The report won't be ready for at least several months. Although the pesticide manufacturers had to study whether the chemicals caused cancer in lab animals, and submit the results to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for approval, the studies were not published publicly. In the case of Anvil, the manufacturer refused to release the study and the EPA has yet to provide Cornell researchers with the study name and reference number so they can request it through the Freedom of Information Act, said Suzanne Snedeker, research director of the breast cancer program. It becomes very difficult with many pesticides, where the only cancer studies are done as part of the registration process and not available. We have to go through this scientific detective work just to locate the names of the studies and their identification numbers.
Anvil can be an endocrine disrupter when used at high concentrations in a lab.
But a single dose at very low concentrations isn't likely to cause a risk, Snedeker said. The EPA also plans to review the potential for cancer and endocrine disruption for synthetic pyrethroids, the class of pesticides that includes Anvil, but not until 2002. DOH tallies cases The risk to human health is more complicated because people may be more vulnerable to pesticides at certain times, such as infancy and adolescence, and they are exposed to many pesticides and other chemicals throughout their lifetimes. That's why it's not necessarily clear cut if something is dangerous or not dangerous. The short-term health effects of Anvil, such as how much it might aggravate asthma, is another missing part of the picture.