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Study Exposes New Risk: In Use - But Not Tested

By VVAW

According to a recent General Accounting Office Study, requested by the Senate Subcommittee on Toxic Substances and Environmental Oversight, most of the 50,000 pesticide and herbicide products registered (licensed) for use today have not been fully tested and evaluated in accordance with current testing requirements. Due to the vast number of toxins on the market and the costs to adequately test them, the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that it will be well into the 21st Century before that task will be completed. In the interim, the general public will continue to be exposed to hazardous pesticides.

In fact, according to the report, published in April of 1986, "The public is not told about the uncertainties surrounding chronic or long term health risks." It further states that "pesticides manufacturers' advertising sometimes claims that pesticides and herbicides are safe and have low toxicity." "EPA believes that no pesticides can be considered safe and is concerned that such claims discourage users from following label directions cautiously." Professional applicators, such as lawn care companies and pest control companies, for years, have claimed that the pesticides and herbicides they use are safe and harmless and "EPA approved."

The GAO Report states that "not only is the public poorly informed about the risks associated with herbicide and pesticide use, they are not told that they have not been tested for chronic health effects in accordance with current standards." "Moreover, the chemical industry makes safety claims that the EPA considers to be false and misleading."

The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, as amended, authorizes several types of enforcement actions, including civil and criminal penalties, but enforcement action for unacceptable safety claims is a low EPA priority."

Professional applicators, in discussing the safety of pesticides and herbicides, state that they are EPA registered. EPA differentiates between the terms "registered" and "approved." It is, in fact, unlawful for pesticide labels and distributors' promotional materials to state that their chemicals are "EPA approved," as this implies that the EPA endorses or recommends the product. They do not because they are not "safe."

According to the GAO report, "medical researchers believe that chemical sensitivity causes a wide range of physical and behavioral symptoms in people who do not realize that herbicides, pesticides, or other substances are the source of their illness." "These severe, acute reactions include fatigue, headaches, muscular aches, eye irritation, coughing, dizziness, motor instability, forgetfulness, depression, hyperactivity and irritability in people." "The chronic effects are mutagenic or cause genetic changes in subsequent generations." "They are teratogenic and cause birth defects." "They also cause tumor formations in living tissue."

This report reveals nothing new to Vietnam veterans and their families. For too many years we have suffered from the effects of harmful pesticides and herbicides. What is new is that the EPA admits that these chemicals can be harmful. We must use this report to enact legislation to protect ourselves, on a local, state and federal level. The process has begun. I urge every member of the VVAW to call your alderperson, your Congressman and your Senators. Inform them of the report and demand that these chemicals be taken off the market. We must actively oppose this use of the chemicals. I propose that VVAW members and chapters use the considerable power that we possess to fight this on every level we possibly can. I hope you will agree and act now!

(The report is available from the U.S. General Accounting Office, Box 6015, Gaithersburg, MD 20877.)

"Non-Agricultural Pesticides—Risks and Regulations: RCED-86-125; and "Pesticides: EPA's Formidable Task to Assess and Regulate Risks."