Special alert:
Tell the EPA to protect children from rat poisons
Take action now at
http://www.nrdconline.org/campaign/nrdcaction_050807
======================================================
Every year tens of thousands of small children are poisoned by
chemical rat poisons, and several hundred require
hospitalization. Poisoned children can suffer from nosebleeds,
bleeding gums, bloody urine, gastrointestinal bleeding, anemia
and bleeding into the skin, eyes and joints. Rat poisonings
disproportionately harm African-American, Latino and low-income
children.
Almost two years ago a federal court ordered the EPA to develop
safety measures that would protect children from rat poisons
after NRDC and West Harlem Environmental Action successfully
sued the agency over its failure to safeguard kids from these
serious health risks. In response to our court victory, the EPA
has finally proposed important two safety measures that would go
a long way toward protecting kids from rat poisons.
First, the EPA would require child-safe packaging known as
"tamper-resistant bait stations," to make it much harder for
children to be able to access rat poisons. The EPA also would
forbid the sale of rat poison in the form of brightly colored
loose pellets -- which children mistake for candy -- and instead
require solid bait blocks, which would not fit into a child's
mouth.
Although the EPA asserts that these proposals would
"dramatically decrease" the number of children poisoned every
year, chemical companies that make rat poisons are fighting
these safety measures, calling them "burdensome" and claiming
that they would cost too much.
The EPA is accepting public comments on the proposed safety
measures until May 18th.
== What to do ==
Send a comment, before the May 18th deadline, urging the EPA to
finalize these safety measures and protect children from rat
poisons.
== Contact information ==
You can send a message to the EPA directly from NRDC's Earth
Action Center at
http://www.nrdconline.org/campaign/nrdcaction_050807
Or use the contact information and sample letter below to send
your own message (postal mail only).
Docket # EPA-HQ-OPP-2006-0955
Office of Pesticide Programs (7502P)
Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460-0001
== Sample letter ==
Re: Docket # EPA-HQ-OPP-2006-0955 - Protect kids from rat
poisons
Dear Administrator Johnson and EPA staff,
I urge the EPA to finalize the proposed safety measures to
protect children from chemical rat poisons. Poisoned children
can suffer from nosebleeds, bleeding gums, bloody urine,
gastrointestinal bleeding, anemia and bleeding into the skin,
eyes and joints. The EPA has long acknowledged these serious
threats of child poisonings, and the proposals to require
child-safe packaging and solid bait blocks for all
residential-use rat poisons are necessary steps to protect
children's health.
Protecting kids from rat poisoning is also an environmental
justice issue: African-American, Latino and low-income children
are disproportionately harmed by these dangerous chemicals. The
proposed safety measures will protect people of color, people
living in public housing and low-income communities.
Please don't cave to pressure from the chemical industry.
Finalize the proposed safety measures to protect children from
rat poisons.
Sincerely,
[Your name and address]
Please also forward this message to your friends and co-workers,
and urge them to contact the EPA as well.
Thank you!
Hi Everyone,
This is a very important issue that really need to have everyones help. Please contact the EPA and let them know that our children need to be protected. The more people that write the more they will listen!
God Bless You All,
Love, Marilyn
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