EPA Refuses to Ban Dangerous Pesticide Chlorpyrifos Linked to Brain Damage in Children

Published on Jul 22, 2019
The Environmental Protection Agency will not ban the widely used pesticide chlorpyrifos—even though the agency’s own research shows that it can cause brain damage in children. The substance is sold under the commercial name Lorsban and is banned for household use. But it’s still used by farmers on more than 50 fruit, nuts, cereal and vegetable crops. The announcement came Thursday. The Obama administration said it would ban the use of the toxic chemical in 2015, but the rule never took effect. It was suspended in 2017 by then-EPA head Scott Pruitt. We go to Seattle to speak with Patti Goldman, a managing attorney at Earthjustice who represented health and labor advocates in a lawsuit against the EPA’s original decision in 2017.