Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield and a coalition of attorneys general are urging the Environmental Protection Agency to reinstate its prior ban of a harmful pesticide on almost a dozen food crops. Chlorpyrifos has been shown to have devastating effects on human health, particularly for children, pregnant women and farmworkers. Oregon has already banned the spraying of chlorpyrifos, however there is concern about crops that are imported into the state.
“There is overwhelming evidence that shows that even at low levels, this pesticide can cause significant harm, including developmental delays and cognitive impairments,” said Rayfield. “The EPA needs to set zero food tolerances for chlorpyrifos, to ensure this dangerous pesticide does not enter our food supply.”
The EPA is proposing to revoke all food tolerances for chlorpyrifos except for 11 crops. The pesticide would still be allowed for use on alfalfa, apple, asparagus, tart cherry, citrus, cotton, peach, soybean, strawberry, sugar beet, and wheat crops. The standard the EPA used to allow tolerances for those crops was based on the level of exposure that would cause acute pesticide poisonings, instead of using the standard to prevent exposures that will cause neurodevelopmental harms.
States have worked for decades to address the harms from human exposure to chlorpyrifos. Beginning in 2024, it was banned in Oregon for nearly all applications—not just for use on food crops, but also on Christmas trees, grass seed fields and golf courses.
AG Rayfield and the coalition argue that this move to allow chlorpyrifos to be used on the 11 crops violates the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), which requires EPA to “ensure that there is reasonable certainty that no harm will result to infants and children from aggregate exposure” to chlorpyrifos.
“The health of our children and families must come first,” said Rayfield. “I strongly encourage the EPA to align its actions with the latest scientific findings and take steps to eliminate this pesticide from our food system altogether.”
Joining Oregon in the letter to the EPA are the attorneys general of New York, California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Vermont, Washington, and Washington, D.C.
