Sustainable Pulse reports Main US Manufacturer Stops Production of Pesticide Chlorpyrifos after Links to Child Health Damage. How will that affect Minnesota?
The article reports:
Corteva Agriscience will end production of the highly toxic pesticide chlorpyrifos by the end of this year. The company, formerly part of Dow Chemical, has been under increasing scrutiny from environmental and public health advocates for decades and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has been in court over the toxic agricultural chemical repeatedly.
Dr. Jennifer Sass, senior scientist at the NRDC stated Thursday: “This is a victory for our kids, farmworkers and rural communities nationwide. After years of pressure and increasing public concern, the end of chlorpyrifos is finally in sight. The science, policy and public pushback all aligned around this chemical being too dangerous for use on our food and in our fields, making today’s announcement an eventual forgone conclusion.
“We will be watching the manufacturer’s statements to ensure that the sunset of chlorpyrifos is as quick and as complete as possible. Ridding the American marketplace of this pesticide is a huge step, but it cannot be allowed to continue to threaten the health of kids in other global markets,” Sass concluded.
In December 2019 representatives from the European Member States in the EU Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (SCOPAFF) voted to ban the neurotoxic pesticides chlorpyrifos and chlorpyrifos-methyl from the EU market, a historic move that has been applauded by health and environment groups globally.
Politico's Morning Agriculture newsletter reports:
— The largest maker of an insecticide linked to neurological problems in children will cease production of the chemical by the end of the year, citing declining sales rather than public safety concerns.
CORTEVA PHASING OUT CONTROVERSIAL INSECTICIDE: Corteva, the largest manufacturer of chlorpyrifos that has long been sprayed on strawberries, corn and citrus to kill pests, said Thursday it will stop making the product by the end of this year . The insecticide is linked to neurological problems in children and threats to wildlife, but the EPA under President Donald Trump has resisted banning it, arguing additional safety assessments are needed, Pro Ag's Liz Crampton reports.
Some states decided to take action on their own , including California, where farmers can't use the insecticide after Dec. 31. Hawaii was the first state to ban chlorpyrifos, which will take effect in 2022. The European Union has also banned its use. Corteva spokesperson Gregg Schmidt said "significantly" declining demand over the last two decades drove the decision to stop making chlorpyrifos, not safety. The company told Reuters that it will continue to back chlorpyrifos during the EPA's review.
Environmental groups praised the move, but cautioned that other companies are still manufacturing the pesticide, which is allowed on imported food. "Corteva's decision to terminate the production of chlorpyrifos shows that grassroots campaigns and state-level victories can have far-reaching impacts," Andrew Kimbrell, executive director of Center for Food Safety, said in a statement. "A federal ban on chlorpyrifos is the only next logical step toward protecting children and farmworkers from this toxic pesticide."
In 2017, the Pesticide Action Network reported in Minnesota Legislators Call on EPA to Phase Out Brain-Harming Pesticide:
This week, Minnesota lawmakers introduced a resolution calling on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to phase out all uses of the insecticide chlorpyrifos. Chlorpyrifos is a widely-used agricultural insecticide that EPA’s own scientists have acknowledged has neurotoxic effects, especially in children. However, in one of his first moves as head of EPA, Administrator Scott Pruitt has reneged on the Agency’s plans to phase out the chemical.
Chlorpyrifos is one of the top eight agricultural pesticides used in Minnesota. Prenatal exposure to chlorpyrifos is associated with increased rates of autism spectrum disorders, ADHD, lowered IQ scores, and impaired working memory. In 2012, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture named chlorpyrifos a surface water pesticide of concern due to increasing detections in surface water. Since chlorpyrifos was banned for residential use in 2001, children in rural communities are disproportionately exposed to the neurotoxin in their air and water.
Minnesota’s resolution (introduced in SF 2342 and HF 2600) was authored by members of the House People of Color and Indigenous (POCI) Caucus, and members of House and Senate Agriculture Committees.
“My family was harmed the day chlorpyrifos drifted into our home and there is not one day that goes by that we do not wish things had happened differently,” said Bonnie Wirtz, who was exposed to chlorpyrifos when it drifted into her home in Melrose, Minnesota, affecting her and her infant son. “There is not one day that goes by that I do not wish that chlorpyrifos had not been pulled off the market sooner. Families like mine are simply asking that a chemical, which has documented neurodevelopmental harms to children, be addressed instead of given a free pass. People should have a right to live, work and play in communities without fear of being harmed by chemicals, which we know are not safe.”
The resolution has been referred to the House Agriculture Policy Committee and the Senate Agriculture, Rural Development, and Housing Policy Committee.
The resolutions didn't get hearings in the Republican-controlled committees.
Adam Belz reported in the 2018 Star Tribune article, Minnesota farmers watch a pesticide battle play out in courts:
Farmers in Minnesota and across the country are watching closely as a battle over a key agricultural pesticide plays out in court.
A panel of judges in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in August ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to ban the pesticide chlorpyrifos because of studies that show its residue on food can cause brain damage in children.
Farm groups say the ruling would “wreak havoc” on American agriculture, arguing there are no good alternatives to the pesticide for many crops.
Chlorpyrifos (pronounced klor’-peer-ih-foss) has been registered for crop use in the United States since 1974 and is used to kill insects that damage more than 50 crops, including cotton, citrus, corn, sugar beets and wheat. In Minnesota, the pesticide is used on soybeans the most, and on corn, wheat and alfalfa.
“This is the only real viable option right now, until some other options are developed,” said Brian Thalmann, a corn and soybean farmer south of Plato, Minn., and president of the Minnesota Corn Growers Association.
Well then. In a December 8 letter to the editor, Greg Larson of Excelsior wrote the Star Tribune:
The chief executive of Twin Metals wants us to believe that Minnesota’s “strong environmental standards” and “rigorous” environmental regulation will protect the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness from the disastrous consequences that have followed copper-sulfide mining everywhere such mining has been allowed (“Let the mine permit process work,” Dec. 1).
So how “strong” and “rigorous” has Minnesota been in protecting our sky blue waters? Using data from the agencies charged with protecting water quality, here are some facts:
According to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, 56% of Minnesota’s waters overall are impaired, and in farm country it’s higher. The MPCA also found in 2015 that of 93 streams in southwestern Minnesota, only three were habitable for fish and only one was considered safe for humans to swim in because of agricultural pollution.
The state Department of Agriculture has found that nine Minnesota watersheds are contaminated with chlorpyrifos, a dangerous agricultural pesticide that is linked to brain damage in children and has been banned by New York, California and eight European countries.
According to the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board, fewer than 20% of rivers and streams in parts of southern and western Minnesota can support a healthy balance of aquatic life because of contamination from agricultural fertilizers and chemicals.
So, based on reporting from the agencies themselves, it seems pretty clear that Minnesota has not been “vigorous” and “strong” in protecting our water resources, especially when the problem is largely caused by a politically powerful industry. Up to now that industry is big agriculture, but soon it might be copper-sulfide mining. . . .
Read the Minnesota Department of Health's guidance sheet on Chlorpyrifos and Drinking Water here. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture's webpage on the chemical states:
Chlorpyrifos is a broad-spectrum insecticide used on food and non-food crops, golf course turf, sod farms, and industrial sites in Minnesota. It can also be used in greenhouse and nursery production, wood products, and roach bait stations. . . .
Chlorpyrifos, along with atrazine and acetochlor, has been detected with increasing frequency in Minnesota's surface water, at times at elevated levels. The following sections explain chlorpyrifos’ role in Minnesota agriculture, its impact on Minnesota's environment, and actions being taken to minimize its impacts to water. . . .
We'll be watching to see how this one unfolds in coming days.
Related posts:
- The real chemtrails: following the money that's buried way down column in farm reporting
- Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting: BASF, Monsanto prepared for complaints before dicamba launch
- Bayer's beewashing: PAN post exposes tactics
- Study: Round-up (glyphosate) damages good bacteria in bee guts: Monsanto denies problem
- What Corteva Agriscience’s CEO Says Farmers Can Expect From the New Firm [Successful Farming]
Image: Chlorpyrifos use in the Midwest in 2016. Image via 2018 Star Tribune article, Minnesota farmers watch a pesticide battle play out in courts
If you appreciate our posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post. Those wishing to make a small ongoing monthly contribution should click on the paypal subscription button.
Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email [email protected] as recipient.
Comments