Forwarded:: PA FIELD TESTS APPROVED BY EPA

[baumbaug@nosc.mil (Joel T. Baumbaugh)]

     Please  pardon me if this article is not applicable for this
list,  but  this  article  is a LITTLE scary to me  and  I'm  not
usually  much  of  an  alarmist.  If these food  color  dyes  are
currently approved for "human" use, and (yet) their reaction with
sun  light  is strong enough to kill some pretty  hardy  insects,
what  (surface/internal  damage)  are  they  currently  doing  to
humans??   A small but significant percentage of many wavelengths
of  light penetrate far into the body.  So much so, that there is
currently  some research on using intense light to replace x-rays
for some internal body imaging.

     I wonder where these dyes are stored in the mammalian body -
in  fat  (e.g.  breast  tissue)?  When I'm out at  the  beach  or
working  in  my yard, am I contributing to my potential for  skin
cancer,  not  just because I'm exposed to (U.V in) sunlight,  but
also  because  of  what I have eaten or applied to my  body?   Of
course, this is not a new concept, but I'm surprised that the FDA
so   readily  gave  approval  to  a  concept  without  (apparent)
consideration  as to what products may already contain these dyes
and  to what may already be occurring to the general  population.
There  are a LOT of cancer rates that are increasing at  somewhat
alarming rates with no "concrete" explanation(s).

     Whew, sorry I was so wordy,


     Joel Baumbaugh (Baumbaug@nosc.mil)
     Naval Research and Development (NRaD)
     San Diego, CA


Std.  disclaimers  apply here.  The Navy, the federal  government
and  my  supervisors have not reviewed, nor do  they  necessarily
agree with my opinions or conclusions.


Forwarded mail follows:
Date: Fri, 11 Aug 1995 12:47:40 -0400
Sender: epa-press@unixmail.rtpnc.epa.gov
From: GROUP PRESS 202-260-4355 <PRESS@epamail.epa.gov>
To: Multiple recipients of list
<epa-press@unixmail.rtpnc.epa.gov>
Subject: PA FIELD TESTS APPROVED BY EPA


FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 1995

FIELD TESTS APPROVED BY EPA FOR POTENTIAL
REPLACEMENT  OF MALATHION FRUIT FLY PESTICIDE

EPA has approved an experimental use permit for large-scale field
tests  of  a  formulation of light-activated red dye,  which  has
shown   high  potential  for  killing  certain  target  pests  in
preliminary  lab  and  field trials by researchers  of  the  U.S.
Department  of Agriculture.  SureDye (tradename), the new product
may  be  a replacement for the pesticide malathion, now  used  in
bait sprays to control fruit fly pests in the United States.  The
field  tests will be carried out in California (oranges),  Hawaii
(coffee),  and  Texas (grapefruit) by the  Agricultural  Research
Service  of  the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  The red dye  is
mixed  with  a yellow dye that apparently works as  a  synergist.
Both  dyes  have  been  approved for use by  the  Food  and  Drug
Administration  for  products  such as  soap,  lipstick,  antacid
medications  and  other  drugs and cosmetics. In  earlier  tests,
fruit  flies  in Hawaii and Texas ate tiny amounts of SureDye  in
sugar  water and died after a few hours of exposure to light.  As
sunlight  penetrates  the insect's cuticle or body covering,  the
dye  apparently collects the solar energy.  The energy changes to
a  form  that  excites oxygen molecules, disabling  the  insect's
cells  to function and killing it.  The dye concentrations in the
preliminary   tests   were  much  smaller  than   the   malathion
concentrations currently used in bait sprays.