Pesky Pesticides: Environmental Risks with Agricultural Operations

Pesky Pesticides: Environmental Risks with Agricultural Operations

Agricultural operations play a major role in today’s environmental pollution concerns. Erosion of agricultural land can discharge large quantities of sediment which often contain harmful chemicals, such as pesticides – a broad term for substances meant to manage pests and includes herbicides, and insecticides. Agricultural pests can include a wide array of insects, mites, weeds, fungus and plant disease, parasitic worms and even rodents.

How do pesticides impact the environment? Pesticides and their residues remain in the environment long after application and can drift far beyond their target areas. The movement of pesticides into groundwater and surface water has the potential to impact drinking water sources resulting in unintended environmental risks. Certain pesticides can also pose vapor intrusion threats or bioaccumulate in the food chain.

Why are pesticides harmful to human health? Modern pesticides are typically synthetic organic chemicals that can possess toxic properties. Direct exposure and ingestion of pesticides has been associated with both acute and delayed health effects, ranging from simple skin and eye irritation to more severe impacts on the nervous and reproductive systems.¹

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History of Chemical Control

Chemical control of agricultural pests has been in practice for centuries. Some of the earliest forms of pesticides consisted of petroleum and oils, where highly refined paraffinic oils were applied to crops to manage fungal and insect pests. These oils evaporated quickly after application and generally did not contaminate the soil or groundwater.²

By 1980, agriculture used 72% of all pesticides applied in the United States with herbicides and insecticides accounting for 89% of that quantity. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) studies have shown that commercial agriculture – specifically, 21 crops grown domestically – has consistently accounted for nearly 75% of pesticide use in the country from 1964 to 2007^.1

During this timeframe increased public concern and increased regulatory scrutiny changed the landscape of which pesticides could be used and applied.

Regulatory Framework

Pesticides have been regulated federally since the early 1900’s and throughout the decades the standard framework has become more stringent:³

1947: New regulations were established under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), which required pesticides to be registered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) before sale and packaging to explicitly state if the substance was poisonous.

Mid-1960’s: The publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring in 1962 brought attention to the environmental consequences of pesticide use. Around the same time, FIFRA was amended to give USDA authority to deny, cancel and immediately suspend use of pesticides to prevent imminent risk to humans and the environment.

1970s: Congress transferred responsibility for administering FIFRA to EPA. The newly created agency was additionally tasked with conducting scientific reevaluations for previously approved pesticides. EPA determined that pesticides such as DDT, aldrin, dieldrin, chlordane, and heptachlor, posed unreasonable risks and their registrations were canceled and their use was prohibited.

1980-1990’s: The required EPA assessment includes a 10-fold safety factor for childhood exposure. Under tightening standards, herbicides like atrazine, cyanazine, simazine, alachlor and metolachlor were accompanied with use advisories and restrictions. New pesticides with novel active ingredient formulations are still being created each year and each is subject to EPA review and approval.

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Environmental Pollution Exposure

Whether it be Rachel Carson unveiling how DDT caused declining bird populations or the countless stories of Agent Orange’s lasting affects in Vietnam, it has long been known that pesticides can pose a significant threat to the environment and human health.

Pesticides can persist and migrate in the environment posing a potential exposure risk beyond property bounds and the typical occupational exposures associated with agriculture. A greater population, beyond farmworkers, can be exposed to pesticides through three main pathways:⁴

Ingestion
Inhalation
Direct contact

Pesticides in the Environment: Transport and Breakdown

Pesticides and their residues remain active in the environment after application and can drift far beyond their target areas through natural transport mechanisms such as air, water, soil erosion or leaching. However, not all pesticides behave similarly, and many factors determine the fate and future exposure risk each might present.

Both environmental factors (soil type, compaction, pH, etc.) and chemical composition determine the fate of a pesticide. Chemical composition will determine the sorption potential, solubility, and persistence (i.e., natural half-life) of a particular pesticide.^5,6

Orchards: A Closer Look

Historically, arsenic-containing compounds were the most prevalent pesticides applied at fruit orchards. In the 1800s, pesticides known as Paris Green, a mixture of copper and arsenic, and London Purple, a mixture of calcium, arsenic, and organic matter, were the two most common pesticides used on fruit trees. Later, lead arsenate became the preferred pesticide and dominated orchard applications, especially apple orchards, until the 1940’s when synthetic pesticides emerged.⁷

Arsenic and other metals contamination (i.e., lead) is likely to be encountered at properties with a history of orchard use. Arsenic is persistent in the environment as it is very soluble in water and will readily disperse in groundwater and surface water.

DDT replaced lead arsenate as the preferred pesticide in the mid-20th century until it was later banned in 1972. Though DDT and other synthetic chemicals tend to be less persistent than the arsenic-containing pesticides, their metabolites, or breakdown products, would still be detected today.

Organophosphate pesticides, which are highly toxic pesticides derived from neurotoxins, have also been widely used on orchards for decades, specifically apple orchards. The two most common organophosphate pesticides used are

AZM (azinphos-methyl)
Phosmet

Each have been registered for use since the 1960’s and continue to be a prevalent pesticide for orchard growers today. In 2008, in Washington State, where more than half of the country’s apples are grown, 80% of orchards reported use of AZM.

Organophosphate pesticides like these tend to adsorb tightly to organic soils and are highly soluble in water. Organophosphates often accumulate in orchard runoff as a result.⁸

Environmental Testing

Major environmental laboratories typically combine pesticide and herbicide analyses as one testing service. However, pesticides and herbicides are analyzed under separate EPA approved Test Methods, established under RCRA.

Download the full whitepaper to learn more about pesticides EPA testing methods

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Environmental Insurance

Why is environmental protection important for agricultural clients?

While some insurance policies offer protection for certain types of pollution-related events, many exclude pollution liability coverages. Such policies leave your agriculture clients to fend for themselves and attempt to adhere to the complex environmental regulations and requirements set forth by the government.

Environmental insurance fills the coverage gaps and supplements agriculture coverage by providing your clients with the proper protection. Many Farm policies will limit or exclude pollution coverage to losses at your clients’ owned farm locations and only provide 3rd party off-site protection limited only to a sudden and abrupt release or escape of governmentally approved “agricultural chemicals, liquids or gases” which take place within a period no greater than seventy-two (72) hours. A standalone environmental policy from Great American can offer both on and off-site clean-up coverage on a gradual basis (not limited to sudden and abrupt releases) and transportation coverage (including mobile equipment) and includes a broader definition of pollutants which encompasses more than the limited “agricultural chemicals, liquids or gases” covered by a Farm policy.

Contact your underwriter today to learn more about how our core products and services can help protect your clients’ operations. The experts at Great American take your clients’ portfolios to the next level by offering specialized coverage that can protect against complicated and often costly agricultural pollution risks. We encourage you to visit our Agriculture Environmental Exposure webpage and explore educational resources including claims scenarios, FAQ handout and Environmental Insider articles!

References:

1. https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs142p2_052821.pdf

2. http://counties.agrilife.org/upshur/files/2011/03/Using-Oils-as-Pesticides.pdf

3. https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/43854/46734_eib124.pdf

4. https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/endocrine/index.cfm

5. http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/bindingaffinity.html

6. http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/half-life.html

7. https://www.sightline.org/2011/10/31/farm-workers-and-pesticides-in-northwest-orchards

8. https://www.paragonlaboratories.com/epa-504-1

9. https://enveurope.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s12302-019-0206-0

10. http://www2.ca.uky.edu/agcomm/pubs/id/id93/ch_6.pdf

11. https://www.nap.edu/read/2132/chapter/12