*SAMPLE TEXT TO YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS*
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Dear [Member of Congress],
Please pass the Pesticide Injury Accountability Act.
The Supreme Court is considering a case that could determine whether families, workers, and communities poisoned by toxic pesticides will retain the ability to hold manufacturers accountable. If the Court rules in favor of Bayer in Monsanto v. Durnell, pesticide producers could be shielded from failure-to-warn lawsuits, leaving many victims without recourse or compensation.
The implications for public health, environmental protection, and access to justice are profound, as this case impacts the 57,000 peticides approved by the Environmental Protection Agency for every use, not just in agriculture.
Bayer, which acquired Monsanto in 2018, argues that it had no duty to warn the public that its glyphosate-based Roundup weedkiller causes cancer because the Environmental Protection Agency approved a label that did not include a cancer warning. This argument ignores the reality that the EPA routinely approves pesticide labels that fail to disclose known health risks.
The EPA recently approved Bayer’s label for Raxil®EverGol® Fungicide Seed Treatment, which contains tebuconazole, an endocrine disruptor associated with developmental, reproductive, neurological, and cancer risks. Although the EPA classifies tebuconazole as a potential carcinogen, the approved label includes no warning about cancer or any other serious health effect.
Another example is clofentezine. The EPA classifies it as a possible carcinogen, but doesn't require that to be put on the label. In 2023, clofentezine didn't get reauthorized by the EU because it is an endocrine disruptor that can cause cancer and birth defects.
If EPA-approved labels fail to warn of known dangers, they should not be used to block failure-to-warn lawsuits.
Rather than honestly communicating the health risks of its pesticides, Bayer prioritizes minimizing financial and legal responsibility for the harm they cause.
After the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer classified glyphosate as a probable human carcinogen in 2015, tens of thousands of cancer victims exposed to Roundup sought justice. Approximately 170,000 claims have been filed. Roughly 100,000 cases were settled for $11 billion. In the 24 cases that have gone to trial, juries have awarded victims more than $8 billion.
People must retain the right to seek justice when they are sickened or killed by toxic pesticides. With the executive branch and state officials failing to protect the public, Congress must act. Children and young people, whose cancer rates are rising fastest, depend on it.
I urge you to make clear that EPA approval of pesticide labels does not preempt failure-to-warn lawsuits. Protect the rights of pesticide-poisoned plaintiffs by passing the Pesticide Injury Accountability Act.
Thank you for your attention to this critical issue.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]