PACTPA 2.0: Putting People Before Pesticides

This is one of those times where my job with Pesticide Action Network intersects with our farm blog.  Over the years, we have written more than once about the problems the overuse and misuse of pesticides cause for farms like ours and for everyone's health.  If you are not sure where I am coming from with respect to the issue - perhaps this fairly recent farm blog will begin to fill you in. 

Many fine people have asked me what they can do to help us when it comes to pesticides infringing on our crops, making them inedible or causing us to pull our workers from our fields because someone else is not being responsible with their application of pesticides.  Well, here is one way you can help. 

I ask you to read the article I wrote for PAN below.  I also encourage you to read the actual bill language and any additional material linked in the article or that you might find in your searches.  If, once you have done so, you agree that this is worthwhile piece of legislation, please go here and send a letter to your Senator encouraging them to support this bill.

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After a brief attempt in 2020, the Protect America’s Children from Toxic Pesticides Act (PACTPA) was re-introduced by Senator Cory Booker on November 23 of this year, and PAN is among the organizations that support its passage.  This bill would overhaul U.S. pesticide regulations, ultimately mandating new rules to protect people and the environment.

PAN Senior Scientist Margaret Reeves says it best:

The science is crystal clear.  These chemicals are putting our health, environment and food supply at risk and we must help farmers move away from them. [This] bill puts science, public health and on-farm resilience over corporate profits — its passage is urgently needed and would finally put us on the right track.

FIFRA fails to protect people

Each year the United States uses over one billion pounds of pesticides — nearly a fifth of worldwide usage — and use levels continue to increase. 

The current law governing U.S. pesticide regulations, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) contains provisions that prioritize pesticide industry interests above the health and safety of people and our environment. 

Once approved, under FIFRA, pesticides typically remain on the market for decades, even after scientific evidence shows significant harm to people or the environment.  This outdated law continues to support widespread application of pesticides by failing to respond to the real and measurable threats these chemicals pose:

• Organophosphate insecticides have been linked to farmworker poisonings and neurodevelopmental damage in children.
• Neonicotinoid insecticides contribute to pollinator collapse around the world and have recently been shown to cause developmental defects, heart deformations, and muscle tremors in unborn children.
• Paraquat is one of the most acutely toxic herbicides in the world.  Science has shown that chronic exposure to paraquat increases the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease by 200% to 600%. It is already banned in 32 countries.

It is crystal clear that the current law is past its useful lifespan.  It is past time to protect people, not chemical companies’ bottom lines.

PACTPA has the potential to succeed

The proposed Protect America’s Children from Toxic Pesticides Act addresses many of FIFRA’s shortcomings.  This bill provides significant protections for communities that bear the brunt of pesticide exposure, prohibits the use of old stockpiles of banned pesticides, and requires the listing of inert ingredients on all pesticide products, which are often as dangerous as the active ingredients.

PACTPA would:

• Ban dangerous pesticides including organophosphate insecticides, neonicotinoid insecticides and paraquat herbicides;
• Close loopholes that have allowed the EPA to issue emergency exemptions and conditional registrations to use pesticides even before they go through full health and safety reviews;
• Create a petition process for the people which will allow citizens to request review of pesticides that would otherwise be approved for use indefinitely;
• Support local community protective actions from preemption of veto by state law;
• Protect farmworkers from harm by requiring injury reports, directing EPA review of these reports, improved pesticide label instructions and requiring labels in Spanish and any other language that can be shown to have 500 or more applicators using that language; and
• Broaden the knowledge base by requiring suspension and review of pesticides deemed unsafe by other nations.

It’s time to move forward

FIFRA puts new products on the market quickly, while making it difficult to remove dangerous products.  PACTPA would begin to shift the needle toward a regulatory system that protects the people and the environment.

Comparable efforts in other countries show us that we can prioritize public health and the environment while building healthy food and farm systems.  This time around, let’s take this step forward and push PACTPA through the legislative process — for people, workers, and our environment.