Two things Oregon State Government Needs to Remember About Pesticides

Jul 22, 2011 by OTA

Written by OTA Executive Director, Lisa Arkin

This week we had a meeting with Special Counsel of the Oregon Attorney General’s office on pesticide use by Oregon state government. There are many safety and legal issues for them to consider, and I won’t go into everything we talked about, but here are two things we did cover with them: 

One: pesticides and herbicides make people sick

There is a lot of science that establishes a clear, verifiable link between pesticide and serious health problems.  Scientific summaries abound, this one taken from the Canadian Parliament Report on Integrated Pest Management policies to reduce pesticides:  “Many studies published in prestigious, peer-reviewed medical and epidemiological journals and reports point to strong associations between chemical pesticides and serious health consequences, including–endocrine disruption and fertility problems, birth defects, brain tumors and brain cancer, … “(and the list of bad stuff goes on for a few more lines!).

Less talked about, but equally important, is evidence that pesticide encounters are a human rights issue. This is especially true when pesticides reach us through toxic trespass – that means that pesticides travel away from their intended target and trespass into our bodies because we eat them, breathe them, or get them on our skin.

 A good example is when a government sprays pesticides along the sides of state roads, or in public parks, or at schools. Would you spray pesticides on your dining room table and chairs before eating?  If not, then why spray it on the park grass where school kids come to have a picnic when they visit the capitol in Salem?

Does the government have a special obligation to protect the public from chemicals that are known to cause “serious health consequences?” We think the government does! It is the State’s first obligation to ensure the health and safety of Oregonians.

 Two: pesticide use is going to change… just like tobacco use has changed

Faced with a powerful chemical company lobby, it’s easy for the state government to want to drag its feet on changing “business as usual,” even when that business is making people sick. We talked about other products which were once widely used in our society have been abandoned because of better science and changes in public values. The best example is the use of tobacco.

We once thought that cigarette smoking was an American pastime – 20 years ago we thought cigarette smoking was untouchable!  Even doctors smoked – you could buy cigarettes in hospitals!  We were lulled into inaction by an entrenched corporate and government position that anyone had the right to smoke anywhere they wished.   Now governments have taken action to protect the public, especially children, by reducing exposure to smoking, which has carcinogenic and lung stunting effects. At some point, pesticides will go the same way. 

Sometime we will ask ourselves – can you believe the government actually used to spray hundreds of thousands of pounds of active pesticide ingredients along highways next to rivers, parks, backyards, bike paths and schools?  How crazy was that?

According to the Canadian Parliament, “As we all know, governments act with greater speed and resolution when clear arguments are made about dangers posed to public health.” The evidence is there that pesticides are bad for you, it’s just a question of when we will start acting on this information.

 What else should the state government be considering?

 Oregon Toxics Alliance is scheduling conversations around the state to make a clear and compelling case for the State obligation to provide for Safe Public Places.  Join this effort – pesticides are not so different than secondhand smoke. The next generation will ask us, why we didn’t take action as soon as we knew how dangerous pesticides are? to healthy childhood development?