Just heard about this today...
Study of Pesticides and Children Stirs Protests Staffers Fear EPA Project Endangers Participants
By Juliet Eilperin Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 30, 2004An Environmental Protection Agency proposal to study young children's exposure to pesticides has sparked a flurry of internal agency protests, with several career officials questioning whether the survey will harm vulnerable infants and toddlers.
The EPA announced this month that it was launching a two-year investigation, partially funded by the American Chemical Council, of how 60 children in Duval County, Fla., absorb pesticides and other household chemicals. The chemical industry funding initially prompted some environmentalists to question whether the study would be biased, and some rank-and-file agency scientists are now questioning whether the plan will exploit financially strapped families.
As I said to a Republican friend who kept trying to bait me yesterday, and who just had a baby earlier this year... "The good thing is we only have to live with the consequences for a few decades... it's people with kids I feel sorry for."
