States weigh banning a widely used pesticide even though EPA won't

Lawmakers in several states are trying to ban a widely used pesticide that the Environmental Protection Agency is fighting to keep on the market. The pesticide, chlorpyrifos, kills insects on contact by attacking their nervous systems. Several studies have linked prenatal exposure of chlorpyrifos to lower birth weights, lower IQs, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other developmental issues in children. But the EPA in 2017 ignored the conclusions of its scientists and rejected a proposal made during the Obama administration to ban its use in fields and orchards. Hawaii was the first state to pass a full ban last year. Now California, Oregon, New York and Connecticut are trying to do the same. Should California succeed, the rear-guard action could have a big impact. “If California is successful, that’s a big deal because it’s such a big state — the biggest agricultural state,” said Virginia Ruiz, director of occupational and environmental health at the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Farmworker Justice...MORE