Studies in which humans are intentionally doused with pesticides and other toxic substances should be allowed, as long as strict scientific and ethical standards are met, according to a report from the National Academy of Sciences. The report discusses what types of human pesticide studies the Environmental Protection Agency should be allowed to accept, and addressed the delicate issue of paying human subjects, recommending that the payments should neither be so high as to entice subjects unduly or so low that only the poor were willing to participate. It also recommended that the environmental agency study whether additional compensation should be given to human subjects injured in studies. I posted an article on this last year, these tests are designed to find out how much orange juice and bug spray a person can drink before becoming deathly ill, and are considered a glowing success only when this does not happen.
The New York Times February 20, 2004