Toxic pesticide use rising at illegal California pot farms

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Researchers and U.S. authorities are finding what they say is an alarming increase in the use of a powerful banned pesticide at illegal marijuana farms hidden on public land in California.
The pesticide residue is showing up in about 30 percent of the plants themselves, researcher Mourad Gabriel told The Associated Press. U.S. and state authorities will announce Tuesday that they will use $2.5 million in federal money to target the illegal grows.


danger before legalization in California was the uncertainty of what was in pot products, but authorities say the rise in Carbofuran use poses an increased danger. Gabriel’s research found that traces of the chemical are showing up in pot but did not attempt to quantify how much was in each sample or its effects on people.The chemical is intended for use as an insecticide but is so powerful that a quarter of a teaspoon can kill a 300-pound (136-kilogram) bear, Gabriel said.
Research by Gabriel and colleagues previously showed that the use of pesticides at illegal marijuana farms is poisoning significant numbers of California’s few hundred remaining fishers, a threatened weasel-like mammal.

https://apnews.com/988936fe9719461da...mpression=true

US Court Orders Trump EPA to Pull Chlorpyrifos from the market...
:cool2:
US Court Orders Trump EPA to Pull Pesticide
August 09, 2018 - A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that the Trump administration endangered public health when it overturned an Obama-era rule banning a dangerous pesticide.

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In a 2-to-1 decision, the Seattle-based court gave the Environmental Protection Agency 60 days to pull chlorpyrifos from the market, one of the most widely used pesticides in the country. The judges said the administration was unjustified in overturning the ban and ignored the science proving that residue of it on food is linked to brain damage in babies.

https://gdb.voanews.com/A93017EF-941...w1023_r1_s.jpg
Pinot noir grapes have just been picked in a bin in Napa, Calif., Aug. 29, 2014. Farmers use chlorpyrifos to kill pests that attack many crops like grapes, almonds and cotton.

Former EPA chief Scott Pruitt reversed the Obama decision to extend an earlier ban on the product from general household use to its use on food. Pruitt called it a return to “sound science” and a move away from “predetermined results.”


Dow Chemical, which manufactures chlorpyrifos, has in the past defended the pesticide as a product helping farmers feed the world while respecting “human health and the environment.” “The court has made it clear that children’s health must come before powerful polluters,” the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Erik Olson said Thursday. “This is a victory for parents everywhere who want to feed their kids fruits and vegetables without fear it is harming their brains or poisoning communities.”

https://www.voanews.com/a/us-appeals...e/4522542.html

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Originally Posted by roadmaster

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Researchers and U.S. authorities are finding what they say is an alarming increase in the use of a powerful banned pesticide at illegal marijuana farms hidden on public land in California.
The pesticide residue is showing up in about 30 percent of the plants themselves, researcher Mourad Gabriel told The Associated Press. U.S. and state authorities will announce Tuesday that they will use $2.5 million in federal money to target the illegal grows.


danger before legalization in California was the uncertainty of what was in pot products, but authorities say the rise in Carbofuran use poses an increased danger. Gabriel’s research found that traces of the chemical are showing up in pot but did not attempt to quantify how much was in each sample or its effects on people.The chemical is intended for use as an insecticide but is so powerful that a quarter of a teaspoon can kill a 300-pound (136-kilogram) bear, Gabriel said.
Research by Gabriel and colleagues previously showed that the use of pesticides at illegal marijuana farms is poisoning significant numbers of California’s few hundred remaining fishers, a threatened weasel-like mammal.

https://apnews.com/988936fe9719461da...mpression=true

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Harvest the pot, freeze it then use it bugs and all. Or so I was told one time nearly 40 years ago in actions I deny directly participating in.

Dey prob'ly usin' DDT.

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Originally Posted by waltky

US Court Orders Trump EPA to Pull Chlorpyrifos from the market...
:cool2:
US Court Orders Trump EPA to Pull Pesticide
August 09, 2018 - A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that the Trump administration endangered public health when it overturned an Obama-era rule banning a dangerous pesticide.

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The court is intruding into areas where it has not right to interfere.