This week, the U.S. EPA may have opened the door to a major expansion in the use of a pesticide known as 2,4-D, by denying a 2008 petition from NRDC to ban the dangerous chemical. The EPA sat on the petition for over three years, and finally reached a decision that fails to give adequate weight to dozens of studies linking 2,4-D
exposure to cancer and birth defects. And with companies now petitioning
the USDA to sell genetically modified crops that would dramatically
expand the use of this dangerous pesticide, the EPA’s decision could
lead to major problems in the near future.

In the EPA denial, the Agency quotes its 1994 conclusion that “the
data are not sufficient to conclude that there is a cause and effect
relationship between exposure to 2,4-D and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.”
Essentially, the Agency is saying that in the absence of

animal studies showing a link to cancer, EPA will continue to ignore the multiple

human
studies which repeatedly show increased rates of this particular cancer
in farmers and agricultural workers exposed to the chemical.
Accordingly the EPA stands by its classification of 2,4-D as “unclassifiable as to human carcinogenicity”. This remains unconvincing
to many, and it is alarming that a pesticide that has been on the market
for more than 60 years is still “unclassifiable”.

By down-playing the scientific evidence linking this pesticide to
health concerns, the EPA shifts toward under-protecting human health.
And while the current use of 2,4-D is cause for concern, changes on the
horizon in U.S. agriculture are cause for greater alarm.