GENERAL49967 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

But ABC News continued, "Testing and retesting can take years. The pesticide 2,4D, for example kills weeds, but it also causes cancer in laboratory animals. It stays on the market because the company hasn't finished retesting it. The law sets no priorities, so the companies have no incentive to test what may be the most dangerous products fast." If 2,4-D truly causes cancer in animals, a study would have been done to demon- strate this, and it would be recorded in the scientific literature. There is none. Addition- ally, EPA has clearly set deadlines for the required studies, a fact the 2,4-D Task Force can attest to through hard experience. I telephoned ABC News Producer Todd Easton to ask what studies showed that 2,4-D causes cancer in laboratory animals, and to ask the source of his other information. When Easton's telephone screener learned who I was and what I wanted, Todd Easton was fast "too busy" to talk to me, and, on later calls, "away from his office." The promised return calls never materialized. I then sent Easton a certified letter explaining why I wanted to talk to him and giving a time when I would call. My later calls brought exactly the same response, the promised return calls never materialized and my letter was never answered. Where did ABC News get the idea that 2,4-D causes cancer in laborntory animals? Appazently from the anti-pesticide advocacy groups, who are usually treated as "reliable sources." And how is 2,4-D portrayed by such groups? Let's look at a couple of exam- ples. On September 21, 1995, Ralph Nader and the Cancer Prevention Coalition (CPC) held a press conference in the Lisagor Room of the National Press Club, to announce their annual "Dirty Dozen," a Gst of twelve widely used consumer products that are allegedly very hazardous to our health; a list, the hosts told us darkly, that was compiled "as infor- mation on their hazazds is being withheld from American consumers." Ortho's Weed-B- Gon, aconsumer lawn care product containing 2,4-D, was number twelve on the list. Such rather innocuous produce as Borden's whole milk, Johnson & Johnson's baby pow- der, Crest Tartar Control Toothpaste and Ajax Cleanser preceded 2,4D on the list. The press conference received extensive coverage from ABC, CNN, CBS, NBC, the Associ- ated Press, etc. The press conference was called, it turns out, not only to publicize the "dirty dozen," but to promote the sale of a book written by Samuel Epstein, CPC's Chairman, and David Steinmann, an "investigative reporter" and CPC board member. The informa- tion given out on Weed-B-Gon labeled 2,4-D "carcinogenic, neurotoxic" and "a repro- ductive toxin." No sources for this information were given, but the book being promoted, The Safe Shoppers Bible, shows 2,4-D to be a carcinogen and should "never be used," a neurotoxin and a reproductive toxin. What references does it cite for this information? It cites Jay Feldman of the National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides (NCAMP).