Pesticides are jeopardizing several hundred endangered species throughout the country -- including California frogs and fish -- and federal officials are failing to protect them when they approve the chemicals for use, according to a report to be released today by an environmental group.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency "displays a stunning lack of initiative in complying with the Endangered Species Act" and "has shown reckless disregard for the impact of its pesticide regulation program on wildlife, and most importantly, endangered species," the Center for Biological Diversity said in its report.
The Center for Biological Diversity, which is known for repeatedly suing the government to secure stronger protection for imperiled animals and plants, took aim at the EPA after analyzing reports from various scientific and federal institutions.
The findings by the Arizona-based activist group echo long-standing concerns of many biologists, including scientists with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which has warned that a variety of vanishing species are threatened by pesticides.
The group concluded that about 375 animals and plants -- nearly one-third of the species listed under the Endangered Species Act -- are exposed to and potentially harmed by pesticides. Every year, more than 2 billion pounds of chemicals are applied to U.S. crops, lawns and gardens to control insects and weeds, and much of it flows or blows into the waters and lands that are inhabited by endangered animals and plants.
In the past, some pesticides have had disastrous effects on wild animals. Bald eagles, peregrine falcons, pelicans and other birds nearly went extinct when the pesticide DDT, which was banned in the United States more than 30 years ago, had weakened their eggs. Other pesticides, which now are banned by the EPA, also caused reproductive problems and birth defects in wildlife.
Although bald eagles and other animals still die occasionally from pesticide poisoning, wildlife experts believe that more subtle problems are posed by the low exposures that are common in the environment today.
Studies indicate that many popular pesticides can alter sex hormones that affect animals' ability to reproduce and can suppress their immune systems. In a statement issued Monday, EPA officials said that they now perform a "comprehensive ecological effects evaluation" for each pesticide they register for use, but that they are "strengthening review of potential risks to federally listed threatened and endangered species" and would look over the group's findings.
