EPA proposes new pesticide rules: annual training, no-entry areas, signs, ban for kids under 16

The Environmental Protection Agency proposed new safety rules Thursday to protect people who work in farms, or live near them, and might be exposed to dangerous pesticides, Carey Gilliam reports for Reuters. "EPA is proposing revisions to the agency's 22-year-old Worker Protection Standard that EPA officials say will help protect approximately 2 million U.S. farm workers and their families from exposure to pesticides used to protect crops from weeds, insects, and disease."

Propose changes include "annual training in pesticide protection, instead of once every five years," Giliam writes. Other changes "would expand mandatory posting of signage warning people from entering fields newly treated with pesticides; prohibit children under 16 from handling pesticides unless they are part of a family farm; and set no-entry buffer areas of 25 feet to 100 feet around pesticide-treated fields to limit exposure from overspraying and fumes." The EPA will seek public comment before making a final decision. (Read more)