November 4, 1998
Call for U.S. to Eliminate "Worst 40" Insecticides
The risks to infants and children from insecticides found on many
popular fruits and vegetables could be significantly reduced by
replacing high-risk insecticides with safer alternatives, according
to a recently released report from Consumers Union, publishers of
the magazine "Consumer Reports." "Worst First: High Risk
Insecticides, Children's Foods and Safer Alternatives" identifies
the "Worst 40" food-insecticide uses in the U.S., out of roughly 300
existing uses, that are most likely responsible for the majority of
U.S. children's risk from pesticide exposure.
The report looks at organophosphate and carbamate pesticides -- two
categories of chemicals initially designed as nerve gases for use in
World War II. Both are toxic to the brain and nervous systems of
insects and humans. In their report, Consumers Union estimates that
if the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) were to eliminate
or tightly restrict the "Worst 40" insecticide-food combinations,
that insecticide risks associated on nine of the foods, many
children eat most* would decrease by about 95%.
The Consumers Union report also examines the campaign being mounted
by the pesticide industry to stir up political opposition to the
U.S. Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA). The FQPA, passed
unanimously by both houses of Congress two years ago, imposes
stronger standards for protecting public health from hazards of
pesticides in foods including special emphasis on ensuring reduced
exposure to food residues for infants, children and other especially
vulnerable groups. The focus of industry's anti-FQPA campaign is
that EPA is planning to ban entire categories of important
insecticides, leaving farmers with no tools to manage insect pests.
Such publicity has magnified farmers' understandable concerns to
panic proportions, and generated a political backlash that is
slowing the FQPA implementation process and threatens to derail it
entirely. "Worst First" makes the case that selective actions can
reduce risks substantially if the agency focuses on the highest-risk
pesticide uses.
Worst First also points out that bans or severe restrictions on
selected high-risk insecticide uses will not cripple agriculture
because there are many viable alternatives growers can use to manage
crop pests. For example, the report lists 10 to 15 alternatives that
farmers can choose instead of using the high-risk organophosphates
and carbamates on the nine crops surveyed. In a typical case, the
alternatives listed include:
-- four or five conventional alternatives (lower-risk pesticides
including lower risk organophosphates and carbamates and synthetic
pyrethroids),
-- two to four reduced risk alternatives (insecticides that
typically pose significantly lower risks per acre treated because of
low application rates and/or low-toxicity),
-- three or four "biobased" alternatives (biologically based
insecticides and natural control products) and
-- two to four "BioIPM practices" (tactics suitable for
incorporation in biointensive Integrated Pest Management systems).
Consumers Union recommends that EPA and the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) adopt the following five-point action plan to
combat high risk pesticides.
1. EPA should phase-out the "Worst 40" over two years.
2. EPA should take steps to reduce or eliminate food residues
resulting from use of ALL neurotoxic insecticides by lowering
application rates and increasing the time between application and
harvest.
3. USDA and Congress must fund an on-farm education initiative to
spread knowledge among fruit and vegetable growers about techniques
to reduce use of the "Worst 40" insecticides.
4. EPA must expedite registration of safer alternatives.
5. USDA and Congress should double funding for continuing research
and development of other alternatives to insecticides and other
pesticides.
* Apples, pears, peaches, grapes, oranges, green beans, peas,
potatoes and tomatoes.
"Worst First: High Risk Insecticides, Children's Foods & Safer
Alternatives" is available at www.ecologic-ipm.com. A limited number
of copies are also available for US$15 from Consumers Union.
Source/contact: Consumers Union, 1666 Connecticut Avenue, Suite 310,
Washington DC 20009-1039; phone (202) 462-6262; email
mcshka@consumer.org.
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