Hi ray_on_the_web,
Toxic Terror on the Golf Course? by Andrea Golaine Case
http://www.acsh.org/publications/priorities/0702/golfcourse.html
"Subsequent epidemiological studies (including studies that followed
workers for up to 30 years after a known exposure rather than just
estimating past exposure after a diagnosis of disease) do not support
a link between the herbicides and STS. The evidence regarding NHL is
equivocal. Studies of workers who manufactured phenoxy herbicides
suggest that the risk, if it exists at all, is small. The National
Cancer Institute has noted that occasional use or bystander exposure
in contrast with the exposure of a manufacturing worker or applicator
has not been associated with an increased risk of NHL.
Another series of studies, this time regarding the home use of
pesticides and their relationship to childhood cancers, was featured
in Paul Harvey's commentary on chemical risks on the golf course. The
exposures described in these studies (from the American Journal of
Public Health [AJPH]) are not necessarily comparable to golf course
exposures: The types and amounts of chemicals used vary, and the
application of pesticides in the home is not generally carried out by
professionals, as is the case with golf-course applications. These
studies, rather than confirm any true hazard from pesticide exposure,
instead present another line of evidence that is indeterminate at
worst and provides no evidence of a significant hazard.
The latest of these studies, by Drs. Jack Leiss and David Savitz
reported in the February 1995 issue of the AJPH, investigated links of
pesticides to leukemias, brain tumors, lymphomas and soft-tissue
sarcomas. It identified virtually no significant associations between
pesticide exposures and cancers. Regarding yard treatments
specifically, the study found only one mildly significant association
with STS out of many tested (remember that STS was not associated with
pesticide exposure in numerous worker studies). Leiss and Savitz's
data did not support an association between yard treatments and
childhood lymphomas, the type of cancer for which the evidence is
still equivocal in studies of adult workers and applicators.
The authors themselves acknowledge that their exposure measures were
crude and that their results may be hindered by recall bias (parents
whose children have cancer may better remember using pesticides in
their home in the past). None of these factors, however, kept Paul
Harvey or USA Today from publicizing the Leiss and Savitz results in a
hysterical way."
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Mortality Study of Golf Course Superintendents
http://www.nccnsw.org.au/member/tec/projects/tcye/detail/CommunitySpaces/golfsups_45.html
Summary of paper
"Preliminary results presented to the Golf Course Superintendents
Association of America 65th International Golf Course Conference in
Dallas Texas, 1994 on the mortality of golf course superintendents
indicates a statistically significant number of deaths from
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and brain cancer during 1970 to 1992.
The cause of the elevated cancer incidence is unknown and further
investigation is needed to establish a casual relationship between
pesticide exposure and specific cancers. A common concern expressed by
golf course superintendents and their workers is the potential health
effects associated with their exposure to pesticides. Farmers have
expressed similar concerns. Statistical mortality surveys conducted
for farmers living in the United States and other countries have
observed excesses for several cancers including non-Hodgkin's
lymphoma, brain, leukemia, lip stomach and prostate.
The report concludes that preliminary results support the need for
further investigation. In light of the uncertainty, a prudent..."
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Ways to fight reckless use of pesticides
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly&c=Article&cid=1066860175171&call_pageid=991479973472
"Unlike most other children with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Jean-Dominic
was thinking hard about why he got cancer. He began talking to the
other youngsters in the ward, and sticking pins into a map of Quebec,
marking all the young cancer patients' homes. He felt strongly that
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was linked to pesticide exposure.
What he discovered was that all the kids lived near a concentration of
golf courses. And most greens are drenched with many times more
pesticides than are farms.
What he discovered was that all the kids lived near a concentration of
golf courses. And most greens are drenched with many times more
pesticides than are farms.
Jean-Dominic promised the other children some of whom have died that
he would campaign relentlessly against pesticide spraying. He has kept
his promise, and will soon play a starring role in a new documentary
film to be made by WHEN, the Women's Healthy Environment Network, the
small but incredibly devoted group that already helped produce the
award-winning Exposure: Environmental Links To Breast Cancer.
Incredibly, there has been no previous film about children's
vulnerability pesticides, although there is a mountain of research
suggesting widespread harm caused by the harmless-sounding POPs, or
persistent organic pollutants. These POPs come from industrial
chemicals and pesticides. No living thing on Earth can escape their
silent and invisible occupation.
And conscientious parents try their best to offer toddlers a wide
range of fruits and vegetables some of the foods most highly
vulnerable to pesticides.
So, wouldn't you know, the testing by all these little bodies, before
and after birth, is beginning to show some results. According to the
U.S. Center for Children's Health and the Environment, childhood brain
cancer has increased 21 per cent in the modern industrial era. The
rate of hypospadias, a birth defect of the penis linked to pesticide
exposure, has doubled in the last few decades. The incidence of
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma has tripled. Children of parents who use home
pesticides have seven times the risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Acute
lymphocytic leukemia in children has increased 21 per cent. (These are
mostly U.S. figures, but Canada seems to have similar patterns.) Many
scientists believe there are persuasive links between POPs and all
these dreadful afflictions."
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Sick of golf? By Christopher J. Borgert, Raymond H. Snyder and George H. Snyder
http://grounds-mag.com/ar/grounds_maintenance_sick_golf/
"Golfers today have grown accustomed to playing on quality turf and
are willing to pay higher greens fees to play on tour-quality greens.
But are higher greens fees the only price golfers pay for their
manicured courses? The press has recently made alarming claims that
chemicals used in turf maintenance cause golfers a variety of health
problems, including reduced sex drive, reduced fertility, cancer and
even fatal allergic reactions."
[edit]
"All pesticides, and many other chemicals used as soil modifiers and
fertilizers, are tested extensively for toxicity to various organs and
tissues of the body, including the heart, liver, kidneys, lungs,
nervous system and reproductive system, and for damage to DNA that
could result in cancer. These toxicity tests are conducted on
laboratory rodents and test-tube systems; from these data, we can
estimate the levels of exposure that should be safe for humans."
[edit]
"Epidemiological data provide insights as to whether health problems
may occur more frequently in populations that are exposed to specific
chemicals. To date, a few epidemiological studies have reported higher
rates of some types of cancer in populations highly exposed to some
herbicides. However, those studies were very preliminary in nature and
do not indicate a particular cause of the cancers. Taken together, the
results of all studies conducted to date do not show any clear pattern
of disease in populations exposed to pesticides and do not indicate a
significant health risk from the types of chemicals used to grow and
maintain golf course turf."
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Chasing the little white ball
http://www.newint.org/issue263/chasing.htm
"Caddies and course workers also fall victim to pesticide poisoning.
Caddies interviewed at Santiburi golf course in Chiang Rai said they
all suffered skin disease, dizziness and kidney problems after just a
year?s work. Dead birds are found almost every morning after
greenkeepers have sprayed pesticide at night. In the US a Golf Course
Superintendent Association?s study confirmed that: ?Among golf-course
superintendents there is more lung cancer, more brain cancer, more
cancers of the large intestine and prostate. Especially lung cancer.?"
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San Francisco Examiner - Roundup plan riles neighbors of golf course
Developers want to kill grass with restricted herbicide
http://www.lakemerced.org/Press/examiner/sfexaminer_080300.html
"In 1996, San Francisco's Board of Supervisors passed one of the first
ordinances of its kind in the country, calling for restrictions on
certain pesticides on city property.
The supervisors, who banned all chemicals labeled "dangerous" or
"warning" by the Environmental Protection Agency, were concerned about
the possible cancer-causing effects of the pesticides.
The legislation was prompted in part by stories in The Examiner that
reported that San Francisco used 10,000 pounds and 775 gallons of
pesticides on city parks and golf courses from 1990 to 1996. Many of
the substances used by The City at the time, not including Roundup,
were considered possible carcinogens."
[edit]
"That is a very real concern especially for a project that large,"
Small said. "Roundup has the potential to cause problems for aquatic
species."
Small said glyphosate had been shown in studies to cause some liver
and kidney damage in mice and had also been cited as a possible cause
of illness for California agriculture workers.
The negative declaration from the Planning Department, however, said
"because of it's low mammalian toxicity, risks to human health
resulting from the application of glyphosate (Roundup) are considered
low."
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Chemical Use by Oak Harbor Golf Course - Slidell, Louisiana
http://www.wtv-zone.com/infchoice/chemical_use.html
"Why were we left here without adequate information or warning? The
golf course, which is enclosed by their 13' ring levee system,
completely surrounds our property. Should we have been sent away from
the area as all employees were? The letter we received from the golf
course, which has been the sole notification we have ever received to
date, states only to stay off the golf course. What was the true cause
of our neighbor's illness? He was placed in a nursing home shortly
afterwards diagnosed as having Alzheimer's. He stated in a letter that
he had nose bleeds the size and look-a-like of chicken livers. He was
later diagnosed with prostrate cancer and is now deceased. Aren't
these signs of chemical poisoning? Small animals were found dead in
both our yards after the incident. The Louisiana Department of
Agriculture & Forestry refused to conduct any testing."
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Seven towns in Canada band to weed out pesticides
http://www.wtv-zone.com/infchoice/seven_towns.html
"Seven towns in Canada band to weed out pesticides. Golf-course owners
will be given until 2005 to comply with the ban, but in the meantime,
they must create a buffer zone between the course and residential
areas, where pesticides cannot be applied."
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Toxic Golf Greens Environmentally Incorrect and Politically Polluted
(Many links on this page):
http://www.wtv-zone.com/infchoice/toxic_greens.html
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http://www.eany.org/capitolwatch/memos/2002/005.html
A.5553 (DiNapoli, et al)
S.2940 (LaValle)
Summary
This bill would amend the environmental conservation law to require
posting of notices regarding pesticide applications on golf courses
and provision of information regarding such applications upon request.
Explanation
Golf courses use a tremendous amount of pesticides and medical
researchers have implicated this heavy use in the increased rates of
certain cancers and neurological illnesses experienced by golf course
superintendents relative to the general public. Pesticide use on golf
courses has the potential to affect all course users, neighbors, and
persons sharing an aquifer with the course. As such, everyone who
wishes to have specific information about what a course is applying
deserves access to it, and everyone using the course should have the
right to be made aware of times of highest potential exposure. This
bill would provide essential information to persons wishing to
understand and potentially avoid risks to their health from golf
course use of pesticides.
Environmental Advocates supports this bill.
Environmental Advocates, 353 Hamilton Street, Albany, NY, 12210
phone: 800-SAVE-NYS or 518-462-5526, fax: 518-427-0381
webeditor@eany.org
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An opposing view at Pestfacts.org - Golf Course Pesticide Questions
http://www.pestfacts.org/golfcoursefaq.html
"Some media stories suggest that pesticides are linked to cancer. What
are the facts?
Most of the product testing required by EPA focuses on this question.
Before a product is registered, tests are done (usually on laboratory
rats) using exposure rates that are considerable higher than any
exposure a golfer could ever receive. Although a recent study
commissioned by GCSAA to examine causes of death among its members
found some higher rates of certain cancers, researchers said that no
cause-and-effect relationship could be established from the data. They
also said that lifestyle choices (smoking, diet, stress, etc.) were
the most significant factor in the results."
Keyword search:
golf course cancer pesticides
pesticide golf cancer
cancer golf
herbicides cancer golf
golf course pesticides and herbicide dangers
golfers cancer
Best regards,
tlspiegel |
