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Vermont committee reviews H.739 to ban paraquat; sponsor cites health risks, counsel outlines emergency exceptions
Summary
Rep. Esme Cole introduced H.739, a short‑form bill to prohibit the use and sale of the herbicide paraquat in Vermont, citing research linking exposure to Parkinson’s disease and other health harms; legislative counsel Bradley Shulman previewed language that would allow one‑year exemptions for agricultural or environmental emergencies. The committee requested more state usage data and paused for lunch to reconvene at 1 p.m.
Representative Esme Cole on Thursday introduced H.739, a short‑form bill that would prohibit the use and sale of the herbicide paraquat in Vermont, saying decades of research link the chemical to serious human health harms.
"Paraquat is one of the most acutely toxic herbicides still in use in American agriculture," Cole told the Agriculture, Food Resiliency, & Forestry committee as she outlined the bill’s aims and cited studies associating exposure with Parkinson’s disease and several cancers. Cole said the chemical acts as a desiccant and can persist in soil and travel on dust and crop residue.
Bradley Shulman, legislative counsel, previewed the bill text for the committee and described a regulatory framework that would bar sale and use of…
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