The US Environmental Protection Agency is doubling down on its controversial finding that a toxic herbicide is safe for use across millions of acres of American cropland, despite what public health advocates characterize as virtual “scientific proof” the product causes Parkinson’s disease. The agency in 2021 reapproved paraquat-based herbicides for use, but a coalition of agricultural and public health groups sued, charging that the EPA had ignored broad scientific consensus linking the substance to Parkinson’s.
The EPA agreed to reassess the most current science, but last week released a new draft report reaffirming the substance’s safety. But the lawsuit’s plaintiffs say the agency again ignored evidence of the Parkinson’s risk, including dozens of peer-reviewed studies sent to it by the Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.
By re-approving the “highly lethal” substance, the EPA has “violated the law” and put industry interests before public health, the plaintiffs allege.
Poster Comment:
In in the 1990s Americans were warned not to smoke marijuana from Central America that had been sprayed with paraquat.