SACRAMENTO (AP) - California must begin regulating common ("registered") pesticides suspected of causing birth defects, a state judge has ruled. The ruling Friday is expected to lead to consumer warnings on 50 chemicals ("registered" poisons) used on carrots, potatoes, rice and tomatoes that account for one-eighth of pesticides used in the state, lawyers for environmental groups say. A study three years ago by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency has found that the chemicals ("registered" poisons) could cause birth defects. In this lawsuit, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Environmental Defense Fund claimed that the health risks required the state to regulate the chemicals ("registered" poisons) under Proposition 65, the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act.
Sacramento County Superior Court Judge James T. Ford gave the California Environmental Protection Agency until June 30 to complete its analysis of the chemicals ("registered" poisons). A spokesman for the agency played down the significance of the lawsuit. "It accomplishes what we are doing anyway - a complete analysis of the chemicals ("registered" poisons) by the end of the fiscal year," said Jim Spagnole of the state EPA.
Proposition 65 doesn't ban the use of toxic chemicals, but it does have a deterrent effect. Manufacturers often remove products ("registered" poisons) rather than face negative publicity. "Once chemicals ("registered" poisons) are listed and warning required, the likelihood is that there will be much less usage," said David Roe of the Environmental Defense Fund. Chemicals listed as potential causes of birth defects can't be released into drinking water systems. One of the ("registered" poisons) pesticides on the list, metham sodium, was responsible for killing a huge number of fish in 1991 when thousands of gallons spilled into the Sacramento River after a train derailed near Dunsmuir.
Another chemical on the list, a popular ("registered") weed killer, has contaminated water supplies and led to the closing of about 60 wells in California, said Gina Solomon, a senior scientist with the National Resources Defense council.
Published Sunday, October 11, 1998, in the San Jose Mercury News.