The Nation - News from Feb. 17, 1989

The federal government curbed the use of a fungicide sprayed on a variety of fruits and vegetables but stopped short of banning it outright even though it has been classified as probably causing cancer. In announcing the action, the Environmental Protection Agency said: “The benefits of some uses of Captan outweigh the risk from dietary exposure.” The agency said that in the cases where the chemical may continue to be used on certain food products the risk of a person getting cancer because of such exposure is less than 1 in 1 million. The EPA order prohibits the further use of Captan on 42 food products, but allows continued use on 24 others, including apples, peaches, cherries, lettuce, green onions and tomatoes.