California May Be Next to Ban Dangerous Chlorpyrifos

How is Chlorpyrifos Used Today?

Corn growers are the biggest user of chlorpyrifos. Large quantities are also applied to soybeans, animal feed crops, fruit and nut trees, brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower and a host of other row crops. Foods with the highest chlorpyrifos residues include bell peppers, nectarines, peaches, hot peppers and snap peas. Other uses include its application on golf courses, utility poles, in greenhouses, and in household roach and ant bait traps.

Exposure to chlorpyrifos is near-ubiquitous, with levels far surpassing those considered safe for people of all ages. According to EPA, not only do expected residues on food crops exceed the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act’s safety standards, but also the majority of drinking water contaminated by chlorpyrifos “continues to exceed safe levels.”  In fact, the agency has categorically stated that there is no safe use of the pesticide.

Push to have Chlorpyrifos Banned

For decades, scientists, doctors, farmworker advocates and public interest groups have called for EPA to withdraw approval of chlorpyrifos, with limited success. As early as 2007, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Pesticide Action Network petitioned EPA to revoke the registration of chlorpyrifos in light of its wide range of documented health effects, but to no avail. In 2000, EPA asked chlorpyrifos manufacturers to voluntarily eliminate home, lawn and garden uses while retaining all commercial applications. Most home uses were eliminated, with the notable exception of household pest baits and traps.

In the ensuing five years, a growing body of medical evidence brought to light the dire consequences of chlorpyrifos exposure. And, the pesticide was on its way out after EPA’s own scientists proposed a prohibition of its use on food crops in 2015. But in 2017, the agency rejected its staff’s proposal claiming that chlorpyrifos was “crucial” to “ensure and abundant and affordable food supply for this nation and the world.” EPA called for more study on the “unresolved science” and vowed to take no action before 2022.

Outraged by the agency’s unfounded reversal of the ban proposal, environmental, social justice and farm labor groups filed a lawsuit in 2018 challenging EPA to maintain the ban. Siding with the plaintiffs in the case, the judge ordered  EPA to “revoke all tolerances and cancel all registrations for chlorpyrifos within 60 days.” At the behest of EPA’s new Administrator, Andrew Wheeler, who maintains that more research is needed, all sides will be back in court in 2019 to again argue the case.

Hawai’i Becomes First State to Ban Chlorpyrifos

Without federal protections, and realizing that even the hefty weight of scientific evidence was not enough to convince the EPA Administrator to prohibit chlorpyrifos, residents in Hawai’i joined together to pass their own statewide ban in 2018. With the unanimous passage of the bill, Hawai’i became the first state in the country to outright ban the highly toxic pesticide, which begins in 2019. The new law also requires a tiny 100-foot buffer zone between pesticide applications and schools, when they are in session. As is the case with the passage of any laws, this one required some compromise. Many Hawai’ians, lament that their buffer zone falls woefully short of California’s government-mandated quarter-mile pesticide exclusion zone around schools. Even so, in both states, a compromise was struck that allows pesticide applications near schools on weekends, which could still endanger attendees during sporting events and other weekend outdoor community activities at schools.

Other states such as New Jersey and Maryland have unsuccessfully tried to follow suit. It has been an uphill battle given the enormous economic power and influence wielded by the agrochemical industry.  Still, as Hawai’i has demonstrated, communities that work together with legislators and public health, environmental and social justice advocates can effect change. What is at stake is nothing short of our collective long-term health and the health of our children.