Urgent: Toxic Pesticide Clouds Threatening Health of Farmworker's Children

Dear Congressmember [Name],

I'm writing to ask you to support an effort by farm worker, public health and children's advocates

Last month, a coalition of groups, including United Farm Workers, MomsRising.Org, and Physicians for Social Responsibility, filed a petition with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency asking the agency to set safety standards protecting children who grow up near farms from the harmful effects of pesticide drift -- the toxic spray or vapor that travels from treated fields.

Will you support this petition by signing onto a Dear Colleague letter being circulated by Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN)?

In 1996, Congress required the EPA to set standards by 2006 to protect children from pesticides. Three years have passed since that deadline, and EPA's job is only partially complete. The agency has made some progress -- banning the use of some pesticides in the home and on lawns. But the agency has failed to protect children from these same pesticides when they drift from treated fields into nearby yards, homes, schools, parks and daycare centers.

Pesticide poisoning reports and scientific studies show that pesticides are ending up in the air and in people's bodies at unsafe levels. Among a host of examples: recent air monitoring conducted near the Southwoods Elementary School in Hastings, Florida, detected pesticides in every sample, sometimes at levels that may pose serious health risks to young children.

[Your comments here]

All our nation's children deserve to be protected from these dangerous toxins. Please support this important effort by signing onto Rep. Ellison's letter.

Your time and consideration are appreciated.