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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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