Revised EPA Pesticide Rule Backs Advocates' Calls To Protect Handlers

摘要

EPA has finalized revisions to its pesticide worker protection standards (WPS) that aim to provide farmworkers with protections equal to workers in other industries that handle toxic chemicals, including backing advocates' calls to bar anyone under age 18 from handling pesticides, despite objections from industry and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). "We depend on farmworkers every day to help put the food we eat on America's dinner tables-and they deserve fair, equitable working standards with strong health and safety protections," EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said during a Sept. 28 call with reporters.