Send a message to Lowe's & Home Depot: Stop selling Roundup

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SumOfUS shared: Lowe’s and Home Depot know that glyphosate -- the main chemical ingredient in Roundup -- is linked to increased risk of cancer and reproductive problems. They know that glyphosate also threatens 93% of US endangered species with injury or death. But both mega hardware stores have refused to stop selling it.

That is why this week, SumOfUs is joining forces with partners across North America for a week of action to demand that Lowe’s and Home Depot #RejectRoundup now!

Send a tweet to demand that the two largest hardware store chains in the world take Roundup off shelves for good!

Not on Twitter? Post a message on the Lowe’s Facebook wall.

And on Home Depot’s Facebook wall.

Both the Lowe’s and Home Depot CEOs care a lot about preserving their brand reputation. They want customers to think of their stores as safe places where you can get everything you need to create a beautiful home and garden.

So this week we are taking out ads in newspapers, sending out Tweets, posting to Facebook, and mailing letters to make it clear that selling Roundup will seriously damage Lowe’s and Home Depot’s brands.

Help us create an avalanche of tweets on the Lowe’s and Home Depot Twitter feeds.

Not on Twitter or Facebook? That’s OK. Mail a letter to Lowe’s and Home Depot by printing out, signing, and sending these letters.

 TWEET

More information:

Common weed killer glyphosate increases cancer risk by 41%, study says, CNN, February 15, 2019
Glyphosate likely harms nearly all endangered species, Chemical & Engineering News, November 30, 2020

Tell the EPA: Protect teenage farmworkers from toxic pesticides

The petition to the Environmental Protection Agency reads: "You have an obligation to protect the public – especially children – from exposure to dangerous chemicals. Don't roll back rules that protect teenagers and other minor farmworkers from toxic, brain-damaging pesticides." Add your name:

The Scott Pruitt–led EPA is planning to roll back critical rules that prevent minor farmworkers from handling dangerous, cancer-causing pesticides.1 The Obama administration put these important regulations into place to protect teenage farmworkers – some of whom are immigrants who speak limited English and cannot fully consent to handling dangerous chemicals – from life-debilitating exposure to harmful toxins. We must demand that the EPA keep these strong rules in place to ensure the health and safety of young farmworkers. Tell the EPA: Protect teenage farmworkers from toxic pesticides. Click here to sign the petition. It's estimated that there are approximately 500,000 child farmworkers in the United States.2 According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, roughly 20,000 agricultural workers are diagnosed with pesticide poisoning each year, but the number of farmworkers suffering illnesses from pesticide exposure could be as high as 300,000.3,4 Exposure to toxic pesticides can cause serious short- and long-term health problems. According to Earthjustice: The immediate aftermath of acute pesticide poisoning can result in rashes, vomiting, and even death. In the long-term, pesticide exposure has been associated with increased risk of cancers, infertility, neurological disorders, and respiratory conditions.5 And pesticide poisoning disproportionately affects immigrant communities and the poor. Most farmworkers are immigrants, and nearly 60 percent of farmworkers live in poverty.6 We must stand with these young farmworkers and pressure the EPA to drop this heartless plan that will surely poison more children if it's enacted. Tell the EPA: Protect teenage farmworkers from toxic pesticides. Click the link below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/teenage_farmworkers?t=7&akid=27650%2E3130208%2EbQ4-wp - Josh Nelson, Co-Director, CREDO Action Add your name: References Dave Jamieson, "Trump’s EPA Could Allow Teenage Workers To Handle Dangerous Pesticides," HuffPost, Jan. 10, 2018. Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs, "Children in the Fields, An American Problem," 2007. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, "NIOSH Pesticide Poisoning Monitoring Program Protects Farmworkers," December 2011. U.S. Government Accountability Office, "Hired Farmworkers: Health and Well-Being at Risk," Feb. 14, 1992. Earthjustice, "What you should know about the federal standards that protect farmworkers and families from pesticides," Feb. 28, 2018. Farmworker Justice, "Exposed and Ignored: How pesticides are endangering our nation’s farmworkers," 2013.

Trump’s agenda: Poison in our food supply?

We'd never knowingly expose our children to a powerful chemical linked to reduced IQ, developmental delay, and increased risk of learning disabilities.

But Donald Trump's EPA would.

Led by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt — an ally of the billion-dollar chemical industry — the agency has abruptly reversed course on a proposed ban of the toxic pesticide chlorpyrifos.

This substance, made by Dow Chemical, belongs to the same class of chemicals that were developed as nerve agents in Nazi Germany.

NRDC is fighting in federal court to compel EPA to act now to ban this dangerous pesticide. We can't stay silent while our families and communities are exposed to poisonous chemicals.

That's why I recorded a short, powerful video with our friends at NowThis to expose the dangers of Dow's nerve gas pesticide.

I hope you'll watch the video now — then tell Trump's EPA to ban the nerve gas pesticide chlorpyrifos immediately!

The destructive qualities of chlorpyrifos (klor-PEER-a-foss) also make it great for killing insects, which is why industrial farmers spray millions of pounds of it every year on crops like apples, oranges, and broccoli.

Scientific research shows the devastating harm it can have on human health, especially to children: lower IQs, developmental delays, and serious neurological damage. Later in life, studies have found links to lung cancer and Parkinson's.

EPA scientists found the risks of chlorpyrifos to children to be so great that the agency recommended banning the pesticide from use on food last year. But then Trump and Pruitt immediately shot down the ban when they took office, siding with companies like Dow over you, me, and our families.

And Pruitt has stocked his EPA with chemical industry insiders, who are hard at work using their industry connections to make sure the ban never sees the light of day.

NRDC is fighting back hard in court, facing off against the EPA to compel the agency to follow through with a ban on this toxic pesticide. We're also prevailing on California Governor Jerry Brown to ban chlorpyrifos — a million pounds of which are used in California alone every year — on crops statewide.

We need your help to bolster our case by mobilizing a nationwide public outcry that will demonstrate to the Trump administration that when the safety of our children is concerned, we will not back down.

Please, watch my NowThis video now — and then help get this dangerous chemical out of our food and away from our children: Tell the Trump administration to ban the toxic pesticide chlorpyrifos today!

-Rhea Suh, President NRDC