Insecticides Found in Midwest Rivers

Numerous insecticides found in Midwest rivers. One issue with pesticide use on farms is that these chemicals end up in water that is the drinking water supply for people downstream. This is true wherever crop farming is taking place.

Here’s an excerpt from an article on two recent studies about the impact of pesticides on natural systems (meaning rivers, insects, birds, etc):

‘Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey tracked the toxins called neonicotinoids in six states and nine Midwestern rivers, including the portion of the Mississippi that drains southern Minnesota, and found that they were universally present throughout the growing season in every watershed tested.

The results, published this week, raise significant questions about possible threats to the insects that form the base of the food chain in aquatic ecosystems, and they follow another study last month that found sharp declines in birds wherever the insecticides were widely used in Holland.

The concentrations found by the study are lower than those the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers fatal to aquatic insects, she said. But other scientists have found that the EPA’s estimates for toxicity may be too high.

Neonicotinoids, a synthetic nicotine, are neurotoxins whose use has exploded since they were first introduced in the mid-1990s. They are now the most widely used insecticide in the world, having quickly replaced older classes of chemicals that were far more toxic to humans and mammals.‘ (my note: The neonicotinoid family includes acetamiprid, clothianidin, imidacloprid, nitenpyram, nithiazine, thiacloprid and thiamethoxam.)

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Personally…I don’t think bathing and drinking these chemicals are good for people either… If these insecticides are affecting insects and birds then how can we suppose that they are not affecting our children too?

Here’s an article on the relationship between pesticides in water and lymphoma (blood cancer)

Note the remark above that while the levels are below EPA guidelines that some scientists think the guidelines are set too high. I’ve been saying this for a long time…

Read the entire article about these insecticides found in Midwest rivers.

And here’s a study on the presence of Round Up, aka Glyphosate and it’s presence in over 40% of all places sampled in the U.S.:

http://www.i-sis.org.uk/Widespread_Glyphosate_Contamination_in_US.php

You are getting maximum exposure to pesticides during the summer. And not all of these pesticides are listed in your water report. Still, a review of your local water report is the best way to learn what type of water treatment system would be appropriate for your home. Besides reviewing the contaminants I like to look at your water source so you can know what is upstream of you. If there is farming upstream of you then you can count on the presence of pesticides. If there are cities and towns upstream of you then you can count on the presence of unregulated contaminants including pharmaceuticals, a very serious issue. Insecticides have been found in all midwestern rivers.

If you’d like to learn how to remove pesticides from your water you can start at these two pages on my main website. If you’re on city water learn more here:

http://www.cleanairpurewater.com/water_report.html

If you’re on your own well water, learn more here:

http://www.cleanairpurewater.com/water_test_kits.html

If it were me I would definitely not expose myself to pesticides in either the shower or drinking water. Just sayin’…

Pesticides can be removed by an effective whole house carbon filter that has specific characteristics. You can learn more about my Urban Defender whole house water filter here.

Here’s an excerpt second article on the same insecticides in food:

“Researchers from the Harvard School of Public health bought fresh fruit and vegetables from grocery stores in Massachusetts and collected pollen from beehives in Massachusetts and New Zealand in 2012. They washed the produce, which included apples, strawberries, peppers, oranges and pumpkins. Seventy-two percent of fruits, 45 percent of vegetables and 50 percent of honey samples contained at least one of several neonicotinoids for which researchers tested.

“These results show the prevalence of low-level neonicotinoid residues in fruits, vegetables, and honey that are readily available in the market for human consumption and in the environment where honeybees forage,” the authors wrote in the study, which was published last month in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.”

Yet another study explores the prevalence of pesticides in river in Minnesota. What’s the take away? If your water source is a river and there is farming upstream of you then you will be bathing in pesticides. That puts you at risk of developing lymphoma.

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