EPA Sued Over Approval Of Nanosilver Pesticide

A coalition of environmental and public health groups filed a lawsuit against EPA last week, claiming that the agency failed to assess the risks to humans and the environment when it approved a nanosilver-based pesticide called NSPW-L30SS, or Nanosilva, for use in textiles and plastics. “Novel nanomaterials like this need comprehensive and rigorous analysis. Instead EPA has allowed this product on the market while acknowledging it is missing safety data,” says George Kimbrell, senior attorney for the Center for Food Safety, one of the plaintiffs in the suit. EPA admits that it does not have the data to determine whether antimicrobial nanosilver products pose a risk to workers, consumers, or wildlife. But the agency gave Nanosilva the green light in May under a “conditional” approval process that gives the product’s manufacturer four years to generate the safety data to determine the product’s effects on human health and the environment.