Center for Food Safety's Statement on Corteva's Decision to Terminate the Production of Chlorpyrifos
February 06, 2020
Share this:
https://centerforfoodsafety.org/files/100_33527.jpg
Photo: Corteva Agriscience Website
The agrichemical company Corteva Inc announced today it will be ending the production of chlorpyrifos by the end of the year due to declining sales. Corteva, a pesticide-seed company created after the 2019 merger of DuPont and Dow Chemical, was the largest manufacturer of chlorpyrifos in the world under the brand-name Lorsban. Generic versions of chlorpyrifos will remain available on the market.
"Corteva's decision to terminate the production of chlorpyrifos shows that grassroots campaigns and state-level victories can have far-reaching impacts," said Andrew Kimbrell, executive director of Center for Food Safety (CFS). "A federal ban on chlorpyrifos is the only next logical step toward protecting children and farmworkers from this toxic pesticide."
Leading scientific and medical authorities—such as the Academy of Pediatrics, the Center for Environmental Research and Children's Health, UC Berkeley's School of Public Health, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—have all concluded that chlorpyrifos harms children's brain development. It reduces children's IQ and puts children at risk of learning disabilities. The EPA has long been aware of chlorpyrifos' toxicity. While most residential uses of the pesticide were banned nearly two decades ago, the agency permitted its continued use in agriculture, creating a double standard in which rural kids are left unprotected.
CFS has been advocating for federal and state-level chlorpyrifos bans for years. CFS wrote, lobbied, and passed a bill that banned chlorpyrifos in Hawaii and also advocated for similar successful bans in California and New York. This year, CFS is supporting a bill to ban chlorpyrifos in Oregon while continuing to advocate for increased pesticide protections in Hawaii.
Share this:
https://centerforfoodsafety.org/files/100_33527.jpg
Related News
