Trump administration won't ban pesticide tied to childhood brain damage

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Guardian


Evironmental Protection Agency rejects proposed ban on chlorpyrifos, despite growing evidence of its toxicity

Sam Levin in Los Angeles
@SamTLevin Email
Thu 18 Jul 2019 17.29 EDT Last modified on Thu 18 Jul 2019 18.35 EDT

The US government has rejected a proposed ban on a toxic pesticide linked to brain damage in children, dismissing a growing body of research on the health hazards of a widely used agricultural chemical.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced in a ruling Thursday that it supported farmers’ continued use of chlorpyrifos, a pesticide that growers have long sprayed on almonds, citrus, cotton, grapes, walnuts and other major crops in America. The decision, outlined in a response to a petition from environmental and public health groups, said “critical questions remained regarding the significance of the data” on neurological impacts on children.

The Trump administration’s endorsement of the pesticide comes years after the EPA under Obama moved to restrict use of the chemical, as scientists raised alarms. Trump’s EPA denied the conclusions of the agency’s own experts, and earlier this year, California defied the White House and announced its own state-level ban on the chemical.

“By allowing chlorpyrifos to stay in our fruits and vegetables, Trump’s EPA is breaking the law and neglecting the overwhelming scientific evidence that this pesticide harms children’s brains,” Patti Goldman, an attorney with Earthjustice, said in a statement, adding it was a “tragedy that this administration sides with corporations instead of children’s health”.


Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/18/epa-chlorpyrifos-ban-children-brain-damage-trump

[IcyPeas]

1. Scans this post... sees

Obama's name. That's why. He is systematically going thru everything and anything with President Obama's name attached to it and reverses it.

I hope American news outlets blast this headline on their front pages.

[rpannier]

2. ...neglecting the overwhelming scientific evidence

That's par for the course with this administration

[mac56]

3. Well, they used it around Don Jr and Eric...

And look how they turned out.

[Blue_Tires]

4. The cruelty is the entire point of their existence

[Farmer-Rick]

5. Well, at least the USDA has not approved it for organic foods...at least Not yet.

[Dave Starsky]

6. Well, if severe brain damage is good enough for the whole Trump family...

It's good enough for the rest of the nation's children.

[Aristus]

7. You beat me to it...

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. My first thought on seeing "Trump" and "childhood brain damage" in a headline

was seriously that some psychologist had suggested it explains how he is.

[Eyeball_Kid]

8. Chemical corporations ignore public health, and the government agrees.

Classic fascism. THIS is where it's happening on an economic level, while Trumpy manipulates the public on the social/political level. It's all part of the way that fascism takes a strangle-hold on a nation.

Control hasn't reached down to free speech and blogs like this one. But it will. Our days are numbered.

[0rganism]

9. well of course

many people are saying health is for unpatriotic wimps. now shut up and eat your pesticides, kid.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

11. EPA says try to take this news positively.

Some very smart corporate people say chlorpyrifos in our food supply kills harmful gut bacteria.....

KY......

[sakabatou]

12. Profits be people again

[mpcamb]

13. Take 'em to court. Save some lives.

This should be toppled in the right courtroom with the right judge
and a spotlight on the known, predictable harm it will cause.