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PANUPS: U.S. Pesticide Bill Opposed
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P A N U P S
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Pesticide Action Network
North America
Updates Service
http://www.panna.org/panna/
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July 19, 1996
Grassroots Coalition Opposes New U.S. Pesticide Bill
On July 17, 1996, a coalition of U.S. grassroots
environmental groups announced their opposition to a new
version of a previously introduced bill that will weaken the
nation's pesticide and food safety laws. The revised bill was
the result of a compromise reached by a bipartisan group of
members from the U.S. House of Representatives. The new Food
Quality Protection Act (H.R. 1627) eliminates the Delaney
Clause, a controversial legal standard that prohibits the
introduction of cancer-causing pesticides into processed
food. The House of Representatives will most likely vote on
the measure next week.
The Delaney Clause has been described by some
environmentalists as the toughest health standard on the
books today because it prohibits use of cancer causing
pesticides that are found to concentrate in processed foods.
Advocates have called for strengthening the Clause to cover
fresh food in those cases where Delaney does not now apply.
The Delaney Clause is seen by some as embodying the
"precautionary principle" of prevention which takes into
consideration a range of unknown factors that are usually
ignored when pesticides are evaluated using risk assessment
techniques.
The agrochemical industry has been lobbying Congress to
overturn the Delaney Clause since its adoption in 1958. The
grassroots coalition maintains that the bill currently before
Congress not only eliminates the Delaney Clause but also
firmly establishes risk assessment as the standard under
which pesticides are reviewed.
The new Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 establishes a
single, health-based standard for all pesticide residues on
food, whether fresh or processed. According to the bill, the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must make a
finding that a pesticide residue is "safe." Safe is defined
as "a reasonable certainty of no harm" to consumers, and has
a legislative history that defines it as a one in a million
lifetime risk of cancer.
The revised Food Quality Protection Act requires
consideration of cumulative exposures to a single pesticide
(dietary and nondietary); however, it does not require an
evaluation of exposure to multiple chemicals that have the
same adverse health effect, such as nerve damage. This is
important since a single food can have residues of dozens of
pesticides, including multiple carcinogens and endocrine
disruptors.
The Food Quality Protection Act also allows EPA to waive risk
considerations even under the one in a million standard if it
can be shown that restricting the pesticide will cause
"significant disruption in domestic production of an
adequate, wholesome, and economical food supply."
The new bill also contains provisions that would prohibit
states from adopting more protective food safety standards
except where EPA finds that there are special considerations
of merit, such as compelling local conditions. The bill also
gives EPA the power, in some circumstances, to allow use of
pesticides that it considers necessary in order to avoid "a
significant disruption in the production of an adequate,
wholesome, and economical food supply," even though these
pesticides do not meet the new safety standard. In these
cases, states will be allowed to establish more stringent
standards.
As a result of the compromise that was reached, the new Food
Quality Protection Act now contains provisions that address
some of the special risks that pesticides may pose to infants
and children. To address this concern, the new bill requires
EPA to make a specific finding that permissible pesticide
residues on food are safe for infants and children. In
assessing the safety of pesticide residues for infants and
children, EPA must consider the factors recommended by the
National Academy of Sciences in its 1993 report, "Pesticides
in the Diets of Infants and Children," when such data in
available. While supporting the concept of special
consideration of the risks to infants and children, the
coalition is critical that the bill addresses these
considerations by establishing the same safety standards
based on risk assessment, and a "reasonable certainty of no
harm."
The grassroots coalition includes National Coalition Against
the Misuse of Pesticides, Northwest Coalition for
Alternatives to Pesticides, Pesticide Action Network North
America and Pesticide Watch.
Action: Tell your Representatives and Senators to vote
against the "Food Quality Protection Act" (H.R. 1627 and S.
1166) and any other legislation that overturns the Delaney
Clause or otherwise weakens food safety standards. To obtain
telephone numbers, contact the Congressional Switchboard at
(202) 224-3121.
Source: NCAMP press release, July 17, 1996; New York Times,
July 17, 1996.
Contact: National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides
(NCAMP), 701 E Street, SE, Washington DC 20003; phone 202-
543-5450; fax (202) 543-4791; email ncamp@igc.apc.org.
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