Tag: chlorpyrifos

Study: Toxic Pesticides – 2 articles

NPR: Toxic Pesticide Faces New Scrutiny From Biden Administration. President Biden’s initial wave of planned executive actions includes an order to reexamine one controversial, but widely used, pesticide called chlorpyrifos. The Trump administration had stepped in to keep the chemical on the market after Obama-era officials tried to ban it.

PBS: New PFAS study reveals ‘forever’ pollutants persisting in NM’s waters. Winding its way through forests of conifer and aspen, cottonwoods and sycamores, the Gila River descends out of the nation’s first wilderness area, designated in 1924. For almost a century, a U.S. Geological Survey stream gage just below that boundary has tracked the river’s flows. Now, samples from that spot reveal the presence of toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. The channel of the Rio Puerco, where it hits Bernardo, New Mexico, is dry for most of the year, except when snowmelt or summer floods send waters churning down this tributary of the Rio Grande. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, have been found there, too. An October 2020 study estimated that more than 200 million Americans could have the toxic chemicals within their drinking water supplies.  

Chemical poisons – 4 articles

The Guardian discusses The poison found in everyone, even unborn babies – and who is responsible for it. Chemicals called PFAS and PFOS – known as forever chemicals – are in the blood of virtually every person on the planet. And they will only accumulate.

Ensia discusses how PFAS pollutes water in every state. Wherever you are in the U.S., there’s a good chance you can find harmful PFAS compounds in water near you.

OPB discusses Oregon moves to phase out most uses of a controversial pesticide by 2023. The Oregon Department of Agriculture says it will begin to limit the use of chlorpyrifos and ultimately phase out nearly all its use by 2023. The agency’s decision, announced Tuesday, followed extensive research and input from an advisory workgroup that included leaders and industry experts ranging from agriculture, environmental justice groups, toxicologists, and a farmworker health and safety organization. The ODA submitted rules this week to significantly limit the use of chlorpyrifos and phase out all its use by December 31, 2023.

Investigate Midwest discusses Lawsuit Alleges Farmworkers Sickened After Pesticide Exposure.

EPA questions science linking widely used pesticide to brain damage in children

The Hill discusses why EPA questions science linking widely used pesticide to brain damage in children.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Tuesday diminished studies linking a widely-used pesticide associated with brain damage in children, a move that could enable years of continued use of controversial chlorpyrifos.

In a Tuesday risk assessment released by the agency, the EPA argued that “despite several years of study, the science addressing neurodevelopmental effects remains unresolved.”

Critics see it as the agency laying the groundwork to deny a petition filed by environmental groups years ago to ban the substance in the wake of a reversal under the Trump administration.

In 2016, agency scientists recommended banning chlorpyrifos, citing the health effects on farmworkers and children.

Study: Latino groups vow to fight for ban on pesticide linked to children’s health problems

This article discusses why Latino groups are fighting to ban a pesticide linked to children’s health problems. “The fight to ban this chemical that poisons farmworkers and all consumers from the food we eat is not finished,” the president of the United Farm Workers said.

Farmworkers and Latino civil rights groups say they’re not backing down from a decadeslong fight to ban chlorpyrifos, a widely used pesticide associated with possible neurological problems in children.

Latino groups did claim a victory after Corteva Agriscience, the nation’s largest producer of the pesticide, said it would stop making it. Corteva maintains its product is safe, and told Reuters its decision was based on declining sales, not health or safety concerns.

Corteva’s announcement that it is halting the production of the pesticide, used to kill insects and worms on contact by attacking their nervous systems, came after California banned its use Thursday. California, the biggest agricultural state, became the second state after Hawaii to ban chlorpyrifos.

Several studies have linked prenatal exposure to chlorpyrifos to lower birth weight, lower IQ, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other developmental issues in children.