Judge Orders Chemical Companies to Strengthen Child Safety Provisions for Rat Poison

From: Environment News Service <www.ens-newswire.com>

New York Judge: EPA Dropped Rat Poison Safety Measure Illegally

NEW YORK, New York, August 8, 2005 (ENS) - A federal judge today found that
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has failed to protect
children from exposure to rat poisons, and directed the agency to require
chemical manufacturers to strengthen safeguards.

The decision was the result of a November 2004 lawsuit filed in New York
City¹s federal district court by West Harlem Environmental Action and the
Natural Resources Defense Council. The groups challenged the EPA¹s
regulations under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act
and the Administrative Procedure Act.

The EPA issued safety regulations in 1998 that would have protected children
from the poisons, but it revoked them in 2001 after coming to a "mutual
agreement" with chemical manufacturers.

Judge Jed Rakoff today rejected the agency¹s reversal, finding that its
justification for dropping a key safety measure "lacked even the proverbial
scintilla of evidence."

"This is a major victory for children¹s health - and for common sense," said
Aaron Colangelo, an NRDC attorney. "Parents now will be able to protect
their kids and deal with rodent problems in their neighborhoods at the same
time. There¹s no reason why any of our kids should be accidentally poisoned,
because it¹s relatively easy to protect them."

Tens of thousands of children under age six are poisoned every year, and
several hundred require hospitalization. Poisoned children can suffer from
internal bleeding, bleeding gums and anemia, and can go into a coma.

In 1998, EPA determined that the thousands of annual rat poison exposures
were an unreasonable health risk and violated federal pesticide laws. So the
agency required manufacturers to include two safety measures to protect
children - an ingredient that makes the poison taste more bitter, and a dye
that would make it more obvious when a child ingested the poison.

In 2001, however, EPA revoked the safety regulations, announcing that it
"came to a mutual agreement with the rodenticide [manufacturers] to rescind
the bittering agent and indicator dye requirements."

Judge Rakoff today called this explanation a "striking statement" and ruled
that the reversal of one of those safety measures - the bittering agent -
violates the law.

"This court victory marks an important step towards protecting children in
communities of color," said Peggy Shepard, executive director of WE ACT.
"The basic safety measure required by the court today will protect children
from poisoning while still allowing communities to control rats."

Studies have found that the safety measures help prevent child poisonings
without undermining the effectiveness of rat poisons. A number of
manufacturers already include a bittering agent in rat poisons sold in the
United States.

Rat poisons harm children in all communities, but African-American and
Latino children and children living below the poverty level suffer a
disproportionate risk.

In New York state, 57 percent of children hospitalized for rodenticide
poisoning are black, although only 16 percent of New York state¹s population
is black; and 26 percent of hospitalized children are Latino, although
Latinos comprise only 12 percent of the state¹s population, the NRDC says.

A total of 17.5 percent of the children hospitalized for rodenticide
poisoning are from families who live below the poverty level, although
children living below the poverty level comprise only 13 percent of the
state¹s population.

Millions of pounds of rat poisons are applied nationally every year. In New
York City, rat poisons are used heavily in public housing, public schools
and city parks.

* * *