Please email Governor O'Malley to urge him to support a mandatory pesticide reporting database in Maryland. There are two ways to contact Governor O'Malley.
Click on the link to the Action Alert from the Maryland Pesticide Network:
http://www.capwiz.com/mpn/issues/alert/?alertid=62973201
Click on the link to the Governor's office to compose your own email:
http://www.governor.maryland.gov/mail
Please show Governor O'Malley that you care about this issue. We need to have a pesticide reporting database in Maryland.
For further information, please read below.
Background
Over the summer of 2013, the Pesticide Workgroup met and heard testimony from experts about the need for this database. Right now, there is no central database enabling health professionals and state agencies to determine where and in what quantities pesticides are being used. With evidence pointing to the harmful effects of pesticides on honeybees and humans, it is important to take this simple no-nonsense step. It is mind-boggling that no such database exists.
Recent Research
In "Growing up with Pesticides," a recent article in Science magazine, science writer Angela Mascarelli reported on three longitudinal studies that "followed children since the late 1990's to investigate the impact of chemicals in the environment on the brain" (Mascarelli, Science, 8/16/13). She noted that "chronic exposure to high does of pesticides is associated with neuro-degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease and cognitive defects" (Mascarelli). In addition, she pointed out that "highy exposed children had lower mental development...and an increase in ADHD-like behaviors at age 5" (Mascarelli). Ms. Mascarelli outlined other detrimental effects revealed in the studies.
And of course, there is growing evidence that pesticides are at least partially responsible for the recent devastation of the honeybee population. Ecowatch recently reported on a recent study from the US Department of Agriculture and the University of Maryland that "found that low levels of pesticide exposure from crop pollination make honey bees more susceptible to the deadly gut parasite Nosema ceranae, contributing to declines in bee populations" (Ecowatch, July 29, 2013). Lead researcher, Jeff Pettis, Ph.D., at the Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsville, MD presents an alarming picture of the effects of a fungicide on bee populations. Needless to say, we all know that the demise of honeybee populations would have a devastating effect on food production.
Maryland Sierra Club Involvement
In 2012, Donna McDowell, Kim Birnbaum and others in the Sierra Club lobbied legislators to pass the Pesticide Reporting Act. The bill did not pass as originally written but the compromise result was the creation of a workgroup to look at this in depth over the summer and fall of 2013. There is now growing concern that both opposition from the Farm Bureau and professional pesticide companies and a budget shortfall could kill this important database. Dr. Ruth Berlin, Director of the Maryland Pesticide Network, has worked tirelessly to bring pesticide reporting to Maryland. She and scores of others -- mothers, scientists, health care providers -- are clear about the importance of this database.