PACTA Could Be The Last Chance For 15 Years To Remove Paraquat From The Market

The EPA only looks at dangerous chemicals once every 15 years, so it is up to the US Congress to pass legislation banning paraquat

Friday, December 17, 2021 - Legislation pending before Congress is America's best chance to get the deadly defoliant paraquat banned from use in the United States. The Protect America's Children from Toxic Pesticides Act of 2021 (PACTPA) would ban paraquat from farms in the United States. The Act leverages previous legislation and bans toxic pesticides that harm human health. Paraquat is related to developing Parkinson's disease, a deadly neurological disorder that progressively destroys the ability to move and think. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved the use of paraquat on the nation's food supply by renewing its license for another 15 years. The EPA has reviewed all credible scientific research and determined that there was no scientific evidence that paraquat leads to Parkinson's disease. Indeed, paraquat may be only one of a cocktail of herbicides and pesticides that include Monsanto's Roundup weed killer, that the new legislation seeks to ban. The American Farm community uses one-fifth of the paraquat that the rest of the world does. More than 30 nations and those in the European Union and China have banned spr aying it on their crops. According to Senator Cory Booker, the EPA recently registered over 100 pesticides as being deadly to human health and in need of being banned. BiologicalDiversity.org writes, "In 2017 and 2018, the EPA approved more than 100 pesticide products containing ingredients widely considered to be the most dangerous still in use, including some that have been banned in multiple countries or targeted for phaseout in the United State." Senator Booker has acknowledged that the injuries that toxic herbicides and pesticides are mostly neurological. "Pesticide hazards haunt farm workers, especially those that are parents. No parent should worry that hugging their children after a long day of work could expose them to brain-harming chemicals," the Senator wrote on his website. Booker is concerned about the health of farmworkers and also the health of those who live, work, and play in nearby communities. Some who have filed paraquat lawsuits recently have said that the smell of paraquat hangs constantly in the air.

Paraquat is already forbidden on golf courses throughout the country because it is feared to damage the health of golf course maintenance workers, golfers, caddies, and the millions of people that work and live near the golf course. Paraquat's use is restricted on farms in that the sprayer must establish a buffer zone around the area where paraquat is being sprayed to minimize the amount that drifts onto the neighboring communities. Farmworkers are also not allowed to walk the fields while paraquat is sprayed to guide the planes with flags because it is feared that coming into contact with paraquat on the skin can cause it to bioaccumulate and cause. Whether or not inhaling paraquat definitively leads to developing paraquat Parkinson’s disease is the controversial subject of hundreds of lawsuits that allege that it does.

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.