Kauai group finds no harms tied to pesticide use

A fact-finding group said in its final report this week that it found no conclusive evidence of adverse health effects or environmental impacts due to pesticide use by seed companies on Kauai.

The report was released Wednesday by the Joint Fact-Finding Group, a team of nine Kauai citizens with science backgrounds, and was funded by the state Department of Agriculture and the office of Kauai Mayor Bernard Carvalho.

“The JFFG was charged with gathering accurate information on 1) the lands used by the seed companies and Kauai Coffee, 2) their pesticide usage, and 3) evidence of any possible adverse health and environmental impacts,” the Agriculture Department said in a press release.

The group grew out of health concerns and an effort to require Kauai seed companies to track pesticide use and regulate how they grow genetically modified crops on the Garden Isle.

State agricultural officials said claims about pesticide exposure on Kauai were inaccurate.

“I would like to thank the volunteer citizens who gave their time and energy serving on the Joint Fact-Finding Group,” said Scott Enright, chairman of the Hawaii Board of Agriculture.

The group in its report said more environmental monitoring and better information should be collected in the future.

The study followed incidents reported in 2006 and in 2008 at Waimea Canyon Middle School, where teachers and students complained of dizziness, nausea and headaches. Some residents suspected the cause was pesticide drift.

Scientists later found that there was no evidence of pesticide abuse by a nearby seed company and that stinkweeds growing near the middle school emitted noxious odors that could have been the source of the trouble.

Peter S. Adler, project director of the study group, said while there was no causal relationship found, the group was at times unable to gather the information it sought.

He said the group was unable to collect information about any medical findings of individuals possibly affected by pesticide poisoning, because of medical confidentiality laws.

“We don’t have that information,” he said. “We just need to do much more about rapid response.”

State legislators have approved spending $500,000 to improve air and water quality monitoring on Kauai.

Enright said California has done cutting-edge work in monitoring pesticide uses and that his department will be looking for guidance at what California has done in air and water quality monitoring.

“We don’t need to reinvent the wheel,” he said.