Joseph
Two decades after the Environmental Protection Agency I finish home use of chlorpyrifos because of concerns about him Effect On children’s brains, the neurotoxic pesticide is still widely applied on crops across the United States, to me Report published Wednesday.
Earthjustice public interest law firm released the report titled Poisoned Food, Toxic Minds: Mapping the Dangerous Pesticides in the Foods We Eat (pdf) – Just weeks before the EPA is set to announce new restrictions on chlorpyrifos.
Earthjustice, along with farm workers and public health groups, lobbied the EPA to ban chlorpyrifos by Legal action. In what the group called a major victory, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in April Command The agency bans all uses of food pesticides or keeps only what is safe for workers and children. The deadline for the EPA to reveal its ruling is August 20.
studies for her Connected Exposure to chlorpyrifos with permanent damage to children’s brains, including attention problems, developmental delays and loss of intelligence. is common used On broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, cranberries, corn, fruits, nut trees, soybeans, and other row crops, as well as on fence posts, greenhouses, golf courses, grass, and power poles.
For the new report, Earthjustice reviewed data on agricultural pesticide use and risks to human health from the Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Geological Survey. The group found that 5.6 million pounds of chlorpyrifos were used on farmland nationwide in 2017, with the most documented use in California, Minnesota, North Dakota and Kansas.
According to Earth Equity:
Anyone who lives near where chlorpyrifos is used can be exposed to unsafe levels through air (drifting) or drinking water, according to government studies, which suggest food is a medium of exposure as well. Government reports show that farm workers and people who live, work or go to school near agricultural fields where chlorpyrifos is used have dangerously high levels of exposure and are at increased risk of harm.
“Children aged 1 to 2 years are most at risk of chlorpyrifos, because they have a dietary exposure greater than 140 times the EPA’s alleged level of concern,” the report says.
“In the 2016 Refined Drinking Water Assessment, the only assessment that attempted to find what level of chlorpyrifos exposure would be safe for children, the EPA said drinking water across the country was likely contaminated with unsafe levels of chlorpyrifos,” EarthJustice notes. . “The EPA’s cutting edge estimates suggest that in the most polluted areas, chlorpyrifos contamination may be 12,000 higher than alarming levels.”
How to grow half of your food (ad)
Rashmi Golkar, Scientist for Earth Justice Commission for Healthy Communities, She said In a statement, “A review of this data shows beyond doubt that people, who are young children of greatest concern, are exposed to unsafe levels of chlorpyrifos in their food and water.”
“The EPA has had scientific evidence for years that chlorpyrifos can lead to irreversible damage to neurodevelopment in children, and the agency’s only ethical option is to ban the pesticide for all food uses immediately,” Googlekar added.
Between 1992 and 2017, chlorpyrifos was one of the most widely used pesticides in the United States, with about 450 million pounds of it sprayed on crops. Countless children and pregnant women have been exposed to what we now know to be unsafe levels.” (1/3) https://t.co/sgqzzOtmnz
– David Wallace-Wells (@dwallacewells) July 1, 2021
in June Transfer for Intercept, Sharon Lerner pointed to an old study of chlorpyrifos commissioned by Dow Chemical—now Corteva Agriscience—and for a time used by federal regulators as “just one of many cases where the industry is much stronger and better resourced than the federal agency responsible for regulating it has been deceived, and harassed, And he convinced the EPA to use inaccurate science at the expense of public health.”
Referring to Lerner’s report, Earthjustice warned that major chemical companies continue to manufacture and sell millions of pounds of chlorpyrifos each year, and “these pressure maneuvers are likely to continue as the August deadline approaches.”
Patti Goldman, the attorney general of justice leading the chlorpyrifos lawsuit, called the EPA on Wednesday unable to work Sooner the calls to ban pesticides completely.
“For years, the EPA avoided protecting children from learning disabilities and kept chlorpyrifos in the market, in our food, and in our water,” Goldman said. “The court has asked the EPA, once again, to ban pesticides. It is time for the EPA to stop succumbing to industry pressure and start protecting children, farm workers and their families.”
Chlorpyrifos is widely used – it is unsafe. Decades of studies have linked intrauterine exposure to chlorpyrifos and other organophosphates with lower IQ, attention disorders, and autism in children. tell the EPA You support the ban. https://t.co/YPw699BJxE
– Earthjustice (@Earthjustice) August 4, 2021
As the Earthjustice report says, “Just as science led the Environmental Protection Agency to say chlorpyrifos was highly toxic to our homes 20 years ago, so is science telling the agency that the pesticide is highly toxic to our food.”
“Following the science inevitably leads to the conclusion that the only acceptable way to keep children and workers safe from chlorpyrifos is to ban it permanently,” the report concludes, “and begin to take a closer look at the entire class of organophosphates.”
The data analyzed by Earthjustice contained information not only on chlorpyrifos but also on 16 other organophosphates that are widely used or known to have adverse health effects — so along with the new report, the group on Wednesday unveiled the potential for research on Internet Database.
Source: Shared dreams
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to repost and share widely.
