EPA Gives Controversial Pesticide the Midas Touch

Submitted by Antigone on Sun, 10/07/2007 - 05:25.
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency isn’t pestered in the least by Nobel-prize winning scientists’ warnings over a new agricultural pesticide, methyl iodide, but instead granted usage approval for one year as per a story by the Associated Press. It’ll be sold under the name MIDAS and be used to eliminate weeds and pests prior to planting vegetables and fruits. Too bad it may eliminate some people as well but maybe the motto at the EPA is: Save the plants; kill the people? This sounds vaguely familiar. I wonder why?? DDT. Oh yeah, DDT.

While over 50 independent chemists have said this stuff is bad news, the EPA said something along the lines of ‘Nah our scientists said you guys are nuts’ and gave it a one-year use approval anyway because they say it doesn’t pose ‘unreasonable risks.’ However, independent scientists – being the worry worts they are – insist it can pose risks to exposed pregnant women, children, the elderly and farm workers. After a year of exposing people to a potential cancer-causing agent, the EPA will responsibly reevaluate the chemical and decide if it’s ok to continue risking human lives. I mean there are always more of those migrant farm workers where they came from.

So what if California banned usage of this chemical it lists as a known carcinogen. Well if the EPA says it’s ok, then I guess it must be ok, right? I wonder how much it costs to get them to say that.

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