Congress Must Take Action to Protect the Public from Toxic Weed Killers:
For decades the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has taken little action to protect people from harmful chemicals used on our foods and our farmland, shirking its duties under the Food Quality Protection Act to assure a “reasonable certainty of no harm” from pesticides consumed by children and pregnant women in food. That’s what the author of a powerful op-ed in The Hill argues.As a result of the EPA’s inaction concerning the chemical chlorpyrifos, in 2007, a consortium of farm worker, health, child protection, and environmental groups filed suit against the EPA. The latest ruling of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals gave the EPA until August 31, 2021, to take action. But the EPA isn’t just stalling concerning chlorpyrifos.
Stalling, Delay, & Litigation
In recent decades, chemical manufacturers have gotten too much control over the science supporting EPA risk assessments. Companies have learned they can pressure the EPA into agreeing to complete yet another study while keeping their dangerous products on the market.Because the the EPA has delayed in acting against toxic chemicals, a wave of lawsuits began in 2015. The first lawsuit involved more than 125,000 people suing Bayer AG over the popular weed killer Roundup. Bayer lost its first three trials before finally settling for more than
$11 Billion.
Similar litigation is pending against the manufacturers of the herbicide Paraquat, linked to Parkinson’s Disease, and chlorpyrifos, linked to child neuro-development. But the litigation involving all three of these chemicals raises alarming flags about chemical manufacturers’ influence over the science behind chemical risk assessment and, ultimately, the EPA’s decision-making process.
Congress Can Fix This
To solve the current incestuous issues at the EPA, the authors offer two remedies for Congress:
- Only independent scientists funded by registration fees should conduct the toxicology studies behind the EPA decision-making.
- Congress should eliminate the “Confidential Business Information” designation given to pesticide formulas so that doctors and scientists know what chemicals may cause illness and environmental damage.
They say that sunlight is the best disinfectant. In the case of the EPA and its business dealings with pesticide manufacturers, only transparency in the approval and scientific processes can help Americans regain trust in the agency tasked with protecting human health and the environment.
Contact the Madeksho Law Firm
If you believe that Paraquat, Roundup, or another harmful herbicide has harmed you or a loved one, the Madeksho Law Firm may be able to help. Contact us by phone at 1-888-910-6376 or through our online form. Your initial consultation is free, and you never pay a fee unless we recover compensation on your behalf.
