MPN Executive Director Ruth Berlin makes her case for passing the Maryland Pesticide Reporting and Information Act (SB 675 and HB 775) in the Annapolis Capital Gazette, “Why Maryland needs pesticide reporting, February 23, 2013.
The law would mandate establishment of an online reporting system to collect basic information on potentially toxic chemicals applied by pesticide applicators — information that pesticide applicators, as well as sellers of restricted use pesticides, are already required to maintain.
Such a system would go a long way toward helping public health and environmental experts identify which of the hundreds of pesticides in use they should zero in on when assessing pesticide impact on health and water. Knowledge is power, and only when we have information about when and where pesticides are used will we be able to fully protect our families and our waterways.
If you haven’t yet, now is the time to contact your Maryland legislators!
