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The US has been importing increasing amounts of paraquat, a pesticide widely used in farming that is linked to Parkinson’s disease, even as other countries have banned the chemical amid growing concerns about risks to human and environmental health, according to the findings of a new report.  The report cites multiple Chinese factories as supplying paraquat to the US in recent years but singles out Sinochem Holdings, a Chinese government-owned company and parent to paraquat maker Syngenta, as among the key suppliers by way of a Syngenta manufacturing facility in central England. Sales in the US are “helping to prop up demand for a toxic product with a shrinking global market,” the report states. “I hope this research shows that giant, foreign-owned companies are the ones profiting from weak US pesticide regulations,” said Deidre Nelms, spokeswoman for Coming Clean and author of Tuesday’s report.“These companies can’t be trusted to solve the health and environmental problems they had a hand in creating in the first place,” she said. “Farming without pesticides is the only viable way to protect the health of the people who grow and harvest our food.”

A new report reveals that the U.S. imports tens of millions of tons of paraquat a year from China and the United Kingdom, countries that have both banned the pesticide due to health and safety concerns. Trade records show that U.S. paraquat imports have increased this decade, even as over 70 countries worldwide prohibit its use. Paraquat exposure has been linked to Parkinson’s disease, thyroid cancer, lung damage, and other serious health conditions. “Corporate greed and weak U.S. pesticide regulations are driving a health crisis for farmworkers, farmers and rural communities. Foreign-owned agrochemical companies are profiting while our essential farming communities suffer,” said Judy Robinson, Executive Director of Coming Clean.

Un nuevo informe revela que los EE. UU. importan decenas de millones de toneladas de paraquat anualmente de China y el Reino Unido, ambos países que han prohibido el uso del plaguicida debido a preocupaciones por el riesgo a la salud y seguridad. Récords comerciales muestran que las importaciones estadounidenses de paraquat han aumentado esta década, aún cuando más de 70 países alrededor del mundo prohíben su uso. La exposición al paraquat se ha atado al mal de Parkinson, cáncer de la tiroide, daño pulmonar y otras condiciones de salud serias. El informe incluye testimonios de campesinos que probablemente fueron expuestos al paraquat en granjas estadounidenses y quienes luego desarrollaron quemazón debilitante de la piel, el mal de Parkinson y daño pulmonar. “Hasta recientemente, no sabía que mi papá probablemente adquirió el mal de Parkinson por sus años de trabajo en los campos de algodón, donde probablemente se usaba el paraquat,” dijo Mirna, miembro de la Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, cuyo padre era campesino en California y falleció por complicaciones del mal de Parkinson. “El gobierno tiene que reconocer el impacto de usar estos químicos porque afectan el ambiente y la salud de nuestra comunidad.”

Coming Clean is seeking part-time, short-term administrative support for the Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform (EJHA). The EJHA Administrative Associate will report to, and take direction from the EJHA National Organizer.

The Coalition to Prevent Chemical Disasters published updates to its open-access chemical disaster tracking tool today that allow users to see how close they live to highly hazardous facilities covered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Risk Management Program (RMP). The Chemical Incident Tracker continues to allow users to search for chemical releases, fires and explosions that have been reported in the media since January 2021, using an interactive map. The tracker is updated with new incidents weekly. 

Exposure to chemical plant pollution can shorten lives and contribute to many health problems. Last year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)  finally took action to reduce emissions of cancer-causing toxics like ethylene oxide and chloroprene from chemical plants, and developmentally-toxic mercury and heavy metals from coal plants. President Trump’s proclamations give over 150 facilities (52 chemical plants, 39 sterilizers and 68 of the country’s dirtiest coal plants) a free pass to ignore these pollution-reducing rules that would otherwise protect lives and health.