30
Aug
(Beyond Pesticides, August 30, 2024) There is no more compelling reason to embrace a precautionary pesticide poisoning standard this Labor Day than the need to protect workers. In fact, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) says on its website, Transitioning to Safer Chemicals, that the best way to protect workers is to “eliminate or reduce hazardous chemicals at the source.” While some try to employ product substitution with “safer” chemicals, Beyond Pesticides urges decision makers to embrace alternative systems, such as organic management systems, that embrace management techniques to meet disease and infestation management goals and use only organic compatible substances. According to OSHA: “In chemical management, [the industrial hygiene principle, known as the hierarchy of controls] guides employers and workers to eliminate or reduce hazardous chemicals at the source by substituting them with safer alternatives. Unlike traditional engineering controls, administrative controls, work practice controls, or personal protective equipment, these strategies can completely eliminate exposure to hazardous chemicals, reduce the potential for chemical accidents, reduce disposal costs, and remove concerns regarding worker compliance and equipment maintenance.” A look through the state and federal databases that track occupational pesticide poisoning for both acute (immediate short-term) and chronic (long-term) pesticide effects […]
Posted in Alternatives/Organics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Farmworkers, Occupational Health, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Take Action, Uncategorized | No Comments »
16
Feb
(Beyond Pesticides, February 16, 2024) A report released in January, US pesticide regulation is failing the hardest-hit communities. It’s time to fix it, finds “people of color and low-income communities in the United States and around the world continue to shoulder the societal burden of harmful pollution.” More specifically, the authors state that “ongoing environmental injustice is the disproportionate impact these communities suffer from pesticides, among the most widespread environmental pollutants.” The report follows an earlier article by the same lead authors and others (see earlier coverage) on the long history of documented hazards and government failure to protect farmworkers from pesticide use in agriculture. In a piece posted by Beyond Pesticides earlier this week, the serious weaknesses in the worker protection standard for farmworkers are documented. The latest report was led by Nathan Donley, environmental health science director at the Center for Biological Diversity and Robert Bullard, known as the “Father of Environmental Justice” and executive director of the Robert D. Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas Southern University in Houston. In addition to these authors, the 2022 review was coauthored by Jeannie Economos of the Farmworker Association of Florida, Iris Figueroa of Farmworker Justice, Jovita […]
Posted in Agriculture, Environmental Justice, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Farmworkers, Occupational Health, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Pesticide Regulation, Uncategorized | No Comments »
