Pesticides
The Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 grandfathered in 62,000 chemicals without any evaluation for toxicity or exposure limits. Since then, the EPA has required testing of only about 200, or 1% of those chemicals. There are now more than 85,000 in use in the US.
Our broken system leaves us exposed every day to countless toxic chemicals that put our families at risk for cancer, learning disabilities, infertility, and more. Research has recently linked massive pesticide exposure to the global obesity crisis.
We need the help of the Environmental Protection Agency to protect our kids and families from poisons, but the EPA is letting us down. Right now industrial chemicals and pesticides are “innocent until proven guilty,” but the science required to prove a chemical safe can take decades. At the very least we need a ceiling on the introduction of new chemicals that can be added to our food and to our environment. We should also adopt Europe’s “precautionary principle.”
The burden of proof that a chemical is not harmful should fall on industry. Show us the science first!
Articles & Research
Silent Spring Revisited: Pesticide Use and Endangered Species
Research For Fighting Back
Beyond Pesticides
Nonprofit group of scientists, conservationists, and activists working to provide the public with useful information on pesticides and alternatives to their use
Enviromental Working Group (EWG)
Washington-based research organization using the power of information to protect human health and the environment. This link takes you to EWG’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce.
Center for Biological Diversity
Protecting endangered animals and plants; this link highlights the Center’s Pesticides Reduction campaign
Food and Water Watch
Nonprofit working to ensure the food, water, and fish we consume is safe, accessible and sustainably produced This link describes the petition urging the FDA to ban dangerous pesticides in consumer products.
National Pesticide Information Center
Science-based information about pesticides and pesticide-related topics to enable people to make informed decisions
Pesticide Action Network (PAN)
Nonprofit combining grassroots science with public will campaigns to replace highly hazardous pesticides with ecologically sound, socially just solutions. This link leads to PAN’s article on Myths About Pesticides.
Pesticide.org
Oregon non-profit working to reduce pesticides and protect the health of people and the environment.
More Links & News
EPA Asked to Halt Pesticide Use on Apples
Food Safety News, April 24, 2014
Monsanto Superweeds Gallup Through Midwest
Study Links Pesticides to Honey Bee Deaths
Roundup May be Linked to Parkinson’s, Cancers
Study links pesticides to Childhood Obesity
Why American Apples Just Got Banned in Europe
Mother Jones, April 23, 2014.
Warning Signs: How Pesticides Harm the Young Brain
The Nation, March 31, 2014
Five Pest Species Now Immune to GMO Corn, Cotton,
Gristmill,June 13, 2012
Widely Used Pesticide Found in Rain and Streams
US Geological Survey, Aug 29, 2011
