WIN! Chlorpyrifos Effectively Banned in the U.S.

It’s important to celebrate the hard-won wins to protect our communities from dangerous toxins. 

As of this past February, chlorpyrifos is effectively banned in the U.S.*

Hawaiʻi led the way by banning chlorpyrifos back in 2018. This helped build momentum for other states enacting similar bans –– eventually leading to a ban at the federal level. 

For decades, peer-reviewed studies had definitively shown that the neurotoxin chlorpyrifos permanently damages the brains and nervous systems of children who have been routinely exposed. These same studies demonstrated harmful effects at up to .6 miles from exposure. This type of pesticide is also known to drift up to a mile. 

Sadly, agrochemical fields in west Kauaʻi reported using almost 3x the national average of this dangerous neurotoxin prior to Hawaiʻi enacting a ban. These fields sit a mere 100 feet from Kekaha Hawaiian Homesteads. How many years were local children unnecessarily exposed?

It should not take decades of harm before our governments take action. 

While the recent phasing out of chlorpyrifos nationally is a win, the long road to protect our local communities reminds us that we must continue to fight for a more equitable system that prevents this harm before it occurs. We deserve a system that prioritizes the wellbeing of land and people before corporate profits. 

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*The EPA has revoked all food tolerances for chlorpyrifos, in effect banning the use of the insecticide on all food crops.