In a huge victory for public health, the courts have ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to ban the neurotoxic pesticide chlorpyrifos. This is a clear loss for the Trump administration in its ongoing effort to roll back safeguards for pesticides and toxic chemicals.
Chlorpyrifos is a highly toxic insecticide that is commonly sprayed on food crops. It is a nerve toxin, meaning workers have routinely been poisoned in farm accidents. Children are sensitive to even tiny doses; studies of American children exposed to the chemical in the early 2000s while living in urban housing and farming communities found that even small exposures during pregnancy and childhood could cause lasting damage to children’s brains and nervous systems. In 2007, environmental groups petitioned the EPA to ban chlorpyrifos based on evidence it harmed kids’ and workers’ health.
After years of deliberation, the EPA determined that chlorpyrifos posed a significant risk to farmworkers and to people living near agricultural fields. It also determined that people outside of agricultural regions were affected by chlorpyrifos residues on produce -- particularly young children.
The EPA was just days away from finalizing a full ban on chlorpyrifos when President Trump was inaugurated and appointed one of the most dangerous EPA administrators in American history -- Scott Pruitt. After barely a month on the job, Pruitt overturned the multiyear effort. He canceled the ban and sent the agency back to the drawing board, giving regulators five years to complete a new safety assessment.
An estimated 6 million pounds of chlorpyrifos are applied to American farmland each year, including nuts, fruit, and vegetables. Rather than count on federal action, the state of Hawaii banned chlorpyrifos in June 2018, and California has listed the chemical as toxic to pregnant women and children, paving the way for additional restrictions. At the same time, several bills currently in Congress would ban chlorpyrifos and other related insecticides completely.
And last week, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted a petition by Earthjustice on behalf of a coalition of farmworker protection and environmental organizations and ordered the EPA to ban chlorpyrifos within 60 days.
“The Court ended EPA's shameful actions that have exposed children and farmworkers to this poison for decades,” said Earthjustice attorney Marisa Ordonia. “Finally, our fields, fruits, and vegetables will be chlorpyrifos-free.” This Appeals Court ruling is a huge win for the environmental movement and an important step toward protecting children and consumers all across the country.
Read more background on chlorpyrifos:
The Poison Found in Kitchens and Farms Across America
Kids and Chlorpyrifos Factsheet