“WHAT’S HAPPENING?”

The University of Tennessee Extension Service

Entomology & Plant Pathology - EPP #60

July 22, 2005

DOD RELEASES STUDY ON LINK BETWEEN AGENT ORANGE AND DIABETES

by Gene Burgess

The Department of Defense released today the latest report of the Air Force Health Study on the health effects of exposure to herbicides in Vietnam, which includes the strongest evidence to date that Agent Orange is associated with adult-onset diabetes. This supports the findings from earlier reports in 1992 and 1997.

The Air Force Health Study summarizes the results of the 2002 physical examination of 1,951 veterans, which is the final examination of the 20-year epidemiological study.

The Ranch Hand Study was named after the operation responsible for spraying herbicides in Vietnam between 1962 and 1971 to deny cover and destroy crops of the North Vietnamese Army.

Since the first examination in 1982, the Air Force has tried to determine whether long-term health effects exist in the Ranch Hand pilots and ground crews, and if these effects can be attributed to the herbicides used in Vietnam, mainly Agent Orange and its contaminant, dioxin.

The report, along with many other studies on herbicide and dioxin exposure, will be reviewed by the National Academy of Sciences. Based upon this review, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs can ask Congress for legislation on disability compensation and health care.

Results from the 2002 physical examination support adult-onset diabetes as the most important health problem seen in the Air Force Health Study. They suggest that as dioxin levels increase, not only are the presence and severity of adult-onset diabetes increased, but the time to onset of the disease is decreased.

A 166 percent increase in diabetes requiring insulin control was seen in those with the highest levels of dioxin. This is consistent with the strong evidence found in animal studies.

Cardiovascular disease findings were not consistent, but separate studies have found an increased risk of cardiovascular death in Ranch Hand enlisted ground crews, the subgroup with the highest average serum dioxin.

Overall, Ranch Hand pilots and ground crews examined in 2002 had not experienced a statistically significant increase in heart disease relative to the comparison group. Associations between measures of cardiac function and history of heart diseases and herbicide or dioxin exposure, were not consistent or clinically interpretable as adverse.

Other findings included an increase in the frequency of reported acne after service in Southeast Asia in Ranch Hand enlisted ground crew members, but the lack of corresponding patterns of skin lesions observed at the physical examination rendered this finding difficult to interpret.

Finally, several blood tests regarding liver function and blood lipids were elevated and did tend to increase with dioxin level. However, these tests may be elevated for many reasons, do not constitute a disease by themselves and cannot be explained by other findings in the study.

At the end of the 20 years of follow-up, Ranch Hand pilots and ground crews as a group exhibited no statistically significant increase in the risk of cancer relative to comparisons. Differences by military occupation were inconsistent.

Most important, the Ranch Hand enlisted ground crews, the subgroup with the highest dioxin levels and presumably the greatest herbicide exposure, exhibited a 14 percent decreased risk of cancer. These results do not suggest that herbicides or dioxin exposure are related to cancer in these veterans.

The report emphasizes three major limitations to the study. First, the results cannot be generalized to other groups, such as all Vietnam veterans or Vietnamese civilians, which have been exposed in different ways and to different levels of herbicide. Second, the size of the study makes it difficult to detect increases in rare diseases, thus small increases in rare diseases may be missed by the study. Third, other variables that were not considered in this report could be confounding factors influencing the results.

The report is available on the Air Force Health Study Web site at: http://www.brooks.af.mil/AFRL/HED/hedb/default.html

[Web Version:

http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2005/nr20050706-3922.html]

SOURCE: NEWS RELEASE from the United States Department of Defense

CHANGE IN BONDING REQUIREMENTS FOR PEST CONTROL OPERATORS

by Gene Burgess

The General Assembly of the State of Tennessee has amended the Tennessee Code Annotated as follows:

Effective July 1, 2005, a person, company or corporation applying for a new charter in category seven will furnish a surety bond in the amount of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) for the first three (3) years a person, company or corporation is in business. The fourth (4) year and subsequent years in business such surety bond will be ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per year. The provisions of this section will not apply to a person, company or corporation that, on the effective date of this act, has a current commercial pest control operator business charter.

Category 7, Industrial, Institutional, Structural and Health Related includes the following licensing categories, GRC (General Pest and Rodent Control), WDO (Wood Destroying Organisms), BDC (Bird Control) and FUM (Fumigation Structural)

SOYBEAN RUST UPDATE

by Melvin Newman and Beth Long

The latest soybean rust findings have been getting a little closer to TN. Dr. Bob Kemerait, Extension Plant Pathologist in Georgia reported finding soybean rust in a soybean sentinel plot on the Georgia Coastal Plain Experiment Station, Tifton, Georgia on July 18, 2005. The pustules were only found on one leaf out of 100 leaves collected. No commercial fields have been found to be infected with soybean rust as of this date in GA.

Soybean leaf tissue that was collected on July 13 from a sentinel plot in George Co. Mississippi has proven to be positive for soybean rust. This is the first and only find thus far in Mississippi. This site is close to the find in Baldwin Co. AL.

Soybean rust was visually confirmed on soybeans on July 19 from samples collected July 18 in the sentinel plot in Escambia Co., Florida. (Escambia Co. is adjacent to Baldwin Co. Alabama where there is an infected commercial field and sentinel plot). Due to these findings and weather conditions that favor rust development, rust spraying recommendations are now being made for growers only in the Florida western panhandle as their plants approach bloom, according to James Marois with the Univ. of Florida.

Also, Dr. Kemerait is recommending that soybean producers in the Coastal Plain of GA, begin spraying for soybean rust as plants reach the blooming stage with a triazole or triazole-strobilurin combination fungicide. Growers in Northern GA were advised to continue to follow the progress of the disease closely before beginning a spray program.

In Tennessee, four more look alike soybean rust spores were found in a spore trap near Winchester on Tuesday, July 19. This same trap had five spores last week. On July 5, two look alike spores were found in a trap in a sentinel plot at the experiment station in Jackson. No additional spores have been found at Jackson since that time.

It is not possible to confirm the accuracy of these microscope findings, but it is possible that these spores are soybean rust spores since recent wind currents have come from infested areas in FL, GA and AL. Weather conditions continue to be favorable for rust infection as well as for frogeye leaf spot, brown spot and anthracnose. Spraying for these late season diseases is recommended if soybeans are at the R3 stage of growth.

As of today, no soybean or kudzu rust infected plants have been reported anywhere in TN or near us in adjoining states.

Tennessee producers should be very watchful and report any leaf lesions that might be soybean rust to their local county agent or first detector person and be ready to spray for rust, if infected plants should be discovered in TN or close to us in adjoining states.

NEW SOYBEAN RUST HOTLINE 865-974-2392

by Melvin Newman and Beth Long

A soybean hot line has been set up for TN and short updates can be found recorded there. This recording is being updated two or three times a week or as necessary. The number is: 865-974-2392. Also, more complete updates can be found for all states including TN at the following web site: www.sbrusa.net

Disclaimer Statement

Pesticides recommended in this publication were registered for the prescribed uses when printed. Pesticide regulations

are continuously reviewed. Should registration or a recommended pesticide be canceled, it would

no longer be recommended by the University of Tennessee.

Use of trade or brand names in this publication is for clarity and information; it does not imply approval of the

product to the exclusion of others that may be of similar, suitable composition, nor does it guarantee or

warrant the standard of the product.

Precautionary Statement

To protect people and the environment, pesticides should be used safely. This is everyone’s responsibility,

especially the user. Read and follow label directions carefully before you mix, apply store or dispose of a pesticide. According to laws regulating pesticides, they must be used only as directed by the label.

Persons who do not obey the law will be subject to penalties.

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