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EPA
Allowing Toxic Chemical Testing on Children and Low Income Americans
WEB NOTE: THIS ACTION ALERT IS NOW CLOSED, AS CONGRESS
HAS VOTED TO STOP EPA FROM ALLOWING TESTING OF TOXIC PESTICIDES
ON HUMANS. CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE INVOLVED IN THIS ALERT!
Sign
Petition to Congress
(your info will not be shared - privacy
policy)
 The
EPA is now allowing chemical companies to conduct toxic chemical
studies on low-income Americans. An analysis of 24 such studies
found that 22 involved ethically questionable practices. A new
related congressional report states that "nearly one-third
of the studies reviewed were specifically designed to cause harm
to the human test subjects or to put them at risk of harm."
The report said scientists conducting the experiments "failed
to obtain informed consent (and) dismissed adverse outcomes,"
adding that the tests "lacked scientific validity."
One
study involved paying college students $15 an hour to sit in enclosed
chambers while having insecticide vapors sprayed at them. The
Bush Administration recently announced the EPA's new policy, which
allows these types of human studies for the first time in decades.
Chemical companies have welcomed this announcement with the goal
of generating studies that would allow their products to be considered
"safer" than originally thought. Congress is currently
discussing whether or not this process should be alowed to continue.
According
to a Flash Report released on 6/28/2005 by Senator Barbara Boxer,
Rep. Hilda Solis, and Rep. Henry Waxman:
The
Environmental Protection Agency has drafted a rule, slated for
proposal next month, which will allow the systematic testing of
pesticides on humans. The rule does not comply with the recommendations
of the National Academy of Sciences and EPA’s own advisory
committee, and it contains multiple loopholes that invite abuse.
Human
pesticide experiments are controversial. Unlike pharmaceutical
products, pesticides are designed to be toxic. And unlike pharmaceutical
studies, experiments that expose human subjects to doses of pesticides
offer no promise of therapeutic benefit to the subjects. For these
reasons, former EPA Administrator Carol Browner implemented a
moratorium in 1998 on considering or relying upon human pesticide
experiments.
The
Bush Administration reversed this moratorium at the urging of
pesticide manufacturers. As described in a recently released report,
EPA is evaluating dozens of human pesticide experiments that contain
serious ethical and scientific flaws. In fact, new documents reveal
that EPA used one experiment despite a written finding by agency
officials that the experiment showed “little concern for
the safety or welfare of the research subjects.” The proposed
rule being developed by EPA would further legitimize experiments
that intentionally dose humans with pesticides.
The
rule fails to establish a national review panel to prevent abusive
experiments, fails to provide full protections for children and
other vulnerable populations, and includes multiple loopholes
that undermine its effectiveness.
Note:
If
you have problems submitting the data on this petition form,
it is due to high traffic levels on this website. You can
also submit your petition information directly via email
to
Craig@organicconsumers.org
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