EPA to Require Older Pesticides to Meet Anti-Cancer Limits

In a partial victory for California environmentalists, the federal Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday that it will require older pesticides to meet the same anti-cancer standards now applied to new chemicals in processed food.

However, the federal agency said it would continue to permit the use of certain pesticides that are known to cause cancer if they pose only a “negligible” risk to the public.

Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp, who had joined with environmentalists and organized labor in suing the EPA, praised the decision as a step forward but criticized the agency for not banning the use of all pesticides known to cause cancer.

“When it comes to pesticides, there is no such thing as an acceptable risk,” said Van de Kamp, who is campaigning for the Democratic nomination for governor.

Al Meyerhoff, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, termed the EPA decision a “major step forward” but said the group will continue its fight in court--and on the ballot--to eliminate the use of cancer-causing pesticides.

The dispute revolves around a provision in federal law known as the Delaney Clause, which prohibits the use in processed food of additives that are known to cause cancer.

Until now, the EPA had circumvented the rule and permitted the use of dozens of pesticides that were initially approved but were later found to cause cancer. One of the most controversial such chemicals was Alar, a growth-inducing substance that was applied on apples and other produce until nationwide concern forced the EPA to ban its use.

Van de Kamp and the Natural Resources Defense Council argue that the Delany Clause prohibits the use of 66 other cancer-causing pesticides. They filed both a lawsuit and petition last year seeking to overturn the EPA’s interpretation.

The ban on cancer-causing pesticides is also incorporated in the so-called Big Green environmental initiative planned for the November ballot. Among other things, the proposed ballot measure, co-sponsored by Van de Kamp, would phase out the use of all known cancer-causing pesticides in California.