Friend,

Chlorpyrifos is a neurotoxin linked to brain damage in children, so why is it sprayed onto the food we eat?1 For years, U.S. PIRG has been advocating for a ban on this brain-damaging chemical with the help of supporters like you -- and right now, we have a real chance to win.

A federal appeals court has ordered the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to either set new safety levels for exposure to chlorpyrifos or ban it completely -- and the EPA must decide before the end of this month.2

We have until the end of June to convince the EPA to ban all uses of this toxic chemical. Add your name to urge the EPA to ban chlorpyrifos.

The EPA's own data has been pointing toward a ban on all uses of chlorpyrifos for years, so we know that if we keep advocating for this important step we can make it a reality.

Household uses of chlorpyrifos have already been banned for over two decades because of the studies linking exposure to brain damage in children.3 The agency was even on the cusp of banning chlorpyrifos for agricultural use in 2015, but the Trump administration reversed the proposed ban two years later.4

The more we learn about chlorpyrifos, the more worrying it is. Chlorpyrifos is designed to attack the brains of insects, but scientists now fear that it can have a similar effect on us.5 It's long past time to get this chemical off of the food our families eat.

Take action to support a total ban on this dangerous, brain-damaging pesticide.

The EPA is on a deadline to make a final decision about chlorpyrifos, and we need to make sure it makes the right call.

The effort to get this dangerous chemical out of our food is growing across the globe. Last year, the European Union banned chlorpyrifos entirely, citing the fact that there is no safe level of exposure to this chemical.6

Here in the United States, California, New York and Hawaii are already taking measures to ban or phase out this hazardous pesticide. This momentum shows that a nationwide ban isn't just possible -- it's the responsible thing for the EPA to do.

Add your name before the end of June to help protect our families from toxic chlorpyrifos.

Thank you,

Faye Park
President

1. Dan Charles, "EPA Decides Not To Ban A Pesticide, Despite Its Own Evidence Of Risk," NPR, March 29, 2017.
2. Sebastien Malo, "EPA's 'time is up' on critical pesticide chlorpyrifos - 9th Circuit," Reuters, April 29, 2021.
3. Rebecca Beitsch, "EPA questions science linking widely used pesticide to brain damage in children," The Hill, September 22, 2020.
4. Dan Flynn, "Trump administration ending with Chlorpyrifos still OK for ag uses," Food Safety News, December 9, 2020.
5. Rebecca Beitsch, "EPA questions science linking widely used pesticide to brain damage in children," The Hill, September 22, 2020.
6. "EU to Ban Chlorpyrifos Pesticide Starting in February," Bloomberg Law, December 6, 2019.