GAO Finds Need for Pesticide Information

April 20, 2000

The General Accounting Office is recommending that the Environmental Protection Agency identify and "expeditiously" implement ways to mitigate the potential adverse effects of pesticide exposure on children below the age of 12 who work in agriculture or otherwise are in pesticide-treated fields. The standard that now applies affects children 12 years and older as well as adults -- not children below the age of 12.

Comprehensive information on the occurrence of acute and chronic health effects from pesticide exposure does not exist, said GAO, whether for farm workers, farm children or the general population. Available date sources track acute, or short-term pesticide illnesses but are incomplete and have limitations that result in the underestimation of both the frequency and severity of such illnesses.

"A number of federally sponsored studies are underway related to the chronic effects of pesticide exposure, but because of the complexity of the issues involved, it will be many years, and perhaps decades, before conclusive results from these studies are known," GAO noted.

EPA has implemented the worker protection standard that is intended to reduce farm workers. exposure to pesticides. An important protection from the standard is the time intervals between when pesticides are applied and when workers may enter treated areas. However, EPA says these entry intervals were designed for adults and children older than 12 who do farm work; they were not designed for children younger than 12.

"Furthermore, EPA has little assurance that the protections called for in the standard are actually being provided to farm workers generally or to children who work in agriculture," said GAO. "We found that EPA regions have been inconsistent in whether they set goals for the number of worker protection inspections states should conduct, in defining what constitutes a worker protection inspection and in the extent to which they oversee and monitor the states. implementation and enforcement of the standard."

GAO recommended that EPA:

. Identify and expeditiously implement steps to mitigate the potential adverse effects of pesticide exposure on children below the age of 12 who work in agriculture or are otherwise present in pesticide-treated fields;

. Complete the documentation supporting EPA's conclusion that the worker protection standard's entry intervals adequately protect children 12 years of age and older;

. Improve EPA. s oversight of the states. implementation and enforcement of the standard by at least clearly defining what constitutes a worker protection inspection, establishing goals for the minimum number of worker protection inspections that states should conduct annually, examining whether the resources of the states dedicate for this function are adequate to achieve the goals established, clarifying the roles and responsibilities of EPA. s regional offices to ensure consistency in program oversight, and taking the necessary steps to obtain and analyze data on the results of the states. worker protection inspections, including the number and types of actions taken in response to worker protection violations.

One recommendation that met with an enthusiastic response from EPA was that the agency work with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the National Center for Environmental Health to expand and improve data collection and reporting of pesticide-related illnesses.

EPA also agreed on the importance to fully assess whether farm workers. children are at risk now and address that risk. EPA agreed to complete the documentation supporting the conclusion that the standard. s entry intervals adequately protect children 12 years of age and older.

The agency also "believes" GAO's recommendation on implementing the standard dovetails with what EPA has found in studying the standard. s implementation but did not address specifically how it plans to implement detailed steps laid out in GAO. s recommendations.

To access the full report on the Internet, the address is http://www.gao.gov/new.items/rc00040.pdf