EWG
Twitter
Postcard from California: Climate change is fueling faster-spreading, more extreme wildfires
By Bill Walker
This summer, the Park Fire burned more than 425,000 acres near Chico, Calif. – the fourth-largest wildfire in the state’s history. It started when an arsonist pushed a flaming car into a grassy, brush-strewn gully, sparking California’s largest-ever deliberately set wildfire. But what set the Park Fire apart from the 7,194 wildfires that have burned more than 1 million acres in California this year was how fast it grew.
After first igniting on July 24, it spread an estimated 5,000 acres an hour – about one football field a second. In 24 hours it burned 150,000 acres, and in 72 hours incinerated an area larger than San Francisco. Fire experts said it was among the fastest-growing wildfires in history.
As it burned, Zeke Lunder, director of Deer Creek Resources, a wildfire management consulting firm in Chico, told The Washington Post that in 25 years of mapping large fires throughout the Western US, he couldn’t recall another blaze that spread so far so fast. He said the Park Fire “was moving in ways we aren’t used to seeing.”
It’s settled science that the climate crisis is increasing the number and frequency of wildfires. A 2016 study estimated that from 1984 to 2015, human-caused climate change contributed to the burning of almost twice the acreage in 11 Western states than might have burned in its absence.
Now, new research confirms that Western wildfires are also spreading faster.
In a study published Oct. 24 in the journal Science, a team of researchers analyzed images from NASA satellites to track the day-by-day spread of more than 60,000 fires in the continental US from 2001 to 2020.
They found that in that period, the average peak daily growth rate of wildfires in the West more than doubled. In California, wildfires spread almost four times as fast in 2020 as in 2001. They cited other research predicting that if global warming continues at its current pace, the frequency of the fastest-spreading fires in the West could double in 30 years.
“The modern era of megafires is often defined based on wildfire size, but it should be defined based on how fast fires grow,” the researchers wrote. “Speed fundamentally dictates the deadly and destructive impact of megafires… [F]ire speed matters more for infrastructure risk and evacuation planning.”
Proposed factory farm ban divides California county
By Shannon Kelleher
When voters head to the polls on Tuesday to decide the next US president, residents of Sonoma County, California, will be asked to decide another contentious issue – they will be voting on a measure that would make their county the first in the nation to ban factory farms.
Measure J would prohibit farm operations that meet the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s definition of a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO), requiring them to either close or downsize within three years. The measure would also prevent new CAFOs from coming into the county.
Proponents say that CAFOs, where large numbers of animals are crowded together generating massive amounts of manure, are “major polluters” that pose a threat to wildlife and “vital watersheds” and present a “serious risk to public health” by providing a breeding ground for disease and creating other hazards. They cite one Sonoma County poultry operation with more than 500,000 birds as well as “documented criminal animal cruelty” at some CAFOs.
The measure appears to have only a slim chance of passing, facing staunch opposition from powerful farming organizations as well as business groups and even sustainability groups. But backers of the measure say their effort contributes to a groundswell of support for action against CAFOs.
In July, a state court in Michigan ruled that state regulators could take stronger actions to manage manure waste from CAFOs there, and in June 2023, Oregon passed a bill to tighten CAFO permitting to help mitigate water pollution. Calls for moratoriums on new CAFOs have been heard in recent years by legislatures in Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.
“There’s been a lot of attempts, but there’s nothing yet that has been an actual vote among the people on prohibiting factory farms,” said Cassie King, an organizer with the activist group Direct Action Everywhere and the Yes on J campaign. “I think there’s a latent desire across the country to stop factory farming. This measure would provide not only a blueprint but also the inspiration that’s needed to kick more action into gear.”
Measure J is modeled on the Farm System Reform Act, said King, which was introduced in 2023 by US Sen. Cory Booker but has yet to move forward. The bill proposes phasing out CAFOs on a national level by 2041.
Measure J supporters state that only 21 of the more than 700 animal farms in the county would be affected if it passes.
But opponents, including the Sonoma County Farm Bureau, maintain the measure will have a number of negative ripple effects, including jeopardizing the existence of even small farming operations and reducing the availability of local meat, dairy and eggs.
US Congress members call on EPA to ban paraquat, citing risk of Parkinson’s and other diseases
By Carey Gillam
More than 50 US lawmakers are calling on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to join dozens of other nations in banning a widely used weed killer linked to Parkinson’s disease and other health dangers.
In an Oct 31 letter to the agency, seven US senators said that paraquat, a weed killer commonly applied on US farms, was a “highly toxic pesticide whose continued use cannot be justified given its harms to farmworkers and rural communities.” The call for a ban from the senators came after 47 members of the US House of Representatives sent a similar letter to the EPA calling for a ban earlier in October.
The lawmakers cite scientific links between paraquat use and development of Parkinson’s and other “life threatening diseases” as well as “grave impacts on the environment”. The lawmakers note that approximately 70 countries have banned paraquat.
“Numerous studies” have found that paraquat causes “serious health risks for workers who use the substance as well as the surrounding communities,” the lawmakers wrote. “These health risks include a higher risk of Parkinson’s disease, with some studies finding a 64% increase in the likelihood of developing Parkinson’s, non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, thyroid cancer, and other thyroid issues.”
Sen. Cory Booker, organizer of the Senate letter, said the risks of paraquat exposure are “well documented” and that it is “irresponsible” for the EPA to continue to allow its use. “I hope the EPA will follow the science and ban paraquat,” Booker said.
The congressional letters add to mounting pressure on the EPA to remove paraquat from the market.
LA County accuses Pepsi and Coca-Cola of lying to consumers, worsening plastic pollution
By Douglas Main
Los Angeles this week sued PepsiCo and Coca-Cola for allegedly deceiving consumers and playing a “significant role” in a plastic pollution crisis that harms wildlife and poses a risk to human health.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, claims that the two global beverage and food companies are the “top plastic polluters in the world” and have engaged in a disinformation campaign designed to make consumers falsely believe that purchasing their products in single-use plastic bottles is an “environmentally responsible choice.”
“Coke and Pepsi need to stop the deception and take responsibility for the plastic pollution problems [their] products are causing,” Los Angeles County Board Chair Lindsey Horvath said in a statement.
Neither PepsiCo nor Coca-Cola immediately replied to requests for comment.
However, William Dermody, a spokesperson for American Beverage, which represents the non-alcoholic beverage industry in the U.S., wrote in a statement that “the allegation that our packaging is not and will not be recycled is simply not true.” Dermody added that “our bottles are designed to be recycled and remade and can include up to 100% recycled plastic.”
The suit is one of a growing number of cases where governmental bodies are pursuing legal means to address environmental problems relating to plastic.
High levels of hazardous heavy metals found in products used to fight wildfires
By Douglas Main
A new study shows that sprays and retardants used to fight wildfires contain surprisingly high levels of toxic heavy metals, a “disturbing” finding at a time when wildfires are generally getting worse.
The paper, published October 30 in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters, found that each of 14 fire suppression products examined contained at least eight of the ten heavy metals tested for, including chromium, cadmium, lead, and arsenic. Most of these metals or their derivatives are highly toxic, and known to cause a long list of diseases, including cancer.
All have been approved for use by the US Forest Service, which did not respond to a request for comment.
The findings raise questions about the ecological and human health impact of spraying large quantities of these materials over huge tracts of land in the western United States, according to study lead author Daniel McCurry, an environmental chemist at the University of Southern California.
McCurry and colleagues became interested in investigating these products’ chemistry as wildfire severity has increased in recent years and news reports showed these being used widely throughout California and other western states.
Wildfires have generally become more intense and widespread in recent years and decades, an expected outcome of human-caused climate change and land management practices. A total of just under 8 million acres have burned so far this year in the United States, a 24% increase over the 10 year average. Research suggests wildfires will get more severe and burn more acres in coming decades.
Agricultural chemicals are more toxic to insects than previously thought
By Douglas Main
New research provides evidence that chemicals used in farming may be more harmful to insects than previously thought, contributing to worldwide declines in important species.
In a wide-ranging, first-of-a-kind study published October 24 in the journal Science, scientists found that extremely small, sublethal concentrations of over 580 insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and other chemicals can have serious negative impacts on the behavior and subsequent survival of certain insects. The scientists tested some of the chemicals on fruit fly larvae, mosquitoes, and butterflies.
The results were “very shocking,” said study co-author Justin Crocker, a researcher with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany.
The study bolsters the case that agrochemicals play a big role in plummeting populations of insects, a phenomenon that can gravely harm food production since certain insects are needed to pollinate key food crops.
In the paper, researchers exposed 75 fruit fly larvae to three concentrations of 1,024 different agrochemicals. The smallest level tested (2 micromoles) is well within the range found in the real world; for example, it’s not uncommon to find this concentration of the herbicide glyphosate in streams near crop fields.
After only 16 hours of exposure, they transferred the insects to vials containing chemical-free food, and filmed their behavior. More than half of these substances caused discernible changes in the behavior of developing insects.
Pesticides found in 80% of air samples from California farm communities
By Shannon Kelleher
Almost 80% of air samples collected last year in California’s four most agriculture-intensive communities contained pesticide residues, though the concentrations were “unlikely to be harmful to human health,” according to a recently released state regulatory report.
The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) collected 207 air samples at stations in Oxnard, Santa Maria, Shafter and Watsonville once a week throughout 2023, finding at least one of the 40 pesticides they tested for in 163 of the samples, according to the results.
The monitoring stations detected a total of 19 different pesticides in the air samples, including the herbicide pendimethalin and the fumigant 1,3-dichloropronene (Telone), which have both been linked to cancer.
These chemicals and others detected by CDPR have also been linked to nausea, shortness of breath, and eye and respiratory irritation.
Despite being banned in 34 countries, Telone is the third-most heavily used pesticide in California, and CDPR has been criticized for failing to implement regulations that adequately protect mostly Latino farmworkers from the chemical.
The samples were all collected on school grounds, raising concerns among environmental and health advocates about safety risks for children and other vulnerable community members.
“The latest air sampling results continue to show pesticides sprayed on fields drift off site and contaminate the air nearby, a serious concern for those who live, go to school or work near farm fields,” Alexis Temkin, a senior toxicologist at the Environmental Working Group (EWG), said in a press release.
EPA cancels pesticide shown to be harmful to unborn babies
By Carey Gillam
Citing a need to protect the unborn babies of pregnant women, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Tuesday banned a pesticide used to kill weeds on farms, golf courses and athletic fields.
The action comes after years of mounting scientific evidence of the dangers posed by exposure to the chemical dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate, also known as DCPA or Dacthal.
“With the final cancellation of DCPA, we’re taking a definitive step to protect pregnant women and their unborn babies,” Michal Freedhoff, assistant administrator for the EPA Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, said in a press release. “The science showing the potential for irreversible harm to unborn babies’ developing brains, in addition to other lifelong consequences from exposure, demands decisive action to remove this dangerous chemical from the marketplace.”
The agency said “robust studies” demonstrated “thyroid toxicity,” and said that unborn babies whose pregnant mothers are exposed to DCPA could experience changes to fetal thyroid hormone levels. Such changes are “generally linked to low birth weight, impaired brain development, decreased IQ, and impaired motor skills later in life, some of which may be irreversible,” the EPA said.
DCPA was registered to control weeds in both agricultural and non-agricultural settings, but has largely been used to control weeds in fields growing crops such as broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage and onions.
Bayer’s new Roundup products appear more toxic than prior formulations, new report asserts
By Carey Gillam
New types of Roundup weed killing products marketed to US consumers contain chemicals that pose greater health risks to people than prior formulations suspected of causing cancer, according to an analysis by an environmental health advocacy group.
Friends of the Earth (FOE) reported Tuesday it found four chemicals have recently been added to Roundup products that have been scientifically shown to cause a variety of health problems, including reproductive defects, kidney and liver damage, cancer, and neurotoxicity.
The analysis comes after the agrochemical company Bayer pledged that it would remove glyphosate from its popular Roundup herbicide products sold for residential lawn and garden use starting in 2023.
Bayer, which bought Monsanto in 2018, made the change to try to curtail the filing of future litigation as it battles thousands of lawsuits filed against Monsanto by cancer patients who claim they developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma from using Monsanto’s Roundup and other glyphosate-based herbicides.
But FOE said it found the chemicals used in the new Roundup formulations are, on average, 45 times more toxic to humans experiencing chronic exposure than glyphosate-based Roundup. The chemicals were roughly four times more acutely toxic, the group said.
Notably, all four of the added chemicals pose greater risk of long-term and/or reproductive health problems than does glyphosate, based on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) evaluation of safety studies, FOE said.
Of the four chemicals found in the products – diquat dibromide, fluazifop-P-butyl, triclopyr, and imazapic – the “worst offender”, according to FOE, is diquat dibromide. It is 200 times more toxic than glyphosate when exposure occurs over a long period of time, the group said, and is banned in the European Union. It is 27 times more toxic in acute exposures, the group said.
Kendra Klein, FOE deputy director for science and an author of the report, said the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should be providing stronger oversight.
“People need to realize that the EPA has long put the profits of companies like Bayer ahead of their health when it comes to pesticides,” Klein said. “And now, they’ve allowed Bayer to quietly swap out the chemicals in Roundup, making it far more toxic to people’s health, without changing the packaging or warning consumers of the increased risks.”
Running dry – US Army base under fire for high water use in drought-stricken Arizona
By Carmela Guaglianone
The San Pedro River, nestled in southeastern Arizona’s San Pedro Valley just north of the US-Mexico border, is one of the last undammed rivers in the Southwest and is considered a biodiversity hotspot. Lined with cattails, willows and cottonwoods, the marshy waterway shelters hundreds of diverse bird species, including many considered endangered and protected by federal law.
The area is also home to the Fort Huachuca US Army base, which has been heralded as an example of the military’s efforts to become more environmentally conscientious due to its use of solar power and other “green” initiatives.
Ten years ago, Fort Huachuca forged a plan to achieve “net-zero” by 2025. But today, that goal has been largely abandoned, and an expanding group of critics says the installation’s well-meaning conservation efforts are falling short, and the Army instead is posing a dire threat to a protected conservation zone as a result of the base’s rampant pumping of precious groundwater.
The Army and the nearby municipalities whose residents rely on the base for employment, are the most prolific groundwater users, withdrawing an estimated 10,000 acre feet per year, according to a 2020 report from the U.S. geological society. That amount would fill nearly 41 million bathtubs.