*SAMPLE LETTER TO YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS*
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Dear [Member of Congress],
Please pass the Paraquat Protection Act! At least 74 countries have stopped using this deadly herbicide.
Paraquat is widely used in the U.S., primarily in California where the top two sprayers are J.G. Boswell, the nation’s largest cotton producer, and the Wonderful Company, the world's largest almond and pistachio grower.
Farmers and pesticide applicators’ prolonged and frequent exposure to paraquat puts them at high risk of Parkinson’s disease. From 2013 to 2017, paraquat use in agriculture doubled and Parkinson's disease diagnoses increased by 107 percent. Lawyers for paraquat-exposed Parkinson’s victims say paraquat producers “Syngenta and Chevron knew for decades that paraquat destroyed the dopamine-creating cells in the brain—the very cells that, when dead, cause Parkinson's.”
Paraquat also contributes to cancer, the second most common cause of death among children ages 1-14 (after accidents). Paraquat is associated with childhood acute myeloid leukemia. In adults, it’s linked to non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Paraquat is the deadliest chemical in U.S. agriculture. The Environmental Protection Agency’s paraquat warning is, “One sip can kill,” and it has logged several instances of death from accidental ingestion of tiny amounts of paraquat.
The EPA says paraquat is too toxic to use on golf courses, but it allows it to be sprayed where food is grown.
The EPA is failing us. Please protect us by passing the Paraquat Protection Act.
Thank you.
[Your Name]