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Thursday, August 08, 2019

6 states sue, seeking ban on pesticide that hurts kids' brains

Six states have sued the Environmental Protection Agency for refusing to ban chlorpyrifos, a pesticide linked to pediatric brain damage. California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, and Washington argued that the pesticide should be banned for use on crops because of the evidence that it harms children's brains.

"EPA’s decision to allow continued use of chlorpyrifos came last month, the result of a court-ordered deadline to regulate the pesticide prompted by a lawsuit previously filed by Earthjustice," Rebecca Beitsch reports for The Hill. "EPA would not comment on the lawsuit but said those challenging the use of chlorpyrifos did not have enough data to demonstrate the product is not safe. The EPA said it would continue to review the safety of chlorpyrifos through 2022."

EPA banned chlorpyrifos for household use in 2001 because of the same concerns about neurological damage, Beitsch reports. The Obama-era EPA proposed a total ban, but President Trump's first EPA administrator, Scott Pruitt, reversed the decision

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