One of the most popular insecticides used around the home poses a health risk, the EPA is expected to announce today. A panel of pesticide experts at the agency is calling for tighter controls on the chemical, Dursban. Dow AgroSciences makes hundreds of millions of dollars each year from sales of Dursban, which is used to kill pests on pets, lawns, and crops, and in homes. EPA studies conducted on rats, rabbits, and mice link Dursban to problems with creation of plasma and blood cells, brain formation, reproductive ability, and overall development, and human studies suggest that people may be more sensitive to the product than animals after a short exposure. Studies have shown that 92 percent of American children and 82 percent of American adults had traces of the chemical in their urine. Todd Hettenbach of the Environmental Working Group called on the government to ban Dursban.
