Groups Suing EPA Over Chemicals Used Widely in CA

Farmworker advocates and environmental groups got together and filed a suit on Friday, suing the EPA for okaying the use of pesticides in California that they claim are harmful to people. The suit targets four specific pesticides called "organophosphates." It's amazing how tacking the prefix "organo" on just about anything can lull you into a false sense of security. Right now I'm picturing crop dusters gently sprinkling the agricultural landscape with granola.

The list of negative effects the groups ascribe to the chemicals reads like a laundry list of everything bad that a chemical could possibly do to you: dizziness, vomiting, convulsions, numbness in the limbs, loss of intellectual function and the kicker -- death. Oh, yeah, also: Hormone disruption, birth defects, cancer, loss of consciousness, seizures, abdominal cramps, vomiting, diarrhea, cessation of breathing ( didn’t we already say "death?"), and paralysis. Yeesh.

One of the pesticides may even be linked to the Great Disappearing Honey Bee Caper as it seems that using the pesticide for extended periods reduces the bees’ propensity for foraging. --Andy Wright