A group of Democratic senators have proposed a bill that could outlaw chlorpyrifos.
The bill, called the Protect Children, Farmers and Farmworkers from Nerve Agent Pesticides Act of 2017, has emerged from ongoing debates about the chemical’s safety.
Chlorpyrifos has been approved for use by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — but some studies have suggested that it could be harmful for neurological health, particularly in developing fetuses.
Chlorpyrifos is one of the most widely used insecticides in the U.S. and is often applied on crops with corn, alfalfa, oranges and almonds. According to FactCheck.org, around 6 million pounds of chlorpyrifos was used in the U.S. on about 10 million acres between 2009 and 2013.
FactCheck.org reports that studies using rats have shown a causal relationship between chlorpyrifos and developmental brain problems. In studies with humans, however, that link has only been correlational.
This hasn’t stopped efforts to ban the chemical. In 2015, the EPA, under the Obama administration, proposed a ban on chlorpyrifos. After taking his post as EPA administrator, however, Scott Pruitt reversed the agency’s position, saying that he relying on “sound science.”
A pediatrician quoted in Reuters disagrees. “Chlorpyrifos has been shown beyond any shadow of a doubt to damage the brains of children, especially those of fetuses in the womb,” he said.
The current bill banning the chemical is being introduced by Senator Tom Udall of New Mexico. It requires that the EPA conduct a broad review of chlorpyrifos, and if that review determines that parts of the population are being exposed to a toxic level of the chemical, the EPA must take “appropriate regulatory action” within three months to restrict its use.
Udall stated that “Congress must act because Administrator Pruitt has shown that he won’t.”