In early August, legislators voted down a proposed amendment to the Farm Bill that would have allowed consumers to sue pesticide producers for failure to warn them of the proven health risks associated with their products. The amendment, proposed by Senator Cory Booker, followed the recent Supreme Court decision ruling that pesticide labeling requirements approved by the EPA preempt certain state labeling laws. If passed, Booker said it would have restored “the fundamental right of cancer victims to have their day in court.” The amendment was voted down along party lines.
What Prompted the Proposed Legislation?
The June Supreme Court decision that inspired the proposed legislation reversed the judgment of the Missouri Court of Appeals, which had awarded $1 million to John Durnell following his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosis — an alleged repercussion of 20 years of using Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide produced by Bayer (previously Monsanto). The reversal in the Court’s ruling hinged on a prohibition on states imposing labeling or packaging requirements “in addition to or different from” those required under federal law. In other words, the decision essentially stripped states of the right to require additional health warnings on certain products in order to protect their citizens.
Booker said the Supreme Court ruling gave giant chemical corporations a “free pass when their toxic products make people sick” and ”permanent immunity from lawsuits about their failure to warn people about the known health risks of their products.”
How Non-Profits Are Fighting Back
Non-profits continue to push back against this ruling. The Center for Biological Diversity filed an emergency petition in July, demanding that the EPA require cancer warning labels on the packaging of certain pesticides. Examples include the fungicide mancozeb1, which has been linked to increased risk of ovarian cancer, or the organophosphate insecticide carbaryl2, exposure to which may lead to increased risk of stomach and esophageal cancers.
The move seeks specifically to protect pesticide applicators, farmers, and people in rural communities — all of whom, the petition reads, experience “high cancer rates” as compared to the rest of the American population.
The petition alleges that the EPA found that 199 pesticide active ingredients have proven links to cancer. It goes on to say that of these, 124 are still registered for use in the United States, without any requirement to disclose or inform the American public of their health risks.
“It’s more important than ever for the EPA to finally start requiring pesticide companies to put cancer warnings on products the agency itself has linked to cancer,” said Nathan Donley, environmental health science director at the Center for Biological Diversity in a statement. “We’re asking for something ridiculously easy. Just warn the public of the serious health risks the EPA already knows about. In other words, do your job.”
The EPA press office replied to the petition simply and succinctly: “As with all petitions, EPA will evaluate the incoming petition.”
Sources:
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147651322005103
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1438463925000975
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