Many people don’t pay attention to pesticide exposure. Since I grew up in farming country and my dad, a farmer, died of non-Hodgkins lymphoma related to pesticide exposure, it’s something I pay attention to.
I appreciated seeing recently that the Environmental Working Group, or EWG, and Consumer Reports unveiled a Consumer Pesticide Safety Bill of Rights to ensure that any federal pesticide legislation protects the public, including children.
Consumers too often lack basic information about pesticides used in their homes, in communities, and in food, and they lack meaningful protections when those chemicals put their health at risk.
The Consumer Pesticide Safety Bill of Rights declares Americans’ right to:
- Have warnings on the products people bring into their homes, including the right to know whether a pesticide is linked to cancer and other health harms.
- Know if a toxic pesticide that can make people sick is being sprayed nearby.
- Know that the food people feed their children is subject to the toughest pesticide safety standards.
- Expect that children are protected from toxic pesticides when they’re at school or playing in local parks.
- Expect that U.S. pesticide regulators will act quickly to review toxic pesticides when other nations ban them.
- Be informed about where pesticides have been used, when they’ve been mishandled, and how much is being detected in Americans’ food and water.
- Seek justice when pesticides have caused harm.
“Consumers deserve to know if the pesticides we bring into our homes or that have been sprayed nearby might make us sick,” Geoff Horsfield, legislative director for EWG, an advocacy organization, said in a statement. “We should be confident our children are safe when they’re at school and confident their food is subject to the toughest safety standards.”
The Consumer Pesticide Safety Bill of Rights addresses long-running gaps in pesticide protection.
Few states require farmers or commercial pesticide companies to publicly notify when they’re spraying these chemicals. Warnings on household pesticide products are often inadequate. And many pesticides found on food children commonly eat aren’t subject to the strictest safety standards.
Only a handful of states require buffers to protect kids at school from exposure to toxic pesticides, and standards vary regarding pesticides that can be used in school buildings or on school grounds.
Many pesticides used in the United States have been banned by other nations. But the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, can take decades to restrict pesticides. Consumers also lack basic information about pesticide use, spills, and detections on food and water.
Making an already harmful situation worse, the Supreme Court recently acted to limit access to the courts for people harmed by pesticides.
The Consumer Pesticide Safety Bill of Rights tackles many of these issues head-on – and lawmakers may soon have a chance to incorporate it into legislation, Horsfield said.
Congress could consider renewing the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act as early as December. The current law, through which the chemical industry negotiates fees that fund EPA’s pesticide reviews, is set to expire in September 2027.
“The renewal of the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act is a critical opportunity to deliver meaningful protections for Americans, including clearer warnings and greater transparency about where these chemicals are used and when they’re detected in our food and water,” said Brian Ronholm, director of food policy for Consumer Reports, a testing and advocacy group.
