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EPA pesticide-testing rules don't protect the vulnerable, critics say.

Article Excerpt
After years of controversy over the ethics of exposing vulnerable populations to chemicals to assess their toxicity, the EPA has finalized rules establishing criteria for pesticide testing involving human subjects.

Published in January, the new rules say the agency will not consider data from studies that intentionally expose children or pregnant women to toxic chemicals. The rules establish an independent review board to assess all other studies on humans submitted with manufacturers' applications to market new pesticides.

Critics, including Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Cal.), say the rules don't go far enough. For example, Boxer noted, results of tests on children and pregnant women could still be used if a pesticide maker could show that at the start of a study it had not planned to submit the results to the EPA.

"The fact that the EPA allows pesticide testing...

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