The Environmental Protection Agency has rejected a proposal to ban the use of chlorpyrifos, a pesticide that is already classified as moderately hazardous and that has been linked to neurological issues in young children. This is no the first time the EPA has blocked a ban of this pesticide, with Scott Pruitt denying a petition to ban the pesticide back in 2017. These rejections are contrary to recommendations from the EPA’s own experts.

Chlorpyrifos has been banned in Europe since 2008. States in the U.S. are also working towards banning the pesticide. Hawaii voted to ban the chemical in 2018, California Governor Gavin Newsom has proposed 5.7 million towards finding safer alternatives to chlorpyrifos, and the New York state legislature has passed a bill banning all use of the pesticide by December of 2021.

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Bad Guy

Chlorpyrifos has been linked to several health issues, the most egregious being neurological conditions in small children. A study conducted by researchers from Columbia University followed measured chlorpyrifos levels in mother’s umbilical cords and gave their children intelligence tests later in childhood. Higher chlorpyrifos levels corresponded with decreased mental development. The chemical has also been linked to attention deficit disorder, lower IQs, and other developmental, altered thyroid levels, and learning disorders in children and lung cancer and immune disorders in adults.

The chemical has also been linked repeatedly to the struggles facing pollinators, specifically bees. Honeybees exposed to chlorpyrifos experience memory and learning deficits, making them less effective pollinators.

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Ignoring Science

Chlorpyrifos is toxic. The Obama administration made efforts to ban the pesticide. Yet Trump and his administration seem determined to treat this like they do other Obama era policies – destroy it. Unfortunately, the president’s destructive behavior is frequently a detriment to the health and safety of the country.

Sources:

• Trump administration won’t ban pesticide tied to childhood brain damage – The Guardian
• New York Passes Bill to Ban Dow’s Brain-Damaging Pesticide Chlorpyrifos – Friends of the Earth
• Hawaii Becomes First State To Ban Widely-Used Pesticide Found To Be Harmful To Kids – HuffPost
• Widely Used Pesticide in Food Production Damages Children’s Brain – Beyond Pesticides
• EWG: ‘Just because chemical agribusiness wants to use a brain-damaging pesticide doesn’t mean they should’ – Environmental Working Group
• Bees ‘dumb down’ after ingesting tiny doses of the pesticide chlorpyrifos – Science Daily

Due to concerns that the insecticide can harm the brain and nervous system, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) banned chlorpyrifos for household uses in 2000 but agricultural companies are still allowed to spray it on our food.

In August of 2015 public health groups petitioned the agency to reconsider their decision, stating the pesticide should be banned from agriculture. In August 2018, a federal court ordered the EPA to review a petition. The EPA has reviewed the decision and decided not to ban chlorpyrifos.

EPA has determined that their objections must be denied because the data available are not sufficiently valid, complete or reliable to meet petitioners’ burden to present evidence demonstrating that the tolerances are not safe.”

CNN

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It is a tragedy that this administration sides with corporations instead of children’s health. But this is only a setback. Lawmakers in states like Hawaiʻi and New York are now showing the rest of the country that banning this dreadful pesticide is not only possible, but inevitable.”

Attorney Patti Goldman of Earthjustice – represents the groups that took the issue to court

Chlorpyrifos is a neurotoxic pesticide that kills a number of pests including insects and worms. By inhibiting the acetylcholinesterase enzyme it destroys the nervous systems of insects. The enzyme also regulates nerve impulses in the human body. Acute poisoning causes convulsions, respiratory paralysis, and sometimes death. Chlorpyrifos is one of the pesticide most frequently linked to pesticide poisonings.

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Chlorpyrifos is associated with neurodevelopmental harms in children. Prenatal exposures to chlorpyrifos can lead to “lower birth weight, reduced IQ, loss of working memory, attention disorders, and delayed motor development.”

The Environmental Protection Agency under the direction of Scott Pruitt removed a 2012 ban of a harmful pesticide, chlorpyrifos, in 2017, a move that a federal appeals court ruled violated federal law. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has given the government agency 60 days to remove chlorpyrifos from the market. The pesticide is widely used on citrus fruit, apples, corn, wheat, and other crops. It’s been proven harmful to children even in small quantities. The government refused to ban the chemical earlier in March this year, but this split decision ruling demands that the EPA finalize that ban. Appeals Court Judge Jed S. Rakoff wrote in the majority’s opinion,

The panel held that there was no justification for the EPA’s decision in its 2017 order to maintain a tolerance for chlorpyrifos in the face of scientific evidence that its residue on food causes neurodevelopmental damage to children…”

Children at Risk

Chlorpyrifos is one of the leading pesticides listed in cases of pesticide poisonings. In adults, it impairs the nervous system functions and can lead to convulsions, respiratory paralysis, and, in extreme cases, death. Children are especially at risk, as prenatal exposure can lead to health consequences like low birth weight and delayed motor development. Even tiny amounts of the pesticide can lead to neurological conditions in small children from reduced IQ to loss of working memory and attention deficit disorders. It’s been banned from residential use since 2000, and the science supports banning this chemical.

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The pesticide does have an important backer in its corner, though…the manufacturer of the product, Dow Chemical. In spite of the residential ban and the proven toxicity of the chemical, Dow sells roughly 5 million dollars of chlorpyrifos in the U.S. every year. The company maintains that the science identifying their product as a serious health hazard is flawed and inconclusive. This attitude was echoed by Scott Pruitt when he reversed the Obama administration’s ban of chlorpyrifos use for food crops in March 2017.

Harmful Patterns

Through all of the turmoil that is the Trump Administration, the EPA has developed some distressing patterns of behavior. The first of these is their desire to eliminate many environmentally friendly programs or regulations, particularly those from the Obama era. These withdrawals are often to the detriment of public health, like reversing this ban, withdrawing from the Clean Air Act, and allowing dangerous pesticide use to continue with little oversight.

Related: Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones

The agency also has a tendency to consider the needs of businesses before they consider the environment. The EPA has gone on the record in the last year saying that glyphosate is not carcinogenic. A statement hasn’t been released after the landmark judgment against Monsanto this August, but if business continues as usual, glyphosate will remain “not likely” to cause cancer.

And now the EPA is being called out by an Appeals Court for a chemical that at the very least deserves a closer, objective look. It’s sad to say, but even if this pesticide is removed from use, business will find another to replace it. The EPA will approve it, because business comes first.

 Sources:

• EPA violated law by keeping harmful pesticide on the market, court says – PBS
• Chlorpyrifos The toxic pesticide now harming our children and environment – Earth Justice
• Trump’s EPA Says Glyphosate Not Carcinogenic To People – Organic Lifestyle Magazine