in twenty states, from New York to Hawaii, and has been banned in many European
countries. Most efforts to reduce levels of weed killers in tap water have come literally
at the end of the pipe; clean-up actions are instituted by local water suppliers and
paid for by their customers.^48Caveats and UncertaintyPesticides are mostly modern chemicals. There are many hundreds of these com-
pounds, and extensive tests and studies of their effects on humans have not been
completed. That leads us to ask just how concerned we should be about their pres-
ence in our drinking water. Certainly, it would be wise to treat pesticides as poten-
tially dangerous and, thus, to handle them with care. We can say they pose a
potential danger if they are consumed in large quantities, but as any experienced sci-
entist knows, you cannot draw factual conclusions unless scientific tests have been
done. Some pesticides have had a designated Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL)
in drinking water set by the EPA, but many have not. Also, the effects of combining
more than one pesticide in drinking water might be different than those of each indi-
vidual pesticide alone. It is another situation where we don’t have sufficient scientific
data to draw reliable conclusions.^49Federal Pesticide RegulationIn 1947, Congress took its first step to regulate pesticides with the enactment of
FIFRA. This early statute was intended primarily to protect farmers and others from
mislabeled, ineffective, or adulterated pesticides. That original document was only
thirty-five pages long. By 1994, with billions of dollars on the line and as questions
of possible adverse health effects and environmental impacts had been raised, FIFRA
was expanded to more than 200 pages.^50 FIFRA initially granted jurisdiction over
pesticides to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (the USDA), but in 1970, amid
reports of the USDA’s mismanagement and conflicts of interest, Congress shifted
authority for pesticide regulation to the newly created EPA.^51 The USDA, however,
continues to play a role: it is responsible for monitoring pesticide residues and it con-
tinues to promote the use of pesticides.
Key provisions of the current version of FIFRA include the following:- The EPA is responsible for setting most standards for pesticide use. States han-
dle enforcement. The EPA has the authority to prohibit the use of a pesticide
in the United States, to restrict uses, and to set the level of pesticide residues
allowed on raw food. - Manufacturers of a chemical that is to be used to kill any pest must obtain a
registration for the product from the EPA. If the pesticide is considered too
dangerous to be used by the general population, the EPA may register the pes-
ticide as ‘‘restricted use,’’ which means it may be applied only by certified
applicators or under the supervision of a certified applicator.
14 | Pesticides