"Farm workers, children and other people working or living near farm fields would have more protection from hazardous pesticides under changes proposed on Thursday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency."

"'Today marks an important milestone for the farm workers who plant, tend, and harvest the food that we put on our tables each day,' Gina McCarthy, EPA administrator, said in a statement.

EPA is proposing revisions to the agency's 22-year-old "Worker Protection Standard" that EPA officials say will help protect approximately 2 million U.S. farm workers and their families from exposure to pesticides used to protect crops from weeds, insects, and disease."

Carey Gillam reports for Reuters February 20, 2014. [2]