<p>Reacting to the EPA's move, Patti Goldman, managing attorney at Earthjustice, <a href="https://earthjustice.org/news/press/2020/epa-ignores-evidence-chlorpyrifos-causes-permanent-damage-to-childrens-brains">accused</a> the agency of "ignoring decades of science by leading universities and in doing so, neglecting its duty to protect children from pesticides."</p><p>"Ignoring the demonstrated harm to children doesn't make chlorpyrifos safe, it just shows a commitment to keep a toxic pesticide in the market and in our food at all cost," Goldman added.</p><p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8bbaff4f60b09b5f3949addadf3b1065" id="ec4b3"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1308511389363830784"><div style="margin:1em 0">BREAKING: @EPA four years ago said chlorpyrifos was unsafe because it damages children’s brains. Now, it says the s… https://t.co/d5qPIY9h33</div> — Earthjustice (@Earthjustice)<a href="https://twitter.com/Earthjustice/statuses/1308511389363830784">1600808400.0</a></blockquote></div>&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2F2020%2F09%2F23%2Frejecting-scientific-evidence-harm-childrens-brains-trump-epa-oks-continued-use</p><p>The EPA's third <a href="file:///Users/brettwilkins/Downloads/EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0850-0944_content.pdf">risk assessment</a> (pdf) for chlorpyrifos, which is the result of litigation by environmental groups, stated that "the science addressing [the pesticide's] neurodevelopmental effects remains unresolved." This, despite the study finding some dietary risks to adults, children, and handlers of the chemical, as well dangers to animals.</p><p>Chlorpyrifos is an <a href="https://earthjustice.org/features/what-you-need-to-know-about-chlorpyrifos?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_term=feed">organophosphate </a>pesticide applied to crops, animals, and buildings to eliminate insects and worms, killing them by attacking their nervous systems through acetylcholinesterase enzyme inhibition. Invented by Dow Chemical Company in 1966, it is classified as <a href="https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/332193/9789240005662-eng.pdf?ua=1">"moderately hazardous"</a> (pdf) to humans by the World Health Organization. Chlorpyrifos was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/09/us/epa-citing-risks-to-children-signs-accord-to-limit-insecticide.html">banned</a> in 2000 for most household uses but is still applied to dozens of crops on over 40,000 farms.</p><p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="276b1d089218e5685b11439d244a282a" id="543e2"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1306699451273105410"><div style="margin:1em 0">With a lack of federal protections, states are taking the lead in banning the brain-damaging pesticide… https://t.co/QFCY2PFhyw</div> — Earthjustice (@Earthjustice)<a href="https://twitter.com/Earthjustice/statuses/1306699451273105410">1600376401.0</a></blockquote></div>&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2F2020%2F09%2F23%2Frejecting-scientific-evidence-harm-childrens-brains-trump-epa-oks-continued-use</p><p>Last December, the European Union voted to <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/food/plant/pesticides/approval_active_substances/chlorpyrifos_chlorpyrifos-methyl_en">effectively ban</a> chlorpyrifos. Thailand also tried to ban the pesticide, but <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-27/thailand-yields-on-pesticides-ban-after-lobbying-u-s-pressure">backed down</a> last year under pressure from the Trump administration to continue buying it.</p><p>In 2016 under the Obama administration, EPA scientists found that chlorpyrifos poisons food and drinking water and recommended a ban on the pesticide, citing extensive research of its effects on children and agricultural workers. The pesticide has <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2017/05/california-farm-workers-just-got-poisoned-nasty-pesticide-greenlghted-trump/">poisoned farmworkers</a>, and researchers at <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/109/20/7871.full.pdf">Columbia University</a> (pdf), <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/116/37/18347">Stanford University</a> (pdf), the <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/116/37/18347">University of California at Berkeley</a> (pdf), and elsewhere have <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/chlorpyrifos">shown</a> that it is neurotoxic and damages children's brains by, among other harms, delaying development, <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/common-insecticide-may-harm-boys-brains-more-than-girls/">damaging memory</a>, lowering IQ, and reducing attention span.</p><p align="center"><span class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0c04f08a57298952b15a6b6cfa14c20d" style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="auto" type="lazy-iframe" scrolling="no" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/h4BTsnRdKPo?rel=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" width="100%"></iframe></span></p><p>However, in March 2017 then-EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/29/us/politics/epa-insecticide-chlorpyrifos.html">rejected</a> his own agency's scientific findings and issued a <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2017-03/documents/chlorpyrifos3b_order_denying_panna_and_nrdc27s_petitition_to_revoke_tolerances.pdf">ruling</a> (pdf) upholding use of the neurotoxin. The American Academy of Pediatrics <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/339609-pediatricians-group-deeply-alarmed-at-epas-pesticide-decision">said</a> it was "deeply alarmed" by Pruitt's decision, which came after <a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/08/18/epa-welcomed-industry-feedback-before-reversing-chlorpyrifos-pesticide-ban-ignoring-health-concerns/">consultations</a> with lobby groups including the American Farm Bureau Association.</p><p>Corteva Inc., which is owned by Dow Chemical and is the largest producer of chlorpyrifos, has also been lobbying the EPA, <a href="https://earthjustice.org/news/press/2020/epa-ignores-evidence-chlorpyrifos-causes-permanent-damage-to-childrens-brains">according to</a> Earthjustice, one of the groups suing to ban the chemical. <em>Progressive</em> <em>Farmer </em><a href="https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/crops/article/2020/09/22/agency-set-publish-risk-assessment">reported</a><em> </em>Wednesday that Corteva will phase out chlorpyrifos production, citing declining demand as the primary factor in its decision.</p><p>In 2017, the attorneys general of seven states—New York, California, Washington, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Vermont—formally <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/resources/seven-states-call-epa-ban-chlorpyrifos">called on</a> the EPA to take immediate action to ban chlorpyrifos. Absent action from the Trump administration, Hawaii in 2018 became the first state to <a href="https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/38410644/hawaii-to-become-first-state-to-ban-pesticide-linked-to-learning-developmental-delays-in-children/">ban pesticides</a> containing the chemical, although the ban won't go into effect until 2022. <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/10/10/california-ends-sale-toxic-pesticide-chlorpyrifos">California</a> and <a href="https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-directs-dec-ban-use-chlorpyrifos">New York</a> followed suit, while lawmakers in several other states have <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2019/05/08/california-ban-controversial-pesticide-citing-effect-child-brain-development/">introduced bills</a> to ban it.</p><p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7b93f6d4ffa63f58090c716aaf22d3d9" id="f9141"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="991717146777579520"><div style="margin:1em 0">"Yesterday Hawaii made history, as it became the first state in the U.S. to ban the pesticide #chlorpyrifos, a toxi… https://t.co/OsV5kYCX7v</div> — Organic Consumers (@Organic Consumers)<a href="https://twitter.com/OrganicConsumer/statuses/991717146777579520">1525278767.0</a></blockquote></div>&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2F2020%2F09%2F23%2Frejecting-scientific-evidence-harm-childrens-brains-trump-epa-oks-continued-use</p><p>In a major victory for chemical corporations, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/18/climate/epa-chlorpyrifos-pesticide-ban.html?login=smartlock&auth=login-smartlock">announced</a> in July 2019 that the agency would not ban chlorpyrifos, prompting a <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/08/07/health-and-labor-groups-sue-trump-epa-refusal-ban-pesticide-linked-brain-damage">lawsuit</a> by a coalition of health and labor organizations.</p><p>"Trump's EPA might want to dismiss the science and the law to protect corporate profit, but we are confident the courts won't stand for this," said Dr. Elena Rios, president of the National Hispanic Medical Association, at the time.</p><p align="center"><span class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="80b4800ded0b11dde399ff59aab310b7" style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="auto" type="lazy-iframe" scrolling="no" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rcUYTWMgnhU?rel=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" width="100%"></iframe></span></p><p>Many scientists have expressed alarm that the U.S. government is upholding chlorpyrifos use.</p><p>"Strong evidence now supports the notion that organophosphate pesticides damage the fetal brain and produce cognitive and behavioral dysfunction through multiple mechanisms, including thyroid disruption," <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5739382/">wrote</a> Leonardo Trasande, a professor of pediatrics, environmental medicine, and population health at New York University School of Medicine, in 2017.</p><p>"A regulatory ban was proposed, but actions to end the use of one such pesticide, chlorpyrifos, in agriculture were recently stopped by the Environmental Protection Agency under false scientific pretenses," Trasande added. "Scientists have a responsibility to rebut and decry these serious challenges to human health and scientific integrity."</p><p>"There are all these studies that have been done of kids showing that chlorpyrifos harms their brains especially as they're young or fetuses as they're developing," Erik D. Olson of the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC)—one of the groups fighting for a chlorpyrifos ban—<a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/517654-epa-questions-science-linking-widely-used-pesticide-to-brain-damage">told</a> <em>The Hill </em>on Tuesday. "The very young are at much greater susceptibility than older people, and also more exposed."</p><p>NRDC <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/erik-d-olson/bad-epa-decision-infamous-kid-toxic-pesticide-expected-soon">said</a> that "EPA political appointees are pushing to not only ignore the epidemiological studies showing children are harmed by real-world uses of chlorpyrifos, but to also strip away the 'uncertainty factors' that are routinely applied to add a measure of protection for children, and to address uncertainties in the risk assessment."</p><p>The EPA's final decision on chlorpyrifos will be made at a future date, with most experts believing the latest risk assessment points to approval or an inadequate offer to limit its use.</p><p>"With how toxic it is you can't mitigate the harm enough to make sure not really impacting people's lives and health and the environment," Nathan Donley, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity, <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/517654-epa-questions-science-linking-widely-used-pesticide-to-brain-damage">told</a> <em>The Hill</em>.</p>
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