TELL SCOTT PRUITT: BAN CHLORPYRIFOS!
After years of debate, in 2015 the Environmental Protection Agency finally proposed a ban on the toxic organophosphate pesticide chlorpyrifos. But Scott Pruitt‘s first major act as the new EPA administrator last year was to abort that ban, allowing this neurotoxic pesticide to continue being sprayed on food crops.
Research has linked chlorpyrifos to nervous system damage, behavioral problems and lower IQ in young children whose mothers were exposed during pregnancy. In adults, low-level exposure to chlorpyrifos can cause nausea, headaches and dizziness. Farmworkers and others who are severely exposed have suffered vomiting, muscle cramps, diarrhea, blurred vision, loss of consciousness and even paralysis.
Scott Pruitt could still do the right thing and protect our children from this harmful pesticide, but he needs to hear from all us. Stand with EWG in demanding that Pruitt ban the use of chlorpyrifos on food crops.
In November 2016, the Environmental Protection Agency revised its human health risk assessment of chlorpyrifos to show risks from dietary exposure and drinking water.
Given that even small amounts of this pesticide can harm children’s brain development, I stand with EWG in demanding that Scott Pruitt uphold the EPA’s determination that chlorpyrifos poses an unacceptable risk to public health and ban its use on food crops.