Please Do Not Tap On the Glass

Holy mother all that’s … holy! The EPA surprised everyone by announcing that “it will no longer allow residue of the toxic pesticide carbofuran on domestic or imported food, a decision that would effectively remove the chemical from the U.S. market,” according to the Washington Post.

Domestic or imported food – that’s the kicker, folks. That means that foods imported to the U.S. cannot contain carbofuran (sold as Furadan) residues and that means those countries CANNOT use Furadan on foods they sell to the U.S. (such as coffee, rice, bananas, sugar cane) This is a big, huge win for wildlife. Carbofuran, as I’ve mentioned in the past (see Dr. Leakey Calls For Ban on Carbofuran in Kenya, and EPA Considers Lifting Ban on Furadan Pesticide, and Cattle Farming Responsible for Epidemic of Wildlife Poisoning) is used widely to poison wildlife that interfere with cattle farming or other livestock enterprises. You can read a lot more about the dangers to wildlife, and people, of carbofuran on Wildlife Direct’s Stop Wildlife Poisoning blog.

The pesticide’s manufacturer, FMC, plans to fight the EPA’s decision. There is a 60-day comment period when anyone can comment on this proposed rule, so if you know of any NGOs (Defenders of Wildlife, NRDC, etc.) who are asking for public comments, please let me know. We can get this off the market entirely if enough people take time to comment.

The WaPo story goes on to explain why the EPA made this proposal:

In proposing the ban, the EPA also overruled the Agriculture Department, which argued in written comments that federal officials should consider the benefits associated with keeping the pesticide on the market. Gulliford, however, said the EPA does not weigh such factors when judging the risk posed by food products.

“It’s not a benefit-risks decision, it’s a risk-based decision,” he said in an interview, adding that the agency hoped to have the pesticide off the market before next year’s growing season. “This is part of our process to ensure we have the safest food supply of any country in the world.”

There is no question that carbofuran exacts a toll on wildlife: A 2006 EPA document examining the pesticide’s environmental effects found that if a flock of mallard ducks wandered into an alfalfa field within a week after the chemical was applied, 84 percent of the birds would die. The pesticide also kills bees, which have experienced an unexplained massive population collapse in recent years.

Very good news!

s.