By Eve Clute, DPH
Instructor, Public Health Program at American Public University
When I am not teaching public health courses, such as Health Services Administration, Grant Writing, and Environmental Health, I research pesticides in our food supply, as I have been doing for the past 20+ years. My research began at the National Cancer Institute in Rockville MD.
As a member of the Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project (LIBCSP) I was among several investigators who reviewed the possible environmental causes of breast cancer in areas of Suffolk and Nassau counties of Long Island. These areas were selected due to an abnormally high number of women dying from breast cancer (Gammon, 2002). I was introduced to women on Long Island, who had single or double mastectomies and were questioning why this was happening to them.
My focus was on DDT, an organochlorine compound, which was possibly associated with increased risk for breast cancer. In the 1940’s millions of gallons of DDT were sprayed on Long Island potato farms, the largest potato growing area in the US (Visser,1997). Several studies showed that the women in Long Island showed high levels of serum p,p′–DDT which “predicted a statistically significant 5-fold increased risk of breast cancer among women who were born after 1931” (Cohn, 2007, pg 1).
I was very concerned about these findings, and reviewed the data on pesticides used in Hawaii, another area of high breast cancer rates and DDT usage. This became the focus of my doctoral research and subsequent research.
In addition, such research can help decision-makers, to ban food additives that harm human health in large segments of the US population from children to adults (The Center for Food Safety, 2012). Removing these additives from the food supply can play a role in decreasing the risk of food allergies and other health issues. Labeling food additives such as genetically modified organisms [GMO’s] has been a legal battle that continues in many states (Harmon & Pollack, 2012).
For example, StarLinkâ„¢ refers to a variety of yellow corn genetically engineered [GMO] with the Cry9C protein, which destroys the stomach cells of corn-eating insects. EPA approved StarLink corn for animal feed, but declared that it was illegal in human food. In 1996, StarLink corn was found in corn tacos; it had entered the food supply. The EPA Scientific Advisory panel determined that StarLink corn was a medium risk potential human allergen (EPA, 2008). Human corn allergies have been documented as causing unexplained rashes, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, stomach and joint pain, and lethargy, when this corn is eaten. In the worst-case scenario, a corn allergy can lead to death (Tanaka, El-Dahr, Lehrer, 2001).
As a result, StarLink corn is no longer grown. This was a major victory, because this variety of corn had been regulated by the US EPA, as a pesticide, since 1996 (EPA, 2008). This corn was only found in the US food supply. No other country will allow it!
Many years of collaborative research led to the March 2011 decision by the US Supreme Court to ban the genetically modified crop “Roundup Ready Alfalfa [RRA].” Roundup Ready Alfalfa became a regulated item and illegal to plant because of its environmental impacts. Had RRA been planted, bees pollinating the crop would have spread its pollen, threatening several varieties of microbial, plant and animal species with extinction.
In much of my research, I am able to make discoveries to improve people’s lives, at the present to the distant future. Continued research is needed to improve the way we make decisions about our health. It is less expensive to prevent disease, than to spend billions of dollars finding a cure. Everyone, please eat healthy to stay healthy!
References
The Center for Food Safety (2012) Legal Actions, retrieved from http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/campaign/genetically-engineered-food/crops/legal-actions/
EPA (2008) Starlinkâ„¢ Corn Regulatory Information, retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/opp00001/biopesticides/pips/starlink_corn.htm
Gammon M, et al. (2002) “The Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project: Description of a Multi-institutional Collaboration to Identify Environmental Risk Factors for Breast Cancer,” Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, 74:235-254, 2002
Harmon A .& Pollack, A (2012) Battle Brewing Over Labeling of Genetically Modified Food retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/25/science/dispute-over-labeling-of-genetically-modified-food.html?_r=0&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1354308227-/LeOPM+73CiNp+keQ//nS
Tanaka LG, El-Dahr JM, Lehrer SB. (2001) Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Corn Challenge Resulting in Anaphylaxis. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2001; 107:744.
Trautmann N & Porter K (2012) Modern Agriculture: Its Effects on the Environment, Center for Environmental Research Natural Resources
Cornell Cooperative Extension retrieved from http://psep.cce.cornell.edu/facts-slides-self/facts/mod-ag-grw85.aspx
Visser, T (1997). Field Guide to New England Barns and Farm Buildings. Hanover and London: University Press of New England.
About the Author:
As the winner of the Sierra Club’s “Environmentalist of the Year” award in 1985, Dr. Eve Clute, promotes the reduction of pesticides on food crops. Dr. Clute was a team member on the National Cancer Institute [NCI] Long Island Breast Cancer Study. At NCI, she researched and compiled 10 volumes [2000 pages] on the environmental effects of pesticides on human health.
After publishing “Tamoxifen: Cancer Preventive or Human Carcinogen” in the Univ. of Princeton Press, Dr. Clute was invited to speak at the first World Breast Cancer Conference in Edmonton, Canada.
Studying the effects of pesticides in her home state, she co-authored “Pesticides and Cancer in Hawaii” in Environmental Health Perspectives. Dr. Clute is currently the vice president of the West Maui Sustainability group, and promoter of organic school and community gardens.
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