Methyl Parathion

The government is banning a pesticide sprayed on much of the nation's apple crop and cutting back on the widespread use of another chemical for the control of insects on fruits and vegetables. The actions, to be announced Monday by the Environmental Protection Agency, stem from fears that the pesticides can cause damage to the brain and nervous system, especially in young children. Government sources said that methyl parathion would be banned from use on all fruit and many vegetables.

The government is banning a pesticide sprayed on much of the nation's apple crop and cutting back on the widespread use of another chemical for the control of insects on fruits and vegetables. The actions, to be announced Monday by the Environmental Protection Agency, stem from fears that the pesticides can cause damage to the brain and nervous system, especially in young children. Government sources said that methyl parathion would be banned from use on all fruit and many vegetables.

To his many customers, exterminator Paul Walls Sr. made but one claim about the cola-colored bug spray he peddled from the back of his truck: "It kills them all," he'd say in a near whisper, "and they don't come back." He was right about that. In small towns along Mississippi's southeastern coast, Walls became celebrated for his "cotton poison," a mysterious, odd-smelling concoction that obliterated roaches and anything else that slithered or crawled.

An exterminator who sprayed more than 880 city homes and businesses with a deadly pesticide used in farm fields was sentenced Tuesday to a two-year prison term for violating a federal environmental law. Ruben Brown, a retired butcher, had pleaded guilty to two counts of illegally tainting homes with the lethal nerve agent methyl parathion.

An exterminator who sprayed more than 880 city homes and businesses with a deadly pesticide used in farm fields was sentenced Tuesday to a two-year prison term for violating a federal environmental law. Ruben Brown, a retired butcher, had pleaded guilty to two counts of illegally tainting homes with the lethal nerve agent methyl parathion.

They came when called. They honored their guarantees. The roach men promised no bug on Earth could skitter away alive from their stuff. They were sloppy, but always thorough. Even when their spray ran wild, leaving fetid yellow trails on coats, walls and carpets, the poison killed. It was the secret of their success.

The exterminator Denise Wainwright hired to spray her mobile home 2 1/2 years ago got rid of the roaches, but the chemical left a strong odor and caused her walls and carpet to yellow. She also noticed dead birds in the yard. "A moth flew in and fell right to the floor," she recalled. The family cat died. Wainwright herself started vomiting, feeling dizzy and fatigued, but the 45-year-old former bus driver blamed her diabetes. Now she knows better.

A Louisiana agriculture official is accusing some residents of his state of having their homes sprayed with a potentially deadly cotton-field pesticide to take advantage of a federal offer to renovate contaminated homes. The Environmental Protection Agency has set aside $50 million to clean up more than 1,000 homes along Mississippi's Gulf Coast contaminated by methyl parathion.

An agricultural pesticide is being increasingly used illegally to kill household insects, posing serious and growing health concerns, officials said. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry warned about misuse of the pesticide methyl parathion after it was found last month to have been sprayed illegally in scores of homes in Mississippi.

Barefoot and without a protective mask or gloves, Seuon Siap pads through her cauliflower patch, dousing it with a deadly cocktail of pesticides. Her daughter sits among the sprayed, reeking leaves, and two cows munch grass along the edges of the patch. The 50-year-old farmer isn't sure exactly how her mix of three pesticides works because she can't read the foreign-language instructions on the containers.

They came when called. They honored their guarantees. The roach men promised no bug on Earth could skitter away alive from their stuff. They were sloppy, but always thorough. Even when their spray ran wild, leaving fetid yellow trails on coats, walls and carpets, the poison killed. It was the secret of their success.

To his many customers, exterminator Paul Walls Sr. made but one claim about the cola-colored bug spray he peddled from the back of his truck: "It kills them all," he'd say in a near whisper, "and they don't come back." He was right about that. In small towns along Mississippi's southeastern coast, Walls became celebrated for his "cotton poison," a mysterious, odd-smelling concoction that obliterated roaches and anything else that slithered or crawled.

The exterminator Denise Wainwright hired to spray her mobile home 2 1/2 years ago got rid of the roaches, but the chemical left a strong odor and caused her walls and carpet to yellow. She also noticed dead birds in the yard. "A moth flew in and fell right to the floor," she recalled. The family cat died. Wainwright herself started vomiting, feeling dizzy and fatigued, but the 45-year-old former bus driver blamed her diabetes. Now she knows better.

When the Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday that it will restrict the application of two widely used agricultural pesticides on fruit and vegetables, some environmental groups sued, charging that the EPA action is too little too late. That reaction typifies the stormy history of the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act, which was intended to protect children in particular from harmful pesticide exposure.

In a move that could lead to bans on popular insect repellents, pet flea collars and other pesticides, the California Environmental Protection Agency has begun notifying manufacturers who failed to complete mandatory toxicity studies. Fourteen untested pesticides used in 535 products are affected by the notices. "Pesticide manufacturers who delay completion of health and safety studies will not be tolerated," Cal/EPA chief James M. Strock said.