A few members of the U.S. Congress have drafted legislation to restrict the use of farm chemicals based on organophosphates and neonicotinoids. The authors claim these chemicals remain on the market “even when scientific evidence overwhelmingly shows that a pesticide is causing harm to people or the environment.” It should be noted that when politicians try to legislate restrictions on chemical usage instead of deferring to regulatory scientists, it usually means the underlying safety concern is unproven. The authors admit that regulators have “wide latitude in deciding whether to ban a dangerous pesticide. However, they charge that regulators have “been coming down on the side of industry profits and against the he...

TAGS – North America