Science Prevails in the Courts as Chlorpyrifos Ban Becomes Likely

August 9, 2018 | 5:36 pm
Photo: Will Fuller/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 (Flickr)
Genna Reed
Former Director of Policy Analysis

Today, children, farmworkers, and the rest of us won big in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, as the court ordered EPA to finalize its proposed ban of the insecticide chlorpyrifos. Ultimately, the judge determined that EPA’s 2017 decision to refuse to ban the chemical was unlawful because it failed to justify keeping chlorpyrifos on the market, while the scientific evidence very clearly pointed to the link between chlorpyrifos exposure and neurodevelopmental damage to children, and further risks to farmworkers and users of rural drinking water.

Under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), the EPA is required to remove pesticide tolerances (effectively banning them) when it cannot find they are safe with a “reasonable certainty.” The judge found that when former Administrator Pruitt’s refused to ban the chemical, he contradicted the work of the agency’s own scientists, who found the chemical posed extensive health risks to children. His failure to act accordingly violated the agency’s mandate under the FFDCA.

This attack on science was fueled by close relationships that Scott Pruitt and President Trump have with Dow Chemical Company, which makes chlorpyrifos. Unfortunately, this was just one of many recent EPA actions that not only lack justification and supporting analysis, but actively undermine the agency’s ability to protect public health—and in this case specifically, the health of children. Acting Administrator Wheeler should learn from this particular case that EPA’s decisions must be grounded in evidence, and that the public will continue to watch and demand as much.

The petition was filed by a coalition of environmental, labor, and health organizations. The EPA now has 60 days to ban chlorpyrifos.