Michael Fumento

The Environmental Protection Agency must not ban the use of organophosphate insecticides, argues Michael Fumento in the following viewpoint. The insecticides are essential for killing and controlling pests indoors and on food crops, he maintains. Fumento also contends that studies have found that these insecticides have little effect on creatures other than insects. Furthermore, he asserts, prohibiting the use of these insecticides would be extremely costly to farmers and others who depend on them for eradicating insects. Fumento, a columnist for Reason magazine, is the author of Polluted Science and is a Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C..

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. How do organophosphate insecticides kill insects, according to the author?
2. Why is the “additive” effect of pesticides a misguided theory, according to Marcia...