issue brief | GE test fields & pesticides
GE Test Fields: From Hawai’i to the Mainland The Hawaiian islands have become a global epicenter for testing new genetically engineered (GE) crops —dramatically driving up pesticide use on the islands. Five of the world’s six largest genetically engineered (GE) seed and pesticide corporations (BASF, Dow, Pioneer/DuPont, Monsanto and Syngenta) use Hawai’i to field test new crops and raise parent seeds for markets on the mainland. This trend is on the rise. From 2010 to 2013, the U.S. Department of Agriculture granted over 100 new permits to these corporations for field trials in Hawai’i—more than anywhere else in the country.
Re s e a r c h i n d i c a t e s t h a t c h i l d r e n ’s d e v e l o p i n g b o d i e s a r e p a r t i c u l a r l y susceptible to the harmful effects of pesticides. For more information on children’s health and pesticides, please see A Generation in Jeopardy (1).
For the corporations, Hawai’i offers unique advantages for testing GE crops and raising parent seed. The physical isolation of the islands reduces the threat of contamination, and favorable weather conditions allow for multiple crops to be raised on the same field in a year.
COMMUNITY MEMBERS S PEAK O UT
In 2013, Syngenta moved its Hawai’i seed research operations to Kaua’i, an island half the size of Rhode Island. Along with Pioneer/ DuPont, Dow and BASF, these corporations run open-‐air field tests primarily on the southwest part of the island—often directly adjacent to where children live, learn and play.
GE test fields = heavy pesticide use GE seeds are often designed to be used in conjunction with specific pesticides, requiring repeated applications of these chemicals. Test fields on Kaua’i are thus sprayed almost daily with health-‐harming pesticides. This frequent usage increases the likelihood of pesticides drifting, posing a threat to the health of residents. Monitoring confirms that these pesticides are drifting on the wind to neighboring homes, schools and farms, and leaching into water supplies, putting the health of thousands of Kaua'i residents—especially children— at risk.
“We have a right to know what’s being grown on the island and what harmful chemicals are being used in the process. And when pesticides are sprayed, we need protections in place.”
—Lorilani Keohokalole-‐Torio, Kaua’i mother
GE’s “dirty little secret” Most GE seeds are intentionally designed to drive up pesticide use, boosting market share for pesticide industry products. According to research by Dr. Charles Benbrook (Washington State University), genetically engineered herbicide-‐resistant crops have been responsible for the additional use of 527 million pounds of herbicides in the first 16 years of commercialization. In 2011, GE crops used 20 percent more herbicides on average than non-‐GE crops (2,3).
March 2015
issue brief | GE test fields & pesticides TABLE 1
GE Test Fields, Waimea vs. Conventional Fields, Mainland Waimea corn fields
Mainland corn fields
Waimea soybean fields
Mainland soybean fields
24.8
~3
12.0
~ 2
Average number of pesticides applied overall
(based on 2010 USDA data)
(based on 2012 USDA data)
Average number of applications per crop per year
(i) (ii)
herbicides
4.6
2.7
3.0
2.1
insecticides
15.5
<1 (i)
8.0
<1 (ii)
fungicides
4.6
<1(i)
1.0
<1(ii)
Note: Data on pesticide usage refer only to applications made to GE test fields leased by Pioneer/DuPont located in Waimea , Kaua’i County, and are based on analysis of pesticide use records obtained through legal proceedings. Statistics on Waimea corn fields based on calculations from five randomly selected fields, 2009-‐2010. Statistics on average Waimea soybean fields based on 12 randomly selected fields, 2010-‐2011.
On average nationwide in 2010, only 15.5% of corn acres were treated with any insecticide, and only 11% of corn acres treated with fungicide. On average nationwide in 2012, 24% of soybeans were treated with an insecticide, and 11% of soybean acres
GE test fields on Kaua’i The island of Kaua’i is 396,774 acres in size—less than half the size of Rhode Island. Almost 40 percent of the island is used for farming. Syngenta, BASF, Pioneer/DuPont and Dow occupy nearly all of the leased agricultural lands in west Kaua'i—over 15,000 acres in close proximity to schools and residences (4). This leased property is used to test new GE seeds. According to the Hawai’i Department of Agriculture, biotech corporations are by far the largest users of “restricted-‐use” pesticides (RUPs) on Kaua’i, totaling more than 18 tons of 22 different RUPs in 2012 (4). RUPs have certain restrictions on their use, and can only be applied by or under the direct supervision of a licensed applicator. Contaminating communities The GE test fields where these pesticides are sprayed frequently border residential communities. Chemicals drift on the wind or run off into the water, exposing residents to health risks. The chemicals used on the test fields in Kaua’i include some of the most health-‐harming pesticides on the market. According to use data obtained from the Department of Agriculture, chlorpyrifos (an insecticide), atrazine and paraquat (both herbicides) top the list. In November 2013, the Kaua’i County Council voted to override a mayoral veto of Bill 2491. Now known as Ordinance 960, it mandates the disclosure of pesticide use by the top pesticide users on Kaua’i, requires buffer zones around schools, hospitals and residential areas. Publicly available use records allow for greater transparency regarding what pesticides Kaua’i residents may be exposed to—and what amounts are being used.
Pictured above: Waimea, Kaua’i County (red circle), is nestled between GE test fields leased by Pioneer/DuPont and Syngenta.
On Kaua’i, companies conducting corn and soybean seed research produce two or three crops per year on the same field. This results in 2-‐3 times more pesticides applied in comparison to the mainland, where most farmers produce one crop per field in a year (7). Pesticide Action Network
issue brief | GE test fields & pesticides
Health Impacts Health-‐harming pesticides applied on GE test fields expose neighboring communities to health threats ranging from acute poisonings to long-‐term effects like cancer, birth defects and learning disabilities. Studies indicate children are particularly susceptible to health harms from pesticides.
Routes of exposure Pesticides can drift off-‐target as spray droplets during an application, or evaporate and volatilize into the air (like the fumes that rise into the air when you chop an onion), after application is complete. Pesticide residues are also found in dust, and indoor dust is a route of exposure that children are most likely to encounter. When dust gets carried into a house, it is sheltered from the sun and rain, slowing the breakdown of pesticide residues. Young children are often close to the ground, and frequently explore with “hand-‐to-‐mouth” behaviors, making them more likely to ingest dust that can carry pesticide residues. In a University of Hawai'i study, pesticides were detected in the air inside and outside schools in every sample taken at three different Kaua’i school sites over a two-‐year period (5). One of the pesticides detected was chlorpyrifos, a drift-‐prone pesticide linked to harmful impacts on children’s developing brains, such as decreased IQ and changes to the architecture of the brain.
Some of the worst pesticides used on GE test fields From 2007-‐2013, Pioneer/DuPont used pesticide products containing 64 or more active ingredients on Waimea, Kaua’i County, GE test fields. These pesticides are linked to a range of health effects in experimental animals, such as: cancer, reproductive toxicity, birth defects, toxicity to the endocrine, immune and nervous systems, genotoxicity, and toxic effects in organs such as the liver (6). Animal models are used as predictors for potential toxicity to humans. When ranked by a toxicologist, 15 of the pesticides used were of “high concern,” characterized by “significant and severe toxicity traits (6).” Three of the high-‐concern pesticides are also among the most commonly used RUPs—atrazine, chlorpyrifos and paraquat. These pesticides are linked with serious human health impacts, even when people are exposed to low levels.
Pesticide use data in Waimea The information on pesticide usage in this document is based on pesticide use records from corn and soybean fields leased and managed by Pioneer/DuPont near the community of Waimea, Kaua’i County. Data on pesticide use in other parts of Kaua’i (not referenced here) are also available from the voluntary “Kaua’i Agricultural Good Neighbor Program.”
More pesticides are used on Kaua’i GE test fields than on the mainland On Kaua’i, the weather conditions make it possible for companies conducting research on corn and soybean seeds to produce two, and sometimes up to three crops every year on the same field. This increases the volume of pesticides used in a given year by two or three times. Significantly more pesticides are used on GE test fields in comparison to the mainland, according to the Pioneer/DuPont pesticide use records. These Waimea fields—used for corn and soybean seed research—have “hugely intensive pesticide usage” (7).
PESTICIDE APPLICATIONS on GE test fields (2007-‐2013) occurred about two out of every three days throughout the year in Waimea, Kaua’i County. Based on the use records, “there is no time throughout the year” when pesticide use does not occur (6). Based on 2009-‐2011 use records in Waimea, a field producing two corn crops in one year would have on average about 50 pesticide applications: 9.2 applications of fungicides, 9.2 of herbicides and 31 applications of insecticides (7). Corn seed research fields leased by Pioneer/DuPont had about three times more herbicides used than the average mainland cornfield, with about 84 times more fungicides and 203 times more insecticides (7).
March 2015
issue brief | GE test fields & pesticides Frequency of pesticide applications Use records from 2007-‐2013 on the Pioneer/DuPont fields in Waimea indicate that applications occurred on average about two out of every three days throughout the year (6). The frequency of usage increases the potential for exposure of residents to pesticides, year-‐round. It is not known whether these use records are rep-‐ resentative of pesticide usage on other GE test fields on Kaua’i. However, residents adjacent to fields with similar patterns of pesticide use would be subject to greater potential for exposure to pesticide drift or other routes of exposure than the “average field” for corn or soybeans that would be farmed on the mainland. Research shows that communities located in close proximity to agricultural pesticide usage bear an undue burden of pesticide exposure (8,9,10).
Resources cited 1. Schafer, K. and E. Marquez, et al. (2012) “A Generation in Jeopardy: How pesticides are undermining our children’s health and intelligence.” Pesticide Action Network North America.
2. Benbrook, C. (2012) “Impacts of genetically engineered crops on pesticide use in the U.S.—the first sixteen years.” Environmental Sciences Europe, Vol. 24:24 doi:10.1186/2190-‐4715-‐24-‐24, 28. 3. Information Systems for Biotechnology (ISB) database: USDA Field Test of GM Crops. 4. Public document requests: Kaua'i County Tax Assessor and Hawaii Department of Agriculture. 5. Qing X. Li, Jun Wang and R. Boesch (2013). “Final Project Report for Kaua’i Air Sampling Study.” University of Hawai’i. 6. “Survey and Toxicology of Pesticides Applied by Pioneer Hi-‐Bred International in Waimea, Kaua’i (2007-‐2013), February 21, 2014.” Expert report, Document 766-‐4, Filed 6/24/14. Available on www.pacer.gov. 7. “Report Regarding Jim Aana et al., vs. DuPont Pioneer, Gay Robinson, Inc., and Robinson Family Partners, March 11, 2014.” Expert report, Document 766-‐8, filed 6/24/14. Available on www.pacer.gov. 8. Coronado et al., “Organophosphate Pesticide Exposure and Residential Proximity to Nearby Fields.” Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 53 (8): 884-‐891 (2011). 9. Gemmill et al., “Residential Proximity to Methyl Bromide Use and Birth Outcomes in an Agricultural Population in California.” Environmental Health Perspectives 121: 737-‐743 (2013). 10. Lee et al., “Acute Pesticide Illnesses Associated with Off-‐Target Pesticide Drift from Agricultural Applications: 11 states, 1998-‐2006.” Environmental Health Perspectives 119: 1162-‐1169 (2011).
Based on the use records, fields located in Waimea and leased by Pioneer/DuPont have a pattern of frequent and intensive pesticide use. This type of pesticide use can have serious environmental and human health impacts on the Waimea community for generations to come.
Policy recommendations As we move toward reducing the use of highly hazardous pesticides, policymakers should consider the following steps in Hawai’i and across the country: 1) Right-‐to-‐know: Families, farmers and physicians have a right to know what pesticides are being used and where. Information should be accessible to all well in advance of pesticide applications and made available online in public databases, posted in public places and on the doors of people living next to application sites. 2) Robust evaluations: Local policymakers can protect families by prioritizing timely investigation of health and environmental impacts. Such impacts should also be examined in the context of data that includes timing of actual pesticide application schedules. Healthcare professionals require immediate information, an evaluation and lab protocol, and a commitment to timely research in order to effectively treat local communities. 3) Critical protections: Protections for sensitive populations such as children are needed. In Yolo County, California, quarter-‐mile buffer zones have been created near schools for drift-‐prone pesticides like chlorpyrifos, which has been shown to have adverse effects on brain development in children. California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation listed chlorpyrifos as a California restricted material, requiring a permit for application. 4) Necessary restrictions: In some cases, because of the nature of a hazardous pesticide, additional restrictions should be implemented to meet local conditions. For example, in conjunction with New York state, counties on Long Island have done additional evaluations of the hormone-‐disrupting herbicide atrazine in water; as a result, they have restricted use of the pesticide on the island. In 2014, California approved a statewide ban of second generation anticoagulant rodenticides sold directly to the general public. 5) Support for farmers: Farmers need local, state and federal support for proven and safe agroecological practices that promote a resilient system and safeguard natural resources. Training programs that emphasize cutting edge green practices, competitive grants that enable the purchase of equipment, and co-‐operative leasing programs can help farmers produce the healthy food necessary for local economies and farmers to prosper.
Pesticide Action Network North America is part of an interna,onal network working to replace the use of hazardous pes,cides with ecologically sound and socially just alterna,ves. To learn more, visit www.panna.org.
Pesticide Action Network