Pesticide Free Future

Victory: EPA bans pesticide linked to brain damage in children

Toxic threats

After PIRG and our supporters spoke out, a brain-damaging pesticide will no longer be allowed on our food.

On Aug. 18, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it will ban the pesticide chlorpyrifos from use on food crops. Linked to brain damage in children, chlorpyrifos is so risky that it was banned for household use two decades ago — and now the EPA has finally moved to stop it from contaminating our food as well. PIRG and our partners delivered more than 27,000 petition signatures calling on the EPA to protect public health and ban chlorpyrifos.

“This decision has been a long time coming. The EPA has known about the health risks associated with chlorpyrifos for years. Now, families can rest easier, knowing that their children won’t be exposed to this brain-damaging pesticide in their food,” said Danielle Melgar, PIRG’s Zero Out Toxics advocate.

“Still, the work is ongoing. Chlorpyrifos will still be allowed for non-food uses like spraying on golf courses and turf, which means we need to do more to convince decision-makers to protect Americans from this toxic chemical.”

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Learn more about our work to zero out toxics from Americans’ daily lives.

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Photo: Pesticides shouldn’t be allowed to put public health at risk — and the EPA’s ban on agricultural uses of chlorpyrifos, which has been linked to brain damage in children, is a major step toward better protecting Americans from toxic chemicals. Credit: Shutterstock

Aaron Colonnese

Former Content Creator, Editorial & Creative Team, The Public Interest Network

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