Opit's LinkFest!: 5 May

San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge at night (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Mwamanongu Village water source, Tanzania. "In Meatu district, Shinyanga region, Tanzania, water most often comes from open holes dug in the sand of dry riverbeds, and it is invariably contaminated." . Français : Point d'eau du village de Mwamanongu, en Tanzanie. "Dans le district de Meatu (région de Shinyanga, Tanzanie), L'eau provient le plus souvent de trous creusés dans le sable de lits de rivières asséchées. Elle est systématiquement contaminée." (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

North Financial District, San Francisco, CA, USA Image taken April 27, 2007 by Dan Jahner (user:Danjahner) This image on Flickr (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

USS San Francisco (CA-38) entering San Francisco Bay under the Golden Gate Bridge, December 1942. The structure on the lower left is Fort Point. This picture was taken December 11, 1942, as the USS San Francisco, severely damaged in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal the previous month, returns to her namesake city. The ship was en route to the Mare Island Navy Yard for repairs. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

From the National Cancer Institute. http://press2.nci.nih.gov/sciencebehind/cancer/cancer01.htm vi:Hình:Cancer requires multiple mutations from NIH-vi.png (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A poster for drinking water security from the EPA (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson makes a Recovery Act announcement in Winthrop. (Photo credit: Massachusetts Energy and Environmental Affairs)

Image representing SAP as depicted in CrunchBase

Image via CrunchBase

I'm a Stranger Here, I'm Just Lookin' Around

Tell EPA to stop ignoring the atrazine science

Dear John,

Six months have passed since EPA’s own Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) reprimanded the agency for lowballing the cancer risks of atrazine, and no action has been taken. We recently called EPA to find out what they are planning to do. Their response? “We hope to update the website soon.”

Really, EPA?» According to the SAP, there is “strong” evidence linking atrazine to thyroid cancer, and “suggestive” evidence linking the chemical to ovarian, hairy-cell leukemia and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. On breast, prostrate, childhood and a few other cancers, “there is inadequate evidence to determine” whether or not atrazine causes cancer. Looking at this same body of evidence, EPA somehow found that atrazine is “not likely to be carcinogenic.”

Six months of no response other than “we hope to update the website” while millions of Americans – especially Midwesterners – are exposed to atrazine through their drinking water on a daily basis is unacceptable. Please join us in urging EPA to take the current review of atrazine seriously, and to follow the science – wherever it may lead.

Today, PAN released water monitoring results with communities in Illinois from 53 homes across the upper Midwest showing that they daily drink water with atrazine levels averaging five times the level at which health effects like low birth weight and birth defects have been found. These exposures are real and ongoing, and so are the health risks associated with them.

Let’s remind EPA that human health is on the line» Six months after being called out for underestimating the cancer risks of a chemical currently under review for, among other things, the cancer risks it presents, EPA has failed to show any signs that it is planning to respond to the pointed recommendations of it’s own SAP. Six months, no action, and we’re talking about cancer.

“Strong,” “suggestive” and “inadequate evidence to determine” are not the same thing as “unlikely to be carcinogenic to humans.” Our message to the agency is as simple as it has been consistent: follow the science.

Pesticide Action Network North America 49 Powell St., Suite 500, San Francisco, CA 94102 USA
Phone: (415) 981-1771 Fax: (415) 981-1991 Email: panna@panna.org Web:www.panna.org

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