Expert Witness Blog
Pest control expert witnesses may opine regarding pesticide contamination, insects, and insecticides. Pesticides were in the news last week when federal regulators clamped strong new controls on the pesticide believed to have caused the deaths of 4-year-old Rebecca Toone and her 15-month-old sister Rachel the week after an exterminator fumigated rodent holes outside of their Layton, UT, home.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said aluminum and magnesium phosphide fumigants can no longer be used near homes. The agency also expanded the buffer zones required when using it outdoors and imposed a new requirement for posted warnings when the pesticide has been applied. Dr. Gina Solomon who works for the environmental group, the Natural Resources Defense Council, applauded the EPA’s steps Wednesday. The expert wrote about the tobacco industry’s successful efforts to stymie phosphine restrictions when EPA first proposed tougher standards in 1998. “The announcement today really will increase public safety,” she said, calling the EPA’s actions swift, decisive and “critically important.”
For more, see slttrib.com.