PANUPS: EPA Sued Over Rat Poison Risks

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PANUPS: EPA Sued Over Rat Poison Risks

Thu, 27 Jan 2005 17:15:00 -0800

 

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P A N U P S

Pesticide Action Network Updates Service

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EPA Sued Over Rat Poison Risks

January 27, 2005

 

An environmental justice group in Harlem and a national environmental

organization have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Agency

(EPA) for failing to protect children from rodenticide poisoning.

According to EPA's own estimates, approximately 60,000 children each year

accidentally ingest rat poison, yet the agency came to a " mutual

agreement " with manufacturers in 2001 not to require that two effective

deterrents--a bittering agent and a dye-- be included in rodenticide

products.

West Harlem Environmental Action (WEACT) and the National Resources

Defense Council (NRDC) filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in New

York on November 9, 2004 challenging the agency's decision.

 

Annually, more than 15,000 cases of children have accidentally

ingesting rat poison are reported to the American Association of

Poison Control

Centers. The EPA estimates that only 25% of such poisonings are

actually reported, with as many as 60,000 children poisoned each year.

Because

most rodenticides act by causing internal bleeding, poisoning effects

include nosebleeds, bleeding gums, bleeding into the skin, anemia,

internal bleeding, coma, significant breathlessness and death.

 

In 1998, EPA determined that the numbers of annual reported child

poisonings involving rodenticides violated the safety standard of the

Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Based on

that

finding, the agency concluded that rodenticides marketed in the U.S.

should include a bittering agent to make them unpalatable to humans and a

dye to clearly indicate ingestion of the pesticide. EPA's 2001 agreement

with rodenticide manufactures rescinded these requirements but did not

change the finding under FIFRA, therefore, according to the complaint,

EPA is in violation of the law.

 

WEACT notes that rodenticide poisoning harms children in all ethnic

communities, but poor African American and Latino children are

disproportionately at risk. New York State Health Department data show

that 57% of

children hospitalized for rat poisoning are African American, although

only 16% of the population in the state is African American, and 26 %

of hospitalized children are Latino, while Latinos comprise only 12 % of

the population.

 

The NRDC and WEACT complaint points out that EPA ignored evidence from

California that an indicator dye was available and could be used

safely. Syngenta already includes a bittering agent in their U.S.

rodenticide, TALON-G, because it is sold in other countries where a

bittering

agent is required. Syngenta touts the product as the " highest acceptance,

lowest-dose rodenticide on the market. " The complaint also notes that

some rodenticide manufacturers have already agreed that dyes are feasible

in certain formulations. " There is no tradeoff between more child

poisonings on the one hand and more rats on the other, " said Veronica

Eady,

who is general counsel for WEACT.

 

 

Sources: Press Release, Groups Sue EPA for Failing to Protect Children

from Rat Poisons, November 8, 2004, National Resources Defense Council,

http://www.nrdc.org ; EPA Allows Poison Manufacturers To Poison Kids,

November 14, 2004, Organic Consumers Association

http://www.organicconsumers.org/school/ratpoison111704.cfm ; Los

Angeles Times , November 11, 2004.

 

Contact: National Resources Defense Fund, email, nrdcinfo ,

phone,

202-289-6868; PANNA.

 

PANUPS is a weekly email news service providing resource guides and

reporting on pesticide issues that don't always get coverage by the

mainstream media. It's produced by Pesticide Action Network North

America, a

non-profit and non-governmental organization working to advance

sustainable alternatives to pesticides worldwide.

 

You can join our efforts! We gladly accept donations for our work and

all contributions are tax deductible in the United States. Visit

http://www.panna.org/donate.

 

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