Alar Again

Daniel Puzo’s thoughtful examination of the controversy over the risks of pesticides in our food and water (“Controversy Over Pesticide Risks Reignited,” Aug. 10) correctly noted that industry has successfully created doubt about the scientific validity of the continuing findings of pesticide health threats by citing the 1989 report on the dangers of Alar in apples.

Industry has indeed been highly effective in countering revelations about pesticides and other toxic chemicals by claiming that the Alar report--compiled by the Natural Resources Defense Council--was just a bogus environmental scare tactic.

What is bogus, however, is industry’s multimillion-dollar disinformation campaign--a slick and sadly effective public relations ploy. To evaluate who’s right about the scientific accuracy of the Alar report, consider the following:

* On two occasions after release of the NRDC Alar report, the Environmental Protection Agency impaneled blue-ribbon scientific advisory boards to evaluate Alar. Both panels reaffirmed Alar as a probable human carcinogen.

* That in turn resulted in EPA setting a “zero-tolerance” standard for Alar, meaning no foods can contain any residues of the pesticide.

* EPA’s decision was validated last year by yet another study--this time by the National Academy of Sciences. The NAS affirmed NRDC’s premise, namely that infants and young children are particularly susceptible to cancer-causing agents in food. Its findings led the Academy to call for an overhaul of regulatory procedures to better protect children.

* The chair of the NAS study, Dr. Philip Landrigan, hailed the NRDC Alar report. “NRDC was absolutely on the right track when they excoriated the regulatory agencies for having allowed a toxic material to stay on the market for 25 years,” said Landrigan.

Despite all this scientific support, industry’s aggressive, highly financed campaign to blacken the credibility of the Alar report has fooled both the media and the public into believing the issue was a phony. It’s a shame the media has been so gullible in perpetuating industry’s fiction.

--ARLIE SCHARD

Executive Director

Environmental Media Services

Washington, D.C.