Advocacy Project: Letter to Elected Official

December 10, 2011
Bog Gibbs
House of Representatives
329 Cannon HOB
Washington, DC 20515

VOTE NO ON H.R. 872: REDUCING REGULATORY BURDENS ACT OF 2011

The proposed bill on the regulated release of pesticides will have a significant impact on our water systems. As a current health education student I am quickly learning the impact pesticides have on our environment and people’s health.  From what I am learning I strongly believe that not requiring a permit for the discharge of authorized pesticides into navigable waters.  I believe that instead we need to regulate the use of pesticides so that they do not go into any water source at all. This should just be the start, what we really need to do is to start a movement that slowly cuts back on the use of pesticides until we have stopped using them completely. This will both benefit the environment and people’s health.

It’s no secret that the use of pesticides has a negative effect on a person’s health, especially if you are the farmer that is applying them.  The U.S. agriculture industry uses around 800 million pounds of pesticides annually. About 110,000 pesticide poisonings are reported by poison control centers every year. We can reduce the rate of pesticide poisonings in our country by controlling the discharge of pesticides and also cutting back on the amount that we are using. To cut back on the amount of pesticides that people ingest will decrease the amount of poisonings that occur.

Allies of this bill would argue that they are controlling the safe use of pesticides by making sure only regulated pesticides are only discharged into navigable water. They would argue that only “safe” pesticides are being used. Unless the pesticide is naturally occurring there is nothing safe about it. Cost would be another issue that comes up, using natural pesticides would indeed cost more but when you compare it to the health costs of pesticide poisoning and the cost of someone’s life there is no comparison.

We appreciate your efforts to control the use of pesticides by requiring only regulated pesticides but that has to be just the start. We need to push forward towards working on stopping the use of pesticides. So to push forward please vote “no” to bill H.R. 872.  If you would like to contact me to discuss this issue further please call me at 586-445-9265 or email me at smaje@envirohealth.com.

Samantha

Share & Voice:

For this Share and Voice I decided to do a youtube video on pesticides since that is what my advocacy project is on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McfARs9PnbM

Advocacy Project: Fact Sheet

Pesticide Poisoning:

Here are some facts on pesticides

• The U.S. agriculture industry uses about 800 million pounds of pesticides annually.
• Homeowners use about 70 million pounds of pesticides annually on their lawns.
• Approximately 90 percent of all households in the U.S. use pesticides.

One use of pesticides is to control the mosquito population. This is important in preventing the spread of some diseases such as West Nile virus. For example, in Fort Collins, Colo., 211 people contracted West Nile virus prior to spraying pesticides to control the mosquito population. After the area was sprayed, the instances of West Nile decreased to only 17.

• Pesticides are monitored by the U.S. EPA and must go through rigorous testing before they can be distributed. The U.S. EPA requires about 100 different scientific studies and tests from all applicants seeking to register pesticides.
• There are several different type of pesticides, but the most notable are chemical pesticides (man-made) and organic or biopesticides (naturally occurring).
• Pesticides are extremely lethal in large doses. The majority do not cause long term or long lasting damage if a low dose is injected, inhaled or absorbed; however, exposure is not recommended. On every label for pesticides are instructions for proper disposal.
• In the U.S., about 110,000 pesticide poisonings are reported by poison control centers each year. About 23,000 visit the emergency room for the same reason. 

This information was found at: Earth 911