Articles

1. Pets and Pesticides: Let’s Be Careful Out There

   Are Over-the-Counter Flea-and-Tick Treatments Really Safe for Dogs and Cats?

   By M.B. Pell and Jillian Olsen | December 16, 2008

   Last June Diane Bromenschenkel applied a flea-and-tick product to her English pointer, Wings, so the dog wouldn’t get ticks while hunting pheasant in the tall grasslands of western Idaho. Wings, a healthy five-year-old with a sleek white coat and a chocolate brown mask, enjoyed long walks in the woods, bacon treats, and burying things in the yard. But three months after the pesticide was applied, the animal was dead. Read more

2. World Wide Web of Pesticides Can Endanger Consumers

   The Internet Presents a Unique Challenge for Pesticide Regulators

   By Jillian Olsen | September 12, 2008

   Termites? No problem. On DoMyOwnPestControl.com, $64.99 buys a 20-ounce bottle of Termidor SC. That’s enough for anyone with a credit card and a shipping address to make 24 gallons of anti-termite spray. Never mind that the manufacturer, BASF Corporation, authorizes only licensed exterminators who have undergone a special training program to handle the pesticide, according to the product’s website. Read more

3. A Checkered Past

   The EPA’s Erratic Effort to Monitor Pesticide Poisonings

   By Jim Morris and M.B. Pell | July 30, 2008

   “Pregnant lady & family sprayed by crop dusters. Wet faces. All sick: diarrhea, nausea, pains, memory loss . . .”
   
   “Old lady experienced chest pain, dizziness, sore throat, headache, eye irritation . . .”
   
   “Man mixed dip product according to label proportions. When he applied to cat, the cat began shaking, vomiting, and died.” Read more