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EPA Sued Over Pesticides Toxic Effects on Farm Children

Source: Natural Resources Defense Council
Published: June 08, 2005

Children growing up around farms face increased risk from exposure to hazardous pesticides, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In the United States, more than a million children of farm workers live near farms, including more than 300,000 farmers� children under the age of six live on farms who are especially vulnerable to toxic effects of pesticides.

The lawsuit, by a coalition of farm workers, environmental and public health groups, charges the agency with ignoring the special risk to children who are exposed to hazardous pesticides, from their food, the air, soil and water, and even from the clothes of their parents.

The plaintiffs charge that EPA has failed to consider farm kids' heightened exposure risks when setting allowable pesticide standards for food.

"Congress told EPA to set pesticide levels for food that provide a reasonable certainty of no harm to all our children, including kids living on and near farms," said Michael Wall, senior attorney with NRDC, who represents the plaintiffs. "EPA has abdicated its responsibility."

Under the 1996 law, the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA), EPA is required to account for specific factors when setting tolerance levels for chemical pesticide residues that consumers and "major identifiable subgroups" of consumers may be exposed to. In October 1998, the plaintiffs petitioned EPA to identify farm children as meriting special consideration. The groups are suing EPA for failing to respond to the petition within a reasonable amount of time.

The plaintiffs say EPA is ignoring growing scientific evidence that farm children face increased health risks because of pesticide exposure. The exposure is linked to neurological disorders, such as Parkinson's disease, reduced cognitive functioning and reduced coordination; developmental delays in infants and children; reproductive harms, such as infertility, stillbirths, birth defects and musculoskeletal defects; and cancer, including brain tumors, leukemia, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, sarcoma and Wilm's tumor.

"Studies have shown elevated levels of pesticides in the homes and cars of farming families that are absorbed by workers and their children," Shelley Davis, co-executive director of the Farmworker Justice Fund, co-counsel for the plaintiffs, said. "Put together with evidence of increased rates of cancer and birth defects among farm workers and their children, this research raises a red flag.�

The plaintiffs are Pesticide Action Network North America; United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO; NRDC; Clean Water Action; and Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides. Farmworker Justice Fund and NRDC are serving as co-counsel for the plaintiffs.

Read Full Story at Natural Resources Defense Council

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