EPA Sued Over Children's Exposure to Pesticides (fwd)

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EPA Sued Over Children's Exposure to Pesticides

By Gail Appleson

NEW YORK (Reuters) Sept 15 - The Environmental Protection Agency was

sued by four states and a coalition of conservation, public health

and farmworker groups on Monday for failing to protect children from

unsafe levels of pesticide residue found in food.

The plaintiffs, who filed two separate cases in Manhattan federal

court, seek court orders forcing the EPA to comply with a 1996 law

requiring that the agency set pesticide residue standards 10 times

stricter than those considered acceptable for adults.

One of the suits was brought by the attorneys general of New York,

Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Jersey. The other case was brought

by an 11-member group that includes the Natural Resources Defense

Council, Pesticide Action Network North America, the Breast Cancer

Fund, and the Physicians for Social Responsibility.

Both cases focus on a group of high-risk pesticides used on fruits,

vegetables and nuts commonly eaten by children.

" Some of these pesticides are so toxic that a teaspoon can cause

acute poisoning in people, resulting in seizures and coma, " the NRDC

suit said. " One is so potent that the EPA says to protect against

acute toxicity, a toddler should not be exposed to an amount weighing

less than a single grain of salt per day. Lower doses over time may

cause neurological damage, learning disabilities, behavioral

problems, and cancer. "

Despite this, the EPA has waived the required tenfold safety factor

for the pesticides, the NRDC charged.

EPA spokesman Dave Deegan said he could not comment specifically on

suits until the lawyers had reviewed the papers, but added, " The EPA

has not deviated from our ongoing efforts to completely implement the

Food Quality Protection Act of 1996. "

The suits state that children are far more susceptible to harm from

pesticide residue on food than adults. This is because they are

undergoing rapid growth; do not have mature metabolic functions to

deal with toxic residues and because they consume more food for their

size than adults.

They said that the EPA had based residue limits on data from adults

but that Congress passed the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act to

require the agency to set residue levels that are safe for children.

The act requires the EPA use an additional tenfold margin of safety

to account for the special susceptibility of infants and children

when establishing tolerances for pesticides in food.

The tougher standard can be waived only when there is comprehensive

scientific information showing that a lesser standard is still safe

for children.

Reuters Health Information 2003. © 2003 Reuters Ltd.