It took 21 years, but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finally announced its decision to ban the use of a toxic pesticide called chlorpyrifos on fruits and vegetables, including foods consumed by young children like apples, broccoli, and citrus. The Biden Administration’s admirable action is the finale of a sustained legal battle waged by EarthJustice, Pesticide Action Network, Natural Resources Defense Council, Environmental Working Group and others.
Seventeen EPA Administrators and Acting Administrators have played political football with this nerve agent and bug killer since 2000, the year the agency banned its use as an indoor bug killer in homes and daycares because of risks to children’s health, while at the same time declaring it safe in food. Even then, a robust body of scientific studies revealed that small amounts of this neurotoxic chemical can harm the developing brain. Children exposed in utero or early life are more likely to be born small, to be diagnosed with ADHD, and to have reduced IQ, among other impacts.
Promise for change came in 2015, when the Obama administration proposed a ban of chlorpyrifos in food (the culmination of a 2007 petition by public health advocates). But in 2017, at the request of Dow, Trump’s EPA announced a five-year delay. EPA’s scientists had previously shown that the amount of chlorpyrifos children ingested from sprayed fruits and vegetables could exceed safety levels by 140 times. NGOs calculated that 30 million pounds of the neurotoxic pesticide would be sprayed on fields during the 5 years of the proposed delay.
Faced with EPA’s continued failure to meet multiple deadlines and commitments, public health groups sued. They prevailed in the 9th Circuit Court of New York, which in 2018 ordered EPA to ban chlorpyrifos within 90 days. Delaying yet again, EPA asked for a rehearing from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. And then in 2020, the EPA proposed allowing the continued use of chlorpyrifos.
Feeling dizzy with this political see-sawing? It comes as a great relief to see the Biden administration step up and make a final call on this toxic pesticide – on the side of children’s health.
We applaud the EPA for this long-overdue decision. And we applaud all of our partners in the public health arena who kept up the pressure. Now let’s work to get a process in place that keeps these toxic chemicals out of children’s food in the first place.