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Press Release June 25, 1998 |
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WASHINGTON – Consumers Union which is pressing the Clinton Administration and Congress to use the power of a new law to protect kids from toxic pesticides has been shut out of a hearing called by lawmakers to examine the law’s impact on agri-business.
"The opponents of this law are attempting to delay one of the most significant advances in public health and food safety in recent history," said Jeannine Kenney, an advocate at the DC office of Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, who, together with environmental leaders, has been pressing for action on pesticides and full public disclosure of pesticide risk by EPA. "This law was a landmark effort to protect our children from toxic pesticides. Decision-making delayed is children’s health protection foregone."
At issue is implementation of the Food Quality Protection Act, which obligates the Environmental Protection Agency use a new public health standard to determine how much pesticide residue is allowed on food. Efforts by CU, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Children’s Environmental Health Network to participate in the hearing called by the House Subcommittee on Department Operations, Nutrition and Foreign Agriculture of the agriculture panel were rebuffed. In lieu of participating in the hearing, CU submitted written comments.
At the heart of this law is a strict new health standard, designed to protect kids, which was prompted by a 1993 report by the National Research Council, Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children. This report found that existing EPA standards for setting allowable pesticide residue limits did not consider the unique vulnerabilities and exposures of infants and children. The agency will be reviewing the most hazardous pesticides over the next year and a half. This review may lead to the reduction in use or cancellation of some of the riskiest pesticides.
In her written remarks, Kenney criticized lawmakers for holding an "unbalanced" hearing, which was packed with witnesses from the agricultural industry but had no views of consumers represented. Furthermore, she shared the view of Consumers Union that the EPA is not doing an adequate job to protect children from harmful pesticides. The EPA was also under fire by Kenney for hiding details of it’s recent assessment of 20 chemical pesticides which exceed safety standards after being pressured by industry lobbyists to keep this information secret.
