Approximately one million pounds of chlorpyrifos—about 20 percent of what’s used nationwide—are applied annually in California to dozens of food crops, including almonds, citrus, grapes, and broccoli. The greatest use is in agricultural counties, like Fresno, Kern, and Tulare counties, where homes and schools are often adjacent to agricultural fields. State air monitoring in several of these communities has found chlorpyrifos levels that exceed EPA safety targets by three to 44 times.
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“California has the independent authority to ban chlorpyrifos here,” Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) senior scientist Miriam Rotkin-Ellman told Civil Eats. “What we need is for California to follow the science.”
In fact, California can do just that. If state authorities determine the science doesn’t support its use, state-level authorities have the authority to ban a pesticide.
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A California chlorpyrifos ban would be a powerful market signal, since the state grows more than a third of U.S. vegetables and two-thirds of U.S. fruits and nuts. It could also significantly reduce children’s exposures, given the proximity of California homes and schools to active farm fields.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: Can California Reverse EPA’s U-Turn on Pesticide Ban?
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