Entomologist advocates for biological controls

SANDPOINT — Bonner County’s continued reliance on herbicides to combat Eurasian milfoil is a threat to public safety which will not rid the Pend Oreille of the pernicious weed, according to Caroline Cox, research director for the Center for Environmental Health.

“I don’t want to keep you up at night. I want to give you reason to do something different,” Cox said during a presentation hosted by Sandpoint Mothers for Safe Water on Tuesday.

The group of concerned parents invited Cox to speak in Sandpoint following a presentation this spring from a toxicologist who downplayed the risk herbicides pose. Some questioned the objectivity of the presentation due to the toxicologist’s ties to the herbicide manufacturing industry.

The parents group sought Cox because she has no industry ties.

“She is not being paid by a company or any interest group,” said Heather Lewis Sebring, communications chair for the group.

Cox, however, is a noted crusader against the use of pesticides and herbicides, which has some critics questioning her objectivity on the subject. Cox, an entomologist, prefaced her presentation by pointing out that she is not a research scientist.

“Really, what I am is a messenger,” Cox said before embarking on a digital slide presentation showing government and academic studies which point to the troubling effects associated with herbicides.

Cox emphasized that herbicides address the symptom rather than the problem and referenced a number of studies which showed alarming links between their use and various forms of cancer.

One such study of citrus field workers in California indicated that workers exposed to 2,4-D were one and a half times more likely to develop gastric cancer than their unexposed colleagues. Another study suggested 2,4-D exposure was linked to higher incidents of birth defects in counties which relied heavily on the herbicide to treat fields in wheat-producing states.

Cox noted that people are already being exposed to herbicides and pesticides through the food they eat, the water they consume and the air they breathe. Cox also warned against the mixing of herbicides, a practice currently under way in the Pend Oreille.

“We know very, very little about the impacts of mixtures,” said Cox, adding that product testing done to certify a product for use are conducted by the companies trying to bring it to market.

Moreover, many of the studies being conducted either involve lab animals, blood cells or healthy adult males, which means there is little to address the question of how herbicides effect the growth and development of children who are exposed to them.

Cox said the development of biological controls is a promising and safer alternative to using herbicides. A study she conducted demonstrated the effectiveness of using flea beetles to crash the population of ragwort.

“It shows the power of biological weed control,” she said.