Post by Willow on Apr 6, 2004 10:11:29 GMT -5
Just thought some of you who talk to dog owners with kids might not have seen
some of these snippets from info on the safety of fiprinil - which is the
active ingredient of Frontline. Most of us on this list already don't use
chemicals but I find it hard to convince some parents who are afraid of Lyme for
their children and are considering "sacrificing" the health of the dog for the
children. So - this isn't concrete evidence but is food for thought if you are
looking for something to share with people learning about the dangers of
pesticides.
Snippets from a few sources:
One of its main degradation products, fipronil desulfinyl, is generally more
toxic than the parent compound and is very persistent. There is evidence that
fipronil and some of its degradates may bioaccumulate, particularly in fish.
Further investigation on bioaccumulation is warranted, especially for the
desulfinyl degradate.
However, as fipronil is a relatively new insecticide that has not been in use
for long enough to evaluate the risk it may pose to human health, from data
on human exposure to the product, a precautionary approach may be warranted.
The use of some fipronil-based products on domestic animals is not recommended
where handlers spend significant amounts of time grooming or handling treated
animals. In general, it would appear unwise to use fipronil-based insecticides
without accompanying environmental and human health monitoring, in situations,
regions, or countries where it has not been used before, and where its use
may lead to its introduction into the wider environment or bring it into contact
with people.
Fipronil - Acaracide, Insecticide - CAS No. 120068-37-3
Group C--Possible Human Carcinogen. Reviewed 7/ 18/ 95.
Ref: List of Chemicals Evaluated for Carcinogenic Potential. Science
Information Management Branch, Health Effects Division, Office of Pesticide Programs,
U. S. Environmental Protection Agency. March 15, 2002.
www.biomuncie.org/chemicals_evaluated_for_carcinog.htm
-- Carcinogenic classification and risk quantification. EPA has classified
this chemical as a Group C--Possible Human Carcinogen, based on increases in
thyroid follicular-cell tumors in both sexes of the rat, which were statistically
significant by both pair-wise and trend analyses. EPA has used the RfD
methodology to estimate human risk because the thyroid tumors are due to a
disruption in the thyroid-pituitary status. There was no apparent concern for
mutagenicity.
Ref: Federal Register: July 17, 1998. Fipronil; Pesticide Tolerance. Final
Rule.
www.fluoridealert.org/pesticides/Fipronil.FR.July.17.1998.htm
Suspected Endocrine Disrupter
www.mindfully.org/Pesticide/EDs-PWG-16jun01.htm - paper on what are endocrine distrupters and how will this affect
health.
The Unique Vulnerability of Infants and Children to Pesticides
Philip J. Landrigan, et al EHP v.107, Supp.3 Jun99
In addition to being proportionately more heavily exposed to pesticides than
adults, infants and children are biologically more vulnerable to them. The NAS
report, "Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children" (1), identified
three biological bases for that vulnerability.
First, children's metabolic pathways, especially in the first months after
birth, are immature compared to those of adults. In some instances, children are
actually better able than adults to cope with environmental toxicants. They
are unable, for example, to metabolize toxicants to their active form (34).
More commonly, however, fetuses, infants, and children are less able to detoxify
chemicals such as organophosphate pesticides and thus are more vulnerable to
them (30,35,36).
Second, infants and children are growing and developing, and their delicate
developmental processes are easily disrupted. Their immune system is immature.
Many organ systems in infants and children undergo extensive growth and
development throughout the prenatal period and the first months and years of
extrauterine life. Thus, if cells in an infant's brain are destroyed by pesticides,
if reproductive development is diverted by endocrine disrupters, or if
development of the immune system is altered, the resulting dysfunction can be
permanent and irreversible. Some of the biologic mechanisms responsible for these
developmental vulnerabilities are discussed in detail in an accompanying report by
Eskenazi et al. (37).
Third, because children have more future years of life than most adults, they
have more time in which to develop chronic disease that may be initiated by
early exposures. Exposures sustained early in life, including prenatal
exposures, appear more likely to lead to disease than similar exposures encountered
later. Also, deficits sustained early may persist lifelong (1). There is
evidence, for example, that pre- and postnatal exposures to pesticides increase risk
of childhood cancer (38), and concern has arisen that early exposure to
neurotoxic pesticides may increase risk in later life of chronic neurologic diseases
such as dementia, Parkinson's disease, and amyotropic lateral sclerosis (39
40).
Recent findings on the developmental toxicity of two pesticides commonly used
in the inner-city environment, chlorpyrifos and certain pyrethroids,
exemplify the special susceptibilities of infants and children. These data underscore
the potential risks to children's health and development of exposures to these
agents in early life.
some of these snippets from info on the safety of fiprinil - which is the
active ingredient of Frontline. Most of us on this list already don't use
chemicals but I find it hard to convince some parents who are afraid of Lyme for
their children and are considering "sacrificing" the health of the dog for the
children. So - this isn't concrete evidence but is food for thought if you are
looking for something to share with people learning about the dangers of
pesticides.
Snippets from a few sources:
One of its main degradation products, fipronil desulfinyl, is generally more
toxic than the parent compound and is very persistent. There is evidence that
fipronil and some of its degradates may bioaccumulate, particularly in fish.
Further investigation on bioaccumulation is warranted, especially for the
desulfinyl degradate.
However, as fipronil is a relatively new insecticide that has not been in use
for long enough to evaluate the risk it may pose to human health, from data
on human exposure to the product, a precautionary approach may be warranted.
The use of some fipronil-based products on domestic animals is not recommended
where handlers spend significant amounts of time grooming or handling treated
animals. In general, it would appear unwise to use fipronil-based insecticides
without accompanying environmental and human health monitoring, in situations,
regions, or countries where it has not been used before, and where its use
may lead to its introduction into the wider environment or bring it into contact
with people.
Fipronil - Acaracide, Insecticide - CAS No. 120068-37-3
Group C--Possible Human Carcinogen. Reviewed 7/ 18/ 95.
Ref: List of Chemicals Evaluated for Carcinogenic Potential. Science
Information Management Branch, Health Effects Division, Office of Pesticide Programs,
U. S. Environmental Protection Agency. March 15, 2002.
www.biomuncie.org/chemicals_evaluated_for_carcinog.htm
-- Carcinogenic classification and risk quantification. EPA has classified
this chemical as a Group C--Possible Human Carcinogen, based on increases in
thyroid follicular-cell tumors in both sexes of the rat, which were statistically
significant by both pair-wise and trend analyses. EPA has used the RfD
methodology to estimate human risk because the thyroid tumors are due to a
disruption in the thyroid-pituitary status. There was no apparent concern for
mutagenicity.
Ref: Federal Register: July 17, 1998. Fipronil; Pesticide Tolerance. Final
Rule.
www.fluoridealert.org/pesticides/Fipronil.FR.July.17.1998.htm
Suspected Endocrine Disrupter
www.mindfully.org/Pesticide/EDs-PWG-16jun01.htm - paper on what are endocrine distrupters and how will this affect
health.
The Unique Vulnerability of Infants and Children to Pesticides
Philip J. Landrigan, et al EHP v.107, Supp.3 Jun99
In addition to being proportionately more heavily exposed to pesticides than
adults, infants and children are biologically more vulnerable to them. The NAS
report, "Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children" (1), identified
three biological bases for that vulnerability.
First, children's metabolic pathways, especially in the first months after
birth, are immature compared to those of adults. In some instances, children are
actually better able than adults to cope with environmental toxicants. They
are unable, for example, to metabolize toxicants to their active form (34).
More commonly, however, fetuses, infants, and children are less able to detoxify
chemicals such as organophosphate pesticides and thus are more vulnerable to
them (30,35,36).
Second, infants and children are growing and developing, and their delicate
developmental processes are easily disrupted. Their immune system is immature.
Many organ systems in infants and children undergo extensive growth and
development throughout the prenatal period and the first months and years of
extrauterine life. Thus, if cells in an infant's brain are destroyed by pesticides,
if reproductive development is diverted by endocrine disrupters, or if
development of the immune system is altered, the resulting dysfunction can be
permanent and irreversible. Some of the biologic mechanisms responsible for these
developmental vulnerabilities are discussed in detail in an accompanying report by
Eskenazi et al. (37).
Third, because children have more future years of life than most adults, they
have more time in which to develop chronic disease that may be initiated by
early exposures. Exposures sustained early in life, including prenatal
exposures, appear more likely to lead to disease than similar exposures encountered
later. Also, deficits sustained early may persist lifelong (1). There is
evidence, for example, that pre- and postnatal exposures to pesticides increase risk
of childhood cancer (38), and concern has arisen that early exposure to
neurotoxic pesticides may increase risk in later life of chronic neurologic diseases
such as dementia, Parkinson's disease, and amyotropic lateral sclerosis (39
40).
Recent findings on the developmental toxicity of two pesticides commonly used
in the inner-city environment, chlorpyrifos and certain pyrethroids,
exemplify the special susceptibilities of infants and children. These data underscore
the potential risks to children's health and development of exposures to these
agents in early life.