I’m whopper-jawed. I’m stunned. I’m
sick. I’m disgusted. I’m fuming. If you thought that you could no longer be shocked by
anything the Bush administration does, you’ve obviously not heard of
the latest inhuman, totally depraved, appalling bit of evil coming out of
Bush’s EPA. These so-called environmental and health protectors have
proposed a new rule regarding the testing of toxic pesticides on human
beings — a deplorable practice that the chemical makers have long
favored. Because the EPA had been caught supporting tests in which children
were intentionally dosed with pesticides, Congress mandated in August that
the agency issue a rule permanently banning such pesticide tests, without
exception. In September, the EPA issued its proposed rule,
hailing it as “a landmark regulation on human studies” and
flatly declaring that “certain kinds of human research can never be
acceptable.” Beyond its flowery declaration of ethical principles,
however, EPA’s proposal is 30 pages of fine print that viciously guts
those very principles by giving the pesticide corporations clear-cut
exceptions to the supposed ban on human testing. Get ready to puke, for these are some of the
exceptions: • Neglected or abused infants may be subjected
to pesticide tests, without the consent of parents or guardians. • Mentally handicapped and orphaned infants may
be used for tests for the sake of research. • EPA will accept industry pesticide tests done
on children outside the United States, including countries with minimal or
no ethical standards. Not only do these repulsive exceptions violate even
the lowest level of human decency and morality, but they also are in direct
violation of Congress’s mandate to allow no exceptions to the ban on
such tests — zero. The agency has cynically chosen industry profits
over children’s welfare.
This article appears in Dec 15-21, 2005.
