#malathion

Excerpt:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its first rigorous nationwide analysis Wednesday of the effects of pesticides on endangered species, finding that 97 percent of the more than 1,800 animals and plants protected under the Endangered Species Act are likely to be harmed by malathion and chlorpyrifos, two commonly used pesticides. Another 78 percent are likely to be hurt by the pesticide diazinon. The results released Wednesday are the final biological evaluations the EPA completed as part of its examination of the impacts of these pesticides on endangered species.

The three pesticides are all organophosphates, a dangerous old class of insecticides found in 87 percent of human umbilical-cord samples and widely used on crops such as corn, watermelon and wheat. Chlorpyrifos is currently under consideration to be banned for use on food crops in the U.S. The World Health Organization last year announced that malathion and diazinon are probable carcinogens.

Karner Blue Butterfly. Credit: USFWS

Excerpt from this press release from the Center for Biological Diversity:

The Center for Biological Diversity sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today for failing to adequately protect more than 1,500 species of wildlife and plants from the insecticide malathion — in violation of the Endangered Species Act.

Malathion is a neurotoxin and part of a dangerous class of old pesticides called organophosphates that have also been used as nerve agents in chemical warfare.

In 2022 the Service finalized its biological opinion on malathion, concluding that the pesticide does not pose an extinction risk to a single protected species of wildlife or plant in the United States. That blanket “no jeopardy” determination was a sharp contrast to its 2017 findings — from career scientists within the Service — that, on the contrary, malathion jeopardized the continued existence of 1,284 threatened and endangered species.

The 2017 scientific determination was abruptly reversed by then-Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt during the previous administration, which then dramatically weakened the processes used to assess the potential effects of malathion at the request of the pesticide industry and delayed the finalization of the biological opinion by five years.

Critically, the 2022 document failed to include any specific conservation measures to protect more than 1,500 listed species from malathion.

“The Fish and Wildlife Service submitted to the pesticide industry’s demands and hung more than 1,500 endangered species out to dry by failing to rein in malathion use in their habitats,” said Lori Ann Burd, environmental health director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Today these animals and plants continue to be harmed by one of the worst neurotoxic pesticides on the market, which can be sprayed in the last few homes of some of our most imperiled species. That includes nearly every endangered butterfly, beetle and dragonfly we have. We just can’t let this go on.”

My father, about about 5 years before he died, began feeding birds. He did this for the pleasure of hearing them sing, I suppose. In a way I suppose it was one of his ways of controlling his environment. He also found it amusing that passing birds would make a mess on passing cars. They never really did. He liked to think one day they would. In some ways he wasn’t all that nice, but his…

Excerpt from this story from the Associated Press (AP):

U.S. wildlife officials reversed their previous finding that a widely used and highly toxic pesticide could jeopardize dozens of plants and animals with extinction, after receiving pledges from chemical manufacturers that they will change product labels for malathion so that it’s used more carefully by gardeners, farmers and other consumers.

Federal rules for malathion are under review in response to longstanding complaints that the pesticide used on mosquitoes, grasshoppers and other insects also kills many rare plants and animals. A draft finding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last April said malathion could threaten 78 imperiled species with extinction and cause lesser harm to many more.

Wildlife officials reversed their position on the 78 species in a Feb. 28 biological opinion following talks between malathion manufacturers, officials from the wildlife service and the Environmental Protection Agency, according to documents reviewed by The Associated Press.

Wildlife service officials now say malathion could cause limited harm to hundreds of species, but is unlikely to jeopardize any of them with extinction as long as labels that dictate its use are changed. Their conclusion depends on farmers, gardeners and other consumers abiding by the instructions on where and when to use the pesticide.

Excerpt from this press release from the Center for Biological Diversity:

A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service analysis released today has found that the commonly used insecticide malathion jeopardizes the continued existence of 78 endangered plants and animals.

The analysis is one of most extreme findings of harm ever published by the Service. Yet it represents a dramatic departure from the findings of an Obama administration analysis scrapped by the Trump administration that found malathion jeopardized 1,284 endangered plants and animals.

Today’s analysis deploys former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt’s methods to discount the harms of the pesticide by unlawfully relying on incomplete, unreliable estimates of its use rather than looking more broadly at the overall effects of its registration by the Environmental Protection Agency, as required by the Endangered Species Act.

Malathion is used on a wide variety of crops, including corn, wheat, vegetables and fruits and is sprayed for mosquito control.

“This deep bow to the Trump administration’s reckless disregard for science imperils the survival of over a thousand of our most endangered plants and animals,” said Lori Ann Burd, environmental health director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The Fish and Wildlife Service’s disappointing decision to embrace the junk science policies of the previous administration risks the extinction of animals like rusty patched bumblebees, Indiana bats and whooping cranes to prop up pesticide company profits.”

Around 1 million pounds of malathion are used in the United States each year. The insecticide is a neurotoxin that is part of the dangerous class of old pesticides called organophosphates. Organophosphates were used as nerve agents in chemical warfare and have been linked to Gulf War syndrome, which causes fatigue, headaches, skin problems and breathing disorders in people.