WASHINGTON, D.C. : Senate Approves New Pesticide Rules

The Senate passed a bill creating a uniform rule for residues of cancer-causing chemicals in U.S. food and sent it to President Clinton, who was expected to sign it. Senators acted on a voice vote one day after the House passed the bipartisan compromise, 417-0. The measure wipes out the 1958 Delaney clause, which had banned any trace of cancer-causing pesticides in processed foods. In its place, a new risk standard--a one-in-a-million of causing cancer over a lifetime--would apply to raw and processed foods. A similar standard was used for years on raw foods, but recent court rulings were circumscribing availability of pesticides for fruit and vegetable farmers.