AMERICAN LABOUR:

CHILDREN AT RISK FROM FARM CHEMICALS:

The following appeal is from the American United Farm Workers.For decades now the UFW has been campaigning against the use of toxic agricultural chemicals that affect not only the health of the workers but also that of their families and the people in surrounding communities. Here is their latest appeal for the US EPA to ban the use of the pesticide Endosulfan. To learn more about this chemical see this Wikipedia article and another from the Pesticide Action Network.

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Why does the US keep poisoning our children?
Deadly pesticide endosulfan banned in the European Union and 20 nations, but in the United States the EPA allows its continued use.

The UFW and a broad coalition of farm worker, public health, and environmental groups just filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to stop the continued use of the hazardous pesticide endosulfan. Science clearly shows that the use of this chemical puts the health of exposed farm workers and children in agricultural communities at risk. Endosulfan is part of the same family of chemicals as DDT, which the EPA banned in 1972. It is persistent in the environment and can be found in regions far from where it was applied. The EPA’s own analysis confirmed that the pesticide poses severe risks to humans and only minimal benefits to growers. 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 from the EPA.

Earlier this year, more than 13,000 Americans concerned about these health and environmental risks signed a petition urging the EPA to discontinue endosulfan use. In addition more than 100 environmental and public health groups recently sent a letter to EPA’s Administrator Stephen Johnson and more than 50 international scientists, medical doctors, nurses, and other health professionals have urged the EPA to take action. To date the EPA has not responded.

There’s plenty of evidence and no need for more studies. Join us in demanding that the EPA take action. Send your e-mail today.

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Go to THIS LINK to send the following letter to the EPA:

THE LETTER:

I do not understand why the EPA refuses to do their job and protect the public from the dangerous pesticide endosulfan. The European Union and more than 20 other countries including Cambodia, the Philippines, and Tonga have already banned this toxic pesticide. In addition, it has been nominated for inclusion in the Stockholm Convention, an international treaty that bans persistent chemicals from global use.

Endosulfan is part of the same family of chemicals as DDT, which EPA banned in 1972. It is persistent in the environment and can be found in regions far from where it was applied. The EPA's own analysis confirmed that the pesticide poses severe risks to humans and only minimal benefits to growers. 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 from the EPA.

Earlier this year, more than 13,000 Americans concerned about these health and environmental risks signed a petition urging the EPA to discontinue endosulfan use. In addition more than 100 environmental and public health groups recently sent a letter to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson and more than 50 international scientists, medical doctors, nurses, and other health professionals have urged the EPA to take action.

To date the EPA has not responded. As a result the United Farm Workers & a broad coalition of farm worker, public health, and environmental groups just filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to stop the continued use of the hazardous pesticide endosulfan.

The science clearly shows that the use of this chemical puts the health of exposed farm workers and children in agricultural communities at risk. There's plenty of evidence and no need for more studies. Do your job and protect the American public by joining the European Union & 20 nations in banning this dangerous pesticide immediately.