Environmentalists Are Shocked The EPA Is Not Banning Paraquat

The Biden EPA has refused to end aerial spraying of Paraquat putting millions of people at risk of developing Parkinson's disease

Wednesday, August 25, 2021 - Environmentalists were thrilled last November when the pro-business Trump administration was replaced with a new, more environmentally friendly one. It was hoped that the new president would influence federal watchdog agencies, and enact elements of the Green New Deal to provide necessary herbicide and pesticide safety measures. It was assumed that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would move quickly to ban poisons like glyphosate, paraquat, and asbestos. Shockingly, the regulations prohibiting using paraquat and glyphosate have been reduced and not increased as expected. Environmentalists were hoping to end aerial paraquat spraying because of the difficulty controlling where the deadly toxin paraquat may land. The Biden EPA has refused to end aerial spraying of Paraquat and instead supports the lax position taken by the Trump Administration for failing to address those who have developed Paraquat Parkinson's disease. The EPA has also failed to ban paraquat spraying under and around electrical utility equipment and other government services underneath and around wires and equipment that traverse fields and forests. Experts are concerned about the effects that paraquat is having on local wildlife, the herbicide's runoff into nearby waterways, and the ecosystem as a whole.

To be fair, the EPA has enacted a bill that would restrict using paraquat by adding a no-spray zone around farms to protect nearby neighborhoods. The new restriction requires farmers to leave a 50-foot buffer zone around planted crops where paraquat may not be sprayed and also limiting the amount of paraquat sprayed by air to 350 acres per 24-hour period.

The EPA defended their position for failing to ban paraquat saying, "After a thorough review of the best available science, as required under FIFRA, EPA has not found a clear link between paraquat exposure from labeled uses and adverse health outcomes such as Parkinson's disease and cancer the EPA said," according to Greenwire (GW). Despite the EPA's stance on the safety of Parquat, hundreds of individuapls have filed Paraquat Parkinson's disease lawsuits seeking to hold the chemical's manufacturer accountable for causing their disease. GW notes that farm associations protested banning aerial spraying because muddy weather conditions often prevent being able to get a tractor into the field. Being unable to spray a crop can enable weeds to overtake a crop in a short period and ruin a "Corn farmers kept out of the field due to inclement weather often have to watch their crop overrun with morning glories which can severely hinder harvest," Cahoon said in a letter submitted to the agency. "There is nothing worse than spending one's time producing a crop only to abandon it just before harvest."

The EPA's decision has disappointed voters that assumed the administration would prioritize non-business matters and promote protecting public and environmental health. According to GW, "Nathan Donley, environmental health science director at the Center for Biological Diversity, called the decision a huge step in the wrong direction for a president who insists he's prioritizing both environmental health and environmental justice." It is incredulous that the EPA has failed to recognize the link between continuous long-term, low-dose exposure to paraquat via inhaling it, and the development of Parkinson's disease, a deadly neurological disorder for which there is no cure. Study after study links the suddenly exponential rise in the number of cases of Parkinson's disease in the US with geometric growth in the increase in the agricultural use of paraquat.

Lawyers for Paraquat Lawsuits

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