(Beyond Pesticides, February 8, 2012) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency missed a deadline to release federal guidelines on the dangers of excess dioxin chemicals in the food supply and environment, giving ammunition to critics who are urging the agency to change course. EPA was scheduled to release standards in January 2012 that would for the [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 31, 2012) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed an expansion in pyrethrins/pyrethroid insecticide uses as part of its cumulative risk assessment for this neurotoxic class of chemicals. In the cumulative risk assessment, EPA concludes that pyrethroids “do not pose risk concerns for children or adults,” ignoring a wealth of independent data [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 27, 2012) The National Research Council (NRC) released a report on Wednesday, finding that, despite extensive investment in nanotechnology and increasing commercialization over the last decade, insufficient understanding remains about the environmental, health, and safety aspects of nanomaterials. Just one day later, a lawsuit was filed in court by the Natural Resources [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 25, 2012) Apple growers in Michigan are seeking a Section 18 emergency exemption from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for an unregistered pesticide to curb fire blight on 10,000 acres of apples trees that are susceptible to a deadly disease. Even though Section 18 exemptions from federal pesticide law are only [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 20, 2012) A California Superior Court Judge has questioned whether the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) complied with its legal obligation to consider alternative options before approving use of the toxic fumigant methyl iodide in 2010. Judge Frank Roesch raised the concern in comments from the bench during a January 13 [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 12, 2012) The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says it will step up testing for a fungicide not registered for use in the U.S. that has been found in low levels in orange juice. The fungicide, carbendazim, does not have any food tolerances and thus its presence in orange juice is [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 3, 2012) A coalition of six consumer safety groups filed suit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on December 21, 2011, citing the FDA’s chronic failure to regulate materials derived from nanotechnology (nanomaterials) used in sunscreens, cosmetics and drugs. The lawsuit demands that FDA respond to a May 2006 petition [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 16, 2011) A group of U.S. Senators has drafted and sent a letter to the offices of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) in an attempt to convince them to set aside time in the Senate schedule for consideration of the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 14, 2011) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is conditionally registering a pesticide product containing nanosilver as a new active ingredient. The antimicrobial pesticide product, HeiQ AGS-20, a silver-based product for use as a preservative for textiles to help control odors, is being granted registration despite a long list of outstanding studies [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, November 28, 2011) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently released Pesticide Chemical Search, a new database that allows users to easily access information related to pesticide active ingredients, including regulatory and scientific information. Pesticide Chemical Search is designed to consolidate information from the Office of Pesticide Program’s website and several other important [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, November 16, 2011) On November 9, 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its cumulative risk assessment for the pyrethroid class of insecticides, concluding that these pesticides “do not pose risk concerns for children or adults,” ignoring a wealth of independent data that links this class of chemicals to certain cancers, respiratory [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, October 11, 2011) U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) has offered an amendment to a currency bill in the Senate this week which would strip protections against pesticide contamination from the Clean Water Act (CWA). The language of the amendment is the exact same language as H.R. 872, which is currently working its way [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 22, 2011) As part of his $3 trillion deficit-reduction plan, President Obama has proposed to increase pesticide and chemical registration fees and reinstate tolerance assessment fees in order to cover the costs of evaluating the chemicals’ health and environmental effects data. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) currently collects fees from companies [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 21, 2011) An unregistered pesticide product, which was smuggled into the U.S. from overseas and contained an ingredient at a concentration of nearly 61 times greater than allowed by federal regulations, was one of 6,000 rat and cockroach poison products seized from shops and street vendors in and around New York’s Chinatown. [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 19, 2011) Dubbing it the “most anti-environment House in history,” Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), ranking member on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, released a new searchable database last week listing a staggering 125 pieces of legislation that will reduce environmental protection. The bills, introduced and passed by the Republican-led U.S. House [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 15, 2011) Bowing to pressure from the chemical industry, the administration of President Barack Obama recently blocked a new and desperately needed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) review of chemical health hazards which was developed under the agency’s Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS), according to Daniel Rosenberg of the Natural Resources Defense [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 13, 2011) A recent federal district court ruling is the latest in the series of setbacks against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA’s) ability to enforce the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide & Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The decision could affect at least five Stop Sale, Use or Removal Orders (SSUROs) issued to pesticide manufacturers [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 7, 2011) California’s approval of the dangerous and controversial agricultural chemical, methyl iodide, suffered serious questions with the release of new documents showing the fumigant’s registration process was flawed. The documents, which were made public as part of a lawsuit challenging the state’s approval of the chemical, show the state’s Department of [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, August 17, 2011) Representatives Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, and Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.), the Ranking Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Water and Power, sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) urging adoption of [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, August, 8, 2011) In a move that highlights serious concerns regarding the pesticide registration process, DuPont has announced that it plans to issue a total recall of its new herbicide, Imprelis, following widespread evidence and complaints that the product has caused the deaths of trees around the country. After originally giving conditional approval [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, July 28, 2011) A new report released last week finds that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) voluntary program to evaluate chemicals fails to protect children. According to the evaluation report by EPA’s Inspector General, the Voluntary Children’s Chemical Evaluation Program (VCCEP) was hampered by industry’s refusal to voluntarily collect and submit information [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, July 22, 2011) Parallel bills have been introduced in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives designed to increase federal research on endocrine disrupting chemicals and ensure public safety by restricting or eliminating chemicals found to present unacceptable risks to public health. S 1361, introduced by Senator John Kerry (D-MA), and HR [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, July 22, 2011) Parallel bills have been introduced in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives designed to increase federal research on endocrine disrupting chemicals and ensure public safety by restricting or eliminating chemicals found to present unacceptable risks to public health. S. 1361, introduced by Senator John Kerry (D-MA), and H.R. [...]