Oregon-Led AG Coalition Urges Total EPA Ban on Chlorpyrifos, Highlighting Health Risks to Children and Farm Workers

A coalition of attorneys general, led by Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, has urged the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reinstate the prior ban on the harmful pesticide chlorpyrifos after the EPA proposed to revoke all food tolerances for the pesticide, except for 11 crops.

Attorney Generals Coalition Seeks Chlorpyrifoson Pesticide Ban

Chlorpyrifos cannot legally be sprayed in Oregon, but concerns have been raised about crops imported into the state.

It has been shown to have devastating effects on human health, especially for children, pregnant women, and farm workers. Developmental delays and cognitive impairments are just two of the potential side effects.

For decades, several states have worked to address the harmful side effects of human exposure to chlorpyrifos.

At the start of 2024, it was banned in Oregon for nearly all applications and may not be used on food crops, as well as other vegetation such as Christmas trees, grass seed fields, and golf courses.

In a news release, the Oregon Department of Justice (DOJ) indicated that evidence shows the pesticide chlorpyrifos can cause significant harm. Rayfield said, “The EPA needs to set zero food tolerances for chlorpyrifos to ensure this dangerous pesticide does not enter our food supply.”

In a letter from the Oregon, New York, California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Vermont, Washington, and Washington, D.C. Attorneys General, the coalition addresses an EPA proposal to revoke all food tolerances for chlorpyrifos except for almost a dozen crops- alfalfa, apple, asparagus, tart cherry, citrus, cotton, peach, soybean, strawberry, sugar beet, and wheat.

The EPA standard to allow tolerances for those crops was based on the level of exposure that would cause acute pesticide poisonings, not the standard to prevent exposures that will cause neurodevelopmental harm.

The AGs confirm that the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) requires the EPA to “ensure that there is reasonable certainty that no harm will result to infants and children from aggregate exposure” to chlorpyrifos.

Thus, allowing the pesticide to be used on the 11 crops violates the law. Rayfield urged the EPA to eliminate chlorpyrifos from the food system, aligning its actions with the latest scientific findings. He said, “The health of our children and families must come first.”