Press Release August 3, 1998	Contact: 202/462-6262 Jeannine Kenney, kennje@consumer.org Kathleen McShea, mcshka@consumer.org Consumer Union Washington, D. C. Office

CU Marks Second Anniversary of Food Quality Protection Act
Chides EPA for Delay, Offers Parents Pesticide Safety Tips

WASHINGTON -- Consumers Union marked the second anniversary of the Food Quality Protection Act Monday by releasing "seven tips" for parents to use to reduce their kids’ exposure to pesticides while consumers wait for the Environmental Protection Agency to put this law to work.

"Consumers Union is disappointed that the EPA has yet to implement key provisions designed to protect infants and children from harmful pesticides in the two years since this law went on the books," said Jeannine Kenney, a policy analyst for Consumers Union. "Parents want assurances that the federal government is doing all it can to protect their kids from pesticides found in food, water, air and other exposure sources such as homes and schools. The lack of leadership from EPA is troubling."

At issue is a landmark food safety law, the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA), which sets a strict new health standard designed to protect kids. The new law obligates the EPA to revise limits for pesticides residues in food. The agency will be reviewing the most hazardous pesticides over the next year, which may lead to the reduction in use or cancellation of some of the riskiest uses of pesticides.

To put the law to work, Consumers Union called on EPA take five pro-consumer steps to signal its commitment to keeping kids safe from pesticide residues:

1) Stop backsliding on FQPA’s requirement to provide infants and children with an extra margin of safety from pesticides;

2) Reevaluate organophosphates (OPs) – a class of pesticides that are toxic to the brain and nervous system – for their safety to children and meet the August 1999 deadline for reassessment of these chemicals;

3) Account for all sources of exposure to pesticides which are commonly used in homes, schools and gardens in addition to their use on foods children eat every day when reevaluating the safety of chemicals;

4) Modernize pesticide testing requirements to ensure that pesticides are tested for both overt and subtle harms to children and the developing fetus and provide extra protection for children until new tests have been completed; and

5) Provide consumers with honest and straightforward information about the risks of pesticides, their presence in the food supply, the status of FQPA implementation and ways to reduce pesticide exposure.

"It is important that the EPA leadership not buckle under pressure from the agri-chemical industry who want to protect their economic interests and delay implementing key child-protective provisions in the Act," Kenney added. "When it comes to FQPA, decision-making delayed is children’s health protection denied."

While they wait for the EPA to implement this law successfully, Consumers Union said that consumers can follow these "Seven Pesticide Safety Tips:"

• Wash or peel all fruits and vegetables and remove outer leaves of leafy vegetables to reduce the level of pesticide residues on foods;
  
• Buy organic foods when they are available and affordable;
  
• Eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables to vary your exposure to pesticides;
  
• Be informed -- Ask your school board about pest control policies in schools and urge the adoption of Integrated Pest Management – relying on non-chemical controls and prevention to reduce pest populations -- at your child’s school;
  
• Use home pesticide products as a last resort and always follow the instructions on the product label;
  
• Do not use home pesticide products that contain two classes of insecticides, OPs and carbamates, which interfere with the nervous system. Some brand names in this category include Sevin, Dursban, Empire, Equity, Spectracide, Knox Out, and Ficam; and
  
• Reduce home and garden use of pesticides by practicing Integrated Pest Management (IPM) or hire exterminators who practice IPM.
  

NOTE: For more information about the consumer perspective on the Food Quality Protection Act, please click on our special website devoted to this issue: http://www.ecologic-ipm.com. To receive a copy of the article "Safer Ways to Banish Bugs" from the June 1997 issue of Consumer Reports, dial our faxback line at 202/238-9258 and request document number 3501.