Humans

Vragen van het lid Ouwehand (Partij voor de Dieren) aan de staatssecretaris van Economische Zaken over de belangenverstrengeling bij de toelating van bestrijdingsmiddelen en de negatieve gevolgen daarvoor bijen en andere bestuivers (bijlage).

According to a hypothesis proposed by the U.S. Geological Survey and collaborators at National Institutes of Health, bats recovering from white-nose syndrome show evidence of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS), a condition that was first described in HIV-AIDS patients. IRIS is a syndrome in which an organism's immune system, which has been suppressed, reactivates and, perceiving a serious infection around it, goes into overdrive resulting in severe inflammation and tissue damage in infected areas. In both human patients with HIV-AIDS and bats with WNS, the functioning of the immune system is severely reduced. For humans, this occurs when the HIV virus attacks the patient's white blood cells. In bats, this occurs during normal hibernation. IRIS can be fatal to both humans and bats.
"The potential discovery of IRIS in bats infected with white-nose syndrome is incredibly significant in terms of understanding both the reasons for bat mortality and basic immune response," said USGS Director Marcia McNutt. "This discovery could also prove significant for studies on treatment for AIDS."

Children are far more susceptible to chemicals and pollutants than adults and the increased rate of childhood illnesses is cause for alarm. Children are exposed to a variety of environmental hazards, including indoor and outdoor air pollution, solvents, pesticides, lead, mercury, and other heavy metals. These contribute to certain childhood diseases, such as asthma and leukemia, and to some learning disabilities. For the past 15 years, an epidemic of childhood asthma has been occurring in the United States. Asthma, leading chronic illness in children of the United States, rates have increased 160% in the past 15 years in children under 5 years of age. The impact of increased exposure to adverse environmental factors must be considered as a contributor to the observed increase in chronic diseases and health problems.

The study, “Traumatic brain injury, paraquat exposure, and their relationship to Parkinson disease,” published in the journal Neurology surveyed more than 1,000 adults ages 35 and older who lived in central California. Some 357 of the participants were diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Participants with the disease were nearly twice as likely as those without the disease to report having had a head injury in which they lost consciousness for more than five minutes. Forty-two Parkinson’s patients, or 12 percent of that group, reported receiving a head injury that knocked them unconscious for five or more minutes, as compared to 50 people in the non-Parkinson’s group, or seven percent. The Parkinson’s patients are nearly twice as likely to have had such injuries. Using a geographical tracking system, the researchers also found that those with Parkinson’s disease were also more likely to live within 500 meters of a spot where the herbicide paraquat was used.

Letzte Woche präsentierte die Bezirkshauptmannschaft die Ergebnisse der umfangreichen Grundwasseruntersuchung. An 190 Stellen wurden Proben gezogen, in 90 Proben wurden Verunreinigungen gefunden. Außerhalb des Werksgeländes der Firma Kwizda stießen die Experten auf das Insektizid Thiamethoxam (bis 5 µg/l) sowie die Herbizide Clopyralid (bis 60 µg/l), Florasulam (bis 0,35 µg/l) und Flumetsulam (bis 0,77 µg/l). Am Kwizda-Gelände wurden insgesamt 15 Wirkstoffe gefunden, die den Grenzwert überschreiten.

REGARDING crop pesticides which kill bees, a recent report by Dutch toxicologist Henk Tennekes found a strong likelihood that neonicotinoid exposure could damage the human brain, which may be shown by the recent sharp rise in autism, as well as increase the risk of neurological disease such as Parkinsons and dementia. When are our politicians and decision-makers going to see that we are putting the whole eco-system and human health at risk? The action of these chemicals are thousands of times more toxic than DDT, and the effects are cumulative as they lock into the brain. Research shows the developing baby in the mothers womb is far more at risk from chemicals than the adult brain, which is why we have got to ban these chemicals now. To continue to allow their use is a crime being perpetrated against children.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, the book responsible for the onset of the environmental movement, which led to the banning of the pesticide DDT a decade later. What many people don't realise is that in 2012 we are exposed to more toxic chemicals than ever before, in spite of legislation enacted to control it. In the US, chemicals like PCBs, solvents and adhesives are regulated under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976. But rather than "control" which chemicals are released into the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat, TSCA really just follows them after the fact. When TSCA was enacted, more than 60,000 untested chemicals were present in our environment, and an estimated 8,000-12,000 chemicals continue to be introduced annually, with no requirement that human toxicity or exposure data be provided before the chemical is used. Essentially, we the consumers and citizens are the experimental animals on which these chemicals are tested.