Udall co-sponsors bill to increase pesticide oversight
Legislation targets chemicals that can cause neurological damage in kids
U.S. Sen. Tom Udall is spearheading what would be the most extensive pesticide legislation in 25 years, calling for greater federal oversight of chemicals that can pose health hazards to farmworkers and consumers, especially children.
Udall, a New Mexico Democrat, and U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., have introduced a bill to strengthen regulatory review and ban certain agricultural chemicals that can be harmful to human health and the environment.
They’re calling it the Protect America’s Children from Toxic Pesticides Act. It would target chemicals such as paraquat and chlorpyrifos, which research has shown can cause neurological damage in children.
“It’s time to put our children ahead of the chemical industry,” Udall said at a Tuesday teleconference with reporters. “It’s time to make sure that our nation’s laws regulating unsafe pesticides are doing the job.”
The proposed law also would screen out insecticides that can wipe out bees, whose pollination is essential to growing crops.
It would enable citizens to petition the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to examine specific pesticides and discontinue them if they are deemed unsafe, Udall said.
The legislation also would make it harder for the EPA to issue emergency exemptions for pesticides that haven’t undergone a full health and safety review, he added.
Local communities would have more power to restrict pesticide use without being overridden by state authorities. And the proposed law would suspend the use of pesticides banned by the European Union and Canada until the EPA thoroughly vetted them, Udall said.
“For too long, children, farmworkers and countless others have been harmed by dangerous pesticides, including many banned in other countries,” said Emily Knobbe, an EPA policy specialist at the Center for Biological Diversity.
The U.S. uses about 1 billion pounds of pesticides a year, which is almost a sixth of the pesticides applied worldwide, according to data compiled by the National Institutes of Health.
One representative of New Mexico’s agricultural industry said banning pesticides would make growers’ jobs more difficult, driving up costs.
“Any time you take away the tools from the toolbox of the farmers and ranchers, it’s going to have an impact,” said Chad Smith, CEO of the New Mexico Farm and Livestock Bureau.
Smith said he understands the concerns about health and the environment.
“But we would like to base our rationale behind some science,” Smith said, adding that concerns about pesticides can be debated.
Gary Hirschberg, co-founder of Stonyfield Organics, said organic food, once a niche market, has grown tremendously in popularity and now can be found in most supermarkets.
“Which again shows the increased consumer awareness and the demand for pesticide-free food,” Hirshberg said.
The bill faces hurdles, namely the GOP-controlled Senate, which is friendly to the industry, and President Donald Trump, who has sought to roll back environmental regulations and has opposed most efforts to create new ones.
Udall said it’s possible supporters of the measure could muster bipartisan support in the Senate because pesticides can adversely affect everyone’s constituents. But he acknowledged getting the bill signed into law would be a challenge while Trump is president.
“Obviously in January I hope we’re going to get a new administration, and I think they would be sympathetic to listen to the Congress,” Udall said. “I would remind you that we’re at the beginning of the process.”
Both Udall and Neguse noted the EPA approved a total of 100 pesticides in 2017 and 2018, including some chemicals the EU has banned.
Among the most toxic pesticides applied to crops are organophosphates such as chlorpyrifos, Udall said.
Under the Obama administration, the EPA decided in 2015 to phase out chlorpyrifos, a neurotoxin that in large enough doses can pose health risks to field workers and sprayers and can harm children’s neurological development.
But in 2017, former EPA chief
Scott Pruitt, a Trump appointee, reversed that decision.
“Another generation of children will now be exposed to this and similar organophosphates,” said Dr. Lynn Goldman, former assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. “The pesticide registration is in dire need of reform so that chemicals like these can be taken off the market.”
Better regulation of pesticides would help protect workers and their families against exposure to dangerous chemicals, said Teresa Romero, president of United Farm Workers.
“At the heart of the fight against harmful pesticides are countless incidents of workers who have experienced pesticide poisoning, and parents whose children are dealing with learning disabilities and other health impairments,” Romero said.