Controversy erupts over banning Furadan

The American Bird Conservancy said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is being pressured to reverse a ban on the use of a pesticide.

Conservancy officials said some members of Congress and the FMC Corp., manufacturer of the pesticide carbofuran that's sold as Furadan, are pressuring the EPA to reverse its 2006 decision to cancel the registration of all uses of carbofuran.

"Those who support keeping carbofuran on the market are stating their clear indifference to conserving wildlife and to exposing workers to toxins," said George Fenwick, president of the American Bird Conservancy. "Carbofuran is harmful to human health, and one of the most deadly pesticides to birds left on the market. It is responsible for the deaths of millions of wild birds since its introduction in 1967, including … migratory songbirds."

In its 2005 ecological risk assessment on carbofuran, the EPA said that if a flock of mallards were to feed in a carbofuran-treated alfalfa field, 92 percent of the birds in the flock would quickly die. EPA analysis also confirmed carbofuran is a threat to human health through contaminated food, drinking water and occupational exposure, the American Bird Conservancy said.

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