Court Order Bans EPA’s Use of Widely Used, Potentially Harmful Pesticide
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been ordered by the Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit to ban the use of chlorpyrifos, a commonly used pesticide for various fruit, nut, and vegetable crops. The efforts made by various environmental and public health groups to ban this chemical has been at least 10 years in the making.
The Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, the law that regulates pesticide use, requires that EPA cease the use of any pesticide that is found to be a health hazard upon exposure to it. According to The Hill, EPA’s own research in 2016 proved that there is a link between chlorpyrifos and developmental and neurological disorders particularly in children and infants, and especially affecting the families of farm workers.