Environmental Working Group’s Executive Director, Richard Wiles, issued the following statement praising EPA’s decision:

“Finally, the EPA is acknowledging the dangers that some of the most commonly used pesticides have on people and the environment. This is just the beginning of the actions that EPA should take to protect Americans from the dangerous pesticides we are all exposed to daily.

Rather than preventing exposure and putting the burden of proving safety where it belongs -- on producers of pesticides and other toxic chemicals -- EPA allows most toxic pesticides to remain on the market with no threat of regulatory action. EPA is increasingly mired in complex and arcane scientific arguments, mostly generated by chemical companies, that serve primarily as delaying tactics to keep pesticides and toxic chemicals in the marketplace.

What we need is a better system of federal protections that would reform and improve the current nation's toxic chemical regulatory law. The Kid-Safe Chemical Act, recently introduced in both the Senate and the House, is the change we need.”

Carbofuran is a pesticide registered for control of soil and foliar pests on a variety of fruit and vegetables. There are no residential uses.

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EWG is a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, DC that uses the power of information to protect human health and the environment.

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