"Didn't cause environmental problems" is not a statement that can be 
confirmed.  What data there is suggests it is not true. As a biologist 
I've become one of the canaries in the coal mine. I used to do toxic 
spill responses in shorts and a t-shirt that nowadays we realize require 
respirators and moon suits.  I also did literature reviews on known 
toxicities of agricultural chemicals; in most cases the absence of data 
was astounding, and this was in the 70's and early eighties when there 
was still some basic research happening.  Some chemicals that had been 
studied minimally had profound effects at low levels, for example at 6 
parts per trillion toxaphene caused spinal defects in fish. There are so 
many hormone disruptors out there now that it is almost impossible to 
sort out what is causing what.

I have permanent liver damage (determined by biopsy) from chemical 
exposures (formaldehyde and ag pesticides mostly). Even before that I 
had to read every label of everything I put in or on my body for fear of 
a food coloring, FD&C Yellow No 5, that was grandfathered in the fifties 
and which still kills many people by causing asthma and remaining 
undiagnosed despite its appearance in the Merck diagnostic Manual. I was 
lucky to figure it out for myself, my MD said "I should have thought of 
that"; I had the lungs of a 90 year old at age 40.

"There's no evidence that a substance is a problem" often just means 
nobody has studied it or we don't know enough about the biology of the 
organisms to determine problems.  For Creosote and Penta if there is 
enough evidence to qualify as superfund then it's probably pretty bad 
stuff.  I haven't time to dig out the data, but even an internet search 
should show something.

If anyone should appreciate the research deficit it is beekeepers.  The 
rare cases where the research is thorough on chemical impacts on bees we 
can't even get people to follow the law.

Carolyn in SC


Paul Cherubini wrote:
> And during the 200 mile drive to Kettleman City one would
> drive by thousands of telephone poles that had been pressure
> treated with Creosote / Pentachlorophenol decades ago and
> which didn't cause environmental problems.
> 
> Paul Cherubini
> El Dorado, Calif.

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