Congress Seeks To Put The Planet First And Ban Paraquat And Other Deadly Agricultural Contaminates

The Environmental Protection Agency may not have been sufficiently diligent when renewing paraquat's 15-year registration

Monday, November 29, 2021 - Exciting news is coming out for those whose business is to protect the environment from chemical herbicides and pesticides and to protect the wellbeing of children. Congressional legislation is pending that would override the Environmental Protection Agency's decision to renew deadly defoliant registrations and ban the use of toxic chemicals like paraquat, the most dangerous defoliant in use today. If the bill under consideration becomes law, it would effectively revoke paraquat's recently-renewed 15-year license for use in the United States. "On the date of enactment, the bill would deem paraquat "to generally cause unreasonable adverse effects to humans," and the registration of all uses of paraquat would be "immediately and permanently canceled by operation of law and without further proceedings." Hundreds of Paraquat Parkinson's disease lawsuitshave been filed accusing the chemical defoliant of being the cause of their neurological disorder.

The Environmental Protection Agency may not have been sufficiently diligent when considering the science that underlies their decision to renew paraquat's 15-year registration. The bill takes the environmental concerns of the entire world into consideration and also those who have filed paraquat lawsuits when deciding which chemicals are too dangerous to be allowed to be used. The bill also overrides the economic concerns of those in the United States whose livelihood depends on minimizing the costs to produce food. National Law Review (NLR) writes, "The bill would amend FIFRA Section 6 to require EPA to suspend immediately the registration of any active ingredient or pesticide product that is banned or otherwise prohibited from entering the market by the European Union (EU), one or more EU member states, or Canada." More than 30 countries including those in the EU have banned paraquat outright and the United States is said to be behind the times in that regard. Both China and Switzerland, countries that manufacture paraquat, have banned its use. The EPA claims that they had reviewed all pertinent scientific data when deciding that there was no link between using paraquat and developing Parkinson's disease, but the new law would require they include more than the latest studies in their analysis. "EPA "shall fully consider all relevant evidence," including epidemiological studies or data; peer-reviewed literature; and data generated by a federal or state agency or an agency of a foreign government, wrote NLR.

Some people think that the Bill is unlikely to be enacted and become law because the EPA exercises regulatory control and has placed harsh restrictions on paraquat's use by farmers. The EPA also banned the use of paraquat on golf courses in the United States over concerns for the health of millions of Americans that play the sport regularly, the health of millions of people that live in golf course communities, and those who work on the golf course every day. Farmers that spray paraquat must leave a buffer zone around the farm to limit paraquat drifting onto other communities. The EPA has banned backpack spraying of paraquat and also banned farmworkers from walking the fields to flag planes that spray paraquat.

Lawyers for Paraquat Lawsuits

Attorneys handling Paraquat Lawsuits for leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and multiple myeloma offer free, no-obligation case review for individuals and families who believe they may have grounds to file a paraquat Parkinson's lawsuit. Working on a contingency basis, these attorneys are committed to never charging legal fees unless they win compensation in your paraquat Parkinson's lawsuit. The product liability litigators handling Roundup claims at the Onder Law Firm have a strong track record of success in representing families harmed by dangerous drugs and consumer products.