Four States Sue EPA for Failing to Protect Kids from Pesticides
Four state attorneys general filed suit against the U.S. EPA yesterday, charging that the agency is endangering kids by failing to carry out a 1996 law intended to protect children from the risks of eating pesticide-laden food. “Parents reasonably expect that every effort has been made by the federal government to ensure that pesticide residues in the food they give their children are safe,” said New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who filed the suit along with his counterparts in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. “This is not always the case.” Children are considered to be at greater risk from pesticides because their bodies are still developing and they consume more food for their size than do adults. The 1996 Food Quality Protection Act requires the government to set pesticide-residue levels that are safe for children; the lawsuit claims the EPA has failed to do so.
