EPA Scientists Question Pesticides in Flea Collars
Scientists from the Environmental Protection Agency in May asked
EPA administrator Stephen Johnson to either adopt maximum exposure
protections for more than 20 neurotoxic pesticides or take them
off the market, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers
Association (Greenwich, Conn.).
The scientists were troubled by the exposure of infants and
children who accompany parents working in fields treated with
organophosphate and carbamate pesticides.
One of the pesticides, chlorpyrifos, also is used in some
flea/tick collars.
The letter, written by the leaders of the American Federation
of Government Employees, the National Treasury Employees Union
and the Engineers and Scientists of California, cites information
from the EPA Inspector General’s office that “it
would be premature to conclude that there is a complete and
reliable database on developmental neurotoxicity of pesticides”
and that in the absence of a “robust body of data,”
the Food Quality Protection Act requires the EPA to use “an
additional 10-fold safety factor in its risk assessments when
setting pesticide tolerance.”
The scientists also wrote that “our colleagues in the
Pesticide Program feel besieged by political pressure exerted
by Agency officials perceived to be too closely aligned with
the pesticide industry and former EPA officials now representing
the pesticide and agricultural community.”
The EPA’s deadline for issuing final tolerance approval
is Aug. 3, 2006. [August 2006 PET AGE]
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