(New York, N.Y.) An investigation conducted last…
(New York, N.Y.) An investigation conducted
last week by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency revealed that
dangerous and illegal pesticides are widely available in New York
City. Federal and state experts conducted 47 inspections and found
16 different types of illegal pesticides. The pesticides were not
registered by EPA and consumers have no way of knowing how
dangerous they are, because they were not subject to testing
requirements or manufacturing controls that are required in the
registration process. In all, nearly 350 illegal products were
collected from the businesses in just three days. Store owners and
vendors found with the illegal pesticides were given a warning and
told why selling these products are dangerous and illegal. Separate
but related criminal investigations conducted by EPA with the New
York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the U.S
Attorney’s Office, U.S. Customs, the U.S. Postal Service and
the Manhattan District Attorney’s office produced similar
results and several charges were made against individuals last
week, resulting in 12 arrests.
"Illegal pesticides can make people sick,
especially kids who might mistake them for candy,” said EPA
Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck. "Illegal pesticides can and
do poison people. When businesses sell these products, they put
their customers at risk. I encourage all New York City retailers to
check their shelves and make sure all their pesticides have the
required EPA labels. Consumers should be careful to look for the
EPA registration number printed on product labels, and to follow
the directions for use, storage and disposal. If a pesticide
product does not have an EPA registration number, it should not be
purchased.”
“The sale of illegal pesticides poses a
direct threat to the health and safety of our community. In the
cases charged by our Office, that threat was particularly imminent
in the Chinatown neighborhood,” said District Attorney Vance.
“Some of these illegal products look and smell like cookie
crumbs, making them dangerously tempting to children. Some of the
other products are so toxic that one small vial can kill an adult
male. It is my hope that our collective criminal and civil law
enforcement actions will prevent future injury or
death.”
“The New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation has zero tolerance for the sale of
illegal pesticides and we will continue law enforcement efforts
such as these to ensure that the health of our communities is
protected,” stated Department of Environmental Conservation
Regional Director Venetia Lannon. “We commend the EPA for
their leadership, our partners at the Manhattan District Attorney's
Office and our own Division of Law Enforcement for a successful
sting operation."
The inspections, which took place the week of
September 12, targeted stores in neighborhoods in Brooklyn,
Manhattan and Queens. Among the items confiscated were various
rodenticides, mosquito repellants and mothballs. These items will
be safely destroyed.
Under federal pesticides law, all products sold
in the United States that contain pesticides must be registered
with EPA. Before a pesticide product is registered, the producer of
the product must provide data from tests done according to EPA
guidelines, to ensure that the product does not make people sick.
EPA then examines the ingredients and the way in which the product
will be used, and assesses a wide variety of potential human health
and environmental effects associated with use of the product.
Distributors and retailers are responsible for ensuring that all
pesticides distributed and sold fully comply with the
law.
Pesticides have been linked to various forms of
illnesses in humans, ranging from skin and eye irritation to
cancer. Some pesticides may also affect the hormone or endocrine
systems. In many situations, there may be non-chemical methods to
control pests. EPA recommends considering and using these methods
as part of an overall pest management strategy.
EPA has created an illegal pesticides fact sheet
in multiple languages, which it will be distributing to businesses
and community organizations in the targeted
neighborhoods.
In a separate series of actions earlier this
week, the U.S. Department of Justice charged two New York
City-based individuals, who together had distributed and sold
thousands of packages of illegal pesticides in recent months, with
misdemeanor violations of federal pesticide laws. The Manhattan
District Attorney’s office also charged 10 retail sellers
with selling dangerous and illegal pesticides and with reckless
endangerment.Agents seized many more illegal pesticides from the
individuals during their respective arrests.
For more information on pesticide regulation and
enforcement, please visit the EPA’s Web site at: https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/epa-region-2.
Follow EPA Region 2 on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/eparegion2 and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/eparegion2.
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