New regulations will keep certain pesticides out of residential areas, hospitals, and daycare centers or schools.(Photo courtesy of Ordered Chaos CC-2.0)
The feds are cracking down on a pesticide linked to the deaths of two little girls. Lester Graham reports the poison is used to kill burrowing rodents.
Transcript
The feds are cracking down on a pesticide linked to the deaths of two little girls. Lester Graham reports the poison is used to kill burrowing rodents.
The Environmental Protection Agency is restricting use of the pesticide after two young girls in Utah, a four-year-old and a 15-month-old, died. Phosphine fumigants in the form of poisoned pellets had been used near their home. With this new restriction, the pesticide cannot be used in residential areas.
“It’s not okay at all.”
Marty Monell is the EPA’s Deputy Director of the Office of Pesticide Programs.
“So, there’s no residential use, no use around hospitals or daycare centers or schools.”
The one exception is on athletic fields with certain restrictions.
Those pesticides can still be used to kill bugs in grain bins and silos and for rodents on farms and orchards.
For The Environment Report, I’m Lester Graham.