The pesticide known as chlorpyrifos is both clearly dangerous and in very wide use. Here’s what is surprising: Tons of the pesticide are still being sprayed across millions of acres of United States farmland every year, nearly five years after the Environmental Protection Agency determined that it should be banned. proposed a full federal ban after its scientists concluded that there was substantial risk for children and developing fetuses. The agency now says the data on chlorpyrifos is insufficient and unreliable, but that argument cuts against well-established scientific opinion and years of careful study by E.P.A. Hawaii and California have issued statewide bans, and several other states, including New Jersey, are taking steps to do the same.

Source: New York Times December 18, 2019 01:07 UTC