> Contact: John Bianchi
> 212/979-3026
> [log in to unmask]
>
> NY LEARNS PESTICIDE IS LEADING CAUSE OF BIRD DEATHS
> Audubon Calls on Other States to Test for Pesticides, Release Data
>
> New York, NY, June 20, 2001 - A New York State wildlife official has
> discovered that of birds collected for a study on West Nile Virus, more
died
> from pesticide poisoning than from the virus itself.  In response to this
> early data, the National Audubon Society is calling upon Connecticut,
> Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia to begin testing
> dead birds for pesticide poisoning, if they have not already, and to
> publicly release their findings.
>
> "This data is very troubling," said John Flicker, President of National
> Audubon Society. "States owe it to their residents to get to the bottom of
> this."
>
> Last year, prompted by concern about the spread of West Nile Virus, New
York
> State asked counties to report dead birds to its wildlife pathology
> laboratory.  After receiving more than 80,000 birds, Dr. Ward Stone
> discovered that while the virus was a factor in some of the deaths, the
> leading cause was pesticide poisoning.  Common lawn care chemicals were
> among the most common toxins.
>
> "Millions of us use pesticides like Diaznon and Dursban at home," said
Frank
> Gill, Audubon's Senior Vice President of Science. "We deserve to know as
> much as possible about their effect on us.  Like canaries in a coalmine,
> birds warn of danger in our environment.  If these chemicals kill birds,
> what are they doing to our kids?"
>
> In addition to threatening wildlife, pesticides are believed to harm
humans.
> According to Pesticide Watch, pesticides have been linked to a wide range
of
> human health hazards, from short-term impacts such as headaches and nausea
> to chronic conditions like cancer, reproductive harm, and endocrine
> disruption.
>
> "State governments are responsible for protecting the public's health,"
said
> Audubon President John Flicker.  "We think it's important for them to find
> out what these bird deaths mean."
>
> Founded in 1905 and supported by 600,000 members in 510 chapters
throughout
> the Americas, the National Audubon Society conserves and restores natural
> ecosystems, focusing on birds and other wildlife, and their habitats, for
> the benefit of humanity and the earth's biological diversity
>
> #  #  #
>

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