TIME: Almanac 1993/TIME Almanac 1993.iso/time/072092/07209917.000

Text File | 1993-04-08 | 1.6 KB | 40 lines

                                                                                THE WEEK, Page 20

HEALTH & SCIENCE

Red Light? Or Green?


Two court decisions go in opposite directions on environmental
hazards


    Talk about double messages. Two federal courts have come out
with decisions that could 1) limit and 2) increase the number of
toxic chemicals to which Americans are exposed. The first
concerns four pesticides -- used on crops including tomatoes,
fruits and grains -- that cause cancer in laboratory animals.
When these crops are processed into jellies, say, or catsup, the
pesticides become more concentrated than they are in the field.
Even then, the Environmental Protection Agency says, the risk
of cancer is 1 in a million at most, and the chemicals should
stay on the market.

    But a 1958 law says any risk at all is unacceptable, and
a San Francisco court ruled that the epa must ban the four; 31
others will probably be affected too, and 30 more could be. That
adds up to 20% of all pesticides used on crops. The EPA is
deciding whether to appeal -- and the pesticide industry is
holding its breath.

    The other ruling involves worker safety: in 1989 the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration limited workplace
exposure to more than 400 toxic substances. But OSHA didn't make
a separate case for each, as the law requires. Though that would
have taken decades, an Atlanta court said the limits are
invalid. Workers shouldn't panic: it's unlikely that companies
that have spent millions to comply with OSHA's standards will
now spend even more to have safeguards removed.