Three years after Congress passed and Pres. Clinton signed to great fanfare a law meant to reduce children’s exposure to pesticides, the law has become a victim of politics as usual, and the EPA’s ability to enforce it, using science as a driving force, has been greatly weakened, according to a six-month investigation by the Portland Oregonian. In the case of Guthion, the most commonly used insecticide in Northwest apple orchards, the Oregonian found that new EPA rules regulating the chemical’s use — hailed by environmentalists when they were announced in August — were in fact largely written to satisfy apple growers and Guthion’s manufacturer, Bayer Corp. Most growers continue to use as much Guthion as they had before.
