The chemicals used to grow our food and maintain our parks and playgrounds are putting our health at risk.
The food we buy should be safe to eat, and our parks and playgrounds shouldn’t be filled with chemicals that put our health at risk, especially when those risks include cancer and developmental disorders. Choosing to buy organic, gardening without pesticides, and avoiding chemical fertilizers are all important, but only collective action will stop the use of these dangerous chemicals.
Roundup's main ingredient is a probable human carcinogen, yet it continues to be the most widely used herbicide in the world. The EPA must ban it, unless and until independent research proves it safe.
Unless Congress makes changes to the preemption clauses in the current bill being negotiated, it would effectively halt state action to restrict a toxic chemical while the EPA is assessing its safety – a years-long process that will leave us all at risk. When it comes to health protections, the federal government should set a floor, not a ceiling. We need sensible TSCA reform in order to keep us safe – not a step backward.
The Montgomery County Council just voted to restrict the cosmetic use of toxic lawn pesticides, protecting public health and our environment.
Vice President and Senior Director of State Offices, The Public Interest Network
