Earlier this week I posted an entry lamenting the recalcitrance of Michigan agencies in responding to a petition to ban the toxic pesticide lindane. I was unaware that U.S. EPA was embarrassing us on the continental stage by standing up for this poison. What is wrong with a government that favors pesticide profits over people?
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United States Blocks Progress on North American Phase Out of Toxic Pesticide at Tri-National Meetings
U.S. Officials Ignore Serious Public Health Risks Linked to Lindane Exposure
MONTREAL, CANADA, September 28 -The U.S. representatives to tri-national taskforce meetings today in Montreal announced plans to allow continued use of lindane in the U.S, despite Canada's plans to eliminate agricultural uses by the end of 2004 and Mexico's stated goal of a full phase out of agricultural, veterinary and pharmaceutical uses of the pesticide. The U.S. position disregards the objections of public health, indigenous and environmental groups who are calling for elimination of the pesticide lindane, a neurotoxic chemical that has already been banned in 17 countries. Representatives from the three countries are meeting in Montreal, Canada through Thursday, September 30 to draft a North American Regional Action Plan for lindane through the Commission for Environmental Cooperation of North America established by NAFTA.
>"The U.S. position allowing continued use of lindane is downright
>shameful," said Pam Miller of Alaska Community Action on Toxics, the
>official Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) representative on the task
>force. Miller attended the meeting. "The U.S. should take a lead role in
>getting rid of this old and dangerous chemical, not lag behind the rest of
>the world."
>
>Lindane is a known neurotoxin that causes seizures, damages the nervous
>system, and weakens the immune system. Exposure may also cause cancer and disrupt the human and animal hormone systems. Because lindane is highly
persistent and travels worldwide on air and water currents, its continued agricultural use poses risks to people far from the source.
Lindane is now one of the most abundant pesticides in Arctic air and water, and northern indigenous peoples are exposed through their traditional diets. Lindane residues have also been reported in a variety of foods widely consumed in the U.S. The 2002 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Re-registration Eligibility Decision allows lindane to be used as seed treatment for six grain crops: corn, wheat, barley, oats, rye and sorghum. These seed treatments account for 99% of lindane use in the U.S.
Fifty-eight public health, indigenous and environmental organizations recently sent a joint letter to U.S. agency officials and task force members urging elimination of lindane. More than 400 U.S. health care professionals sent a similar letter. Environmental NGOs have also submitted a request to Bayer CropScience to voluntarily withdraw lindane products from the North American market. Bayer recently acquired Gustafson LLC, the primary distributor in the U.S. of lindane seed treatment products.