The Standard – August 2016

Welcome to the August 2016 edition of “The Standard,” our newsletter for issues related to environmental, food, water, and human exposure testing.

1,2,3-Trichloropropane (1,2,3-TCP) in Drinking Water

In the 1930s, it was discovered that a mixture of dichloropropanes and dichloropropenes could be used as fumigant to control nematodes in agricultural settings. 1,2,3-Trichloropropane (1,2,3-TCP) was not deliberately included, but was a byproduct in the synthesis of these dichloropropanes and dichloropropenes, in the same way that 2,3,7,8-TCDD can be a trace byproduct in the synthesis of Agent Orange.

Acaricides in Common Flea and Tick Repellants

Every day, millions of people worldwide engage in a form of pesticide application that they may not be aware of. Many owners of cats and dogs (and perhaps ferrets) who try to keep their animals (and themselves) free of fleas and ticks use a variety of flea and tick collars containing one or more acaricides (a chemical poisonous or repelling to ticks or mites). While some flea and tick collars use potentially less toxic repellants, (similar to DEET, which repels but does not kill mosquitoes), most collars use more aggressive chemicals.

Glyphosate Use and Regulations

Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup^® and numerous other herbicides, is one of the most widely used active-ingredient weedkillers in the world. While it is used in a broad range of industries, it is predominately used by farmers harvesting soy, corn, cotton, canola, alfalfa, and sugar beets. Glyphosate is sprayed directly onto crop fields prior to planting, which is advantageous to farmers as it eliminates the need for tilling weeds, and reduces soil erosion. Companies have produced genetically modified crops that withstand the weed-killing effects of glyphosate to allow its use without harming crop growth.

New POPs Chemicals Added to the Stockholm Convention in 2015

The 7th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP), the governing body of the Stockholm Convention, was held in May of 2015, in Geneva, Switzerland. Many decisions were adopted during the two weeks of the COP session, including the decision to add several new chemical pollutants as Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) within the Convention.