The public comment period closes at 11:59 PM Eastern Time on Monday, April 1, 2024. Use the pre-written text, or better yet, edit to make it your own.
Paraquat is so harmful to humans the EPA says, “One sip can kill.” Don’t believe us? Check out EPA’s website page about paraquat dichloride. That should be reason enough to ban this dangerous pesticide marketed under the brand name Gramoxone and manufactured in the UK by China-owned, Swiss-based GMO/agrichemical corporation, Syngenta. But we’ll give you a handful of more reasons paraquat should be banned…
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Paraquat is banned in the UK, China and Switzerland. As a matter of fact, paraquat is banned in at least 50 countries.
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Paraquat is linked to Parkinson’s disease. Syngenta is currently facing class-action litigation with over 5,000 people alleging their Parkinson’s was caused by chronic exposure to paraquat. -
Internal documents reviewed by The Guardian found that Syngenta has known for decades that paraquat could bioaccumulate in the human brain and about the chemical's link to Parkinson’s, but continues to mislead customers and regulators to this day. -
It’s not just Parkinson’s, over 90 studies link paraquat exposure to a myriad of other health harms. The risks include non-Hodgkin lymphoma, childhood leukemia, thyroid disease, and impaired kidney function.
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The Guardian also reported: Records show that one of the EPA officials signing off on the 2019 EPA paraquat assessment had come to the EPA from an industry position. Biologist Kristin Rickard served in 2019 as the acting branch chief for the EPA risk assessment branch evaluating paraquat. Before joining the EPA in 2009, Rickard worked for CropLife America, the powerful Washington-based lobbying organization that represents the pesticide industry.
It’s obvious there is a Revolving Door between EPA’s managerial offices and the industry it’s supposed to be regulating.
10 million pounds of paraquat are applied annually in the United States on soybeans, corn, cotton, wheat, peanuts, almonds, garlic, sweet potatoes, strawberries, artichokes, citrus, grapes, pears, and other crops. That number is growing.
The evidence of harm from paraquat is overwhelming. And it certainly does not belong in our food. The EPA must end corruption within the Agency and reverse its registration decision for paraquat, joining the rest of the world in banning this toxic and dangerous chemical.
The Public Comment Deadline Has Ended.
The comment period for this document is now closed. But, you can still help!
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