Monday, November 15, 2004
Bush's EPA Unsuccessfully Targets Low-Income Children...
I'll remember this the next time some conservative GOP wackjob talks about "protecting our children". Clearly, it's not these children they're referring to...
The Environmental Protection Agency announced that it has suspended a study looking into the effects that pesticides have on children, after top EPA scientists questioned the ethics and safety of the research itself. The $9 million federal study, partially funded by an alliance of chemical companies, would pay low-income families almost $1000, plus electronics and clothes, to maintain current pesticide use in their homes for two years.
The Children’s Environmental Exposure Research Study (CHEERS) targeted families in Duval County, Florida and was to study the effects on small children of using chemicals and pesticides in the home. In addition to the one-time $970 payment, the EPA was offering incentives such as a free camcorder, VCR, t-shirts, bibs, and a framed certificate of appreciation. While the EPA’s website said it would not ask families to apply pesticides in their home to be part of the study, it does require that parents "maintain [their] normal pesticide or non-pesticide use patterns for [their] household." The EPA would then monitor changes in development of children in the house.
Several EPA scientists expressed outrage about the study, saying it unfairly targets low-income families, attempting to lure them into an agreement with high-tech gadgets when they may not fully understand the health consequences for their children. In an email obtained by the Washington Post, Troy Pierce, an EPA life scientist in Atlanta, said the study "goes against everything we recommend at EPA concerning use of [pesticides] related to children. Paying families in Florida to have their homes routinely treated with pesticides is very sad when we at EPA know that [pesticide management] should always be used to protect children."
CHEERS: That should take it's place right up there with "Clear Skies" and "Healthy Forests" as far as Orwellian Bush administration terminology goes...
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