Poisons That Won't Go Away

The EPA announces and proposes but is haunted by the past

William Ruckelshaus, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, laments that the nation seems caught up in a quest for the "chemical of the month." He was referring to once obscure substances, such as dioxin and PCB, that suddenly get catapulted into the public spotlight. Enter October's celebrity poison: EDB.

Scientists have known for a decade that ethylene dibromide, a pesticide and gasoline additive, is one of the most powerful known carcinogens. The bulk of the 300 million Ibs. the U.S. produces annually is...