Chlorpyrifos proposed to be banned on 70 crops but allowed on 11 others
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency should ban the pesticide chlorpyrifoson more crops because it is linked to neurological damage, a group of nine attorneys generalsaid Tuesday.
The EPA has already proposed banningchlorpyrifos on 70 crops, but the proposal would allow it on 11 others, includingapples, asparagus,citrus, cotton, peaches, soybeans andstrawberries.
The ban is still under review and the EPA said an interim decision would come in 2026.
Chlorpyrifos is toxic and linked to neurodevelopmental harms in children, with exposures among pregnant womancausing lower birth weight, reduced IQ, loss of memory, attention disordersand delayed motor development, said the California attorney general, who joined with attorneys general of New York, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Oregon, Vermont, Washingtonand the District of Columbiain filing a comment letter with the EPA.
Acute exposure to chlorpyrifos can cause sweating, salivation, vomiting, low blood pressure and heart rate, seizuresand even death, the attorneys general said.
People are exposed to chlorpyrifos through food residues, drinking water contaminationand drifts of agricultural sprays, theattorneys general said.
The facts are clear: chlorpyrifos exposure poses a grave danger to a childs health," California Attorney GeneralRob Bonta said. "This pesticide has no place in our food systems."
California has already bannedchlorpyrifos on all crops, but Bonta said the health of its residents are threatened by imports of crops sprayed with the pesticide.
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Posted: 2025-02-12 06:25:13
