California
court OKs lawsuits over bug sprays
Pesticide companies can be sued for
producing and selling commercial bug sprays approved by the U.S. EPA when
they are alleged to sicken children, a California Court of Appeals panel in
Los Angeles
ruled yesterday.
Subject: PESTICIDES:
California
court OKs lawsuits over bug sprays
Date: Thu,
16 Aug 2001
08:34:52
-0400
From: Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of
California, Department of Pesticide Regulation
cc: Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov
Dear Mr. Helliker,
I thought you might like to read a Greenwire dated
8/15/01
, entitled:
PESTICIDES:
California
court OKs lawsuits over bug sprays
Pesticide companies can be sued for producing and selling
commercial bug sprays approved by the U.S. EPA when they are alleged to sicken
children, a California Court of Appeals panel in
Los Angeles
ruled yesterday.
The court rejected arguments by Dow Chemical and other
pesticide manufacturers that EPA's approval of the products for home use
precluded damage suits under state law. EPA-approved warning labels could not be
challenged, the court said, but a jury should still be allowed to decide whether
a product's risks to human health outweigh its benefits. The suit against the
pesticide manufacturers was brought by a family that alleges bug sprays caused
brain damage to their unborn child and sickened their baby daughter.
"We believe that the burden of the cost of serious
injury actually caused by pesticides should ... be borne by the pesticide
manufacturers and distributors rather than the innocent consumers," wrote
Justice Michael Nott. But he noted that the family had not yet proven that
pesticides caused the childrens' illnesses, however.
The plaintiffs said their childrens' health problems were
the result of several sprayings of Dursban, Dragnet and Baygon by a pest control
company in 1997 to get rid of an infestation of ants around their home. EPA has
since withdrawn its approval of Dursban for home and school use (Bob Egelko, San
Francisco Chronicle, Aug. 15).
Well Mr. Helliker, as we
both are well aware you do not "approve" pesticide POISONS, you only
"register" them. I read
with great interest that pesticide companies can now be sued
when your "registered" POISONS are alleged to sicken children.
I am not a lawyer but, I believe that if you make it "illegal"
for me to use any safe and far more effective alternatives to control pest
problems and demand that as a professional applicator I have no choice but to
only use your "registered" POISONS to kill bugs - and your policy
"allegedly" and/or actually kills and/or sickens some children - you
should be personally held responsible. Your
policies have made it "illegal" for any pest conrtrol company to use
any unregistered alternatives - you have also made it mandatory that these
professionals have no other choice than to continue to only use your
"registered" POISONS to "control" pest problems.
You may wish to seek legal advise.
Respectfully,
Stephen L. Tvedten
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