Tell Congress to End EPA Cronyism

We at ANH-USA have written many times before about how the FDA is beholden to the pharmaceutical industry: through drug user fees, Big Pharma pays the FDA to review its products, giving the FDA a bias towards the drug industry. But many Americans may not be aware that the chemical industry has a similar scheme at the EPA that is exposing us to dangerous pesticides, the safety of which have not been confirmed. To protect our health, we must root out this cronyism.

Write to Congress and tell them to revoke pesticide registration fees.

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Do not reauthorize PRIA

Dear [Decision Maker],

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I'm concerned that the system for registering pesticides at the EPA leaves the door wide open for cronyism, where the EPA collects fees from industry to approve their products.

This kind of pay-to-play scheme is exactly the kind of thing the government should not be involved in.

For example, there is a loophole at the EPA that allows companies to market and sell a pesticide without having to submit all the necessary data. This happens in "conditional registration," which allows a chemical to enter the market while the company generates missing data requested by the EPA. Conditional registration was meant to be used in emergencies if a chemical was needed to, for instance, prevent a disease outbreak. But an analysis found that 65% of currently registered pesticides have been conditionally registered. The analysis also concluded that the EPA did not have systems in place to ensure that the additional data requested by the agency had been submitted by industry and reviewed by EPA staff.

Clothianidin, a neonicotinoid, is a case in point. This chemical was granted conditional approval in 2003 to treat corn and canola seed. The EPA at the time said that registration was conditioned upon the submission of a field study of the chemical's effect on bees by 2004. The company, Bayer, didn't submit any study until 2007, three years late, and the study suffered from so many flaws that the EPA considered it "invalid." Despite all this, the chemical remains on the market under conditional registration. Clothianidin has been found to be immunotoxic and neurotoxic in humans, while also adversely effecting aquatic animals and bees.

If the EPA is to truly offer an independent assessment of the safety of a chemical, it cannot be financially reliant on the industry submitting the chemicals for review. These same conflicts of interest exist at the FDA, and thousands of Americans have become sick or even died from dangerous drugs approved at the behest of the drug industry.

I know that Congress has reauthorized PRIA this year, but I urge you to revoke pesticide registration fees and end this threat of cronyism at the EPA.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[City, State ZIP]
[Your Email]