based and farmer-centric education can and must play a key role in making agriculture stronger and more sustainable," said FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva. "At the end of the day, sustainable intensification will be the result of the collective action of millions of small farmers, who through their daily decisions determine the trajectory of agricultural ecosystems across the world." An important crop Cotton is the principal engine of economic development in Mali, where an estimated 4 million farmers grow the high-value crop, accounting for 8-9 percent of Mali's GDP and providing as much as 75 percent of the country's export earnings. Usage of pesticides in Malian cotton doubled between 1995 and 2001, but yields nonetheless fell due to increasing resistance among pests. New tools for monitoring risks Two related studies from the same FAO project also published today by the Royal Society - authored by Oregon State University (OSU) scientists together with researchers in West Africa and at various institutions, including FAO - reveal the extent to which pesticide use in West Africa poses risks to human health and environment. One of these studies, conducted in 19 different communities in five West African countries, used state-of-the-art risk assessment models to provide the first detailed analysis of pesticide risks for this region. The results highlight a number of specific pesticides that pose widespread and significant threats to human health and terrestrial and aquatic wildlife throughout the region. The study also found that farmer workers and family members, including children are routinely exposed to high concentrations of toxic pesticides such as methamidophos and dimethoate, in the crops where they work. Protective clothing that reduces pesticide exposure is largely unknown in West Africa, and reports of ill health, hospitalization and death due to chemical exposure by farm workers are not uncommon. Lead author Paul Jepson of the Integrated Plant Protection Center at OSU states "we were shocked to find such widespread use of highly toxic organophosphate pesticides, but by carefully studying and quantifying their use, we provide a basis for much needed action by policy makers, researchers and educators." The authors suggest that a three-pronged approach to pesticide risk management, including monitoring systems to enable science-based decision-making, functional regulatory systems and effective farmer education programs. The third study from the FAO project reports on the first use in the region of passive sampling devices (PSDs), developed by Oregon State University, which are technologically simple tools that sequester and concentrate a wide variety of pesticides and other chemicals found in the environment. The tool is a major advancement for monitoring pollution in remote areas of less developed regions. PSD samples were deployed and then simultaneously analyzed in African and U.S. laboratories, as a proof of this concept. This opens the possibility for widespread analysis of pesticides in West African surface waters. All three papers appearing today in the Royal Society journal were co-financed by a six-country regional project, financed by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) through the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and executed by FAO, Reducing Dependence on Persistent Organic Pollutants and other Agro-Chemicals in the Senegal and Niger River Basins through Integrated Production, Pest and Pollution Management. According to William Settle, who coordinates the FAO project in Mali: "This effort has facilitated a partnership between scientists around the globe and West African counterparts - the results are striking, and have the potential to transform the conversation about pesticide risks and sustainable crop management in this ecologically fragile region." FAO undertakes its work on pesticide management in West Africa through close working partnerships with governments in the region as well as organizations such as the CERES Locustox Laboratory and ENDA-Pronat group in Senegal and Oregon State University's Integrated Plant Protection Center. Financing for the FAO programme been provided by the European Union, the Government of the Netherlands, and a GEF/UNEP grant.
Farmer Field Schools and integrated pest managementFAO's West African Regional Integrated Production and Pest Management Programme (IPPM), established in 2001, is currently active in seven countries in West Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal. Approximately 30 countries in sub-Saharan Africa have employed a field-school approach and 90 countries world-wide. Using a "farmer field school" (FSS) approach, the program engages with farming communities to introduce discovery-based methods for field testing, adapting, and then adopting improved farming practices. IPPM consists of environmental-friendly approaches to tackling pest problems, such as introducing beneficial predator insects, using natural biopesticides, or adopting cropping practices that ensure that plants are healthy and resistant when pest attacks are mostly likely to occur.In most places, the approach is relatively simple to adopt using locally available materials. It relies heavily on prevention, and on farmers prioritizing early detection of problems and knowing their response options. To date the FAO-IPPM program has trained approximately 180,000 farmers in West Africa and more than 2,000 trainers from government extension, cotton companies, farmer organizations and NGOs. The programme is expanding to new countries in the region.
Title: Prenatal Exposure to Organophosphate Pesticides and Neurobehavioral Development of Neonates: A Birth Cohort Study in Shenyang, China
Authors: Y. Zhang, S. Han, D. Liang, X. Shi, F. Wang, W. Liu, L. Zhang, L. Chen, Y.Gu and Y. Tian
Source: PLOS One, published online, 2014
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0088491#pone-0088491-g001
Background: A large amount of organophosphate pesticides (OPs) are used in agriculture in China every year, contributing to exposure of OPs through dietary consumption among the general population. However, the level of exposure to OPs in China is still uncertain.
Objective: To investigate the effect of the exposure to OPs on the neonatal neurodevelopment during pregnancy in Shenyang, China.
Methods: 249 pregnant women enrolled in the Central Hospital Affiliated to Shenyang Medical College from February 2011 to August 2012. A cohort of the mothers and their neonates participated in the study and information on each subject was obtained by questionnaire. Dialkyl phosphate (DAP) metabolites were detected in the urine of mothers during pregnancy to evaluate the exposure level to OPs. Neonate neurobehavioral developmental levels were assessed according to the standards of the Neonatal Behavioral Neurological Assessment (NBNA). Multiple linear regressions were utilized to analyze the association between pregnancy exposure to OPs and neonatal neurobehavioral development.
Results: The geometric means (GM) of urinary metabolites for dimethyl phosphate (DMP), dimethyl thiophosphate (DMTP), diethyl phosphate (DEP), and diethyl thiophosphate (DETP) in pregnant women were 18.03, 8.53, 7.14, and 5.64 µg/L, respectively. Results from multiple linear regressions showed that prenatal OP exposure was one of the most important factors affecting NBNA scores. Prenatal total DAP concentrations were inversely associated with scores on the NBNA scales.?Additionally, a 10-fold increase in DAP concentrations was associated with a decrease of 1.78 regarding the Summary NBNA (95% CI, −2.12 to −1.45). And there was an estimated 2.11-point difference in summary NBNA scores between neonates in the highest quintile of prenatal OP exposure and the lowest quintile group.
Conclusion: The high exposure of pregnant women to OPs in Shenyang, China was the predominant risk factor for neonatal neurobehavioral development.
Title: The ChimERA project: coupling mechanistic exposure and effect models into an integrated platform for ecological risk assessment
Authors: F. De Laender, P.J. van den Brink, C.R. Janssen and A. Di Guardo
Source: Environmental Science and Pollution Research, published online, 2014
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11356-014-2605-5/fulltext.html
Current techniques for the ecological risk assessment of chemical substances are often criticised for their lack of environmental realism, ecological relevance and methodological accuracy. ChimERA is a 3-year project (2013–2016), funded by Cefic’s Long Range Initiative (LRI) that aims to address some of these concerns by developing and testing mechanistic fate and effect models, and coupling of these models into one integrated platform for risk assessment. This paper discusses the backdrop against which this project was initiated and lists its objectives and planned methodology.
Title: An exposure-based framework for grouping pollutants for a cumulative risk assessment approach: Case study of indoor semi-volatile organic compounds
Authors: K. Fournier, P. Glorennec and N. Bonvallot
Source: Environmental Research, Vol. 140, 2014
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935114000115
Humans are exposed to a large number of contaminants, many of which may have similar health effects. This paper presents a framework for identifying pollutants to be included in a cumulative risk assessment approach. To account for the possibility of simultaneous exposure to chemicals with common toxic modes of action, the first step of the traditional risk assessment process, i.e. hazard identification, is structured in three sub-steps: (1a) Identification of pollutants people are exposed to, (1b) identification of effects and mechanisms of action of these pollutants, (1c) grouping of pollutants according to similarity of their mechanism of action and health effects. Based on this exposure-based grouping we can derive “multi-pollutant” toxicity reference values, in the “dose–response assessment” step. The approach proposed in this work is original in that it is based on real exposures instead of a limited number of pollutants from a unique chemical family, as traditionally performed. This framework is illustrated by the case study of semi-volatile organic compounds in French dwellings, providing insights into practical considerations regarding the accuracy of the available toxicological information. This case study illustrates the value of the exposure-based approach as opposed to the traditional cumulative framework, in which chemicals with similar health effects were not always included in the same chemical class.
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