REPORT CRITICIZES DRUG SPRAY MIX

WASHINGTON -- A chemical mix supplied by the United States to wipe out
drug crops in Colombia is potentially harmful to humans and the
environment, according to a government report released Thursday.

After previously defending its use of the chemicals, the State
Department now says it plans to switch to a less toxic
formulation.

The report by the Environmental Protection Agency was requested by
Congress as part of an effort to determine the safety of the U.S.-
financed crop eradication program.

The report comes as the United States and Colombia are stepping up the
two-year-old spray program, hoping to deliver a killer blow to the
country's drug industry.

Critics of U.S. counter-drug policy in Colombia have raised concerns
that the chemical mix being used was not properly tested.

Reports from Colombia have also indicated that the spraying caused
skin rashes and other ailments in populated areas, as well as
contamination of water and the loss of legal crops.

The report was welcomed by members of Congress and environmental
groups who have pressured the State Department for stricter monitoring
of the program.

"The Congress wants to be satisfied that there are no unreasonable
risks, and that if that is done, it is in accordance with the same
regulatory channels required for use in the United States," said Sen.
Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., author of the rules that led to the EPA report.

Although the chemicals used in Colombia are not considered especially
dangerous, the EPA said the State Department had failed to provide
sufficient details to give the program a clean bill of health.

The main ingredient of the spray is a powerful herbicide, glyphosate,
better known in the United States as the backyard weedkiller RoundUp.
For use in Colombia the glyphosate is mixed with a soapy additive,
known as a surfactant, that helps the herbicide adhere to the leaves
of plants.

Last year the St. Petersburg Times reported that the Colombian
glyphosate mix violated the manufacturer's own instructions not to add
surfactants.

In its report, the EPA warned that it was concerned about one of the
chemicals being used that carried the risk of causing "acute eye toxicity."

The EPA suggested that the State Department should "consider using an
alternate glyphosate product" with lower toxicity.

The State Department said Thursday it had already found a milder
version of glyphosate. Officials began to buy the new mixture this
month and expect to put it in use as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, spraying will continue with the higher toxicity mix. U.S.
officials hope to spray more than 300,000 acres of coca by the end of
this year, almost 50 percent more than in 2001.

But critics of the program say it is irresponsible to continue
spraying after the EPA's findings. Other are calling for congressional
hearings. "The EPA made an honest effort to identify some of the
potential risks," said Betsy Marsh of Amazon Alliance, an
environmental watchdog group. "But there are a lot of unanswered
questions where we need more information."

U.S. officials have consistently argued that Colombians have nothing
to fear from glyphosate since it has been widely tested and used in
the United States.

But the EPA said "none of the ecological effect studies submitted to
or encountered by the agency for glyphosate were performed with the
formulation that the (State Department) has indicated is used in Colombia."

Unlike in the United States, where spraying is done by helicopters at
low altitude, in Colombia spraying is carried out by fixed-wing
aircraft at higher altitudes. As a result, the spray can drift
hundreds of feet from the target.

As a result, the EPA warned that continued use of a glyphosate spray
"is likely to pose a risk" to local vegetation as well as the illegal
drug crops.