December 6th, 2019 by WCBC Radio

Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh today joined a coalition of nine attorneys general in filing a brief that argues that the Trump Administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is violating federal law by continuing to allow chlorpyrifos, a widely-used pesticide with well-documented harms to infants and young children’s neurological development, to contaminate common foods.  The coalition is suing EPA over its decision to continue to allow chlorpyrifos to be present in foods, even though the Agency has not made a finding – as required by federal law – that this pesticide contamination is safe. 

 

“Chlorpyrifos is dangerous to pregnant women, infants, and children,” said Attorney General Frosh.  “Ignoring well-documented scientific evidence that chlorpyrifos causes harm to the brain and central nervous system, the EPA continues to allow industry to feed children this poison.  The EPA must do its job to protect our citizens from this toxic pesticide.”

 

Chlorpyrifos – a widely-used pesticide on food crops, including many fruits and vegetables commonly consumed by infants, young children, and pregnant women – is well-documented to harm proper development and functioning of the central nervous system and brain.  In fact, EPA’s own scientists have twice been unable to identify a safe level of chlorpyrifos residues on food.  Because of this, in November 2015 and again in November 2016, EPA issued proposed regulations to revoke all allowable levels – known as  “tolerances” – for  chlorpyrifos in food.  Revoking these tolerances would ban the dangerous pesticide from being present in food.