POP Go the Weasels

(and the Trout, and the Deer and the Eagles...)

In February, a U.S. National Parks Service (NPS) study documented extensive chemical contamination in some of America's most seemingly pristine National Parks, including Rocky Mountain, Glacier and 18 other parks from Texas to the far northern reaches of the Arctic. The NPS warned that alarming levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) -- including the deadly organochlorine insecticide endosulfan -- are threatening park ecosystems and the health of native wildlife and visitors alike.

POPs are among the most dangerous compounds ever produced. They persist in the environment, build up in body fat of animals (including humans), and can circle the globe on air and water currents. Some human health effects linked to POPs exposure include cancer, learning disorders, impaired immune function, reproductive problems and diabetes.

The NPS study documented that trout in some national park lakes are so tainted with pesticides that they're not safe for a campfire frying pan.

Many of the initial POPs pesticides listed for international elimination under the Stockholm Convention -- the POPs Treaty -- such as DDT and chlordane, have been banned for years in the U.S., but endosulfan is still used for agricultural applications.

With endosulfan now under review by the EPA, thousands of PAN activists have demanded a ban on all remaining uses of the pesticide to protect chil- dren, communities and farmworkers.

PAN and the Center for Biological Diversity are pressuring Congress to support a ban on endosulfan and other POPs that are contaminating national parks and threatening wildlife. More than 12,000 concerned activists signed PAN's petition asking Congress to pressure the EPA to protect our national parks by banning the use of endosulfan and other POPs pesticides.