The EPA Has Taken Measures To Mitigate The Damage Paraquat Does To Human Health

Little can be done short of banning paraquat to keep it from drifting to surrounding communities

Monday, January 17, 2022 - Farmers and farm workers associations are forever finding ways to support using deadly herbicides to control weeds since using toxic defoliants saves their companies billions of dollars and is the difference between losing money and having to go out of business, or being profitable. The profit motive is a strong incentive to promote the features of paraquat, the most deadly and destructive weed killer available. Farm associations are quick to point out that banning the weed killer would only force them to find another, potentially even more deadly alternative. They argue that herbicides are here to stay, and sticking with the ones they have allows them to better manage the side effects. Paraquat's side effects, unfortunately, may include causing Parkinson's disease, a deadly, irreversible neurological disorder, if thousands of farmers, farmworkers, and those who live, work, and play near paraquat-spraying farms are to be believed. The EPA has found no link between coming into contact with it and paraquat Parkinson's and has renewed the product's license in the US for the next 15 years. At this point, it will take Congressional legislation, to ban or severely restrict the use of paraquat on farms. Congress is not likely to act until the first paraquat Parkinson's disease trials are held, the scientific evidence presented, and the jury's reaction ascertained.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), however, does agree that paraquat could cause human health difficulties and has taken extensive measures to mitigate the damage that paraquat may do to human health if a person comes into contact with it from spraying it and also inhaling the low-dose drift to surrounding communities that occurs when it is applied. Each farmworker that wishes to spray paraquat must be trained in its handling and earn a special paraquat license before the defoliant may be purchased. Farmworkers are banned from walking the field to be sprayed as flaggers to guide the pilots applying paraquat during harvesting at the end of the crop. Backpack sprayers are also banned. Modern Farmer writes: "According to the EPA, about 8.5 million pounds of paraquat are used each year, primarily on soy, cotton and corn. It's also used on peanuts, grapes and pistachios. " Unfortunately, paraquat is also highly toxic as only a teaspoon can cause human death. Paraquat is the chemical of choice for those who want to commit suicide because it is so efficient and fast-acting. The EPA reacted to the high number of paraquat suicides and the high number of accidental paraquat poisonings by requiring Syngenta, the chemical manufacturer, to dye the product bright blue and add a foul odor to it so that it could not be mistaken. Little did the EPA know, adding the odor to the chemical provided evidence that the poison travels in the air to surrounding communities and children could be forced to breathe it 24/7. One person who has filed a paraquat lawsuit alleges that the smell of paraquat is constantly in the air in the community.

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.