
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, January 18, 1994                   TAG: 9401180103
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

PESTICIDE SPRAYING ON AIRLINERS TARGETED

The Clinton administration is considering steps to discourage other nations from requiring pesticide spraying aboard airplanes about to land in those countries. The spraying could be a health hazard for American passengers, officials say.

Officials at the Transportation Department and Environmental Protection Agency said Monday it might be enough to require airlines in the United States to alert passengers that the spraying will take place on their flights.

Then nations that order the pesticide use - in the Pacific, Caribbean and Central and South America - might relent rather than face a loss of U.S. tourism, the officials said.

Countries that require cabin spraying before any plane may land include Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico, Antigua, Barbados and Jamaica.

Flight attendants walk down the aisles spraying the pesticide shortly before a plane is to land in one of those countries.

Johnson said the EPA has received a few complaints within the past month that the spraying causes health problems, mainly nausea or flu-like symptoms. - Associated Press

by CNB