The Protect America's Children From Toxic Pesticides Act of 2021 Would Ban Paraquat And Other Deadly Herbicides And Pesticides

Over the summer of 2021, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) renewed the paraquat license for another 15 years and forced lawmakers to take action

Tuesday, March 15, 2022 - Paraquat is a weed killer that is used extensively to kill weeds before, during, and after a crop is planted. The defoliant is one of the world's most toxic chemicals and is frequently used as a vehicle with which to commit suicide. Potato fields are sprayed when they are nearing maturity to knock back the growth of more tubers. The chemical is sprayed to both clean a field before planting and also to dry out a crop at harvest time to make it lighter and less expensive to take in. Inhaling low-doses of toxic herbicides like paraquat has been linked by study after study to causing Parkinson's disease, a deadly, permanent neurological disorder. Hundreds of farmworkers and people who live near farms that regularly spray paraquat have filed paraquat lawsuits claiming that their working with or inhaling the defoliant caused the disease.

According to a report published by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), Federal legislation will force the EPA to take Paraquat dangers and the health of children and farmworkers seriously by banning paraquat and other toxic agricultural chemicals in all of its forms in the US. "The Protect America's Children from Toxic Pesticides Act of 2021 would significantly strengthen the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to regulate the distribution, sale, and use of pesticides." The bill would ban the use of the toxic pesticide paraquat. Researchers say that next to a farmworker who handles paraquat every day, and some days goes home drenched in it, children whose brain functions and immune systems are in the developmental stage are most at risk of being injured by constantly inhaling paraquat." According to Olga Naidenko, Ph.D., EWG vice president for science investigations, "Numerous studies show that existing EPA regulations for pesticides fail to protect children's health," "The American Academy of Pediatrics, which urges stricter pesticide regulations, says evidence links early-life pesticide exposure to pediatric cancers, decreased cognitive function and behavioral problems," EWG reports.

Thousands of families that live work and play in communities that surround farms that spray paraquat are forced to inhale the defoliant constantly. Many have developed Parkinson's disease despite the EPA’s claim that there is no connection between paraquat and Parkinson’s disease. People that live near paraquat farms say that the unmistakable smell of paraquat is constantly in the air. A few years ago, Syngenta was forced to add a strong chemical odor to paraquat so that people would not mistake it for a soft drink and accidentally kill themselves. Over the summer of 2021, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) renewed the paraquat license for another 15 years, infuriating environmental groups that assumed the Biden Administration would do all it could to protect the environment. Instead, more paraquat than ever is being dumped onto the fields that grow the crops that feed our nation.

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.