Nearing the end of a 10-year review of all pesticides, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to ban a farm chemical that has tainted water and proved deadly to birds, but the agency approved continued use of 32 other widely used insecticides.
Under a 1996 food-safety statute, the EPA had to evaluate all 231 active ingredients in pesticides using new safety guidelines focused on the risks to children and the effects of cumulative exposure. Thursday was the deadline set by the statute, though a decision on one controversial chemical is not expected for six weeks.
The EPA proposed to phase out all uses of carbofuran, a farm chemical that is lethal to birds in even small doses. Numerous birds of prey and other species have died from exposure since the chemical's introduction in 1967, according to the National Audubon Society.
The EPA concluded that "there are considerable risks associated with carbofuran in food and drinking water, risks to pesticide applicators, and risks to birds that are exposed in treated fields."
The president of the American Bird Conservancy, George Fenwick, called the decision "a victory for science and the environment."
"Removal of this pesticide will save tens of thousands of birds, including bald eagles, hawks and migratory songbirds," he said. "Carbofuran's toxicity to wildlife made it one of America's most harmful licensed products, and we are delighted that EPA has done the right thing."
Thirty-two other pesticides -- including malathion, used widely in California -- were approved late Wednesday for continued use. All are organophosphates, a class that some scientific studies have linked to cancer, fertility problems and damage to developing brains.
Some EPA and other federal scientists have complained that the EPA bowed to pressure from pesticide makers and rushed its safety review of many chemicals. The leaders of nine unions representing 9,000 federal scientists, risk managers and related employees have urged EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson to prohibit organophosphates and several other pesticides.
In a May letter to Johnson, they accused the EPA of skipping many steps in assessing the dangers, "in violation of the principles of scientific integrity and objectivity." They were particularly concerned about whether the EPA was adequately assessing potential neurological effects on fetuses and children.
