Society and Culture
Under a 1988 amendment to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates Organophosphate pesticides Its focus was initially on registering pesticides for use on food crops. No pesticide can be sold in the United States before the EPA has reviewed the manufacture's application for registration and determined that the use of the product will not present an unreasonable risk to the public or the environment. In 1996, with the passage of the Food Quality Protection Act, Congress required the EPA to reassess all existing pesticide tolerances with specific consideration for children. This resulted in a 10 year review process of the health and environmental effects of all pesticides, beginning with the Organophosphates. The process has taken longer than expected, but was recently concluded and eliminated or modified thousands of uses.
Many non-governmental and research groups, as well as the EPA's Office of Inspector General, have published concerns that the review did not take into account possible neurotoxic effects on developing fetuses and children, an area of developing research. OIG report. A group of leading EPA scientists sent a letter to the chief administrator, Stephen Johnson, decrying the lack of developmental neurotoxicity data in the review process. EPA Letter EHP article New studies have shown toxicity to developing organisms during certain "critical periods" at doses much lower than those previously suspected to cause harm.
Even the restrictions that did successfully pass have been controversial. For example, in 1999 the EPA restricted the use of chlorpyrifos in households (under the commercial name Dursban). However, the EPA did not limit its use in agriculture. Chlorpyrifos remains one of the most widely used pesticides. This may soon change. On February 8, 2013 the EPA requested comment on a preliminary evaluation of the potential risks to children and other bystanders from volatilization of chlorpyrifos from treated crops
Read more about this topic: Organophosphate Poisoning
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