Tag: pesticide
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No Visas Issued for Costa Rican Banana Plantation Workers
According to a news source, Costa Rican farmers who allege they were injured by exposure to a pesticide used on Dole Food Co.’s banana plantations have been unable to obtain visas to enter the United States for medical testing. A state court ordered that the plaintiffs be tested in U.S. laboratories, apparently to avoid evidence…
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California’s Approval of Pesticide Ingredient Challenged
A coalition of pesticide watchdogs and farm workers has filed a petition in a California state court seeking review of a Department of Pesticide Registration (DPR) decision to allow the use of pesticides containing methyl iodide despite evidence that the chemical is highly toxic. Pesticide Action Network N. Am. v. Cal. Dep’t of Pesticide Regulation,…
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EPA Proposal Would Ban Pesticide Used on Food, Packaging
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced plans to implement a “phased-down withdrawal” of the pesticide sulfuryl fluoride. The fumigant apparently breaks down into fluoride and is used to control insects in stored grains, dried fruits, tree nuts, coffee and cocoa beans, and in food handling and processing facilities. After reevaluating current science on fluoride,…
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Court Orders Dole to Pay Documentary Filmmakers’ Legal Fees
A California court has reportedly ordered Dole Food Co. to pay about $200,000 in legal fees and costs to Swedish filmmakers whom the company sued for defamation, alleging that their documentary about the lawyer who sued Dole on behalf of Nicaraguan banana plantation workers exposed to the pesticide DBCP implied that the company caused their…
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GAO Report Highlights Value of Agricultural Chemical Usage Data
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a report titled “USDA Could Enhance Pesticide and Fertilizer Usage Data, Improve Outreach, and Better Leverage Resources.” GAO was asked to investigate the effect of budgetary cutbacks on a program that gathers, analyzes and disseminates information about the use of agricultural chemicals. According to the report, the cutbacks…
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EPA Adds Chemicals in Pesticides and Plastics to Endocrine Disruptor Screening List
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced the addition of 134 chemicals to its second Tier 1 screening list under the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP). Among those chemicals listed are DBCP, 1,4-dioxane, acetaldehyde, acrolein, acrylamide, benzene, benzo(a)pyrene, chlordane, HCFC-22, perchlorate, PFOS, PFOA, and polychlorinated biphenyls. Comments are requested by December 17, 2010. According to…
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Nitrosamines Targeted Under Potential EPA Regulatory Paradigm
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reportedly considering addressing toxins in drinking water by regulating them in groups, rather than continuing to address them contaminant-by-contaminant, and has identified nitrosamines as one of the first groups that could be subject to the new paradigm. Other groups under consideration are pesticides, volatile organic compounds and chlorinated disinfection…
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Data Underlying Atrazine Research Sought Under FOIA Lawsuit
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) have been sued in federal court under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for their alleged failure to produce data and research relating to the herbicide atrazine. Beveridge & Diamond, P.C. v. HHS, No. 10-1713 (D.D.C., filed…