LIHUE — Federal courts ordered a nationwide ban on the pesticide chlorpyrifos Thursday, in a split decision ruling the Trump administration endangered public health by keeping the chemical on the market.
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco handed down the ruling and ordered EPA to remove chlorpyrifos from sale in the U.S. within 60 days, in a decision by a three-judge panel with one member dissenting from the majority.
Environmental Protection Agency spokesman Michael Abboud told the Associated Press the agency was reviewing the decision as EPA could appeal to the Supreme Court on the matter.
EPA did not respond to requests for further comment from TGI before deadline.
Chlorpyrifos is an agricultural pesticide sprayed on citrus fruit, apples and other crops and was created by Dow Chemical Company in the 1960s.
“We expect that all appellate options to challenge the majority’s decision will be considered,” said Gregg Schmidt, with Corteva Agriscience, the agricultural division of DowDuPont, which is a merging of Dow Chemical Company and Dupont Pioneer that has a research station in Waimea.
He continued: “We note that this was a split decision of the panel and we agree with the dissenting judge’s opinion.”
Schmidt pointed out DowDuPont and Corteva will “continue to support the growers who need this important product” and that chlorpyrifos is a “critical pest management tool used by growers around the world to manage a large number of pests.”
Bennette Misalucha, executive director, Hawaii Crop Improvement Association, said HCIA will wait to see how the EPA responds to the ruling, “which is likely to have a significant negative impact on agriculture.”
She said in the U.S., the EPA requires all pesticides to undergo more than 100 safety studies before they are approved for commercial use, and every crop protection product sold in the U.S. must have an EPA-approved label with specific directions on application use.
“While Hawaii’s tropical climate is ideal for growing crops, we also face tremendous challenges with pests, diseases, and invasive species, which calls for the need for effective solutions,” she said in a prepared statement.
It was a coalition of farmworkers and environmental groups that sued in 2017 after the then-EPA chief Scott Pruitt reversed the effort to ban chlorpyrifos. Attorneys general joined the case against EPA from California, New York and Massachusetts.
“The panel held that there was no justification for the EPA’s decision in its 2017 order to maintain a tolerance for chlorpyrifos in the face of scientific evidence that its residue on food causes neurodevelopmental damage to children,” Judge Jed Rakoff wrote in the court’s opinion.
And those who maintain the chemical is dangerous for human health are celebrating the ruling.
“I think it’s a good decision,” said Blake Dolorson, member of GMO Free Kauai and of Hawaii SEED. “It’s a dangerous chemical and it has been proven to cause damage to people when they’re exposed to it, especially young children.”
In May, Hawaii became the first state to ban chlorpyrifos in a law that’s set to take effect in January, giving those who are using it a chance to phase the chemical out of their stock and adjust to the new rule.
The Hawaii law also requires all users of Restricted Use Pesticides (RUP) to report their usage and establishes a 100-foot buffer zone for RUPs around schools during school hours to preserve the health of the students.
“Some things are too sacred to play politics with and our kids top the list,” said Erik Olson, senior director of health and food at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “The court has made it clear that the children’s health must come before powerful polluters.”
While some are working to remove the chemical from the U.S. agricultural industry, about 5 million pounds of chlorpyrifos are sold domestically each year through Dow AgroSciences.
According to the Associated Press, chlorpyrifos belongs to a family of organophosphate pesticides that are chemically similar to a chemical warfare agent developed by Nazi Germany before World War II.
“Shift one molecule over and we’re ready to go to war, one molecule over and we’ve got nerve gas,” said Dolorson. “But, we’ll shift that molecule the other way and spray that all over and that’s a mistake.”
As a result of its wide use as a pesticide over the past four decades, traces of chlorpyrifos are commonly found in sources of drinking water. A 2012 study at the University of California at Berkeley found that 87 percent of umbilical-cord blood samples tested from newborn babies contained detectable levels of the pesticide.
Under pressure from federal regulators, Dow voluntarily withdrew chlorpyrifos for use as a home insecticide in 2000. EPA also placed “no-spray” buffer zones around sensitive sites, such as schools, in 2012, the AP reported.
In October 2015, the Obama administration proposed banning the pesticide’s use on food.
A risk assessment memo issued by nine EPA scientists concluded: “There is a breadth of information available on the potential adverse neurodevelopmental effects in infants and children as a result of prenatal exposure to chlorpyrifos,” AP reported.
Federal law requires EPA to ensure that pesticides used on food in the United States are safe for human consumption — especially children, who are typically far more sensitive to the negative effects of poisons.
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Jessica Else, environment reporter, can be reached at 245-0452 or at jelse@thegardenisland.com.
