Rural kids deserve equal protection from toxic pesticides
Sign the petition to ban chlorpyrifos

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Ten years ago, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) banned the use of chlorpyrifos for residential uses, citing health risks for children. But it is still widely used in agriculture, so children in farming communities continue to be exposed at high levels. It is also still a common contaminant in our food supply. >>Sign the petition to ban ALL uses of chlorpyrifos, and make sure rural kids are equally protected. Chlorpyrifos - the active ingredient in the once-popular household bug sprays Dursban and Lorsban - is part of the organophosphate class of pesticides. Like others in this class, it is a potent neurotoxin. Researchers have connected exposure to chlorpyrifos during pregnancy to lower birth weight and length, and to increased risk for behavioral and attention problems in early childhood. About 8 million pounds of chlorpyrifos are still used each year in US agriculture. This means that even though it's been banned for residential uses, rural children are still exposed to high levels of this pesticide when it travels into their homes, daycares, and schools in the air and on people's clothing. What's more, it remains a common contaminant in conventionally-produced foods - including bell peppers, grapes, peaches and almonds. It's time to ban chlorpyrifos outright. In honor of Farmworker Awareness Week this week, please take action to protect farmworker children - and all children! - from chlorpyrifos. >>Take Action >>background information & references

Farmworker children and other kids in rural areas still face high rates of exposure to chlorpyrifos. This highly-toxic pesticide was banned for residential uses in 2000, but is still widely-used in US agriculture. Take action to protect kids in rural areas - and all kids! - from chlorpyrifos. >>Sign the petition to ban ALL uses of chlorpyrifos >>Get involved in Farmworker Awareness Week activities in your area, now through next Sunday 4/4! >>Support our work - donate today!

 

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Take Action to Protect Rural Kids

Health and justice advocates nation-wide are collecting signatures on a petition to US EPA, asking that they ban chlorpyrifos from agricultural as well as residential uses. This step will protect all children from exposure to this highly-toxic pesticide in their food supply. It is especially critical for rural children, whose everyday environments are often contaminated by this dangerous neurotoxin.

>>Sign the petition (off-site)

Please contact Toxic Free NC at or (919) 833-1123 to let us know you're taking action, or if you have any questions. Thank you!

 

Background Information on Chlorpyrifos & References

Researchers at Columbia University have found some significant health differences in children born to minority mothers in New York City before and after the ban on residential use of chlorpyrifos went into effect. Children exposed to higher levels of chlorpyrifos in utero tended to be smaller at birth (1), and by age 3, they were more likely to have developmental problems like attention deficit and behavior disorders (2).

About 8 million pounds of chlorpyrifos are still used each year in US agriculture, and migrate into nearby homes, daycares, schools and other children's environments in the air and on people's clothing. Rural families are still exposed regularly to chlorpyrifos at similar levels as were found in inner-city NY before 2000. In NC, residues of the potent neurotoxin have been measured at high levels in the urine of farmworker children (3), and in wipe samples taken from their hands and toys (4).

- More on chlorpyrifos from the Pesticide Action Network, and from US EPA.

- Chlorpyrifos contamination in different foods from What's On My Food?

References:

1. Whyatt RM, et al. 2004. Prenatal insecticide exposures and birth weight and length among an urban minority cohort. Environ Health Perspect 112(10):1125-32.

2. Rauh VA, et al. Impact of Prenatal Chlorpyrifos Exposure on Neurodevelopment in the First 3 Years of Life Among Inner-City Children. PEDIATRICS Vol. 118 No. 6 December 2006, pp. e1845-e1859.

3. Arcury TA, et al. 2007. Pesticide Urinary Metabolite Levels of Children in Eastern North Carolina Farmworker Households. Environ Health Perspect 115(8): doi:10.1289/ehp.9975

4. Quandt SA, et al. 2004. Agricultural and Residential Pesticides in Wipe Samples from Farmworker Family Residences in North Carolina and Virginia. Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 112, No. 3, pp. 382-387.

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