Common agricultural pesticide to be banned in California

California will ban a widely used agricultural pesticide next year because it’s linked to brain damage in children.

State environmental officials reached an agreement with the manufacturers of chlorpyrifos on Wednesday. Under the deal, all sales of the insecticide will end in February 2020. Farmers will have until the end of the year to use up whatever supplies they have on hand.

California’s agriculture industry uses the pesticide on alfalfa, almonds, citrus, cotton, grapes, and walnuts.

State regulators say chlorpyritos has been linked to childhood health problems including brain impairment and compromised immune systems.

California Governor Gavin Newsome praised the deal saying, ” “For years, environmental justice advocates have fought to get the harmful pesticide chlorpyrifos out of our communities… Thanks to their tenacity and the work of countless others, this will now occur faster than originally envisioned. This is a big win for children, workers and public health in California. ”

However, the president of the California Citrus Association says the state is overstating the risks. ” We really thought the exposure assessments and risks were just inflated and it wasn’t a true characterization of the protections that were already in place, ” said Casey Creamer.

The Obama administration announced plans to ban chlorpyrifos in 2015. The Environmental Protection Agency reversed the ban after President Donald Trump was elected.

Hawaii and New York are already phasing in chlorpyrifos bans.​​​​​​​

KYMA 2019