Enviro-labor coalitions challenge toxic pesticides

This has been the week for going after pesticides in court. Since July 24, two coalitions -- with many of the same member groups -- have filed two federal lawsuits challenging the US Environmental Protection Agency for allowing the continued use of organochlorine pesticides. These two organochlorine chemicals -- endosulfan and diazinon -- are persistent in the environment and poison humans and wildlife in agricultural areas where they are applied and also can travel by wind and water to poison others in regions far away. "EPA's system for protecting the public from the dangers of pesticides like diazinon is broken," said Joshua Osborne-Klein, an attorney in the San Francisco office of Earthjustice, the public interest law firm that represents both coalitions. "The agency should be protecting farmworkers and children, not the profits of pesticide manufacturers." On July 24, a lawsuit seeking to stop the use of endosulfan was brought by Earthjustice and Farmworker Justice on behalf of: Alaska Community Action on Toxics, Beyond Pesticides, Center for Environmental Health, Farm Labor Organizing Committee (AFL-CIO), Natural Resources Defense Council, Northwest Treeplanters and Farmworkers United, Pesticide Action Network North America, United Farm Workers, and Teamsters Local 890. Endosulfan is an organochlorine, part of the same family of chemicals as DDT, which the EPA banned in 1972. Crops commonly treated with endosulfan include cotton, tomatoes, melons, squash, and tobacco. Acute poisoning from endosulfan can cause headaches, nausea, vomiting, convulsions, and in extreme cases, unconsciousness and even death. Studies have linked endosulfan to smaller testicles, lower sperm production, and an increase in the risk of miscarriages. "This dangerous and antiquated pesticide should have been off the market years ago," said Karl Tupper, a staff scientist with Pesticide Action Network. "The fact that EPA is still allowing the use of a chemical this harmful shows just how broken our regulatory system is." The coalition claims that the EPA has failed to consider the risks to children. A 2007study found that children exposed to endosulfan in the first trimester of pregnancy had a significantly greater risk for developing autism spectrum disorders. It also poses risks to school children in agricultural communities where it has been detected at unsafe levels in the air. In addition, endosulfan has been found in food supplies, drinking water, and in the tissues and breast milk of pregnant mothers. "EPA has failed to protect children and endangered species from endosulfan poisonings," said Osborne-Klein. "We call on EPA to ban the use of endosulfan in the United States." Endosulfan is especially toxic to fish and other aquatic life, the coalition charges, adding that the pesticide also affects birds, bees, earthworms, and other beneficial insects. Osborne-Klein cites a recent federal study finding that national parks from Texas to Alaska are contaminated with endosulfan in amounts that threaten ecosystems and wildlife. Endosulfan has been found in Sierra Nevada lakes and on Mt. Everest. "This persistent pesticide can also migrate to the Poles on wind and ocean currents where Arctic communities have documented contamination," the coalition said. According to EPA data, approximately 1.38 million pounds of endosulfan were used annually in the United States as of 2002, the most recent year for which national usage data are available. "The science clearly shows that the use of this chemical puts the health of exposed farmworkers and children in agricultural communities at risk," said Erik Nicholson of United Farm Workers. "There's plenty of evidence and no need for more studies -- we're demanding that EPA take action now." On July 28, another coalition with many of the same member organizations filed a federal lawsuit challenging the EPA's decision to allow continued use of diazinon. The lawsuit is part of the coalition's multi-year campaign to protect children, farmworkers, and wildlife from the most dangerous pesticides and "to reform EPA's lackadaisical regulation of public and environmental health," the coalition said in a statement. The coalition has filed a series of lawsuits targeted at the worst poisons on the market -- diazinon is near the top of that list. Diazinon is one of a class of pesticides called organophosphates. These chemicals were originally developed by the German company I.G. Farben as nerve gases during World World II. Farmworkers who are exposed to diazanon can suffer muscle spasms, confusion, dizziness, seizures, vomiting, and diarrhea. Severe exposures can cause coma and death. Exposure is associated with damage to the liver and pancreas, diabetes, and a form of cancer called non-Hodgkins lymphoma. "In the 21st century, we don't need poisons like diazinon to grow our food," said Margaret Reeves, senior scientist for Pesticide Action Network. "Americans increasingly are demanding pesticide-free food for their own health, their children's health, their community's health." After application, diazinon can become airborne. Monitoring has detected the poison in the air near schools at unsafe levels, the plaintiff groups claim. Infants and children are especially vulnerable to diazinon, which can interfere with growth and development. "Children and farmworkers are breathing diazinon in the air in their schools, homes, and workplaces," said Mike Meuter, an attorney from California Rural Legal Assistance. "In failing to protect our children from diazinon exposures, EPA has failed us all." Diazinon is also notorious for contaminating water -- it is the most common insecticide detected in surface waters and is implicated in numerous bird and fish kills. Almost 20 years ago, the US Fish and Wildlife Service determined that diazinon threatened the survival of numerous endangered species. Diazinon is used on a wide variety of crops including apples, blueberries, broccoli, cherries, cranberries, pears, spinach, and tomatoes. In 2004, EPA canceled home uses of diazinon due to the extreme risks that it poses to children, Still, one website advises householders who are struggling with fire ants to use Ortho diazinon granules to displace the insects. EPA has continued to allow farm uses of the pesticide. The plaintiff groups point to the 118 different agricultural scenarios that put farmworkers at risk of overexposure to diazinon that have been documented by the EPA. Diazinon is so toxic that it takes up to 18 days before EPA allows farmworkers to re-enter fields following application and up to 45 days before EPA allows farmworkers to harvest treated crops.