The impacts of this project will be critical to understanding human and
environmental health risks from agrochemicals in both the short and long term.
Risk is defined by both exposure and hazard. The W-45 researchers will be
advancing knowledge about major exposure routes and the hazardous or adverse
impacts of agrochemicals to cells, organisms and ecosystems, thus completing the
information necessary for understanding risks. Another major outcome of this
project is the development of technologies to mitigate adverse impacts and the
use of extension/outreach to communicate this information to the agricultural
industry and the public. The members of W-45 have an enviable track record of
publishing their work in refereed journals and presenting it at well-known
venues in professional organizations. In addition, four of the research
scientists in the project have extension responsibilities as part of their
faculty positions. The overall outcome of the W-45 project will be a substantial
increase of knowledge that will be extended to a wide variety of audiences. Some
specific outcomes of individual projects are summarized below.
The Hawaii project is expected to develop and improve new analytical methods
for environmental compatibility, accuracy, fast analysis, and
cost-effectiveness. The economic benefits to the agricultural industry in
tropical ecosystems will be critical to its sustainability. The New York-Cornell
project will be reducing risks of children to pesticides by determining what the
exposures are in house dust and indoor air. Results from this work will
immediately be translated into educational programs about practices to reduce
agrochemicals in the home. The work at California-Davis is critical to measuring
biomarkers by standardizing cholinesterase measurement. A significant benefit
will be the ability to compare worker cholinesterase levels throughout the
state, and these results will be available for the entire region and for the
country.
The project in New Mexico will concentrate on using mechanistic studies to
minimize agricultural losses due to weeds. Annual agricultural losses due to
weeds exceed $20 billion in the United States. Understanding the mechanisms
involved will provide environmentally sound and cost-effective approaches to
weed management. The work in Florida will generate potential biological means
for reduction of volatilization and leaching of volatile and water soluble
pesticides from root-zone soil. Research in Nevada and California will
understand adverse impacts from agrochemicals on cells, organisms and
ecosystems, making important contributions to health of people and ecosystems.
Development of technologies and other methods to mitigate adverse impacts
will be critical to the outcomes of W-45 work. For example, Cornell researchers
are developing important new technologies to treat pesticide wastewater and
rinse water. Money will be saved in municipal sewer systems if water delivered
for treatment has already been pretreated with an advanced oxidation method to
remove toxics. Work at ARS-Beltsville and Riverside will provide usable farming
systems to grow vegetables that minimize negative impacts on surrounding
ecosystems.
Other work at Cornell will provide critical information to scientists, health
professionals, and the general public about human health effects of
agrochemicals. The development of technical reports on health effects of
agrochemicals and of related educational materials for the consumer will provide
peer-reviewed scientific information to public policy makers and risk assessors
on the relationship(s) between selected agrochemicals, cancer risk and other
health risks and will provide practical strategies that can be used to reduce
exposure to suspect agrochemicals to diverse audiences. These audiences include
undeserved populations who may be the most vulnerable and at highest risk for
exposure to pesticides and other chemicals, including the rural poor and inner
city residents.
In addition to the important outcomes in each state, the W-45 project will
have joint outcomes as a result of the collaboration in this multistate project.
A joint meeting with W-188, W-45, and W-82 in San Diego in January, 2002 is
planned. The groups intend to produce a monograph that will distill key issues
related to their research into a form that can be used by extension and other
professionals throughout the country. Other joint projects of W-45, which can be
disseminated in a variety of ways, are agrochemical management guidelines,
extension educational materials, position papers and policy papers. Many of
these materials can be put on the web (an excellent example of this is the BCERF
web site at Cornell).
Finally, the strength of W-45 committee is its scientific diversity and its
commitment to superior science. As such, at its annual meeting, individual
projects are rigorously reviewed from many different scientific and regional
perspectives, often yielding new approaches and strategies to test. Many members
are often found publishing and communicating with scientists outside their
disciplines. From the results of W-45 project, human and environmental risks
from agrochemicals will be reduced, food production will be more economically
managed, and model risk reduction approaches will be available for use
nationwide.
